In the next few days, Xu Yang had to give up his original idea of ​​going around, because the Red Flower Association had already come to Lanzhou City and the Qing army had arrived.

The one who led the troops this time was A Gui. In history, he should have been punished by Qianlong and served as a free position as a minister of the Ministry of Personnel in the imperial capital. Now he is entrusted with important tasks and is re-paired and commands 100,000 elite troops to quell the various rebellions of the northwest returning to Xinjiang and the Junggar.

This person can be called another good general of the Qing court after Yue Zhongqi. In the original history of time and space, all the rebellions in the northwest were finally quelled by him.

Of course, that's been many years later.

This time, due to Xu Yang's design, he was stunned by a blow. The army of 100,000, plus the forwards who originally had thousands of people were all in a dilemma of no food available.

However, Agui was very quick and wise. He first ordered to transfer military rations from prefectures and counties in the northwest that were still under the control of the Qing court. Then he forced some military rations from General Zhao Hui, who was originally stationed in the northwest and had been ineffective for many years. He also humbly refused to pay tribute to some of the military rations from some Hui and Mongolian tribes who had not yet shown any rebellion. In just a few days, he actually raised military rations for the army to eat for more than ten days.

At this time, he had ordered the three armies to move forward to the border, and the obvious attempt was to give food to the enemy.

Xu Yang's previous judgment was actually not wrong, but he did not expect that the opinions of the tribes in Xinjiang were not unified. There were all the troops that had already rebelled, as well as fence factions like Mu Zhuolun's tribe, and some tribes that had already surrendered to the Qing court. Therefore, the Qing army obtained some life-saving food.

A hundred thousand troops, even if all the troops returning to Xinjiang unite, it will be very difficult to deal with these elite soldiers and generals, not to mention that people are not in harmony. If the Qing army arrives, facing the enemy head-on will probably be a path of defeat.

Agui was very skilled in using troops and refused to take too much risk. Because of the lack of food, the soldiers only used 50,000 vanguard troops this time, and the remaining troops were still raising grain everywhere. Therefore, their food and grass should be able to last for about a month. Xu Yang's plan was half successful.

Fortunately, I robbed all the military rations of the Northwest Army before. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have to fight now and just surrender.

After receiving the news, Mu Zhuolun held an emergency military parliament meeting. There were many different opinions in the military parliament. Some people proposed to attack overnight while the Qing soldiers were unstable, some people proposed to join forces with various ministries to accumulate strength and pay attention to defense, some people proposed to retreat temporarily to avoid the edge, and some even proposed to surrender...

Everyone had their own ideas, but they all made some sense. Mu Zhuolun had a headache when he heard this.

Finally, under Huo Qingtong's strong decision, he decided to temporarily retreat to the depths of the rebels, exchange space for time, and at the same time contact the various troops in Xinjiang to unite and jointly deal with foreign enemies.

Xu Yang was impressed by Huo Qingtong's military talents. At this time, forcing a battle was actually the most ideal situation in Agui's heart. Once the front line was extended, the Qing army would face the danger of food being cut off at any time. As long as it was delayed for more than half a month, Agui would have to retreat even if he was unwilling to do so.

As for the current situation, if the Qing army retreated this time, they would definitely not be able to raise enough food and grass to launch a second attack in a short period of time. In another two or three months, returning to Xinjiang will enter the severe winter ahead of schedule than in the Central Plains. At this time, no matter who commands the Qing army, it is impossible to attack various troops in such bad weather, which is simply a death sentence.

The discussion was decided, and everyone followed the arrangements at the meeting. The Red Flower Association and Xu Yang were arranged as sentry detectives to closely monitor the Qing army's route.

I'm afraid only they can carry out this task. Among the people returning to Xinjiang, except Huo Qingtong is considered a master, and once others meet the masters of the Qing court who went to fight with the army, they will all be in vain.

Xu Yang is alone, and he is not willing to work with others. Many secret methods will not be used because of hiding his companions. On the contrary, if he acts alone, even if he encounters a large group of people from the Qing court, as long as he is not surrounded, he will always be able to escape safely.

The Red Flower Cong members were divided into three teams, Chen Jialuo, Wuchen Taoist, and Zhao Banshan each led several leaders to the sentry to investigate, while the remaining ordinary congregations retreated with the large group of troops in the tribe.

Huo Qingtong also specially arranged several contact points along the way so that everyone could contact them in time after obtaining information, which could leave a way out for everyone. Otherwise, in the vast Gobi Desert back to Xinjiang, they would not be able to find the place where the tribe would stay.

Originally, Xu Yang was planning to take time to find Huo Qingtong to translate the treasure map, but the plan could not keep up with the changes. Now it is too late to go through time.

Fortunately, the treasure will not run away, it will be a little later.

Seeing the retreating team slowly disappearing from sight, Xu Yang felt a heavy feeling in his heart. Wen Tailai patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "I can't bear it?"

Xu Yang understood his meaning and smiled and said, "Where is it? I'm just worried that Agui uses troops like a god. Even if he has 50,000 elite soldiers, he can still achieve more than 100,000 others. If one day he has to face the enemy head-on, he is afraid they will suffer."

Wen Tailai also sighed: "The Qing court was not exhausted, and a Yue Zhongqi fell down and another A Gui came out. But we should work harder. The Qing army did not have much food and supplies. In addition to the information of the sentry, it is best for us to wait for an opportunity to harass them, so that they can run away. The more we delayed it for a day, the greater our chances of winning."

Xu Yang nodded, this is the old saying: "Take care!"

The two said to each other, and Xu Yang also bowed to the heroes of the Red Flower Society, without saying much, and turned over and ran towards their own future.

A few days later, the Qing army arrived as scheduled. Xu Yang hid behind a sand dune, poked his head slightly, and looked at the endless teams in the distance, with a frown of miles long.

Unlike previous expectations, the morale of the Qing army was not depressed due to shortage of food. On the contrary, Agui was good at leading the troops. Although each meal was matched according to the minimum standards, from top to bottom, everyone, including Agui, ate the same meal. When the soldiers saw that the general saved food and reduced food, they had no privilege at all, so they obeyed Agui's words very much.

For most Qing army members, Agui's agitation was very effective. Yes, as long as the poor rebels defeated the back people, their food was their own food, and their cattle, horses, llamas, and camels were their own animals. What would you like to eat at that time?

After some agitation, morale was rising. Even though he had been walking in the Gobi desert before, his formation remained unchanged.

Xu Yang has been monitoring them for three days, but he has not found any flaws.

In the middle, I had also encountered the harassment of the Red Flower Society heroes on this Qing army. However, Agui used his military skills and had long anticipated this situation. The Qing army brigade did not change its schedule, but only arranged for the elite troops to lead the team's elite to solve the problem. The heads of the Red Flower Society did not dare to fight. Often, the thunder and raindrops were loud and the purpose of harassing the Qing army was not achieved.

Moreover, the wind has not been strong in the Gobi Desert recently. Even if Xu Yang wants to use poisonous smoke, the effect will not be very high. Instead, it will expose his own place, which is quite unfavorable to his future actions.

This is a bit troublesome.
Chapter completed!