A farce was eliminated without any trace through scientific explanation and argumentation.
Because the ghost incident was resolved, Shen Qinnan's eyes when looking at Gao Su changed a lot. In a word, he was much more pleasing to the eye than before. With Zhu Li's secret matchmaking, the two of them stayed together for a longer time, one intentionally and the other unintentionally, and gradually their relationship developed vigorously towards affection and love.
A few days later, the ghost guards found out the strengths and weaknesses of the Dangxiang, Khitan and Uighur forces. In the general's tent, Zhu Li, Gao Su, Gao Siji and others all gathered in one tent.
Zhu Li's face was solemn, and he said calmly: "Now we have found out clearly that this Khitan woman named Yanmujin is the wife of Khitan Darab Yelu Sala. Her surname is Xiao, and she is the daughter of the prime minister Qila of the Yaoyan clan. She is wise and knowledgeable."
"As for the woman named Yue Lixin, she is Murong Ba's wife and is quite knowledgeable about the military. Yelu Sala and Murong Ba both died in Qingliang Valley. I was the one who killed them. From this point of view, it is not difficult to guess the purpose of these Khitans."
Gao Su was calm when he heard this, and said jokingly: "Other people beat the younger ones, and the older ones come out to cause trouble, but the general beat the males, and the females come out to settle the score. Haha, it's really funny."
Zhu Li couldn't help but smile when he heard this, then his face straightened and he continued, "Yanmujin and the Uighur leader Shulü Pogu signed an alliance to marry their children to each other. Shulü Pogu sent troops to avenge her father-in-law. This is why the Uighurs appeared in Fengzhou."
"By the way, didn't Brother Gao say that Shulü Pogu was a branch of the Hexi Uighurs, and the Hexi Uighurs should be under the control of the Guiyi Army? Since they are under the control of the Guiyi Army, and now they are colluding with the Khitans, why doesn't the Guiyi Army have any reaction?" Zhu Li looked at Gao Su with great confusion and asked in confusion.
Since the Hexi Uighurs were affiliated with the Guiyi Army, the Guiyi Army was their boss. If their own brothers ran away and colluded with the Di people, the boss of the Guiyi Army would inevitably be held responsible if the matter was investigated.
This group of Uighurs have been on the run for more than a day or two. According to common sense, the Guiyi Army should have known about their movements long ago. But now the Guiyi Army is turning a blind eye to this matter, which inevitably makes Zhu Li curious.
"General, the Guiyi Army is not what it used to be." Gao Su quickly explained, "In the second year of Dazhong, Zhang Yichao, a powerful man in Shazhou, formed the Guiyi Army to resist the tyranny of Tubo and recapture Guazhou."
"While he sent people to submit letters to the imperial court, he continued to expel the Tubo people and successively recovered several states including Xizhou, Yizhou, Hezhou, Ganzhou, and Suzhou."
"In the eighth year of Xiantong, the Tang court conferred titles on Zhang Yichao, making him the governor of the eleven states of Hexi, the Grand Master of the Imperial Palace, the Inspector of the Ministry of Personnel, the Imperial Censor, and the Marquis of Hexi. This put the entire Hexi region under the control of the Zhang family. It was at that time that some of the Uighurs who were stranded in Hexi joined the Guiyi Army."
"However, facing a national hero like Zhang Yichao, the Tang court summoned him to Chang'an to be conferred a title. Although it was called a promotion, it was actually just a disguised form of house arrest. After the sudden loss of Zhang Yichao, the pillar of the Zhang family, they could only nominate Zhang Huaishen to concurrently serve as the governor of the Guiyi Army."
"Although Zhang Huaishen is capable, he is far inferior to Zhang Yichao. In the third year of Qianfu, the Uighurs from Xizhou invaded and defeated Zhang Huaishen in Yizhou. The Zhang family's power in Hexi was greatly reduced, and their control over it plummeted. The Uighurs in Hexi now don't take the Guiyi Army seriously at all, so the Guiyi Army naturally can't control them." Gao Su explained in detail why the Uighurs now dared to collude with the Khitans, and the difficulties of the Guiyi Army ignoring them.
So, most of the prefectures and counties in Hexi have fallen into the hands of the Uighurs?" Zhu Li's face turned grim when he heard this.
He went on the Northern Expedition to wipe out the Northern Di. Now the plan was still in progress. Suddenly he learned that Hexi was also in the hands of foreign races. How could he, a somewhat angry young man, swallow this humiliation
"Yes, Zhang Huaishen's power has declined and it is difficult for him to take any action, let alone control other states." Gao Su said frankly.
Zhu Li was silent for a while, and finally put Hexi aside for the time being and wait until Fengzhou was cleared up. After all, one has to eat one bite at a time.
"You should know what happened to Li Renfu, the leader of the Tanguts, right?"
The commander in chief in the attack on Hetao was Gao Su himself. How could he not know Li Renfu
Gao Su heard this and said with a guilty conscience: "General, I do know this person. Li Renfu is Li Sigong's nephew. When Li Ren led the elite Tanguts to break out of the encirclement, most of our attention was on him. We didn't expect that Li Renfu also took the opportunity to escape to the north at that time."
"Since Li Ren fled all the way south to Chang'an, and Li Renfu led his troops all the way north, my subordinates immediately decided to abandon Li Renfu and chose to pursue Li Ren. As a result, I failed to catch up with Li Ren, and instead let Li Renfu escape. This was my dereliction of duty." Gao Su looked embarrassed, as if he was asking for forgiveness.
He had promised with all his heart that he would never let a fly fly out of Youzhou, but in the end, not only did Li Ren escape, but now there is also Li Renfu, which is very embarrassing.
"I heard from Mr. Guo that you once assured me that Li Renfu was just a small fry and that you could easily capture him as long as you stretched out your hand. It's been so long, why are Li Renfu's men still here?" Zhu Li frowned and gave Gao Su a look, dissatisfied. How could Zhu Li bear to blame Gao Su, a general who took care of every detail and did everything himself
This guy always made promises no matter what he did. Now that Zhu Li has finally caught him, how can he not say a few words of contempt
With the facts before him, Gao Su had no words to refute and could only scratch his head in embarrassment. If it were only people like Li Renfu, it would only be a matter of time before Gao Su caught them.
Now suddenly a group of Khitan cavalry and elite Uighurs appeared. Li Renfu was also very smart. As soon as he saw a strong opponent, he immediately grabbed him and made it impossible for Gao Su to start any attack.
Zhu Li stopped talking and immediately changed the subject: "How are the other side's troops deployed? You should know this, right?"
"How could this subordinate not know?" Gao Su laughed bitterly, "Wula Mountain separates Yunzhong and Fengzhou. Now our army is stationed in Jiuyuan, east of Wula Mountain, and the Di people's coalition army is stationed in Wuyuan, west of Wula Mountain."
"The Wula Mountains are towering, reaching thousands of meters high. There is only one road along the river from Yunzhong to Fengzhou. This road is located between the top of the Wula Mountains and the Yellow River. It is a narrow area. Both sides have stationed heavy troops here. It is very difficult for each side to attack the other side." Gao Su said bitterly.
"Where is Li Xuanli, the governor of Shuofang? What is his attitude towards our attack on Fengzhou?" Zhu Li suddenly remembered that Shuofang County was nearby. Since Li Xuanli was the governor of Shuofang, he should be nearby too.
When Li Xuanli was mentioned, Gao Su looked at Zhu Li in surprise and said, "General, you may not know yet. The governor of Shuofang is the governor of Lingzhou. If I am not mistaken, he should be stationed in Yinchuan County now, not here at all.
, the Shuofang County here has been recaptured by my subordinates."
Zhu Li's face flushed a little when he heard this. He made a mistake and coughed lightly, saying, "Now that the situation is clear, let's make a plan."
"Let's give him the same thing over and over again." Zhu Li narrowed his eyes and said gloomily.
"Ah, what do you mean?" Gao Su was confused.
Zhu Li looked up at Gao Su, who looked confused, and explained, "Yan Mujin is a smart person. She will definitely guess that if you ask for help, you will definitely transfer troops from Hanoi."
"Yes, if I were in Yan Mujin's shoes, I would think so too." Gao Su nodded.
"Since she can guess the reinforcements, then we must have them. This is happening again and again. If she guessed it, then let her see it." Zhu Li explained.
Gao Su thought for a moment after hearing this, and then immediately asked, "General, are you planning to send another cavalry force to launch a surprise attack?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Li looked at him approvingly and said, "That's right. If she sees the reinforcements that Yan Mujin can estimate, then if we want to defeat her, we must send a surprise force from a place she can't expect."
"Wang Zhongrong is now fighting fiercely with Li Changfu, so Zhang Jingda and Li Zhongba stationed in Suizhou should also be vacant."
"Since Youzhou has the governor Wei Zhuang, there is no need for Meng Juehai. Brother Gao, send someone to pass on my order to have Meng Juehai stationed in Lingwu to guard against Li Xuanli in Yinchuan County; and have Wang Zhongyin stationed in Wenchi to guard against Huizhou and Yuanzhou."
"Move Zhang Jingda north to train the troops across the river and intimidate the Di people. When we advance westward from Jiuyuan, have him cross the Yellow River and attack the Di people from the side." Zhu Li gave the order solemnly.
"Yes," Gao Su replied respectfully.
If Zhu Li had not come, he would have done the same. After all, his hope of taking Fengzhou alone was very slim, and he had to seek help from outside.
It was inevitable to deploy troops across the Yellow River opposite Wuyuan to intimidate the Di people.
Gao Su was about to stand up and go to pass on the order, but Zhu Li spoke again, "Wait, I will lead the troops across the Yellow River to the south bank. I will leave Gao Siji to you. When we march west, you two should charge as hard as you can. With Zhang Jingda's presence as a deterrent, the Di people will not dare to attack with all their strength."
"I will take this opportunity to seize the two military towns of Huaishuo and Woye in the westernmost part of Fengzhou, and then advance eastward to attack their coalition forces from three sides. Before I am ready to seize the two towns, you should not launch an attack for the time being." Zhu Li warned carefully, "Also, do not show mercy to the Di people. Do you know that in the northernmost part of the Tang Dynasty, north of the vast Gobi Desert, under the same blue sky as us, there is a country. How do they treat the Di people?"
Wu Dao was stunned when he heard this. He did not expect that there was a powerful country to the north of the vast Gobi Desert. Had their people also suffered from the bullying of the Di people
But what surprised him the most was how Zhu Li knew about this country. This lord in his heart, whom he had a good impression of, was just a commoner before. How did he know about this
Although he didn't understand, he immediately asked: "Then how did they treat the Di people?"
Zhu Li narrowed his eyes, looked at Gao Su, and said coldly: "Anti-tooth for an anti-tooth, this country has subdued many nomadic tribes. They relied on more barbaric and bloody means than the Di people; they relied on forcibly integrating these nomadic tribes into the country, one after another, they forcibly subdued and brought under their rule the nomadic tribes that were wreaking havoc around them."