Dingjiangshan

It happened to be a cloudy day on the day of the expedition, and it was still foggy outside and the sun could not be seen at Chenshi.

Wearing light armor, Ning Yan stood on the high platform, one on the left and one on the right with Xie Jue, on both sides of the altar.

Jing Zhan changed into a black robe with crane embroidered patterns, and after facing the gods of heaven and earth, he poured a bowl of wine for each of them after saying the sacrificial speech.

"Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, the lord of the country." Jing Zhan said: "The crusade against the rebellious party is orthodox, and there will be protection from the gods here, and we will be invincible."

Although they grew up together, Ning Yan always felt strange whenever Jing Zhan changed into the costume of the national teacher and stood on the high platform to worship the sky.

So Ning Yan smiled, didn't say anything, but compared the wine bowl in his hand to him, then turned around and clinked glasses with Xie Jue, and drank the bowl of wine together.

After drinking, the flag will be sacrificed with blood. A goat has been tied on the high platform in advance. The servant of the National Teacher's Mansion came over with a cold sword and knelt between the two of them, beckoning them to kill the goat. .

In the past, the coach personally did this, but today it was Ning Yan's personal conquest, so Xie Jue took a half step back and said, "Please, Your Majesty."

Ning Yan glanced at the sword, but didn't immediately reach out to pick it up, but said: "I don't have enough experience in the battlefield, and the commander should be the most important thing about military affairs. For the sacrifice of the flag, come to Zhaoming."

"There is a difference between superiority and inferiority." Xie Jue hurriedly said: "Your Majesty is the Ninth Five-Year Honor, and those who serve as ministers share the worries of the emperor, so it is natural that His Majesty should personally sacrifice."

The two of them rejected each other back and forth twice, and finally Ning Yan couldn't refuse, and reached out to hold the sword.

The sharp edge of the sword folded the candlelight on the altar into Ning Yan's eyes, he took a step forward in silence, raised the sword in his hand and dropped it, the edge of the sword pierced through the sheep's throat neatly.

A huge ram fell down with a bang, and warm blood splashed out. A few drops fell on Ning Yan's hand holding the sword, and more of it flowed down the groove of the sword's edge. After a while, it accumulated on the ground. A small puddle.

Ning Yan's eyes fell on the pool of blood, and something seemed to flash in his eyes, but he quickly covered them up.

With a little force on his wrist, he pulled the blade out of the ram's throat, and a few drops of blood along the blade arced across the air, splashing down on the corner of the military flag next to it.

"Li Cheng." Jing Zhan said.

Before going out for an expedition, Xie Jue always had to do something like this. Xie Jue had been fighting in the frontier all year round, and he was used to it. When he heard the words, he gave Jing Zhan his hands without changing his face, then turned around and got off the high platform first, and walked to the front of the Chinese army.

Ning Yan should have joined him, but just as he turned around, Jing Zhan stopped him.

"Your Majesty." Jing Zhan said.

Ning Yan turned to look at him.

Jing Zhan made a gesture to signal him to wait a moment, then walked to the side of the altar, patiently and carefully put out the candle with a piece of bamboo, and then briefly gathered it together before turning around and walking towards Ning Yan.

"What's wrong?" Ning Yan asked.

Jing Zhan walked up to him, and stuffed something into his hand under the cover of his wide sleeve.Ning Yan pinched the sachet in his hand, and found that there were two pieces of something hard inside.His fingers traced the outline of the thing, and found that it was two folded paper symbols.

"You and the prince each have one." Jing Zhan said, "I gave it to my uncle the day before yesterday."

"I made a divination for you last night." Jing Zhan sighed, and then said, "Your trip here may be dangerous, but fortunately, if you make a mistake, you can always save the day. So you don't have to worry about it. With Ning Zheng's stupid brain, I think he can't beat you."

Ning Yan lowered his eyes, squeezed the sachet, and said, "——Aren't your Kunlun emperors considered emperors?"

"So I broke the rules this time. Breaking the rules is a big taboo, so don't let my master know." Jing Zhan said angrily, "And it's just this time, it's not an example—"

"Okay." Ning Yan smiled, stretched out his hand and patted his shoulder, and said, "God knows, Earth knows, you know and I know."

After he finished speaking, he put the sachet into his arms, turned his head and walked down the high platform.

Jing Zhan put his hands in his sleeves, stood on the stage and watched him walk to the forefront of the Chinese army, stepped on the black horse beside Xie Jue, and pulled the rein from the servant's hand.

Standing half a step behind him on the left, Ning Huaijin urged his horse to move forward a bit, and asked, "What did His Majesty say on the top?"

"It's Ah Zhan who is worried." Ning Yan said with a smile: "It's nothing more than a few more instructions."

Ning Huaijin nodded, but did not become suspicious.

At the second quarter of the hour of the departure time, Xie Jue gave an order, and the walls of Danfeng Gate opened wide. Ning Yan urged the horse forward and took the first step.

The exquisite carriages were dotted in the middle of the army, looking a bit nondescript.But because Ning Yan wanted to take her with him, the others didn't say much.It is not uncommon for the emperor to take a personal conquest, not to mention one accompanying maid, even two or three beautiful concubines.

The defenders in the border town moved earlier than the capital, and they had already rushed over from the northwest defense. After calculating the distance, they would probably be able to join Ning Yan and the others in Shangzhou.

Ning Yan dispatched troops from the capital with great fanfare, and Ning Zheng, who was thousands of miles away, naturally heard the news.After the fifth day, he couldn't hold back anymore, and finally stopped guarding the city gate and pretending to be kind, but ordered a war, trying to take Nanyang before Ning Yan arrived.

When the news was sent back to the army, Ning Yan was still about ten days away from Nanyang.The boundary of the Central Plains was difficult, and the 50 Xie Jiajun that had been transferred was even more slow. Ning Yan looked at the letter for a while in front of the oil lamp in the tent, and felt a little difficult.

Although it was stated in the letter that there are government troops in Nanyang Mansion that can resist for a while, it will not be easy for Ning Zheng to step down the city gate and settle in Nanyang.But Nanyang City is not big, and there are still a few scattered small cities around. If a fight really starts, Ning Zheng can easily encircle Nanyang as long as he takes the surrounding small towns first. You can get a bargain right away.

But if Nanyang were to divide his troops to defend these small cities, it would be very difficult for Nanyang himself, and I am afraid that he would not be able to resist for a few days.

"What does Uncle Huang think?" Ning Yan asked.

"There are only two options for the present." Ning Huaijin leaned over to look at Ning Yan's letters spread out on the table, and said, "Either we split up the troops, the cavalry go first, shorten the remaining distance, and rush to Nanyang. It's the fastest way."

"No." Ning Yan shook his head and said, "Most of the cavalry came from the imperial army and the capital army. Hurry up, everyone will be extremely tired when we arrive at Nanyang Mansion, and we won't have an advantage in the fight."

"Then the second one." Ning Huaijin said: "Your Majesty also discovered that since the Xie family army from the northwest moved in, the marching speed of the army has slowed down significantly. The minister focused on observing one or two in the past two days, and found that it was not a soldier. The speed of the generals slowed down, but there were too many soldiers and the roads were not so wide, which slowed down the marching speed. When I was young, I read military books. If this happens, you can divide the army into several groups. Matching, take different routes to reach the battlefield."

——This is feasible, Ning Yan thought.

Ning Huaijin stood up as she spoke, took out a cowhide map from her luggage, and spread it on the table in front of Ning Yan.Ning Huaijin pulled the candlestick and pressed it on one corner of the map, sitting on the right side of Ning Yan, and pointed to him.

"As of now, we still have about [-] miles away from Nanyang. If we want to travel quickly without hurting our foundation, we can walk about [-] miles a day." Ning Huaijin said, "Your Majesty can put aside the supplies and grass for the time being, and defend the army from the border town. Choose a few strong and experienced cavalry, and go with the cavalry on the fastest route we originally planned. People were caught off guard."

"As for the other supplies and infantry, they can be divided into two groups on the left and right, and march from the direction of Xinyang and Shanyang respectively. Although these two roads are far away, fortunately, the terrain on the other side of Xinyang is flat and wide. Make it easier." Ning Huaijin said: "General Zheng Xiao will lead a team, and the minister and His Majesty will lead another team. Although we will arrive in Nanyang two days later, it will not be late."

Ning Huaijin spoke clearly and logically. Obviously, he had seen this picture many times before, and he already had a score in his heart.

Ning Yan turned his head away, then looked at his eyebrows and eyes under the cover of the lights, and said: "...Uncle Huang knows the art of war very well."

"I've read a few more pages in the military book, and it's just a matter of talking about it on paper." Ning Huaijin shook his head and said, "We still have to ask Zhaoming for his opinion, so as to avoid any omissions."

"—No need to ask, I also think what the prince said is very reasonable."

Because Ning Yan was going to go out to the palace for a personal conquest, it was difficult for Ning Yan to bring He Wenting out, so many unnecessary etiquettes were avoided in the camp.

Xie Jue had just finished nodding outside, and when he opened the curtain and came in from the door, he heard this sentence, and hurriedly said: "I just went out, and I was also thinking about this matter."

"What does Zhaoming think?" Ning Yan asked.

"It's really difficult for a 60 army to travel together." Xie Jue said: "I think what the prince said is very reasonable. It is much better to divide the army into three groups and go hand in hand than to concentrate on this narrow road now——and the King of Changle If soldiers come to Nanyang, if they really want to fight, within two days, the governor of Nanyang will be too busy to take care of the surrounding villages and towns, it would be good to arrive one day earlier."

"Only one thing." Xie Jue said: "The food, grass, and supplies cannot be completely separated. The road to Shanyang has more mountains. Although the infantry is easy to walk, it is also easy to be ambushed. The infantry has poor defense capabilities. If Ning If you have the heart, set up a trap on that road—you don’t need too many people, just 30 to [-] people, if you see the right time, you can go down the cliff with a fire, and the food and grass will be in danger.”

"That's it." Ning Huaijin said clearly, "Sure enough, Zhaoming thought it through."

"It's just that one can defend against one hand." Xie Jue said, "So, why not divide one share of food and grass into three, the Chinese army will take one, and Xinyang will take two. It will be safer."

"Then let's do it this way." Ning Yan nodded dispensably, and ordered: "I'll trouble Zhaoming to order troops, and we will separate ways tomorrow morning. It's better to reach Nanyang as soon as possible."