After Ning Emei left the courtyard, Hsu Fengnian, who reeked of alcohol, was cleaning up the mess on the stone table. The two deputy commanders, Zhou Kang and Chen Yunchui, came together with a heavy expression. Hsu Fengnian already had a premonition, so he signaled the two generals to sit down. As expected, Chen Yunchui told him a piece of bad news. Tian Heng, the commander of the Youzhou Cavalry, split his troops into two groups. He had his deputy commander, Yu Luandao, lead 20,000 cavalry to take a detour and rush out of Calabash Mouth. The old general personally led 10,000 cavalry to block the iron hooves from the Beimang and Liaodong Lines. After fighting and retreating three times, there were only 4,000 cavalry left. All of them died at the Jitou Slope at the border between Youzhou and Hezhou. Yan Wenluan had no choice but to transfer 16,000 elite infantry from Youzhou to reinforce the Helan Mountain defense line in the northeast of Youzhou. During this period, as the Huai Provincial Governor Cai Nan did not send troops and was determined to watch from the sidelines, the entire Hezhou existed in name only. Wang Sui's cavalry rushed straight to the east gate of Youzhou.
Chen Yunchui sighed, "Although I knew that the Imperial Court was unreliable, Cai Nan, who had more than 100,000 soldiers, used to be Gu Jiantang's right-hand man. In the end, he did not even have the courage to fight a symbolic battle. I don't know if it was Cai Nan's own idea or if the new Administrator, Han Lin, secretly received the order of Great An City."
Partridge Zhou Kang snorted coldly and said, "There's no difference. Cai Nan is a dog that Gu Jiantang raised outside. Gu Jiantang himself is not any better. He is also a dog that the Zhao Family threw into Liao Province. This time, he avoided battle and gave the large River Province to Wang Sui with both hands. Cai Nan and Han Lin probably have a tacit understanding. The court hopes that people in Northern Liang die. Gu Jiantang wants to preserve his strength so that he can bargain with the Zhao Family in the future. Right now, the only true troops under the Gu Family's command are the Duo Yan Elite Cavalry that Tang Tieshuang raised. If Cai Nan's vitality is greatly damaged, he can forget about returning to Great An City in a grand manner."
If Cai Nan is injured, he will not be able to return to Great An City. "Hsu Fengnian shook his head and said," In fact, Cai Nan and Han Lin both want to fight this battle. However, Han Lin wants to fight immediately while Cai Nan is waiting for Gu Jiantang's secret letter. "
Chen Yunchui and Zhou Kang looked at each other. Zhou Kang was impatient and could not hide his thoughts. He lowered his voice and asked curiously, "Your Highness, is this the spy report you obtained from the Shui Room?"
Hsu Fengnian smiled and said, "Previously, at the Escape Summer Town at the foot of Wudang Mountain, I had some dealings with Yin Maochun and Han Lin's son and made a shady business deal. This time, Han Lin took the initiative to reveal the true intentions of the central government in the capital. It can be considered a show of sincerity to Beiliang."
Zhou Kang said in surprise, "That's strange. Did the Zhao Family's son and Gu Jiantang's brains get caught in the door? Why did they suddenly change their minds and become benevolent Bodhisattvas? "
Hsu Fengnian hit the nail on the head and said, "Gu Jiantang wants to fight because the situation forces him to. Putting aside the grudge between him and Wang Sui, Dongyue's son-in-law, Wang Sui's swaggering departure from the eastern front is an open slap to Gu Jiantang's old face. No matter how good Gu Jiantang can tolerate it, he still has to consider the opinions of the people in the imperial court. The reason why he wants Cai Nan to fight a little later is that he wants to cooperate with the two Liao border armies to fight a big battle. Before that, he naturally wants Wang Sui to fight to the death with our Youzhou garrison for a while so that he and Cai Nan can reap the benefits. To Gu Jiantang, this is a great opportunity. Once he succeeds, the situation at the border between the two Liao dynasties will instantly change from a long-lasting stalemate of equal strength to the advantage of the two Liao dynasties. As for the imperial court … Han Lin didn't say much. I can only figure out some of the meaning behind his words. It seems like someone has proposed a very aggressive strategy during the small imperial court meeting. They want to use Ji Bei and Hezhou as bait to lure the enemy deep into the enemy's territory. In order to complete the deployment, not only Cai Nan, but also Yuan Tingshan's remaining private army of Li Jiayan Castle and the newly risen Deputy General of Ji Province, Han Fang, will become involuntary pawns. "
Zhou Kang clicked his tongue and said, "This is a rare big move in Great An City. Your Highness, those old fellows who do nothing, like Zhao Yao and Yang Shenxing, I don't think they have this kind of courage, do they?"
Hsu Fengnian hesitated for a moment, his face dark and gloomy. "Menxia Province's Left Scattered Cavalry Officer Chen Wang, Sun Yin who just got fired from the Imperial College, and Lu Xu, the hermit who just got a new master from King of Jing An, Zhao Xun. This must be the plan of one of these three people. However, after this plan was proposed, without Qi Yanglong and Huan Wen's approval, without Zhao Youling and Yin Maochun's agreement, it is destined that it will not be able to leave the capital and pass it to Han Lin."
Zhou Kang said with a strange expression, "Why does it sound like our Beiliang owes them a great favor?"
Hsu Fengnian joked, "You can't say that. Great An City is a stubborn and willful brat. One day, he suddenly knows how to consider the big picture. While in the end, it is to protect his own interests, it will still surprise the officials beside him."
After laughing, Chen Yunchui said worriedly, "Will Wang Sui's army affect the battle at the Calabash Gate?"
Hsu Fengnian nodded and said, "Of course it will, but Wang Sui still can't change the big picture. Perhaps Wang Sui never had this thought in the first place. Yang Yuanzan, Liu Gui, and Huang Songpu, who has returned, are all obstacles to Wang Sui taking control of Beimang's military power. It is already reasonable for the old woman and the Taiping Commandery to have the foresight to come to Youzhou's aid. Just wait and see. As long as the eastern front of Beimang is dragged into a quagmire by Gu Jiantang and Yang Yuanzan's army is destroyed, Wang Sui will be able to stand out immediately. He will go from being the commander of a single front to a person of power no less than Dong Zhuo. When that day comes, Wang Sui will truly show his abilities."
Chen Yunchui sighed emotionally. "Hutou City was lost at the wrong time, but there is nothing we can do about it. Liu Jinu has already done enough. Now that the war has reached this stage, we can only see who can endure longer. "
In the established strategy of the senior Beiliang advisors and military leaders such as Li Yishan and Yan Wenluan, although they had long foreseen that Beimang would attack Beiliang from the south with all its strength, they did not know which place to break through. Apart from Lingzhou, Liuzhou and Youzhou were obviously more logical than Liangzhou, which was at its peak. However, Dong Zhuo had made two unexpected moves. First, he pressed the border on three fronts, minimizing the advantage of a single Beiliang cavalry in one of the battlefields. Secondly, the Beiliang Frontier Army had the tactical intention of moving around through their own well-developed posthouse routes. Then, he personally oversaw the army on the central front, sparing no effort to attack Hutou City without any regard for losses. Moreover, at the crucial moment when the main force of the cavalry outside Liangzhou Pass was quietly rushing to the mouth of the calabash, he 'coincidentally' captured Hutou City, which was originally expected to be defended to the death for another two to three months.
Hsu Fengnian calmly said, "In this war between Beiliang and Beimang, there were actually two turning points. The first was when the Fuling cavalry general Wei Liang rashly attacked. Both sides set up their own ambushes. Looking back now, it was indeed Dong Zhuo who had a bigger appetite at that time. Unfortunately, because that Fuling junior commander Wei Liang interfered at the Crouching Dragon Pass, both sides' plans fell through, inadvertently allowing Beiliang to escape disaster. The second turning point was when Dong Zhuo tried to use Liuzhou as a breakthrough point again, allowing the tens of thousands of Dong family's personal soldiers to secretly leave the central front. In the end, he was stopped by Chu Lushan's eight thousand cavalry. I originally thought that the mouth of the calabash would be the third turning point for Beiliang to seize the initiative … "
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