A sergeant lit the fuse of a grenade, and after a moment's pause, threw it into a bunker made of sandbags a dozen paces away, in which a number of scarecrows were installed, and with a loud bang, the scarecrows were thrown out. Liu Xinda, Liu Buwu, Liu Chen, and Teng Jian all walked over and examined the damage caused by the grenade. As far as the eye could see, the sack was torn out of countless small openings, and those broken pieces of iron were deeply embedded in the sandbag, Teng Jian stretched out his hand and touched it for a while before taking out a few pieces of iron.

"The power is huge, the people of the Northern Tang Dynasty are not ghosts!" Tengjian Road.

Liu Xinda nodded: "They can use us now, so naturally they won't make a fool of themselves here." ”

"Twenty taels of silver, and there will be no more in a bang!" Liu Buwu regretted it, but his eyes revealed that it was hot, and so did Liu Chen, and they all looked at Liu Xinda's body.

"A thousand grenades, two thousand fiery bombs. It cost us 400,000 taels of silver. Liu Xinda said: "Li Mi is really black. But for us, it's worth it. Good steel should be used on the blade, Liu Chen, don't think about it. Teng Jian and Buwu each received 300 grenades and 400 fierce fire bombs. The rest, stay in the Chinese army. It can only be used when it is most anxious to open up the situation. ”

"Yes!" Teng Jian and Liu Buwu bowed down to receive the order.

Looking at Liu Chen, who was a little disappointed, Liu Xinda said: "Liu Chen, this time there are a thousand crossbows from the Northern Tang Dynasty, and you lead four hundred to the past, and your troops are more suitable to use this." After all, I can't count on you for such a thing. ”

"Uncle, the crossbow and crossbow arrows of the Tang people are all specially made, and once the crossbow arrows are shot, they are not as good as burning sticks." Liu said.

Teng Jian interjected: "Don't worry, we will definitely be able to supply crossbow arrows." ”

"We can't build it ourselves?" Liu Chen didn't believe it.

"Because someone will sell it to us in a steady stream." Teng Jian glanced at Liu Xinda and said.

Liu Xinda nodded: "Yes, someone will sell it to us in a steady stream." Let's go, go back to our room, and we'll have a good discussion about what to do next. The autumn harvest has basically ended, and all the taxes that should be paid in various places have been paid, and the rents that should be collected have also been collected. Right now is the fattest time of the year for those people, and we can grab a lot of money at this moment. As long as we have money and food, we can keep moving forward. ”

Back in the hall, Liu Xinda opened a map, and several people's heads came together.

"This time we gave up Jiujiang, Qian Wenzhong must not have imagined, not to mention, this is the busiest time of the year, and they can't take care of us for a while, which is our best time. The first step is to take De'an, which will be done in September, and then in October, we will take Gao'an. In November, we are going to enter Yichun. When Qian Wenzhong reacted and sent a large army to intercept us, we immediately turned around and jumped into Hunan. In this way, Qian Wenzhong will not chase after us, and maybe he will rejoice because we have left Jiangxi. ”

Teng Jian nodded and said: "With the reaction speed of the Jiangxi army and the combat effectiveness of the army, it will really take two months to mobilize enough troops to encircle and intercept us, not to mention, Qian Wenzhong's first reaction is that he will gather the army to Hongzhou first, after all, it is his lair, and he will definitely worry that we will smash his lair." As long as they don't think of our true purpose, we'll be able to do it. ”

"Exactly!" Liu Xinda said with a smile: "Our real goal is Xiangtan in Hunan, which is a good place, where do we go for the winter." After several battles in a row, our ordnance and other materials will definitely be greatly lost, and we will need to replenish them, and when we are replenished, we will set off again in the spring of next year. ”

"Ordnance replenishment?" Liu Chen frowned.

"Don't worry, as long as we have the money, we will definitely be able to get it then." Liu Xinda was noncommittal: "Liu Chen, your troops are the first to set off, pretend to be bandits, enter in advance, create chaos, and attract the attention of the opposing army, and then our main force will immediately follow up, and achieve our goal with lightning speed." ”

"Yes!"

"Teng Jian, as the main force of the attack, you will defeat all the enemies in front of us. Buwu, you keep up as a second wave of attacks, firstly, to sweep away the remnants of the enemy in the field of vision, and secondly, to do your best to raise more troops. Liu Chen, when the main force annihilates the enemy's main force, your subordinates will start to sweep the surrounding area, do you understand what I mean? ”

The three of them nodded in unison: "Understood." ”

"Are the rewards of the soldiers ready?" Liu Xinda asked.

"It's all ready. The main force was paid twenty taels of silver per person. Teng Jian said: "The second-line troops are five taels per person. When it's time to pull it out, send it down immediately. The army had already begun to make dry rations, enough for ten days. ”

"Good. Now we want our soldiers to follow us and fight bravely, and there is no other way but to stimulate them with money. Therefore, any officer, including you, dares to withhold a penny for this money, and I will do it by military law. Liu Xinda said sternly: "Tell the officers, take a long-term view, don't be blinded by a little money, as long as we keep moving forward until we completely get rid of the Northern Tang people, then the good days will really come!" If we can't get rid of them, we are dead! ”

"Yes!"

"That's it, you go and get ready. Liu Chen, in three days, your troops will set off. Liu Xinda commanded.

Seeing the three of them leaving, Liu Xinda turned around and entered the inner room, inside, a young man was sitting on the side of the coffee table, holding a book in his hand, and was leisurely reading the book. Seeing Liu Xinda coming in, he stood up with a slight smile, inserted the book back on the shelf, looked at Liu Xinda and said, "General Liu is all ready, when will he leave?" ”

"Three days later, the first troops departed, ten days later! The whole army is open. Liu Xinda sat down. Say, what else do you want? ”

"Of course there is." The young man looked at Liu Xinda with a smile, he was in his early twenties at most, and on the bridge of his nose, a few white pockmarks were extremely conspicuous, looking young, but in front of people like Liu Xinda, he was still calm. "The general now has more than 10,000 people under his command who you brought out from Eyue, we don't care about these people, but the current people in Jiujiang, General Liu can't be swept away."

"I need Minfu!" Liu Xinda was dissatisfied.

"You don't need a minfu!" The young man said coldly: "What you are doing now is to buy time, those bulky ordnance, large quantities of grain and grass, are a drag on you." Moreover, wherever you go, you will grab it, as long as you have money, what are you going to do with these things? ”

"I still have millions of quintals of grain in my warehouse!" Liu Xinda gritted his teeth and said.

"I know. These are left and we need them! The young man said: "Jiujiang has been greatly troubled by you, after we enter, we need to appease the people, we need manpower to rebuild this sore-damaged place, we need food, we need manpower." Of course, we won't ask you for these things in vain, and we will supplement you with the corresponding military resources in the conversion area, and I think you need these things even more. ”

"Once I'm deep in the South, how are you going to replenish me?"

"You're underestimating us!" The young man smiled: "We have our own arrangements, and when the time comes, we can take away everything you robbed, including large items such as food." And the ordnance will be replenished to you in time. Where you enter, there are people you can't move. ”

The young man took out a file from his arms and handed it to the other party: "You can't rob or kill these people." ”

"Is this your nail?" Liu Xinda took the file and asked in a deep voice.

"Why do you knowingly ask?" The young man stood up and said with a smile: "In ten days, our people will take over Jiujiang, and when the time comes, if the things we need are gone, General Liu, you can't afford the consequences." General Li Mi has always hated untrustworthy people the most. ”

Man is a sword, I am a fish.

Liu Xinda has a deeper understanding of this sentence at this moment.

"I understand that all the demands of General Li will be met." Liu Xinda stood up and said, "Our army only took away ten days of military rations and all the floating wealth. I won't leave this money to you, I need to use it to encourage my warriors. ”

"Yes!" The young man nodded and said, "Then I'm here to wish the general a smooth journey and victory in a hundred battles!" ”

The young man was an internal guard sent by Li Mi.

His public identity is that he is a businessman. And he is an unconventional businessman, specializing in some smuggling business. He can get goods that others can't get, and he can pass the checkpoints that others can't pass. Don't look young, but he can be regarded as a famous figure in the Tao.

With only two men, the young man walked on the dead streets of Jiujiang.

In this city, there are soldiers, and there are basically no civilians in sight.

"Where have all the people in this city gone?" A guy asked.

"Where else can I go, either I will go to earn money for Liu Xinda, or I will go to report to Lord Yama." The young man said lightly: "After Liu Xinda entered Jiujiang, all commercial activities were banned, everything was controlled by the military, and all income was owned by the army. As for ordinary people, hehe, give two meals to eat, and it would be good to be alive. ”

Both servants were staggered.

"This, this is too much, this Liu Xinda is a demon! We are now in business with the devil. ”

The young man did not speak, but continued to walk, when suddenly there was a clanging sound in his ears, and he stood in front of the door, and just as the door was opened, and someone came out carrying a box, and through the open door he saw that some craftsmen were busy by the humble fire in the courtyard, and above their ankles there was an iron chain that held them somewhere.

These people were raised by Liu Xinda like dogs to work for him.

The young man's face seemed to be a little whiter, and he was silent for a long time before leaving.