Xiaohuaili is 80 miles away from Huaili City, the county seat of Youfufeng County. It is Chengguo Canal to the north and the Weishui River to the south.

Li Hong's 40,000 infantry troops lined up on the plain, and the camp was continuous for several miles, with flags fluttering in the wind and making noises. The Fengyun Iron Cavalry and Black Panther Yi were all stationed from 12,000 cavalry to stand by ten miles away from the camp.

Three days later, the Grand Marshal Zhang Wen led an army of 20,000 to set up a camp ten miles away from the Fengyun Iron Cavalry.

Li Hong and Xian Yufu went to see Zhang Wen.

Zhang Wen is in his fifties, with a red face, and he doesn't even have wrinkles on his face, and looks very rich. He speaks slowly and treats others kindly, making people feel very friendly. Zhang Wen was also surprised at his youth when he saw Li Hong. He smiled and told Li Hong that even he was a little jealous of Li Hong's talent and official fortune, let alone many other ministers. He felt dissatisfied because of jealousy, resentment, and suspicion for no reason, which is normal.

"Actually, most of the local officials and ministers in the court who know you have praised you and praised you endlessly. Some time ago, when you were still marching on the road, I received a letter from Lord Liu, the prefect of Youbeiping, who repeatedly asked me to take care of you. As far as I know, you have not been in contact with Lord Liu for a long time."

Li Hong thought of Liu Zheng, and when he left Lu Longsai, Liu Zheng carefully sorted out his long hair for him. He felt sad and couldn't speak.

Zhang Wen glanced at him and continued, "Mr. Liu valued you and appreciated you not because you were his subordinate, but because you did a lot of things for the Han Dynasty. He was indeed a loyal minister and general. So he traveled thousands of miles to write to me to recommend you. There are fewer and fewer local officials like Mr. Liu who are wholeheartedly considering the country and country of the Han Dynasty."

Li Hong nodded constantly.

Geng Bi, the governor of Liangzhou who was sitting on the side, smiled and said, "Brother Zhengnan also praised Li Zhonglang in front of the Taiwei, especially his evaluation of your Fengyun Iron Cavalry is very high, so the Taiwei put your cavalry in the most important position this time, which shows the trust and appreciation of you by the Taiwei."

Geng Bi was 40 years old, with a kind face and well-dressed face, and looked very particular. After the former governor Yang Yong was dismissed from the court for his rebellion, he took over, but was immediately driven out of Longcheng, the governor's prefecture and county, and stayed in Huaili, Youfufeng. This time he fought with Zhang Wen, and was ambitious to fight back to Liangzhou.

When Li Hong heard Geng Bi say this, he quickly stood up and gave Zhang Wen another gift, expressing his gratitude.

Zhang Wen waved and asked him to sit back, and said with a smile: "Whether the Fengyun Iron Cavalry can block the Qianghu Cavalry is the key to whether this battle can achieve the final victory. Arrange this important task for you, first, believe in your strength. Zhengnan said that in Yingtao that day, you fought against the 15,000 ants army of more than 100,000 ants and won a complete victory, which shows the courage of the Youzhou Iron Cavalry."

"The second thing is that the cavalry are fighting on the front line now. After they rush back, they will definitely consume a lot of physical strength, and it will take time to regroup, so they cannot wait for work at all. Therefore, you are specially arranged to take on this important task."

Geng Bi took Zhang Wen's words and said, "Because of this incident, the Taiwei offended several subordinates. After pacifying the rebels, you must thank the Taiwei."

Li Hong and Xian Yufu looked at each other, thinking in their hearts whether this governor was telling the truth or flattering the Grand Marshal.

Sang Yang hurriedly explained: "We have three iron cavalry on the battlefield of Xiliang, all of which are very powerful. The iron cavalry of the General Dong Zhuo, the leader of the Northern Army, the cavalry of the General Zhou Shenzhou, and the iron cavalry of the Lord Geng of Liangzhou Prefecture. These three iron cavalry are the most good at fighting among the cavalry led by Sima Mateng, the subordinate of Geng. General Dong Zhuo and Sima Mateng of the army, both took the initiative to ask the Taiwei to fight, asking to lead their troops to block the Qianghu cavalry, but they were all rejected by the Taiwei."

Geng Bi smiled and said to Li Hong: "Li Zhonglang's Yan Zhao Knight will definitely not disappoint the Taiwei."

Li Hong immediately said a few bold words.

Zhang Wen chatted with him for a while, then asked: "Zimin, how likely is we to win this time?"

Li Hong pondered for a moment and whispered: "Sir, I have no idea about the generals on both sides participating in the battle, the combat capabilities of the soldiers on both sides, and the current positions of the troops on both sides, and the situation on the entire battlefield. I really have no way to speculate."

Zhang Wen looked at him in surprise.

Li Hong hurriedly explained: "Sir, what I don't know is that I don't know. You can't talk nonsense. If you talk nonsense, it may affect your arrangements for the entire battle situation. Although I have a lot of information about Xiliang, it is information after all, and it is just a reference."

Zhang Wen nodded in appreciation and said, "I asked many people, even those who had never fought, and they all sat in front of me and talked. Only you actually told me that I didn't know? Many people dizzy when they recited the scriptures and treatises in order to let me know about his skills. Okay. The people are straightforward, okay. If you hadn't been for your outstanding military achievements and unique military use, I would have driven you out."

Geng Bi, Sang Yang and Tao Qian all glanced at Li Hong, thinking that this person was not bad at fighting, so how could he speak and do things like an idiot? Such a person can be the general of the Central Army? It's really an incredible thing. Is there really a fool who has a good fortune?

"Why don't Li Zhonglang say it, just tell it according to your intuitive view. What do you think is the lack of our plan?" Tao Qian asked afterwards. He devoted a lot of effort to this plan and was eager to succeed.

Li Hong hesitated for a moment and said, "If everyone implements this plan faithfully and unyieldingly, it will definitely be successful. The problem is..." He looked at Tao Qian's eager eyes, and suddenly remembered what Shen Pian said to him before leaving, and immediately swallowed half of the words back.

"What is the problem? Why don't Li Zhonglang say it?" Zhang Wen asked curiously.

Li Hong hurriedly concealed: "The question is whether Bian Zhang and Han Sui will be fooled. If they get the news and know that our reinforcements have arrived in Chang'an, will they stop moving forward? Or they may meet Beigong Boyu's troops in advance, and 130,000 people will come over at the same time. If so, we will have no chance."

Zhang Wen and Tao Qian looked at each other, and both of them laughed.

"In order to prevent the whereabouts of reinforcements from being leaked, we specially arranged your marching route. You can avoid many places where people live and concentrate on the road. After arriving at Sanfu, you basically march at night. Therefore, the possibility of the enemy knowing that you have arrived at Youfufeng is very small." Zhang Wen said confidently.

After a few chatted for a while, Li Hong and Xian Yufu said goodbye and left. Tao Qian kept sending them out of the camp.

"Zimin." Tao Qian suddenly grabbed him affectionately and whispered: "You didn't tell the truth."

Li Hong smiled and said, "Sir, I'm joking, where did I tell lies."

Tao Qian looked at him carefully and said arrogantly: "When you said to the Grand Marshal, I thought you were really wrong." Tao Qian pointed to his head, meaning that he suspected that he was an idiot as the rumor said, "But then you suddenly changed your words. Do you think I can't see it?"

Li Hong smiled awkwardly and said, "My sir, must you want to know?"

"Yes, tell me. Although this strategy was decided by Lord Taiwei, I have devoted a lot of my efforts. You must tell me, what's the problem?"

"Sir, do you think this plan is feasible?" Li Hong asked back.

Tao Qian was shocked. Xian Yufu looked at Li Hong in confusion. Li Hong's words were a bit shocking.

"Zimin, what do you mean by saying this?" Xian Yufu asked in a low voice, "Don't talk nonsense in front of Lord Sima."

Li Hong sighed and said, "We are all from Youzhou, so it's okay to talk, so I can understand Lord Tao."

"The plan of the Taiwei is indeed very good and very successful. Although we have too few troops to encircle and annihilate the enemy, we are still sure to annihilate the 80,000 troops of Bian Zhang Han Sui. The problem is that the Taiwei is eager to pacify Xiliang and always wants to make a decision. He forgot what it means to fish in the end of the lake."

Tao Qian looked at Li Hong and smiled and said, "Zimin, I didn't expect that you would have such insights at such a young age. The perspective and method of looking at problems are unique. Not bad, very good. I did question this plan at the beginning, but he is the Grand Marshal, what can I say?"

Xian Yufu then reacted. He asked carefully: "Soci, do you mean that the troops are not strong enough and are not suitable for such large-scale movements to encircle and annihilate?"

"Yes, if we had 300,000 troops, this battle would be easy to fight." Li Hong said: "150,000 against the enemy 160,000, and the first battle was to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Xiliang rebels. This battle was too difficult to fight. The number of troops we participated in the encircle and annihilate was too small, and we could not form an absolute advantage. Even if we beat the next chapter, it would be a tragic victory, and it would be difficult to defeat Beigong Boyu's 50,000 infantry and cavalry again."

"After this battle, the best result is that the rebels in Xiliang were completely wiped out by us, but we must have very little left. The final outcome is that the Qiang and Hu will cause disaster to the counties in Xiliang, and for a long time, we have no troops to intimidate them. If the court wants to form an elite army of tens of thousands of people to enter Xiliang to attack the rebel Qiang, it will take a lot of time and money, and the investment will be great in the later stage."

"If we don't engage in this war now, the troops will enter Xiliang in batches, move the battlefield to Hanyang and Jincheng counties, support each other, cover each other, divide and surround Qiang and Hu, and divorce the rebels, and patiently look for opportunities. Over time, the rebels will fail because they have no food and no support from Qiang and Hu."

"In this way, our hundreds of thousands of troops will survive and we can continue to garrison the border. With troops and soldiers, we can solve many problems for the country."

"The tens of thousands of rebels in Xiliang can survive. With this tens of thousands of people, the total population of Xiliang will remain at about 600,000, and Xiliang will have the possibility of restoration and development. In the border and in Xiliang, if there is no population, even if it stabilizes, it will not develop. If it cannot develop, the people will be poor, and local bureaucrats will become more corrupt in order to make money, and the result will be self-evident. Therefore, it is very important to ensure the population of Xijiang, which is the foundation for ensuring the stability of Xijiang."
Chapter completed!