After Shi Luosheng left, Xiao Daocheng asked Deng Yuanjue: "General, do you think General Wei can win here?" ”

Deng Yuanjue thought for a while and said: "It's hard to say, as Luosheng said, none of us have ever fought a naval battle, and none of us have seen the strength of the Qi State Naval Army." But there is one point, the Qi State Naval Army has been formed for more than 200 years, and there will be a hard battle when it falls. ”

Xiao Daocheng asked again: "If this trip is made by the general himself, can he win?" ”

Deng Yuanjue still said: "I don't know, it can be regarded as a victory after a hard battle, but if it is defeated, the minister is sure that it will only be a small defeat." ”

Xiao Daocheng was a little curious: "Will it only be a small defeat?" How to say this. ”

Deng Yuanjue replied: "The minister has been fighting for many years and has not tasted a single defeat, not because of how powerful the minister is with his troops, but because the minister only fights battles that can be won." The minister has been in Yuzhou for many years, but the minister has been sticking to it most of the time and has not really fought with Xiang Tong. Because the minister knows that if the minister goes to war, he is not sure that he will be able to win Xiangtong, and once the war starts, the Chu State will lose as a strong country, but our Great Song Dynasty cannot afford to lose. Last time, the minister sent troops to Cangwu, and because the minister knew that the ministers would win at that time. ”

Xiao Daocheng understood a little: "I see, the general only fights the battles that can be won, and does not fight those who cannot win or those who are not sure to win, and it is precisely by doing this that the undefeated name of the general has been achieved." ”

Deng Yuanjue smiled: "Your Majesty is so right, that's it." ”

Xiao Daocheng sighed again and said: "It's easy to say, but it's so difficult to do. People in the world think that it is a famous general to win more with less, and to defeat the strong with the weak, but in fact, winning more with less and defeating the strong with the weak are all small probability events. It's just that these small probability events seem to have a lot because the history is long enough, and because they are often talked about, they are widely circulated, and even give people the illusion that it is common to win more with less. ”

Deng Yuanjue continued: "Your Majesty is right, the fundamental reason for this is that if the dominant side wins, everyone will feel that this is the right way, and no one will publicize it." But if the inferior side wins, it will go down in history and be passed on to future generations, so it has led to all the cases in the military books of winning more with less and defeating the strong with the weak. ”

While the two were still arguing, Shi Luosheng had already taken Liu Zixuan, Wang Lun and the envoys of Yan on the way to Xianghu. This envoy of the Yan State, Cheng Buxian, was not only Ning Buqu's deputy general, but also the elder of the Ghost Shadow Gate, and along the way, Shi Luosheng also asked him a lot about the situation of the Qi State's naval army, as well as the battle between Ning Buqu and Jiang Huanyan this time.

This time, Jiang Huanyan, the commander of the Qi State Naval Army, was Jiang Huanchu's third brother, and brought a hundred large and small warships to fight Penglai, including ten three-story warships, while Song and Yan did not have such three-story warships.

The Yan State Navy has only been formed for half a year, and there are only more than 30 warships, and now half of them have been lost. Although the Song State Navy was formed earlier, because Xiao Daocheng and Deng Yuanjue did not attach much importance to the construction of the Navy Army, they usually invested less, that is, after Shi Luo was promoted to General Wei in the past half a year, some money was allocated to invest in the construction of the Navy Army.

Even so, there are less than sixty warships that the Song State can use now, except for those who stay in Xianghu to garrison, this time they can only take out at most forty ships, and the strength is less than half of the Qi army, not counting the large ships such as the three-story warships in the Qi army.

When the four of them arrived at Xianghu, Dong Liang, who had received the news in advance, had already prepared a warship, and Guo Xu, the Taishou of Jeju City, and Xun Yuqing, the commander of the city defense army, had also prepared grain and grass and personally escorted them to Xianghu.

"See General Wei, the grain and grass have been prepared, and after loading the ship, the general can set off at any time." Guo Xu felt a lot when he saw Shi Luosheng, two years ago, everyone was still together to crusade against the mountain bandits in the Dongshan area, at that time he was just a staff member under the general's account, Xun Yuqing was just a school captain, Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan were both Wupin generals. And now Shi Luosheng is already the second person in the Great Song Dynasty military, and he and Xun Yuqing also owe the blessings of others, one is the Jeju City Taishou, and the other is the commander of the city defense army.

Shi Luosheng saw his old acquaintance and smiled: "Guo Taishou, Commander Xun, I didn't expect the two of you to come to Xianghu Lake in person, we haven't seen each other for almost a year." ”

Xun Yuqing also smiled enthusiastically: "General, we just thought that we hadn't seen each other for too long, so we came here to see you, and at the same time, I also want to ask you for battle, General, and I also want to participate in this naval battle against Qi Country." In the past two years, I have often been training with Dong Liang in the training of the navy, and I was thinking about when I could go out to fight and see the results of my training, but I didn't expect this opportunity to come. ”

Xun Yuqing also wants to make contributions, from the captain to the commander of the city defense army, he followed Shi Luosheng to win the battle, but in the two years he was the commander of the city defense army, he was basically idle. Although life is leisurely, as a military general, no fighting means that there is no room for promotion. Now that the Great Song Dynasty is also peaceful, there are not as many opportunities to fight on land as before, and the sea may be an opportunity. If he can be transferred to the navy, even if he is Dong Liang's deputy, it is better than staying in Jeju every day and doing nothing.

Shi Luosheng hesitated a little and said: "The position of the commander of the Jeju City Defense Army is also very important, so if you are rashly transferred to the water army, in case there are mountain bandits in Jeju City during this time, it will be a big mistake." ”

Xun Yuqing hurriedly said: "General, you can rest assured, there are no mountain bandits in the Dongshan area, Guo Taishou has governed this area very peacefully in the past two years in office, and now every family has land to plant, every household has surplus grain, and everyone has spare money. General, take me there. ”

Guo Xu also spoke for Xun Yuqing: "General, you can take Yuqing with you, there are indeed no mountain bandits in the Dongshan area, and he has not fought in the past two years." ”

Shi Luosheng said with a smile: "Since Commander Xun has repeatedly insisted, then you can accompany me this time." It's just that Jeju has to work hard, and Guo Taishou will be too shou. ”

Xun Yuqing was overjoyed: "General Xie, I'll go to Dong Liang and help him move all this grain and grass to the ship." ”

Guo Xu shook his head with a smile, and said to Shi Luosheng again: "General, this is the first time we have fought with the Qi army, and it is another naval battle. The military wars between the five countries of our continent are generally mainly land battles, and there are very few people who are proficient in naval warfare. Although Jiang Huanyan, who led the army of Qi this time, is a prince and is not well-known among the generals of various countries, I heard that he is extremely good at naval warfare, and has led the Qi naval army to Luzon, Ryukyu, Busan and other places overseas many times. ”

When Shi Luosheng was trapped in Wuling Mountain before, he occasionally heard Jiang Huanchu talk about his third brother, and among the four brothers, Jiang Huanchu was also Jiang Huanyan who was most admired. This Jiang Huanyan is not like his other three brothers who learned the martial arts of the Tianqi Sect, he has been learning art with Lu Xinghai, the leader of the Qi State Nujiao Gang, since he was a child. In the previous life, the Nujiao Gang was the largest pirate in Jiaozhou, Qi State, and after being recruited by Qi State, it was renamed the Nujiao Gang.

The main activities of the Nujiao Gang are in the Jiaozhou area of Qi State, and after Jiang Huanyan followed Lu Xinghai out of the sea a few times, he became obsessed with life at sea and asked Emperor Jiang Wushuang of Qi to transfer him to the navy. After Jiang Huanyan arrived, it only took a few years to exterminate all the pirates within the Qi country, and then began to go overseas. Although Jiang Huanyan is not well-known in the five mainland countries, in Luzon, Ryukyu, and Busan, Jiang Huanyan's reputation is no less than that of Tian Wuji, the general of Qi, in the five mainland countries.