"I finally know why the ancients liked to have strategists by their side when they went on expeditions, and if no one appreciated their clever plans, then half of the joy of victory was lost. Lin Ning said. "But the simpler the strategy, the easier it is to work on the battlefield, and it's just a matter of confusing the public, and anyone can do it. ”

"Then what do you think is the key to winning the war?" Xie Yan asked thoughtfully.

"It's information. No doubt. Lin Ning looked at Xie Yan and said.

She looked down the cliff, and the Yanzhou army had swept into the canyon like a flood that had opened the floodgates. The Hanoi army ushered in a rout without suspense, and those who lost their armor fled out of the canyon like ants in a panic. The hunter and the prey swapped places in an instant.

On the surface, this victory seemed to be due to Lin Ning's keen intuition and strong action, but in fact, the reason why Lin Ning judged that there must be an ambush in this canyon was because she had already obtained the military map of Sizhou through the Su family's intelligence network before this. This canyon was the most precipitous part of her way to Yewang, and there was an 80 percent chance that Hanoi Taishou would set up an ambush here.

"Let's go. We're going to take over Hanoi County. Lin Ning smiled at Xie Yan, turned around and walked down the cliff.

It didn't take much time to capture Hanoi. After this, another Yanzhou army led by Lin Ning and Jiang Fei marched towards Luoyang from both sides.

The First Battle of Luoyang took more than a month. This is still due to the fact that the history of the Sizhou Assassin is hanging in the air, and the military generals and civilian officials stationed in Luoyang are dissatisfied with each other, giving the Yanzhou army a lot of room to operate. When Luoyang was finally taken, the casualties of the Yanzhou army were not large, and they integrated and digested part of the Luoyang defenders, but they grew a lot.

After the Battle of Luoyang, the other remnants of Sizhou expressed their surrender, and it took Lin Ning a period of time to rectify Sizhou to the extent that he could barely control it before officially sending troops to Tongguan.

At the time of the autumn harvest, Lin Ning received the news of Jiang Xuanche's victory at Yanmen Pass.

"It took half a year to fight, and Xuan Che needs to take a good rest. Lin Ning looked at the letter in his hand and said to his head thanks.

"Fortunately, the rest of the state has been defeated, and Yanmen Pass is lonely and there is no water and food, and it is only a matter of time before it is captured. Hearing this, Xie Yan put down the military book in his hand and replied.

At this time, Lin Ning's Yanzhou army was stationed outside Tongguan. It has entered the golden autumn of August, the heat has receded, the Yanzhou army was excited but could not hide its fatigue after the battle of Luoyang, taking advantage of the opportunity when the northern army of Tongguan Town chose not to defend the town, Lin Ning ordered the soldiers to practice and rest, recover the best state as soon as possible, and wait for the supply of grain and grass in the rear by the way. She herself often sat in the tent of the Chinese army with the generals and advisers to discuss the current situation.

Wang Ren's side has already taken Qingzhou, and is recuperating in his life, preparing to attack Xuzhou after the autumn harvest. Now that the power of the three coalition forces in the north has been formed, Xiao Zilan in Shengjing is terrified. However, what gave Xiao Zilan a headache was far more than the three coalition forces in the north, as well as the rebel army entrenched in Jingzhou and now rebounding again with the momentum of the autumn harvest.

The Zhenbei army of Yongzhou Shiyuan seems to have given up the idea of chasing the Central Plains, and instead chose to become the princes of the separatist side. After taking actual control of Liangzhou and Qinzhou, the Zhenbei Army was to send troops to Liangzhou in Shu after the autumn harvest.

Lin Ning's Yanzhou army has also besieged Tongguan for many days. This historical pass is far less impregnable than it is in this era. But with the strength in Lin Ning's hands, if you want to capture Tongguan, you will inevitably pay a great price.

The siege of this year is to pile up people's heads, Lin Ning didn't want to let the lives of her soldiers be meaninglessly sacrificed in this protracted attrition, she chose a more secure approach, and this approach requires waiting.

She is waiting for the Zhenbei Army to send troops to Liangzhou, as long as the Zhenbei Army and Liangzhou are at war, she will start attacking Tongguan here.

Lin Ning guessed that Ishihara didn't want Sizhou. If he took Sizhou at this time, he would have to face the three coalition forces on Lin Ning's side, the rebels in Jingzhou and the three forces of Shu at the same time, and he had no confidence that he could hold Sizhou. But although he didn't want Sizhou, Tongguan was something that Ishihara would inevitably keep.

Keep Tongguan, enter to attack the hinterland of the Central Plains, and retreat to defend the Yongzhou gateway. It was impossible for Ishihara to let Lin Ning capture Tongguan and let himself fall into passivity, so the Zhenbei Army garrisoned Tongguan with a total of 10,000 troops. The defenders of Tongguan already occupied a favorable geographical position, and Lin Ning's Yanzhou army did not have an absolute advantage in numbers, so it was difficult to fight.

In addition, Tongguan is backed by Chang'an, and there is plenty of grain and grass, so he is happy to retreat and use time to consume the grain, grass and fighting spirit of the Yanzhou army. The Yanzhou army has been under the city of Lintong Pass for a long time, and the two sides have been at peace with each other, which is also a strange scene.

After lunch, Jiang Fei took the generals to the military tent, Jiang Wei was also among them as the head of the women's battalion, and after the regular meeting, Lin Ning left Jiang Fei's brothers and sisters and Xie Yan to share with them the news she had just gotten.

"News came from Tongguan yesterday. Lin Ning got straight to the point.

Yongzhou is the origin of the Fufeng Su clan, and the Su clan has always had some secret power in Yongzhou that has not been exposed, and Lin Ning used this part of the manpower. Before becoming Lin Ning's spies, they were originally from Yongzhou, and their identities were very innocent and not easy to arouse suspicion. Some of them also served as leaders in the Zhenbei Army, and this key news in Lin Ning's hands was transmitted back by the spies in the Zhenbei Army.

"At the same time as Ishihara sent troops to Liangzhou, he would increase his troops to Tongguan by 5,000. Lin Ning pointed to Chang'an Road on the map. "The army set out from Chang'an, a total of 25,000 men. Among them, 20,000 went to Liangzhou, and 5,000 reinforced Tongguan. ”

"Liangzhou and Qinzhou all need to be guarded, so if you calculate that there are only 10,000 troops left in Chang'an, how dare Ishihara?" Jiang Fei said.

This shows that he sticks to Tongguan's heart. Xie Yan said, raising his eyes and glancing at Lin Ning. Lin Ning nodded lightly to him, and Xie Yan explained to Jiang Fei: "Yongzhou has no danger to defend except for Tongguan, and if he holds Tongguan, it is equivalent to guarding Yongzhou." ”

"But what if the Hu people invade at this time?" Jiang Fei said: "The autumn harvest is the time when the Hu people go south to fight the grass valley, and there are Hu people who commit crimes at this time every year. The transfer of troops to Tongguan will inevitably lead to an emptiness of local troops. If the Hu people take advantage of the weakness to enter, Yongzhou will be thousands of miles away. ”

"Yongzhou is Ishihara's hometown, he cares more about the safety of Yongzhou than we do, not to mention that Ishihara has always cherished feathers, so let's not worry about what he should worry about for him. Lin Ning said.

"What we should do now is to think carefully about how to take down a strong fortress with 15,000 elite soldiers. ”

After the increase in troops, the strength of Tongguan reached 15,000 people, and the Yanzhou army's already meager numerical advantage was gone, and the capture of Tongguan had become an extremely difficult battle.