Chapter 91: The turbulent storm

Yan Changkong asked in a deep voice: "Governor General, should you transfer the army to the mountains to encircle and suppress it?"

"No." Situ Rui shook his head and said with a serious expression, "We don't know the situation in the mountains. After all, this is the border of the Guanghui Empire, and the hearts of the people are mostly towards their homeland. Since Meng Hu can incite the strong men in Xiling City, he can also incite the strong men in the mountains."

Yan Changkong's expression couldn't help but become solemn. If Meng Hu really incited a large number of strong men in the mountains, the situation would be complicated. Qingniu Mountain is steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack. If only one or two divisions were sent to encircle and suppress, it would be difficult to win. If the army of condemnation was transferred to encircle and suppress, the troops on Xiling would appear thin. If something went wrong, it would be really a sesame seed and a watermelon that would be lost. It would be a waste of money.

During this expedition, the Emperor of Mingyue Empire mobilized a total of ten divisions and joined Situ Rui's command. In addition, the original Qingzhou Legion under Situ Rui's command, the total force exceeded 350,000.

Unfortunately, before the war started, Situ Biao's First Division was severely damaged in front of Tianlang Pass. Then Tuoba Tao's Third Division was defeated by Meng Hu in Hexi Fortress. By the time Situ Rui officially sent troops, there were only two and a half left of the four divisions of the Qingzhou Legion.

Then there was the defeat of the Qinqi Division in Dingzhou and the destruction of the entire Yao Mingyuan Division.

In addition to the number of casualties in the three consecutive days of attack on Xiling City, the number of troops under Situ Rui's command is actually less than 250,000.

Among them, 150,000 troops were stationed outside Xiling City, and they worked day and night to dig tunnels.

Thirty thousand people were stationed in Sanjiang, Hedong and Hexi Fortress. These three strategic areas maintained the retreat of the Mingyue Empire Army and could not be misled. Situ Rui would never dare to take it lightly.

The remaining more than 70,000 troops were commanded by Yan Changkong, responsible for collecting money and grain from the three prefectures of Hedong, Sanjiang and Xiling. More than 40,000 troops had already scattered in brigades, squadrons or squads, and were collecting money and grain everywhere in various counties, villages and towns. The remaining Second Division, directly under Yan Changkong, temporarily acted as a grain transport team, responsible for escorting the collected money and grain to Mingyue Camp outside Xiling City.

The Mingyue Imperial Army, which invaded the western provinces, seemed to have many troops, but in fact the dispatch of troops was already in short supply.

If you attack Qingniu Tun in a large scale, you can only mobilize troops from outside Xiling City. With Meng Hu's difficulty, more than 3,000 barbarian cavalry and unpredictable hunters in the mountains, Situ Rui believes that at least three divisions and more than three divisions must be mobilized to ensure victory. In this way, the troops outside Xiling City will appear thin.

In view of this, it is not necessary to think about the large-scale encirclement of the mountains. Situ Rui did not want to fight on both sides and could not fight on both sides.

But then again, although it is not feasible to enter the mountain to encircle and suppress the food supply, it is relatively easier to defend the mountain pass and protect the food supply, because there are many hunters and men in the mountain, they are just mobs. Relying on the steep terrain, they can still pose a threat to the Mingyue Empire Army, but once they leave the mountain, they will immediately reveal their true colors and become lambs to be slaughtered.

Situ Rui frowned and meditated for a moment, and suddenly said to Yan Changkong: "General Changkong, the Second Division no longer needs to go to Sanjiang, so he guards the mountain pass at the southern foot of Qingniu Mountain. As long as he guards the mountain pass, the barbarian cavalry and tyrants in the mountains cannot come out, and they cannot pose too much threat to Sanjiang and Xiling's grain roads coming to Hedong."

Yan Changkong nodded slightly and said, "That's the matter of escorting military rations..."

"You don't have to worry about this." Situ Rui reached out and took a picture of the map and said in a narrow voice, "This supervisor will send another division to transport grain. Your task is to seal the mountain pass and protect the safety of the grain road. In addition, this supervisor will also allocate the remaining tens of thousands of light cavalrymen of the Qinqi Division to you for your cooperation in combat."

"yes!"

Yan Changkong straightened his body and said proudly, "I will never let down the Governor's instructions."

Xiling Cathedral, underground secret room.

Looking at the empty basement, the Western Priest Luo Daonan fell to the ground with his butt. His originally rosy face had turned pale at this moment, and his eyes were even more resentful. This secret room was originally filled with gold, silver, jewelry and various antique treasures, but now, there is nothing left!

The people's wealth and ointment that had been plundered for decades disappeared overnight. Luo Daonan's heart was so hatred that his teeth were rustling.

After a while, Luo Daonan struggled to stand up, returned to the living room and hurriedly wrote a letter, then carefully rolled it into a thin bamboo tube, and finally came to the attic on the top floor of the cathedral, moved a pigeon from the corner, took out a carrier pigeon, and carefully tied the thin bamboo tube to the pigeon's legs.

After all this, Luo Daonan relaxed his hands, and the white carrier pigeon flew out of the window with a thunderous thunder, and disappeared under the blue sky in less than a moment...

Mingyue Empire, Xijing.

Qiu Fengjin is personally supervising the work of the prince Qiuye. Qiu Ye is the eldest son born to the queen. He has been smart and smart since childhood and is very favored by Qiu Fengjin. When he was six years old, Qiu Fengjin was appointed as the prince early. Now Qiu Ye is thirteen years old and looks more and more intelligent. Even Qiu Yutang, who never praises others easily, also admires him very much.

Qiu Fengjin knew that his ability was mediocre and that he could sit firmly was all thanks to the help of the emperor Qiu Yutang, so he placed all his efforts on Qiu Ye, hoping that Qiu Ye would grow up as soon as possible, become the most outstanding emperor of the Mingyue Empire since Mingyue Emperor, and realize his long-cherished wish to unify the Middle Earth world as soon as possible.

Qiu Fengjin is very concerned about the progress of the Battle of Xiling, so Situ Rui would use a carrier pigeon to transmit the latest battle report back to Xijing every few days or in a major change. Therefore, Qiu Fengjin is very familiar with the progress of the battle of Xiling. At this moment, Qiu Ye's homework has been completed, Qiu Fengjin will talk to his son about the Battle of Xiling.

Qiuye tilted his little head and thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "Father, my child thinks this battle should not be fought."

Qiu Fengjin couldn't help but frowned and asked with some displeasure: "Why?"

Akino replied seriously: "The empire has just experienced the Eight Kings Rebellion. The national treasury is empty and the people's livelihood is suffering. The most important thing is to rest with the people. We shouldn't use any light weapons. On the other hand, although the Glorious Empire is in an extraordinary period, they have not experienced any major changes for decades and the national treasury is full. Even if they encounter temporary difficulties, they can recover quickly."

Qiu Feng looked at his son with a complicated expression, but Qiu Ye's analysis coincided with Qiu Yutang.

Akino continued, "The boy thought that as long as the princes competed for the throne in the Glorious Empire, the empire was divided, and the pagans invaded large-scale invasions and other major changes, even if the old General Situ could capture the western provinces, he might not be able to defend it."

"Is that true?" Qiu Fengjin groaned unhappily, and said with a lip of his lips, "That's not necessarily."

As Qiu Fengjin finished speaking, an old eunuch in brocade robe suddenly hurried into the imperial study room. The servant knelt down and kowtowed with his head and sang, "I'm going to see the Lord Long Live, and the Prince."

Qiu Fengjin saw that the eunuch was the eunuch who came in, and frowned and asked, "Didn't I say that during the prince's homework, no one is allowed to enter and disturb me?"

"Long live the emperor." The eunuch general wiped away the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves and gasped, "There is news coming from there."

"Oh?" Qiu Fengjin's face changed instantly. Of course, he knew where the eunuch general was referring to. He asked anxiously, "What do you say over there?"

The eunuch general manager took a breath and whispered: "According to reliable news, the three princes who had the strength to reach the top have reached a compromise after the mediation of King Mengke of Yan, and temporarily put down the dispute over the throne. The Guards, Northwest and Southwest Legions have also completed the assembly, especially the Guards have advanced westward to the Yanmen Pass area, less than half a month away from Xiling."

"What!?" Qiu Fengjin stood up suddenly, his expression changed, "How is this possible? How is this possible?"

Suddenly, Qiu Fengjin remembered the dissuasion of the emperor Qiu Yutang when he decided to send troops. At that time, he thought Qiu Yutang opposed it because he was unwilling to go to the battlefield. But now it seems that Qiu Yutang should have foresaw the possibility of such a situation, so he spoke out to dissuade him.

It’s a pity that Qiu Fengjin was already enthusiastic by Situ Rui’s ambitious plan to send troops, and he was completely unwilling to listen to Qiu Yutang’s dissuasion.

The eunuch General was so scared that he sank on the ground and said in a trembling voice: "Long live the master, the news is absolutely reliable."

Qiu Feng took a deep breath, tried his best to calm himself down, and said in a deep voice: "Come on your way, go to the Yue Palace immediately."

Qingniutun.

Meng Hu, accompanied by Qi Diaozi, climbed a dangerous peak and stood on the dangerous peak and looked down. He could see the winding mountain roads on the north and south foot of Qingniu Tun. Dunzi and Leopard each took more than a thousand barbarians to overcome obstacles on the north and south mountain roads and opened the way across the mountains. The two simple camps had already taken shape.

Looking at the vast clouds in the distance, Meng Hu suddenly said: "It is no trivial to suddenly disappear from a heavy infantry brigade. I think Situ Rui should have already known the news at this time."

Qi Diaozi nodded gently and said in Meng Hu's tone: "With Situ Rui's skill, it is not difficult to guess the truth of the matter."

"Well." Meng Hu nodded and said, "We want to settle in Qingniu Tun. This matter is absolutely not something that Situ Rui can't hide from it. But Lao Qi, do you think Situ Rui will send a condemnation army into the mountains to encircle us?"

Qi Diaozi thought for a while and replied: "I thought Situ Rui was unlikely to mobilize a large army to enter the mountain to encircle and suppress it, because Qingniu Mountain is steep and the terrain in the Qingniu Tun area is particularly complicated. The Mingyue bandits are not familiar with the terrain here. It is easy to suffer a great loss when entering the mountain rashly like a headless fly."

"Well." Meng Hu said deeply, "But we cannot take it lightly. We must make sufficient preparations. The most urgent problem facing us now is food. Once all the strong men in Jiuzhai Shibatun gather, the grain eaten every day is a large number. The four or five hundred families in Qingniu Tun cannot support so many strong men."
Chapter completed!