They all say that they are full of warmth, but this is only for individuals, when they really want to put it in a like-minded group, or even a regime, they have to do more things after they are full of warmth, and this is the situation in Jiangnan today.

Whether it is Song Jiang and other old people of Liangshanbo, or people on the fringes of the court like Tong Mu, they all have their own ideals and ambitions, and the wealth and many people in the south of the Yangtze River have become a good platform for them to follow the path guided by Sun Tu to realize their lofty ambitions.

And the results of this action are also obvious, the people of Jiangnan live and work in peace and contentment, the official warehouses are constantly filled, and the number of people who join the army is also increasing, and now, the number of Jiangnan troops has reached an astonishing 200,000 - and these 200,000 horses are not comparable to the rabble-like army that is generally seen in the Great Song Dynasty, but an army that can really fight on the battlefield. Maybe they can't compare to the original Shandong Army Qingzhou Army, but what is worse is only battlefield experience.

What made Sun Tu even more pleased was that Tong Mu and the others followed the path he pointed out, constantly developing new gunpowder firearms, and made great progress on the original basis. Just by hearing the names of those new firearms, you can tell that they are very powerful—mines, firebolts, thunderbolts...... It can be said that after using the newly developed gunpowder, each of them has exceeded the power of the original destruction bullets, and although it cannot be completely popularized, it can already increase the combat power of the entire Jiangnan army by three or five percent.

"By the way, General, this is a thunderbolt used in a bow and arrow, and Brother Gongming specially prepared five for me when I came." Hua Rong said, and took out a thumb-thick, cylindrical porcelain vase from the package he was carrying and handed it to Sun Tu.

Sun Tu naturally took it with great interest, and while looking up and down, he also weighed the weight. I found that this thing was indeed much lighter than the original bullet, and it could be loaded on the arrow, but it had little effect on the flight of the arrow, and my eyes lit up: "This thing has some ideas, but who made it?" ”

"It was thought out by the Ling Zhen brothers and a few craftsmen. Not only did they improve the gunpowder, so that it could still burst out with great strength when it was filled with less gunpowder, but they also burned the outer shell thinner, not much thicker than the eggshell, and filled it with a lot of iron sand and other materials, which caused amazing damage. The only downside is that each thunderbolt is extremely expensive to build, and it is slow to build, with a maximum of a few hundred at a time. ”

Sun Tu nodded, he knew very well that this drawback would be difficult to solve before the handicraft industry was replaced by machines, and with the current level of science and technology in the Great Song Dynasty, it was impossible to solve this problem perfectly at least in a short period of time. It's just that these successes are enough to make him feel excited and satisfied, and he immediately smiled and said: "You guys have done a good job, by the way, how many soldiers and horses are there in the army that was ordered to come north this time, and who will lead it?" Do you know these things? ”

Luda immediately smiled and said: "General rest assured, although the Sprinkle family and others have left Jiangnan, the connection with that side has not been broken." Because the general also arrived in the north, we naturally did not dare to make any more excuses, but Brother Tong also made arrangements, only sent 40,000 veterans plus 30,000 new soldiers to the north together, with their speed, in May, they can also reach the vicinity of Yanmen Pass, and in half a month, they should be able to reach the front line camp. As for the people who led the troops, in addition to Dong Dujian, there were also Lin Chong brothers and others, Song Gongming and Wu Jialiang were also in the team that went north this time. By the way, I heard that Yue Pengju was also trying to come, leaving only Brother Tong and some others to stay in Jiangnan. ”

Sun Tu laughed: "Tong Mu's hand is quite calm, which not only retains our absolute control over Jiangnan, but also reassures the imperial court a little." If we really pull out the 200,000 troops, I think those people in the court will have trouble sleeping. ”

These words immediately caused another burst of laughter from everyone. At this time, everyone's mood is quite relaxed, after all, the strong enemy has been eliminated, and they have found their own general, and they have the backbone, and they are not afraid of any difficulties in the future. However, after laughing for a while, Wu Song still hesitated: "General, there is something I wait for but I don't know whether to say it or not......

"Is there anything we brothers can't say clearly?" Sun Tu waved his hand disappreciatively.

"Although everything in Jiangnan is thriving and developing rapidly, there are always some different sayings among our brothers. The former's brother Gongming once mentioned it seemingly casually when he invited me to dinner, saying that what the general and I did did not seem to be loyal to the imperial court, but it looked like they had a bad heart of self-reliance, and he hoped to change. Wu Song said with a little uneasiness on his face.

"Is that so?" The first to react was not Sun Tu, but Luda, who saw him glaring at his two big eyes suddenly: "What does he Song Gongming want to do?" Will we return the foundation that our brothers have worked so hard to build to those unscrupulous and traitorous ministers? ”

This question made Hua Rong's face embarrassed, after all, he had always respected Song Jiang. Of course, now his attitude towards Sun Tu is the same, and after the battles and getting along at the beginning, he also deeply admires Sun Tu's personality and ability. Sun Tu, on the other hand, squinted his eyes slightly, and nodded at Wu Song with satisfaction: "Second brother, don't worry too much, I have already seen that Song Gongming has always been foolish and loyal to the imperial court, so there are some things that he can't see as much as us." But I always have a way to deal with it. ”

Sun Tu was still a little surprised by Wu Song's revelation. Because he knows very well that the relationship between Wu Song and Song Jiang is not shallow, and he is the most upright, and being able to do this shows that he is completely on his side between the two. Of course, this may also be related to Wu Song's disappointment in the Great Song Dynasty because of his original experience, and he Wu Song was the first to jump out against Liangshan Zhao'an in the story, and in the end, he flattened Fang La, and he did not return to the court with everyone to receive rewards, but ended up with a good death.

But after all, these are things in the future, at this time, the enemy is current, and it is not time to clean up the inside, so Sun Tu did not dwell on this issue more, and quickly changed the topic: "Although the number of seventy or eighty thousand soldiers and horses is not small, but if it is really put on the frontal battlefield of this battle between the two countries, it may not be able to affect the overall battle situation. As he spoke, he explained the comparison of the strength of the two sides after the current Song-Liao War: "The vitality of the Western Army is greatly damaged, relying only on the Northern Army and the Xiang Army from all over the country, even if we add the soldiers and horses in the south of the Yangtze River, it is impossible to really forcibly defeat the enemy, and then attack the city and take Youzhou." "Are the Liao people really so powerful?" Several of his subordinates frowned.

"It should be more terrifying than we thought, not to mention, to the north of it, there are still Jin Jurchens who can kill the Liao army without any power to fight back." Sun Tu said with a solemn expression: "So I think the key is not in the frontal battlefield, but in the neglected corner of the Zhuozhou line." If you can't contact my Jiangnan army, it's fine, but since you have a way to contact them, it's time to change your tactics. In this way, I sent people back to the south and conveyed my military order to Dong Ping and them, so that they would not go north directly after leaving Yanmen Pass, but would go to Zhuozhou to see if they could have the effect of a surprise army. ”

Originally, there were not many chips in his hand, and Sun Tu didn't have many ideas. But now, once he found out that the army that truly belonged to him was coming, his heart, which was not very peaceful and accustomed to the sword going sideways, began to have other ideas.

Since the Liao army could appear behind the Song army through the route from Zhuozhou, they could naturally do the same thing. Of course, the most critical point now is to be able to control Zhuozhou in your own hands, that is, to take Guo Pharmacist!

All the planning plans have all fallen on Zhuozhou and his party at this moment, which makes Sun Tu not only feel that the burden on his shoulders is heavier, but also excited. Obviously, compared to the previous decent battle between the two armies, he is more accustomed to the more changeable and freer tricks in front of him!

After suppressing the strange throbbing in his heart, Sun Tucai made the final arrangement: "In this way, let's rest for half a day, and then divide the troops into two ways." On the one hand, he sent a few people to turn back and go south, find our Jiangnan soldiers and horses, and let them rush to Zhuozhou at that time, while others went straight to Zhuozhou. No matter what means I use this time, I will let Guo Yaoshi and his subordinate army become a force for my Great Song Dynasty! ”

"Whoa!" The subordinates also felt Sun Tuzhi's inevitable emotion, and immediately all of them stood up solemnly and saluted. This scene fell in the eyes of Fan Qi and the others, and they felt a strong fighting spirit that they had never seen in the forbidden army before, which made them not feel excited.

After a short rest in the same place, half a day later, Sun Tu and they set off again. And this time, his team has expanded several times compared to before, and his momentum is much stronger than before.

It took them another day or two to cross the White Horse Mountain, and then marched all the way along the barren official road, and finally arrived at their destination, Zhuozhou, before dark on the fifth day of the fourth month.

It's just that when they came to this long-known northern city, Sun Tu and they were still shocked by the withering scene in front of them - under the light of the setting sun, the whole city looked lifeless, the city gates were closed, and there was no one nearby, if it weren't for the flags fluttering above the city and some soldiers guarding it, everyone would think that this was an empty city.

Looking at it this way, it is also understandable why all the villages and towns are deserted along the way, obviously after Guo Yaoshi led the troops into chaos, the southern Xinjiang of Liao, which is not very populous, has become a ghost domain. And in the final analysis, the culprit of all this can only fall on Pharmacist Guo and his subordinates.

Speaking of which, what kind of character is this Pharmacist Guo?