Has always been bleak

Due to Wang Zhongsi's extreme lack of cooperation, the pre-war preparations for the Battle of Shibao City became extremely slow.The enthusiasm of the soldiers from the beginning has gradually become less agitated, and the number of people who went to the commander's tent every day to ask for participation in the battle gradually decreased. Wang Zhongsi seized the time and began to deploy around Jishi Mountain. Daren, since he came to Liangzhou, Wang Zhongsi decided to keep him and send him to Jishi Mountain to preside over the overall situation.

No matter how Wang Zhongsi procrastinated, this battle would have to be fought before the winter, and if it snowed one day, it would be delayed until the beginning of spring next year, the supreme being would never have such patience.

Unlike Dong Yanguang's blind optimism, Wang Zhongsi knows that this is a battle that must be lost. Since he will lose, he must deal with it after losing. The defense line at Jishi Mountain is the best guarantee.The defeated soldiers retreated here, even though the fortifications were not perfect, he believed that with Li Guangbi's ability, he could still hold the defense line of Jishi Mountain and keep most of the retreating Tang soldiers.

He also has a plan for the 4 people allocated to Dong Yanguang.

When fighting in the mountains, food and supplies are basically carried by people. Therefore, out of 4 people, there are only [-] real combat troops, and the rest are reserve troops responsible for supplies.The problem with Shibao City is that it is too dangerous to attack. In fact, the scale itself is not large, so there will never be many defenders. As long as the Tang army's position is not in chaos, the Tibetans will not dare to go out of the city to pursue.Zhao He grew up in Liangzhou. He knew the terrain and climate of this area like the palm of his hand, and he was familiar with the battle formation. When the army was defeated for the first time, the morale of the army was unstable. Successfully retreated to the Jishishan defense line.

Among the combat troops, Dong Yanguang has been in Liangzhou for a long time, and there are more than a thousand direct descendants under him. In addition to the several generals who were originally under Huangfu Weiming and who were in the same spirit as Dong Yanguang, they can make up five or six. Thousands of people.It was difficult for Wang Zhongsi to deploy these people, so he let Dong Yanguang arrange them. There were not many direct descendants of Dong Yanguang around him, and he would not be willing to let direct descendants be the vanguard, so no matter whether he wins or loses, the loss will not be great.

Those who will be sent to attack Shibao City and fill the sky with their lives must be Wang Zhongsi's army, which is the vanguard of this dispatch.Who should lead the vanguard battalion is the most worrying thing for Wang Zhongsi.

Originally, Li Xin had excellent abilities and was a good candidate for the pioneer battalion, but Li Xin was eager to fight, but he couldn't use him this time. After much deliberation, he finally decided on Chen Ruiyao. Chen Ruiyao was far inferior to Li Xin in terms of martial prowess, but he was better at being obedient. , Wang Zhongsi's order to him is to try to ensure that the vitality is not lost, and to retreat once the battle is frustrated, so no matter what Dong Yanguang says, Chen Ruiyao will never be greedy for merit.

As soon as the transfer order came out, Li Xin became anxious.

Seeing that after the Battle of Shibao City, he will follow Wang Zhongsi back to Shuofang. , the war has been gone for a long time.It's just a small fight, how can there be military merits?Therefore, the battle of Shibao City must not be missed, but when it came to the front, Chen Ruiyao was left behind by the pioneer seal!In what way is the surname Chen comparable to yourself?

But Li Xin knew that if he went to ask Jie Shuai, Jie Shuai would definitely dismiss him directly, and he would not even let him talk too much. To get this pioneer position, he had to go around in circles.

The first is to take down Chen Ruiyao.This person is relatively honest and easy to fool. After a meal of wine, Chen Ruiyao first wronged Li Xin. General Li is obviously the best candidate for the vanguard, but because he disagreed with Jie Shuai on some trivial matters, he was left idle when the big battle came. .I was far inferior to Li Xin in terms of ability and martial arts, but I was really scared to take on this important task, so the first thing I did after waking up was to find a way to resign from the vanguard position and recommend Li Xin for the position.

The second step is to win the support of those around Jieshuai.The person next to him is actually Ge Shuhan.Ge Shuhan's eyes are higher than the top, and he only sees capable people. Although Li Xin is brave, he is not in Ge Shuhan's eyes, but after Ge Shuhan and Xiao Yi had a fight, Xiao Yi looked down on him Being a character is quite important.

Xiao Yi is a bit like Ge Shuhan, both of them have a straightforward temperament. Li Xin intends to win over the relationship between him and Ge Shuhan, and deliberately arranges for the two to meet several times. The straightforward young man who claimed to be "the wind and the water are cold, and the price is not easy to change" fell in love with him.Xiao Yi didn't hide from him, he confessed his ambition directly, he only hoped to serve in the vanguard battalion, he wanted to be the first one to break into Stone Fort City.

Ge Shuhan is also an ambitious and courageous man. He also has the dream of being the first to rush into Shibao City. He can only sigh that Wang Zhongsi will not let go, and he has no way to join the battle.Now this long-suppressed full of pride was picked up by Xiao Yi. Brother Shuhan felt that he was a confidant. Even if he couldn't go to the battlefield in person, it would be good to have Xiao Yi, a little brother, to realize his ideal for him. When the two talked about this battle, All kinds of hypothetical deduction, enough to talk at night, can't stop.

In fact, with Xiao Yi's poor experience in the battlefield, talking about these things is mostly just listening, but he and Ge Shuhan have the same temperament, willing to ponder hard, and have a strong learning ability. Ge Shuhan is not good at tactics, but in front of Xiao Yi Just like everyone, there are little brothers who listen and praise, and they are not just touting indiscriminately, and they can't be more proud when they hit the point.What's more, Xiao Yi is outstanding in martial arts, brother Shuhan occasionally got up, and dragged Xiao Yi to the martial arts arena for a fight.Ge Shuhan was inferior to him in foot combat, Xiao Yi knew nothing about horse warfare, so Xiao Yi taught Ge Shuhan the long and short sword skills to make up for the weakness of the lower hand, and Ge Shuhan passed on the superb lance technique to Xiao Yi .

Among Tang generals, there are quite a few who can use Ma Li, but those of Ge Shuhan's level are still rare.The lance is divided into horse lance and infantry lance, and the horse lance is the most powerful armor-piercing artifact against heavy cavalry.But it is really troublesome to make this thing. The stalks are made of high-quality Zhe wood, broken into fine and uniform thickness, and soaked in oil repeatedly until there is no deformation. This process will take at least one year. It will take another half a year, and then glue it with good glue to form a ten-foot-long pole. The outer layer is wrapped with hemp rope. After the hemp rope is completely dry, it is coated with raw lacquer and wrapped with Gebu.

The Gebu is not just wrapped in one layer, but it needs to be wrapped with a layer of Gebu, and then a layer of raw lacquer is applied. After the raw varnish is dry, another layer of Gebu is wrapped, and then a layer of raw lacquer is applied. The rod is considered good.

Then remove the head and tail of the finished lance, and shorten it to about six feet. The front is equipped with a lance head made of fine steel with eight armor-piercing ribs, and the rear is equipped with a red copper lance.The front and rear weights should be constantly adjusted. The qualified standard is to use a hemp rope to hang two feet from the end of the lance. The entire Zhangba lance can hover horizontally in mid-air. The whole is light and tough, and has excellent maneuverability.In this way, the military commander can keep the tip of the lance forward without any effort while riding on the horse. He can use the horsepower to charge directly, or he can swing it to fight in close combat.It's just that the production of the whole spear takes at least three years, and the success rate is only [-]%, so the cost is astonishingly high, and there is no way to popularize it in the army.It can be said that owning a good horse is basically equivalent to telling others that you are from a family of generals.Ordinary people, even normal civil servants and aristocrats, would never spend this financial and material resources to build a suitable horse.

Xiao Yi had only heard about this magical weapon before, but this is the first time he has seen its power.On the martial arts arena thousands of miles away in Huangsha, Ge Shuhan, wearing a fine steel fish-scale armor, swung his horse lance back and forth, overturning more than [-] riders in one stick of incense, and no one was his single enemy. The cold light shining on the tip of the lance was dazzling It is so majestic that people can't look at it, it is rare in the world.

Accompanied by the cheers of all the soldiers, Ge Shuhan held his spear upside down, rode his horse to stop in front of Xiao Yi, and asked with a smile, "How? Do you want to learn?"

Xiao Yi was already dazzled by the sight, how could he say "no"?Under everyone's envious and jealous eyes, he followed Ge Shuhan to the small school grounds.This so-called small school yard is actually not small compared to the big school yard. It is a yard with a square of two hundred paces. It is relatively quiet and private. The yard is covered with fine and fine loess, which is rare in the local area. There are special personnel to sweep and maintain it every day. Only Wang Zhongsi and below A few generals can come in and out at will, and most of their usual long weapons are kept here, even the weapons used by the training partner are carefully prepared and well-made.It's a pity that there is no extra horse spear here. Ge Shuhan found him a good spear with a similar weight and feel to practice first, and promised to get him a real horse spear later.

Horse battles are not synchronized, Xiao Yi's best kung fu of small and exquisite maneuvering focuses on his feet, but when he is on a horse, his footwork cannot be used, so his kung fu is immediately discounted. Fortunately, he still has a lot of strength. The back kung fu is solid, and he learned to use the long weapon on the horse very smoothly, but he has not practiced for a long time, and the horse he rides is not a godly horse, and he can't be united with the horse and horse under his crotch.

But a good horse with the same heart is as rare as a good spear, and there is no rush.

Ever since Xiao Yi began to practice horse lance with Ge Shuhan, Li Xin gave him a long vacation and allowed him to stay under Ge Shuhan's tent. Practice equestrianism and lance here.

Xiao Yi had something in his heart, but he had nowhere to go, knowing that it was useless to be anxious, so he turned all his hatred for Li Linfu into the motivation to practice martial arts. Practicing the 槊 method like a ruthless one, after two hours the whole army ordered the mobs, ate whatever they wanted, and practiced the formation with the soldiers in the big school field. In the afternoon, I went back to my tent and buried myself in recording the usual methods of the barbarians that I heard these days. And coping with changes, especially in battles involving mountainous uphill attacks, everything is detailed. Write down what you hear, and then sort out and think about it carefully.

Going back and forth like this, Ge Shuhan gradually realized something was wrong. Why did Xiao Yi's question become more and more difficult?Some even he couldn't answer.He didn't think so much, he didn't think about the face of his seniors at all, if he didn't know, he really didn't know, but looking at Xiao Yi's disappointed face, he still comforted: "I don't know, Jieshuai must know, just wait, I will Ask Jie Shuai for you."

Ge Shuhan was a man of action, he grabbed Xiao Yi, randomly put the things he had organized into his arms, got on his horse, and went straight to Wang Zhongsi's Jieshuai mansion.Jieshuai Mansion was originally the residence of Huangfu Weiming. When Wang Zhongsi first took over the two towns of Longyou and Longyou in Hexi, he was always stationed in the commander's tent in the army because he was worried that someone would have trouble. When the situation was relatively stable, he would occasionally come to Liangzhou City. Staying in Jieshuai's mansion for a while, that's how it is these few days.

Xiao Yi was grabbed by Ge Shuhan and walked all the way without making a sound or resisting, but his mind was a little messed up.It's not that he didn't dare to meet Wang Zhongsi, if he wanted to be qualified to participate in the First Battle of Shibao City, it would always end up with Wang Zhongsi, but he also knew that Wang Zhongsi didn't want him to participate.

When he joined the army this time, he had already made his future intentions clear, how could the commander-in-chief not know how tempting he was to capture Shibao City?But Jieshuai never mentioned it, and even the vanguard battalion of the left army he was in did not move, and instead used Chen Ruiyao's troops of the right army.

However, he wanted to fight for it again, but he didn't know how to speak.Now I will see Jie Shuai soon, he said, or not?

Crotch/get off the horse without stopping, and soon arrived in front of Jieshuai Mansion.The soldiers at the gate recognized Ge Shuhan and hurried over to salute. Ge Shuhan threw the reins of the horse to them, led Xiao Yi and walked in familiarly. Said: "Ge Shu has something to ask to see Jieshuai, please report on his behalf."

The two returned with a smile and said: "Jieshuai is in the study at this time, the general will wait a moment." Then one of them went inside to report and came back after a while and said: "General, please come in."

Ge Shuhan untied the saber from his waist and handed it to the two. Xiao Yi imitated his example and handed over his own saber. After hesitating for a moment, he squatted down again and took out the dagger from his boot and handed it over. .When he was about to lift his feet to leave, he suddenly remembered something, and stretched out his hand to untie his belt.

The two of them held back, their expressions remained still, and Ge Shuhan laughed in surprise: "Brother, what are you doing?"

Xiao Yi was a little embarrassed: "Jie Shuai wants to untie the blade. I carry a lot of things with me. In addition to the long and short knives, I also have a soft sword in my belt." As he said, he untied his belt and took out a sword as thin as a knife. A well-trained soft sword.

Ge Shuhan had never seen such a delicate weapon before. He grabbed it and waved it. Seeing that it was limp and completely unable to use any strength, it wound around his arm and cut his sleeve. He frowned and said, "How can this ghost be used?" ?”

Xiao Yi didn't care about him, so he took out a very thin three-edged spike from his hair bun, took out two darts from each of the left and right wrist buckles, took off his boots, and locked the needles hidden in the soles of the boots He took it out, spread his head on the ground, heaved a sigh of relief, and said, "Okay, now I'm clean, and there is no more murder weapon."

Ge Shuhan looked at the guys in this place and couldn't help crying or laughing: "What did you do before? I'm afraid people who are used to wandering around the world don't have as many messy things as you." He couldn't help laughing while talking , "However, when we see Jie Shuai undoing the blade, we just take a formality. If you really want to be on guard, someone will come to search you. Where is it that you can just untie the knife and get in."

Only then did Xiao Yi suddenly realize that he looked at the guys he had spread all over the floor, scratched his head, and said with a smile, "Forget it, since I've taken them out, let's put them here."

Only then did Ge Shuhan put down the soft sword he was playing with, and said: "Go back and teach me how to use this thing, it's so delicate, it's also interesting."

Xiao Yi nodded in agreement, and entered the second door with Ge Shuhan.

The layout of Wang Zhongsi's study is just like his handsome tent, with maps, sand tables, large cases, countless documents, and in addition, there are stacks of books.But at the moment, he is neither dealing with military affairs nor studying, but practicing calligraphy.

He worked in regular script, learned from Chu Suiliang, Henan Gong's calligraphy masters, and in his later years, he has formed a school of his own, calm and dignified, dignified and profound. Wang Zhongsi wrote at this time, quite a lot of them, but he wrote "The Book of Songs" ?Two sentences in "Da Ya": "There is no beginning for extravagance, but there is an end for freshness." Dou Fang big characters, the ink is smooth, and the force penetrates the back of the paper.

Ge Shuhan was just careless, not illiterate, he couldn't help but startled when he saw these eight characters.Jieshuai is the heyday of flowers and brocade cooking oil, how could he have such emotion?

After Wang Zhongsi finished writing the last point of the final word, he looked at it for a moment, put down the pen, and then raised his head and smiled and said, "Ge Shu, come and see, what do you think of my handwriting?"

Ge Shuhan stepped forward according to his words, and said: "Jie Shuai's writing has improved again, and I will admire it in the end." This is a slobber, Wang Zhongsi smiled, and stopped mentioning the words, seeing Xiao Yi standing still , Wang Zhongsi waved at him again: "Come here too, why do you become less and less courageous in our army, this is not like you."

Xiao Yi smiled and walked up.

Wang Zhongsi asked gently: "I heard that you have been learning the art of horseback riding and archery with Ge Shu recently, and he even taught you the lance method handed down from your family? Where did you get the blessing that Ge Shu valued so much?"

Xiao Yi really didn't know how to answer this question, brother Shuhan hurriedly said: "Jie Shuai, don't make fun of me, what skills do I have, Jie Shuai still doesn't know? Brother Xiao and I really hit it off right away, we exchanged ideas in our free time, but It’s hard to say who will teach whom.” He took out the large volumes written by Xiao Yi from his pocket, handed them over with both hands, and said, “Brother Xiao is really a meticulous person, this is the art of war he has compiled in the past six months, please look at it Look, can you see it?"

Wang Zhongsi washed his hands, sat down on the big case, unfolded the thick and large roll of paper, and read it carefully page by page. At first, he was interested, but after turning the page, his complexion gradually sank.

Xiao Yi took a peek and saw that what Wang Zhongsi turned to was the imaginary attack on Shibao City. This was written down after a long talk with Ge Shuhan that night. He knew something was wrong, so he had to explain something. , Wang Zhongsi slapped the entire roll of paper on the big case, and said coldly: "Ge Shu, is this the student you taught?"

Ge Shuhan was stunned, and said in a low voice: "Jie Shuai, what, what's wrong?"

"Do you remember what you said yourself when you swore to follow me to the death?"

Ge Shuhan's expression was serious, and he said solemnly: "The general remembers. At that time, the general acted willfully and recklessly, and caused a lot of troubles. The commander-in-chief told me that a strong man can do whatever he wants, and then he can do something. The general Answer, the gentleman's way, and then do it."

"Then do you know why I insist on not attacking Stone Castle?"

"For...for..." Ge Shuhan hesitated for a while, and said, "Jieshuai said in the letter that it is better to defend the stone fortress than to attack the stone fortress. It's not time to counterattack yet. It's just..." His voice gradually became louder, "It's just the commander-in-chief. It is indeed a good strategy to stick to Jishi Mountain, but instead of wasting the people's material resources to rebuild a new line of defense, why not just take Shibao City? Shibao Although the city is strong, it is only a city after all, and I, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, will be able to take it down if we fight to the death! What's more, this is the meaning of the supreme, why should the commander-in-chief insist on abandoning the stone fort and guard the pile of stones? "

"So, that's what you meant." Wang Zhongsi didn't look at Ge Shuhan any more, lowered his eyes, and said, "Okay, I've made up my mind. No matter what you say, I won't change my mind. You'd better end it sooner." The idea of ​​attacking Shibao City." He paused, then continued, "Don't teach the children badly, Xiao Yi stays here, you go back."

"Jie Shuai!"

"Okay!" Wang Zhongsi suddenly raised his voice, "Ge Shu, don't you listen to me?"

Ge Shuhan clenched his fists tightly, and then slowly released them after a long time: "The general dare not, please calm down, commander-in-chief, and the general will leave." Without looking at Xiao Yi, he clasped his fists and strode out.

Wang Zhongsi sighed slightly: "It's almost fate and you still have such a fiery temper, Xiao Yi, don't learn from Ge Shu."

His gaze turned to Xiao Yi: "You heard what we said just now, what do you think about Stone Castle City?"

Xiao Yi had been silent at first, but at this time, Jishuai asked a lot of questions and had no choice but to answer, so he touched the ground on one knee and replied: "Bijiejieshuai, the villain thinks that attacking Shibao City has advantages and disadvantages."

"Tell me, where are the advantages, and where are the disadvantages?"

"Shibao City is a battleground between the Han and Tibetans. According to it, it is beneficial to advance, attack, retreat and defend. However, Shibao City is dangerous and difficult to defend. Even if it is attacked by force, our army will suffer great losses. Maybe the gains outweigh the losses, which is a disadvantage.”

"If you were me instead, how would you respond?"

Xiao Yi quickly replied: "Picture it slowly."

Wang Zhongsi nodded slightly: "You are very smart." He patted the scroll on the big case, "Then why did you go to Shibao City when you are so smart?"

"Sometimes, the best way is not necessarily the most correct way." Xiao Yi did not hesitate, "Taking it slowly is certainly the most correct choice at present, but there are supreme officials who have high expectations, and there are soldiers who are eager for military merit. The power of the Tang Dynasty is at its peak, food and grass are abundant, our army is as powerful as a rainbow, and our soldiers use their lives, and the commander-in-chief is an incomparable famous general. The right time, place, and people are all in our army. At this time, attacking Shibao City may be the time to pay the least price. According to What Jieshuai means is that it takes a few years to build the defense line of Jishi Mountain, step by step. This seems feasible now, but who can say for sure what will happen in a few years? By then, you will no longer be the Jiedu envoy of Longyou. I don't know what kind of people come up here? How will you control the progress of the battle in Longyou? If something happens at that time, won't my Great Tang be under the control of Shibao City for many years?"

Wang Zhongsi smiled slightly, and his tone was flat: "If I can't control the situation in Longyou a few years later, why should I push away these two towns now? Xiao Yi, you look down on me."

"Excuse me, Commander-in-Chief, it's a villain's slip of the tongue. But the villain always believes that the advantages of attacking Shibao City at this time outweigh the disadvantages. You can repay the king's kindness, and you can reassure the army's morale. The history books will also write down this for you. It’s a huge contribution. You can only gain if you give up, handsome, I hope you think twice!"

Wang Zhongsi's smile was light: "It's good to say that you can only gain if you give up. Xiao Yi, if I go to Shibao City according to my order, I will give up the names of tens of thousands of soldiers, but I will only get personal military achievements. If you are so willing, you How can I do it? Xiao Yi, ask yourself, for the sake of other people's military exploits, are you willing to be the pawn who was given up?"

Xiao Yi was stunned by the question, and after a long time he reluctantly said: "The soldiers don't care about life and death, just want to keep their wives and sons, why should the commander-in-chief bother to stop him?"

"You are evading my question. Xiao Yi, you have a high level of martial arts, and you believe that no matter how many people die, you will be the one who survived. The blood of other people can be condensed into your martial arts. What I said, Is there half a point?"

Xiao Yi's cold sweat dripped down: "Jie Shuai... villain, villain... that's not what villain means..."

"If you don't kill Boren, Boren will die because of you." Wang Zhongsi's eyes were piercing, "I will never use other people's lives to fill my own credit, even if this is the meaning of the Supreme. What's more, the supreme respects military merits so much now, if I don't put out the flames from it, the side who longs to seal his wife and son will start countless wars for military merits for no reason, and the people on both sides will suffer. Xiao Yi, you are a smart child , When you understand what it means to do something, and what not to do."

Xiao Yi felt extremely bitter in his heart, his knees softened and he fell to the ground, tears rolling down his face.

The author has something to say: ("There is no beginning, but there is an end." It comes from "The Book of Songs? Daya", which means that there is nothing that cannot start well, but unfortunately very few can end well.

"There is nothing a man can do, and then he can do something" comes from "Mencius? Li Louxia", which means that before doing something, one must do everything without thinking, and must make comparisons, choices and trade-offs.When comparing, choosing and choosing, one must determine a principle, that is, resolutely refrain from doing anything that is harmful, harmful, or ineffective; and devote all your energy to doing something that is beneficial, beneficial, and effective.If we persevere in this way, we will be able to make a difference, achieve results, and make great contributions.This is to say that Ge Shuhan is capable, but his previous behavior was too willful, which is of no benefit to the country or himself. )

The sentence Ge Shuhan replied was translated from Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" "The superior officer heard the Tao and practiced it diligently." It means that after hearing the "Tao", a person of high wisdom will actively and diligently practice it.Here it refers to believing in Wang Zhongsi and being willing to act in accordance with Wang Zhongsi's principles. )

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I can give up licking the beauty of Professor Shen on the screen to update this weekend, I admire myself

☆, impeachment