"This ......" Cao Wenzhao, Guan Feng and others were suddenly speechless, and couldn't help but be a little nervous.

Mo Li frowned, knowing that Gao Qiqian, the bird eunuch, was taking the opportunity to take revenge, he thought for a moment and said: "Ma Jinzhong and Cao Bianjiao, as the forwards, were not calm enough when they encountered the enemy, causing the troops to fall into a heavy encirclement, and the brothers suffered heavy losses, this is all the fault of the two of you, and now the general has decided to fine the two of you one hundred taels and beat thirty military sticks again!" ”

"My lord, this ...... Now that the enemy is present, can this punishment be mitigated a little? If General Xiao Cao and General Ma are injured, it will be very detrimental to the war......" Guan Feng said carefully.

"Yes, general, can you wait until Wang Jiayin is eliminated before punishing General Xiao Cao and General Ma?" He Zhenbei, Cheng Qingzhu and others also said.

Gao Qi said in a strange manner: "General Mo, you have to deal with it impartially, and you will be disciplined by the army!" ”

Mo Li also made a difficulty.

Speaking from the bottom of his heart, he didn't want to punish Cao Bianjiao and Ma Jinzhong at this time, after all, now that the enemy is present, if he injures these two generals, it is tantamount to cutting off his arm. But if you don't punish him, Gao Qiqian, the old bastard, will definitely not give up easily, and will definitely use the topic to play and talk about military discipline.

Cao Bianjiao and Ma Jinzhong suddenly said in unison: "General, the last general is not effective in suppressing bandits, and he is willing to be punished!" ”

Cao Wenzhao also bowed his head slightly and said: "General Mo, since they have violated the military law, then they will be punished according to the law, so as to stabilize the morale of the army and strictly enforce military discipline, so as not to make irresponsible remarks by others." ”

Mo Li gritted his teeth, nodded and said, "Okay!" Then execute! ”

At that moment, an officer of the law enforcement team came over, held down Cao Bianjiao and Ma Jinzhong, and began to execute the cane.

Mo Li said loudly: "Give me a hard beating!" Don't let anyone think of mercy! If I find anyone who dares to deliberately release water, the punishment will be doubled! ”

The soldiers who enforced the law originally wanted to hold it high, but when they heard this, how could they dare to deliberately release water? When the stick hit the backs of Ma Jinzhong and Cao Bianjiao, the crackling sound of the wooden stick hitting the skin and flesh was endless.

Gao Qiqian's eyes showed a trace of ruthlessness, and he said insincerely: "General Mo is really strict in military discipline and treats everyone equally, our family admires, admires!" ”

Ma Jinzhong and Cao Bianjiao gritted their teeth, never screamed, and the cold sweat on their heads was as big as soybeans, rolling down their cheeks.

Mo Li also felt sorry in his heart, he didn't want to punish the two of them like this, but he was forced by Gao Qiqian and had to do it.

Soon, thirty sticks were finished. Ma Jinzhong and Cao Bianjiao gritted their teeth and didn't say a word, but the clothes on their backs were already stained with blood

。

Several guards hurriedly helped the two down to rest.

Mo Li looked around at the generals and said, "Brothers, please keep in mind the two things that happened today, we are the army of the Ming Dynasty and the army of the people!" No matter who it is, we must strictly abide by military discipline, strictly abide by the law, and always keep our brothers in our hearts and the people in our hearts! In this way, the people will love us and support us! ”

Subsequently, Mo Li discussed with the generals how to attack the county seat of Hequ. Due to the impact of the Ma Jinzhong and Cao Bianjiao incidents, the morale of the whole army was affected, and it was somewhat depressed.

Cao Wenzhao said: "General Mo, I think it is more appropriate to concentrate firepower to attack the southern city gate and break through the river meanders with all your might. According to the previous intelligence, there are only two city gates in Hequ County, the south city gate and the north city gate, no matter which city gate is not tall and strong, with our weapons and firepower, we can completely attack the city, but outside the north city gate is a ravine-horizontal hill, which is not conducive to the attack of the army, and the south city gate is the front city gate, and the terrain in this area is relatively open, which is beneficial to us. ”

Mo Li nodded and praised: "General Cao really analyzed it in place!" Not bad! There should be no problem with our equipment to attack the city, we can consider sending people to attack the south city gate, however, I think Wang Jiayin should not be so simple, if they didn't have a little confidence in defending the city, they would have run away a long time ago, and now they are safely guarding the river meander, they must be prepared. ”

"What does General Mo mean?" Cao Wenzhao was a little puzzled.

"Let's send someone to carry out a tentative attack first, and see what the city defense ability of Hequ is, and what measures Wang Jiayin will have. Actually, I'm not worried that I won't be able to capture Hequ City, but I'm worried that it will be difficult to let them go into the ravines and ravines near here, after all, they are natives, and they are familiar with everything when they close their eyes, but we are all black-eyed, and what we are most afraid of is that they will play hide and seek with us. Mo Li said a little worriedly.

Cao Wenzhao nodded, Mo Li was right, before the conquest of Lingchuan last year, Cao Wenzhao led the troops to conquer Wang Jiayin, at that time Wang Jiayin had not occupied Hequ County, he hid in the ravines all day long, and did not engage with Cao Wenzhao's officers and soldiers, but from time to time he gave you a surprise attack, harassed and left, so that you were tired of running for your life but got nothing, and had to do everything you could to deal with it.

Cao Wenzhao said with emotion: "General Mo is right, at the end of last year, when he led the army to recruit Wang Jiayin, he suffered this kind of fist hitting the cotton, you advance and he retreats, you retreat, he comes to attack you again, endlessly, it is exhausting, and it is not effective." ”

This is guerrilla warfare, the most suitable combat method for the weak rebel army, and it was this guerrilla tactic that the Eighth Route Army used in later generations to make the Japanese devils who invaded China anxious and deep into the quagmire.

Mo Li said: "Judging from the battle between the Bianjiao and the bandit army just now, the bandits in Hequ City are only a part of them, I think most of the bandit army is still scattered all over the city, so it's not easy to get it, after all, we don't have much time to play hide and seek with them here." I suspect that when we attack the city, the bandits outside the city will also suddenly appear and attack us from behind. ”

Guan Feng said: "My lord, as long as the bandit army can't attack with water, we are not afraid, we have strong firepower, and it is expected that they will not be able to resist at all." ”

Mo Li nodded and said, "Okay!" Then get ready to attack! Guan Feng, you lead people to be responsible for the siege of the city, Qingzhu, and your men and horses are responsible for preventing bandits outside the city from sneaking up from behind. General Cao, you lead a part of your men and horses to bypass the south gate and launch an attack from the north gate, so that the enemy does not abandon the city and flee, everyone give the order! ”

Cao Wenzhao, Guan Feng and Cheng Qingzhu hurriedly stood up and saluted, and took the order to leave.

Due to heavy casualties, Ma Jinzhong and Cao Bianjiao's subordinates did not participate in the siege for the time being, and first rested and recuperated.

Under the cover of cavalry and infantry, chariots rumbled towards the city of Hequ, and Guan Feng commanded 5,000 soldiers to rush towards the city like a wave, and the sound of killing shook the sky.