Tibet

As soon as Li Ye returned to the palace, Guo Ziyi hurried over.

Guo Ziyi bowed and presented an express report, "Your Majesty, this is the latest news about Broken Leaf that I just received."

Li Ye finished the report and waved his hand: "Guo Aiqing, please sit down!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Guo Ziyi sat down at the side, and Li Ye opened the express. There were only a few sentences, and the letter he should have received was also an eagle letter.

‘Zuiye was attacked by an unknown army. The garrison suffered heavy casualties and was forced to evacuate! ’

Li Ye nodded. This Privy Council report brought a glimmer of hope. The garrison was forced to evacuate, indicating that there were still survivors. It was very likely that Guo Xin was not dead. Generally, as long as the entire army is not destroyed, the general can survive.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the army to the west to realize your Majesty's grand plan!"

Li Ye smiled and said: "I am very touched that Guo Aiqing has this intention, but establishing a complete and efficient military system is more challenging. I hope Guo Aiqing can help me complete this great cause!"

Guo Ziyi is already old, and Li Ye can no longer let him go to the Western Regions, especially those snowy plateaus with an altitude of five or six thousand meters, which will be fatal to Guo Ziyi. He can no longer let Guo Ziyi go.

Guo Ziyi sighed in his heart and stopped insisting. He immediately stood up and left.

Li Ye came to the window with his hands behind his hands and looked at the gloomy sky in the west. His thoughts were thousands of miles away.

In Anxi and Lingshan, blizzards have raged since October. The roads have been blocked by heavy snow, and horses and carts have become impassable. Only camels have the chance to cross Lingshan when the weather is clear.

In December, a team of 300 people arrived at the foot of Lingshan Mountain. The leader was Li Chenghua, the commander of the inner guard. She led 300 elite inner guard soldiers to prepare for Suiye investigation. After more than two months of long journey, Li Chenghua's team finally arrived in Lingshan.

The team is all strong camels. In addition to the tall camels they ride, there are thousands of camels carrying food and supplies.

Li Chenghua looked at the majestic snow-capped mountains in front of her. Although she had walked through the mountains several times, they were all in summer, and this was the first time in winter.

Li Chenghua turned around and shouted: "Please come over, guide!"

The guide is a local who specializes in taking people through Lingshan. He can speak fluent Chinese. Soon, the guide came forward on a camel.

Li Chenghua pointed his riding whip at the snowy mountain and asked, "How can we get over it?"

The guide pointed to the mountain col above and said: "We'll spend the night at the mountain col above. We'll set out when the sun comes out tomorrow and try to climb over the main peak before dark."

"Can't we camp at the foot of the mountain?"

"no!"

The guide flatly rejected it, "It takes exactly one day to climb over the main peak. If we spend the night at the foot of the mountain, it will get dark halfway to the main peak. If we spend the night on the main peak, people and animals will freeze into popsicles."

"We have leather tents and we can light a fire to keep warm!"

The guide shook his head, "Camels will also freeze to death. The temperature on the main peak during the day is already the limit that humans can bear. At night, the temperature drops sharply. No one has ever survived to cross the main peak at night."

Li Chenghua nodded, "Then follow the guide's arrangements!"

The team reached halfway up the mountain. This is a large mountain col, which happens to be in the lee of the wind. At night, the temperature here is a little better than at the top of the mountain. The key is that the camels can bear it, and people naturally have to hide in tents.

At this time, it was getting dark, so everyone hurriedly unloaded the goods, built tents, and dug fire pits. Burning wood and charcoal in the tents was prone to poisoning. Generally, dry cow dung was burned for heating, which made it less likely to be poisoned. This is thousands of years of experience. .

Thousands of camels huddled together against the cliff, relying on each other's body heat to stay warm.

As night fell, the temperature dropped sharply, and the wind and snow roared outside the tent. A dozen soldiers crowded into a tent. Everyone was silent. They wrapped their bodies in thick blankets, drank hot milk tea, and ate fried rice. Juicy meatloaf.

Milk tea was simmering in a hot pot on the stove, and the fire was burning brightly. The cow dung smoke had a grassy fragrance, which kept the tent warm.

Early the next morning, when the first ray of morning glow shone on the snow-capped mountains, the snow-capped mountains became glittering and dazzling. The temperature on the top of the mountain began to rise. The team quickly packed their luggage and continued to set off.

The team did not dare to rest. The camels stretched out their long legs and trudged through the one-meter-deep snow. They walked for a whole day and did not dare to stop to rest. At dusk, they crossed the mountain pass and began to descend.

The guide shouted: "The temperature is about to cool down, everyone speed up! Let's go!"

Even the camels felt the crisis. They speeded up one after another, and finally reached a safe place when night fell. It was also a leeward col halfway up the mountain. The temperature was slightly higher than the top of the mountain, and the camels could withstand it.

The team was sheltered in the lee all night, and set off again the next morning. They were completely down the mountain before dark. There were still five or six days to go from here to Suiye.

The team continued towards Suiye.

There is a newly built military city on the east coast of Yibo Sea, called Yibo City. It was built less than five years ago. It usually only has a hundred soldiers stationed in it, but now it has six to seven hundred people.

The nearly 600 extra soldiers were the Tang army that had retreated from Suiye, led by Guo Xin, the governor of Hezhong. Suiye was attacked by an army of 20,000 Saints in the middle of the night. There were also 500 enemy soldiers pretending to be merchants in the city. Soldiers should cooperate inside and outside.

The two thousand defenders in the city suffered heavy casualties. Nine hundred Tang Army soldiers broke out in three groups. One group withdrew to the west to Julan City, and the other group went to Gongyue City along the Yili River Valley. The main force was 600 people led by Guo Xin, who retreated to Yi Bo City.

It is winter now, covered with heavy snow, and the army is now facing the biggest crisis. There is insufficient food for the winter. The food stored in Yibo City is not enough to support 700 people, and the food is about to be cut off.

A dozen generals sat in front of the campfire to discuss countermeasures. Some suggested hunting to see if they could encounter deer in winter, and some suggested fishing by drilling holes in the thick ice of Yibo Sea to fish, but this kind of petty fighting was meaningless.

A general said: "Commander, I heard that Lingshan can be crossed in winter. Why don't we cross Lingshan and retreat to Anxi."

Another general objected: "It is possible to cross Lingshan in winter, but you must have camels to ride on camels. War horses can't withstand the severe cold on the mountain at night and will freeze to death. Moreover, the snow on the road is very thick, and war horses can't get through."

At this time, Guo Xin coughed lightly, and everyone stopped arguing and looked at him together.

Guo Xin slowly said to everyone: "There is only one way at present, that is to ask for help. We have 20 camels, and we can send 20 soldiers to Anxi to ask for help. It will take about a month to go back and forth. We also have more than 100 war horses, which can be killed, and then hunting and fishing as supplements. We should be able to hold on for a month."

Everyone also felt that it made sense. Other methods were empty, and there was only one way to ask for help.

The next morning, the young scout captain Yuchi Xi'an led 19 soldiers to set off. Yuchi Xi'an was the son of Yuchi Guang, the governor of Beiting, and the descendant of Yuchi Gong, a famous general of the founding of the country. The young man was only 20 years old, but he had been in the army for five years and was promoted to scout captain. He was very smart and experienced.

They rode 20 camels and headed for the Suiye River Valley. The Suiye River Valley was also covered with heavy snow up to three feet deep, so they would not encounter the enemy, but it was not certain to go to Rehai, because Rehai was not frozen, and there was not much snow around, so it was easy to encounter enemy patrols, but there was no way, so they could only be as careful as possible.

The camel caravan of twenty people set off. Everyone stood on the city wall and watched them go away. The lives and hopes of seven hundred people depended on them.