The twenty-second day of August in the eleventh year of Chongzhen was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the next day it was the autumn equinox, and the Zhao Ying army, which had transferred to the south, gathered before and after, and was stationed in Dahegang, the north of Zaoyang County, rested for a day. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhao Dangshi specially ordered a lot of vegetables, fruits, fish and meat to be transported from Fanhe City for all the soldiers to enjoy. The battle with Cao Ying is imminent, and the whole camp is not tight but loose, such an abnormal state has to be reminiscent of the tranquility before the rainstorm.

Qin Jinxiao, who was restless all the way, did not feel relieved by this, on the contrary, the delicious fleshy fruits and mellow wine, these delicacies that are difficult to enjoy on weekdays are chewed in the mouth like dry wax. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhao Dangshi invited Xu Hui, Han Gon, Guo Ruke and Qin Qigong to a dinner, and there was no one else. It is reported that Zhao Dangshi actually took advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival dinner to discuss the next combat policy with the front-line officers of the four battalions. What was planned, Qin Jinxiao later tentatively asked Xu Hui and Qin Qigong, but they were secretive.

Whenever he thought of the tragic scene of Fan He's battle against the Ma army outside the camp, Qin Jinxiao couldn't help but gasp. Although he was a well-known cold man in the army, he was actually quite worried about the situation deep down. The quality of the Ma army displayed by returning to the camp made him re-examine the true strength of the first-class strong men who had developed to this day, and realized his previous prejudice against the word "rogue gangster". It can be said with great certainty that such veteran gangsters as Hui Ying, who have nearly a decade of experience, now possess combat qualities far beyond the usual perception of "rogue bandits." From this, it can be seen that Cao Ying, who has always been comparable to returning to the camp, will not be worse in strength no matter how bad it is.

On the day of the autumnal equinox, Zhao Dangshi convened a formal military meeting, and officers of the rank of sentry officer and above were required to attend. The main content of the military conference revolved around the planning of subsequent military operations. "Cao Cao" Luo Rucai is known for his cunning, and his shrewdness and fickleness can be seen from the fact that he has repeatedly evaded the encirclement and suppression of the heavy troops of the official army in the past few years. At the beginning, Pang Jinming, who was in charge of sentry and infiltration of Cao Ying's strategic intelligence, used the map to guide Cao Ying one by one and introduce the current military deployment of Cao Ying. As expected, Zhao Ying's march had already attracted Cao Ying's attention.

Zaoyang County is adjacent to the Shahe River in the east, this river is the upstream section of the Tangbai River tributary Rolling River, meanders from the north to the south, turns through the Zaoyang County Town and goes westward, although there are some sections of the river silt is very thick, but most of the river is wide and deep.

On the whole, Cao Ying's deployment this time is also leaning on the Shahe River in the east, showing a long and narrow shape in a north-south direction. At the northernmost end of Qianzhuang Village, there are 500 people from Kong Xinda and 1,500 people from Bai Yunsheng Bai Jiali, both of whom have followed Cao Ying for a long time, and a total of 2,000 people are outsiders; Six miles to the south, 3,000 brothers from the "Little Qin King" Wang Guangen, "Huaguansuo" Wang Guangtai, and 1,200 people from the "An Shi Wang" Hu Ke and 1,000 people from the "Reincarnated King" were allowed to change to 1,000 people along the Shijia Xiaochong to the first line of Xiaoluozhuang, a total of 5,200 people were the middle line; Three miles further south, 2,000 people from Chang Guoan, the "King of Heaven", and 1,500 people from Liu Xiyao, the "King of the World", sat in Fangyuan, with a total of 3,500 people as the inner line; Four miles to the east from Fangyuan, across a section of the Shahe River with thick silt, you can go to Tianjiayao, where 1,500 people of Yang Youxian, the "Broken Mountain Tiger", are stationed as the right wing; Guozhuang, five miles west of Fangyuan, has 1,800 people from Wang Guoning, the "King of Xingshi", as the left wing; Maozi Chong, seven miles south of Fangyuan, is the location of the general system of various departments, Luo Rucai's nephew Wang Long, Li Rugui, Yang Chengen, Yang Jinshan, and Wang Kehuai, and the two thousand horse military supervisors of Cao Ying's old descendants are postponed. Luo Rucai himself, Zhao Yingyuan, the leader of the old battalion, and Zhu Yangmin, the general of the old battalion, guarded the old capital in Zaoyang County with 5,000 foot soldiers and 1,000 horse troops, and did not directly participate in the battle against the Zhao battalion.

The outer, central, and inner lines, as well as the left and right flanks, were added to the old Ma army, not counting the Cao battalion soldiers and horses sitting in the county seat, and the Cao battalion had to face a total of 16,000 troops in the field battle of the Zhao battalion, which was only 3,000 horses. With this contrast pressed on their hearts, it was reasonable for Qin Jinxiao and others, who had seen the combat effectiveness of the return camp in the north before, to feel cramped and uneasy. What made them even less confident was the slogan of "expelling Cao thief, restoring Zaoyang, and taking revenge" put forward by Zhao Dangshi in this battle. To be honest, the field battle may not be a sure victory, and it is difficult to overcome the heavily defended and unusually strong Zaoyang County. Many Zhao Ying generals, including Qin Jinxiao, felt that it was quite unrealistic.

"Cao thief's layout is based on the outer, middle, and inner lines, and the left and right flanks are the countermeasures, consuming our army layer by layer." Zhao Dangshi said to the generals who were discussing after Pang Jinming introduced the layout of Cao Ying's field battle, "Kong and Bai are not famous, but I have had contact with them in Shaanxi in the past. His gaze turned to the bottom of the map, "The Shi family rushed to Xiaoluozhuang, Cao Thief's troops spread out from east to west, Wang Guangen's brothers have always been brave, and Hu and Xu cooperated, and their intention must be to give my battalion a head-on blow." ”

Han Gon echoed at this time: "What the lord said is true. They have more than 5,000 soldiers and horses in this area, which shows that they attach great importance to it. Wang Guangen's reputation for being good at fighting is outside, and it is not easy to be with him. Outside the city of Chungling, Zhao Ying fought with the brothers Wang Guangen and Wang Guangtai, and Han Gon found that his troops were quite methodical and very different from the vast majority of the rogues who fought indiscriminately. Thinking that Luo Rucai also took a fancy to Wang Guangen's ability to lead the troops, so he made this arrangement.

Zhao Dangshi nodded and continued: "The focus of Cao Thief's deployment is obvious, and the Anpai is behind the outside line. There is Wang Guangen in the middle line, and Chang Guoan and Liu Xiyao in the inner line are also difficult bones to gnaw. It can be seen from this that the more than 5,000 thieves in the middle line and the 3,500 thieves in the inner line should be the main force of this battle Cao thief. "Chang Guoan is Zhao Ying's old opponent. When he first entered Sichuan, Guo Ruke had suffered from him, and now that he thinks about it, he can't help but reach out and touch the arrow wound between his neck that has long healed. Although Liu Xiyao said that he had little intersection with Zhao Ying before, in terms of strength and status, he was not under Lin Yang. Lin Yangsheng, as one of the cores of Li Zicheng's ambush of Cao Wenzhao back then, is obvious to all, and Liu Xiyao, who is equally famous, is not a parallel import.

Xu Hui added: "The main battle on the middle line, the inside line waiting for reinforcements, the left and right flanks not only have the responsibility of protection, but also can reinforce the battlefield at any time or even insert into the rear of our army, each with its own division of labor." Further, "The left-wing Wang Guoning, first for the Henan Tukou, although he is not from Shaanxi, he has the trust of Luo Rucai, and he must not be taken lightly; The right-wing Yang Youxian has emerged in recent years, and the background is not clear, but in a short period of time, he has climbed to his current status, and there must be two brushes. ”

Han Gon followed and said: "In addition to the outer, middle, and inner lines, as well as the left and right wings, what is even more worrying is the Cao Ying's horse army of Maozi Chong. He turned around and greeted Zhao Chenglin, "Chenglin, you can briefly talk about the situation of Cao Ying's horse army." ”

The eyes of the senior generals in the tent came together, and Zhao Chenglin's face turned red. Before temporarily taking over the position of the incorruptible sentinel, his rank was not high, and he basically did not participate in high-level military discussions with Zhao Dangshi present. The title of sentry currently being held is not an official appointment issued by the battalion. He bowed his head slightly, stood at the end and quietly listened to everyone's discussions, but he was suddenly put forward and became the focus of the audience, and he was a little apprehensive.

Han Gon saw his embarrassment, and said: "Chenglin has been going back and forth to the suburbs of Zaoyang County and Pozi Temple in the past few days, and has collected a lot of military information about Cao thieves. No one here knows the situation better than he does. ”

Zhao Dangshi also said: "Chenglin, but it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

Zhao Chenglin was already confident, and was encouraged by Han Gon and Zhao Dangshi successively, and after boldly raising his voice and saying "yes", he stepped out of the ranks and said in a loud voice: "The last general has fought with the Cao thief horse army no less than 20 times since the beginning of Lingling City. He has not fought with Ma Guangchun, but from the battle examples and multi-faceted analysis of the battle of Fan Hecheng, it is basically certain that regardless of the number of combat capabilities, the Feijie Battalion Horse Army under the command of Gao Yingxiang, the "Old Chuang King", is undoubtedly the strongest, and the Huiying Horse Army, which has been polished for many years and has been led by Ma Guangchun, is the second, and the Cao Ying Horse Army is the weakest. However, the difference between strength and weakness here is only relative, compared to other rogue miscellaneous units, the strength of Cao Ying's horse army is still much higher, "If there is a decisive battle in the wilderness, our army's five hundred cavalry can at least contain Cao Thief's fifteen hundred cavalry." "Swallowing and spitting," Cao Ying has 2,000 horse troops stationed in Maozichong, and he only said that the plain is right, and my battalion doesn't have to scare him! As he spoke, he stood with his head held high, as if he was confident in the strength of his own battalion. The Cao Ying Horse Army lacked both the traditional qualities of the Huiying Horse Army from the northwest, and the sophisticated equipment like the Zhao Ying Horse Army. The fact that the level of its various skills and equipment is uneven can be said to be one of the root causes of the difficulty in forming a fixed and powerful combat force of the Cao Ying Horse Army.

Zhao Dangshi patted his hands and said: "It's so good, knowing yourself and knowing that you can't be defeated in a hundred battles." He smiled and nodded at Zhao Chenglin to show encouragement.

After Zhao Chenglin finished speaking, he retreated with interest. Zhao Dangshi continued: "Luo Rucai is self-defending, keeping his wife and children on the hot kang, and there is a chance that he will not fight. Even if it does, it will not be beneficial to the overall situation, and may even cause confusion in command and mistakes in deployment. Therefore, the number one enemy of our army is one point on the three fronts and two wings. He said with a smile, "Our army is 3,000, and Cao thieves are 16,000, what do you think should be done in this battle?" ”

The generals discussed in private, and Qin Jinxiao said in a voice: "Lord, my subordinates think that this battle should not be fought. ”

As soon as the words came out, the tent was instantly silent. Among the generals attending the meeting, there were not a few who had doubts about this battle, but it has become a fact that Zhao Dangshi gathered his army and went south, and then Mingjin withdrew his troops to the ground, which would surely discredit Zhao Dangshi. Therefore, most of the generals of the army are worried that the next battle will not be good, and no one dares to question the fundamentals of this battle directly like Qin Jinxiao.

What kind of person is Qin Jinxiao, Zhao Dangshi's heart is clear, this human nature is like fire, although his speech is sharp and sharp, but he is rarely selfish, and most of the starting points are in official affairs. It is precisely because of this understanding that even though Qin Jinxiao's words are sometimes harsh, Zhao Dangshi has never felt unhappy because of this.

"What do you think?"

Qin Jinxiao said: "Although the Cao thief is a rogue, he is not comparable to the stick thieves in Sichuan and the Tukou in Henan. Now they have more than three times the strength of our army, and they are guarding the key points and supporting each other. If our army forcibly rushes into battle, even if it can win, the losses will be great. Besides, the Cao thief can still sit and defend the fortified city in the end, and our army will go down to the city again with a strong crossbow, which is really ...... It's really hard to be strong! With that, I sighed twice. What he said was an objective fact, no matter how brave Zhao Ying was, his strength was limited after all, and he had only escaped from the fierce fighting in the north, and was in the recovery stage, and it was not wise to jump into the next tough battle without stopping.

Wei Shanhong had a good relationship with him, and was afraid that he would be isolated, so as soon as his voice fell, he also stood up and said, "Qin Sentinel Office...... What you say is not without reason...... Reason. The northern and northern thieves have been appeased, and our army is not in danger for the time being, so it is best to take the opportunity to recuperate...... Interest, and then figure out! ”

Zhao Dangshi asked, "Picture again?" ”

Qin Jinxiao took over and said, "Exactly." Although the Cao thief is entrenched in Zaoyang County, he actually has no influence on the area around Fanhe City in our camp. Once the camp is defeated, the initiative falls into the hands of our army, and our army can attack and retreat, so there is no need to be in a hurry. After thinking about it, he said, "There are many Cao thieves, and there are pros and cons. Our army wants to fight a quick battle, and it is in its arms, on the contrary, if it is defended and not fought, when its food is exhausted, it will be able to collect Zaoyang County in the pocket with a snap of your fingers! ”

Zhao Dangshi and Xu Hui glanced at each other and replied: "Dunyuan's words are not bad, but ......" did not speak, which was meaningful.

Xu Hui said: "However, Officer Qin seems to have forgotten what the purpose of our battalion's battle is. ”

Qin Jin Xiao was stunned and said, "I forgot my purpose? ”

Xu Hui said solemnly: "Expelle the Cao thief, restore Zaoyang, and take revenge." Qin Sentinel is like this, Zaoyang can be restored, but the word 'expulsion' is embarrassed to say it, right? Not to mention 'avenging' for the sacrificed He and Lin in charge. ”

Qin Jinxiao's face turned red, and he said hurriedly: "Marching and fighting is not a child's house wine, how can a word be the same as the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers?" ”

Xu Hui said with a straight face: "There is no joke in the army. Our army's slogans have been widely circulated, but they have shrunk in the face of war, where is the faith? If I am not right, what qualifications do I have to ask others to be loyal to me from now on? ”

"These are two different things!" Qin Jinxiao raised his eyebrows angrily, even if he was on Xu Hui, he would not back down.

"Calm down, you two." Zhao Dangshi interrupted the argument and said with a sigh, "'Expelling the Cao thief, restoring Zaoyang, and taking revenge' is the purpose of our battalion's battle, but it still plays a role in publicizing it to the outside world. We will do things in the future, and we must divide them into two, not only looking at the watch, but also looking at the inside. ”

When Xu Hui and Qin Jinxiao heard this, they both suppressed their anger and stood silently.

Zhao Dangshi said solemnly: "The thief is in the north, the thief is in the south, and he is wandering in the north of Chu, all of which are the first-class rivals of my camp." Our battalion must develop steadily, and these two must not be tolerated. Now that the thief vanguard has been extinguished, the old base camp is trapped in Tang County, and it will be difficult to do anything for a while, so you can put it aside for a while. However, Cao Thief was not restrained by other officials and troops, and acted recklessly and recklessly, disturbing the southern part of Zaoyang, which was really a big trouble. If it is not removed and allowed to spread in Zaoyang County and its surroundings, our camp will never have peace in the future, and the situation in northern Chu will also be turbulent and unpredictable. Therefore, I mean that this battle is similar to the battle of Van River City, with no advance or retreat. Expelling the Cao thief, slogan ear, not giving the Cao thief a serious injury to his vitality, is not beneficial to the overall situation and our army! His meaning is already very clear: what is not said in this battle must be fought, not only to fight, but also to achieve great results.

Although Qin Jinxiao and other generals in the tent had their own emotions and complicated thoughts, under Zhao Dangshi's strong words, the pride in their hearts also surged up, and they agreed in unison.