On the chamber of the Inspection Division.

Lin Fan retracted his gaze and looked up from the battle reports on the table.

He looked at the people below who were called to the meeting by him: "Let's talk about the current situation, what do you all think and think?" ”

Chen Fangshu picked up a newspaper that had fallen to the ground, inadvertently glanced at the news on it, and then put it back on the desktop in front of Lin Fan.

Only then did he say: "Judging from the recent news, Zhang Feng'er started an incident in early April, and took advantage of the chaos to take Luoshan County that night, and then opened a warehouse to release grain, gather displaced people, and recruit troops. This road has won consecutive battles, and the officers and troops everywhere cannot stop it. It's only been more than a month, and even the two state cities of Keshen Prefecture and Anzhou, it can be seen that this person is not simple! ”

Regarding Chen Fangshu's words, An Ning was a little noncommittal, and he sneered: "It's not so much how capable Zhang Feng'er is, it's better to say that those officials are too incompetent!" ”

"When Zhang Feng'er first started the incident, his subordinates were just some hooligans and ruffians, even if they later coerced some homeless people, but before he occupied Shenzhou, there were only 2,000 people who could fight, and they didn't even have decent weapons in their hands, only some sickles and hoes."

"And what about Shenzhou City? The city defense was complete, and the number of defenders far exceeded that of the thief army, but they only defended the city for less than three days before losing the city, and even Zhizhou was beheaded by the thieves. ”

"Our Anzhou governor is even more unbearable, it is really shameful to leave behind the soldiers and civilians in the city and abandon the city and flee."

Lin Fan shook his head and said, "An Ning shouldn't be like this, let alone be careless." Huainan Province is different from Liaodong and other border places, from the founding of the dynasty to the present hundred years has not had a major war, and slackening of armaments is inevitable. ”

"And this time the incident happened suddenly, and it would seem so embarrassing when I was caught off guard. In other words, we may not be able to do better than them. ”

"And since Zhang Feng'er can stir up such a big storm and make the entire Huainan Province in danger of military disasters, it also shows that this person's ability must not be underestimated."

An Ning was just a little impatient and angry about the current situation, but he also knew what Lin Fan said, so he didn't say these angry words anymore.

Lin Fan saw that An Ning no longer spoke, so he continued: "However, although Zhang Feng'er's ability to stir up the storm is not small, the matter is still far from being out of control. ”

"It happened suddenly, and the imperial court hasn't had time to clean up the mess here. This is a great difficulty, and if the court wants to do anything, it cannot be done overnight! ”

"But this does not mean that the imperial court has no way to deal with this thief army, as long as the imperial court reacts, the situation will be reversed under the encirclement and suppression of the army. With this Zhang Feng'er, he can't turn the sky over yet. ”

It's almost all that should be said, appease everyone, although it is said that the war has not started now, but we can't let everyone be cowardly before fighting, and lose confidence and courage first.

Lin Fan took a breath: "Okay, now that it's over, don't say anything about complaining, let's talk about what we should do now!" ”

Although Chen Fangshu was born in Chenjiazhai, he has outstanding talents, and he has always been cultivated by Chen Qingshan as the next owner of the village, so his knowledge is not low.

He analyzed the current situation and said: "Zhang Feng'er claimed to be General Mingwei under the command of King Xing, and with the help of Chen Xinglong's banner, he attacked the city all the way, coerced the displaced people, and continued to develop and grow. ”

Especially after he captured Anzhou, he echoed with the Xingwang army, and the limelight was even more unparalleled for a while, and it can be said that there were many responders. Now he holds the land of two states, and his soldiers and horses are as many as 20,000 people. ”

Lin Fan nodded: "To be able to develop into the current situation, Zhang Feng'er is by no means incompetent!" Judging from the battle reports that have come so far, he also knows that trapping and defending the city with his strength is just killing himself, and once the imperial army encircles and suppresses it, he will definitely not be able to defend it, so he can only choose to fight on the move. ”

"And the war in the north is continuous, natural disasters are continuous, too bitter and poor, and the official army is powerful, even the main force of Chen Xinglong's thief army has been defeated and retreated, and it is struggling to support in the midst of hunger."

"If Zhang Feng'er chooses to go north to converge, with tens of thousands of mouths to eat, Zhongyuan Dao will not be able to feed so many people under him. And with these rabble in his hands, he is not the opponent of the elite officers and troops of the Central Plains Dao, so he can only be cannon fodder to die. ”

"What's more, those displaced people fled south just to find a way to live, and how could they be willing to return to the north when the natural disasters and wars in the north have not ended?

"If Zhang Feng'er really chooses to go north, I'm afraid there is no need for the official army to suppress it, and the people's hearts will immediately disperse, Zhang Feng'er will not be so stupid."

Lin Fan looked at everyone again, and said in a deep voice: "So, there is only one way left in front of him Zhang Feng'er now, and that is to go south." ”

"First, the south is rich, and military rations can be solved on the spot; Second, the south is a heavy tax area for the imperial court, and if the south is destroyed, the imperial court will not have enough money and grain to fight the war. In this way, it is equivalent to alleviating the dilemma of Chen Xinglong, who has been trapped in a corner, and the thieves rebel against the army. ”

Chen Fangshu stared at the map on the table, his expression was heavy: "In this way, according to the situation, if the thieves want to go south, our Yongyang must be the first to bear the brunt!" ”

Lin Fan nodded and returned: "So we must prepare in advance now, otherwise it will really be too late when the thieves overwhelm the realm." ”

Everyone gathered around the map, and they were all a little anxious. Anzhou is not far from Yongyang, and it is only three days away at most, and this is still when Zhang Feng'er's thief army dragged his family and lost the ability to march quickly.

If you want to speed up, twelve hours a day is enough to go back and forth between the two places. Today's situation is imminent for Yongyang.

It is said that since this period of time, the Inspection Division has won a lot of battles, but judging from the situation that is facing now, the previous ones are more like small fights, except for the last battle of Yunmengze that was barely good in terms of scale, and the others are not on the table.

And this time, the thief army is menacing, with the potential of black clouds crushing the city, and the strength of the army is far more than that of the inspection department by a hundred times.

With such a huge disparity in strength, is the Inspection Division fighting or leaving? If you want to fight, how do you want to fight? Everyone didn't have an idea for a while.

Seeing that everyone had no clue, Lin Fan opened his mouth and said: "I have sent out all the horses and good riders of the Inspection Division, and asked them to go to the north to inquire about the news, and by tonight at the latest, there will be news back." ”

"In any case, we won't have much time left! At this point, we still need to make a decision on how to do it, and we can't delay it any longer. ”

When Chen Fangshu and An Ning saw Lin Fan say this, they should have made up their minds and made up their minds.

They hurriedly stood up and saluted, "Please give an order, and your subordinates will do what you order!" ”

Although Wang Hu and He Fang still didn't understand, they hurriedly followed suit: "Please give an order, and your subordinates will follow the order!" ”

Lin Fan looked out of the door and said slowly: "We must fight, but we only have more than 120 brothers in our hands, in the face of tens of thousands of thieves, the camp of the inspection department will definitely not be able to hold it, and sticking to the barracks can only be a dead end, and it will not help." ”

"The only way to do this is to retreat to Yongyang County and defend against the thieves with the help of the city wall fortifications. And it can also join forces with the garrison of this county, plus recruit young people in the city to help defend the city, it is better than our family fighting alone. ”

"I'll tell you the truth, it's a fool's dream to defeat the thieves with just this amount of strength; But if you just defend the city and wait for reinforcements from the imperial court, it is not impossible! ”

After saying his thoughts, Lin Fan looked at everyone again and said solemnly: "This time is different from the past, the thieves are a hundred times more than me, and it is really unpredictable to fight and die." If any of you feel that this battle has no chance of winning and does not want to follow me to your death, you may as well speak now, and I will let you go home and be reunited with your family. ”

"Don't worry, I will also check your military registration, and I will not let you be regarded as deserters by the imperial court, if you can meet again in the future, you will still be brothers. Of course, if I survive, haha! ”

Lin Fan's words made everyone look at each other a little, and after a moment of silence, An Ning was the first to kneel down and said: "An Ning is an adult's family slave, following adults since childhood, the old lady treats me like a mountain, eternal life is difficult to pay off, subordinates should follow adults, nine deaths without regrets!" ”

The same is true for Wang Hu, "I, Wang Hu, have not read much since I was a child, and I am a rough person, but I also know how to repay my kindness." If it weren't for the adults, the next family would have starved to death in the wilderness and fed the beasts! Where the adults are, the subordinates are there, and they will never leave! ”

Chen Fangshu and He Fang glanced at each other, feeling a little ashamed of the slightest wavering just now. also knelt down and said: "My subordinates are willing to swear to follow the adults to the death, and they will not regret their deaths!" ”

Even Li Qingshan, who had been on the side and was in charge of recording and did not speak, knelt down.

Lin Fan leaned over and helped them up one by one, patted the dust on everyone's clothes by the way, and said with a smile: "You don't have to be like this, the matter is not serious to that point, and no one has to let you die!" ”

After appeasing several people, Lin Fan continued to talk about business: "The brothers are also busy during this time, after everyone goes down for a while, arrange for the kitchen to make a good meal, let the brothers eat and drink well, and repair it for a night." ”

"Starting tomorrow morning, we will send several brothers to assist the people of the nearby towns to retreat to the county seat. Remember, you must tell your brothers that you can't bully the common people, otherwise military law will be engaged. ”

Thinking of the next trouble, Lin Fan rubbed his temples with his hand and felt a headache.

Although since he took office, he has strictly rectified military discipline, especially for bullying the common people, this kind of thing has rarely happened now.

But now this situation must be guarded against, under the pressure of the soldiers, the people are panicked, in case someone with ulterior motives fanned the flames, the slightest movement may cause a great chaos.

There is a huge disparity in strength, and if there is civil strife again, this battle really doesn't need to be fought.

After relieving for a while, Lin Fan said weakly: "Fang Shu, you people from Chenjiazhai will be notified by you, don't be careless." Where, Zhang Ping's parents and family will be handed over to you, and they must be sent to the county seat safely. By the way, there are also Qingshan's families, you must not forget. ”

After they all agreed, Lin Fan waved his hand and asked them to go down and do their own business, leaving him alone.

After everyone left, Lin Fan leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes for a moment before walking out of the door of the meeting.

He stood in the doorway, watching the sun gradually sink in the west, and the remnants of the sun were like blood. He just stood there, motionless, letting the mountain breeze blow.

After a long time, he let out a long breath of turbid breath and sighed: "The mountain rain is about to come, and the wind is full of buildings!" ”

With that, he tightened his grip on the hilt of the knife and turned back into the room.