April 27, the eighth day of the battle between Han Shizhong and Wu Fu.

Although there were few major battles in the previous months, the fighting and friction between hundreds and thousands of men never stopped. Under Han Shizhong's deliberate deployment, most of the troops have been tempered and improved.

After months of rest, rotation, and training, the more than 20,000 troops led by Han Shizhong have changed their combat strength from what they used to be.

In the midst of the confrontation and the epidemic, it takes huge risks and consumes great energy to improve the troops through ingenious arrangements, which is a great test for the generals.

There is no doubt that Han Shizhong is a good general, much better than Zhang Tianlei and Yao Pingzhong.

Han Shizhong is a good general. Han Shizhong's opponent, Yongle Chao Wu Fu is also a rare good general.

Unlike Han Shizhong, who can crawl in the million-strong army of the Great Zhou and grow up on the battlefield against the Western Xia, Wu Fu can only grow rapidly in the blood and fire against the Great Zhou.

Deploying resources and arranging troops, Han Shizhong is much stronger than Wu Fu. Adapting to changes and adapting measures to local conditions, Wu Fu is not inferior to Han Shizhong.

Wu Fu and Xing Zheng, who died in battle, adopted a similar defensive lineup: they divided the miscellaneous troops into dozens of units, stubbornly defended large and small rivers and lakes, and built strong camps at key waterway crossings and dangerous terrain.

Wu Fu himself led 12,000 people who trained diligently, and regardless of the several camps on the front line that were broken by the Great Zhou army, he just stared at Han Shizhong's Chinese army.

Han Shizhong and Wu Fu have fought several games in a row, and neither side has taken much advantage.

Han Shizhong firmly guarded the flank of the army with superior ordnance such as vehicle-mounted bed crossbows, three-sentry cannons, and catapults, so that several violent assaults organized by Wu Fu were in vain. Whenever the Chinese army faced heavy casualties, Han Shizhong used expensive firearms to repel Wu Fu's elite subordinates.

An army of 200,000 surrounded the Yongle puppet dynasty. Han Shizhong knew very well, and the Great Zhou generals in other directions also knew that only by ensuring sufficient available troops could the course of the war be guaranteed.

Wu Fu didn't dare to take out a few elites and let the Great Zhou army torture them with superior ordnance and firearms, and he couldn't bear such casualties. He felt very aggrieved, feeling like a poor swordsman challenging the children of famous families, and was always repelled by the endless good things in the hands of the famous children.

For the Yongle Dynasty, the troops, especially the elite, are more valuable, and if one person dies, there will be one less.

It was already the eighth day, Han Shizhong led his troops to march in the southeast direction, but was dragged by Wu Fu's troops using lakes, rivers, canals, towns, and camps.

In an area of dozens of square kilometers, more than a dozen Great Zhou armies with different forces were attacking their respective targets, and military reports continued to reach Han Shizhong.

Han Shizhong had to decide to retreat or strengthen a certain road according to the battle situation in various places and the news from the scouts. Even sent a large force to deal with the possible attack of a large force of Fangla army.

"Order all the people to retreat carefully, don't give Wu Fu a chance to take advantage of it, and retreat into the two camps in Xujiawan and Shanqian Village before nightfall." Han Shizhong ordered.

Today's battle had just begun, and there was still more than an hour before noon, so Han Shizhong ordered to retreat.

Some generals were puzzled, so they wanted to ask, but they saw Mr. Zi'an shaking his head slightly, so he had to go down and prepare.

Everyone else left, and only Han Shizhong's nephew, Han Yanzhang, remained.

The Great Zhou Dynasty strictly forbade military generals to keep private soldiers, and the system of "separation of soldiers and generals, and rotation of garrisons" also made it impossible for military generals to marry a large number of personal soldiers. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, terms such as pro-soldier, pro-soldier, pro-guard, and pro-Ding became taboo for a time.

The Great Zhou Dynasty, which had been at war with the Liao State, Western Xia, and Tubo for a hundred years, and had fought too many nest battles, relaxed some restrictions on martial artists, such as allowing military generals who fought on the front line to select elites to serve as pro-soldier battalions, pro-guard battalions, escort battalions, and vanguard battalions. As soon as the battle was over, the improvised battalion was dispersed and could not be retained.

Pro-soldier battalion, pro-guard battalion, pro-Ding battalion. The name is different, but the intention is the same, that is, to protect the safety of the chief general and important personnel.

Han Yanzhang is the commander of the Chinese army's pro-military battalion, leading the selected 800 elites to protect the safety of Zhang Tianlei, Du Yuhou, the prison army and other important personnel.

Some generals rarely use the pro-military camp, but Han Yanzhang has led the pro-military camp into battle a lot of times.

Han Shizhong has always believed that the soldiers of the pro-military battalion are selected and enjoy the preferential treatment in terms of food, weapons, military salaries, pensions, etc., so they must continue to fight bloody battles, otherwise no matter how elite the soldiers are, they will be abolished.

Han Shizhong looked at Wu Fujun in the distance, waiting for Han Yanzhang to ask something.

Han Yanzhang clenched his fists and asked: "Dare to ask, our army has the advantage on the battlefield, why should we take the initiative to stop the attack?" ”

Han Shizhong is strict in governing the army, and has said many times that there are no fathers and sons in the army, so unless in private occasions, Han Yanzhang pays attention to the titles, rules and etiquette in the army.

Han Shizhong sighed depressedly, glanced at Mr. Zi'an, and asked Mr. Zi'an to help answer one or two.

Mr. Zi'an was invited to the army by Han Shizhong to help deal with troublesome matters such as money, food, and pensions, and he knew very well why Han Shizhong had ceased fighting, so he shook his head with a wry smile and said tiredly: "

"If you don't withdraw, you can't do it, all the copper coins have been rewarded to the soldiers, and the pension of seventy percent of the casualties has not yet been settled. If you continue to fight, the soldier will have a thorn in his heart. ”

"To the west of Taihu Lake, nearly 100,000 young people are busy working for the army, and these people also have to eat. There are hundreds of thousands of hungry people, and they cannot be allowed to starve. There are only a few days left of the food sent to the army. ”

"Arrows, weapons, and armor need to be repaired, and catapults and bed crossbows need cows, sheep, and crossbows to continue to be used. The firearms were almost exhausted, and supplies such as salt sauce, medicinal herbs, lime, and linen had to be replenished......"

"The army marched at full strength, and the daily consumption was enormous. There is not enough money, food and materials, so there is no other way but to temporarily stop fighting. ”

"This is just the beginning, if you continue to fight south, the two million people of the Yongle Puppet Dynasty will have to eat. It is also necessary to prepare more things for epidemic prevention, pacification and siege, and it is not to be careless. What a few rulers in Bianjing mean is that if the things are not well prepared, the place where they are laid cannot be appeased, it is better not to fight! ”

Han Yanzhang heard too many things that he didn't understand and didn't care about, the corners of his mouth twitched a little, and he didn't dare to speak with cold sweat.

Han Shizhong sneered and reprimanded Han Yanzhang:

"I don't see any battles all day long, I only know how to rush back and forth with a few hundred elites."

"If you want to be a general, you still have a lot to learn. There are several colonels in the national dynasty, and they will personally charge into battle on the battlefield, deploy soldiers, ensure the back road, and study the military formation, which is the real ability of the general. ”

Han Yanzhang thanked him and left with a red face, preparing to gather the pro-military camp to protect the main general and retreat.

At noon, Han Shizhong rode in front of the camp in Zongjiadun and wore armor, watching the troops withdraw into the newly built Chinese army camp.

The soldiers of the 800 pro-barracks were all dressed in heavy armor and lined up around Han Shizhong. The swords, guns, and armor were all shining, making every man who entered the camp fearful.

Han Shizhong glanced at the newly built camp a few times, and said with satisfaction: "The camp is well repaired. It seems that it is really a good idea to let the warriors who have made money organize young and strong people to work for relief and build barracks to dredge the river. ”

Mr. Zi'an couldn't ride a horse, so he had to stand on a big chair, wipe his sweat and say:

"Lord Yu is worthy of being the prime minister, not only attracting merchants from the south of the Yangtze River, merchants from the west, and merchants from the north to fight each other, but also reducing the cost of the government and the army."

"It's half a trap, half a beating, so that the warriors who make money and go crazy organize the young and strong, and after spending less than seventy percent of the money and grain, they found 300,000 young and strong for the army, and there are fewer hungry people in the south of the Yangtze River."

"Amazing, really amazing."

Han Shizhong frowned and shook his head, leaned away, and said in a low voice:

"If it weren't for Mr. Zi'an, I really wouldn't understand the power of Lord Yu's plan."

"Wooing some people, knocking some people, without the slightest trace. People who are dissatisfied with Lord Yu can't find a reason to have a seizure, and my scalp is really a little numb. ”

"It's just that Li Xiang's kid will have a hard time soon. Hey, hey, hey, it's good to let that kid suffer a loss, save him from looking omnipotent all day, I want to beat him up every time I see him. ”

Han Yanzhang was beside Han Shizhong, and when he heard Han Shizhong's words, he nodded with a grin. He also wanted to beat Li Xiang a long time ago, but he was worried about his money bag and felt that it was better to forget it.

Although Mr. Zi'an couldn't see through Li Xiang, he admired Li Xiang's style of cherishing the lives of the people.

Han Shizhong reprimanded in his mouth, but there was a smile on his face. Mr. Zi'an still doesn't understand that Han Shizhong teased Li Xiang because he treated Li Xiang as a junior, and he didn't want Li Xiang to be too sharp and be prematurely broken off by the big guys.

Speaking of Li Xiang, I thought of Liu Chengdong.

Thinking of Liu Chengdong, Han Shizhong thought of some unpleasantness ten days ago, and a look of disgrief appeared on his face.

Han Shizhong grabbed the reins, narrowed the corners of his eyes and said:

"Those who are jealous of the virtuous, and those civil officials who are too small-minded. It's simply not enough to succeed and more than to lose. ”

"If the general's suggestion is to transfer the strong army under Liu Chengdong over, the general will have already broken through the front of Wu Fu's thief general at this time and will take the lead in approaching Hangzhou."

"Where will there be a truce, waiting for the next batch of money and food to arrive."

Mr. Zi'an coughed violently a few times, reminded Han Shizhong to be quiet, sighed, and nodded:

That being said, Liu Chengdong's great achievements in Deqing County are dazzling enough. In the next big battle, no one wants to see Liu Chengdong, who has not been recruiting for a long time, has an unstable foundation, and has a strong background, to make great contributions, and wants to let him stay in the mountains and forests north of Deqing to get moldy. ”

"The key is Li Xiang. In order to earn enough money in Jiangnan, he contacted the martial artists to make a fortune, and acted too violently and offended too many people. ”

Although in order to rescue Liu Chengdong, Li Xiang has paid a lot of money to find a settlement, but it is a deal after all. Now that he has an opportunity, how can the big man who can't get used to Li Xiang and Liu Chengdong not step on it? ”

Han Shizhong exhaled and understood that Mr. Zi'an was right. Even the martial artists who have some friendship with Liu Chengdong, many of whom are still generals of Han Shizhong's Chinese army, also look forward to Liu Chengdong staying in the corner and not coming out.

Before nightfall, Han Shizhong's army withdrew three large camps and more than a dozen small camps, all of which were built in less than ten days.

Wu Fu was like a cunning cheetah, after trying his best to confuse the Great Zhou army, he suddenly sent 4,000 elites around Longtou Mountain in the evening and ate 2,000 Great Zhou troops in one bite.

The commander who was wiped out belonged to the kind of person who didn't know anything after making money, and he was always thinking about the harvest of the two workshops and a kiln in Guozhuang Town. Han Shizhong's plan to withdraw his troops was not bad, but he didn't hold out for even a quarter of an hour, and lost 2,000 men and horses before reinforcements arrived.

It seems that Yu Yunwen's beating and warning to some martial artists are very reasonable.

Han Shizhong was furious and reported the details of the commander.

Yu Yunwen and the senior officials of Jiangnan Road were even more angry, and in order to strictly enforce military discipline and let the capital colonels and generals on the front line take warning, they quickly ordered Han Shizhong, who served as the envoy all the way, to correct the commander on the spot.

On the night of April 27, Han Shizhong had a headache for the 2,000 men and horses who had been wiped out in the big house, and scolded the confused commander.

At the same time, in the mountains and forests north of Deqing County, Liu Chengdong and Li Xiangweng's son-in-law were also depressed.