There was deathly silence in Li Guangrui's Chinese army tent. Li Guangrui, who thought he had a chance of victory, was suddenly shocked to hear that Xiazhou had been lost. He could hardly believe his ears, but his subordinates who had fled all the way could not lie. One person could not speak in a team.
People lied, their bodies were almost exhausted, and their expressions of despair and panic all revealed an undoubted news: Xiazhou had really fallen into the hands of Yang Hao.
Li Huating, the general under Li Guangrui, could not bear the oppressive atmosphere in the tent, and suddenly spoke: "Sir, our home in Xiazhou, our families, and clansmen are... all..."
Li Guangrui glanced sideways and glanced at him. Li Huating felt a chill in his heart and did not dare to say any more.
He Bining took a deep breath and said: "Sir, we have fallen into someone else's trap since Yang Hao responded to the imperial edict and sent troops. Yang Hao responded to the imperial edict and sent troops to bring Li Guangcen to Yinzhou. This was all to attract our bait.
Bait, I'm afraid the Yinzhou defenders are also deliberately showing weakness and trying to contain us. Yang Hao is not sending his troops to come back for reinforcements. His real purpose... I'm afraid is to wait for the news of Xiazhou's fall to come and make our army confused, so..."
Li Guangrui's adviser Le Feiyu took a breath, twirled his beard and said: "Such a deep scheming, such a big appetite, could it be... Could it be that he is not satisfied with winning Xiazhou, and wants to take advantage of the chaos in our army to defeat me?"
military?"
The commander Zhang Chongwei grinned, showing a smile that was uglier than crying: "Sir, I'm afraid...I'm afraid that's it, let's..."
Ever since he heard about the fall of Xiazhou, Li Guangrui's cheeks, which were already pale due to illness, became even more pale. He sat there dreamingly, like a clay carving of wood, without making a sound for a long time. Zhang Chongwei's words
Said, Li Guangrui was startled and suddenly came back to his senses. He slowly raised his head. In this moment, he seemed to have become more aged. His cheeks were saggy and his face was pale. He suddenly changed from his majestic appearance.
The King of the Northwest became a frail old man.
With a bit of confusion in his eyes, he asked slowly: "We... what about us?"
He Bining couldn't wait to say: "My lord, when the three armies hear the news, their morale will no longer be available. At that time, Yang Hao will launch a fierce attack. Once we are at a disadvantage, I am afraid that the three armies will be overwhelmed immediately. My lord, before it is too late, let's
Retreat immediately,"
Li Guangrui laughed miserably: "Retreat? Xiazhou has been lost, where do you want me to retreat to?"
Zhang Chongwei hurriedly said: "Sir, we can retreat to Suizhou. Suizhou is the closest to here. Li Pilu, the governor of Suizhou, has strong troops and horses. We only need to retreat to Suizhou to gain a foothold. In terms of strength, we are still above Yang Hao. I'm afraid we can't."
Comeback?"
Li Huating touched his fists and agreed: "Yes, my lord has made it difficult for the five states. After losing two states, there are still three states. Among the four northwest vassals, my strength and territory are still the largest..."
Speaking of this, he couldn't help but feel guilty. When it comes to Li Guangrui's territory, it has always been commensurate with the five states. However, Li Guangrui's territory is actually more than the five states. From these five states, it radiates the entire northwest territory. Yang
Hao holds Yinzhou and has the support of the seven Dangxiang clans, which means that the Hengshan line, which can control the Western Regions externally and control the Central Plains internally, will all fall into the hands of Yang Hao.
Yang Hao occupied Xiazhou and gained the dependence of the Tuoba nobles and chiefs of Xiazhou, which was even more fatal. This meant that Youzhou, which was still under Li Guangrui's jurisdiction, became an isolated land, with Xia at its heart.
There are Linzhou and Fuzhou in front of us. It is only a matter of time before they fall into Yang Hao's hands.
In this way, with Xiazhou as the center, it reaches Fuzhou and Linzhou in the northeast, Huanzhou and Zhenrong in the southwest, both sides of the river in the west, at the foot of Helan Mountain, and Jiuqu in the Hetao in the north. Lingzhou under the radiation of Xiazhou,
Yanzhou, Dingzhou, Huaizhou, Jingzhou, Shunzhou, Shengzhou, and Huizhou will all fall into Yang Hao's hands. The state is located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, west of the Hetao, and the land is fertile and rich in grains, especially rice, wheat, and aquatic plants.
It is fertile and suitable for both agriculture and animal husbandry. It is also convenient for water conservancy through the canals of the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty. It is also located in the west of Xiazhou, bordering Helan and diverting the Yellow River. It has an important position and is Li Guangrui's grain.
warehouse. And Yanzhou supplies 80% of the salt in the entire Western Region, with huge financial resources, and is Li Guangrui's strongest financial backing. These will become Yang Hao's pocket.
The entire northwest is headed by Suiwu, with Lingzhou as the waist and Xiliang as the tail. If you want to conquer Hexi, manage the northwest, and dominate Pingxia, you must fight for Lingzhou. Now Yang Hao and he have made a big change in defense, and only the easternmost
The territory was thrown to him, but the terrible thing is that when Yang Hao was here, he had good relations with Linzhou and Fuzhou. If he, Li Guangrui, ended up in this situation, he would become a bereaved dog, and the pair of Yuxun and Yang Chongxun would be in such a miserable state.
It would be strange not to take advantage of his illness to kill him.
At that time, Yang Hao was bounded by the Yellow River in the east, Yumen in the west, Xiaoguan in the south, and the desert in the north. He was the real king of the northwest. Who dared to say so brazenly that Li Guangrui's strength and territory were still number one in the northwest?
Li Huating gritted his teeth and continued: "Let's retreat for the time being. When we hear that the morale of the army has stabilized, we can then join forces with Li Pilu's troops to make a comeback. Looking to the northwest, no one dares to rob your army lightly."
Li Guangrui just remained silent after hearing this. When the generals saw this, they all turned their attention to his military advisor Le Feiyu. Le Feiyu thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "My lord, judging from the current situation, from the beginning to the end, this is Yang Hao.
A very careful and vicious strategy. The purpose of sending troops to take Li Guangcen to Yinzhou was to lure us out of Xiazhou on the order of Emperor Song.
And now he is rushing back from the Han Dynasty, only to contain our army on the outside, and is not in a hurry to relieve Yinzhou. Now it seems that it is not because of lack of strength, but because he is deliberately delaying time. While he is waiting, Xia
News of the fall of Xiazhou came back. Now that Xiazhou has fallen, what will he do next? Naturally, he will take advantage of the chaos in our army to severely damage our army and completely solve his serious problem.
What the generals said is right. Yang Hao has a plan to kill every step of the way. We must make plans early and rush to Suizhou as soon as possible. As the saying goes, if we continue to break up, we will suffer chaos. As long as we still have our strength, we may not be defeated.
A chance to make another comeback."
"There is a plan to kill every step of the way..."
Li Guangrui murmured and repeated, slowly showing a half-smiling expression, raised his head, slowly glanced at the generals surrounding him, and asked softly: "You said he was murderous at every step, how long ago?
There is a plan. Then... he should have expected how our army will react after learning the news of the fall of Xiazhou?"
Li Huating said: "That's natural."
Li Guangrui asked slowly: "Then, if we retreat after hearing the news and rush to Suizhou, wouldn't it be what he expected?"
The expressions of several generals all changed. Le Feiyu frowned and said, "Is your lord too suspicious? So what if he knows? My army of 100,000 is about to leave. With his current strength, can he stop us?"
"
Li Guangrui's eyes slowly glowed with sharp light, and he said in a deep voice: "In that case, why should I leave?"
Le Feiyu seemed to understand what Li Guangrui meant, but seemed unable to grasp his intentions accurately. He only stared closely at this fat, old, but wise and heroic old man, waiting for him to tell his further plans, but Li Guangrui slowly
He slowly stood up and walked slowly in the tent.
His body was fat and bloated, and his gait was decrepit. However, the generals in the tent stood there solemnly, not even daring to take a breath. No one understood better than them how the seemingly harmless old man in front of them got there.
It's amazing. In the land of tigers and wolves in the northwest, he can sit in Xiazhou, control so many heroes, and let the two states of Linfu surrender and become vassals. Even the heroes like Zhao Kuangyin think that he is a harmless person with no ambitions. With this
At the same time, he was able to rely on force to suppress the Tubo Empire and the remnants of the Huihe Empire, which was still alive. How could his wisdom and scheming be the same?
In the past two years, Xiazhou has indeed encountered internal and external troubles and encountered many things. On the one hand, it is because although he is good at political planning and military art, he is indeed not an all-rounder and is deficient in people's livelihood, agriculture, animal husbandry, and industry and commerce. On the other hand, it is also because he is
He has gradually let go and started to train his son Li Jiyun. No matter what, he is still an outstanding leader.
No one understands what losing Xiazhou means better than him, but in such a short period of time, he has woken up from the heavy blow and began to think about how to fight back. No one understands this situation better than the generals who follow him.
This old man, who is as slow as an elephant, is so swift and fierce when he decides to fight back.
He has ruled the Western Regions for thirty years, and has been proud among tigers and wolves for thirty years. He has experienced countless ups and downs. The generals in the tent are all looking forward to it, hoping that their master can come up with a far more perfect response than them.
Strategies to enable them to overcome this difficult situation.
Finally, Li Guangrui stopped, slowly turned to the door of the tent, and solemnly asked Gou Rixin, the commander of his own soldiers and guards: "Where are those people from Xiazhou placed now?"
Gou Rixin was stunned and replied: "Sir, they are still in the craftsman camp now. Their bodies are almost falling apart from exhaustion after running all the way. As soon as they arrived at the craftsman camp, they collapsed on the ground unable to move. My subordinates have already
People cooked meat porridge for them and let them rest and recuperate."
Li Guangrui slowly stood up and said solemnly: "Go and kill them, leaving no one behind."
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the room was shocked, and everyone's expression changed. Gou Rixin had always followed Li Guangrui's orders, but he couldn't help but be shocked after hearing such an order. After being stunned for a long time, he said with a smile: "
Sir... sir, they..."
Li Guangrui's eyes showed cold murderous intent, and he said every word: "I will never let my soldiers know that people are coming from Xiazhou, and I will never let others know that Xiazhou has fallen. You can just obey my orders."
Having said this, his eyes narrowed slightly, showing a more dangerous look: "They... haven't had any contact with people from other camps, have they?"
Gou Rixin's face became even paler, and he said: "Because... Yang Hao's army often makes sneak attacks and fights. The soldiers in all the battalions are in strict formation. They are not allowed to move around without getting orders from the general. They are attacking the city again at this moment, so... there is no one there."
It has something to do with the craftsman camp."
Li Guangrui covered his lips and coughed a few times, then said lightly: "That's good, you lead the troops. Our craftsman camp was attacked by Yang Hao's troops and the entire camp was destroyed!"
Sweat broke out on Gou Rixin's forehead, and he said in a trembling voice: "Yes...yes, I obey the order, but...but the chief of the craftsman camp is...his nephew, my lord, he...he..."
Li Guangrui sneered and said solemnly: "Those who want to achieve great things can even kill their relatives!