"The next battle book?" Gao Jichang and the others were taken aback.

Now that the main force of the Wu army has been transferred to deal with the reinforcements, the number of troops left outside Jiangling City to be responsible for containing them will not exceed 10,000 at most, and the general surnamed Li on the other side still dares to send someone to issue a war letter?

The enemy's strength will not exceed 10,000, and although the defenders of the city have been attrition before, they can use about 20,000 troops; Even if it is necessary to leave a part of the city to defend the city for the sake of safety, then the number of troops who can go out of the city to engage the enemy army can be at least 15,000 people, in this case, the enemy army should be mainly defensive, how can they take the initiative to challenge?

Even Ni Kefu asked with some surprise: "Marshal, the enemy army is coming to write a war letter, there will be no fraud in this, right?" ”

Gao Jichang didn't answer directly, but looked at Liang Zhen and said, "What do seniors think?" ”

Liang Zhen pondered for a moment, and then replied: "It's hard to say, and the old man can't judge whether the enemy army is deceitful!" ”

Gao Jichang nodded and said, "Since that's the case, let's summon the envoy of the Wu State in first!" ”

He decided to see the situation first before making a decision, anyway, whether to go out of the city to engage the enemy army, the initiative was in his hands; As for the question of whether it would be humiliating if he refused to accept the enemy's war letter, Gao Jichang didn't care at all.

What is the use of faces? Compared with the real army and territory, Gao Jichang has never cared much about such a virtual thing as a face.

After a while, Zhou Zong walked in under the supervision of several guards.

As soon as they met, he sneered: "Gao Jieshuai is also a feudal town, but he doesn't want to be so timid. ”

Ni Kefu and the others said angrily: "My family marshal allowed you to come here, how can this be considered cowardice?" ”

Zhou Zong said with a smile: "The main force of our army has been transferred by the king to deal with your reinforcements, and there are only 5,000 troops left here; With such a small number of troops, when you just entered the city, your defenders were like a great enemy, and they didn't even dare to open the city gates, but only dared to let them enter the city through hanging baskets. ”

Ni Kefu and the others looked stunned, not knowing how to answer, but Liang Zhen said: "When the battle is about to be made, everything is based on prudence, how can it be considered timid? Marshal, the old man thought that the soldiers who were defending the city just now did not open the city gate rashly, this was a decision to be loyal to their duties, and they should be commended! ”

Gao Jichang said with a smile: "What the seniors said is very true, come here, pass on the order of the marshal, and give each of the soldiers who guarded the door just now a promotion!" ”

Zhou Zong's heart sank, and he said in his heart: "This Gao Jichang is really not an ordinary person, no wonder even the king attaches importance to this person; As for this old man, it should be Liang Zhen, the strategist next to Gao Jichang, right? ”

He thought in his heart, but his face was silent, and he continued: "Okay, if it is prudent to say that the city gate was not opened before, then he is just a scholar, powerless, and he was ordered to come as an envoy, but Gao Jieshuai is like an assassin, with so many guards by his side, isn't this timid?" ”

Liang Zhen smiled, and continued: "You also said just now, my family is guarding against assassins, this defense against assassins, no matter how cautious you are, do you think what the old man said is reasonable?" ”

Zhou Zong was dumbfounded, and immediately knew that he could not be the opponent of the person in front of him, so he immediately stopped trying, but laughed, bowed and said: "This must be Mr. Liang Zhenliang, the first strategist next to Gao Jieshuai, right?" In the next Zhou Zong, I met Mr. Liang! Mr. Liang's name has long been heard of when he was in Jinling, and now when he sees it, it is really worthy of his name! ”

He saluted Liang Zhen, but did not salute Gao Jichang, the envoy of the Jingnan Festival, which made Liang Zhen and the others frown after seeing it.

Even Gao Jichang's face was a little unsightly.

Liang Zhen got up and said to Gao Jichang: "Jieshuai, this person is so arrogant and rude, the old man thinks that Jieshuai should drive this person out of the city!" ”

Gao Jichang silently did not speak.

On the side, Wang Baoyi said to Zhou Zong: "Since Your Excellency is a messenger sent by the Wu army, but you are so arrogant and rude, are you Wu people usually so vulgar?" ”

Zhou Zong was dumbfounded, he smiled and said: "Most of the people in my Wu Kingdom are naturally courteous gentlemen, and rude people like Zaixia can only be sent to Jiangling as an envoy." ”

His words almost didn't make him half dead, but as soon as he was the envoy of the Wu State, as the so-called two armies fought without killing them, although Gao Jichang and the others were angry in their hearts, they didn't dare to do anything to him.

Second, this time the Wu army suddenly sent an envoy to issue a war letter, and Gao Jichang also wanted to find out the details of the Wu army, so he was naturally unwilling to drive Zhou Zong out of the city.

Of course, the most important point is that now that Jiangling is besieged by the Wu army, and the battle between the Wu army and the Jiangling reinforcements, it is difficult to say which side can win, so Gao Jichang does not want to offend the Wu State too much at this time, so as not to have no way to retreat in the future.

Fortunately, Zhou Zong did not completely do things, the reason why he behaved so arrogantly as soon as he came in today, but it was Yang Wu who made him so, in fact, he himself was not an arrogant person, but humble and polite.

It was also difficult for a humble and polite person to pretend to be a rebellious and rude person, at least by this time, he already felt that it was almost there.

So he then saluted Gao Jichang again, and said: "Gao Jieshuai, my general's order is to come down and issue a war letter, if the Jieshuai accepts, three days later, my general will lead the army to fight with the army of Jieshuai in the east of the city!" ”

Gao Jichang frowned and looked at Ni Kefu.

Ni Kefu suddenly understood, and asked, "Compete in the east of the city?" Why not in Seongnam? ”

After all, the east of the city is the direction of the face of the Wu State, if there is a battle there, who knows if the people of the Wu State have an ambush.

Zhou Zong sneered and said, "Chengnan? How can the south of the city be able to display that little place? You must know that the strength of your and my armies combined, but ......"

Speaking of this, Zhou Zong seemed to suddenly realize that he had missed his words, and hurriedly changed his words: "Well, in short, the place in the south of the city is too small to be used as a battlefield!" ”

Gao Jichang and the others looked stunned, obviously noticing what Zhou Zong had almost said just now.

"The strength of the troops is combined, but it is ......"

But what? Everyone was very curious, but Zhou Zong no longer mentioned this matter, and they had to speculate in their hearts.

Ni Kefu pondered for a moment, and then asked, "After three days, what if it rains?" ”

……

Ni Kefu kept asking Zhou Zong about some details, but in fact, the purpose was just to try to probe the details of Wu Jun and test the reality of Wu Jun.

It's a pity that Zhou Zong was instructed by Yang Wu face-to-face before the envoy, in addition to deliberately revealing some news, the key news was secretive, which made people suspicious after listening to it, and it was difficult to determine the specific situation.

In the end, Zhou Zong deliberately pretended to be impatient and said: "Gao Jieshuai, the tactics are here, in short, after three days, the battle or not is decided by the Jieshuai, if the Jieshuai feels scared, then after three days, you can close the door and not come out!" There is something else important in the next, if the marshal has nothing else to do, then he will leave in the next! ”

Gao Jichang was helpless, so he had to nod and reply: "Since that's the case, then Mr. Zhou, please go back first!" Whether there will be a battle in three days, this commander will send a messenger to inform your army tomorrow! ”

In the end, he still couldn't figure out the truth of Wu Jun, so he naturally didn't dare to agree rashly, so he had to let Zhou Zong leave first.

After Zhou Zong said goodbye and left, Gao Jichang first asked Liang Zhen: "Senior, what do you think of Zhou Zong?" ”

He asked a little strangely, but Liang Zhen understood what he meant.

"Marshal, in the old man's opinion, this person must not be a staff member he claims to be, at least not a staff member of a mere commander; If the old man expected it to be good, this person would either be a close minister next to King Wu, or a commander of the capital, or even a staff member of the governor's side! Liang Zhen replied after a deep sigh.

Zhou Zong seemed to have said a lot of things just now, but when everyone looked back, they found that what Zhou Zong said was something useless, or some specious news, which not only made it difficult to find out the truth of Wu Jun after listening to it, but also made him suspicious.

Can he speak so well, is it possible for such a young man to be just a staff member for a commander? At least Liang Zhen didn't believe it, and Gao Jichang also had some doubts in his heart.

Gao Jichang nodded, and then he asked everyone: "Just now this person said that their commander is named Li Zhang, has anyone heard of this person?" ”

After hearing this, everyone shook their heads, indicating that they had not heard of it.

There is no way, although Li Zhang is also a veteran of Wu State, his level is not high, and he is not famous, so he is naturally not understood.

Gao Jichang was a little disappointed, but Liang Zhen said on the side: "Since Li Zhang is so unknown, then there are two possibilities. The first possibility is that this person is a young general, although he is not famous, but he has outstanding ability, so King Wu will rest assured that he will hand over the people left behind to him. ”

Gao Jichang nodded again and again after hearing this, "What about the second possibility?" ”

"The second possibility, this Li Zhang is just a cover put in front of the stage, there must be someone else behind him!"

"Which one does the seniors think is more likely to be?"

"Of course, the second is probably bigger! First, no matter how capable a young general is, I am afraid that King Wu will not easily give him such an important task; Second, didn't you just say that Zhou Zong should be a commander of a certain capital, or a staff member next to a certain governor, or even a close minister next to King Wu? If you put these two points together, then the problem is clear. ”

Gao Jichang nodded and said, "There is also a commander behind Li Zhang, or a governor, or even King Wu himself!" The strength of the Wu army must be quite a lot! ”