[I sincerely thank my kingleo book friends for their affirmation and motivation, Da Forest zzx book friends for their rewards and support, Happy National Day!]

[Thanks: Book friends warmman7956, lcx700319, Yier849, Lingleo book friends monthly ticket support, thank you!]

————————————

Thirty miles southwest of Chencang City, on the rugged mountain road.

The sound of horse hooves resounded through the mountains and forests, thousands of cavalrymen rode their horses, and tens of thousands of infantry soldiers followed behind them.

The entire team ran for more than ten miles, like a long winding snake, slowly moving forward.

What is quite strange is that except for the leading combat cavalry, there is no flag in the marching team behind this army. Moreover, the team is loose, and many soldiers are waving their feet left and right when they march, and slowly walk with one foot deep and one foot shallow, as if they are weak as if they are not eating.

In addition, the entire marching team had no formation at all, each of them had its own armor and clothes, and were not well-dressed. In fact, many soldiers didn't even have weapons in their hands, and they were empty-handed in the team, and the generals led the troops turned a blind eye and ignored them.

"call---!"

He took a deep breath, and the man in brocade clothes and robe walking in front of the war cavalry pulled the reins and rode his horse slowly. He saw his nose wings swelling, as if he was breathless, and he was breathing "hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, his forehead was covered with beads of sweat the size of beans, and there was still heat in his hair.

After finally soothing his breath, he turned his head weakly and said to the scholar behind him: "It's so dangerous. He was almost captured alive by the enemy general Zhao Yun and became a prisoner under the rank of Li thief!"

The scholar wearing a Confucian robe was exhausted and sweating profusely. A slightly fair face turned red like a date. After hearing this, he gasped: "What the lord said is extremely true. The enemy general Zhao Yunduan was extremely brave. In the blink of an eye, he took several generals of our army off. If General Zhang Wei had not fought to the death, we would have been trapped under the city and could not escape. Fortunately, we were finally in danger and finally escaped."

Obviously, this pair of long-robed scholars who shared weal and woe was Zhang Lu and his chief adviser Yan Pu, and the generals who commanded the brigade of troops behind were Zhang Lu's younger brothers Zhang Wei, Yang Bai, Yang Song and others.

And the reason why they fell to this point was entirely due to the Western Liang army.

After a whole night of fierce battle, the situation was very good, but it failed at the last moment. How can this kind of experience not be upset?

"Li Zhe is hateful, Zhao Yun is hateful!"

Zhang Lu cursed in anger and gritted his teeth, "Ten thousand troops fought fiercely for the middle of the night, and nearly 10,000 soldiers climbed up to the city, and they were about to capture Chencang City, and victory was in sight. But he never expected that Li thief suddenly appeared on the city tower, climbed the high and shouted, and the Xiliang army fought back like crazy, causing the entire battle situation to reverse, and the good situation ended. What's more, the cavalry of Zhao Yun, who was stealing, did not appear early or late, but rushed out from behind our army at this critical moment. The beating caught us off guard and was defeated. The good situation was ruined, and I was unwilling to accept it!"

Seeing Zhang Lu sighing so much, Yan Pu quickly comforted him: "The Lord is angry and it hurts his body. It's too late to say anything, and it's useless to be angry and regretful. I hope the Lord will be relieved. In the future, we can make a comeback after reorganizing our troops."

However, Yan Pu was also mixed with feelings and felt a lot. Then, he thoughtfully said: "In the battle last night, our army seized the initiative from the beginning. He had an absolute advantage and attacked the city tower within two hours. It is not difficult to see that the Western Liang cavalry is good at field battles and charges are no problem. However, he is not good at defending the city, because most of the Western Liang army stationed in Chencang City last night were war cavalry. But it has to be admitted that the Western Liang army is indeed extremely brave and has amazing combat power. As our army climbed to the city one after another, the Western Liang soldiers did not retreat, but instead fought to the death. No one was afraid of the battle, and no one escaped at the fortitude. The tenacious fighting will is the only thing that his subordinates saw in their lives."

Speaking of this, Yan Pu paused and did not notice that Zhang Lu was already unhappy. He continued to think and said, "This is what his subordinates observed from this battle. The weakness of the Xiliang Army is that they are good at attacking and not defending. At the same time, his subordinates also found that Li Li had prestige and influence that ordinary people could not imagine in the Xiliang Army. I am afraid that only Li Li could do the move that turned the tide like last night. The Xiliang soldiers regarded him as a god and were completely the embodiment of the God of War.

Before he appeared, although the Western Liang army was brave and fierce, it was not invincible. However, after he appeared, the entire Western Liang army seemed to be reborn and its combat power suddenly rose to the extreme, which was no less than the lord's escort guard. The most terrifying thing is that the escort guard had only more than 10,000 people, while the Western Liang army under Li Li had hundreds of thousands. So many soldiers and horses comparable to the escort guard were like a tiger and wolf army. No wonder no one in the world could compete with it head-on. In addition?????????”

Yan Pu, who was moved, looked up inadvertently, but unexpectedly saw Zhang Lu's face turned gloomy and his expression was extremely unhappy, as if he was about to get angry. This discovery made Yan Pu suddenly wake up, his words stopped abruptly, and he didn't dare to continue talking anymore.

At the same time, Yan Pu hurriedly accused him of guilt: "The Lord is angry and I am speechless. I am not deliberately complimenting Li Li, but discussing the matter on the matter. As a matter of fact, this is very beneficial to us in the future to fight against Li Li. We can take action against the weaknesses of the Western Liang army and attack the opponent's shortcomings with our own strengths before we can win. After this battle, we will have to fight against the Western Liang army for a long time, which forces us to prepare and seek a way to win. The military strategy is said, and only by knowing yourself and the others can we win every battle. Therefore, we must first understand the Western Liang army and Li Li before we can defeat the Western Liang army. All the words below are from the heart. Please give us a clear understanding of the lord."

Zhang Lu looked a little slow when he heard this, but still asked in a bad tone: "Since you have observed Li Zhe so carefully, I don't know what you have found? You might as well tell me what Li Zhe is like, and how can we defeat him?"

"This??????" Yan Pu looked at Zhang Lu's side face in surprise, feeling mixed emotions. He wanted to push but not speak out, and also wanted to take this opportunity to persuade Zhang Lu, and advise him to change his attitude as soon as possible and not continue to fight with the Xiliang army.

"Since the lord was inquiring, I told you bluntly. Li Li was strong and tough, wise and cunning, good at planning and then moving. If you don't move, you will win. He can be called a hero with literary and military strategies. Moreover, Li Li is very capable of knowing people, and he does not have to use people without doubt. He boldly delegates power. In recent years, he has implemented new policies on the prefectures and counties in Xiliang and has achieved great results. This is obvious to all, and the lives of the people in Xiliang have improved significantly. As a result, in the past three years, there are few people in Xiliang who fled to Hanzhong, and even, many people in Hanzhong have fled to Xiliang privately and settled down again. I believe the lord has heard of these things and knows them."

Speaking of this, Yan Pu simply stopped looking at Zhang Lu's gloomy face. He said unhappily: "Now, Li Li has four states, with 500,000 troops, guarding the western capital Chang'an, holding Tianxian, and tyrannical power, and stunning the world. And I, Hanzhong, is just a county. Even though I have enough money and food and have more than 100,000 troops, I still cannot confront the Western Liang army head-on

Therefore, at that time, I immediately dissuaded the lord from sending troops to make a grudge with Li Li. Not only that, I should also take the initiative to make friends with him, so that we can ensure peace in Hanzhong. But now the two sides have been going on for a long time and it is too late to say anything. We can no longer reconcile. For the current plan, we only have two options, one is to join forces with Liu Zhang in Yizhou to fight against Li Li, and the other is to submit the emperor's request for punishment, and to offer food, grass and supplies to Li Li, asking Li Li to return to the army to withdraw his troops. In addition, we have no third option; if we insist on saying that there is a third option, it is to fight to the end, and the city will be destroyed and people will be destroyed."

After saying that, Yan Pu lowered his head and did not dare to look up at Zhang Lu's expression. He deliberately rode his horse slowly behind Zhang Lu, silently waiting for Zhang Lu to make a decision.

At this moment, Zhang Lu's face was indeed ugly, his face was ashen, as if he was full of righteous indignation, but his eyes were fluttering, his eyebrows were violently beating, his expression was sinister, and his emotions were extremely unstable. He was like a volcano that could erupt at any time.

However, just when Yan Pu was ready to greet Zhang Lu's angry scolding, he heard his low tone say: "It is easy to say with Liu Zhang, Yizhou, to send troops to resist the Xiliang army, but it is as easy as the Shu Road, and it is difficult to ascend to the sky. Last year, Liu Zhang beheaded my mother and fourth brother without any worries, and then mobilized heavy troops to attack Hanzhong, but I was hit by Zhang Lu, and I took the lead in snatching the four counties of Ba County. Since then, my Hanzhong and Liu Zhang, Yizhou, have been unable to withstand water and fire, and have repeatedly had frictions and guarded against each other until now."

"???????? As for giving money, grain and supplies to Li Li, I have not thought about it. But,, this means that I, Zhang Lu, bowing to Li Li, is equivalent to taking the initiative to surrender. In this way, the foundation of my Zhang family for hundreds of years will be destroyed. How can I explain to the ancestors of the Zhang family and what face will I have to meet my grandfather in a hundred years?"

Zhang Lu said this very pertinently, but Yan Pu heard many profound meanings from it. First, Zhang Lu is still unwilling to become Li Li's minister; second, he is afraid of death and wants to live a hundred years old; third, he still has a glimmer of hope for joining Liu Zhang in Yizhou to fight against Li Li, but he is worried that Liu Zhang will not send troops to help.

Thinking of this, Yan Pu rushed forward and walked side by side with Zhang Lu, whispering: "Lord, don't worry. Now that we are not at the end of our lives, we do not consider compromising Li Li for the time being, but we can send envoys to Yizhou to persuade Liu Zhang to send troops and jointly fight against Li with us. After all, Hanzhong is the gateway to Yizhou, guarding the throat of the road entering and leaving Shu. Once Hanzhong falls into Li Li's hands, Yizhou will directly face the oppression and threat of the Western Liang army. This is the impending ideal. Liu Zhang from Yizhou will not understand such a simple ideal. Even if he can't see the upcoming crisis, there are many capable people among the civil and military officials in Yizhou. How can they not see the interests of this?

Therefore, as long as the news of our army's defeat at Chencang City reached Yizhou, Liu Zhang and a group of civil and military officials would not be able to sit still, fearing that after Hanzhong was defeated, Li Li would not give up and directly attack Yizhou. Therefore, as long as we send envoys to Yizhou to express our attitude, Liu Zhang in Yizhou would definitely send troops to help, because he had no choice but to fight against Li Li with our Hanzhong army, otherwise the day when Hanzhong fell was the beginning of the destruction of Yizhou."

"Well said!" Zhang Lu's expression was thrilled when he heard this. He waved his hand and said loudly: "If there is a large army in Yizhou to help, why are you afraid of the Li thief? The soldiers speed up and follow me to the Qiang Road!"

————————————————

PS: Hu Ben sincerely thanks my brothers for their support. I wish you a happy National Day, happiness and all the best!
Chapter completed!