As far as the eye can see in the vast Gobi desert, the temporary military tents set up by the Chinese army stretch for several miles. Nearly 180,000 troops have just crossed the Tianshan Mountains. Now they are exhausted and they are all lying in the military tents to rest.
In the Chinese army camp, the lights flickered on and off. Zhang Fei, wearing a woolen coat, sat around the campfire to warm himself. The temperature difference between day and night in the Gobi is huge. It is too hot during the day, but very cold at night.
In addition, there is a cold wind howling at night. If you don’t put on thick warm clothes, you will definitely freeze to death.
"Have you all read the prince's letter?" Zhang Fei is already in his forties. He has gone through many vicissitudes of life. He no longer has the violence of the past. Instead, he has a mature charm. His eyes shine with light,
After glancing at Guo Jia and Pang Tong, he landed on the fire again, staring at the flickering light in a daze.
Guo Jia first said: "Your Majesty urges us to speed up our march. I wonder what the General thinks?"
"Our army has walked all the way, not avoiding hardships. We have just crossed the Tianshan Mountains, and now we are walking on the Gobi. Water is the most important thing in the Gobi. Sometimes we can go hundreds of miles without encountering a water source. The army is walking
It's miserable. If we speed up the march, I'm worried that this big army will
The army will be overwhelmed before it reaches its destination." Zhang Fei analyzed in detail, "The prince's troops are all good horses selected from Dawan. They can travel eight hundred miles a day and have great endurance. They are beyond our comparison.
According to me, it will take at least ten days to reach the destination predicted by the prince."
"Ten days? After ten days, I'm afraid that the prince has already lost the time to compete with the Xianbei people. Moreover, the prince's letter also made it very clear that Taishi Ci's army is short of food and grass and can only hold on for two days at most. General Zhang, don't you think?
Is the prince defeated?" Guo Jia said suddenly.
"Whatever you say, I only guarantee the safe arrival of the army. If you rush forward greedily, I'm afraid it will be counterproductive." Zhang Fei knew that Guo Jia was Gao Lin's mentor, but he had always had such a temper. He did not avoid powerful people, as long as he was
Yes, he persisted to the end.
"You..." Guo Jia became angry and immediately pointed at Zhang Fei and shouted.
Seeing this, Pang Tong hurriedly reconciled, stood up, took Guo Jia's hand, and said: "Your Majesty, please calm down, you and General Zhang are both right. Your Majesty urges us to march quickly, so of course you have your reasons.
However, blindly forcing the march will probably destroy the entire army.
The team collapsed. The prince is the son of the emperor, so why would General Zhang refuse to save him even if he is facing death? Besides, if the prince is defeated, it will not be of any benefit to General Zhang. Why would General Zhang do such a thankless thing?
I do have a compromise, maybe I can give it a try..."
After Guo Jia and Zhang Fei heard this, they asked in unison: "What can we do?"
Pang Tong said: "We can first send a force to support the prince in a forced march, and General Zhang will continue to lead the rest. After seeing the prince, he explained the difficulties our army has. The prince is reasonable and naturally does not agree.
We will blame him. In this way, we will not disobey the prince's order, but also support the prince, killing two birds with one stone, why not?"
After hearing this, Guo Jia immediately clapped his hands and said: "Good! What Shi Yuan said is exactly what I thought. General Zhang, how about I lead half of the cavalry first, and the general leads the rest behind?"
Zhang Fei said: "Yes, but you are not allowed to take away any of my subordinates. If you want to take them away, take away the prince's 80,000 cavalry. I will use the remaining 100,000 cavalry freely."
Guo Jiadao: "Okay, that's it, but I still need to borrow a general from you..."
"Who?" Zhang Fei asked.
"Challenge the rebel general Guan Ping." Guo Jia knew that when Gao Lin left, he took away all the elite soldiers and generals in the army. If he acted alone, he would have to have a general, so he spoke.
Zhang Fei frowned, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Okay, I promise you, when will we set off?"
"Tomorrow morning."
After the meeting ended, Zhang Fei walked back and forth in the military tent alone. Not long after, Guan Ping stepped into the tent and paid homage: "General, are you looking for me?"
"Ping'er, sit down quickly." When Zhang Fei saw Guan Ping coming, he was immediately overjoyed and personally helped Guan Ping sit down.
"General, what do you want from me?" Guan Ping asked.
"Ping'er, there are no outsiders here. Our uncle and nephew should not be so polite." Zhang Fei glanced at Guan Ping and felt a little sad in his heart. After all, he is the eldest son of his second brother Guan Yu. He has been with him for so many years.
He was suddenly asked to go out on his own, but he couldn't bear it.
Zhang Fei had two sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Zhang Bao, died young, and the second son, Zhang Shao, was weak and sick and was not suitable for martial arts, so he felt that he had no successor. Guan Yu was unwilling to return to the Huaxia Kingdom with him, and he could never let go of Liu Bei.
, This is not his fault. But Guan Yu did not want to drag down his heirs, so he still asked Guan Ping to follow Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei also doted on Guan Ping and regarded Guan Ping as his own son.
Very loving.
"Uncle, why are you looking for me?" Guan Ping asked first, seeing Zhang Fei's unprecedented nervousness and the reluctance in his eyes.
Zhang Fei immediately told Guan Ping what had happened, and then asked: "Ping'er, are you willing to go on an expedition with Military Advisor Guo?"
"Since it is a military order, my nephew does not dare to disobey it. My uncle just gives the order." Guan Ping agreed without even thinking about it.
"But, do you know the dangers of going here?" Zhang Fei said slightly worriedly.
"A real man should carry a three-foot sword and make great achievements. Even if he dies in battle, he will die a worthy death. Uncle, you have always loved and cared for your nephew, and my nephew understands it. However, my nephew does not want to live under his uncle's care all the time.
One day, my nephew will have to face life. Doesn’t uncle hope that his nephew can become a general in his own right one day?" Guan Ping said calmly.
After Zhang Fei heard this, he knew that he could not keep Guan Ping. Just as Guan Ping said, he also hoped that Guan Ping could use this opportunity to show off his talents. In terms of force, Guan Ping was definitely top-notch, but he had always been
There is no opportunity to show off. This time I went to rescue the General King. Once he was chosen by the General King and was included in the palace of the General King as a general of the bodyguard, it would be considered a blessing of Guan Ping. Maybe he would go further and further in the future.
He is not a fool either. Qidang and Lindang are very influential among civil and military officials in both the government and the public. Although he does not join any party, he hopes that Guan Ping can go further. Perhaps it is because of his elders.
A kind of doting on the younger generation, or a kind of hope. In his heart, although Gao Lin was a bit domineering, it was undeniable that the reputation of the general king was famous and powerful in the border area.
"Well, now that you have made your decision and my uncle won't stop you, you can set off with Military Advisor Guo tomorrow. You have to make your own way in the future," Zhang Fei said.
"Yes, uncle!"
………………
Jingzhou, Jiangxia Prefecture.
"Reporting to the magistrate, the navy of the state of Wu openly sailed into the waters of our country without the permission of our country. Patrol boats along the river went to stop it, but they were rammed and sunk by the ships of the navy of the navy of the state of Wu. Except for the boatman, all the others on the patrol boat survived.
Drowning."
In the government hall, Gao Qi was sitting in the position of the prefect. When he heard the report from the person kneeling below, he immediately waved his hand and said: "I know, let's go down."
"But my lord..."
"Go down!" Gao Qi said angrily.
"Yes..." The scout retreated reluctantly.
"General Huya has arrived!" At this time, a loud shout came from outside the government office, and the shout spread into the entire hall.
After Gao Qi heard this, he immediately walked outside the government office hall and happened to bump into General Huya Zhang Liao. Gao Qi clasped his fists and bowed, "I am here to see General Huya, Gao Qi, the prefect of Jiangxia!"
Zhang Liao had a mustache above his lips, which made him look very mature. He was wearing a suit of armor. When he saw Gao Qi paying homage to him, he immediately said: "The eldest prince doesn't have to be like this. The eldest prince is really killing Wen Yuan by doing this."
Gao Qi said: "The laws of China state that a lower-ranking official must meet a higher-ranking official. This is normal etiquette. Now I am the prefect, a second-rank official, but the general has a high position and is the mainstay of the country. It can no longer be measured by rank.
Naturally, the lower officials have to pay homage to the general, and the etiquette must not be broken."
Zhang Liao said: "Well... the eldest prince, the eldest prince must have heard about the fact that the Wu Kingdom's navy rammed and sank our patrol ship, right?"
"I just received the information that the general visited me in person. It must be for this matter. I wonder what the general thinks?" Gao Qi said humbly.
Zhang Liao said: "Hey! The State of Wu is really too arrogant. It has caused troubles year after year and caused trouble every month. The emperor ordered me to tolerate it again and again. But if this continues, I am worried that the soldiers under my command will be driven crazy by the State of Wu. In terms of national strength,
, the strength of our army is greater than that of the Wu State. In terms of military strength, our army can destroy the Wu State long ago, but... eldest prince, if this incident happens in Jiangxia, how do you plan to deal with it? "
Gao Qi said: "There must be a reason why Wu's navy rammed and sank our patrol ship. Wu and our country are allies, so naturally they would not do such a thing. There must be a misunderstanding. I am going to mediate with Wu at this time."
The Grand Governor Zhou Yu was interviewed.”
"First Prince... If you do this, I'm afraid it will damage the prestige of our country!" Zhang Liao said reluctantly.
"Haha, I am also following the imperial edict. This is what is written in the imperial edict. No trouble shall be caused without reason. Tolerance is the first priority in everything. Your Majesty said this, and it certainly makes sense. General, are you right?" Gao Qi asked.
.
Zhang Liao sighed heavily, said nothing, turned around and left. When he was about to walk out of the hall, he suddenly stopped, turned to Gao Qi and said: "First Prince, there is something I must remind you. Any
Everything has its own limits, and blind tolerance is cowardice. My army is at Xiaji. If the eldest prince needs to mobilize troops, just send someone to inform me, and I will do my best to give Wu a powerful blow."
Gao Qi chuckled and said, "I appreciate the general's kindness, but I don't think it will be necessary to meet him in battle."
Zhang Liao frowned. He didn't know why Gao Qi did this. He just shook his head helplessly and quickly disappeared into the prefect's Yamen.
Gao Qi looked at Zhang Liao's leaving figure and secretly shouted: "General Zhang, sooner or later, you will understand the reason why I did this..."