Chapter 507 The Clouds of War

But Qin Lei had no time to find Yun Shang, because the dark clouds of war had already covered the sky of Qin.

In fact, since March, border frictions have tended to escalate, and small battles of thousands of people are not uncommon.

In April, the situation further deteriorated. The troops of Dongqi crossed the border several times and launched limited attacks in prefectures and counties near Hulao Pass. The intention of harassing and spying was very obvious.

In May, Qi State dispatched 200,000 troops to help farmers in border prefectures and counties harvest in summer. The harvest was completed in just a few days. At the same time, it began to organize residents to move in, fill in wells, take away food, and clean the fields.

In mid-May, Qi's 100,000 troops appeared outside Hulao Pass, killing more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians collected by Qin outside the pass, and looting 100,000 stones of food and grass...

All signs indicate that the war preparations for Qi have been basically in place and a war may break out at any time.

Correspondingly, the two divisions of the Qin Dynasty's Eastern Army had been fully mobilized, and the Marshal Xu of the Eastern Army summoned 100,000 to the Eastern Left Army to guard the front line of Huguan.

Marshal Li Zhuo of Zhendong led the remaining 200,000 troops to guard the Jiguan, Mianchi, Yongning and Yiyang, and guarded against the enemy's covetousness at Hulao Pass.

The commander's office in Jingshan City is still the same conference room, and the wall was replaced by a map of Qinqi's border. In addition to a group of military generals, there were also civil officials led by Guantao. There were more than 100 civil and military personnel in total, and the huge conference room was filled with a large number.

Everyone is listening carefully to Yang Wenyu's introduction to the battlefield situation...

"At present, the troops from both sides start from Shouyang in the north and end from Yiyang in the south can be divided into the northern battlefield with Huguan as the center and the southern battlefield with Hulao Pass as the center. Among them, Huguan and the northern Great Wall are in our hands. There are 100,000 troops from the Marshal of the East to defend the long eastern front, so the focus of the battle is concentrated here," the bamboo whip in his hand drew a line between Hangu Pass and Hulao Pass, and said in a deep voice: "Just like in the past, our army and Qi army will each rely on the Xiong Pass to play chess to see who can break through whose defense this time."

"But although the Zhendong Marshal's headquarters has an army of 200,000, it is very difficult. Because the nine palaces between the two passes, including Wenxi, Hedong, Yongning, Mianchi, Caoyang, Yiyang, etc. are all the territory of our Qin Dynasty. Li Shuai had to send heavy troops to guard..." As he said, his face was a little ugly: "On the contrary, the opponent has withdrawn all the citizens outside the pass, and the army is in the pass, and can attack and defend, with flexible attack and defense, and easy advance and retreat, which has led to our army having to garrison the entire line, which is very passive in strategy."

"Why don't we give up on these Nine Mansions?" As soon as Yang Wenyu finished speaking, Shi Meng asked, "That's not territory, it's a burden!"

Huangfu Zhanwen sneered: "It is a great crime to break the ground without fighting. Without the imperial edict from the court, he would not dare to give Li Zhuo a courage."

Qin Lei, who was the leader of the top, nodded and said, "Don't forget that this place was recovered by His Majesty when he was personally expeditioned. If he gave up before the war started, wouldn't it be denied his achievements?" As he said that, he took off his legs on the table and said in a deep voice: "Zhao Wujiu returned this bag to us, which laid the foreshadowing for today's battle situation."

"However," Qin Lei changed his mind and said straightened his back: "Our Jingshan Army is only one of the participating troops and cannot participate in the decision-making of the upper level. Therefore, he will complete whatever tasks he has. He must eat it even if he has a pot of raw rice!"

Seeing that the prince was sitting upright, the civil and military officials also sat upright and listened to the imperial edict with breath.

"I ordered Jingshan City to enter a first-level combat readiness state, and civil and military officials went all out to prepare for the departing of 30,000 permanent troops." Qin Lei said in a deep voice: "It can be foreseeable that this war will last at least until late autumn, and may even be in the New Year's Eve... Therefore, after the team was launched, the left-behind officials stepped up training 20,000 reserve troops for the front line to supplement it!"

"Maybe when the orphans return to the army, it is the day when the army is set off. All the dukes work together to speed up the preparations for the war!"

"Abide by the order!" civil and military officials shouted in unison.

Qin Lei came out of the conference room, and Shi Meng followed him with a slutty smile, "Prince, can I go home tomorrow?"

"Why don't you let your wife come?" Qin Lei cursed with a smile: "The other generals have moved their homes, but not many people like you are separated, right?"

Shi Meng smiled embarrassedly: "She was so badly beaten by Princess Heyang in the first half of the year. Now she is holding on to a thrill of energy and wants to win back, so I have to run away from both ends."

"What a good man." Qin Lei smiled and said, "Get out now, you can stay for one more night." Shi Meng got out happily.

Smiling and shaking his head, Qin Lei looked at Shi Yong and said, "What's wrong with you?"

Shi Yong scratched his head and said, "Prince, there has been a surge in taking family leave these two days. The officers and soldiers all want to go home before the war, but will you announce your first-level combat readiness affect your morale?"

Qin Lei shook his head slightly and said, "It doesn't matter, I will let the troops pass through Zhongdu City, and the effect of seeing off will be better." Seeing Shi Yong's face full of confusion, Qin Lei explained softly: "After all, most of our army is new recruits. The reason why the morale is high is because they are always tightened. No one knows what will happen if they are singing..."

There are some things that needless to say, one-third of his army was clan soldiers in Jingshan City, and the rest were peasant militia recruited from the north. The clan soldiers were close to home and had the conditions to go home; peasant militia was far away from home and could not go home. If the clan soldiers were sent home alone, it would make the peasant militia dissatisfied, and even deserters might appear, so we should not let go of any of them, so no one should be envied.

War was imminent, everything was fast-paced. After leaving the commander's mansion, Qin Lei had no time to go home, so he boarded the carriage entering Beijing. Under the escort of the black-armored cavalry, he marched towards Zhongdu City in a mighty manner.

I rushed to hurry up and finally arrived at the city before dusk. As soon as the team drove in, the city gate was locked, obviously strengthening its vigilance.

When Qin Lei opened the car curtain, he saw that the streets were still crowded, as if nothing had changed. But if you look closely, you will find that there were more soldiers patrolling the streets, and there were a little anxiety and tension on the faces of the people. Many people carried rice and flour on their shoulders and hurriedly walked by the car... When war was about to go to war, prices would definitely soar, so people with spare money would try to buy daily necessities as much as possible to avoid losing money at that time.

"The atmosphere is much more tense." Qin Lei turned around and said to Hou Xin.

Hou Dusi inherited the glorious tradition of his predecessor Shen Bing, and halfway up Qin Lei's king's car to report to him the latest developments in the capital. He heard the prince say this, and he chuckled and said, "But the forces of all parties have eased a lot. The Li family, including several princes, and His Majesty, have tacitly stopped hostilities. Whoever gets up to make trouble at this time will arouse public outrage."

Qin Lei nodded. He knew that this was a common tradition among the three countries. No matter how fierce the country was, once they encountered foreign enemies, they would immediately unite to the outside world, which was quite like "brothers were fighting against the wall and defending their insults from the outside".

"Strange era," Qin Lei sighed, "I don't know when it will be."

Unable to respond to the prince's feelings, Hou Xin laughed dryly and said, "What instructions does the prince have during this period?"

"Consolidate the power of Nancheng, and as for other places, let's stop first." Qin Lei said lightly.

While speaking, the carriage arrived in front of Qingheyuan. Qin Lei saw the eldest Longxiang cavalry waiting at the door, and he couldn't help but feel nervous. He knew that Qin Li would not visit him for no reason at this critical moment.

After jumping out of the carriage, someone had already gone in to report it. Qin Li came out with a serious expression and pulled Qin Lei to the study room. Then he said in a deep voice: "Brother, the order of advance has come out, you can play the pioneer."

Qin Lei was stunned and laughed: "Are you dizzy? How can you send the 'weak brigade' in the eyes of everyone to take the lead?"

"It was proposed by the father, so the Grand Marshal naturally had no objection." Qin Li looked at Qin Lei with a strange expression and shook his head, "Who told you not to pay attention to your behavior in daily life and offend the two big bosses so much, what should you do?"

Qin Lei sneered and said, "The prince is careful, but what else do you think about him?"

Qin Li whispered: "Yes, you have risen too fast and have long become someone else's 'eye thorn', so you will naturally be fisted."

Qin Lei stroked the neat short beard on his chin and said in a deep voice: "Do you know who is in charge? It's impossible that it's really Ma Guangzu?" Ma Guangzu was extremely cowardly, and no one obeyed his command.

"It is likely that he will be in charge of the army." Unsurprisingly, Qin Li mentioned the candidate for the head coach: "Your Majesty has high expectations for this war..." The second half is hard to say, but Qin Lei knew that Emperor Zhaowu wanted to consolidate his authority in the army through a real victory and completely dispel Li Hun's ambitions.

Even if his confidence soared like Emperor Zhaowu, he had no hope of destroying Li Hun. After all, the rabbit was anxious and still biting people, not to mention that the Taiwei Li, who was deeply rooted in the military, was much better than the rabbit... at least he was an old rabbit.

"What if there is a loss?" Qin Lei said with concern: "Didn't you persuade Your Majesty? He doesn't know how to fight. Wouldn't he cause trouble if he goes? If he has a bad situation, this battle... will be impossible?"

Qin Li smiled bitterly and said, "Do you think I am more favorable than you?" Qin Lei was stunned at first, and then he burst into laughter with Qin Li... Everyone, let alone the second brother, in the eyes of His Majesty, they are all a pair of rebellious sons.

After laughing, he returned to the main topic. Qin Li handed a thick booklet to Qin Lei and smiled and said, "This is some of the experiences and lessons I have learned from dealing with the Qi army for more than ten years. You can take it and take a look, at least for reference."

Qin Lei smiled gratefully, put the book in close contact, and asked softly: "Where has the Longxiang Army been arranged?"

"The rear army." Qin Li whispered: "You are the vanguard officer of Zhengyin, and I am the escort officer of the food and grass. Our brothers are all intriguing."

Qin Lei frowned and said, "What does it mean?"

Before he finished speaking, a gentle knock on the door came from the door, and then Shi Gan whispered: "Prince, the Lord Zhuo of the Palace has sent a verbal order, please ask the two high men to enter the palace to see the emperor quickly."

The two looked at each other in surprise, wondering what the emperor sold in the gourd.

Despite the doubts, the two of them were not slow to move. In less than two quarters of an hour, they followed Eunuch Zhuo into the Great Interior and went to the Golden Dragon Hall without any obstacles. Then they saw His Majesty the Emperor greeting him with a smile.

The two of them quickly saluted, but were held back by the emperor and laughed loudly: "Don't be too polite, today there are only fathers and sons, and no monarchs and ministers."

Qin Lei felt nauseous when he heard this, and cursed in his heart: "It's good that you are, and it's you, it's faster to turn against you than to read a book." However, he remained silent and followed him into the side hall obediently. He saw that the huge dining table in the past was replaced by the Eight Immortals table of ordinary people. The dishes on the table were also very ordinary, but they were all hot soup and hot rice.

The emperor pulled his two sons to sit down beside him, and said kindly, "I haven't eaten yet, right?" The two of them shook their heads together.

Emperor Zhaowu said with a blame, "No matter how busy you are, you have to eat on time. How can you not care about your health?" As he said that, he personally served a bowl of rice for the boss, and then brought a bun for Qin Lei and said, "Eat quickly, and talk after you have enough food."

Qin Lei suddenly realized that the war was about to come, and His Majesty the Emperor finally regained the family line. He bit the bun with excitement, and only two drops of golden beans fell to cooperate. But he always kept calm in his heart. He didn't believe that after the "Tianshui Incident", he still had the possibility of reconciliation with the emperor... Maybe it was a temporary measure, Qin Lei guessed secretly.

Qin Li's expression remained unchanged. He calmly scattered three bowls of rice, ate all the three plates of meat in front of him, and then wiped his mouth and said, "I'm full." Qin Lei also put down his bowl, nodded, indicating that he was full too.

Emperor Zhaowu then took the two of them to read tea in the study, and asked with a smile about the preparations of their respective troops, whether there were any difficulties to be solved, whether there were any additional troops, or the like.

After the two of them patiently answered these unnutritious questions, Qin Li couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, can you let Yutian and I change positions and let the Longxiang Army fight the vanguard?"

Emperor Zhaowu was a little stunned and said lightly: "The jade cannot be made into a weapon without being carved. I have high expectations for Yutian. It is always good to hone it."

"Father, this is a battle of national destiny, how can you play?" Qin Li frowned.

The haze on Emperor Zhaowu's face flashed and he immediately changed into a smile and said, "What Qin Li said makes sense, but this is my resolution with the Grand Marshal and cannot be changed." As he said, he glanced at Qin Lei and said, "But Yutian can resign at tomorrow's court meeting..."

Qin Lei smiled and said, "My son is willing to be the pioneer." Qin Li said again and hurt Xiao Wu's self-esteem, so he had to stop talking.

Emperor Zhaowu immediately went downstairs and nodded and smiled, "Yutian is very wise," and turned his face to the eldest prince and said, "Qin Li, don't you want to be an escort officer?"

Qin Li nodded without hesitation and said, "How can Longxiong Cavalry charge forward, how can they transport grain from behind?"

Emperor Zhaowu smiled and said, "Okay, this is my good son. It seems that the father doesn't understand you." After thinking for a while, he said in a negotiation tone: "Let's do this, come to the central army, how about you attack the main force?"

Qin Li thought that it was always good to go up the front, so he nodded and agreed.

Then the emperor began to ask Qin Li for some common sense about marching and fighting. The eldest son naturally had no reservations, and he said everything and answered it easily, which made the emperor very happy and kept praising his eldest son.

Seeing that Qin Lei had nothing to do for a long time, he naturally understood that this scene was actually for the boss to watch, and he was just a prop for the emperor to act... Look, I can ignore the rebellious Xiao Wu, so the knot between us is naturally no problem...

It seems that the boss was listed as the target of being won over by the emperor, but he was positioned as a victim...

'It turns out that the wood is fascinating in the forest, and the wind will destroy it...' Qin Lei thought narcissistically. The superficial reason for all this was the conflict in Tianshui City, but it was just an appearance. He knew that the emperor wanted to use him as a gun at first, but he did not expect his power to expand rapidly.
Chapter completed!