When all the generals heard the words "Hou Junji", they were all shocked and gathered around. Pang Fei and others were surrounded by water, and everyone pricked up their ears to listen.
Qin Mubai ordered, "The generals dispersed and returned to their posts—someone, please carry Pang Fei to my study. I want to question him personally!"
Everyone retreated one after another. Seeing Qin Mubai getting busy, Xue Lian retreated angrily and unwillingly.
In the study, the soldiers carried Pang Fei to the couch and put him down carefully, and put the tea on the table. Qin Mubai asked him, "Pang Fei, you have made great contributions this time. I will write to your Majesty to ask for credit. The court will reward you in detail later. Please tell me in detail how you met Hou Junji!"
"Yes..." Pang Fei nodded, frowned slightly and began to recall things about Hou Junji.
It turned out that after Hou Junji led his troops from Dafeichuan, they did not go all the way north to Luoche City. Instead, they detoured northwest and went west along the nine bends of the Yellow River to the Kunlun Mountains and headed towards Golmud.
Golmud is not only the largest military district in Tubo except the capital city of Luoxe, but also the largest base for grain, grass and agricultural livestock. Hou Junji knew about Pang Fei's surprise attack on the Golmud Military Region before. It is precisely because of this that Hou Junji pointed his blade at the farmland and pasture there!
The Tubo agricultural and animal husbandry base, which had lost the protection of the army, was exposed like a newborn baby to a violent lone wolf. The result is one can imagine...
Hou Junji ordered the entire army to treat him in his own way. For seven days and seven nights, he led 50,000 troops into six groups and killed countless people in the hundreds of miles at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains. He carried out a bloody and cruel attack on the place. Sweep the carnage!
Not to mention young and strong men, not even a single livestock was left behind!
Pang Fei said that at first they didn't know that the Tang army was here. They only found out when they smelled the strong smell of blood and corpses dozens of miles away in the mountains and forests!
When he found Hou Junji, the massacre was coming to an end and Hou Junji was reorganizing his troops. Every day, cattle and sheep were killed in the military camp and rewarded with wine and meat. Gold and silver treasures were piled everywhere like garbage, and the sergeants were too lazy to put them in their pockets. Countless women became military prostitutes in his army, and the entire camp was filled with the frantic howls of the sergeants and the miserable wails of the women.
Seeing this, Pang Fei was furious and immediately scolded Hou Junji for his reckless behavior regardless of military discipline. However, Hou Junji captured him in public and sent him to Dafeichuan without explanation. Before leaving, Hou Junji didn't say anything more. He just asked Pang Fei to tell Qin Mubai that his next target was the Qiangtang area and the headwaters of the Yak River!
"There are many tribes from Tubo living there, and it is also an important agricultural and animal husbandry base..." Upon hearing this, Qin Mubai frowned deeply and was speechless for a while.
"Teacher, is Hou Junji going too far?" Pang Fei said, "We, the Tang Dynasty, are the masters of benevolence and righteousness. How can we indiscriminately kill, rape, and kidnap people?"
"Have you ever seen the wolf of Renyi? Whether in the Tang Dynasty, the grasslands, the Gobi, or the plateau?"
"No… "
"That's it." Qin Mubai took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, and said, "One... no, a group! How can people who don't even risk their lives care about this? Now, Hou Junji and his men The soldiers put aside all the constraints and distractions and restored all their own natures - human nature, including kindness and cruelty, greed and selflessness, as well as strong needs for various desires. Now Hou Junji has already. He is not a general of the Tang Dynasty, he is just the leader of a group of crazy and indulgent men who spend their last days doing whatever they want!"
"Now the students understand a little bit why Hou Junji did what he did." Pang Fei also sighed and said, "Actually, soldiers are the most miserable. They risk their lives with their heads raised and are poorly fed and poorly clothed. They have no wine, meat or women. , there are countless military laws and regulations on your head, and you will be severely punished and sanctioned if you are not careful. After staying in the army for a period of time, no matter who you are, there will be a lot of pressure in your heart. To relieve these pressures, there are only three ways: massacre, wine and women. Hou Junji allows his soldiers to completely release these pressures, indulge themselves without restraint and scruples, and then maintain the morale of the army. with fighting power!”
"Correct answer." Qin Mubai nodded and said, "Hou Junji is a veteran on the battlefield. No one understands better than him what the soldiers in the army need most - wine, meat, money and women! The Hu people's army has always been They did not suppress the needs of their sergeants in this regard. Therefore, their sergeants were all in high spirits when they heard about the war and did not need to boost their morale. Only our Tang army, which was surrounded by Confucianism and etiquette, had so many. Hou Junji satisfied all these constraints of his sergeants, and then allowed them to massacre wantonly, venting their hatred and pressure. In this way, the entire army was in the same boat as him, and there was no way to retreat. Then no one will disobey him and serve him to the death! Hou Junji, he was originally a violent lone wolf, but now he has become the leader of a wolf pack... You can imagine how surly and powerful his army is now. You can also imagine how terrified Hou Junji is on the plateau now!"
"Yes, that's right!" Pang Fei nodded hurriedly, "along the way we met many Tubo herdsmen who had fled with their families. They all talked about how pale they were. When they heard the words 'Hou Junji', they were so scared that they wet their pants! This The name has almost become a synonym for death and ghosts on the plateau, and everyone shudders when they hear it!"
Qin Mubai frowned, "Is there any news about the troops under Gar Qinling's command?"
"No." Pang Fei shook his head, "We and the Han slaves who were rescued by Hou Junji went back to Dafeichuan along the road that Hou Junji cleared. We were peaceful and did not encounter any soldiers or horses on the way. , and I haven’t heard anything about the soldiers and horses of Gar Qinling.”
"As expected, the Garqin Mausoleum, which fled after the raids in the western frontier of the Tang Dynasty, would be shocked when they heard about Hou Junji, and would be eager to return to Luoxucheng to aid." Qin Mubai muttered to himself, thinking to himself He said, "Therefore, he should enter the plateau along the Jinchuan River and Jishi Mountain, then take the shortest straight line and rush back to Luoche City. This happens to be a departure from Hou Junji's marching route - it seems Hou Junji did not go to Golmud blindly. He first predicted the march direction of Garqin Ling and then formulated the marching strategy. When Garqin Ling rushed back to Luoche City, it was probably Hou Jun who heard about it. The news of the massacre in Golmud. Then... when Hou Junji leads his troops to the upper source of the Yak River, it is time for the two of them to lead the army to quell the chaos and defend the Yak River agriculture and animal husbandry base. It is very likely that we will encounter him at the upper source of the Yak River and have a life-and-death battle!"
Pang Fei's eyes lit up and he said: "By then, won't Luosu City be empty? What will happen if we lead a brigade of troops to attack Luosu directly?"
"This is exactly what Hou Junji wanted." Qin Mubai shook his head, sighed, and said, "He committed such a big crime and made such a big fuss, just to fundamentally attack Tubo. National strength, and attract the Tibetan army to attack and kill him, thus forming a force to move the tiger away from the mountain, making it easier for me to take advantage of it and attack his lair!"
"So mentor... shall we march into the army?" Pang Fei asked cautiously.
Qin Mubai didn't answer immediately. He paced back and forth with his hands cut behind his back, thinking deeply. Pang Fei didn't dare to say anything and waited quietly.
"Go in!" Suddenly, Qin Mubai shouted sharply, "Why don't you go in?!"
"Students are willing to be the vanguard!!" Pang Fei said excitedly.
Qin Mubai smiled slightly and patted his hand, "Looking at how you are now, you can't even ride a horse. How can you fight as a vanguard? You'd better recuperate first. There will be a time when you go into battle! In addition, I will go with you. I have already recorded all the five hundred brothers, and will go to the court to request compensation. In addition, there are six brothers who came back with you, and I am now reorganizing the ten brothers. Wanqinyi Mansion organizes seven armies. I will let you, Xue Rengui, Su Dingfang, and Yuwen Hongtai, be assigned as the "Zhongsi Left and Right" generals. The six brothers who returned with you, I remember clearly that they were the first to follow me. One of the thirty hundred knights, I also remember all their names, namely 'Chang Kai, Kang Jie, Peng Ze, Ran Min, He Lianyu, Xiao Xuanwu'."
"Yes, that's right... my mentor remembers it very clearly. They are all the first batch of Hundred Riders, and they are all the most capable and outstanding soldiers!" Pang Fei nodded sadly, with red eyes, "We saw him off along the way. We killed more than 400 brothers, and in the end, only seven of us survived... "
"Don't be too sad. If you survive a catastrophe, you will be blessed later." Qin Mubai patted him on the shoulder, "The six of them, plus Zhu Bancheng, the only surviving Zhonglang general guarding Yangguan, and Zhao Tong, the commander of the Snow Eagle Army , together serve as the captain of the eighth battalion of our Yifu, and are in charge of an army of 100,000. Although he is only a small captain now, he has no less than 10,000 soldiers and horses, which is no worse than any other third-level general of the Qin Dynasty. Mu Bai guarantees that all these brothers who live and die with me and share adversity will surely be prosperous and prosperous in the future!"
Four days later, the 100,000 troops that Qin Mubai brought back from Yumen Pass were reorganized, and all officers above the rank of captain were appointed by Qin Mubai himself.
This is just a Yi mansion, but the number of soldiers and horses is equivalent to more than two guards of the imperial court. Except for Qin Mubai, the highest generals are Xue Rengui, the general of the Zhonglang, Su Dingfang, the general of the position, and Yuwen Hongtai and Pang Fei, the generals of the left and right; The army, the front and rear armies, the left and right Yuhou army and the seven battalions of the central army, plus the eight battalions of Snow Eagle Guards, each battalion's top officer has a school lieutenant.
At this point, the key generals under Qin Mubai's command are clearly defined - General Shiro and Eighth Colonel!
The military also called them the "Four Court Pillars" and "Eighth Army Platform" of the Kansai Army.
The Tang Dynasty has always valued military industry most. Now, even the important ministers and relatives of the emperor are thinking hard about recruiting their nephews into the Kansai army, hoping that they can join the military industry and be honored by the court in the future. It is not difficult to imagine that in the future, the generals of Kansai, represented by the Four Court Pillars and the Eight Military Platforms, will surely rise to the top with support.
Therefore, Qin Mubai's boastful sentence in Haikou, "All these brothers who live and die with me and share adversities with me, will surely achieve great success and prosperity in the future" is not just a temporary arrogance.
After learning about Hou Junji's movements, Qin Mubai's plan became clearer - to send his troops westward to attack the plateau as soon as possible, and take advantage of the chaos inside the plateau and the empty capital to seize Luoche City!
However, the troops and horses currently in hand are not enough. The most important thing is the lack of logistics support. Therefore, Qin Mubai wrote a letter urging Li Daliang, Qin Tong and Li Junxian to speed up their march and come to Shanzhou to meet up, especially to ensure that the grain and grass sent by the court could be delivered as soon as possible.
Just as he was about to lose his sight, the 150,000 reinforcements sent by the imperial court finally arrived in Shanzhou. Along with them, there were tens of thousands of civilians and countless supplies of food, grass and baggage!
To Qin Mubai's expectation, King Wu Li Ke, who was far away in Youzhou, actually caught up with the army and arrived in Shanzhou with them!
"Li Ke, you came so quickly. Did you run naked all the way without stopping in Chang'an?" Upon hearing the news of Li Ke's arrival, Qin Mubai had a playful smile on his face and said to himself, "We meet again after a long separation. The first sentence What should I say to you? "Have you eaten?", "How many girls have you had recently?"