Things really developed as Sun Tu expected, Cai Jiu didn't know anything about military affairs, and Yuan Wang and Lin Henian were veterans in this area. And the other officials did not dare to take the risk of offending Yuan Tuiguan to speak for Sun Tu, after all, they completely took the initiative in their hands, and decided to be led by Lin Henian, while Sun Tu led the township soldiers to obey his orders.

Such a result was naturally not what Cai Jiu wanted to see, which made his face more and more ugly than before, and he even complained a little in his heart that Sun Tu didn't dare to stand up, otherwise there would be room for maneuver. But Sun Tu also has his own concerns, now he knows very little about the water bandit named "Fierce Jiao", but he doesn't dare to shoulder such a heavy responsibility on his shoulders, so he can only take a step back first.

However, his concession was still rewarding after all, at least when he asked Lin Henian to ask more about the water bandits, the boss nodded happily and agreed: "In this case, you follow me to the Xiangjun barracks and talk about it slowly." ”

This army was treated much better than the soldiers of the country, just as the difference between the militia and the regular army in later generations was treated. Their military camp was not set up in a corner outside the city like the village soldiers, but at the southern city near the city wall, opening up a large area for them to practice their lives, and two arrow towers were erected inside the gate, so that the idle people did not dare to approach easily.

And when Sun Tu entered the barracks with Lin Henian, he found that the barracks inside were all newly built, and hundreds of soldiers were wearing uniform costumes to practice martial arts in them, looking much more neat than those township soldiers with messy clothes. Of course, all this is only reflected on the surface, and it is difficult to say what the combat strength of the Xiang army is.

After entering his command post with Lin Henian, what caught his eye was the fine rosewood furniture, and there were four treasures of the study room on the handsome desk instead of any weapons, but it was like a study more than a barracks. The only thing that can reflect the identity of the owner of this place is a sheathed knife hanging diagonally on the wall on the side, and I don't know if it is Lin Dujian's own blade.

After a personal soldier brought them chilled sour plum soup to quench their thirst, only Sun Tu and Lin Henian were left in the room, and the latter took out a slightly old sheepskin scroll from the cabinet next to him, and after opening it, he realized that this was a topographic map of Jiangzhou, which was simple and even simple.

Looking at this hand-drawn map, which looked like graffiti in later generations, Sun Tu unconsciously frowned. However, after Lin Dujian pointed to a black line representing the Xunyang River, he didn't think much else:

"In fact, this water bandit has never raised any banner, only because its leader has a nickname called Turning Jiangjiao, and they act fiercely, and they hardly leave a living mouth after looting on the river, so we call it a fierce Jiao. Since they suddenly appeared at the turn of spring and summer last year, they have been committing murder and plundering in the rivers in Jiangzhou, especially the 50-mile boundary from the upper reaches of the Xunyang River to the lower reaches of the Xunyang River, which is a place where they haunt, and many merchant ships have been attacked by them, whether it is a merchant or a boatman, there are really many casualties. ”

Sun Tu watched the other party gesture with his finger on the Xunyang River for a while, but it almost included all the waters within the jurisdiction of Jiangzhou City, which made him even more secretly frightened: "These thieves are really unscrupulous." As far as the lower officials know, don't the general thieves uphold the principle that rabbits don't eat the grass next to the nest, and won't attack the local people and businessmen? ”

"This is where they are fierce, this group of bandits has no worries about this, as long as they are bumped into, whether it is a big ship or a small boat, local or foreign, all of them will be robbed. Because of this, most of the waterways in Jiangzhou City have been cut off in a year, and merchants can only transport goods by land, but their expenses have increased by no less than 50%. ”

"I heard that the government has repeatedly attacked before, but they all ended in failure......" Sun Tu hesitated slightly, but still said the most important point.

Lin Henian's face was a little unsightly, but he still sighed and said: "At the beginning, this official didn't take this water bandit too seriously, so he only sent a small number of soldiers and horses to suppress the bandits, but as a result, they either failed to find any trace of the enemy, or they were attacked by someone on the river, and the damage was not small. However, after that, the bandits relented a little, and it was not until the beginning of the spring of this year that they suddenly reappeared and acted more and more without concern, and I decided to lead a large army to suppress the bandits.

"Originally, I led more than a thousand troops, divided into more than 20 large and small warships, and I would definitely be able to defeat them in one fell swoop. But as a result, they retreated into this gap where the terrain was not conducive to the expansion of the army, making it difficult for our officers and troops to attack for a long time. As he spoke, Lin Henian's finger pointed at a depression in the upper reaches of the Xunyang River, and his expression was full of resentment: "Actually, if this is the case, it would be fine, with the momentum of the official army, as long as they are trapped, it will take a little more time to wipe them out." But on the contrary, Cai Taishou suddenly issued a strict order for me to wait for the thieves to be destroyed as soon as possible, and under the influence of this, I could only order the three armies to attack day and night, and completely annihilate this water bandit at all costs. But as a result, this gave the thief a chance. ”

"But what chance?" Sun Tu also felt nervous when he heard this, and immediately asked.

"Many of those bandits are outstanding in the water, and they actually took advantage of the fact that our army was attracted by the accomplices in the bay, felt out from under the water, and then launched a surprise attack from my rear. Moreover, these thieves were prepared for a long time, they actually used empty ships to set fire to us, and set fire to several large ships in our rear, causing our army to be in turmoil, and only then was the bandits counterattacked and defeated in a hurry! Lin Henian stared at the topographic map in front of him with a pair of eyes, as if he had seen the scene of the fiasco from this humble map again.

Sun Tu also had a relative, and only then did he know why the official army, which was obviously much stronger, had such a big defeat, and finally gave up control of the entire Xunyang River. With the fighting spirit of the Xiang army, after suffering this defeat, I am afraid that it is indeed impossible to dare to fight again in a short period of time. At the same time, this also made him understand why Cai Jiu was speechless by them in a few words today, it turned out that it was his previous decision-making mistakes that caused today's bitter fruit.

Perhaps it is precisely because of his great culpability, and his special identity, that the imperial court did not pursue this matter in any way, and the situation in Jiangzhou has been delayed to this day but still cannot be resolved.

After gasping for a few breaths and pouring a large bowl of sour plum soup into his mouth, Lin Henian breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Sun Tu and said: "Sun Tuanlian, it is precisely because of this defeat that I want to make meritorious service even more." This time, I hope you can cooperate with me to completely exterminate this water bandit, so as to return peace to my Jiangzhou City. ”

Feeling the sincerity and eagerness in his eyes, Sun Tu immediately nodded heavily: "Of course, the lower officials should obey Lin Dujian's orders and assist you in pacifying this water bandit." It's just that Xia Guan still has a question, after the previous war, is there still a way for the Xiang army to break the enemy? ”

"Of course, you don't know what arrangements this official has made to wash away his previous shame, in fact, the movements of those bandits have always been under my control. I already know that they are hiding on a sandbar island in the middle of the river, and if I find the right opportunity to launch a surprise attack, I will be able to catch them all! Lin Henian showed a hint of excitement on his face, and pointed to a certain place on the map and said.

Sun Tu was stunned for a moment, and then he understood: "The eunuch planted eyeliner among the thieves? ”

Lin Henian smiled and nodded: "Now Sun Tuanlian should believe that cooperating with me will be able to quell the thief chaos, right?" ”

Sun Tu nodded in agreement, and then discussed and analyzed with him based on the information he had obtained, and did not leave the barracks until the sun was setting in the west.

By the time Sun Tu returned home, it was completely dark, and Luda and Yang Zhi, who were helping to train the township soldiers in the camp, had already returned home. When the two of them learned about the day's events from Sun Tu's mouth, Yang Zhi immediately became excited: "After training for many days, I finally have a place to use." ”

"It's just a pity, this time the thieves should be dominated by the Xiang army, and we will beat the side drum on the side at most, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get any big credit." Sun Tu said helplessly.

This time, Luda, who was more belligerent by nature, seemed a little hesitant: "The Sprinkle family is not good at water warfare, I'm afraid I won't be able to help you too much this time." "As a military man in the northwest, he is really not good at water, and when he gets to the river, he only has the ability to protect himself.

Hearing this, Sun Tu's heart suddenly moved, if you talk about water skills, aren't there just a few masters in this Jiangzhou City? Moreover, according to the calculation of time, they have not yet returned to Liangshan at this time, and if he can recruit them into the army, the chances of winning this battle will be much greater.

Just as he was wondering if he should inquire about the whereabouts of those people tomorrow, there was a knock on the courtyard door. Sun Tu immediately went over to open the door to meet the guests, but found that standing in front of the door was an extremely strange man, with a white complexion, medium stature, and a fairly neat beard under his chin.

"Your Excellency?" Sun Tu looked up and down at the man in ordinary short clothes in front of him, guessing the identity of the other party.

And this one is simply handed, even if he arches his hand: "Is Zunjia a relative and friend of Sun Tuanlian?" Xiao Ke's surname is Zhang Mingshun, who is a fishmonger in Jiangzhou City, and he came to tell him about something important today. ”

Zhang Shun? White stripes in the waves? Just stunned, Sun Tu had already thought of the identity of the other party, and couldn't help but be surprised. I just thought about whether I could pull these water war masters into the army, and I actually thought that it would come true, this person called the white strip in the waves, and the water war martial arts ranked in the forefront of everyone in Liangshan came to the door.

After hesitating for a moment, Sun Tu quickly got out of the way: "Brother Zhang, please come in first to speak, it is Sun Tu below." ”