Wuchuan.

Kou Liu led the cavalry closer to the city.

On the road outside Wuchuan, there were many corpses, most of which had their heads cut off. The headless corpses were half-covered, as if they had been dug out, and they were lying naked on both sides.

Wuchuan was also attacked, and the villages and towns on both sides showed signs of burning.

Kou Liu couldn't help but frowned. As soon as he approached the city, a general came to greet him. The person who came was his old acquaintance Tu Xiyue.

Seeing each other again brings joy and sorrow.

Tu Xiyue let out a long sigh and walked side by side with Kou Liu, "You came at the right time. The Zhou people stopped attacking the city and set fire to the villages everywhere. We had no choice but to gather the civilians into the city."

"But if this happens, the autumn harvest will suffer. This year's money and food have not been distributed yet, and the military rations are already running out."

"We always send troops to fight after the autumn harvest, but Yang Zhong sends troops during spring planting. They don't have to worry about food, but they ruin our reclamation and farming..." Tu Xiyue was worried.

The border soldiers seem to be many, but they are scattered and cannot be gathered to fight. The border fortress is not surrounded by walls. The enemy can attack from all directions, and they need to be garrisoned everywhere. Tens of thousands of people are scattered to the border fortress, and the defense is okay.

It is not possible to send troops to counterattack.

And food is a big problem. I don’t know how long this war will be delayed. It may be one year, two years, or three years.

No one can say for certain that when the two sides are at war, grain production will be greatly affected and people will become poorer and poorer.

Kou Liu brought some money and food this time, which was forcibly collected by Shuozhou. Shuozhou was considered wealthy on the frontier, but compared to the Central Plains, it was just a poor and cold place.

The people of Zhou had been practicing government troops for many years. Apart from anything else, at least they did not worry about the issue of money and food. During these years, there was almost no food crisis. However, Daqi suffered from frequent food crises starting from the sixth year of Tianbao.

After Gao Yan came to power, he cultivated farmland in various places to reduce food losses, and the situation eased a bit.

Kou Liu frowned, "Yang Zhong is extremely hateful. This time I will follow my brother and kill this old thief!"

Kou Liu led everyone into the city. For a military fortress like Wuchuan, there was no question of whether the soldiers could enter the city.

Wukawa Nei became desolate again, somewhat similar to how it was when Kou Liu and others first arrived.

No one was seen on the road at all, only scouts rushing towards the government office in a hurry.

Kou Liu first sent someone to take the cavalry to the school grounds to rest, and he followed Tu Xiyue to the official office to meet Liu Taozi.

Liu Taozi was sitting in the upper seat, wearing casual clothes, with a solemn face and several bandage marks on her body.

Kou Liu was shocked. He didn't even bow to see him, so he ran to Liu Taozi's side in a panic, "Brother is injured?!"

"How can one not be injured while marching and fighting?"

Kou Liu pursed his lips and finally sat aside helplessly.

"Have you ever met Zhou people on the road?"

"I met him twice."

"After I received the order from my brother, I summoned the Yecheng cavalry from various places and came non-stop. I just wanted to come as soon as possible. Those Zhou scouts ran away when they saw us, and I did not pursue them."

Liu Taozi slowly frowned, and Kou Liu explained: "Brother, this frontier fortress is full of Zhou people's scouts. It is impossible to secretly mobilize troops."

"However, the enemy's scouts ran away after encountering our scouts. It must be that they did not check our number. I also frequently changed the number of campfire cooking utensils along the way."

"Brother...

Kou Liu looked at Liu Taozi's appearance and suddenly realized that he had broken something big, and he felt a little guilty.

Liu Taozi said, "No problem, but the key to war is information. In the future, you must remember to mobilize troops during war and send more scouts. It is better to give way than to be discovered by the enemy in a hurry."

"only!!"

Liu Taozi then ordered Tu Xiyue to reward the Yecheng soldiers and let them rest for three days. He himself took out the map and laid it out in front of Kou Liu.

The map is quite huge. It is the area where Zhou and Qi are currently fighting. All the information about the enemy is on the map. "The enemy is not attacking the city very much now. They are almost always harassing the city. The only thing that worries people is the constant

This side of the state.”

"The Turks entered Yanzhou. Yao Xiong did not have enough troops to pursue them. Fortunately, Zhang Heizu was a calm man. He was provoked several times by the Zhou people and did not rush out to fight. So far, the city has not been lost."

Kou Liu looked at the map carefully, and the complicated information gradually became clear.

"If the war drags on, it will do great harm to the border fortress. We are short of money and food, and the temples cannot be relied upon."

"I originally wanted to cross the river to see if I could attack Guizhen, or rush around Yubi to force the enemy to return."

"However, Da Xiwu's march was slow and it is still within his own territory. Now that the enemy has discovered that cavalry has been transferred to Wuchuan, this matter has become a bit difficult."

"We first sent troops to Hengzhou to defeat the leading Zhou people and drive them away from the northeastern states. Then, in the name of pursuing the Turks, we took a detour... and attacked here!"

Liu Taozi knocked on a place.

Kou Liu took a closer look and saw that Liu Taozi was referring to Yongfeng Town.

This is the most important core of the enemy's defense line in the north. Its status is equivalent to that of Shuoheng Prefecture in Qi State. The enemy's troop deployment in the face of the Turks and Shuoheng is based on Yongfeng as the core.

Kou Liu said with some surprise: "Brother, there should be a large amount of food surrounded here, heavily guarded, and the city is strong. If we cannot attack for a long time, we will easily be surrounded by the enemy."

"Yes, so we have to work hard to overcome it."

"In three days, troops will be sent to support Yao Xiong." "Wei!!"

After discussing the matter of sending troops, Kou Liu told him about Shuozhou, "The new king is quite generous. He doesn't look like a relative of the emperor's family at all. He treats us very well and takes care of all important matters."

Let Tian Zili do it to help us suppress local officials. He did not protect those officials who broke the law. In the past, someone found him and wanted to work with him to deal with us. He directly captured that person and sent him to us.

before."

Kou Lu said with emotion: "In these years, I have met so many great kings. Most of them with watery names are not human beings. This one is very good." "Gao Guiyan's rebellion caused many deaths in Jizhou.

, thanks to this wise king, they were successfully resettled."

Liu Taozi nodded slightly.

Kou Liu suddenly said: "That's it..." "Zu Jue."

"Brother, this person is really useless."

Kou Liu's expression was completely different when he talked about Gao Yan and when he talked about Zu Jue. When he talked about Gao Yan, he had a smile on his face, but when he talked about Zu Jue, he started to grit his teeth.

"This is a real villain! In Shuozhou, he openly lived in a widow's house, solicited prostitutes everywhere, and gathered scribes to have fun at home. The most hateful thing is that he always recommended some people who bribed him, hoping to let them come.

Serve as an official!”

"He also smuggled horses and wanted to sell Shuozhou's horses to the south!"

"He also stole. He even stole from King Pingyang! King Pingyang held a banquet at home, and he stole someone else's silver plate and was caught on the spot!"

"He also engaged in fraud. He deceived those profiteers in Shuozhou, saying that he could support their smuggling business without paying taxes. After taking their money, he disappeared... Even the criminals were so angry that they surrendered to the police.

.

"Brother, what are you doing with such a villain?"

There was some astonishment on Liu Taozi's face. He was silent for a moment and then said, "Let's wait until we defeat the thief before we talk about him."

After resting for three days, Liu Taozi led his troops and left Wuchuan.

He mainly used those Yecheng soldiers, and arranged some Wuchuan knights to mix in. He led three thousand knights and galloped away to garrison the wilderness.

The shouts of killing rose to the sky.

Yao Xiong wore armor and held a broadsword, constantly slashing the enemies who boarded the city.

A steady stream of soldiers rushed to the top of the city. Yao Xiong roared towards them, knocking over several soldiers in front of him and knocking them off the city wall.

The siege armies were mainly Zhou and Turks, and the Turks were not all cavalry. After previous grassland wars and possessing smelting technology, they had equally elite infantry and professional siege teams.

When the Zhou people suffered many casualties, the Turks stopped attacking.

Standing next to the big flag on the opposite side, Erzhumin's face turned red. Watching the Turks retreat, he couldn't help but look at the head of Khan Ashinaku in the east.

Kutou is the younger brother of the current Turkic Muhan Khan. After Muhan Khan ascended the throne, he made several younger brothers serve as the Khan of the East and the Khan of the West. They controlled the huge territory as a clan, although everyone was capable of doing so.

Khans, but their status is similar to that of emperors and kings. They are khans only within their own jurisdictions, not the khans of the entire Turks.

Kutou Khan was still young. He was wearing a cassock and holding Buddhist beads in his hand. He looked at the people who died in the distance and recited a few verses for them.

Er Zhumin looked at him and suppressed his anger, "Khan, my men have suffered many casualties. If you give the order again and work hard, you can break through the city. Why do you want to stop suddenly?"

Kutou said gently: "Such a forceful attack will result in too many casualties. I can't bear it." Fart!!

At this moment, Erzhumin really wanted to pounce on him and beat him. These Turks were not here to fight at all.

They came to plunder. When they and Wang Jie did not come, they stood still. Although they had many times the strength of Yao Xiong, they refused to continue the attack. They grazed outside the city and waited leisurely for Yang.

Zhong entered Shuozhou.

When Er Zhumin and Wang Jie arrived and took the initiative as the vanguard, they followed and attacked together.

In this way, they defeated Yao Xiong's defensive army from the east and entered the territory of Qi. But in every subsequent battle, they would have Zhou people to be the vanguard. If they had an advantage, they would fight hard to kill the enemy. If they were at a disadvantage, they would immediately kill the enemy.

Leave your surroundings behind and retreat.

Especially this Kutou, Er Zhumin even suspected that this guy was deliberately helping those Qi people and wanted to cause maximum casualties to the Qi people and Zhou people. Just this time, he said that he could attack by force and the city would be destroyed.

Erzhumin then sent all his elite troops to attack Huaihuang in a mighty manner. He was about to capture Huaihuang, but the Turks suddenly retreated, and the Zhou people had no choice but to retreat with them. So many people died in the battle for no reason.

Looking at the grief-stricken Erzhumin, Kutou Khan laughed again and said, "Don't be angry. I will give you some Buddhist scriptures. If you read them, you will calm down a lot."
To be continued...