The mountain road is rugged.

After the autumn harvest, the weather in the frontier fortress is no longer so hot.

The whole world became a little bleak again, the strong wind howled, the dense forest swayed with the wind, the bare branches whipped the passers-by with the strong wind, and thorns were everywhere, and the place once again returned to the past.

The mighty army is advancing on the mountain road.

The infantry were at the front, followed by many knights, followed by horse-drawn carriages and transporters.

The front army has already walked out of the mountain road, but the rear army has just entered.

Gao Changgong rode a horse, wore a mask, and walked in the center of the army.

The war horses neighed, and dozens of people were seen galloping from the front. This place was so narrow that even these outstanding knights did not dare to gallop here.

The person who came was Yao Xiong.

Yao Xiong was furious at this moment and returned to Gao Changgong with his horse in hand, while the knights headed towards the rear army again.

Yao Xiong struggled to take off his armor, panting.

"A group of blind people captured three more and tried to get into the village at the mountain pass, but I killed them."

Gao Changgong looked at him and saw obvious blood stains on his sleeves.

Yao Xiong frowned, "I really can't understand it. They are all farmers, and their farmland must have been damaged by cavalry. How come they don't know how to restrain themselves when they become soldiers?"

"I was treated like that in the past, and now I have to deal with people who are just like me back then. I can't understand."

This time Yao Xiong and Gao Changgong led the Youyan troops to the front line. Yao Xiong was still confident before setting off, but as soon as the army passed the Yinshan Mountains, the situation began to turn bad.

There were deserters and rioters, some of whom did not abide by military discipline and some who were greedy for money.

Yao Xiong was greatly disappointed.

Is this the strong soldier we have worked so hard to train?

Seeing Yao Xiong's disappointed look, Gao Changgong said calmly: "Chang Ying, there are good people in the world, and naturally there are also evil people."

"Under the general's command, whether they are officials from humble backgrounds or soldiers from Han peasants, there are some who commit crimes and violate laws and disciplines. This time we led more than 10,000 troops and crossed the border from Yanzhou. Up to now, we have only

There are dozens of violations of military discipline, but I think they are properly drilled and well-trained."

"If nothing happens along the way and everyone says Qiu did nothing, then something really big will happen."

After listening to Gao Changgong's words, Yao Xiong finally felt better.

"Chang Ying, don't be angry. We are not far from Yongfeng. Soon, it will be time for us to show off our skills. In this battle, I will compete with Chang Ying to be the vanguard."

Yao Xiong said with a nonchalant look on his face, "Neither of us can be a pioneer."

"No matter how well-trained the Youyan soldiers are, they have never experienced real combat. They are currently not as good as the Hengshuo soldiers. There are Podoluo, Tu Xiyue, Li Qinhu, Liu Chengcai and others on the Hengshuo soldiers. These guys are all

It’s hard to deal with. If you want to fight Yang Zhong, of course you need veterans. The vanguard won’t be able to take our turn at all.”

"oh?"

"Then why did the general ask us to go there?"

"It should be to expand the results of the war. Yuwenhu is coming. I heard that the momentum is huge. The more people on the general's side, the greater the pressure will be on the Zhou people, and Yuwenhu will not dare to go deep."

Gao Changgong was a little surprised, "Chang Ying is very promising."

"This is what the old man said."

Yao Xiong did not take credit, he said seriously: "He said that the situation that my brother is facing is very bad at the moment. Yuwenhu's army is coming to kill. Although there are famous generals in the court, the person in charge is a fool. He is not even as good as Yuwenhu. It may not be

I can beat it."

"And once Yu Wenhu destroys the temple and all Qingxu in Henan and Huainan becomes his property, then we will be in trouble."

"But in the north, it is particularly difficult to expand the results."

"That's why Zhang Heizu and others were transferred to the vicinity of Nanying, and even Kou Liu was transferred to the vicinity of Sizhou. They are all keeping an eye on the front line. If the front line is defeated, then they will try their best to block the enemy south of the river.

We guarantee that there will be no gaps in Hebei."

When Yao Xiong talked about strategy now, it was clear and logical.

Gao Changgong couldn't help but nod after hearing this.

The army passed through the mountain road and finally accelerated its march.

The garrison towns near Yongfeng have now become Liu Taozi's important posthouses and important supply stations between the two places. These garrison towns that were originally used to occupy Wuchuan and other places now play an important reverse role.

Yao Xiong and others supplied supplies along the way and finally arrived at Yongfeng City.

Yongfeng Town is still as tall as ever.

As the defensive core of the border fortress, various types of cavalry and knights were constantly coming and going on the flat and wide road.

Today's military core seems to be gradually shifting from Wuchuan to Yongfeng.

There are many large campuses around Yongfeng. After General Yao Xiong arranged for his troops to enter the campus, he and Gao Changgong went to the city to visit Liu Taozi.

The two led dozens of riders into the city gate.

Yongfeng City is extremely lively.

The largest number of people here are not soldiers, but merchants.

You can even see many Turkic merchants. Although the relationship between Daqi and the Turks is quite bad, they have never stopped trade, especially private trade. Yongfeng used to be a major border trade town, and it is even more so now.

There were even merchants from the Western Regions who came all the way here to trade. Although strict laws were adopted at home, the Liu Taozi government still had a protective attitude towards the merchants.

As long as the commercial tax and vehicle and ship tax are sufficient and no prohibited goods are sold, the government will protect the safety of these merchants and protect them from thieves, traitors and others.

Some Zhou merchants came here secretly to trade, but Liu Taozi did not drive them out.

There are not only two cities in the city, but they are much more prosperous than Wuchuan.

Yao Xiong and others rushed all the way to the government office. When they arrived at the door of the government office, they saw Podoro standing here with a smile, waiting for them.

"Meet the King."

Podoluo paid homage to Gao Changgong and met Yao Xiong.

Several people walked into the official office. The official office was also extremely busy, with officers and clerks coming in and out.

When they arrived at the inner room, Liu Taozi was sitting among several generals. They were looking at the map in front of them and talking about something.

Seeing them coming in, everyone stopped talking.

"Meet the King!!"

Everyone bowed to see him.

Liu Taozi also looked at Gao Changgong, "Greetings to the king."

Gao Changgong was stunned and quickly returned the greeting, "Greetings to your Majesty."

The two looked at each other, and Liu Taozi said: "The king told me to just know it."

"Then the king will call me Chang Gong."

"Chang Gong."

"Know it."

Yao Xiong hurriedly came forward, showing a silly face, "Brother!!"

"Let's talk about business first."

The two men also joined the ranks of military discussions.

The map in front of Liu Taozi was quite huge, with various strongholds and fortresses from Yongfeng to Chang'an clearly marked.

"Brother, are you planning to attack Chang'an?"

When Yao Xiong saw the map, he had only one thought in his mind.

"No, our map can only go to the vicinity of Chang'an. The situation further south is not clear."

Yao Xiong saw that Yang Zhong's army was now stationed near Shiya Mountain City, and in other areas, there were several marked military camps with different generals' names written on them.

In today's strategic discussions, there is only one question: whether to go west or south.

Going west is naturally to attack Liang, Gan and other places.

Taking advantage of the huge emptiness in the rear of the Puppet Zhou Dynasty, they ravaged their local armed forces to their heart's content, and headed south, they were going to have a head-on confrontation with Yang Zhong and try to differentiate themselves.

Tu Xi Yue supported heading west.

"My lord, although Yang Zhong has sent troops outside, once he finds out that our army is approaching, he will definitely retreat to Lingwu and it will be difficult to attack. But if we leave one of them to fight with him, the rest will kill Lianggan and other places. Here

If you are on guard against emptiness, the results will be huge!”

Everyone thought it was reasonable and nodded one after another.

Yao Xiong gently stroked his beard at this moment, "It's better to go south."

"Huh? Liang Gan Kong, why bother fighting to the death with Yang Zhong?"

Tu Xiyue immediately objected.
To be continued...