Back in the cave, Chen Hongyi had already boiled wild vegetable corn porridge with everyone, just waiting for Li Xiaofei and Zhu Asan to come back.

Hundreds of people were hungry all morning, and they couldn't help it, and when they saw the two of them entering the cave, Chen Hongyi shouted: "Open the meal!" ”

Suddenly, countless hands squeezed over with helmets: "Make more porridge and give less wild vegetables!" ”

"Wild herbs leave me!"

"Leave me some! Don't finish the fight alone! ”

"Chen Dashuai hasn't eaten yet!"

Everyone was crowded and noisy and looked at Chen Hongyi, Chen Hongyi took off his helmet: "I'll just give me a spoon!" Hurry up and eat, if you don't eat actively, you can't fight! ”

Everyone quickly resumed the scene of you fighting for me, and by the time Li Xiaofei and Zhu Asan had a meal, the cauldron had already bottomed out.

Li Xiaofei and Zhu Asan scraped out the pot at the bottom of the pot and ate it clean, and their faces were covered with black things.

But everyone is not much better, Li Xiaofei took a closer look at everyone, the main force of the Chen family army in the past with bright clothes and armor is now similar to beggars.

Their clothes were tattered and their bodies dirty, and Chen Hongyi repeatedly urged them to wash their faces and hands with rainwater, trying to maintain their military appearance.

Soon it began to rain heavily, and the people were resting together with the horses. This night, Chen Hongyi asked Li Xiaofei to lead the team to guard at the entrance of the cave, and Li Xiaofei led ten people to carry swords and shields at the entrance of the cave to look at the outside of the cave.

The rain kept falling, and soon it was a river outside, and Li Xiaofei began to chat softly with everyone again.

Just as Li Xiaofei was about to give full play to his expertise to get to the bottom of them, a veteran interrupted him: "Xiaofei, it's only been a few years, I forgot that under Liyang City, we followed you to rush into battle?" ”

"Yes, yes, yes, just rush into battle, you guys have such a good memory, even I can't compare to you" Li Xiaofei touched his head embarrassedly

"You are a noble person who forgets things, we are Chen Dashuai who gave a death order, and we must always follow you to protect you! You stupidly rushed forward, and your own men would have fallen behind! ”

Li Xiaofei was reminded like this, and immediately remembered the situation that day, it was true that the troops around him were not the men and horses he brought with him in Liyang, at that time, it was only that there were many people who rushed forward and disrupted the formation, but he didn't know that his subordinates didn't follow at all, "Thanks to my brothers, I owe you everything!" ”

Before Li Xiaofei finished speaking, everyone interrupted him again: "Don't talk about this, you will have a snack in the future, you are also lucky, you met a master like Chen Dashuai, otherwise nine lives are not enough." You are also the one who has led soldiers for a few years, and we see that you still don't know many things about this army! ”

Li Xiaofei smiled embarrassedly: "I'm just relying on everyone to take care of me, and I still have to ask everyone for many things."

The veteran was also not polite: "I'll tell you today, it's not that you don't understand the art of war, but you don't understand people's hearts." In this battle, if thirty percent of the people in the camp died at once, even those like us would run away! Those rabble can carry up to 20% of the people killed! There are people in this world who are not afraid of death, but no one wants to live, and no one wants to die in vain! ”

Li Xiaofei was a little puzzled: "Then why do Chen Dashuai and you always like to rush forward?" Are you not afraid of death? ”

"Hehe, that's because we know that we can win the other side, as long as we kill the group of people they can fight the most, all that's left is to chop melons and vegetables!" The veteran said proudly

Li Xiaofei was a little disapproving: "Isn't this lucky?" Betting right? ”

The veteran touched his nose: "You don't know this, whether you can fight or not, take a look, and you will know if you release the arrow." The movements that can be played are neat, the body is strong, and the changes are not alarmed. can't fight, a few rounds of arrows began to mess up the formation, and most of them are skinny backbones, you see which of us is not a strong man? ”

Li Xiaofei looked at everyone, although there were also thin, but they were also very strong, like Zhu Asan Although he was covered in scars, he had a strong physique and was powerful. The veteran in front of him saw that his arm was the thickness of a bowl, and he knew that this strength was not comparable to ordinary people.

The veteran continued: "We are soldiers just to be well-fed, warmly clothed, and best to feed our families, but in this world, except for the Chen family, there are really not many troops who can eat well, and even we only have one meal a day when we meet now." How can those armies, who can only eat one meal in three days, be our opponents? ”

"So when we meet the well-fed Mobei people, we will retreat? There's no way around it? Li Xiaofei was a little unconvinced, and deliberately took the loss of Hebei as an example.

"It's not impossible to encounter this kind of elite army, it's easy to go around in circles with them, and it will be easy to run out of food and water. In case it doesn't work, there is only a fight, but Chen Dashuai said that the decisive battle of the general is not limited to the battlefield, and how many famous generals and elite soldiers throughout the ages have not died on the battlefield. So let's take a step back and open the sky! ”

Li Xiaofei stared at the veteran for a while: "Amazing, amazing, I can't imagine that a veteran of the Chen family army has such a high opinion!" ”

"Gao Jian can't talk about it, this is what I have heard and seen a lot over the years, especially the fact that the imperial court has done too much to unload the mill and kill donkeys. Our Chen family army has the capital to expand the army, but it has been maintained below 3,000 people, just so as not to be served by the imperial court! The veteran smiled wryly.

"It would be nice if one day we could be unanimous with the outside world!" Li Xiaofei couldn't help but sigh

"We haven't seen that day for half our lives, I hope you can really see it, stop talking, the brothers in the cave still have to sleep" The old soldier waved his hand and stopped talking, and soon the cave was quiet again.

Li Xiaofei thought about his wife and children in Xiangyang City, thought about the next step to go to Jinling, thought about many things, and stayed awake all night.

Outside Xiangyang City, a competition has just begun.

Chen Band with a 1,000-strong army in red armor versus the 6,000 black-clothed cavalry led by Huang Chuanting and Chen Zhengnan, Emperor Liu Jian and his ministers of civil and military affairs watched the contest on a high platform.

Everyone sweated for Chen Kuan.

"General Chen, what's the matter, a thousand against six thousand, how can you lose?"

"In order to fight for a breath and sweep away your own reputation, why is it so painful?"

"You know what, this is a struggle for future military power?"

"This can't be contested, one against six, the opposite side is still cavalry, and they have lost before they fight!"

Chen Kuan stood up with a wooden pole in his hand and shouted: "Lord Huang, can you start the competition?" ”

Huang Chuanting laughed: "Doesn't General Chen set up a defensive formation?" This official can also give you half an hour to set up the formation! ”

Chen Kuan raised the wooden pole upward: "I don't defend, I only attack!" ”

Chen Zhengnan almost choked: "General Chen, your two hundred cavalry, six hundred archers, and two hundred sword soldiers still want to attack?" Haha"

Chen Kuan didn't pay attention to it anymore, put the wooden pole forward, and jumped out: "Rush with me!" ”

Seeing this, Huang Chuanting hurriedly ordered the cavalry on the right flank to surround Chen Kuan, and after shaking the order flag, some went forward and some went backward, and the formation was suddenly chaotic.

"Wrong, wrong, not back!"

"Don't go up all the time! Watch out! ”

Not only was the cavalry on the right flank chaotic, but the cavalry on the left flank waved the flag when they saw it, some people rushed towards Chen Kuan, and some retreated.

As soon as Chen Kuan saw that the opposite side was in a chaotic formation, he immediately waved his wooden pole: "Rush them to the Chinese army!" ”

Two hundred red-clothed cavalry suddenly changed direction and rushed towards Huang Chuanting and Chen Zhengnan, and Huang Chuanting hurriedly waved the command flag again, which was completely chaotic.

"No, no, stop them!"

"It's messy, it's the opposite, it's not blocking your own people!"

The black-clothed cavalry who had attacked before saw the flag waving, so they ran back, and then they ran forward again, and some of them did not move in place and did not know what to do, six thousand men and horses were crowded together, Huang Chuanting and Chen Zhengnan threw the flag and shouted: "Disperse!" Meet the enemy! ”

As soon as the words fell, the black-clothed cavalry beside the two of them dispersed to both sides, and the black-clothed cavalry around saw that the Chinese army was scattered, and they also dispersed, but they did not stop Chen Kuan.

"Come back, come back! Protect the Chinese army! ”

After a few tosses, the six thousand people were already in a mess, and the people on the high platform were already dumbfounded, and Shen Yuanhao even shouted: "Chuanting, Zhengnan retreat!" They rushed over! ”

But it was too late, Chen Kuan and the red-clothed cavalry around him had already surrounded Huang Chuanting and Chen Zhengnan, and the two of them threw away the wooden pole in their hands in frustration: "These cavalrymen are too stupid, too stupid, they are all stupid pigs!" There is no way to command! ”

Seeing that they were not convinced, Chen Kuan pointed behind him: "Two adults, please look!" ”

The two of them looked in the direction of Chen Kuan's finger, Chen Kuan's archers and sword and shield soldiers formed a circle formation and had already killed in front of them, although the black-clothed cavalry around them were numerous, they could never break the formation, and could only watch this circle move towards the Chinese army.

The two of them were barely convinced, and they also beat the gong on the high platform to order both sides to strike their troops!

Liu Jian got up and waved his hand: "Chen Kuan wins!" Do you have any objections? ”

"General Chen is mighty!"

"The Liang army is mighty!"

"The Emperor Shengming!"

"Hooray, hooray, hooray!"

All the troops in the audience lost their weapons and knelt on the ground and shouted long live, Liu Jian looked proud: "The Liang army is mighty, each returns to the base camp, and each has a reward!" ”

Chen Kuan got up and shouted to everyone: "Go back to the camp!" ”

The 7,000 men and horses quickly returned to their main camp under the leadership of the captains of each team and the commanders of each battalion.

Huang Chuanting and Chen Zhengnan were unwilling, so they stepped forward to grab Chen Kuan and asked for advice.

Chen Kuan smiled: "This matter must be explained in detail in front of His Majesty, let's go back to the city!" ”

After returning to the city and arriving at the emperor's residence (that is, the original Han Palace), Liu Jian also wanted to know Chen Kuan's secret, so he summoned Chen Kuan and other ministers to come.

Liu Jian first praised Chen Kuan, and then changed his words: "General Chen can win more with less, I'm afraid there is a secret."

Chen Kuan knelt on the ground and replied: "Don't hide it from Your Majesty, there is indeed a secret"

As soon as these words came out, Shen Yuanhao couldn't wait to speak: "Your Majesty, you really used means!" It's not fair! ”

Liu Jian waved his hand: "Shang Shuling, don't rush to conclusions, I want to see how General Chen explains!" ”

Chen Kuan smiled: "Your Majesty, Shang Shuling." The secret below is that the 1,000 people I brought with me all knew me, and they would do whatever I said, while the 6,000 people brought by Lord Huang were just put together temporarily, and they didn't know each other, and some of them didn't even know what the purpose of today was. As long as the ministers take the cavalry around in a circle, they will be in disarray, and if they really go to the battlefield, these 6,000 people will be scattered! ”

After all, Liu Jian had fought with Chen Hongyi and understood the truth, so he motioned for Chen Kuan to get up: "What General Chen said, I understand, but Lord Huang's ideas are not completely without merit, what does General Chen think?" ”

Chen Kuan was so smart that he knew that Liu Jian was also afraid that the Chen family's army would be dominant and that there would be no one to control it in the future, so he replied: "Your Majesty is wise, and the people of the Eastern Expedition are still in the military system." Xiangyang wants to guard against the Mobei people, so Lord Huang and they will be trained according to the new military system for one year or two years, and after a long time, they will naturally be invincible! ”

Judging Yuanhao, they didn't expect Chen Kuan to regress, and they were overjoyed: "General Chen is not only not arrogant, but also can think for the country for a long time, he is really a pillar of the country."

"It seems that the academy still has to ask General Chen to teach the strategy of warfare, defense, attack and defense."

"Please also ask General Chen to give advice!"

Chen Kuan smiled slightly: "Don't dare to be arrogant, you are all for the country's plan, we don't have to divide each other, but it is enough to listen to the emperor's orders!" ”

Liu Jian also smiled: "General Chen, I really didn't expect it, I didn't expect that the hussar general was not only invincible in his own art of war, but also the person he brought out was also a masterpiece among the people." It seems that the hope of the Great Beam of the Prosperity of the Emperor lies all in you! ”

Chen Kuan knelt down again: "Your Majesty, Chen Dashuai is old, and the Chen family army still has to rely on His Majesty's personal leadership and protection!" ”

Liu Jian's face sank: "I haven't heard from Master for so long, I'm very worried, General Chen, as soon as there is news, I have to report it to me immediately!" By the way, after you arrive in Suizhou, you have to send some competent people to investigate, the pillar stone of the girder! My mentor can't afford to slip up! ”