After dinner, Shang Cheng changed into General Dingyuan's light scarlet Rong regular clothes, packed up his sword robe, and went directly to Yanshan Weizhong Army to take up his post accompanied by Chen Pu and Guo Biao.

His arrival shocked the entire Yanshan Chinese army and immediately attracted great attention.

Since Deng Sima was sent back to the rear after being hit by a medicine arrow in the first battle of Heishui River in May, speculation about who will succeed Jun Sima has not stopped. Even if a department in the army came forward to greet him for this purpose, it was strictly forbidden for the officers to talk about this matter behind their backs, but it had little effect. Alas, it is completely impossible not to make people talk about such a major personnel arrangement, especially those officers at and above the brigade level, who simply can't help it.

In the past two months, there has been a lot of gossip on the issue of the selection of the new military commander. At first, it was said that the camp general would appoint another general to command the Yanshan Central Army, Wang Yi, the Duke of Yiguo, Hou Caobin of Tongxian, and the Ranger General Wuling...... All the generals who are idle or above the fifth rank or hold less important deputy positions may become the new military commanders. But as time went on, it was discovered that none of these heirs, who had been rumored to have noses and eyes, had not come, and Xingying was slow to express his position on this issue, so another theory quickly spread: Xingying originally wanted Sima Duwei, who temporarily replaced Deng Sima to command the whole army, to take this position, but it was only for one reason or another that the appointment was not issued for the time being. However, with the death of Sima Duwei on the way to retreat, this news also disappeared. The feasible battalion still did not assign a new Sima to the Yanshan Chinese army. In recent days, news has circulated widely in the army that the camp will no longer appoint Sima, but will promote one person from the existing ranks of officers at the military ranks. The propagandists of this news were all eloquent, declaring that it was reliable information they had received from the camp, and so that several of the men in sensitive positions had been frizzy in recent days.

But the expectations of these people's hearts were ruthlessly shattered with the appointment of the camp.

A person they knew and was both familiar with and stranged to became the latest commander of the Yanshan Weizhong Army.

There is no doubt that for the vast majority of officers, the name of the new military Sima is indeed very unfamiliar. Hardly any of them had ever heard of this general Dingyuan, whose surname was Shang. But with the introduction of Guo Biao, the deputy marshal of the Central Route Army, people immediately became familiar with this person again. They have all heard the singing book "Shang Monk Fights the Evil Wolf", watched the excerpt of the opera "The High Monk Fuhu", and also knew that there was a Shang monk in Yi County during the Yandong War last summer, but it was only now that the characters in the rumors were really linked to the General Dingyuan in front of them. However, it is one thing to be familiar, and it is another thing to be convinced, although the military generals and captains in the tent all raised their arms to their chests and said in unison, "See Shang Sima", but there are not a few people who are careless in their bellies. It wasn't until Shang Cheng named the names of the two eighth-rank lieutenants Ji Zhengfan Quan and asked the two of them to speak alone, and Ji Zhengfan Quan, whose eyes had already climbed to his forehead, stepped forward to pay homage without saying a word, and everyone looked at this hateful boss. There are also people in the camp who know what happened to Shang Cheng. With the ability of the Shang monk and his contribution in Yandong, he should have sat in the position of brigade commander a year ago, but it was only because of the distribution of military merits that he offended the two brothers Li Wei and Li Shen, and he suffered a secret loss in the promotion of his position. Of course, there are some smart people who have vaguely guessed something.

Shang Cheng sat behind the wooden case, waited for the two of them to salute, and then pointed to the two of them and said to Guo Biao, who was sitting next to him: "Captain Ji and Captain Fan are both brave officers who can fight well. He turned his head and asked Ji Fan and the others, "I heard that since the army marched north, the two of you have also made new contributions?" ”

Ji Zheng knew that he was rude in his words, and he would definitely not be able to get on the stage at this time, so he simply didn't speak, just grinned and just smiled. Fan Quan bowed down and said: "I was lucky enough to make a little effort, but I really can't be praised by Sima." ”

"Tiny work?" Shang Cheng clasped his hands and pressed his arms against the wooden case, leaning forward slightly, his shining eyes staring at Fan Quan. "It seems that you can't get an acre of Xuntian's wish. There is an opportunity to make meritorious contributions at a glance, do you want to go? ”

"Yes! Please give the order! Fan Quan's cheeks suddenly swelled up with two flushes, and he said loudly, "Even if it is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire, he will never frown when he is in office!" ”

"Just think about it! There is a time for you to make meritorious contributions! Shang Cheng turned his head, his eyes looked at the tent of officers and lieutenants standing like nails one by one, seeing that eight of the ten people were all red and fascinated, knowing that the spirit of these officers had been raised by his own sentence of "meritorious service", he pursed his lips with satisfaction, and said calmly, "Since the defeat of the army on the left at the end of July, the war situation in the Northern Expedition has taken a sharp turn for the worse, from our army's initiative to attack and turn to the enemy's stalemate. Out of consideration for the soldiers, and in order to avoid the coming cold winter, Xingying decided to move the army to the south and temporarily withdraw to the territory of Yanshan to rest and recuperate, so as to preserve the strength of our army......"

After he finished speaking, the officers below who were separated by goose wings all stood solemnly and listened silently. Everyone came from the battlefield, and at this time, everyone knew in their hearts that this time the Northern Expedition had actually been defeated, and the most important thing at the moment was how to bring the remaining team back completely. But surrounded by strong enemies on all sides, the army is isolated and helpless, how can it be possible to go back if you want to? Even if it is a breakthrough, when to break through, in which direction, who will open the way for the army, and who will be the rear...... This series of questions does not mean that decisions can be made immediately. There are also a few people like Sun Zhongshan who are quick and thoughtful, and they have already sniffed out a bit unusual from Shang Cheng's appointment letter for Ling Shengjun Sima, and they all have serious and solemn faces, waiting with bated breath for Shang Cheng to say the following.

“…… The Yanshan Chinese Army has always been the elite division of our Great Zhao, and has made outstanding achievements in the various campaigns to defend the land and defend the country, and this time we have gained the trust of the camp and handed over the task of opening the way for the army to us. We, one by one" Shang Cheng stood up and slowly lifted the blindfold, a pair of dark and deep eyes flashed with a ghostly light, and his gaze swept over the faces of the officers on both sides, and everyone looked awe-inspiring, and lowered their heads slightly. He clenched his fist against the table and said, "One by one, we can't live up to the trust of the camp!" Even if the whole army fights out, we must find a way back for these tens of thousands of troops! ”

He had just taken over as the military Sima, and when he came up, he neither said anything to comfort the soldiers of the Yanshan Central Army, nor was he grateful to Xiao Jian Guo Biao who promoted him, and he put the arduous task of breaking through the vanguard in front of everyone as soon as he opened his mouth. Until Shang Cheng asked in a low voice, "Don't you even have this confidence?" Only then did he reply unevenly, "Rin obeys Sima's military order."

Shang Cheng lowered his eyelids and asked again dissatisfiedly: "Yanshan Zhongjun, you can't even have this confidence, right?" ”

The officers of the tent all shouted in unison: "Yes! Have confidence! ”

"It's good to have faith." Shang Cheng smiled coldly and said, "There are all officers here, so I don't need to remind the army of the prohibitions and laws, in the future, there will be meritorious rewards and punishments, if anyone does not obey the order...... I'm not afraid to say to you, I'm a blind man who kills people and kills people with merit, and he will not be soft on killing people who don't obey orders, and if anyone doesn't believe it, he can try his own head. Turning his head as he spoke, he asked Guo Biaodao, "Does Guo Shuai have anything else to order?" ”

Guo Biao seemed to have just come to his senses from his ignorance, stared at Shang Cheng with complicated eyes, groaned, and shook his head.

Shang Cheng turned his head again and asked Chen Pu, who was sitting next to him on the right: "The general has something to say to everyone?" ”

Chen Pu glanced at Shang Cheng in surprise. She couldn't understand for a moment whether Shang Cheng was being polite to herself, or if he didn't know the fact that General Zhuguo could only observe. She was stunned, until she could see from Shang Cheng's eyes that he really didn't understand where his position was, so she whispered, "No." ”

Since the two of them had nothing to say, Shang Cheng ordered: "The commanders of all brigades and the heads of departments above the army level please stay, and the rest will be disbanded." Everyone went back to gather their ranks and waited for orders. Dozens of officers held military salutes and roared, "Obey!" Then he rumbled out, and there were only about a dozen people left in the big tent of the Chinese army, which was still slightly crowded just now.

Guo Biao knew that Shang Cheng kept these officers down in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the basic situation of the team. In the past, he would have stayed and listened patiently at this time, so that he could more accurately grasp the emotional changes of the officers and soldiers, and secondly, he could carefully observe the personality of the officers, which is really a good thing to kill two birds with one stone. However, since the defeat of the Left Route Army, General Xiao's mood has been very depressed, and after the defeat of Heishuihe and his retreat to Moganzhai, he was even more anxious to commit the ** disease of back gangrene. Xiao Jian's condition is getting worse day by day, he is almost unable to control the illness and irritability, and all the urgent and complicated affairs of the army are actually pressed on his shoulders. Now that the situation is urgent, the army is in danger, where can he still find time to care about what Yanshan Zhongjun, stood up and bowed his hand to Shang Chengluo, and said, "I still have something to do, so let's go." Shang Sima is busy with you, you don't need to send me. Chen Pu also stood up.

Chen Pu was surrounded by guards and left Shang Cheng's camp. When he was about to go around a pond in a circle, he looked back on horseback, and the main general of the Yanshan Chinese Army was brightly lit and the figure swayed, and he bit his lip and pondered for a moment, and asked Guo Biao, who was riding a horse, and said, "General Fengyi, what do you think of this Shang monk?" ”

She couldn't ask clearly, but Guo Biao knew what she meant. He glanced back at the road, and did not speak in a hurry, but took a long breath, and then slowly exhaled, shaking his head and smiling to himself.