Hengji and Fengyun Iron Cavalry were the first to rush back to Gaoping City. The Xianbei people did not mobilize their troops to attack Shimen Pass, which made them retreat calmly.

Qu Yi followed closely. After dusk, the Xianbei people immediately stopped attacking, and the Lu Ri deduction and Yan Liyou obviously did not want to suffer too much loss.

Li Hong rushed to Gaoping City at dawn. Due to the continuous travel of several days and nights, Li Hong and his men seemed exhausted.

After a little greeting with generals such as Qu Yi, he immediately asked, "Where is the strong wind and sand? He is closest to Gaoping City, why haven't he arrived yet?"

"He probably got red in his eyes and took the orders as wind in his ears." Qu Yi shook his head helplessly and said, "When he was in Gaopingchuan, he refused to obey orders and attacked against orders. Although these Xianling Qiang people were brave and good at fighting, they were all arrogant and arrogant, using military discipline as a joke and doing whatever they wanted."

Li Hong smiled and said, "Then how did you deal with it?"

"How dare you deal with it?" Qu Yi glanced at Li Hong and replied carefully, "Sir, let's do it."

Although Qianfengsha violated military discipline, he was his subordinate after all. With Qianfengsha's special identity, Qu Yi certainly hoped that Li Hong could be given a lighter punishment.

Li Hong smiled, patted his shoulder, and said, "The Qiang people value righteousness. As long as we treat them like brothers, they will naturally follow their rules after a long time."

"Stop the word..." Li Hong shouted to Zheng Xin who was standing nearby, "Immediately send someone to Muxia Pass with my seal and ask the strong wind and sand to withdraw quickly."

＝＝＝

"Sir, why did you let them retreat overnight?" The prefect Kong Chang bowed and asked, "If the three passes are abandoned, the gates of Guanzhong will be opened, and the consequences will be unimaginable."

"What should I do if I don't withdraw?" Qu Yi said angrily, "There are only ten thousand long arrows in Xiaoguan's arsenal. There are not a thousand long swords and halberds in total, and the shields are rotten. Do you let us fight with bare hands?"

Kong Chang probably knew about this situation and looked quite helpless. Li Hong smiled and didn't say anything.

"Sir, in order to arrive in the north early, we did not carry food and supplies." Heng Ji explained, "The number of weapons we carry with us is very limited. It will not last for two days with just a few weapons to guard the pass. Moreover, the food rations of more than 20,000 of us are also a problem. Abandoning the pass is also a helpless move."

"After fighting all the soldiers, the battles behind will be even more impossible." Tie Yue added, "Only we and others will defeat the Xianbei people sooner or later."

Kong Chang nodded and said, "I have fought with the Qiang people and the rebels in Xiliang. I know what you are talking about is the truth, but the question is, where should we retreat before the food and supplies are delivered?"

Everyone turned their mind to Li Hong.

"Retreat across Liupan Mountain." Li Hong said with a smile, "We have been retreat across Liupan Mountain."

Everyone was stunned.

"Sir, why should we retreat to Liupan Mountain?" Tsukizi shouted in desperation, "If we retreat to Liupan Mountain, we have no danger to defend. The Xianbei army will surely be unstoppable."

"Sir, we have 40,000 people now, and we can stick to Fanting Mountain and Chao's area. Moreover, Lord Yushi will soon arrive at Liupan Mountain with food and supplies. We have the ability to block the Xianbei people north of Liupan Mountain, why should we give up?" Tie Yue also said excitedly, "Sir, we are facing 120,000 Xianbei people and 120,000 Xianbei iron cavalry. As long as they cross Liupan Mountain, they will not be able to withstand our 70,000 people."

Li Hong looked at everyone and said, "We have 100,000 people now, not 70,000 people."

"One hundred thousand people?" Qu Yi asked strangely, "We still have reinforcements?"

Li Hong did not answer and continued, "It is precisely because the Xianbei people had 120,000 cavalry that we had to retreat all the way until the 120,000 troops of the Xianbei people were disconnected."

"Sir, do you want to beat them?" Qu Yi asked in surprise.

"I will not let Helian go no matter what," Li Hong said with a firm expression. "To fight Helian, we must first ensure that we are strong, otherwise we will not be able to hit him, so I will not waste the lives of the soldiers on sticking to the pass. In addition, the closer we lure Helian to Guanzhong, the worse his vigilance and the less likely he will be to escape back to the Yellow River."

"But, will Your Majesty agree with the Lord's idea?" Kong Chang asked worriedly.

"I will deal with Your Majesty's affairs." Li Hong waved his hand and said, "As long as He Lian is killed, all problems will be solved."

"Zhongyuan, tell me carefully."

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The strong wind and sand led more than 4,000 people to retreat to Fengyi Mountain and met Yan Rou.

He was the same as Yan Rou and others' thoughts, worried that he would chase with Lian and Tuoba Feng and would take the lead in surrounding Gaoping City and cut off the retreat of Qu Yi, Heng Ji and others, so he ordered the army to temporarily stop at Fengyi Mountain in order to help Yan Rou block the enemy.

After dawn, the scouts came to report that the Xianbei people who occupied Muxia Pass did not leave the pass nor showed signs of moving forward.

Yan Rou, Qianfengsha and others were shocked and wondered why the Xianbei people didn't take advantage of the victory to pursue them. After a few people discussed it, they hurriedly led their troops to retreat to Gaoping City.

On the way, they received a urgent letter from Li Hong to urge the withdrawal of the troops. When they learned that Qu Yi and Hengji's army had returned to Gaoping safely, the few people were overjoyed and rushed to Gaoping City to pay homage to Li Hong.

We were very happy to see each other again after more than four months of separation.

Li Hong hugged Xiaolan's shoulders, looked at them again and again, and then said in surprise: "You've grown again."

When Xiaolan saw Li Hong, he was very excited and pulled him and kept talking, smiling happily.

Yan Wuwei joked, "This kid has an amazing appetite and is extremely hungry, and even robs the horse food. Don't just look at him as he grows tall. Go and see his horse, you're so thin that he's left with bones."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Li Hong pointed to Zhang He and said, "Junyi, I asked you to go to Jizhou with Hutou, why don't you go?"

Before Zhang He could speak, Yan Rou immediately said loudly: "Sir, it's too much to transfer both of my subordinates away. Wen Chou and Zhang He must leave one of them no matter what. I won't let him go."

Li Hong smiled and said to Zhang He: "It's good if you don't go. Even if you arrive in Jizhou, you don't have time to return to Hejian Kingdom. This time, we will turn back when we go to Xindu City. Next time we have the chance, I will let you go back to your hometown in Jizhou to see."

Zhang He thanked him repeatedly thanked him with gratitude.

The strong wind and sand and Jiuyangskin saw Li Hong coming, and hurriedly knelt down to apologize.

Li Hong helped up one by one, after a while, he smiled and asked, "Okay, what crime do you think?"

Qianfengsha looked at Qu Yi in surprise without making any noise.

Li Hong looked back at Qu Yi, who looked extremely unnatural, then looked at the three of them, and smiled and said, "Master Qu said to me, you are brave and good at fighting, and the Xianbei people are frightened, and they didn't say you have any guilt?" Then his face darkened, and he turned around and asked, "Yuntian, what are you hiding?"

At this time, Qu Yi and Heng Ji knew it well, knowing that Li Hong was unwilling to punish the strong wind and sand, and even more unwilling to make public the matter of the strong wind and sand violating military discipline. At this time, when using people, it is understandable that Li Hong deliberately protects the strong wind and sand.

Since Li Hong was unwilling to pursue the matter, Qu Yi was of course very happy. He laughed happily and said, "Shis Coach Qu was probably a little too happy to see the lord come back. He was confused, haha..."

Everyone smiled.

Li Hong introduced Li Wei, Xie Ming, Song Wen and others again, and then discussed military information again.

＝＝＝

Heard that the court had issued an order to ask General Dong Zhuo, the general of the defeated county, to lead the army from the Great Wall fortress of Shangjun to Lingzhou of Beidi County, to cut off the enemy's retreat, and forced the Xianbei people to withdraw their troops. The opinions of several generals of the commander again disagree. After all, everyone was still very afraid of the powerful Xianbei people, and they were not sure whether the Han army could find an opportunity to annihilate them after the Xianbei people crossed Liupan Mountain.

Since the court has a clear strategy to defend against the enemy, why do you still have to risk giving up the natural danger of Liupan Mountain? As long as you stay on the line between Liupan Mountain and Chao and wait for General Dong Zhuo to successfully attack, the Xianbei people will naturally withdraw their troops and leave. Although the cost of sticking to defense is very high, there is no need to take risks, and there is no need to offend the court to cause unreasonable disasters.

The generals who supported Li Hongqi's guards of Liupanshan believed that the risk of placing the hope of defeating the Xianbei people on the ignorant Dong Zhuo army would be greater. If Dong Zhuo failed to attack Lingzhou, or he had not taken Lingzhou for a long time, and his own army suffered heavy casualties and suffered great losses in the process of perseverance, then the entire northern territory of Beidi County and Anding County would definitely fall. In other words, the purpose of the Xianbei people's invasion was achieved. After that, if the Han army wanted to regain these lands in a short period of time, it would be impossible for the Han army to regain these lands in the current national strength. It would take a long time to gather a hundred thousand troops again.

"Put your victory on others and want to get it for nothing, we will be the one who will be unlucky in the end." Zhang He said loudly, "No one will give up victory. Victory depends on ourselves to bleed and sweat, and we must fight bravely to get it."

Li Hong did not join everyone's argument. He stood silently in front of the window and looked at the blue sky. He suddenly remembered Fengxue's eyes, those intoxicating blue eyes.

Yan Wuwei walked gently behind him and said in a small body: "If you want to kill He Lian, this is the only chance."

Li Hong nodded.

"You said back then that as long as you kill Helian, Fengxue can return to Xianbei and Tanyue Valley."

Li Hong thought for a moment and nodded again.

"Then why are you hesitating?" Yan Wuwei said, "For the sake of wind and snow, we must also retreat to Liupan Mountain."

Li Hong remained silent. He thought of what He Yong told him when he left Jizhou. He Yong said that the war in Xijiang was best to be a quick battle and ended within two months, otherwise the food and salary would be cut off and the defeat would be difficult to recover. He Yong's words were by no means alarmist. He remembered that when Xijiang suppressed the rebellion last year, there was no food and salary, but the Taiwei's Mansion had been hiding it. If he had not suddenly taken action to eliminate corruption and copy a large amount of stolen money and rescued it, let alone the subsequent Yicheng Battle, it would have been a problem whether his army could return to Zixiushan Camp successfully. If the same thing happened again, it would be a disaster for the army that was standing in Liupanshan, and there would be no way to survive.

"Don't fight any more." Li Hong said loudly, "order all the troops to retreat quickly to the city."

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Dong Zhuo's army was ordered to go north and advanced along Luoshui, rushing 600 miles in a row to reach the Baiyushan Great Wall Fortress.

In the military tent, Sima Li Ru put down the documents in her hand, leaned over and looked at the map carefully, but didn't say anything for a long time.

"The General asked us to go slow, Your Majesty urged us to go urgently. These two orders are completely different. Who do we listen to?" Hu Zhen looked around and then looked at Dong Zhuo and asked respectfully.

Dong Zhuo looked cold and stroked his beard and said, "Let me hear what Lord Sima said first?"

"Let's go slow." Li Ru said, "The Xianbei army is attacking the three gates, with high morale and strong strength. At this time, the time is very bad to attack Lingzhou. When the Xianbei people learned that we cut off their retreat, they would be angry and fight back all the way. We will be the first to be hit and the losses will be heavy."

"We walked slowly all the way, fifty miles a day, and ten and half a month later. Half a month later, the Xianbei people and Li Hong were exhausted and their strength was greatly damaged. At that time, we will attack again, not only will we successfully capture Lingzhou, but we can also attack the Xianbei people with huge losses and take the opportunity to gain more military merits."

Li Ru paused for a moment and continued, "The court only wanted to drive the Xianbei people out early, and did not have the confidence to win. They all placed their hopes on the blocking of Li Hong's army and did not attach much importance to our troops along the way. Even if we conquered Lingzhou and defeated the Xianbei people, our contributions were far inferior to Li Hong's army."

"We ran more than a thousand miles to fight, but the credits were all from others, which was naturally unreasonable. So, when we waited until Li Hong's army had basically lost almost all the losses, and even the pursuit power was gone, and the army of generals was left on the entire battlefield. Then, all the credits were ours."

Li Ru smiled faintly and said, "As for Li Hong, it is difficult to become a climate after his strength is greatly damaged. How the general wants to solve him is the general's business and has nothing to do with us, but the general must return this favor to us in the future." He picked up the bamboo slips, rolled them carefully, and put them at Dong Zhuo's hand, "The general puts it away, and maybe it will be useful in the future."

＝＝＝

"The Marquis came to the letter and said that the Grand Marshal Zhang Wen had been dismissed, and the military affairs were now handled by the Shangshutai. Lord Huangfu Song is now the Shangshutai's Shangshutai." Li Su said, "Lord Huangfu personally directed the war in Western Xinjiang, and he would definitely see our intentions. If he talked about it before His Majesty..."

Li Ru shook his head and said, "Although the court repeatedly issued orders to urge, they also knew that the mountain road was difficult to walk and could not walk quickly. Moreover, once we entered the western foothills of Baiyu Mountain, we basically lost contact with the court. He couldn't find it even if he wanted to find us, so he could only stare at me. If we win the battle in the future, I would not dare to talk too much."

Everyone in the tent nodded repeatedly.

"Changsheng, once we lose contact with the court, we will have no way to know the stable situation. How can we grasp the timing of the attack?" Dong Zhuo thought for a moment and asked, "If we want to annihilate the Xianbei people south of the Yellow River, this attack timing is very important."

"Li Hong currently has at least 100,000 people, plus the terrain of Sanguan and Liupanshan is dangerous, so it will be no problem to guard it for one or two months." Li Ru said, "But the timing of this attack is indeed difficult to grasp, especially the general said that the Xianbei people should be annihilated to the south of the Yellow River." He looked up at the chief Liu Ai, and a hint of imperceptible ridicule appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Is the general determined to annihilate the Xianbei people to the south of the Yellow River?"

Dong Zhuo nodded and said confidently: "I took the class a few days ago and I will win this battle."

He pointed to Liu Ai, who was sitting beside him and said, "Wenqi also looked at the celestial phenomena and divination, and was sure that there was such a good omen."

Li Ru finally couldn't help but sneer.

Liu Ai is the chief historian of Dong Zhuo. He and Li Ru are Dong Zhuo's right-hand men, but their relationship has always been bad and they insult each other. Liu Ai is in his forties, has a medium figure, has a weak appearance, and is gentle in character. He is proficient in art and numerology, and is well-known for yin and yang, and is highly valued by Dong Zhuo. Li Ru studied ancient classics, while Liu Ai was learning modern classics, so the two have a very different viewpoint.

Most officials in the Han Dynasty were appointed by scholars who studied scriptures, and most of the scholars at that time studied the classics of modern literature. The classics used prophecies and divination (read chen, wei) to preach the scriptures, so it became a trend for scholars to study arts and numbers.

(Prophecy uses mysterious secret words, prophecies as God’s revelation, telling people good and bad luck, governance, chaos, rise and fall, and often have pictures and texts, also known as prophecies. Issue is an explanation of Confucian classics using religious superstitious views.)
To be continued...