Bocai's army was like a frightened bird, running wildly all the way, not daring to turn back to fight with the pursuers, until they retreated to Zhaoling, where they met Peng Tuo, the commander of the Yellow Turban Army of Runan County, and Zhang Mancheng, who had just arrived.

The main force of the three Yellow Turban Armies was in Zhaoling, and the momentum was greatly inspired, and the three Yellow Turban Corps together had nearly 500,000 people, of course, there were not a few family members and non-combatants in it, but it was still the largest Yellow Turban Rebel Army at that time.

Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, Cao Cao and other Han pursuers saw that the thieves were strong, so they slowed down the pace of pursuit, and met up with local forces such as Zhao Qian, the Taishou of Runan County, halfway, and some local powerful landlord armies who hated the peasant uprising also joined the official army, so far, the Han army has also gathered 70,000 or 80,000 troops.

After the three leaders of Bocai, Peng Tuo, and Zhang Mancheng met, they met in Peng Tuo's big tent to discuss the next countermeasures, after all, the Han army was chasing after them.

Zhang Mancheng and Tang Zhou still insisted on continuing to go north and join forces with Zhang Jiao's main force of the Jizhou Yellow Turbans to conspire for a great cause.

Peng Tuo was nostalgic for the power in his hands and the inseparability of his homeland, and insisted on staying in Runan. Although Bocai's knowledge and talent are higher than Peng Tuo's, he has just been defeated and is very unwilling.

He suggested that the forces of the three Yellow Turban armies should be gathered to fight the Han army once. He felt that they had a huge numerical advantage and should be sure to win.

Tang Zhou is now the number two person in Zhang Mancheng's army, and he is also a disciple of Zhang Jiao, so he is naturally qualified to speak. He opposed a decisive battle with the Han army and supported going north.

He believed that although the Yellow Turban Army was numerous, several times larger than the Han Army, the Han Army was mostly a central official army, and its equipment and combat strength were far superior to the Yellow Turban Army. Even the Han Army's Commandery and Volunteers were stronger than the Yellow Turban Army.

Although the Yellow Turban Army is numerous, only those Yellow Turban soldiers under the leaders are truly combative. Presumably, these elite soldiers do not occupy a numerical advantage with the central officers and soldiers, and their equipment and training are not the same.

As for the other ordinary Yellow Turbans, they are even more rabble, neither equipped nor trained, just shouting and cheering, not to mention that there are so many non-combatants.

The head-on decisive battle was by no means the opponent of the Han army, and the commanders of the opponent were Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun. Of course, these words of his were also taught to him by the tiger-faced man in advance.

Zhang Mancheng naturally agreed with Tang Zhou's point of view, but Peng Tuo had never fought with the main force of the Han army, and defeating Zhao Qian had already made him fluttering, thinking that the Han army was nothing more than that.

Bocai also thought that his defeat was completely due to the sneak attack of Huangfu Song and others, and in the first battle, hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban troops trampled on them to death.

At this point, Zhang Mancheng couldn't disagree with everyone's opinions, so he had to agree to send troops together tomorrow to fight to the death with the Han army.

Back in his camp, Tang Zhou comforted Zhang Mancheng, "Big leader, Bocai They don't believe in evil, and if they want to fight with the Han army, we will promise on the surface and prepare in private." ”

When Zhang Mancheng heard Tang Zhou say this, he couldn't help asking: "Senior brother, you are so calm, steady, and resourceful now, you are really a different person, what is the best way to say it quickly!" ”

Tang Zhou smiled slightly, "Senior brother, I can't hide it, most of the other words I said were given to me by a master, who has admired me for a long time and has been quietly helping us for a long time." ”

"Previously seeing through Zhao Hong's conspiracy, setting up a plan to besiege the city, and suggesting that we go east first and then go north, it is also this gentleman's opinion."

Zhang Mancheng has a lot of trust in Tang Zhou, and when he heard that he was such a master, he was also very interested. "Senior brother, are you still hiding from me? Hurry up and ask this master to come out and see him! ”

Tang Zhou saw that his goal had been achieved, and he hurriedly went to the tent to bring in a person, who was the tiger-faced man under Li Su.

Zhang Mancheng was also stunned when he saw the person wearing a tiger-faced bronze mask, but he didn't dare to slack off and got up to greet him. "Man Cheng, I've seen this gentleman, I heard Senior Brother Tang Zhou talk about Mr.'s clever calculations, I admire him very much, now that the enemy is current, I still ask Mr. to help, but Mr. is this mask?"

The tiger-faced man smiled, "Great Chief, you are also a famous figure in the Jingyang area, a hero and hero, you have admired Taiping Dao for a long time, and you are even more willing to help the Tang and Zhou brothers because of their personal hatred of the Han Dynasty." ”

"Since the big leader doesn't dislike my foolish opinion, I am also willing to help the big leader plan a thing or two, as for this mask, it is in the rules of the lower division, walking time, and you must not show your true face, and I hope the big leader understands."

What kind of character Zhang Mancheng is, since the other party is willing to help him, where does he care about those small details.

"Sir, please sit down, come slowly, come on, serve tea!" Zhang Mancheng ordered someone to serve tea, but Tang Zhou stopped him, kicked his relatives and guards out of the tent, and personally served tea and poured water for the two.

Zhang Mancheng was very satisfied with Tang Zhou's cautious behavior, and looked at the tiger-faced man again, the tiger-faced man was sitting precariously, took Tang Zhou's teacup, took a sip, and said: "Big leader, I see that in a battle tomorrow, our army will be defeated, and the Han army will win!" ”

Zhang Mancheng pretended to be angry, "Sir, if you lose before the war, you can't help but hurt your own anger too much, right?" Our three-way righteous army has 500,000 troops in one place, and the Han army is only 70,000 or 80,000 at most, how can we be defeated? ”

"Don't be in a hurry to get angry, big chief, please listen to me give you an analysis, fighting a war is not a simple arithmetic, 500,000 is greater than 780,000, you will definitely win."

Sun Tzu said in the Art of War, "Soldiers, the major affairs of the country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival, must not be ignored." Therefore, after five things, the school is calculated, and the situation is asked. One is the Tao, the second is the sky, the third is the earth, the fourth is the general, and the fifth is the law. ”

"The meaning of these few sentences is that war is the most important matter of the country, and it has a bearing on the life and death of the people and the survival of the country, and it is necessary to start from five aspects, compare and analyze the various conditions of the two sides, and consider the actual situation of both sides, so as to predict the direction of the war and the outcome of the war." Speaking of this, the tiger-faced man looked at Zhang Mancheng.

Zhang Mancheng is not a stupid person, otherwise he would not be able to take on such a heavy responsibility, he saw that the tiger-faced man explained Sun Tzu's Art of War so thoroughly, so he believed in the other party's true talent, and his mentality has changed.

"Mr. is talented, everything is reasonable, I am listening to it."

The tiger-faced man nodded, and then said: "The first one, Dao, that is, morality, that is, the officers and soldiers and the people should be united as one, to tell the truth, this one of the officers and soldiers is stronger than ours. “

"It has been hundreds of years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, and the imperial power of the Liu family has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, most of the officials and soldiers are loyal to the imperial court, and ordinary people are also devoted to the imperial court."

"Although I have preached for more than ten years and have many believers, there are still a few people who dare to rise up and overthrow the Han Dynasty government because of their faith, and the will of most people is not firm, just to eat for a while, or to be oppressed and oppressed too hard."

Zhang Mancheng thought about it, nodded, and did not object, he himself was a missionary messenger, and he knew best what the situation of these people under him was.

(End of chapter)