When he went, he rode one hundred and one horses, including scholars, and when he came back, one hundred and one horses were intact, and even Xue Pingchuan was a little unbelievable.

"You said that Zhao Jiansoul asked you to come back?"

A hundred and one people were standing intact a few years ago, except for the leader Zhang Mingyue, who was a little embarrassed, covered in bandages, and the rest of them did not even lose a single hair, they had only heard that the scout was executed by Ling Chi, and they had never heard that someone had let the scout come back, Zhao Jiansoul had always been cunning Xue Pingchuan did not know, but this time this practice was really unbelievable, the grain and grass of the 100,000 army were burned for half a year, and the initiator came back unharmed.

"That's right, he let us come back, and told us to tell the general that in three days he will lead the army to knock on the pass, and I don't know why, but there is another reason for the burning of grain and grass. ”

At that moment, Zhang Mingyue told the story as it was, and when the words fell, including Princess Zhaoyang and the others who came in a hurry, they were already full of frost.

"What kind of pass is Zhao Jiansoul selling? Could it just make my Western Chu army confused? He wants my Western Chu border guards to know that he Zhao Jiansoul will not kill him?"

Princess Zhaoyang was delicate in the end, and many of them could be seen in just a few words, but Sima Yun shook his head.

"Zhao Jiansoul will definitely not be so superficial, the grain and grass of the 100,000 army were burned overnight for half a year, there is no grain and grass reserves in the rear, and there is not enough military food in a short period of time, just want to provoke the soldiers to fight to the death, the Western Xia army was born in the north and was brave and good at fighting, and now it is forced to a dead end, how can the combat effectiveness that erupted be comparable to usual? ”

"At present, there are probably two possibilities, he deliberately let the stinky boy come back to shake the hearts of the army, knock on the pass after three days, and the general will gather all the border guards and fight to the death in three days, but the border defense of Xichu is too long, except for the tiger and wolf pass, in case Zhao Jiansoul is just bluffing, attacking the tiger and wolf pass on the surface, and actually leading troops to enter the pass from other border guards, so how should the general be? As far as I know, in addition to the Tiger Wolf Pass, there are several small passes in the border defense, which have to be defended, but if we disperse the troops on the main roads, the troops will not be concentrated, and they will be defeated in one blow, this Zhao Jian Soul has given us a problem, he may not be able to gather 100,000 troops within three days, but there are 60,000 or 70,000, 670,000 troops and the Tiger Wolf Pass border army are evenly matched, this battle has to be fought, must be fought. ”

Everyone obviously didn't expect Sima Yun to say that Zhao Jiansoul's thoughts were the head of the way, and at this time, it was as if a shadow had been cast.

"I can go to Saibei again to spy on the military situation, such a large army, it is absolutely impossible to act unknowingly in Saibei, if the situation changes, we can respond as soon as possible. ”

Zhang Mingyue stood up with her body bold.

"In addition, we originally had a march map here that went deep into Western Xia for fifty miles, but then we didn't bring it out in a hurry, Li Qiushu, you probably remember that you have to draw a new copy of each point of the map?"

"Yes. ”

The scholar immediately put out the four treasures of the study, but in half an hour, he drew an identical map, which was not forgotten even if Sima Yun looked at it a few more times, the burned grain and grass camp, and the key points in the Xixia army camp were clearly marked.

"Maybe we should take the initiative, a battalion of tens of thousands of people is not said to be able to move. ”

Xue Pingchuan pointed to the main road on the map.

"As long as you lead your troops to surround these few points, coupled with a strong bow and crossbow, even if you can't destroy the Western Xia army, you will definitely not be able to benefit Zhao Jiansoul, and then there will be no food and grass supply after three days of vitality, and you will be defeated with one blow. ”

"The general is thinking too simply. ”

Sima Yun folded his arms and shook his head again.

"Zhao Jiansoul is not a fool, he can put all the hundred horses back is enough to prove that he has no fear, maybe every step we are preparing now is in his plan, besides, leaving the Tiger Wolf Pass and entering the Saibei to fight an encounter with the Western Xia army, the general really feels that he is sure of victory? The Western Xia army garrison is only thirty miles away from the Tiger Wolf Pass, how can he not know that we are really out of the Tiger Wolf Pass?"

"Then what do you say should be done now? The matter of borrowing troops from Xuanyuan Hongtu is not something that can be completed in a short time, is it possible to give up the Tiger and Wolf Pass like this?"

Can't enter, can't retreat, even Princess Zhaoyang has a lot of temper. But in other words, if it weren't for the reduction of military and political expenditures, I am afraid that Western Chu would not have faintly caught up with and surpassed the Northern Wei Dynasty in just 20 years.

"The Tiger Wolf Pass must not be allowed, if this pass is let go, the people in the West Pass will lose the only moat, if the Xixia army enters the pass, burning, killing and looting all evil, it will only arouse public resentment, but how this battle should be fought, I can't come up with a good way for a while, the princess and the general also please give me one night. ”

One night, not long, not short, but Sima Yun did not put his mind on the war at all, but Zhang Mingyue, who was very interested and seriously injured, sat in front of the already snowy loess mound, the scholar had made a great contribution, and at this time he had been coaxed by the soldiers in the army to the sky and pulled to the sky to drink bitterly, as for the ranger Er Guyue, there must be no other place to go except to tease the song and dance troupe singer who came from Bianjing City and didn't know how many times he had molested.

"It's been half a day since I've been back, why don't I see the old man alone?" Even if he was medicated, the injury would still not heal too quickly in this cold winter, although it was a little more comfortable, but he was still wrapped in bandages, Zhang Mingyue still couldn't believe that Zhao Jiansoul actually let himself go back like this, and even sent the knife back.

Zhang Mingyue habitually took out her pipe, and was habitually choked twice.

"It's a good feeling to be alive, to be alive and to be choked on tobacco leaves, and to die is nothing. ”

"The old man went to do some business, and it was almost time to come back, but I always had a feeling that the old man seemed to be leaving. ”

Sima Yun looked at the dark night in Saibei and was stunned.

"Where is he going?"

"I don't know, now the old man has entered the land fairyland, this rivers and lakes, no one in this world can trap him, the old man said that there is Li Wenzhen in one day, he can't let the Western Regions enter the Central Plains alone, now the war is about to start, the Western Regions must have been stationed in the army, we have left the Northern Wei Dynasty for more than half a year, half a year, enough for a lot of things to happen. ”

"You want to go too?"

Zhang Mingyue asked.

"I shouldn't be leaving for the time being, not to mention that I said that the old man is leaving, and I didn't say that the old man is going to leave soon, right? I have a suggestion, I don't know if you would like to hear it?"

"What advice?"

"I suggest you go back to Bianjing, you should know that this is not your war, if you continue to stay in this Tiger and Wolf Pass, the end will definitely not be much better, this catastrophe is not dead, it is already a great luck, but you can guarantee how long you can be lucky? ”

Zhang Mingyue shook her head firmly when she heard this.

"Maybe it wasn't my war in the past, but since I came to this Tiger Wolf Pass, it's been my war, I can't leave this brother of the Xue Zijun to escape alone, they will look down on me, Lao Xu will look down on me, I will look down on myself, I will also look down on myself, you don't force me anymore, life and death are all in peace." ”

"You are as stubborn as ever, do you really think that the Chu army will win this battle?"

"Didn't you mean to give you a night to think about a good way to defeat the enemy?"

"A good idea?"

Sima Yun shook his head and sighed.

"My good strategy is to retreat from the pass, maintain strength, reach an agreement with the Western Xia, and retreat a hundred miles to defend the pass, you said that the grain and grass of the Zhao Jiansoul army is the self-sufficiency of the Western Xia, which means that the situation is not as bad as we imagined, the Western Regions and the Western Xia should not have formed an alliance for the time being, but if the two countries of the Western Xia and Western Chu are at war, the war will definitely not be able to decide the outcome in a short period of time, I can guarantee that with my and Mr. Ning's talents, the Western Chu can at least last for more than half a year, but have you ever thought about what will happen if Zhao Jiansoul can't attack the Western Chu in the past half a year? The crime of deceiving the king, Zhao Jiansoul is okay, although this person is cunning, but he definitely keeps his promise, otherwise he will not let the Xixia Emperor entrust him with a heavy responsibility, and he will not let you come back, but Zhao Jiansoul is dead, the Xixia army has no unscrupulous generals, and there is no food and grass, what do you think the emperor of Xixia will do in this case?"

Sima Yun asked with interest, even if he was as calm as Zhang Mingyue, he felt a chill inexplicably at this time.

"He will really turn to the Western Regions for help, and when the time comes, the two families will form an alliance. ”

"It seems that you have indeed grown a lot, Zhao Jiansoul is to see through this so he let you come back, and will specifically tell you that this grain and grass is self-sufficient in Western Xia, although the two families have not said clearly, the 100,000 army of grain and grass for half a year is ready to knock on the customs for a battle, the purpose is to make the Chu army cold, if he does not burn the grain and grass, Xue Pingchuan also thought that he could use the natural danger to deal with him, but now there is no other way, but it is a pity that although Princess Zhaoyang is known as a civil and military master, she is always too young, I don't know the real intention of Zhao Jiansoul, if the two families can reconcile, the Chu army retreats to Guanzhong, but it is only a loss of a hundred miles, but this hundred miles of land has bought a lot of time for our Central Plains, and now, it is precisely the time we lack the most. ”

Zhang Mingyue laughed when he heard it, he said.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-seven, or twenty-eight?"

Sima Yun snapped his fingers.

"I don't remember very well, I was away from home for too long, my life passed very slowly, and I didn't even know how old I was. ”

"Then how old are you just Princess Zhaoyang, how can you say that the princess is too young to understand the world?"

Sima Yun stood up, his hands were behind his back, his green shirt fluttered in the wind, even if it was freezing in Saibei, he had never seen him add two more clothes, how could Zhang Mingyue not know that even a guy as ruthless as his own battalion commander had to wear armor this winter, which shows how difficult it is to endure the winter in Saibei, but Sima Yun doesn't seem to feel any cold, could it be that the guy in front of him is really iron-clad?

"You know what? There's a tradition in my hometown that children have to read a lot of books and walk the world since they were five years old, and in that part of my hometown, almost everyone is the best of the best, and I'm already very bad at that, but after a trip to the world, my hometown is gone overnight. ”

"Where is your hometown? I've never heard of you. ”

"There's a chance to take you there. ”

Sima Yun chuckled softly.

"But now it's probably overgrown with weeds, and no outsiders are allowed to approach that place, and, by all accounts, it seems like I'm the only one left alive in my hometown, no. ”

He shook his head suddenly.

"There must be several more. ”

Zhang Mingyue was too lazy to listen to the nonsense of the guy in front of him, he said lightly.

"You should also know how much blood and how many people have died in order to protect this land, and now that you are planning to give up a hundred miles of land, you are not afraid that the general will not agree? The princess does not agree? His Majesty the Emperor does not agree? Not to mention that you are only a second-rank official now, what you say is really useful?"

"Of course what I said was useless, but there was one person who said something much more useful than the people you said. ”

"You said Mr. Ning?"

Mr. Ning said that it is naturally the country Shi Ning Zhiyuan.

"That's right, Ning Zhiyuan is not an ordinary person, and he can also see that there is long-term peace and stability in this, and only this method can solve the urgent need, but also plan for the future. ”

"In that case, why did you let the princess borrow 50,000 soldiers and horses from Xuanyuan Hongtu, since you have decided to retreat to Guanzhong, what is the use of these 50,000 iron horses?"

"You may have made a mistake in the order, it was borrowed first, and the grain and grass were burned later, no one expected such a thing, but now it seems that even if you retreat to the pass, there is still a need to borrow troops from Xuanyuan Hongtu, not to mention that the Western Xia army is brave and good at fighting, if the incident suddenly happens one day Zhao Jiansoul is suddenly recalled, with 50,000 iron horses, he is not afraid of Western Xia, and it is even possible to recover the lost land, even if Zhao Jiansoul will not be recalled, Guanzhong is worry-free, these 50,000 iron horses should not be in vain. ”

"Do you want to eat these 50,000 iron horses? Do you know that these 50,000 iron horses are all henchmen under Xuanyuan Hongtu, and they are loyal to Xuanyuan Hongtu, and they are definitely not so easy to be bought, maybe these 50,000 iron horses will eat Chu Jun at that time. ”

"You are too worried, there is never absolute loyalty in this world, people have shortcomings, and if there are shortcomings, they will be used, let's guess who Xuanyuan Hongtu will send to sit in the 50,000 iron horses. ”

Sima Yun said with interest.

"Who to send? How do I know, after all, we have only seen Xuanyuan Hongtu and his advisor Shi Xiuqi in the Spring and Autumn Period Sixth Grade, Shi Xiuqi from the beginning to the present, Shi Xiuqi ......"

Zhang Mingyue's eyes widened suddenly.

Xuanyuan Hongtu did not leave the hunchbacked old man an inch, which is enough to show that he attaches great importance to him, and these 50,000 iron horsemen are the most important thing in Western Chu, except for Shi Xiuqi, it is difficult to send others to come.

"That's right, Shi Xiuqi, this smelly and hard Confucian student. ”