The Qin soldiers in Lintao and Yanxian all left without a fight, and it was said that they were two cities for nothing, but Xin Er was not happy.

While passing the order, the troops were temporarily resting in Yanxian County, and Xin Er sent scouts to Xiangwu to investigate.

The scouts were all three horses, and they traveled very fast, leaving in the morning and returning late in the evening.

Back in the army, several scouts urgently reported to Xin Er: "On the way from here to Xiangwu, there are traces left by the march of the Qin soldiers, ask the residents along the way, and someone heard the sound of soldiers and horses passing by last night." Outside Xiangwu County, where the villain waited, looking at it from afar, the military flags on the city are numerous, the fighting is strict, looking at its banner, Yao Tao's general flag and Lu Ming's general flag are side by side, but they are all at the head of the city. ”

sent the scouts down, and Xin Er consulted with Kojiqiu, Tang Ai, Guo Daoqing, Zhao Xing and others.

Guo Daoqing said: "In this way, Yao Taoguo has withdrawn to Xiangwu. He frowned and said, "There are three or four thousand people in Yao Tao's department, and Lu Ming's department is about the same number, and it may even be more than the number of soldiers in Yao Tao's department, and the combined number of its two troops is about nearly 10,000; And there are only more than 10,000 soldiers in our department! Even if the Qin soldiers in Shouyang are currently restrained by Cao Lingjun and General Tian, they can't come to help Xiangwu, but with more than 10,000 of them, they will attack Xiangwu with nearly 10,000 people guarding the palace, Ming Gong, this battle will be very difficult to fight! ”

Yao Tao's abandonment of the city was not defended, to be honest, it was really a big surprise to Xin Er.

In Xin's mind, the Lintao guards did not dare to defend the city because of the small number of soldiers, which is understandable, but that Yao Tao has 4,000 soldiers, there is a city outside, and there is Lu Ming of Xiangwu not far to the north as his backup. In addition, Yao Tao is a general, and his younger brother Yao Jin defected to Wei because of the Zhongjin knife plan, it stands to reason that he should now be in great need to express his loyalty to Pu Mao, from this point of view, he should not avoid the war and abandon the city, smear oil on the soles of his feet, and slip away.

If he doesn't run, Xin Er has two plans that can be used depending on the situation.

One plan is to surround Yan County, lure Xiangwu to rescue, set up an ambush halfway, and give Lu Ming a siege to send reinforcements.

A plan is that if Lu Ming does not come to help, he will storm Yan County, and strive to defeat Yan County in a short period of time,—— Yao Taofei is the descendant of Qin, in the words of later generations, his people and his subordinates are miscellaneous cards, just like Zhao Xing and his subordinates, the will to fight will not be particularly tenacious, with the generals of Xin Er and Koji Qiu and the elite combat power of Dingxi led by Xin Er, it should not be difficult to conquer Yan County, and then join forces with Cao Fei and Tian Ju, or fight Shouyang, or fight Xiangwu. In a nutshell, this plan can be called "individual breakdowns".

But on the contrary, Yao Tao actually led the troops and ran away.

That way, things won't be easy.

As Guo Daoqing said, the two cities, if you add Lintao, that is, the Qin soldiers of the three cities have shrunk to one city, counting their soldiers and horses, nearly 10,000 people, and the total number of troops is more than 10,000, "ten rules to surround it", the teaching of the art of war, and at the moment, don't say ten times, two times nothing, the troops that can be used to siege the city are only equivalent to the number of enemy troops defending the city, how can this launch a siege battle?

Xin Er was helpless, asked Koji Qiu and Tang Ai, and said, "Do you have any countermeasures?" ”

Tang Ai said: "The soldiers and horses of our department are almost the same as the soldiers and horses of Xiangwu defending the city, and if we attack the city, it will obviously be very unfavorable to our department, and it is very likely that we will not be able to attack it for a long time." There is only one way to do this. ”

Xin Er said: "Qianli, what do you mean? ”

"The only way to win in the field is to find a way to win."

Guo Daoqing said: "Lu Ming and Yao Tao have a city to rely on, will they be willing to go out of the city to fight with our department?" ”

Tang Ai replied: "That's why I said, 'find a way' to win the field battle." ”

Guo Daoqing asked, "Where does the law come from?" ”

Tang Ai said: "'If you can, you can't, and you can't, and you can't show what you can'. There is no other way but to show weakness and arrogance. ”

Guo Daoqing said: "In the past, Lu Ming and Yao Tao were able to block Cao Lingjun and General Tian's headquarters between the two mountains, and they were not allowed to advance an inch, which shows that the two of them are not mediocre generals, but resourceful. Even if my department is 'showing weakness', if they are not fooled, what can they do? ”

Tang Ai said: "If they are not fooled, then there is only a strategy to use." ”

Guo Daoqing asked, "What's the next step?" ”

Tang Ai said: "I can only join forces with Cao Lingjun and General Tian first to attack Shouyang." ”

Why is it said that attacking Shouyang first is the next policy? But it was said, since in Xiner's original plan, one of them was "besieging the city and sending reinforcements", so why not use this plan in Shouyang? Besieging Shouyang, in order to lure reinforcements from Lu Ming and Yao Tao, and ambushing them halfway, isn't this also a "siege and reinforcements"?

The reason is very simple, when encircling Yao Tao and luring Lu Ming, Lu Ming can send at most 2,000 reinforcements, and 2,000 enemy soldiers are easier to ambush and annihilate, but now after Yao Tao and Lu Ming join forces, there are nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses in Xiangwu County, so the reinforcements they can send can at least five or six thousand people, if they put on a decisive battle posture and pour out of the city, it will be seven or eight thousand people. For example, with a large number of reinforcements, not only is it difficult to set up an ambush and annihilate them, but if one is not good, it will also put Xin Er and Cao Fei in the danger of being flanked.

Therefore, this method is a "next policy".

Xin Er pondered for a long time, asked Koji Qiu, and said, "Mingzong, what do you think?" ”

Koji Qiu smiled: "I think Lu Ming and Yao Tao will definitely be 'fooled'." ”

It must be "fooled", that is, it should be out of the city to fight.

Xin Er asked, "Oh? What do you mean by that? ”

Kojiqiu sat on his knees straight and said with a smile: "Actually, it can't be said to be 'fooled'." Qiu dared to ask Ming Gong, if Ming Gong was in the position of Lu Ming and Yao Tao, not only were the soldiers and horses in his hands not much less than the enemy army that came to attack, but also there was a strong city to rely on, then in the face of the enemy, how would the Ming Guild choose? Is it simply to defend the city, or to try the field battle first? ”

Xin Er understood what Koji Qiu meant, didn't answer him, asked with a smile, and said, "Mingzong, if it were you, how would you choose?" ”

Koji Qiu said: "There is a strong city to follow, even if you go out of the city and lose the battle, you can withdraw to the city and defend it calmly,...... Especially when there are enemies, there are also famous ministers and commanders of the enemy country! ”

Guo Daoqing is the former official of the Koji family, he has been from Koji Shuang for a long time, and he is also very familiar with Koji Qiu, he usually sees each other, and has great respect for Koji Qiu, but when it comes to military and war events, he can insist on his own opinion, and still express his doubts from the point of view of appropriate talent, saying: "What the general said is very true, but the question is, Lu Ming and Yao Tao are not mediocre generals, will they be dizzy when they see profit?" ”

Koji Qiu smiled: "Zishan, it is precisely because Lu Ming and Yao Tao are not mediocre generals that I assert that they will dare to go out of the city!" ”

Guo Daoqing was puzzled and asked, "How can the general say this?" ”

Koji Qiu replied: "If they are mediocre generals, then they may not dare to go out of the city to fight because they are afraid of the prestige of the Ming Gong; But they are not mediocre generals, so they must be quite confident in themselves, and they are confident, don't they dare to go out of the city to fight with our troops? ”

Xin Er sighed: "I will only arrange troops, just lay generals; can know people's hearts, and only by setting the law of war and defense can he be a famous general. If the Ming Sect is a person, the name will also be! After listening to Kojiqiu's analysis, Xin Er's heart calmed down, and he was no longer worried about how Lu Ming and Yao Tao would deal with it if they stuck to the city.

The next day, the troops were sent to fight.

When he arrived at the city, he set up camp on the same day.

The next day, Xin Er ordered the marksman to shoot in the city, and invited Lu Ming and Yao Tao to fight in the field.