end song

Chapter 1191
Houtao Grassland, a not-too-large Tang army camp.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Yang Ben, who was sitting in the big tent, raised his head and saw that it was Li Dehui, so he stood up and forced a smirk from his stern face.

"Sir, have you figured it out? Will it help me defeat the enemy?"

Li Dehui walked up to Yang Ben expressionlessly, and without sitting down, he just stood there with his hands in his sleeves, looked at him with blank eyes, and said, "Your Majesty, just order Marshal Yang to contain the Hetao Yuan army. Ask to destroy the enemy."

The word "marshal" refers to Yang Ben's latest appointment, who succeeded Li Zengbo as Ningxia appeasement envoy after he became an official.

Maybe he is still immature in terms of people's livelihood management, but in terms of fighting, he is ready to become a commander in chief.

"The situation has changed." Yang Ben said: "Kublai Khan has returned to Kaiping, and Zhang Hongfan actually took over the Yuan army in Hetao. Our West Route Army needs to do more to ensure the success of the Northern Expedition."

Li Dehui raised his brows, looking disinterested.

He reluctantly agreed to surrender. At that time, Li Xia and Lian Xixian persuaded him to surrender together, promising that he would not violate his loyalty.

Now that Yang Ben is out of town in Ningxia, Li Xia asked him to temporarily assist Yang Ben, obviously to make up for Yang Ben's lack of governance in people's livelihood.

It seems that he is not quite used to the change from a majestic prince to a clerk under the command of a warrior, and he is listless all day long.

But to speak to give advice, he still told the truth.

"Gansu and Ningxia were originally barren, and Xingqing Mansion was even more desolate after the war. It is precisely because of these considerations that His Majesty ordered Marshal Yang to only contain them. Now Marshal Yang said that because of the increase in the strength of the Yuan army in Hetao, it is not absurd to make great achievements. ?”

Yang Ben wanted to refute, but he couldn't argue with this literati, he frowned and said, "I only ask if you can come up with a strategy?"

"no."

Yang Ben couldn't help but hesitated again.

Li Dehui said: "All the soldiers and horses supporting the northwest have been transferred back, leaving only the Ningxia army exhausted from long-term fighting. Even the horses need to be fattened again. It is better for the marshal not to get too angry."

Yang Ben was displeased, and looked closely at Li Dehui.

After a long time, he nodded and said, "Forget it, let's talk about how to restrain the Yuan army."

"it is good."

Only then did Li Dehui agree to sit down, but he still looked like he was not interested enough to be beaten.

Yang Ben clenched his fists tightly, then loosened them again, and finally squeezed the smirk on his face deeper, saying: "By the way, the Military Intelligence Department has sent someone to pick up your family members, and you can stay in Datang to serve you with peace of mind." .”

After hearing this sentence, Li Dehui sighed, his eyes finally changed, showing worry and helplessness.

He lost his father when he was five years old, his family was poor, his mother had to dig wild vegetables to bring him up with great difficulty, so he was extremely filial, now that he was defeated and surrendered, leaving his family behind in Yuanjing, it was unavoidable to feel uneasy.

But if he hadn't surrendered at that time, Li Xia might not be able to keep his home after the Northern Expedition was successful.

"Marshal, don't worry, I can see the general trend of the world, and I should serve His Majesty."

Li Dehui finally pretended to be asked by Yang Ben.

Yang Ben asked: "According to Tanma's information, Zhang Hongfan has been gathering routs in Hetao for the past two months. I intend to send troops to sneak attack and cause him some trouble. Because of food and grass, can you dispatch?"

This is Yang Ben's weakness and Li Dehui's strength.

However, after Li Dehui twitched his beard and pondered for a while, he said, "Send troops? With Zhang Hongfan's prudence, I'm afraid he was on guard. If the Marshal's purpose is to cause him some trouble, it's better to attack him wisely than to attack."

"Outsmart?"

"As far as I know, some time ago, the Military Intelligence Department transferred several Mongolian generals from the Ningxia Army?"

Yang Ben was slightly surprised and asked, "How do you know?"

"I went to Liangzhou to transport grain and grass last month, and I talked with Shanfu."

Yang Ben was speechless for a moment.

With Lian Xixian's ability and seniority, he has always called "Mr. Lian" respectfully, but Li Dehui is old and has old acquaintances. He often calls Lian Xixian directly like this, which seems to be Yang Ben. Shangguan.

"According to Shanfu, the military intelligence department dispatched several Mongolian generals with outstanding abilities. This time, they are in order to contact the remnants scattered north of Yinshan Mountain."

"Mr. Lian told you all this?" Yang Ben was surprised again.

Yang Dehui glanced at him indifferently with his dull eyes, as if saying "I'm more trustworthy than you imagined", and continued to speak without answering.

"If the marshal wants to send a small group of troops across the Yin Mountain and around the rear of the Yuan army, Zhang Hongfan will be vigilant, but when he gets in touch with this group of troops, the marshal will contain the enemy directly and let them sneak attack the enemy's weak points. Where it is, half the effort is twice the result.”

Although Yang Ben didn't object to this method, he felt that it was an early arrangement by the imperial court, not Li Dehui's strategy.

"Outsmarting is one aspect. Since I lead the troops here, I should fight the Yuan army."

Li Dehui got up, walked to the case, glanced at the map, pointed to the nearest Yuan army stronghold marked on it, and asked, "Marshal wants to attack this place?"

"That's right, the rebel General Yang Wen'an has been guarding Wuyuan City since he withdrew from Xingqing Mansion..."

"Let me write a letter to persuade you to surrender, how about it?"

Yang Ben didn't believe it, he said: "Your Majesty failed to persuade Yang Dayuan to surrender when he tried to persuade him to surrender, how could he be able to persuade him to surrender?"

"There is no loss if you try it." Li Dehui said.

Yang Ben was a little sullen, and let out a long breath from his nose.

Like an angry cow.

"Marshal, don't be in a hurry." Li Dehui said again: "The commander-in-chief can't just think about the war. The national economy, the people's livelihood, the supply of food and supplies, and the morale of the army will all affect the battle situation. The enemy general's mind changes too. How about asking the marshal to wait for a few days?"

"Ok."

When Li Dehui left, a military officer in the big tent said to Yang Ben: "Commander, Li Dehui is not trying to take this opportunity to contact Yang Wen'an, intending to defect back to Mengyuan, right?"

"will not."

"However, it is difficult for Yang Wen'an to surrender, and Li Dehui's family members are all in Mengyuan, and his assistant's old boss, Mang Gela, is also in Jiuyuan City. From all appearances... Marshal, you must be on guard."

"Go, don't bother me."

Yang Ben rubbed his forehead, feeling that being handsome is much more difficult than being general.

Those who are generals only need to fight the enemy bravely, but those who are handsome have to coordinate the affairs of all parties.

From this point of view, Zhang Hongfan is more mature than him...

~~
"Go!"

Wang Mancang roared, turned over and sat up.

Looking up, he saw a scorching sun hanging directly above the sky, and the strong light made his eyes hurt.

With a scream, he fell to the ground again, covering his eyes with his hands.

"I... was captured?"

"Wang Xun made a package, open your eyes and see clearly."

Someone came over and kicked him lightly, which made his wound sting.

Only then did Wang Mancang open his eyes. He first saw Wang Li's broken boots, and then turned his head to see Zhuo Lik sitting there, bandaging his wound.

He couldn't help but think of the battle in the early hours of last night.

At that time, a Yuan army suddenly came up, three times their number.He asked Wang Li to lead people to break out of the siege, while he stayed behind.

I thought I would die if I was injured, but someone pulled my rein and rode my horse out of the battlefield...

"Could it be that you kid saved me last night?" Wang Mancang suddenly patted Zhuo Like on the head again.

Drorick didn't respond either, so he just smirked, showing his childishness.

Wang Mancang laughed at himself: "Damn, I was saved by a little boy."

But when the rough man looked at the Mongolian child again, his eyes were different.

"We can't run around like this anymore." Wang Li walked back and said, "The more we flee to the north, the more we will end up running out of horsepower and starving, and will be easily killed by the Yuan army."

"Well, I have to find a tribe to supply and rest."

"I'm afraid that if I meet a herdsman, I will inform the Yuan army again. This Yuan army is chasing him very closely."

Li Yuping, who came over with water in her hands, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I know a place..."

Both Wang Li and Wang Mancang turned to look at her.

Li Yuping looks weak, but she is quite courageous in her bones. She lowered her head and continued: "My family and I were sold by the guide to a group of Mongolian bandits. These Mongolian bandits are stationed in a mountain named 'Bayinbogdu' , there are plenty of horses, weapons, armor and food in the garrison, from where I was bought..."

Wang Mancang pulled Wang Li and made him lean down.

"This little girl is very scheming. Her mother's family, sister-in-law, and nephews are all in the hands of those robbers. She coaxed you, a fool, to rescue her."

"Then go?"

"Go?" Wang Mancang then asked, "Do you know where that shit is?"

Li Yuping shook her head.

Drorick said, "I know! They say it's a rich holy mountain, where crystal stones for making watchtowers can be dug out, and smugglers and robbers like to go there."

"Quartz?" Wang Li was surprised.

He always thought that the materials for making the watch tubes in the Armory Workshop were smuggled back from Jinghu Lake, but he didn't expect that quartz could also be dug up on the grassland north of Yinshan Mountain.

As soon as the word "smuggling" came to his ears, he couldn't help but feel a little expectation in his heart.

His Majesty's two intelligence agencies can extend their tentacles into all parts of the world, relying on smuggling...

~~
"Report! Tang Jun crossed the Heishui River again, turned to the southwest and fled."

A few horsemen came back and reported to Xiong Er.

Xiong Er couldn't help being furious, he felt that he had been tricked by this small remnant Tang army, this was the third time he had crossed the Heishui River in two days to change his escape direction, he was as cowardly and cunning as a mouse.

He quickly turned his horse's head and pursued to the southwest.

The distance between the two sides is not far away, and the Yuan army's scouts have always ensured that the remnants of the Tang army are in their sight.However, the remnants of the Tang army kept driving the horses to run at full speed, and they would be exhausted in a short time.

After chasing for another two days, a low, stretching, bare hill appeared in front of us.

The remnants of the Tang Army obviously couldn't run any longer, so they ran into the hill, trying to find a place to rest.

But without the dense woods, there would be no place for them to hide.

Xiong Er ordered the scout horse to find out their whereabouts, and ordered to rest for one night before annihilating the enemy army.

Before dawn, Tanma returned to camp to deliver a message.

"The Tang army clashed with the bandits stationed in the mountains and occupied a garrison."

Xiong Er was slightly surprised, it was strange that only the two hundred or so Tang Jun could drive away the long-standing robbers.

"Then they must have lost a lot, set off and annihilate them."

(End of this chapter)