Fu Song

Chapter 319

The four people in the room have different moods.

Lan Sixin had a faint feeling of retribution and retribution in his heart.Since he took office, he is the one who feels the deepest and hurts deeply about Xiao Ding's domineering.Seeing Xiao Ding's end, he was happy but also worried.As a standard civil servant, he actually hates all wars.As long as there is war, it is accompanied by destruction and destruction.

Li Du gloated, and made no secret of the joy on his face. If it wasn't for Lan Sixin and Zhang Chao, he would have danced and danced.

Another general, Li Dan, was worried.For Xiao Ding, he actually didn't have a good impression.Speaking of the Battle of Suide that year, the root cause was that Xiao Ding launched an attack on Li Xu without warning and captured Yanzhou, which triggered an all-out war between Li Xu and Shaanxi Road.

In the end, although Li Xu lost, it was Xiao Ding who really benefited. He took over almost all of Li Xu's inheritance, but left the pain to the Suide people forever.

After this battle, [-]% to [-]% of the Suide Ding households went away. Even if Li Du finally surrendered and allowed the captives to return home, Suide lost half of the population.

But no matter what, Xiao Ding at that time was still considered a friendly army.What I was facing was only the partial division of the Dingnan Army led by Li Du. They all fought extremely hard. Spend.

What Xiao Ding faced was the elite division of the Ding Nan Army led by Li Xu.

What is the result?
Li Xu was driven by Xiao Ding like a dog to Qingtang, and then to the Western Regions, and then took these places into his pocket one after another under the pretext of chasing and killing Li Xu.

How could Li Dan not be worried if he was going to fight against such a person now?

Can you win?

Even with Taiwei Zhang Chao in charge, can he win the fight?
The former pacifier Ma Xing was transferred to Hebei, but he took away most of the elite troops who had experienced battles on the Shaanxi Road. It was originally to support the threat of the Liao people on the Hebei Road. stand up.

Another person in the room, Zhang Chao, the current military commander on Shaanxi Road, was both worried and sad.He really never imagined that one day, he would face off against Xiao Ding on the battlefield.

I remembered that when Xiao Ding went to my home a few years ago, I had a long conversation with him. At that time, the young general with a big beard was just a commander, but he was not stage-frightened in front of me, and talked about In the future, how to deal with the rebellious Li Xu, how to manage the Northwest and turn it into an important area to contain the Liao State, the strategy of the three-way attack on Liao can be said to be the first to be proposed by this young general.

But now, the dragon slayer has also turned into a dragon.

"We don't want war to break out, but it's just our wishful thinking." Zhang Chao said slowly: "Xiao Ding is well known to everyone present, and everyone is also very clear about the Western Army. Therefore, this battle is extremely difficult to fight. It can be said that with the strength and capabilities we have now, it is basically impossible to confront it head-on. Let's talk about it, what are you going to do in this battle? beat?
Li Du looked at Li Dan and saw that he lowered his head, obviously unwilling to say more, so he turned his head and looked at Zhang Chao.

"General Li, please speak!" Zhang Chao raised his hand.

"Dare to ask the Taiwei, is there no reinforcements?" Li Du said: "Forgive me, if there is not enough reinforcements, this battle will not be fought at all. I have fought against Xiao Ding, and the strength of his army is deeply impressive. I understand."

"Of course there will be reinforcements!" Zhang Chao said: "Zheng Xiong from Jingxi Road will soon lead [-] reinforcements to arrive, and at the same time, [-] soldiers from Hedong Road will rush to Shaanxi Road, and after that, the Forbidden Army around Bianliang will also arrive. Depending on the situation, [-] to [-] imperial troops will be dispatched. However, it will take time. All of them will be in place, at least after March next year. The family also authorized me to move with full authority, but the soldiers and horses on Qinfeng Road cannot come to Shaanxi!"

Li Du felt a toothache.

The imperial court attached great importance to it, and there were enough soldiers and horses. In order to deal with Xiao Ding, they mobilized a total of [-] elite imperial troops, but it would be fatal until March or even May next year.

What is the biggest feature of Xiao Ding's fighting?
fast!
"Taiwei, since that's the case, please forgive me, I'm afraid we have to act first!" Li Du said.

"What do you mean?" Zhang Chao narrowed his eyes: "Now we are not sure whether Xiao Ding will definitely raise troops. If he takes the lead, the court will lose its righteousness."

"Taiwei, the imperial court's crusade against non-officials is the greatest righteousness. Hasn't the imperial court already reached a conclusion on whether Xiao Ding will send troops?" Li Du said disdainfully: "Is it possible that we have to wait until Xiao Ding to act first? With all due respect, this It’s really taking off your pants and farting, it’s superfluous, and another saying is that you want to be a whore and want to set up an archway.”

"Li Du, what are you talking about?" Lan Sixin was furious. As a veteran Jinshi and a serious civil servant, how could he hear such vulgar words.

But the other three obviously didn't care.

"How to say?" Zhang Chao was very interested.

"Taiwei, the imperial court wants righteousness and fame. What do we want? Victory." Seeing Zhang Chao's interest, Li Du became excited: "War is tricky. It's unexpected, and it's unprepared. Against Xiao Ding , if we want to gain the upper hand, we must do it first. Once Xiao Ding is told that the imperial court is already dealing with him, and we are ready, we will be in trouble."

Taking a look around, Li Du slowly said: "Everyone, Hengshan is in Xiao Ding's hands, it is very convenient for him to dispatch troops, but it is very troublesome for us."

Everyone in the room nodded.

The difference between Shaanxi Road and the Western Army is already a horizontal mountain. Whoever controls it will have the initiative.

"But we have Siwuguan!" Zhang Chao looked at Li Du and said.

Siwu Pass is now under Li Du's control. Zhang Yunsheng, the guard of Siwu Pass, is Li Du's son-in-law. Although Li Du surrendered to Song Dynasty, his real strength is concentrated in Siwu Pass and Yinzhou and Xiazhou.

"Taiwei Mingjian!" Li Du arched his hands and said, "Xiao Ding can enter and exit Hengshan freely, and once he leaves Hengshan, there will be a military city like Shentangbao as his base, Daqinghe Wharf to transport military supplies, and Siwu Pass. The advantage has long been wiped out, we sent troops from Siwu Pass to attack Xingling directly, the Taiwei should be clear about the difficulties in the process."

Of course it is clear that no matter who wants to fight Xingling, once they cross Hengshan Mountain, the [-]-mile vast sea will be a hindrance.

"You mean, take down Dingbian City and Shentangbao first?" Zhang Chao said slowly.

Li Du nodded: "Exactly, Taiwei, took advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, captured Shentang Castle in one fell swoop, controlled this place, at least controlled the path that Xiao Ding's soldiers and horses can easily leave Hengshan, and based on this, the army crossed Hengshan and fought with the enemy. The troops from Hengshan from Siwu Pass can respond to each other. In addition, the soldiers and horses of Qinfeng Road attacked Weizhou. It’s hard to say how much desperate heart there is. At the beginning, the court could say that Jiang Yuzang Huama betrayed my elder brother, why can’t it say that Jiang Yuzang Huama betrayed Xiao Ding today? Tubo people, as long as the price is enough, what’s the trust? "

Speaking of these, Li Du's tone was already filled with strong resentment.

If it wasn't for Yu Zang Hua Ma's rebellion and stabbing Li Xu in the back, how could Li Xu lose the decisive battle with Xiao Ding?

Zhang Chao pondered and couldn't make a decision.

What Li Du said was reasonable, but the problem was that once he took the lead, Xiao Ding would be unable to retreat, and the rebellion would be a certainty, because the court made it clear that it would use troops against him.

But if he didn't act first, wouldn't Xiao Ding rebel?
I'm afraid he still wants to rebel, and if he does that, he will lose the upper hand.

What Li Du said made sense, let the chief minister and the others worry about political matters, and what he needed to consider was only military issues.

In the middle of the night, Li Du happily left the Yamen of the appeasement envoy, and led his personal guards straight to Siwu Pass.Li Dan was worried and mobilized the army to prepare for a surprise attack on Dingbian City and Shentang Fort.

Naturally, Zhang Chao and Lan Sixin couldn't sleep either.

"Taiwei, really don't care about Cui Huaiyuan? By the way, there is also Cheng Deqian. Cheng Deqian is Ma Xing's confidant and aide, and it is said that Ma Xing wants to marry Cheng Deqian's daughter for his son. If we do it here, the two of them , but he is dead." Lan Sixin hesitated.

"What else can we do?" Zhang Chao said, "Scholar, this is a matter of having both. First, we can't tell them to escape. In fact, they can't escape either. Second, we also hope that Cui Zhongcheng can confuse Xiao Ding. It's good to delay for a while."

"One hundred thousand Western troops!" Lan Sixin sighed: "In my opinion, we should wait until all the reinforcements arrive before fighting!"

Seeing Lan Sixin's timidity, Zhang Chao smiled and cheered him up: "Scholars don't have to worry too much. It is said that it is one hundred thousand, but in fact there are many people who make up for it. The real elite of Xiao Ding is five thousand iron." The Yaozi and the [-]-step Bazi are his own troops, the others are mostly tribal troops, and their combat effectiveness is not very good, how can a person like Yuzang Huama be completely united with Xiao Ding?"

"I hope things can come true!" Lan Sixin said: "Now Cui Ang and the others should have arrived at Xingqing Mansion, right? Taiwei, tell me, Xiao will definitely have other ways to know about Xiao Yu something?"

"I don't know!" Zhang Chao said, "We have done everything we can do. There is no need for scholars to worry too much. Soldiers will block you, water will flood the earth, no matter how fierce Xiao Ding is, it will be just a corner of the land, and it is still a poor place. We were embarrassed for a while, but as long as we persisted for a while, he must be the one who couldn't stand up in the end."

Lan Sixin smiled wryly, of course Zhang Chao can say that, if he can't win, he can retire.But I am the appeasement envoy of Shaanxi Road, once I retreat, it will be infamous for the rest of my life.

This is the so-called duty of guarding the soil.

"Bachelor, Taiwei, someone from the capital!" A guard opened the door and walked in.

The two looked at each other. At this moment, there is another person in the capital, which may not be good news.

"Let him come in and talk!" Lan Sixin said.

The person who came didn't come in by himself, but was carried in by two guards. His face was pale and bloodless, and he seemed likely to fall down at any time.

"Taiwei, the chief assistant asked the villain to tell you that Mrs. Xiao is also dead." The visitor said intermittently.

Zhang Chao and Lan Sixin both stood up with a huff, but then sat down slowly, looked at each other, and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.

It doesn't itch if there are too many lice, but in this way, the last bit of hope will naturally disappear.

"Go and tell Li Dan, I only give him three days, five thousand elites, and he will command them himself." Zhang Chao took a deep breath: "In three days' time, raid Shentangbao."

So far, the two of them no longer have the slightest drowsiness.

In Jingzhao Mansion, there is still someone who is not sleepy. This person is Miao De. He came out of the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion. He did not go home directly. Instead, he turned left and right, came to a small alley, and knocked lightly wooden door.

A moment later, the door was opened a crack, and Miao De stepped in.

"What's the matter? You came here at this time? Are you not afraid of attracting attention and making people discover this?" The people in the room were a little dissatisfied.

Miao De said: "The matter is urgent, I can only take the risk to find you. Zhang Chao is already preparing to raid Shentangbao in three days' time."

"you sure?"

"Sure!" Miao De said, "Do you have a way to get out of the city?"

"You don't have to worry about it." The people in the room said: "You find a way to hide your identity, so that they don't suspect you."

"They can't suspect me." Miao De's expression was complicated: "They thought I hated you so much! In fact, I really hated you too. Old Xi, the information I provided this time is enough, when can I return it? True freedom?"

The person known as Lao Xi smiled and said: "It seems that the imperial court is really going to war with us, Miao Shou, don't worry, after this battle is over, you can leave or stay, it's up to you."

"And my father!" Miao De said.

"I can't tell, you're still a dutiful son!" Lao Xi chuckled.

When it was daylight, the base of a thatched wall suddenly moved. One head poked out first, looked left and right, and then the whole person got out, and under the cover of night, quickly headed towards the west. Go, when the sky was bright, this man got a horse from nowhere, beat the horse and galloped all the way, heading straight for Dingbian Town.

In fact, just last night, when Zhang Chao, Lan Sixin and others knew the news of Mrs. Xiao's death, Li Yi, the guard in Shentang Castle, also received the news at the same time.

If the distance is counted, the news of the Xiao family will be delivered faster.

More than ten days ago, the news of Xiao Yu's death reached here, and now, the news of Mrs. Xiao's death has arrived again.

Li Yi sat on the city wall, sharpening his saber rattling.

(End of this chapter)