The atmosphere of tonight's military discussion was extremely solemn. Zhao Ying's military reform, the original more than 12,000 soldiers were cut and eliminated more than half before the four battalions of Wuyi, Xiaojie, Qihun and Feijie were selected for the main battle elite. Compared with the other three battalions, the Qihun battalion is the most enterprising because of the control of Guo Ruke, and the soldiers' training on weekdays is also the most rigorous. Zhao Dangshi once used the four weapons of armor, shield, spear, and bow to compare the impression and positioning of the four battalions in his heart. The whole battalion was filled with momentum from top to bottom, and it became the "sharp spear of Zhao Ying" in the eyes of Zhao Dangshi.

Who would have thought that this sharp pawn, which was pinned on by Zhao Dangshi, would suffer a crushing defeat in one day, and even completely lose its field combat capability. Faced with such a fact, whether it is Zhao Dangshi or other generals, the shock in his heart is really huge.

"Although the Qihun camp is defeated, it is not in battle." Most of the generals in the battalion had not yet gotten rid of the shadow of the defeat of the Qihun camp, Xu Hui coughed lightly and said slowly, "Although the Hui thief horse army came suddenly, Jing Keqin's rebellion was the main reason why the defeat of the Qihun camp was out of control. "Even if Guo Ruke is now a major general in the battalion, after all, he has cultivated it single-handedly. Whether it was out of public intention to analyze objective facts or out of selfishness to defend his friend, Xu Hui did not think that Guo Ruke should bear too much responsibility for the defeat of Qihun Camp in Huyang Town and Cen Pengcheng.

Hou Dagui sneered: "At the beginning, he was the one who was determined to go to Huyang Town to fight, but he was Guo Zhi. Now that he has lost his wife and broken his soldiers, he doesn't bear this responsibility, and he has to go back to the thief to bear it? ”

Xu Hui said with a gloomy face: "You have also heard that the defeat of the Qihun camp has been full of twists and turns, and it must not be simply attributed to the failure of the battle array. First, Jing Keqin surrendered to the enemy, and then Su Zhao did not open the city gate. Both of these can be called great changes that can affect the situation. If you change the position of others in Guo's control, you may not be able to do better. ”

Hou Dagui didn't give an inch: "So, after a big defeat, he Guo is not only at fault, but also meritorious?" ”

Seeing that the argument between the two was gradually intense, Zhao Dangshi interjected and interrupted: "This military discussion, and don't talk about merits and demerits." ”

Pu Guoyi also said: "Although Guo's control is temporarily unfavorable, at least there are nearly 1,000 people guarding Cen Peng City, and it is too early to say that it will be defeated." The end of the war has only begun, and there may not be no room for play in the future. As he spoke, he looked up and glanced at Peng Guang not far away. He is the counselor and overseer of the Qihun camp, while Peng Guang is the middle army of the Qihun camp, and he should have gone to Huyang Town with the army. However, in the past two months, the construction and Tuntian affairs were too urgent, and both of them had relevant experience before, so they were temporarily transferred to Fan Hecheng to help. Since the battle in the north, the entire line of Fan Hecheng has been suspended, and they returned to the camp today to report on their work because they participated in this military discussion. Seeing that Hou Dagui took the opportunity to suppress the camp, he was naturally unhappy.

Hou Dagui glanced at Pu and Peng, and then said in a strange manner: "Oh, I said how could Guo's control be defeated, it turned out that the two of them had never been with the army." Both of them are among the best talents in the camp with both wisdom and bravery, and with the assistance of two, Qihun Camp is in Huyang Town and Cen Pengcheng, I am afraid that there will be a different scene. ”

These words were ambiguous, and Pu Guoyi and Peng Guang sounded even more sarcastic than praised, and their faces darkened for a while. Time was pressing, and Zhao Dangshi did not want a military discussion to turn into a chaotic situation in which various families attacked each other, so he diverted the topic and said: "At present, there are still more than 1,000 horse troops of General Luo of Henan in Cen Peng City, and he also brought a letter to describe the actions of the officials and troops on the Henan side. ”

Hou Dagui smiled and said: "Luo Dai is Zuo Liangyu's lackey, since he has come to Zaoyang, Zuo Liangyu is not far away." ”

Zhao Dangshi said: "The intentions of Hui, Ge and other thieves to gather in Tang County have been traced in the past two months. Zuo Shuai and Zhang Junmen have been paying close attention for a long time, and Henan has already prepared for this time when the thief moves. Lord Luo said in the letter that in addition to him, Gao Jinku and Jin Shenghuan had also arrived in Miyang from Ruyang. After a pause, he continued, "In addition, Lord Xiong has also recently come to Ye County to stay at the festival security station. "Luo, Gao, and Jin are all Zuo Liangyu's followers, and they are all in the same breath, and the three often move in unison. The fact that Xiong Wencan, the premier of the six provinces, personally visited the front line was something that the generals did not expect.

Xu Hui said: "Hui and Cao have gone westward successively, and northern Chu is already the top priority. ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded slightly, and then said: "Lord Xiong has Lu Zhenguo and Miao Youcai in Ye County, and Sun Yingyuan, Huang Degong and other commanders of the battalion, and the soldiers are strong and strong. I heard that Xiangyang will be in charge of the situation in Yu and Chu in the near future, so this time, the two thieves of Cao and Cao invaded northern Chu, and our battalion and Zuo Liangyu, Chen Hongfan, Long Zaitian and others were all restrained by it...... "Speaking of this, he immediately paused. When the generals heard it, most of them heard Zhao Dangshi's extraneous meaning.

Xiong Wencan is shorter than the military strategy, so even if he goes to Ye County in person, he does not have the military ability and strategic vision to dispatch Zhao Dangshi, Zuo Liangyu and other officers and troops like Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting. Therefore, this time, Henan and northern Chu should deal with the joint attack of Hui, Cao and other rogues, and the officers and troops of each department are most likely to be the same as before, and they are just fighting for themselves.

But this situation is not harmful, at least for the time being, but to a certain extent, it gives Zhao Ying great freedom, and Zhao Dangshi can transfer troops according to his own judgment. Thanks to Xiong Wencan's self-knowledge, otherwise after a few inexplicable military orders, Zhao Dangshi, who has always been "obedient to the court", will not be able to turn a deaf ear to the wind like Zuo Liangyu and Zhang Xianzhong, and will inevitably fall into a dilemma.

Therefore, although Xiong Wencan came to the front line in person, his influence on the military aspects of Zhao Ying can be expected to be minimal, which is a good thing, and there is no need to worry too much that he will interfere too much in Zhao Ying. The greater advantage is that he has the intention of entering Xiangyang, and he will not sit back and watch back, Cao Wei is chaotic and ignore Chubei, Zhao Dangshi has worked hard for several months to please him, and Chen Hongfan is in the middle, and the standard battalion and the Yongwei battalion that are directly controlled by him have naturally become the potential reinforcements of Zhao Ying.

"Everyone!" In the military tent, the generals of the army had some discussions because of Xiong Wencan's transfer, Zhao Dangshi's voice rang out, and the huge army tent was silent for an instant, "Although the thieves took the lead by cunning, our battalion did not hurt the muscles and bones. In my opinion, although the defeat of Qihun Camp is ugly, it is beneficial to our camp in the overall situation. ”

Hou Dagui's heart moved. He knew that Zhao Dangshi had always been fair and fair, and it was impossible for him to excuse Guo Ruke by saying this. Moreover, he carefully observed that although the main topic of tonight's military discussion was introduced by the defeat of Qihun Camp, Zhao Dangshi's attitude showed more surprise than fear from the beginning, which shows that Zhao Dangshi himself was not absolutely pessimistic about the defeat of Qihun Camp. Therefore, he dared to arrange the camp many times before, and he was not worried about poking Zhao Dangshi's sore spots.

Zhao Dangshi said, walked to the side of the map, ordered a few soldiers to take more oil lamps to illuminate the map, and pointed while holding a thin stick and said: "Look, this is Tang County in the north, and this is Fanhe City in the south, and the distance between the two places is roughly estimated by me, about more than 150 miles......" The army will gather and come forward, gather in a circle to watch, Zhao Dangshi will pull the thin stick to the south, "This is the camp of our army in Lutoudian, twenty miles away from Fanhe City." Ordinary people take the official road from Tang County to Fanhe City, if it is smooth, it will take at least three days, but from my camp to Fanhe City, it will not take half a day if the foot is faster. ”

The "Fan Hecheng ......" army focused on one point on the map, and they were all thoughtful.

Zhao Dangshi said: "Before the war, our army set a strategy of first the north and then the south. The new defeat of the Hun camp and the arrogance of the thieves are overwhelming, and we must not sit idly by and watch their momentum, we must suppress their crowds as soon as possible, otherwise if there is another omission in the south, our army will be in danger! ”

Hou Dagui said worriedly: "As the lord said, the victory of the thief is rampant, and it is not easy to regain the situation. ”

Zhao Dangshi smiled and said: "Only because the thief wins, our army has a chance." According to the information provided by Cen Pengcheng, the main general of this Hui thief horse army is Ma Guangchun, who is as famous as Zhang Xiongfei and is second to none among the thieves. Although the horse army of the Hui thieves who commanded the most elite horses, although outside Huyang Town and Cen Peng City, there were only 1,000 cavalry in the Hui camp horse army participating in the battle, but since Ma Guangchun, the commander of the left and right wings, had appeared, then the horse army of the left and right wings of the Hui thieves must have poured out this time, and perhaps the other 2,000 horsemen were wandering elsewhere at that time, so the number of the Hui thief horse army in Zaoyang County is about 3,000 at present. ”

"Three thousand?" Wu Mingfeng opened his mouth involuntarily, slightly surprised. A thousand horsemen can afford to fight the Hun camp without the power to parry, it is really hard to imagine how Ma Guangchun's three thousand horsemen will cope when they gather in one place.

Hou Dagui saw that he was a little afraid, and said unhappily: "What? Are you scared? If you are really afraid, let the king arrange an errand for you, and go to An Ansheng Tuntian. ”

Wu Mingfeng's face turned red and he was silent. Zhao Dangshi looked at him and said, "It's normal for Officer Wu to be worried. After returning to the camp and working hard for many years, these 3,000 horsemen are considered to be the old family, whether it is soldier and horse training or armor and weapons, the high quality is rare among the rogues, and it must not be taken lightly. ”

"How does it compare to my Flying Camp?" Wu Mingfeng couldn't help but ask again.

Zhao Dangshi thought for a moment and replied: "Between the two and the middle." Wu Mingfeng listened, and was silent again.

"Even so, the athletes in my camp are not afraid of him." Among the generals, Xu Hui suddenly said, his tone was very firm, "He has 3,000 horse troops, not counting the second battalion of foreign warfare in my battalion, and there are still two battalions of Wu Yu and Xiaojie in charge, with a total of 3,500 people. If the two are really right, they may not fall behind. ”

Zhao Dangshi smiled with a little approval: "What Lao Xu said is exactly what I want to say." Since Zhao'an, our battalion has been pursuing the strategy of taoguang and obscurity, and this time, Cao Er's battalion is the strongest in the world, and they have joined forces to attack, and our battalion has to fight back to protect itself, although it is not what it wants, but it is also a good opportunity for our battalion to try the blade for the first time. ”

The generals saw that Zhao Dangshi was confident, and they were infected by this emotion, and their worries calmed down a little. Even though some were still muttering to themselves, they finally regained some confidence from the shadow of the failure of the Qihun camp.

Hou Dagui said: "That's the case, but the thieves are not only the Ma army, their troops are very numerous, and they will mix 100,000 people, not to mention 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers. My battalion can deal with Ma Guangchun, how can I have the spare strength to deal with them? He said a word, and many generals nodded secretly.

Zhao Dangshi responded: "Lao Hou, this is a good question. As you all know, the thief relied on Ma Guangchun's 3,000 horses, and the remaining 50,000 or 60,000 people, but the ants attached to the tree, although the number is large, but when it comes to reality, it is far less than the 3,000 horses. Therefore, if you want to return to the thief, it is absolutely impossible to kill them all in one fell swoop, so you can only hit their vital points and eliminate their fighting spirit. Fighting snakes and hitting seven inches, Ma Guangchun's 3,000 horse army is the seven inches of the thief, killing Ma Guangchun, and the thief scattered. He went on to say, "Therefore, this time to deal with the thieves on the northern line, I think we need to be 'fast', 'accurate', and 'ruthless' to have a chance to win!" ”

"What do you mean 'fast', 'accurate', and 'ruthless'?" Hou Dagui asked.

Zhao Dangshi raised his voice and explained: "Look at the picture. "One point to Huyang Town on the map," according to the actual information from the front, Ma Guangchun's troops arrived at Huyang Town the night before yesterday, and took advantage of the fatigue of the defenders early yesterday morning to take the town from inside and outside, and then there were a series of follow-up actions such as ambushing our camp and pursuing it to Cen Pengcheng. And the scouts found signs of the Hui thief infantry army from beginning to end, so I guess that Lao Huihui, Ge Liyan and the tens of thousands of people who mixed 100,000 were still stranded in Tang County. ”

Xu Hui's eyes lit up and said, "This means that Ma Guangchun is alone?" ”

Zhao Dangshi replied: "It is very likely, maybe Lao Huihui and the other previous plan was to take Ma Guangchun as the vanguard, and the infantry followed up." But the current situation has changed, the officials and troops of Henan reacted quickly, Zuo Shuai, Zhang Junmen and other departments are in Miyang, Lord Xiong has also arrived in Ye County, and Tang County is one step away, there are tens of thousands of thieves and so on. ”

Xu Hui groaned: "Take 10,000 steps back, even if the thieves and others are pulled out now, with tens of thousands of foot soldiers dragging their families and bringing their mouths with their baggage, compared to more than 1,000 people, it is undoubtedly difficult and difficult." There is a road of 1560 miles from Tang County to Zaoyang County, and it is difficult for the troops to be completely prepared in seven or eight days. ”

Zhao Dangshi stroked his palms and said, "Yes." As far as our battalion is concerned, the strength of the thieves is indeed bluffing on the books, but in fact, it is only Ma Guangchun who has to worry about it. Before most of the thieves migrated, our battalion had about ten days to destroy Ma Guangchun, which is not a long time, we still have to hurry. ”

Xu Hui said: "This is where the word 'fast' lies. ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded and said, "Not bad." On the other hand, it is also necessary to prevent Ma Guangchun from feeling alone and in danger and returning to Tang County. In that case, our army could not be destroyed at the best time, and the result was no different from the Tang County thief entering Zaoyang. Therefore, I just said earlier that the defeat of Hun Ying was all a bad thing, since Ma Guangchun took a big advantage, he would have the heart of Longwangshu, as long as the Tang County thief was not too powerful, Ma Guangchun would never withdraw easily. ”

Hou Dagui listened carefully and continued to ask: "Then what is the meaning of the word 'quasi'?" ”

Zhao Dangshi replied: "Ma Guangchun is an old horse thief who has been running for many years, and he is extremely mobile. Our battalion is mainly infantry, and it is unrealistic to want to encircle, chase and intercept one of the generals in the plains of Zaoyang County. Considering this, our battalion must attract Ma Guangchun to take the initiative to enter the camp and take defense as an attack. "The thin stick points to Fan Hecheng," using Fan Hecheng as bait, you can catch Ma Guangchun's big fish. He added, "Ma Guangchun's subordinates have all the horse troops, and they have no siege equipment, and they also cherish the soldiers and horses, and they will not attack the city fortress with their lives." I heard that he lured Jing Keqin in order to drive him to attack the slope, which shows his mentality. In Zaoyang County, most of the important strongholds are defended by city walls, and even if our army is currently in a large camp, it is also a ravine, with towers and forests. Ma Guangchun is a general, cunning and cunning, even Cen Pengcheng is unwilling to attack, and he will not want to make a loss-making deal. And the walls and fortresses of my Fan River City have not yet been erected, and if he learns that there are people carrying heavy baggage there, he will definitely give priority to the target of attack. ”

"I see!" Hou Dagui heard that he was in Hong Kong, and couldn't help but clap his thighs, "If I were me, I would also fight Fan Hecheng." ”

Zhao Dangshi said: "Our battalion will take Fanhe City as the center in the next step and prepare for battle. To lead Ma Guangchun to throw himself into the net, this is the meaning of the word 'quasi'. ”

Hou Dagui was a little anxious, and then asked: "What about the word 'ruthless'?" ”

As soon as the question came out, Zhao Dangshi slowly moved his gaze from Yutu to Hou Dagui's face, Hou Dagui was wondering, but listened to Zhao Dangshi say: "Most of this word has to fall on Hou to control you." ”