Chapter 923: What's Behind the News

The date of the Black Flag Army's expedition was advanced by a few days because of the battle in the eastern Xinjiang, and the army set off immediately after the assembly, which was different from the previous battles, and this was the first battle of the Black Flag Army since it gained a foothold in the southwest. Fang Xie was reluctant to put the war in the southwest, so he sent troops to Northern Jiangsu, and after Yang Jian defeated Shengtu, there seemed to be no reason for the Black Flag Army and the Sui Army to avoid this battle anyway.

Since Yang Jian went south, it can be said that the momentum has been like a bamboo.

Cleanse the Luo Yao rebels in Jiangbei, then attack Jiangnan, break the ancient academy, then break Jin Shixiong and Jin Shiduo brothers, and finally break Liuzhou, destroying the victory of Shengtu not long after the founding of the country.

It can be said that without that ironclad army, Yang Jian would not be so invincible. Shengtu spent a lot of manpower and financial resources in order to defeat this ironclad army, and the firearms battalion built did deal a heavy blow to the ironclad army, but because of the ignorance of firearms, the soldiers of the Shengjun firearms battalion could control firearms but did not understand the performance of firearms.

That defeat seems to be a coincidence, but it is actually inevitable.

The artillery casting technology of this era was destined to have limited power of artillery, and the casting technology of the Rus' Duchy could not be compared with that of the Opru Empire.

The best news for the Black Flag Army is that now the ironclad army under Yang Jian has lost more than half of its strength, and some of the remaining people are also wounded, which will more or less affect the combat strength. And Fang Jie's firearms battalion is by no means comparable to the firearms battalion of the victorious slaughter, and the combat power of the Black Flag Army is by no means comparable to the victorious army.

The army left the camp of Suzaku Mountain, and it was mighty.

Just after the summer grain storage season, the field has been planted autumn grain, a late summer rain watering, the field has been green a layer of seedlings. Fang Jieyan ordered the soldiers not to trample on the crops, and those who violated the order were beheaded. Hundreds of thousands of troops are drawn out, only taking official roads, and even if they are divided into several roads, they can be pulled out back and forth for a very long time.

For example, the team of Fang Xie set off faster, and it was the messenger of Fang Jie.

With the letter written by Fang Xie himself, several letters rushed to the destination as fast as possible. The army had just started, and the messenger had already passed through Anxian, and by the time the army arrived in Anxian, the messenger had almost reached the edge of Luoshui. By the time the army had passed Luoshui, the messenger was almost in Liuzhou.

The light cavalry is a simple march, far faster than the speed of the marching army.

When Yang Jian received Fang Jie's personal letter, he was patrolling the ironclad barracks. This team is the foundation of his re-establishment of the country, and the loss of such a huge battle with Shengtu is something he did not expect, and it is precisely because of this that he attaches great importance to the firearms in Shengtu's hands, who would have thought...... Dazi actually destroyed Shengtu and Shengtu's firearms without any delay.

Unfolding Fang Jie's handwritten letter, Yang Jian only read it for a moment before standing up violently.

The expression on his face immediately became solemn, and the anger in his eyes gradually spread.

"Dongjiang!"

He slapped the letter on the table with a snap: "A group of overseas barbarians dare to touch the majesty of my Celestial Empire!" ”

"What's wrong?"

Standing on one side, Da Zizi seems to know how to show Yang Jian's status very well, he will never walk in front of Yang Jian, and he will never let others pay attention to himself and pay more attention to Yang Jian. He is like a qualified servant, honestly doing what he should do.

"Foreigners dare to attack my eastern frontier!"

Yang Jian's face turned pale, and he handed Fang Jie's letter to Da Zizi. Da Zizi took a cursory look, and then suddenly smiled: "This kind of trick is not clever, but it is exactly what Your Majesty cares about the most." Fang Xie is so cunning, he will have to pay more attention to it in the future. ”

"What do you mean?"

Yang Jian asked.

"I think."

Da Zizi has become accustomed to calling himself a minister: "Fang Xie wrote such a letter at this time, and its purpose is naturally self-evident. Your Majesty didn't see through it because Your Majesty is Your Majesty. Do you want to ...... His Majesty has just broken the victory slaughter and almost quelled the Jiangnan Rebellion, at this time, the southwest half of the Jiangnan River, who is the biggest threat to the imperial court? Isn't it the other way to solve it? ”

"The minister thought that Fang Jie's move was nothing more than an attempt to disrupt His Majesty's military morale. Fang Xie must have known about the defeat of Shengtu and was worried that Your Majesty would move troops against the southwest, so he would compile such a thing to try to distract His Majesty's attention. Once His Majesty leads his troops to the east, he can take advantage of Jiangnan's weakness and take it in one fell swoop, and wait until His Majesty arrives in the east and sees peace before returning, but I am afraid that it will be too late...... And again......"

Da Zi talked eloquently: "As far as His Majesty knows, Mu Guangling in the eastern Xinjiang and Zhao Tianzheng in the Jiangdu City are nearer, although these two people did not erect a counter-flag, but they thought that their hearts were different, and they did not dare to rebel, and most of them were just waiting and watching. Once Your Majesty advances eastward, these two people will inevitably think that Your Majesty is going to destroy them, how can they not rebel? Take a step back...... Even if it was really a foreigner who attacked, could it be that with the strength of Mu Guangling and Zhao Tianzheng, he couldn't resist it? The team of both of them was not affected by the war, and they were recuperated and their combat power was the strongest......"

He glanced at Yang Jian: "Fang Jie is solving this plan, killing two birds with one stone." ”

Yang Jian's face changed, and he was not sure if Fang Xie was lying.

Da Zizi saw Yang Jian's face and knew that he had already said that he had been moved, so he continued: "Your Majesty, you think, Fang Xie has been in the southwest, no less than thousands of miles away from Eastern Xinjiang, how can he know what happened in Eastern Xinjiang one step ahead of Your Majesty?" If there is really a barbarian attack, the eastern Xinjiang will inevitably warn the fire, and the speed of news transmission will inevitably be extremely fast...... Is it the turn of someone else to explain? ”

"Your Majesty Thought ......"

Da Zizi said solemnly: "Even if there is an invasion of foreign enemies, it is better to deal with internal strife first. If there is no internal strife, how can we deal with foreign enemies? ”

Yang Jian was silent for a while and then shook his head: "I'd rather believe it...... Immediately send someone to the eastern frontier to find out the news, and ...... I asked Zheng Duofu to lead troops to deploy defenses in the east of North Jiangsu Province to see what Fang Jie's intentions were! ”

……

……

North Susu Province

Fang Jie's men and horses, with the assistance of Zheng Qiushui's division, crossed the river in a big way. Now under the strong attack of Nalan Dingdong and Du Dingbei, North Jiangsu Province has basically been suppressed, and the army has not encountered any resistance, and Tiangong is also beautiful, and there is no rain for more than a month.

This time, Fang Xie brought almost all the elites of the Black Flag Army, except for Chen Dingnan's men and horses on the other side of Yunnan Road, all the cavalry armies when the Black Flag Army was formed arrived. Today's Black Flag Army is really strong, both infantry and cavalry.

In addition to the cavalry of the original Fifth Army, Fang Xie has not stopped developing cavalry in recent years. Because the relationship with the barbarians on the grassland is not bad, especially after Jin Shixiong in the northwest left with his troops, the transaction with the barbarians was smoother and more convenient, so Fang Xie was able to obtain a steady stream of war horses from the grassland.

Whether it was for the barbarians or for Fang Jie, they all seized the most profitable opportunity in the war. When Fang Xie went down to the southwest, it was Luo Yao who led his troops to the north, Huangyang Road was empty, and a great country was pocketed by Fang Jie. The northern barbarians marched westward into the grassland, precisely because of the civil strife in the Mongol and Yuan dynasties, and the great war between the Golden Family of Koktaimeng and the Buddhist Sect spread to the entire grassland, so that the barbarians easily gained a foothold in the grassland without any resistance.

Now, the Mengyuan people want to clean up the Northern Barbarians, but their forces are really limited.

With the strong financial support of the world, coupled with a steady stream of war horses sent from the grassland, the development of the Black Flag Army was stable and rapid. If Yang Jian didn't have that ironclad army, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to compete with the Black Flag Army with the strength of his troops.

Fang Xie has a Jingbu camp, those Jianghu guests invited by Xiang Qingniu in the name of Daozun, those below the six-grade cultivation are all included in the Jingbu camp, and those above the six-grade are all personally led by Daozun Xiang Qingniu. Fang Xie has a firearms battalion, and after several years of careful construction, the combat power of this firearms battalion is definitely shocking.

Fang Xie has well-trained light cavalry and invincible infantry.

It seems that there are just a few less heavy cavalry.

Fang Xie once thought about building a heavy horse, the war horse is not a problem, and the candidate is not a problem, but ...... Even if the world is rich with goods, it is too difficult to build a heavy cavalry while supporting the development of the entire Black Flag Army. A heavy cavalry of 10,000 people, not counting the cost of war, is a huge amount of money and food consumed for daily maintenance. Moreover, even if all the armor workshops of the Black Flag Army were to make it with all their might, they would not be able to make 10,000 pieces of heavy armor in three years.

And when war is paying more and more attention to speed, the combat power of heavy armor in exchange for sacrificing speed is even more difficult to choose. The speed of heavy cavalry on the battlefield is much worse than that of light cavalry. So, after several struggles, Fang Xie finally gave up the idea of building a heavy ride.

Nalan Dingdong and the others then explained that it was at the former site of Tonggu Academy. It happened to be on the way, and Fang Xie had to come to this place anyway.

There have been many shocking battles here, such as Wan Xingchen's sword broken tower, such as Yang Jian's flat tower.

It was also here that Liao Sheng and Chen Zhenyu, who rushed back from Liuzhou, met Fang Jie.

It was under the wreckage of that tower that Fang Xie began to truly understand Yang Jian.

Liao Sheng and Chen Zhenyu told Fang Xie the scene they saw truthfully and in detail, and Fang Xie listened very carefully. These messages are so precious for the future.

Especially after Liao Sheng left, Chen Zhenyu watched the scene when he was alone in the battle, although there were many things that Chen Zhenyu didn't understand, but he only needed to tell Fang Xie everything he saw. Chen Zhenyu has a lot of things that he can't understand in terms of cultivation, but he is definitely an excellent narrator.

Shengtu has created a world!

In Chen Zhenyu's narrative, Fang Xie thought of this possibility almost immediately. However, Shengtu's cultivation has increased rapidly, and his understanding of cultivation and the realm of cultivation are not at the same level. But Fang Xie suddenly thought of a question...... Yang Jian didn't seem to have much understanding of the realm.

So...... How did he defeat Luo Yao in the first place?

Even now, Fang Xie still had some heart palpitations when he recalled Luo Yao's Vajra Realm.

But in an instant, Fang Xie suddenly thought of another possibility.

His brow furrowed, and a thought crossed his mind.

Yang Jian was able to suppress Luo Yao at the beginning, and even severely injured Luo Yao...... When Luo Yao was fighting with Yang Resolutely, it was impossible not to use his Vajra Realm, even so Luo Yao still lost, which means that Yang Jian's cultivation is definitely above Luo Yao. But when dealing with Shengtu, Yang Jian couldn't even cope with Shengtu's embryonic realm......

Why?

Actually, the answer is very simple.

Fang Xie quickly guessed that there were only two possibilities for Yang Jian to have such a performance.

First...... He's pretending!

Da Zi is now by Yang Jian's side, and it is impossible for Yang Jian to be unwary of Da Zi Zi. And there is no better way to make a person less defensive than to show weakness. Yang Jian deliberately did this, just to let Da Zizi relax his guard. Yang Jian was unwilling and did not dare to expose all his strength in front of Da Zi, because there was no reason between the two of them not to turn against each other.

Second...... Yang Jian's cultivation is declining!

If it's the second reason...... There must be something wrong with Yang Jian's body, so that his cultivation is slowly declining! When he first came out of Chang'an, he could crush Luo Yao, but now it has become difficult to even defeat Shengtu.

Thinking of this, Fang Xie took a long breath.

Whether it's the first possibility or the second, it doesn't seem to be a bad thing for Fang Jie. The first may prove that Yang Jian and Da Zizi can take advantage of each other's distrust, and the second may be the most direct benefit to the other party!