Hengzhou.

In the endless wilderness, the knights were fighting hard.

The mountains and plains are full of knights fighting.

Dark clouds rolled in, and the roars of the knights could be heard far, far away.

On the Great Wall, the guards raised their crossbows high and looked at the fierce battle outside.

The horses neighed, the knights shouted, the horses were flying, and the arrows were flying.

The entire ground was rumbling, and the soaring dust in the field blocked the distant vision. The shouts of killing continued, and the soldiers' faces were solemn, waiting for the outcome of the war.

The fight lasted for two full hours.

As the sky gradually darkened, the shouts of death gradually became sparse, and the shaking on the ground continued to weaken.

Liu Taozi took the green lion, tore open the dust, and got out of it. Behind him was the old general Baoxian. He was panting, and there was a human head hanging on the horse-stem in his hand.

There were more and more knights behind them, some leading horses and some pulling trophies.

The mighty army came to the checkpoint gate and opened the door.

Liu Taozi handed the green lion to the officer on the side, took off the head and wiped the blood on it.

Baoxian also asked his followers to take off his armor.

The old general breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Liu Taozi and said, "The Turks should be retreating this time."

"Thanks to the old general."

Baoxian laughed and waved his hand, "Don't humiliate me like this. If you come back later, I'm afraid my achievements in this life will become a joke."

Baoxian once again glanced at the gains on the carriages and murmured: "The armor coverage rate of these people is really high. They are completely different from the creepy people in the past."

Just when the Puppet Zhou and the Puppet Qi were fighting, the Turkic Khan raised his troops again and led his elites to try to plunder Hengyanyou and other places. As for why he didn't plunder Yingzhou, it was probably because it was too poor.

Baoxian was ordered to garrison the border fortress and fought many battles with the Turks, barely holding on until the armies from various places returned.

The frontier soldiers commanded by Baoxian had a large defensive area, and it was a bit difficult to face the Turkic elites.

This is the first time Baoxian has fought against the elite directly under the Turkic Khan.

"When Emperor Wenxuan was still there, we had a fight with the Turks at the frontier. At that time, many of their cavalry were still unarmored and used the style of the Creepers. Unexpectedly, even they are now

Start playing armor and rush into battle.”

Liu Taozi said seriously: "The Turks were originally responsible for smelting iron for the Weiwei people, and they were the iron slaves of the Weiwei people."

"They have mastered a lot of smelting skills, which are superior to everyone outside the Great Wall."

"After defeating the Creepers, they gathered a large number of people and gathered craftsmen. They valued craftsmen more than any force outside the Great Wall in the past. Their king even set up official ranks for craftsmen. The higher the skill, the better the treatment.

.”

"They have many war horses and excellent smelting skills, so they are naturally more difficult to deal with than the creeps."

Bao Xian said slowly: "The Pseudo-Chou are getting closer and closer to them, and they are taking what each other needs. This is feeding a tiger into trouble. If the Turks continue to develop like this, I am afraid it will become more and more difficult to defeat them."

Liu Taozi and Bao Xian returned to the Guannai Lieutenant's Office.

The walls of the inner room are covered with various maps.

These are maps outside the Great Wall, showing the water sources outside the Great Wall, the nomadic areas of various tribes, migration routes, etc.

These maps were hung all over the room. Liu Taozi looked around and asked, "Are these marked by the old general?"

"Know yourself and know your enemy."

Bao Xian said in a low voice: "The general had better march to Lianggan and other places as soon as possible to completely interrupt the relationship between the puppet Zhou and beyond the Great Wall, so that they cannot collude."

"Otherwise, every time we mobilize troops, we will have to face hostile forces from both sides at the same time, which will have a great impact on future front deployment."

"Forgive me for being honest, except for Gao Changgong, there is no general under the general who can stand alone."

"And Gao Changgong was sent to Lingzhou, and the general can't stay here for a long time. If we want to use troops, the general has to supervise the formation in the front even if he doesn't lead the troops."

"Hengzhou is where the general's palace and the platform are located. Once it is attacked by the Turks,"

Liu Taozi looked at him, "The old general can do his job alone."

Baoxian laughed, his beard trembling several times, and he was very satisfied with Liu Taozi's praise.

But then he said: "I would like to guard the Turks for the general, but I am old."

A hint of helplessness flashed in Baoxian's eyes.

"I am sixty-three this year."

"When I was young, I rode horses and fought all day long. At this age, I have problems all over my body. No matter how many doctors I called, it was of no use."

“I don’t know how many years there are left.”

Baoxian looked at Liu Taozi aside, "What a pity. If you had been born a few years earlier, maybe I could have traveled to Chang'an."

"The old general is as brave as ever."

Liu Taozi praised him, and then said: "I also took note of the old general's reminder."

Baoxian thought of something and said: "I am not looking down on the generals under the general's command, but they are still too young. Even though they have experienced many wars, they have not yet reached the point where they can stand alone and defend a strong enemy. Gao Changgong is a talented person.

"Excellent, there are still very few people like this. Most generals have to grow up through battles. After decades of fighting, they become generals before they die."

Liu Taozi nodded, "I know."

The two were chatting when a scout flashed out of the door and looked at Liu Taozi, but hesitated to speak.

Liu Taozi waved at him and asked him to come in and talk.

The scout hurriedly bowed and said, "General, Pingcheng sent someone to deliver a message, asking you to return."

"oh?"

"What happened?"

"I heard that General Hu Luguang led the Jinyang soldiers to Pingcheng."

Liu Taozi was stunned for a moment, "Hu Luguang is here?"

Baoxian was astonished, "Others have said that destiny is here, but I haven't believed it yet, but today I finally believe it."

"I just said that the frontier needs a strong man, and this strong man came to the door."

"Hu Luguang, you can't do this alone. If you let him sit here, I'm afraid he will start to march towards the Turks."

"It would be great if Duan Shao also came."

"One frees Hengzhou, the other Yanzhou, and together they resist the Turks."

Liu Taozi stood up immediately and looked at Baoxian, "Old General, I have to go back to Pingcheng to see what's going on here."

"No problem, just leave it to me, General. The Turks should not dare to attack easily again after their defeat. I will guard here!"

Liu Taozi said goodbye to Baoxian and led the knights under his command to quickly leave the frontier.

The knights Liu Taozi took away at this moment were the same knights who had participated in the Battle of Chang'an.

After the war, Liu Taozi did not disperse them. Instead, he used them as the core and recruited brave knights to set up a separate battalion of three thousand cavalry, which he called the Mandrill Battalion.

This mandrill battalion is considered the most elite army under Liu Taozi's command and has experienced several battles.

Now following Liu Taozi to the border fortress, he also surprised the old general. With less, he defeated more, and defeated the elite troops directly under the Turkic Khan head-on.

They advanced along the official road at an extremely fast pace, but even at this marching speed, none of them fell behind.

They rested along the road and did not escape to harm the surrounding areas.

It only took four days for Liu Taozi to lead his troops back to Pingcheng.

On the way to Qubing, Cui Gang and others were already waiting on the road.

They had just met and bowed, and Lu Qubing couldn't help but talk about the situation.

"General, General Hulu is here! There are also his younger brothers, family members, and many, many people!"

"The general's parents and younger brother were also sent here. Now in Pingcheng, I went to visit him. My aunt is still the same as usual. I inquired about the general's uncle, and she didn't seem angry."

"The emperor was conferring rewards in Jinyang and conferred dozens of kings and hundreds of princes in one breath. Hearing that hundreds of palace ladies around him had been conferred official titles, even our generals had received rewards from the court. Tian Zili

They were all made kings, but he didn't accept it."

"Also, Gao Changgong said"

"Lu Jun."

Liu Taozi interrupted Lu Qubing, "Let's talk slowly, one by one."

Pingcheng, inside the post house.

Hu Luxian paced back and forth, his brows furrowed, very unhappy.

"Brother, why can't you discuss things with us first?"

"When Liu Taozi was attacked by Yang Zhong, I said I could come to him and follow him to fight Yang Zhong, but my brother didn't allow it, saying that I couldn't abandon the country."
To be continued...