Twenty-two is also possible

  Su Dingfang, who was galloping on horseback, felt a bit depressed. Today it was his turn to lead the army to inspect the surroundings of the large camp, but this damn snow, so thick and heavy, had caused his beloved warhorse to trip over an unseen boulder buried under the snow, breaking its leg, and he himself had fallen off, getting a face full of snow, how cold! The key was that the commander had arrived and was going to convene a military meeting. This was terrible, he had delayed for quite some time and was late! Military discipline was strict, if he was late, who knows what punishment he would receive?!

  Su Dingfang hurried back to the main camp, only to see his own soldiers anxiously looking out for him outside the camp. Su Dingfang's heart sank, it's over, the military meeting must have already started, and he was late!

  "Commander, Commander, you've finally arrived! Ah! The military meeting has already begun, the general has sent someone to urge us three times!" As soon as he saw Su Dingfang galloping over on horseback, his personal soldiers immediately went up to greet him. Su Dingfang secretly cursed his bad luck, dismounted and handed the reins over to his personal soldier, preparing to accept punishment, saying: "I know, you can go back now!"

  Watching his men walk away, Su Dingfang let out a sigh in his heart. Alas! The commander had just arrived and he had already "not given the commander face". The commander was a renowned military god, and offending him was a great taboo! Never mind, let's take it one step at a time! Su Dingfang steeled himself, a dead pig isn't afraid of boiling water, and a dead horse can be used as a live one to treat illness!

  As he walked to the front of the military council tent, Su Dingfang nodded at the guard and signaled him to go in and report. The guard had just turned around when a stirring roar came from inside the tent: "This general is young and does not know much about etiquette, but I only know that for the barbarians, we should wait with knives and swords! As Chen Tang, the great general of the Han Dynasty, said, those who offend the strong Han will be punished even if they are far away! Like Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, who issued a decree to kill the Hu people, led the sons of the Han family to fight to the death with the Hu people, and turned the tide for the Han people who were about to fall, and supported the decline of the Xia people!"

  "As for the barbarians, they should be beaten, beaten hard! No reason is needed! Beat them until they obey! Beat them until they are afraid! Beat them until they tremble with fear at the mention of the great Tang's name! Beat them until the military might of our great Tang can make the infants on the grasslands stop crying! Beat them until their tribes are destroyed and their kind is exterminated!"

  Such a loud shout stunned even the brainless guards, let alone Su Dingfang who had fought against the barbarians for many years and understood their harm. Such heroic words were in no way inferior to that famous phrase from thousands of years ago which made countless Han men put on their armor and fight to the death without regret - "Those who offend the great Han will be punished, even if they are far away!"

  Su Dingfang's fists clenched involuntarily, his breathing becoming heavy. These words would make any hot-blooded Han man feel his blood boil with rage, eager to take up his sword and charge into battle on the grasslands against the Hu people. Nationalism and patriotism are forever the most effective tools for stirring men's hearts. Patriotism is in some ways inferior to nationalism, because a nation is older than a country, and a country has more political connotations while a nation has more blood ties. Blood and politics, especially in an era of imperial rule, have clear high and low distinctions.

  So Su Dingfang rushed in, he pushed open the guard soldiers, lifted up the military account, and rushed in, knelt on the ground and shouted loudly: "Well said! General! I beg to be the vanguard, if we can't break through the Turks, Dingfang will come to see you with his head held high! This battle must make the Turkic barbarians know the heavenly power of the great Tang! This battle must make the children on the grasslands hear the name of the great Tang and stop crying!"

  Su Ning heard this voice and couldn't help but turn his head. In the instant he saw Su Dingfang, Su Ning's whole body stiffened.

  Is this guy my long-lost brother? Why, why does he look so much like me? So much like me?

  Su Dingfang suddenly looked up and saw Su Ning staring at him with a puzzled expression, and he was also shocked. This kid, how could he be so similar to himself?

  Other generals in the account, including Li Shi and Li Jing, were staring at the two men with their eyes wide open. Suddenly, the entire account fell into an eerie silence, no one spoke, everyone tacitly moved their gaze back and forth on Su Dingfang's and Su Ning's faces, unable to say a word. Why do these two people look so alike? If you remove the beard and age factor, these two people are almost carved out of the same mold!

  Finally, Suning spoke up: "General, I am Su Ning, the chief historian of the expedition to Xiangyang. Who are you?"

  Su Dingfang's eyes lit up, and his whole body trembled slightly: "Su Ning? I am Su Lie, courtesy name Dingfang, from Wuyi, Hebei Province."

  Su Ning's eyes widened, Su Dingfang! Su Dingfang! Ancestor! Ancestor! The ancestor who had crossed the barrier of thousands of years, he finally saw his own ancestor! He was no longer just a cold and icy nameplate! He was human, a person! A living, breathing person!

  Su Ning swallowed a mouthful of saliva, slowly stood up, his whole body trembling, and his voice was also shaking. This feeling was too wonderful, too wonderful! "I am also from Jizhou Wuyi." Su Ning said as if he had just realized it.

  The two of them looked at each other, both trembling all over, with flushed faces, clearly due to excitement. At the same time, everyone in the tent also understood that something might happen between these two people. Is there such a coincidence in this world?

  Actually, Su Ning really wanted to kneel in front of Su Dingfang and shout "Grandpa, grandpa, grandpa!", but before he could do so, Su Dingfang took the lead and hugged him tightly, crying loudly: "Second brother! Eldest brother has finally found you! Eldest brother has finally found you! Do you know that during these years of separation, our family members have been searching for you non-stop? Second brother!"

  Su Ning knew that in this era, the emotions between loved ones were extremely strong, but Su Dingfang's sudden bear hug and being called "Second Brother" really made Su Ning feel depressed. Su Dingfang was a man who had never cried before, as men should not cry, it was a symbol of shame, especially for a soldier!

  Sudong Fang burst into tears and told everything that had happened. Thirteen years ago, the world was in chaos, and his hometown of Wuyi in the north was also affected by the war. At that time, he followed his father to lead the young men from the village to fight, unaware of what had happened at home until his father died in battle. When he returned to his hometown, he found it devastated, with only his mother, his uncle's widow, and a younger sister left.

  In the second aunt's lament, I came to understand that not long after my father and I left our hometown, it was raided by a group of Turks. Because most of the young and strong men were taken away, the remaining young and strong people were no match for the Turks. Our hometown suffered greatly, with countless deaths. My family was able to escape because of its geographical location, but in the end, we couldn't outrun the horses. Fortunately, there were many people escaping together, so the Turks didn't kill us immediately.

  But gradually, the fleeing people were surrounded by the Turks, and they suffered heavy casualties. Second Brother knew some martial arts, and he fought with the Turks with a knife, but was slashed on his left arm and fainted. Second Brother and Second Brother's wife had just had a child in their middle age, and the child was only one year old. Second Brother's wife was also pregnant again. Originally, it should have been a happy event, but running for life was the most critical moment. In the chaos, no one knew where the second brother, who was still in his swaddling clothes, had been squeezed to. His fate was unknown, and Second Brother's wife was extremely grieved and fainted. The mother also didn't know who hit her with a stick and knocked her out.

  Fortunately, except for my two-year-old brother who was born in the first year, all other family members survived. My second aunt's belly also kept my third sister safe. However, my second uncle may have been heartbroken because he lost his child and was injured, so he soon became depressed and passed away. Only my second aunt and mother were left to raise my little sister, but they never gave up asking people for news over the years, only there was no news at all.

  Su Ning is really Spartan, this can also be done!

  The old master casually made up a reason and it was perfectly interpreted, without any discord, Li Jing and Li Shiming immediately showed an understanding expression, nodding continuously, no doubt, after Su Dingfang's explanation, he had already been regarded as Su Dingfang's second brother, alias... Su Erlang

  Sunning couldn't help but feel that heaven was really too good to him, a random reason he came up with happened to coincide perfectly with the events, they just got lost in the chaos of war, while his reason happened to bridge the gap and fill in the blanks after Su Er Lang's disappearance, a mysterious figure rescued Su Er Lang when he was still an infant and raised him for 14 years, and then became the current Suning.

  Su Dingfang was holding himself and crying like something, Su Ning's nose was sour, and tears also fell down, stretching out his hand to slowly hug Su Dingfang's tiger-like body, shouting: "Big brother!" Su Dingfang immediately happily cried with joy, looking at Su Ning's unceasing delight, the emotions of the Han men in the army were truly thick and heavy. At this moment, all the generals in the tent also showed smiles, sincerely blessing this pair of brothers who had been separated for many years. Although they couldn't be considered biological brothers, their fathers were biological brothers, so these two people could be considered as close as possible.

  Su Dingfang started talking about taking Su Ning back to their hometown to pay respects to their ancestors and reunite with the family, including his elderly mother and younger sister.

  In the cold and stern atmosphere, inside this tent was warm and cozy. Li Jing and Li Shimin exchanged a glance, nodded to each other, and Li Shimin spoke up: "You settle your family matters yourselves, we won't interfere. As for recognizing ancestors and returning to one's roots, that is also necessary. Sanming, you have been appointed as the Count of Sanyuan County, with your own fiefdom and mansion. In this case, you can send someone to bring your family members to Sanyuan County to settle them in."

  Let's finish this battle first, after this battle is over, you can reunite with your family. Ding Fang, you must also work hard to fight, your second brother is now the county magistrate of San Yuan, but you still don't have a title, you can't fall behind young people, do you understand?

  Li Shimin's words made Su Ning and Su Dingfang calm down from their intense emotions, they looked at each other, nodded, and Su Ning spoke up: "General, since the Emperor has already sent an envoy to allow Xie Li to surrender, I think that Xie Li must be unguarded in Yinshan. We only need to follow the strategy of attacking Dingxiang, launch a surprise attack on Yinshan at night, and we will surely defeat the Yinshan Tujue army, capture or kill Xie Li, and completely destroy his power!"

  Li Jing and Li Shi Ji nodded one after another. Li Jing said: "This plan is excellent, can the other generals have any different opinions?"

  The generals looked at each other, none of them spoke, so Li Jing opened his mouth and said: "Then who is willing to be the vanguard?"

  Su Dingfang immediately knelt down on one knee and said: "General! I request to be the vanguard!"

  Many generals were also eager to take the vanguard, but perhaps because they worried about the consequences being difficult to bear, and also because the other side had just reunited with their loved ones, it was not a good time to add insult to injury or sell personal feelings. There are many people in the world who like to add flowers to brocade, and the military is no exception. As a result, the rare thing happened that those greedy and ferocious generals in the army did not express any dissenting opinions, and so this matter was settled.

  "Alright! Since that's the case, I command! Tomorrow at dawn, we'll break camp and set out. Su Dingfang will lead 500 cavalrymen as vanguard to open the way, and the entire army will advance on Yin Mountain! We'll defeat the Tujue!" Li Jing waved his hand grandly, revealing his overbearing manner.