In the afternoon, Li Shiji and Wang Junlang led their troops to Hulao Pass and set up a camp more than ten miles away from the city, close to the mountains and rivers.
To say the least, Li Shiji was very proud.
It only took more than twenty days for him to send troops, but he conquered nearly a hundred cities in ten states. Such a flying speed made him feel like he was in a dream.
Although he is not the main contributor, who doesn’t like the credit for getting it for nothing!
As a lieutenant, Wang Junkuo naturally has a lot of talent, so his mood is also very beautiful.
The prototype of the broadsword king Junke in the novel is not as heroic and loyal as in the novel. Instead, he is quite slippery and obsessed with power.
In the evening, the two of them sat cross-legged, each carving a roasted lamb leg with a short knife, and ate happily.
At this moment, a burly general with a maroon complexion came in, raised his tent and bowed his hands in greeting: "General, General Wang."
"Gong Jin is here, sit down quickly." Li Shiji smiled and waved.
The person who came was none other than Zhang Gongjin.
This man was proficient in both literary and military strategies, and was loyal and prudent. Historically, he was also a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty and one of the twenty-four heroes of Lingyan Pavilion!
After surrendering to the Tang Dynasty again, Zhang Gongjin took the initiative to lead three thousand soldiers to join Li Shiji.
Therefore, the number under Li Shiji's command was no longer seven thousand, but ten thousand.
As soon as Zhang Gongjin sat down, Li Shiji asked, "Can Gongjin have dinner?"
"Have a simple meal."
"What's the matter with you and me?"
Zhang Gongjin hesitated for a moment and then said: "General, this Hulao is the most important pass in the world. It is extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack. The general is uneasy. I would like to ask if you have any plans?"
To be honest, if you want to conquer a natural barrier like Hulao Pass, you don't normally have a tenfold military advantage, so don't even think about it.
However, the Zheng army in Guanzhong had 7,000 elite soldiers, while the Tang army only had 10,000 soldiers.
With such a small strength advantage, Li Shiji led his troops to Hulao with great momentum, which made Zhang Gongjin feel very unsure.
Intelligence showed that Dou Jiande had assembled an army of 100,000 troops in Mingzhou, with all supplies of food and grass ready, and could move south at any time.
Xu Yuanlang and Meng Jiong were grass bandits with limited strength. Even if they risked their lives, they would not be able to stop Dou Jiande for long.
Bianzhou, Guanzhou, and Xingyang are all newly attached areas, with only a few thousand troops, making them unable to stop them.
If they cannot capture Hulao Pass as soon as possible and wait for Xia's army to attack, the situation will immediately deteriorate and the good situation will be wasted.
Therefore, seeing Li Shiji and Wang Junkuo looking calm and unhurried, Zhang Gongjin was very confused.
After all, although Li Shiji is young, he has been famous for a long time. He does not seem to be an unreliable person. Could it be that he has some back-ups?
"Haha!" Li Shiji and Wang Junlang both laughed when they heard this.
Obviously, they had Xia Yu's orders because they were confident and not panicked at all, but Zhang Gongjin didn't know that.
"Don't worry, sir!"
"The general knows the dangers of Hulao Pass. To be honest, with just a few people like us, we can't even think of conquering Hulao Pass in ten years."
"However, don't worry, sir. No matter how dangerous Hulao is, we don't need to fight. It's completely within reach."
Li Shiji looked confident and calm and proud.
Zhang Gongjin was dumbfounded: You can get it at your fingertips? General Li, are you dreaming? Is it possible that Wang Xingben would surrender?
"Yes." Wang Junlang also said with a mysterious look on his face: "Young Master, just sit back and relax, everything is under control."
However, Zhang Gongjin became more and more confused. He didn't know where the two of them got their confidence from. He smiled bitterly and said: "Two generals, it's better not to show off. I'm almost dying of anxiety."
"Hahaha!" Li Shiji laughed and revealed a little: "To be honest, my military advisor has already laid a secret trap in Guanzhong. As soon as my army arrives, he will cooperate inside and outside, and seize the tiger's prison like a bag."
"So, please be patient and wait patiently."
Zhang Gongjin was stunned: Is he so amazing? This is Hulao Pass!
He couldn't help but said: "Two generals, what kind of genius is this Xia Military Advisor, that he can win so decisively from thousands of miles away!?"
In the past two months, Xia Yu's name almost made his ears grow calloused, and it was rumored that he was a miraculous person.
Zhang Gongjin is always cautious and always thinks that his words are exaggerated.
Li Shiji said with admiration: "The wisdom of military advisors is better than that of Sun Bin and Zhang Liang. They have unpredictable opportunities and the magic of flying horses."
"There is a certain person who is not convinced by others in his life, but there are two people who are convinced by them wholeheartedly."
"The first is His Highness the King of Qin, and the second is the military advisor."
"The tactics of military advisors tend to be erratic. In every battle, they must anticipate the enemy's opportunity. They must not lure the enemy into his trap with words and deeds, and then they will be able to accomplish a single victory."
"Or maybe you don't know where to come from, coming from a place where the enemy is completely unexpected, and then destroying him in a flash of laughter."
"I always have a feeling that the situation in the world is all in the minds of the military advisors, and the heroes in the world are just like the military advisors' chess pieces, and they are difficult to defeat even the gods and ghosts!"
Hearing Li Shiji's miraculous boast, Zhang Gongjin almost thought he was telling a fairy tale.
"There is such a divine person in the world!" Zhang Gongjin was stunned. He did not expect that Li Shiji would admire Xia Yu so much. He couldn't help but admire him and said, "When we meet someday, we must make good friends."
"Of course." Li Shiji said with a smile: "The military advisor is free and uninhibited and has no airs, so he is easy to make friends with."
While the three of them were talking, a soldier came in from the tent and reported to Li Shiji: "General, we have captured a suspicious person outside the camp at night. This person claims to have an urgent matter, and he must tell you personally."
Li Shiji's heart moved and he quickly said: "Bring him in quickly. Remember, treat each other with courtesy and don't use violence."
"promise."
After the soldiers left, Wang Junkuo immediately said anxiously: "General, do you think it is the military adviser's secret agent?"
"It's possible. Let's wait until someone comes."
After a while, the soldiers brought in a young man. Although he was wearing a civilian's rough Gebu clothes, he was tall, imposing, and had the unique toughness of a soldier.
What a smart man Li Shiji is. It can be seen at a glance that this person is anything but ordinary!
He said calmly: "This is Li Shiji, the general of the Tang Dynasty's army. Who are you? What's the urgent matter?"
When the young man heard this, he quickly raised his hands and said respectfully: "I have seen the general, and he is the deputy general of Hulao Pass, Shen Yue!"
"Although Shen is in Zhengying, he has always admired the Tang Dynasty, especially His Highness the King of Qin, who was so wise and powerful that he was invincible in battles. He admired him very much."
"This time, I heard that the general led his army to capture Hulao. I was so happy that I immediately disguised myself and sneaked out of Guancheng."
"If the general is trustworthy, I would like to take my troops as internal agents to help Tang Dynasty capture Hulao Pass as a courtesy."
Li Shiji, Wang Junkuo, and Zhang Gongjin looked at each other, feeling convinced in their hearts.
What does it mean to strategize and win a victory thousands of miles away? This is it. It’s amazing, my military advisor!
Seeing that Li Shiji and the others were silent and looked a little strange, Shen Yue was a little anxious.
He thought he came unexpectedly and the other party didn't believe him.
Of course, if a large pie suddenly fell from the sky, he would not believe it easily. Who knows whether the pie is poisonous?
"General, Shen is indeed sincere in surrendering——"
"Wait a minute." Suddenly, Li Shiji waved his hand. With Shen Yue's puzzled expression, he took out a kit from his arms, took out a small paper roll, and quickly unfolded it. There are only two words written on it: Shen Yue!
Li Shiji immediately felt relieved. This was a good match, and he was no longer afraid of mistakenly mistaking Feng Jing.
"Hahaha!" Li Shiji looked up to the sky and laughed. He stood up immediately and took Shen Yue's hand with enthusiasm: "It turns out that General Shen is one of his own, and I have been serving him for a long time."
ah!?
Shen Yue looked confused and asked in surprise: "The general knows that so-and-so is coming?"
"Of course!" Li Shiji said matter-of-factly: "Before I sent out the troops, the military advisor told me that when we arrived at Hulao Pass, we would have internal personnel to come and cooperate."
"Look." He handed the scroll in his hand to Shen Yue.
When Shen Yue saw that it was indeed his name, he couldn't help but be stunned: This is really a ghost! Although his heart is true for the Tang Dynasty, he really made up his mind to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, and it took these few days.
The only people who knew were a few of his confidants. But this Tang man seemed to have known about it for a long time. This is incredible!
Is it possible that, as the legend says, that Tang Dynasty military advisor Xia Yu really has an unpredictable power!?
"This, this -" Shen Yue's forehead was confused and he said, "Xia, how did Military Advisor Xia expect that someone would surrender?"
Li Shiji was stunned: Brother, you and the military advisor have already discussed this matter, is it fun to act stupid now?
Suddenly a thought occurred in my mind: Maybe I wasn't pretending to be stupid, but the military advisor had other explanations? I understand, it must be that the military advisor didn't want to be too public and make others jealous.
This advance arrangement must have used the power of the 'Guigumen'.
With such a pervasive and powerful power, there is no guarantee that some people will not maliciously speculate and spread rumors.
Li Shiji was a smart man. He figured out a lot in an instant. He thought he understood Xia Yu's psychology and laughed loudly: "I understand, I understand. The Guigu sect has its own divine calculations. Although General Shen does not know the military advisor, the military advisor has already calculated." The general is one of our own."
Wang Junkuo and Zhang Gongjin were also very stupid, and they nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, that's it."
Well, a bunch of smart people!
Shen Yue opened his mouth. He felt that there seemed to be something wrong with what Li Shiji said, but he couldn't tell where the problem was.
"Uh, come on, General Shen, sit down quickly. Let's discuss how to take Hulao Pass." Li Shiji wisely changed the subject. Xia Yu didn't want to talk about the process, he only cared about the result, and everyone was happy.
"Uh, okay." Shen Yue didn't think about it anymore. He sneaked out overnight, but he took a huge risk. He couldn't delay any longer and had to settle the matter as soon as possible.
Even if you have any questions, it's not too late to ask again when you see Xia Yuzhi in the future.
Perhaps, people really have an unpredictable opportunity, the power to reach the sky and the earth, and they have already arrived?
At that moment, the three of them discussed secretly for a long time and agreed on the matters concerning the dedication of the city tomorrow night. Then Shen Yue quietly returned and sneaked back to the pass.