In order to prevent Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan from causing trouble when they left Shuozhou City, Xu Wuqi personally accompanied them out and returned to the Governor's Mansion to see Xu Huai. Liu Qiong'er was still sitting in the living room of the west courtyard;
Jun Fan was also sitting in the living room at this time, making tea and drinking tea around the brazier.
When drinking tea in Dai Viet, tea cakes are the main type. They must be roasted on a charcoal fire first. After the moisture in the tea cakes is gone, put it in a tea box to cool and then grind it into powder. Remove the tea stems and set aside. Boil the water and add a little salt at the beginning.
After blending at the end, boil for the second time and then add tea foam. After boiling for the third time, drink the tea separately.
The scholar-bureaucrats did not find it tedious to drink tea, but enjoyed it. Xu Huai and others only did it occasionally when they needed to discuss matters for a long time.
Xu Huai also used to make tea himself, which made it easier for him to speak less and listen to others' comments.
Xu Wuqi sat down and said: "Linhuang Mansion and Dading Mansion may have fallen, otherwise Xiao Linshi would not be so eager to send Chen Zixiao over to test our truth; Chen Zixiao actually tried to encourage us to assassinate
Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili were sick and rushed to the doctor..."
"What, this bitch has such a bad idea?" Guo Junpan asked with some anger.
Although he and Pan Chenghu became bandits in Tongbai Mountain, they had carefully maintained their relations with surrounding villages over the years and lived by collecting protection fees, but they were still stable. At first, they thought it was Zheng Hui or Dong Qifeng who was causing trouble.
Like them, Chen Zixiao was bewitched or coerced by the current situation. Who would have thought that Chen Zixiao was the one with ulterior motives.
Even after being recruited to Lanzhou, Chen Zixiao still wanted to use their sword to stir up trouble.
Xu Huai let Chen Zixiao go out of consideration for the overall situation. Guo Junpan was also an adult and had no objections. However, he did not expect that Chen Zixiao would not change his traitorous nature. At this time, he came over to seduce Chen Zixiao. He listened.
Of course he was furious.
Are the assassination of Guo Caoling and the assassination of Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili brothers the same thing?
Seriously, Xiao Linshi has three or five powerful assassins under his command. They have many secrets hidden in Lanzhou. If they really want to assassinate Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili, why don't they make arrangements and insist on instigating them to take action?
I'm just bullying this person like a three-year-old.
"Let someone release Han Lurong and the other two!"
Xu Huai sprinkled salt powder into the boiling soup and said.
Back in Kelan City, Xiao Linshi and two hidden stakes were captured together with Xiao Yanhan and Chen Zixiao. They had all been transferred to Shuozhou before. Xu Huai intended to release these two hidden stakes at this time.
Let's go and let them follow Xiao Yanhan, Chen Zixiao and others to respond to the state.
"Then Han Lurong stubbornly refused to speak. He is very important under Xiao Linshi's command, so he really let them go like this?" Guo Junpan asked hesitantly.
Although they were the ones who took the initiative to call for a truce, Xiao Linshi's side made repeated moves, and Guo Junpan felt that Shuozhou's attitude should not be too weak.
"Linhuang Mansion and Dading Mansion have fallen. It is enough for the Red Husbands to use a partial force to attack Liaoyang Mansion. The main force has probably returned to Mobei to rest and recuperate. There is no need to wait until summer and autumn. They only need news that the partial force has captured Liaoyang Mansion.
Once the news reaches Mobei, the Red Husbands will organize troops to peep south to Yinshan Mountain," Xu Huai said, "After all, we still hope that Xiao Linshi can lead his troops to Yinshan Mountain to block a block of Red Husbands..."
What they are facing now is not only the problem of Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili brothers turning to the Red Husbands, not only the problem of the Red Husbands behind the scenes in Xishan, there is another point that cannot be ignored, and that is Xiao Xin
Will Han, Xiao Qian, Li Chulin and others defect to the Red Husbands?
It is obvious that in the established historical trajectory, no matter which route the Chihu people chose to go south, they moved extremely quickly. This not only meant that Dai Viet's Hedong or Hebei defense lines were destroyed like a maze, but also meant that the Khitan's defense line in Xijing was destroyed.
Or the remaining forces in Nanjing (Xijin Prefecture-Yanji) are also very weak in resistance.
If Xu Huai ignored the possibility that the remaining Khitan forces would turn to the Red Husbands at this time, then he would be sorry for the warning these memory fragments flashed in his mind gave him.
At this time, although the imperial court recalled Cai Yuanyou, Wang Fan, Zhu Hang, Wang Zhen and others to Bianjing, the Xiaosheng Army, Xuanwu Army and other forbidden troops previously drawn from the Western Army did not return to Jingzhou and others.
The land was still stationed in the Xin Dynasty.
On the one hand, the Tianxiong Army suffered a heavy setback. Before the reconstruction was completed, other Forbidden Forces were needed to defend the northeastern part of the river. However, the DPRK did not intend to attack Yan again.
The imperial court seized the post of Ge Boyi's Hedong Economic and Strategic Envoy and moved the Ge clan to Bianjing to live. However, it did not arrange for anyone else to replace him. Instead, it appointed Liu Shizhong, the commander of Xiaosheng Army, who had long served as Cai Qing's deputy in the Western Army, to serve as Hedong's military envoy.
This is an extremely important piece of evidence.
Even if the imperial court was not very willing to attack Yan for the second time at this time, Xu Huai still had to consider Cao Shixiong. After the Cao Shili brothers secretly defected to the Red Husband, they would most likely encourage Liu Shizhong and others to attack Yan for the second time.
In short, the situation they will face in the next six months to one year will be extremely complex and dangerous.
Listening to Xu Huai's detailed analysis of the possible situation, Guo Junpan thought of something and asked: "Will Xiao Linshi surrender to the Red Husband? You just said a lot, but it seems that you missed this point."
"It's not that I missed it, it's that I'm a little reluctant to speculate on this possibility." Xu Huai said with a wry smile.
"Indeed, if Xiao Linshi intends to surrender to the Red Husbands, we should have no other choice but to break up into pieces and retreat south, right?" Xu Wuqi picked up the tea bowl and said.
"It seems so!" Guo Junpian scratched his head and said, "If this is really the case, it would be easier. Since we can't get anything out of it, we might as well just disperse and go south at all costs."
Since the Northern Expedition against Yan, there are currently only 200,000 enemy troops and horses gathered in the Huihe River Valley and the north and south of Changshan. To be honest, before the Red Husband Cavalry went south, the only thing that really scared them was Xiao Linshi.
At this time, he led more than 20,000 Tibetan soldiers stationed in Yingzhou.
The troops commanded by Xiao Xinhan, Xiao Qian, Li Chulin and others in Datong, Jincheng, Huairen and Fengzhou in the north have been adjusted and replenished. Although the total strength has once again reached 50,000, on the one hand they will be mobilized to fight against
Shuozhou's siege force was actually quite limited. On the other hand, the combat effectiveness of this part of Xijing's troops was not much better than that of Tianxiong's army before the northern expedition against Yan.
The combat effectiveness of the Tianxiong Army that Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili took over at this time was even more disorganized. Although the Xiaosheng Army and Xuanwu Army stationed in Xindai and other places at this time were known as the elite of the Western Army, it was impossible for Guo Junpan at this time to have any
Look up at them.
After much deliberation, Xiao Linshi, in addition to his capable Tibetan soldiers and a group of fairly strong generals following him, his resourcefulness is frightening.
If Xiao Linshi led his troops to surrender to the Red Husbands, they would still be struggling in Shuozhou!
"People like Xiao Linshi should not easily surrender to the Red Husbands, and as Uncle Wu said, they also realize that the situation is very critical, so how will they deal with this situation carefully?" Liu Qiong'er hesitated.
asked.
Xu Huai stared at the red-hot charcoal in the brazier. Although the memory fragments that flashed through his mind were so short and small that even men and women couldn't bear it, there were still tracks to follow.
At present, their direct reconnaissance of the Red Husbands cannot be carried out due to the lack of necessary manpower. However, since the official establishment of Yue Yulou, one of the main things Liu Qiong'er has done is to recruit all the people in Shuozhou who are fighting against the Red Husbands.
Find out all the people you have interacted with, and write down and organize everything they see and hear.
The main people left in Shuozhou City are the old, the weak, women and children. Even though most people have limited contact with the Red Husbands, and the transcribed information is very fragmentary, most of the intelligence work is spent on piecing together the fragmented information.
At this time, we can at least confirm that the Chihu people are in the process of rising. For surrounding tribes, alliances or annexations, for hostile tribes, we always eliminate their nobles and then digest them.
The Chihu people's invasion of the entire Khitan territory is no longer a question mark, but how the Chihu people will digest the legacy of the Khitan's demise - an area thousands of miles wide and a population of tens of millions - is
It is the key to the follow-up.
However, a figure like Xiao Linshi would not fail to see Khitan nobles or other generals surrender to the Red Husbands or retain their wealth, but it is difficult to say that the royal family's children would not be driven out and killed by the Red Husbands.
A person like Xiao Linshi has the ability, prestige, and a group of elite soldiers to follow him. If he really wants to surrender to the Red Hu people, the Red Hu people may use him to invade the Central Plains at first, but how can they not think of not using him in the end?
Get rid of it to avoid future troubles?
Cowards like Xiao Xinhan and Xiao Qian may be afraid of death in front of them and ignore this. How could a person like Xiao Linshi not be able to figure this out?
And if we rule out the possibility of Xiao Linshi surrendering to the enemy, given the existing historical trajectory, the Yunshuo area fell very quickly. There are only three possibilities for Xiao Linshi's fate. One is to perish quickly, and the other is to lead his troops.
Escape eastward to Yan Ji, but the chances of both are very low.
Xiao Linshi's troops are not qualified to fight in the field with the Red Husbands, but Datong, Yingzhou, Huairen, Jincheng and Fengzhou are not without cities to defend. Even if Xiao Linshi is attacked by the Red Husbands and Dayue soldiers and horses, as long as the food supply is constant,
If it lasts for a year and a half, there should be no problem.
And Xiao Linshi should have realized that the Khitan was gone by this time. What was he doing with his troops fleeing eastward to Yanji?
That is the third possibility:
Xiao Linshi has actually decided to lead his troops to escape to the west to avoid the red cavalry heading south!
Xu Huai patted Liu Qiong'er's thigh and said:
"I know why Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan came here this time. They didn't want to encourage us to assassinate Cao Shixiong. They came to explore the way! They want to flee west! They want to bring hundreds of thousands of tribesmen, men, women and children with them.
To move westward, this requires the Xishan area south of Yinshan Mountain to be safe enough to pass, but we and the Shanhu people blocked their way to the west to vote for Dangxiang! Of course, they may not want to vote for Dangxiang in the end, and they may want to lead the remnants to continue
