The four people in the room had different moods.

Lan Sixin had a vague feeling in his heart of the cycle of heaven and unsatisfactory retribution. Since he took office, he was the one who felt the deepest and most painful feeling about Xiao Ding's domineering behavior. Seeing Xiao Ding come to an end, he felt both in his heart

He is happy, but also has some faint worries. As a standard civil servant, he actually hates all wars. As long as there is a war, it will be accompanied by destruction and destruction.

Li Du, on the other hand, was gloating over his misfortune and did not conceal the joy on his face. If it were not for the presence of Lan Sixin and Zhang Chao, he would have danced.

Another general, Li Dan, was worried. He actually didn't have a good impression of Xiao Ding. Speaking of the Battle of Suide, Xiao Ding launched an attack on Li Xu without any warning and captured Li Xu.

Yanzhou, thus triggering an all-out war between Li Xu and Shaanxi Road.

Although Li Xu lost in the end, 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, 70% to 80% of Suide's Ding households were lost. Even if Li Du surrendered in the end and allowed the people who were kidnapped back then to return home, Suide still lost half of its population.

But no matter what, Xiao Ding at that time was still considered an ally. What he faced was just a partial division of the Dingnan Army led by Li Du. They fought extremely hard, relying entirely on strong walls and clearing the field to slowly wear down the opponent.

Finally, when Xiao Ding's side won the battle, he forced Li Du to surrender.

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

What was the result?

Li Xu was driven by Xiao Ding like a dog to Qingtang, and then to the Western Regions, and then used the excuse of chasing Li Xu to capture these places one after another.

How could Li Dan not be worried when he had to fight such a person now?

Can you win the fight?

Even if Captain Zhang Chao is in charge, can he win the battle?

The former pacification envoy 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 deal with the threat of the Liao people on the Hebei Road, but now it is better. The Liao people no longer fight, and there is chaos in their own yard.

stand up.

Another person in the room, Zhang Chao, the current military commander on Shaanxi Road, was worried and a little sad. He really didn't expect that one day he would confront Xiao Ding on the battlefield.

I remembered that when Xiao Ding went to his home a few years ago, I had a long conversation with him. At that time, the bearded young general was just a commander, but he had no stage fright in front of me and talked eloquently.

Later, how to deal with the rebellious Li Xu, how to manage the northwest and turn it into an important area to contain the Liao Kingdom, the strategy of three-pronged attack on the Liao Kingdom can be said to have been proposed by this young general.

But now, the dragon slayer has also become a dragon.

"We all don't want war to break out, but this is just our wishful thinking." Zhang Chao said slowly: "Everyone here knows Xiao Ding very well, and everyone also knows about the Western Army.

Therefore, this battle is extremely difficult to fight. It can be said that with the troops and capabilities we have now, it is basically impossible to confront them head-on. Let everyone tell you, how are you going to prepare for 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 I ask Lieutenant, are there no reinforcements?" Li Du said: "With all due respect, if there are not enough reinforcements, this battle will not be fought at all. I have fought against Xiao Ding, and the strength of his army is very impressive.

Experienced.”

"Of course there will be reinforcements!" Zhang Chao said: "Zheng Xiong from Jingxi Road will arrive soon with 50,000 reinforcements. At the same time, 50,000 soldiers and horses from Hedong Road will rush to Shaanxi Road. After that, the forbidden troops around Bianliang will also arrive.

Depending on the situation, five to one hundred thousand forbidden troops will be deployed. However, this will take time. It will take at least until March next year for them to be in place. If you are slower, it may even take until May. In addition, Qin Feng Road's soldiers and horses, officials

My family also authorized me to mobilize them with full authority, but the soldiers and horses on Qinfeng Road cannot come to Shaanxi!"

Li Du felt a little toothache.

The imperial court attaches great importance to it and has enough troops. In order to deal with Xiao Ding, it has mobilized a total of 200,000 elite imperial troops. However, it will be very fatal until March or even May next year.

What is the biggest characteristic of Xiao Ding’s war?

quick!

"Captain, in this case, please forgive me, we are afraid that we will have to strike first to gain advantage!" Li Du said.

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

"Liu Wei, it is the greatest justice for the court to attack those who are not loyal. Hasn't the court already made a final decision on whether Xiao Ding will send troops?" Li Du said disdainfully: "Is it possible that we have to wait until Xiao Ding takes action first? With all due respect, this

It’s really unnecessary to take off your pants and fart. Another way to say it is that you want to be a bitch and build a memorial arch at the same time.”

"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 language?

But the other three people obviously didn't care.

"How do you say it?" Zhang Chao was very interested.

"Lieutenant, the court wants justice and honor. What do we want? Victory." Seeing Zhang Chao's interest, Li Du became excited: "War is also a trick, taking the enemy by surprise and attacking him unprepared. Against Xiao Ding

, if we want to gain the upper hand, we must take action first. Once Xiao Ding knows that the court is already dealing with him and is prepared, we will be in trouble."

After looking around, Li Du said slowly: "Everyone, Hengshan is in the hands of Xiao Ding. It is very convenient for him to send troops, but it is very troublesome for us."

Everyone in the room nodded.

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

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

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

Yinzhou and Xiazhou.

"Captain Mingjian!" Li Du cupped his hands and said, "Xiao Ding can enter and leave Hengshan freely, and as soon as he leaves Hengshan, there is an important military city like Shentangbao as his base, and there is Daqinghe wharf to transport military supplies, and Siwuguan

The advantage has been completely eliminated long ago. We sent troops from Siwuguan and wanted to attack Xingling directly. The Taiwei must be aware of the difficulties involved."

Of course, it is clear that no matter who wants to conquer Xingling, once they cross Hengshan Mountain, the eight hundred miles of vast sea will stand in their way.

"You mean, take Dingbian City and Shentang Fort first?" Zhang Chao said slowly.

Li Du nodded: "Exactly, Taiwei took advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and captured Shentang Fort in one fell swoop. By controlling this place, he at least controlled the path for Xiao Ding's troops to easily leave Hengshan. Based on this, the army crossed Hengshan and fought with them.

The armies coming out of Hengshan from Siwuguan can respond to each other. In addition, Qinfeng Road soldiers and horses attack Weizhou. The Western army garrison in the direction of Weizhou is mainly composed of Yu Zanghuama's Tibetan army. They are Xiao Ding

It’s hard to say how desperate you are. Back then, the imperial court could say that Jiang Yu Zanghuama betrayed my elder brother. Why can’t they say that Jiang Yu betrayed Xiao Ding today? As long as the price is enough, the Tubo people have no faith at all.

"

Speaking of this, Li Du's tone was full of resentment.

If Yu Zanghuama hadn't betrayed him and stabbed Li Xu in the back, how could Li Xu lose the decisive battle with Xiao Ding?

Zhang Chao pondered and had difficulty making a decision.

What Li Du said was right, but the problem was that as soon as he took the initiative, Xiao Ding would have no way to retreat, and rebellion would be a certainty, because the imperial court had made it clear that it would use troops against him.

But if he didn't take action first, wouldn't Xiao Ding rebel?

I'm afraid that he will still rebel, and in that case, he will lose the upper hand.

What Li Du said makes sense. Let the chief minister and others worry about political matters, while he only needs to consider military issues.

Late at night, Li Du left the Yamen of the Comfort Envoy happily and led his guards straight to Siwuguan. Li Dan, with a frown on his face, went on to mobilize the army to prepare for a raid on Dingbian City and Shentangbao.

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

"Lieutenant, do you really care about Cui Huaiyuan? By the way, there is also Cheng Deqian. Cheng Deqian is Ma Xing's confidant, and it is said that Ma Xing also wants to marry Cheng Deqian's daughter for his son. If we take action here, the two of them will

, but he is dead." Lan Sixin hesitated.

"What else can we do?" Zhang Chao said: "Bachelor, there is no way to have it both ways. Firstly, we can't notify them to escape. In fact, they can't escape. Secondly, we also hope that Cui Zhongcheng can confuse Xiao Ding. How about

It’s also good to delay for some time.”

"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 encouraged him: "Bachelors don't have to worry too much. They say it's one hundred thousand, but in fact there are many who are just cheating. Xiao Ding's real elite is five thousand iron

The Yaozi and the 20,000 Bubazi are his personal troops. The others are mostly tribal troops, and their combat effectiveness is not very good. How can someone like Yu Zanghuama be completely of the same mind as Xiao Ding?"

"I hope everything can come true!" Lan Sixin said: "Cui Ang and the others should have arrived at Xingqing Mansion now, right? Taiwei, tell me, Xiao Ding will have known about Xiao Yu through other means.

Something happened?"

"I don't know!" Zhang Chao said: "We have done everything we can. Bachelors don't have to worry too much. Soldiers will block it, water will flood the soil, no matter how ferocious Xiao Ding is, it will only be a corner of the country, and it is still a barren mountain. Even if

We are embarrassed for a while, but as long as we persist for a while, he will be the one who cannot stand it in the end."

Lan Sixin smiled bitterly. Of course Zhang Chao could say that. If he couldn't win, he could retreat. But he was the pacifier of Shaanxi Road. Once he retreated, he would be infamy for the rest of his life.

The so-called duty to protect one's land lies in this.

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

The two looked at each other. At this moment, another person came to the capital. I'm afraid it wasn't good news.

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

The visitor did not come in by himself, but was carried in by two guards. His whole face was pale and bloodless, and it seemed that he might fall down at any time.

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

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

There are too many lice and it doesn't itch, but in this case, the last bit of hope is naturally gone.
To be continued...