The sudden situation in the northwest made Fang Xie really restless. Although he issued three military orders in a row, Fang Xie was not a god. He didn't know the specific situation in the northwest. The news that Chen Dingnan sent someone from the northwest was at least a month ago. Fang Xie has no way of knowing whether Chen Dingnan has started a war with the Mengyuan people a month later.
Order the big ship to advance at full speed and turn north at Yong'an Canal.
Fang Jie unfolded the map on the table, and his fingers would stop for a while on all the cities and roads in the northwest.
"If the Mongolian people really entered the customs with a million troops, the number of cattle and sheep they brought must be an extremely large number. The Mongolian people lack food and feed on cattle and sheep. After entering the customs, they can't do what they did on the grassland. Spread out the army, so the speed is slower than the light infantry, which is the only good news."
He pondered for a while: "Enter the customs from Langru Mountain, pass Fangu and head east, and then walk a hundred miles to Shuyang County. There are many mountainous roads there, and the Mengyuan people will have to walk for a while on this road. Mengge must Knowing that the Northwest of the Sui Dynasty was exhausted and could not find food supplies, the cattle and sheep he carried should at least be enough to support his army for two or three months. When Chen Dingnan got the news, it had not been long before the wolf rider entered the pass, so he immediately sent People came to report to me. Although they used the contact information of the Xiaoqi School, there are no contact points for our Xiaoqi School in places like Hexi Road and Hedong Road, so you can't use carrier pigeons... "
Qianhu Kurosawa, who came with the boat, said, "My lord, although there is no contact point for our Xiaoqi School, there are branches on Hexi Road and Hedong Road. The news should be that these routes are faster than people. It takes a lot faster for a horse to come over."
Fang Jie nodded: "So, according to the time, Meng Ge's army should have just left the Shandong Road. Their team is too large, and the speed of cattle and sheep is slow. Shuyang County will have to walk for at least 20 days. It should not have reached Hexi Road yet, and there should be time for the military order to be sent there."
Heize said: "General Chen doesn't have the lord's generals, so he probably wouldn't go to war rashly."
Fang Jie frowned slightly, but did not answer.
Because he understands Chen Dingnan's personality, Chen Dingnan is a direct and sharp person, and he hates foreign enemies, so he may not take the initiative to stop in front of the Meng Yuan army. What Fang Jie is most worried about now is not Chen Dingnan's commanding ability, but more than half of Chen Dingnan's troops were rushed back from Yunnan Road. After walking such a long way, from southwest to northwest, the soldiers' physical strength was extremely exhausted. Morale is exhausted, and it is definitely not a good thing to rush to war with the Mongols under such circumstances.
"Even if the reinforcements from the Daying Camp in Gyeonggi Province set off immediately to the northwest, Cui Zhongzhen would have to mobilize food and supplies, and with the majority of infantry, it would take at least one and a half months to get to Hadong Province."
Fang Jie shook his head: "The battle situation is changing rapidly..."
Hei Ze comforted: "Your Majesty, don't worry too much. General Chen was able to take charge when he was on the Yunnan Road, and he could control the harsh and complicated terrain. The situation in the northwest is much simpler than that on the Yunnan Road. Not much. General Chen now has to face whether to fight or not to fight, he will think clearly after leading the army for so long."
Fang Jie hummed, then turned to look at Xie Fuyao: "I want to invite you and Mr. Yan Qing to go to the northwest."
Xie Fuyao nodded: "Okay."
He looked at Yan Qing again: "Mr. has just arrived, and I want to invite you to go on a long journey. The journey is long and exhausting. You have worked so hard."
Yan Qing smiled and said: "Don't think that when I'm older, I can't compare with Fuyao, and he may not be able to beat me when compared to footsteps. Since it is the personal expedition of Meng Yuan's Great Khan, there must be masters by his side. We It's better to rush there as soon as possible, if the two armies have already clashed, Brother Meng may not send a master to assassinate Chen Dingnan."
"Thank you, sir."
Fang Jie cupped his fists and saluted.
Regardless of his current status, the fact that he was born as a disciple of the Yanwu Academy cannot be changed. Besides, Yan Qing took good care of him when he was in the Academy of Martial Arts. Fang Xie's respect for him was not deliberately pretended. When he was in the Academy of Martial Arts, if there were no Yan Qing and another professor who took care of him more, Qiu Yu, Fang Xie's life would have been even harder.
"After the sir arrived in the northwest, he told Chen Dingnan not to attack easily. It would be great if he knew the news earlier. The best place to snipe the Mongolian Yuan army is Shandong Road. For a while, there are many mountainous and dangerous passes in Shuyang County, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. But now the wolf cavalry is probably about to pass through Shandong Road. Shannan Road is an inverted triangle, sandwiched between Shandong Road and Hexi Road The area is not very wide, even if the wolf riders march slowly, at most twenty days will pass."
"The terrain of Hexi Road is peaceful, with a flat river..."
Fang Xie said: "That is the most unsuitable place for field battles with wolf cavalry. If the number of troops is greater than or equal to that of the enemy, even if the morale is better, they can form an formation to block them. But the number of wolf cavalry is seven or eight times that of Chen Dingnan's troops. , Even if it is meaningless to form an formation, Meng Ge can easily complete the encirclement by relying on his numerical advantage. Once trapped by wolf cavalry, the infantry will be in a difficult situation."
"So, instead of defending the enemy in the most unfavorable place, it is better to abandon the northwest and deploy troops to the east of Yishui River. Wolf riders have no boats, and they can only build floating bridges to cross the river. Duan Zhengshui is now in Yong'an Qucheng County In the area, taking the water route is the fastest way, and you can join Chen Dingnan in no more than 25 days. At that time, deploying defenses on the east bank of Yishui River, coupled with the assistance of the navy, it will not be so easy for the Mengyuan people to cross the river."
Yan Qing nodded: "I've written everything down, don't worry, the two of us rushed to the northwest faster than the navy."
The two of them are traveling lightly, and their speed must be much faster than that of the army.
Fang Jie clasped his fists and bowed again: "Mr. Lao."
…
…
Northwest Fangu
This is a very wide place, and a lot of candles were lit to drive away part of the darkness, but because it is too large and open, it still looks a bit eerie. Broken and fallen pillars can be seen everywhere, with thick steel bars exposed inside. The dust on the ground is so thick that your feet can sink in, it feels like stepping on a layer of snow.
The boy with withered yellow hair and somewhat ugly face squatted on the ground, looking at a corpse with only traces left. The bones had already turned into dust, but the posture of this person before he died could still be vaguely seen on the ground.
"Master, how long have these people been dead?"
"have no idea."
Mr. Jiu shook his head: "Maybe thousands of years, maybe tens of thousands of years."
"Tens of thousands of years!"
The boy was taken aback, and turned his head to look elsewhere: "It's so deep underground, what killed them? Hunger? Or did someone find it here and slaughter them?"
"have no idea."
Mr. Nine shook his head again.
For this place, even though he has lived for a long time, he still can't understand it. If it wasn't for a coincidence that he found this place, he doesn't know how long this place will remain dusty. When he came to Fan Gu, the honest man named Su Tugou and his charming wife named Du Hongxian hadn't come yet, and he was still a very young child at that time.
He still vaguely remembered that his parents brought him here from afar, but there was no trace of where he came from. He couldn't even remember why his parents brought him to such a cold and remote place. He himself has speculated countless times, and the most reasonable explanation is that maybe he has some relatives who serve in the Fan Gu Frontier Army, and his parents brought him to seek refuge.
Then his parents died of a terrible disease. He remembers that they had a fever at first and then festered all over their bodies. He was driven away by his parents because they were afraid that their children would also be infected. Where his parents died, he didn't know.
Because his parents never came to Fan Gu.
He continued his journey alone, avoiding all kinds of beasts. You must know that the hungry Northwest wolf even dared to rush into the village to commit murder. What he feels most fortunate now is that he was able to survive at such a young age. Later, when he was eating a wild rat raw in a forest, he was seen by a passing practitioner.
Then he was taken away and entered Fangu City.
On the day they entered Fan Gu, he felt like a young wild animal walked into the crowd. Fear filled his heart, making all the muscles in his body tense.
At that time, the shop was still empty, and no one stopped it. The man took him to live in Fangu City, taught him his cultivation, and told him that their sect was called Moon Shadow Hall, which used to be the most powerful sect in the Central Plains, ruling the entire rivers and lakes. Later, Yueyingtang was defeated by a man named Wan Xingchen, and then Yueyingtang had to choose to leave. Leaving the most prosperous Central Plains, the surviving disciples went far away and chose the most remote places to live in seclusion.
But every few years, they have to gather in Chang'an City from all over the world, in order to commemorate the dead ancestors, and also to prepare for the comeback of Moon Shadow Hall. It is said that the disciples of Moon Shadow Hall have been like this for many years, but they have not been able to reproduce the glory of Moon Shadow Hall.
Mr. Jiu was very young at that time. When he was not practicing, he began to re-understand the world. He liked to sit at the corner of the street and watch people come and go. But because he is really inconspicuous, people don't pay attention to him even if they see him. Until he was a teenager, his cultivation had already surpassed the practitioner who taught him.
That year, his master planned to take him to Chang'an City to attend the important gathering of Moon Shadow Hall, because his cultivation base was already very strong, so his master planned to let him challenge Tianjun. But he felt that he was not strong enough, and he felt that it was meaningless to challenge Da Tianjun. In his opinion, if you want to do it, you have to be Jiutianjun.
He and his master often quarreled over this matter, and they often ignored each other for several days.
Later, one day when he was sitting at the corner of the street watching people coming and going as usual, he saw three strange people entering Fan Gu. A skinny man in a dirty leather jacket, described as wretched. A stunningly beautiful woman in a bright red dress, alluring and charming. It was a very strange thing for two people to be together like this, but the strangest thing was... that woman was leading a young man in her hand, a very beautiful young man.
It seemed that he was a few years younger than himself. But because he was so beautiful, passers-by couldn't help but look sideways at him a few more times. Of course, this is also because the person who brought him is more eye-catching.
Mr. Jiu also kept staring at the boy, feeling that he was really far behind him. Although he wasn't ugly, that boy was obviously more likable.
As if sensing his gaze, the pretty boy also looked at him, and then stretched out his middle finger towards him. Mr. Jiu still doesn't understand what that means.
"Should have asked him then what that meant..."
Mr. Jiu, who was stuck in his memory, murmured, and the young man turned his head and asked, "Master, what are you talking about?"
Mr. Jiu was slightly taken aback, then smiled self-deprecatingly: "It's nothing, I just thought of an old friend in this city, a piece of the past."
"Master, how did you find out here?"
the boy asked.
Mr. Jiu found a place to sit down and scanned the place. This place is very big, and he has been living here for several years, so he knows that this place is probably much bigger than Fangu City on the ground. This is like a huge underground palace, but I don't know when it was built.
"That day... I almost died..."
He said.
His eyes are a little erratic.