Chapter 365 Get and Lost

The things Sun Kaidao prepared were basically useless. The rebels in Jiazigou were indeed a suspicious soldier, with a small number of people. After seeing the Sui army coming in, they quietly retreated without launching any offensive. This has something to do with Meng Wansui being quite arrogant. In this case, he dared to take the road to Jiazigou. Only the people led by the Sui army were either keen eyes or were idiots.

The Sui army had more than 40,000 people and horses, plus 10,000 Han cavalry in the Northern Liao area. Even if Sun Kaidao had more than 200,000 troops, he would not dare to take it lightly, even if it was an ambush. The combat effectiveness of the 40,000 people in the Sui army should not be underestimated. The cold cavalry in the Northern Liao area was even more unrivaled. If Meng Wansui wanted to set up an ambush on the Great Road, he had to bring enough people.

With an ambush in Houwu Mountain with more than 200,000 troops, Meng Wansui was not sure of winning, let alone a large group of troops left.

Of course, once the battle is won, Meng Wansui's name will immediately spread throughout the three northwest roads. Once the problems that have troubled Li Yuanshan for three years have been solved by him, Li Yuanshan will inevitably rely more on him. However, Meng Wansui is not planning to do this now. Originally, Meng Wansui was quite loyal to Li Yuanshan, but since Li Yuanshan was accustomed to others, his mind has gradually changed.

After Li Yuanshan became king, he used all the people from the Li family. The good weapons and equipment were also distributed to the team led by these people. Although the original Seven Tiger Generals were all named Marquis and Generals, their treatment was very different. In the past two years in Xidaying, after he had close contact with Li Xiaozong, he was gradually influenced by Li Xiaozong.

The two even agreed that once Li Yuanshan had a defeat, they would join forces to attack Xiangzhou from the rear.

But

Now that Li Xiaozong is dead, the Sui army retreats. If he does not make any move, I am afraid that Li Yuanshan will immediately doubt it. As long as he takes down this Sui army, it will be of many benefits to Meng Wansui. If he can siege and force this rebel army to surrender, his strength will increase greatly, and even if Li Yuanshan's attitude towards him will change greatly. You must know that 40,000 elite soldiers plus 10,000 cold cavalry are enough to make Li Yuanshan's heart tremble.

And with this Sui army, he also had one more choice.

Once Li Yuanshan is defeated, he can still go to the court.

Unfortunately, things went against my wishes.

The Sui army crossed Jiazigou and the march became faster. The offensive of the imperial army on Hexi Road did not slow down because the army in the western expedition did not lack material supplies. Moreover, it was the time when the battles were winning continuously, and the morale was like rainbows. But this Sui army was not good, and it was impossible to take away all the food and grass snatched from the rebel camp, so they could only barely survive this winter. After Meng Wansui suffered a great loss, he would not have retaliated against him, even if the Sui army was not afraid of it, the losses would not be too small.

Moreover, it has been more than a month since they left the mountain village. There were cavalry of the Mongols and Yuan people stationed 300 miles away. If the Mongols and Yuan people took advantage of the empty forces of the mountain village to attack and lose the mountain village, the Sui army would have no place to gain a foothold.

Fang Jie did not ride a horse, sat in a large carriage that was pulling supplies in the team. He did not have a carriage. He sat cross-legged on a bun full of food, placed a tray, put some sunflower seeds and a pot of tea, and looked at the scenery while walking. However, the morning dew knife without a scabbard was placed beside him, which seemed colder than the cold wind.

Sun Kaidao sat next to him, leaning against Ma Bao, squinted his eyes as if he was asleep or thinking about something.

After leaving Jiazigou, I went up to the Guandao. The road was very flat and straight, so it was not too bumpy. Fang Jie poured himself and drank himself, and didn't speak. Sun Kaidao, who was squinting his eyes, saw a mountain in the distance, which was very majestic and could not help but praise him, which attracted Fang Jie to look at him.

"What does the mountain look like, General?"

Sun Kaidao asked.

"It was pulled straight, like a scabbard."

"Um"

Sun Kaidao nodded: "The mountain is sharp, so I think even if there are tourists, they are not afraid to climb. However, the mountain bags next to this mountain have beautiful scenery and are slow. If I were the ones, I would choose the shorter ones and would not want to take risks easily. Even if the scenery at high places is more beautiful, it looks too scary."

"What do you want to say?"

Fang answered the question.

Sun Kaidao smiled: "Because the mountain is too sharp, people stay away from it. If you want to get close to people, it is better not to be too high. If a person is too powerful, it is not good, because people will be afraid of being hurt by his sharpness. The more you are in a bad situation, the more round you are, so that not only the people around you, but also the opponent will feel that it is easy to get along with."

He glanced at Fang Jie: "I just said it directly. It's already now. It's not good for us to leave immediately. Anyway, since we've already arrived here, it's better to stay. Since someone speaks without trust, can't we give him the same way later? The general pretends to be nothing, respects To Liangbi more, obeys the rules, and follows what he says, and follows what he says, and will not be wary of you..."

Fang Jie shook his head: "I just feel a little dissatisfied, not as indignant as you said. If Lord Mou had explained this to me clearly before, I wouldn't care about it if he wanted to establish his authority."

"He doesn't believe you."

Sun Kaidao smiled and said, "Although I don't understand Mou Liangbi, I can see his character from this incident. He can attribute all the general's contribution to himself. He can't count the humility he seemed to be loyal to the general before he came. Eight out of ten are testing the general's true intentions. From the beginning, he has been plotting against the general. Why should the general be polite to such a person? The general and General Cui work together to protect him, and he can be regarded as his life-saving benefactor, and he still has such a plot, so what kind of feelings can he keep."

"When I first arrived here, I advised the general to seize military power directly. I am afraid that at that time, the one who Mou Liangbi was most worried about was you. This person's play is better than anyone else."

"At the beginning, he was particularly close to the general, just like no one in the Sui army could trust, only general, you and him were the same person. The general wanted to kill Li Xiaozong, and he helped him, because he was more willing to see Li Xiaozong die than anyone else... Then General Cui strongly supported General, you were in charge of military affairs, probably beyond Mou Liangbi's expectations. So he deliberately stood with Cui Zhongzhen, and seemed to be willing to let you lead the team. In fact, one was to test the general's thoughts, and the other was to test the thoughts of those Sui generals."

"Thinking about it now, on the first day, he was hesitant about whether to kill Li Xiaozong's consulars, and he did it on purpose. In the battle a few days ago, he did not frown. Could it be that he really couldn't bear it because Li Xiaozong's consulars were also from war soldiers? The moment he ordered all prisoners of war, Bei Zhi knew that this man had a sharp knife in his heart."

"Everything is within his calculations. The person who was called the second good minister back then was indeed full of troughs..."

Sun Kaidao sneered: "The general went to him to tell the whole plan, but he was afraid that he would be happy immediately. The general asked me to go to Jiazigou to test how many ambush troops there were in the rebels. Of course, Beizhi also understood that the general's move was to make Lu Fenghou and Chen Duanshan no longer target Beizhi. Let Lu Fenghou take Yangziying to guard the entrance of Jiazigou Valley to protect the retreat for the army. Then he led Shanziying to light cavalry to break into the camp, and then used the Han cavalry to start the momentum. What does this have to do with Liangbi? But now, the generals of the Sui army think it was arranged by him."

Fang Jie knew that Sun Kaidao was right, and he did underestimate the man Mou Liangbi.

To be precise, he underestimated a person's desires.

Prince Xu is dead. This team with amazing combat power is not only Li Xiaozong, but also Mou Liangbi!

However, he could not compete with Li Xiaozong.

Mou Liangbi was a literati, Li Xiaozong was a military military man, and the generals of the Sui army were more likely to accept the latter. Li Xiaozong held high the banner of revenge for Prince Xu from the beginning, and Mou Liangbi was already at a disadvantage. Later, he was defeated by Li Xiaozong. Even if he had extraordinary plans, he had no strength, and he could only surrender. But at this time, when Li Xiaozong killed Li Xiaozong, how could Mou Liangbi not be moved?

...

...

On the carriage, Mou Liangbi personally poured a cup of tea for Cui Zhong: "General Cui... I know you are a little unhappy, so I will come to you. Some things must be said by myself."

He glanced at Choi Zhongzhen, who was too lazy to look at him.

"I know that I did a little too much about this, but it was a forced one. It was also for the sake of this team. It was not all selfish. At this moment, we need to unite with sincerity. Once we are disloyal, what will be ruined is the team of tens of thousands of people and the situation that has finally been formed."

Cui Zhongzhen still said nothing and turned his gaze outside the carriage.

"Actually... I'm a little more selfish."

Mou Liangbi sat down and was silent for a while and said, "But General Cui, you should know, if I don't make any achievements, how can I have the face to return to the court to meet Your Majesty? Even if the battle in the northwest was because of Li Yuanshan's rebellion and even suffered a crushing defeat, the 700,000 army was almost wiped out, but the prince and I were still to blame. The prince left, and now I am the only one left... I need this team and I need to fight some beautiful battles, otherwise when the court's army reunites, what will happen to me? I think General Cui will be very clear."

"I am different from you. I have been in prison for more than ten years. I thought my life would end, but Your Majesty released me from prison and entrusted it with important tasks. No one could understand how excited I was at that moment. What I learned in my life, how could I be unhappy if I finally had the opportunity to perform? But just because of a defeat, I had to bear this consequence. Is this fair? Even if Your Majesty gives me mercy and refuses to cure my death penalty, at most I will only end up with the result of returning home to retire."

"Why? Why?"

Perhaps because of excitement, Mou Liangbi's hand trembled slightly: "This matter is indeed I'm sorry to General Fang. I will go to General Fang to explain it clearly later. But now the matter is a foregone conclusion. Only when you and I work together can we lead the team well and make a situation. General Fang... General Fang is deeply trusted by His Majesty, and has reached this position at a young age. His future will inevitably be limitless. I am different... I am already fifty years old..."

He paused and said, "I am talking about this with General Cui today, just to ask General Cui to understand."

Cui Zhongzhen's hand holding the teacup was stiff in the air. I don't know how long it took, but he put down the tea that he had not drunk, looked at Mou Liangbi and said seriously: "My dedication, I understand. But I have ignored one thing from beginning to end... Fang Jie, if you want to compete with you for this position from the beginning, can you wait until you use this trick?"

"He is the imperial envoy and bears the emperor's order... The reason why he strongly supports the adults in charge of military affairs is that he is the right candidate. Secondly... Fang Jie told me that he is very grateful for your care for him when he was in Chang'an. He is a person who knows how to be grateful. Do you think that after this time, this relationship will be gone? The adults have obtained this team, but what they have lost... I am afraid it is more important."

After saying this, Cui Zhongzhen jumped out of the carriage without even looking back.
Chapter completed!