Outside Lanzhou City, the iron camp of 80,000 troops was busy and boiling. Three days later is the day when the army sets out for the expedition. It is time to set up camp, count the baggage, and make final preparations.
Qin Mubai's boldness made Li Daozong feel nervous. He took away almost all the capable troops in Lanzhou, leaving only thousands of old and weak recruits to be given to Li Daozong to "defend the city".
Rather than defending the city, it is better to take care of local security, and by the way, assist Xiao Liang, the chief logistics officer, to transport grain and grass.
This time, Qin Mubai really gambled. He felt that if he was unfavorable in the battle ahead, leaving 20,000 more troops and less 20,000 troops here in Lanzhou would have the same meaning. It would be better to concentrate all the superior forces on the front line and fight the Gar Qinling.
Just like the profound meaning of "Tai Chi Qin Qiang" which combines Tai Chi and Qin Shubao's own marksmanship, use Qi to control the spear like an arm. When attacking, concentrate all your strength on one point, as fast as a thunderbolt and as fierce as a tiger or wolf, in order to achieve a goal. Defeat the enemy!
Today, there is still a great shortage of grain and grass equipment. But Qin Mubai couldn't wait any longer. In fact, he didn't take the so-called "war agreement" with Gar Qinling too seriously. He was always willing to fight and cheat, so he couldn't let the other party lead him around. What he was worried about was that if he delayed going to Dafeichuan to challenge the main force of Garqinling, what if that cunning guy suddenly changed his position and increased the main force to attack the second pass of Yuyang? The throat will be in danger. Furthermore, even if Garqin Ling does not use this brigade to attack Dafeichuan, if his army presses the border and attacks Dafeichuan, the strength of the current Dafeichuan guard Xue Wanjun's mere 40,000 troops will be no more than a mantis. Block the car.
Lanzhou had prepared for this unprecedented battle for a long time, but it was still just a hurried preparation for the battle. The death of Qin Shubao was naturally a great misfortune for the Kansai army, but in a sense, it was also a great blessing.
Those who condemn the people and attack the same enemy are the teachers of justice!
If Qin Shubao hadn't been the first to spill his own blood and turn grief and hatred into murderous intent, how could the army and people of Lanzhou be so united as they are now, and how could the morale of the Kansai army be as high as it is now
In recent days, Qin Mubai has been acting relatively normal due to Xiao Lou'er's company and the need to control the overall situation. But he can't lie to anyone. Every night when he was sleeping, his father's figure was floating around. Sometimes when he woke up, Qin Shubao's words seemed to linger in his ears.
When he was in the Governor's Mansion and in the army, Qin Mubai said more than a thousand times all kinds of "great and righteous" lies and clichés about the country and the nation, but only he knew that deep in his heart, How much he wanted to...capture the likes of Gar Qinling, Qu Zhisheng, and Nishuchuu, trample them under his feet, and kill them with one knife after another; use their dripping blood, desperate eyes and A tragic cry to pay homage to the dead soul of my father in heaven!
Except for the legendary saints, all mortals have selfish motives.
Qin Mubai knew that he would never reach the level of a true hero like his father, who was "generous and self-sacrificing." Any kindness must be repaid with hatred, and it is better to be a true villain than a hypocrite. This is his motto!
…
In the newly planted wild pine forest outside Lanzhou City, there is a small military camp, which is not too big, and is stationed with a small number of mysterious troops. Today, Qin Mubai stayed in this military camp all day.
After spending another half month of urgent and hard training, Five Hundred Vulcan's marksmanship accuracy and coordination proficiency can basically meet Qin Mubai's requirements!
Today, Tiegu's gunpowder expert, Qin Shi, the adopted son of Niu Wuzhi, an old miner in Xiangyang, was transferred to the military camp by Qin Mubai with a secret order. Along with them, there were fifty "experts" who specialized in preparing explosive powder and musket ammunition. These people were integrated into the five hundred Vulcans and will go out with the army.
Qin Shi, who was half a boy two years ago, has grown up a lot. He is still taciturn, low-key and tolerant, and he can be said to be submissive to Qin Mubai. But when he gets down to business, he suddenly transforms into a "workaholic" who is meticulous to the point of demanding and attentive to the point of abnormality.
In addition, after coming to Lanzhou, Qin Mubai's secretly opened Yifu "Military Academy" also began to bear fruit. Now, in addition to the hundred hundred knights he brought from Chang'an, the "cottage hundred knights" trained by the Qinyi Mansion, after strict training and elimination and actual combat screening, the quota of two hundred people was finally confirmed.
In addition to the original 100 old horsemen, 300 people will form Qin Mubai's personal guards in front of his tent. These three hundred people plus five hundred fire gods, Qin Mubai appointed one person to be their commander - the handsome flag envoy, one-armed Zhang Tong.
Among the eight hundred people, Zhang Tong was definitely not the most skilled. He was not even proficient in using a musket. But his missing arm had already made eight hundred people respect him. More importantly, Qin Mubai had no doubt about his loyalty and courage, and that was enough.
Eight hundred people, all equipped with high-quality war horses and armors. The Hundred Cavalry is in the traditional Qilin Apricot battle robe, and the Vulcan is in the true scarlet fire battle robe. Spontaneously, 800 people replaced the bright red tassels of their Mingguang helmets with snow-white eagle feathers to pay homage to the fallen commander Qin Shubao.
Therefore, Qin Mubai simply gave this special army a common internal military nickname - Snow Eagle Army!
After dismantling the temporary small army camp, Qin Mubai led the eight hundred snow sculptures back to Lanzhou and returned to the governor's camp, ready to go.
There are still many military, political and civil affairs to be handed over in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion. Therefore, Qin Mubai is very busy. Although he knows that there are many people in Qiongyu Villa who are eagerly looking forward to him spending more time to accompany him, at this moment, he can only put aside his children's personal relationship.
At dusk, the field army outside the city ended its training. Hou Junji, Yuwen Hongtai and other generals returned to the governor one after another to report on military affairs. The governor Xiao Liang and a group of civil servants also gathered here. The lights were turned on in the governor's mansion early. It seemed that it was probably going to be another sleepless night.
While everyone was busy, the city gatekeeper suddenly came to report that several spies from the Turkic Beiting had been captured in the fleeing Han caravan! Under cross-examination, the spy claimed that he was the envoy sent by Beiting Khan to Lanzhou to meet with Qin Mubai to negotiate extremely important matters!
The generals were furious as soon as they heard the words "Turkic Beiting". Yu Wen Hongtai was so excited that he drew his sword on the spot and rushed out without saying a word!
"Stop, what do you want to do?" Qin Mubai shouted, and Yuwen Hongtai's feet were fixed as if they had roots on the ground.
Turning around suddenly, Yuwen Hongtai's eyes were as red as a murderous god, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Young Marshal, my enemy is right in front of me, why did you stop me?"
Everyone looked at Qin Mubai, either confused or gearing up, but no one could maintain their emotional stability.
Qin Mubai stood up from the handsome chair and walked to the hall. He stood in front of Yuwen Hongtai, looked up slightly at the giant man who was more than half a head taller than him, and said: "Hongtai, the hatred in your heart is Can my grief and anger still defeat me?”
"Then come back!..." Yuwen Hongtai yelled three words, but suddenly felt something was wrong, so he stopped abruptly and turned his head away with a groan.
At this time Li Daozong came out and said: "Hong Tai, everyone, the hatred for killing my father is irreconcilable. The young marshal wants revenge more than any of you. However, have you ever seen the enemy come to your door and let him go? Someone beheaded him in revenge?"
"Your Majesty is right..." Several people echoed in a low voice.
"Furthermore, if the two countries are at war and they don't kill the envoys, if there is anger and resentment, they must be dealt with on the battlefield. Killing an envoy who comes by himself, what is his ability and his future?" Li Daozong said again, "Look at what that Turkic barbarian said, it's not too late to act like that!"
"Hmph! I can't speak to you! Just do whatever you want!" Yuwen Hongtai retreated angrily, with his hands crossed in front of his chest, and his eyes fixed on the big pillar in the hall, which were all red. .
Everyone calmed down one after another. Qin Mubai didn't say much and asked people to invite Turkic envoys.
Not long after, three Turkic envoys came in. The first one was a Han Dynasty man in his early forties. Kong Wuli had bright eyes and must have been a soldier who had experienced battles. Behind him were two young men dressed as attendants, a man and a woman. They were both only in their twenties and seemed to be Han Chinese. Each of the two attendants held a large, heavy black cloth bag on their chests.
Although all the generals present were persuaded by Li Daozong not to make a mistake or get angry for a while, the anger in everyone's heart was definitely lingering for a while. The atmosphere at the scene was tense and depressing, and murderous intent overflowed.
After the three Turkic envoys came in, they did not dare to look sideways and did not dare to come out. They went straight to the hall and bowed down to worship. The big man in front said: "I, Hulu Bile, pay my respects to the Governor of Lanzhou and Qin in the Tang Dynasty. I am here to serve you. I, the Khan, have come here to present two precious items to the Governor of Qin, and to ask the Governor of Qin to discuss some important state affairs."
Everyone's eyes fell on the two big black boxes. Qin Mubai's face was as dark as water and his eyes were cold, and he said calmly: "What item?"
"That's it..." The messenger stuttered and glanced around at the people in the hall, obviously a little worried.
Everyone had already guessed it, and several generals were already restless.
"My father's ashes?" Qin Mubai's voice was unexpectedly cold and calm.
"It is the ashes of your Majesty Commander Qin that have returned to the Commander-in-Chief of Qin." The envoy said, bending down and lowering his head.
"What?!"
Yuwen Hongtai rushed out with a thunderous roar, scaring the three Turkic envoys into screaming.
"Presumptuous!" Qin Mubai shouted sharply, and the hall fell into silence.
"Come here, collect the ashes." Qin Mubai said lightly.
Bi Le, the Turkic envoy, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead without concealing it, stroking his chest and bending down to say: "Rong Zhen, the Governor of the Qin Dynasty! In these two sets of urns, one contains your father, Marshal Qin, and the other contains Qibi Heli. General. They are all great heroes who respect and worship our people! I ordered the statue of your Majesty to be cast on the top of the Flame Mountain in Gaochang Kingdom..."
"Stop it. My time is precious, and I don't have time to talk nonsense with you. You can say something useful." Qin Mubai snorted and said, "Your Khan sent you here, it won't be so boring just to deliver ashes." Right? Say, there’s something else.”
Bi Le's face turned red for a while, he took out a piece of writing from his arms and handed it out, saying: "Grand Governor, this is the handwriting of our country's Grand Marshal, General Ni Shuchui. The book describes in detail how Tibet forced me to go north. Ting, Gaochang and other small countries, the causes and consequences of the murder of the old marshal, and informed the Grand Governor of all the military plans of Garqin Ling against Lanzhou, and asked the Grand Governor to be careful and not to fall into the trap... "
The sergeants accompanying him took the book and handed it to Qin Mubai.
Qin Mubai glanced at the cover of the envelope while holding the piece of paper between his right fingers, and sneered at the corner of his mouth: "General Nishushu? I've heard about his name for a long time, and it's like thunder in my ears. I didn't expect that his Chinese characters can be written so beautifully."
"Uh..." Bi Le looked up at Qin Mubai in confusion, half surprised and half afraid.
Qin Mubai casually threw the letter on the table and said: "Please reply to the Khan and Marshal of your country and say that I, Qin Mubai, know their thoughts and know what to do. Please rest assured, I I won't blame them for the father's debt. I'm not that confused. Now, Lanzhou and the Turks have a common enemy, which is Tibet, which is stronger than us. This is how the weak unite to fight against the strong. This is our way of survival. If the Khans and Nishuchui of your country don't understand this, I will bring them a copy of "Three Kingdoms" and read it, and they will understand. "
"The Great Governor is wise!" Bi Le was a little overjoyed and hurriedly bent down to caress his chest and said, "The Khan and the Generalissimo of our country have understood the sinister intentions of the Garqin Mausoleum to kill people with swords and sit on the mountain to watch the fight between tigers, so they sent you here. They risked their lives to go to Lanzhou to visit the governor! Now Tubo has almost mobilized an army to attack Yuyang Erguan and Dafeichuan. If they win, they will surely attack Helong and Mata Central Plains. We are all stunned! The Governor revealed the truth. At this moment, we must unite the weak to resist the strong and crush the wolf ambition of Gar Qinling! "
After hearing this, everyone in the hall showed contempt and resentment on their faces. Biller's words were very high-sounding, and he had obviously prepared them in advance. No matter how you listen to it, under the official tone of this school's words, you can't hide the appearance of a villain.
Qin Mubai smiled calmly and said: "I should have understood this truth a long time ago. I don't know what your Khan and the Generalissimo have been doing."
"Uh, um..." Biller rolled his eyes hard and had no words to answer.
"That's all, there is no need to mention the past." Qin Mubai said, "Come, please go to the post to rest, and you will not neglect your service. When I finish repairing the letter, I will ask your envoy to reply to the Khan and the generalissimo."
"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief!" Bi Le breathed a sigh of relief, saluted and was about to leave, but his eyes unconsciously fell on the handsome table in front of Qin Mubai. He couldn't help but wonder: "Grand Governor, why don't you first take a look at what Marshal Nishuchu said in his letter? There is an important military plan for the Garqin Mausoleum in it!"
"Hahaha!" The whole room burst into laughter.
Bi Le was confused and embarrassed, so embarrassed that he had to retreat cautiously.
As soon as Bi Le and others left, there was a big quarrel in the hall again!
"The Beiting Barbarian is so despicable! He betrayed his accomplices to gain our forgiveness and trust. This is impossible!"
"I wonder how the little marshal of Gar Qin Ling can hide it from the old marshal and the young marshal? Fortunately, Ni Shuchui thinks he is so smart and even comes to the class to try and offer suggestions! He is really a smartass!"
"That's right! No matter what, the old commander died at the hands of Mu Shuchu! This blood debt must be paid with blood!"
"First clean up the Garqin Mausoleum. Sooner or later it will be the turn of the Turkic barbarians! They will flatten Gaochang and bloodbath Beiting!"
…
Listening to the impassioned and loud arguments in the hall, Qin Mubai sat quietly on the handsome chair and stared at the two black cloth-wrapped urns in front of the table.
Silent, my heart bleeds.
At some point, everyone became quiet and looked at Qin Mubai in unison.
Qin Mubai was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses, cleared his throat and said: "Right now, Gar Qinling sent his two brothers to attack Yuyang Pass 2 in an attempt to break through from there and attack me on the back. The hinterland. If Beiting sided with the Tibetans at this time, it would be quite disadvantageous for me. At this time, it would be best if I could win Beiting's defection and attack the Tibetans from behind; if not, it would be useless to make them stand still. Not a bad situation.”
"I think it's feasible." Li Daozong continued, "Since Beiting is used to being a villain, he doesn't care about betraying Tubo again at this time. After all, they can understand that if Tubo defeats us in Helong and the Western Regions, next time The one who is waiting to be crushed is their Beiting. I think they should know that even if they become vassals of my Tang Dynasty, it is better than being enslaved and destroyed by the Tubo barbarians. There is no alliance between the Turks and the Tubo. "
"In your opinion, what kind of benefits should I promise them?" Qin Mubai asked.
"Mubai, you just told Bi Le that you would not hold grudges against Beiting, which is the greatest benefit you have given them. In addition, you can also promise them a small profit of gold, silver, and silk. Please ask Beiting." As for the success or failure of sending troops to attack Tibet, as you said, it is a good situation to be able to keep them stationary." Li Daozong sighed and said, "Speaking of "Three Kingdoms", it really reminds me at this moment. When it came to Liu Bei's attack on Wu, Guan Yu accidentally lost Jingzhou, and Liu Bei ignored the advice of his loyal ministers and mobilized an army to attack Wu to avenge the weak. As a result, the most powerful Wei State reaped the benefits and finally swept Shu. Wu, unified the Three Kingdoms. Mu Bai, I don't have the habit of flattering others, but the decision you just made was really wise. We all know that you are trying your best to suppress your emotions and not act impulsively. . This is really not easy... You have such mind, vision and courage, which is a blessing to the Tang Dynasty and the army and people of Lanzhou!"
"Bullshit! Bullshit! It's all bullshit!!!" Suddenly, several loud roars rang out in the hall. Yuwen Hongtai stamped his feet several times with a roar, and ran away.
"This black guy is getting more and more presumptuous!" Qin Mubai couldn't help but feel a little annoyed and shouted, "Come here, look at him! Don't let him spoil my big things!"
"promise-"
Not long after, Qin Mubai hadn't even sat back on the handsome chair again. The guards who had just run out ran back in a hurry and reported that Yuwen Hongtai had rushed out to catch up with the three envoys. He hadn't left the governor's house yet without saying anything. He said that Hulu Bile was beaten so hard that he was almost half dead!
The whole hall wanted to laugh but did not dare to laugh, but was a little surprised. They were even worried that Yuwen Hongtai, a fool, would be punished for getting into trouble, so the atmosphere was quite strange.
Qin Mubai sat on the handsome chair with his hand on his forehead, his face as cold as frost, but he was trying his best to hold back his laughter. He thought to himself: Heizi did something this time, something I really wanted to do but was inconvenient to do... Well done! Well done! After killing my own father, do you still dare to come to your door to deliver ashes, shirk responsibility, try to get close to me, seek out relatives, and treat me like a fool with negative IQ and EQ? - The conclusion of the alliance is that this is an inevitable choice due to the general trend; but the villain of Beiting deserves to be beaten! Bill bullied me, and even more so, he begged for a beating!
"Come here, tie up Yuwen Hongtai! Military law will serve you!"