The two left the teahouse and headed towards the Taishou Mansion. Zhang Mancheng hosted a banquet in the backyard to entertain the two, and during the banquet, Zhang Mancheng asked with some doubts: "Why did the two generals arrive today, and the official also arranged for someone to meet you on the road, why didn't you see them report?" ”

Shi Luosheng said with a smile: "Lord Zhang, we are one step ahead to explore the reality of the mountain bandits, the army is still behind, and it will take two days to arrive." ”

Zhang Mancheng regained his smile: "Oh, I see, then what have you found out, and if you need the help of this official, just ask." ”

Shi Luosheng said: "Then thank you Lord Zhang first, Luosheng just needs your help in something." Although our people have arrived, but the army is still behind, and the mountain bandits will definitely know this news. Before I came to Jeju, the general told me that there were still 30,000 city defense troops in Jeju, and tomorrow I wanted to take this army to Dongsan to attack Li Ming's camp, and now they must think that my army is still on the way, and the cottage will not be defended, this is a good opportunity to take him. ”

A hint of embarrassment flashed in Zhang Mancheng's eyes: "The two generals are going to use troops as soon as they arrive, which is inevitably too urgent, it is better to rest for two more days before sending troops." ”

Shi Luosheng said: "No, the mountain bandits will be on guard in two days, and it is just right to send troops tomorrow, is there anything difficult about Lord Zhang?" ”

Zhang Mancheng was stunned: "Embarrassed? How can it be difficult? It's just that there have been no soldiers in the city for a long time, and the soldiers are negligent in training, so they are only afraid that it will be disadvantageous to our army. ”

Shi Luosheng said strangely: "Negligent training? Aren't they garrisons? It stands to reason that you have to train every day, so why do you neglect to train? ”

Zhang Mancheng explained: "General Shi is like this, Jeju first had war, then banditry, so that the people in the city had no intention of farming, and a lot of land was barren, and it was finally peaceful in recent years, but due to the sparse population, the official had to privately let some soldiers return to the fields and work in order to resume production, so the daily training of the garrison troops was much less. ”

Shi Luosheng thought secretly in his heart: "Okay, you Zhang Mancheng, these 30,000 city defense troops have also been disarmed and returned to the field by you, and you still receive a normal share of military salary from the imperial court every year, which is too bold." ”

Shi Luosheng frowned and said: "Lord Zhang, I came to suppress the bandits on the orders of His Majesty, and the 30,000 city defense troops in the city during the suppression of bandits are also under my control, I must suppress this bandit tomorrow, my lord, you can tell me directly, how many people can you give me tomorrow?" ”

Seeing that Shi Luosheng insisted on sending troops, Zhang Mancheng felt a little unhappy in his heart, and secretly thought: "Although this person is only a five-grade general, I heard that it is the newly adopted son of General Deng, and he still came on the order of His Majesty. ”

Zhang Mancheng pondered for a while and said: "General Shi, this official immediately ordered the recall of the troops, but it is really impossible to recall all of them for a while, and I can only guarantee to provide 2,000 people to the general after breakfast tomorrow, I don't know what the general wants?" ”

Shi Luosheng didn't speak, Liu Zixuan said angrily: "30,000 people of the city defense army, Lord Zhang, you can only come up with 2,000 people now, Li Ming of Dongshan has three camps in his hands, at least more than 10,000 people, how to fight this battle, please teach me Lord Taishou." ”

Speaking of fighting, Zhang Mancheng looked indifferent: "General Liu, this official is a civilian official, he doesn't know anything about military affairs, how to use troops is your and General Shi's business, but this official can only provide 2,000 people, you can't do anything even if you play the imperial court, and now the imperial court advocates that all localities must try their best to resume production, and the official can't ignore so much barren land in the city." ”

Liu Zixuan still had to argue, but Shi Luosheng stopped him: "Okay, just according to Lord Zhang, 2,000 people will be 2,000 people, and it's not too early today, so we won't bother adults to deal with government affairs and leave." ”

Zhang Mancheng looked at Shi Luosheng's back, and said to the housekeeper who was standing aside and waiting: "Butler Yu, this kid's background is not simple, and it is not easy to deal with. ”

Shi Luosheng and the two returned to the post station, Liu Zixuan said angrily: "This is too bold to dare to eat empty salary, we will play the court and treat him for the crime of bullying the king." ”

Shi Luosheng smiled bitterly: "Zhang Mancheng dares to be so fearless, the DPRK and China must be fine, the backer behind him is Tian Yulong, and the current national policy is to resume production, although Zhang Mancheng is not legal, but it makes sense, if you want to completely bring him down, this is not enough, you have to find other evidence." ”

Liu Zixuan said again: "The people in the city say that he is more powerful than the mountain bandits, there must be a problem here, when Mr. Guo and the others arrive, we will arrange people to check it out." ”

Shi Luosheng said: "The investigation must be investigated, but it is not something that can be found in these two days, and I am more worried about whether there will be a problem with the 2,000 people that Zhang Mancheng gave us tomorrow." ”

Liu Zixuan was surprised: "No, since he promised 2,000 people, if we can't get together the number tomorrow, we will directly behead him on the spot for the crime of delaying the military plane, and then report to the general, even Tian Yulong can't do anything at that time." ”

Shi Luosheng shook his head and said: "It's not a matter of numbers, Mr. Guo and I have always suspected that these mountain bandits have colluded with Zhang Mancheng, and we sent troops tomorrow to take Li Ming by surprise, but if Zhang Mancheng really colluded with them, Li Ming must have known by now, and tomorrow we will definitely set up an ambush and surround us." ”

Liu Zixuan scratched his head: "Then why don't we send troops tomorrow, and wait for our own people to come before sending troops?" ”

Shi Luosheng shook his head again: "It's not appropriate, although it is safe to do this, there is no way to test whether there is really collusion between Zhang Mancheng and the mountain bandits, and even if our people come, there are only 3,000 people, and a hard attack will not be able to take the Dongshan Cottage, so we must make a surprise attack." Tomorrow we will still be ......."

Shi Luosheng told Liu Zixuan about his strategy, and Liu Zixuan nodded silently.

Early the next morning, the 2,000 city defense troops on the school field had been assembled, and Zhang Mancheng, the Taishou, handed over the talisman to Shi Luosheng. Shi Luosheng stood on the platform and looked at the sparse soldiers below. There was a sense of anger in his heart, how could this be called a soldier, and it was not much better than ordinary people. Not to mention the equipment, some of them don't even have a decent weapon, some of them have hoes, some of them have flat poles, and some of them are even barehanded. Although Shi Luosheng was unhappy, it was inconvenient for the army to set off soon.

The leading lieutenant came over: "Jeju City Defense Military Captain Zhang Fang see the general, the troops have been assembled, please give instructions to the general." ”

This captain named Zhang Fang still behaved like a soldier, and after Zhang Fang reported to Shi Luosheng, he glanced at Zhang Mancheng intentionally or unintentionally.

Shi Luosheng said: "Then let's go." ”

Zhang Mancheng smiled at Shi Luosheng and said: "I wish the two generals a victory, and the official will set up a banquet in the city and wait to celebrate the general." ”

Shi Luosheng smiled coldly: "Then Lord Lao Zhang will have to worry about it." After saying that, he turned over and got on his horse and led the soldiers away.

When the troops marched to the foot of the East Mountain, they did not go towards Li Ming's main village, but went up to the Aolai Peak on the left side of the East Mountain. Halfway up the mountain, Shi Luosheng said to Zhang Fang, who was full of doubts: "Li Ming has three camps in Dongshan, in addition to Li Ming's own Dongshan Village, there are two camps in Taohuayu and Aolai Peak, this general will give you 500 people, you lead out the mountain bandits from the front of Aolai Peak, be sure to drag them down, and wait for the general to lead the remaining men and horses around the mountain, and then come to meet you after breaking through the Aolai Peak Village." ”

Zhang Fang was a little embarrassed and said: "General, there are at least 3,000 people on this Aolai Peak, and I'm afraid that my 500 city defense troops who have not trained much will be able to hold them back." ”

Shi Luosheng sneered: "General Zhang is too worried, we have no intention of calculating, you go up to fight the other party now and are not in a hurry, and when they react, you will retreat, go to the bottom of the mountain to find a narrow mountain road by yourself, just hold it there, and General Ben will come down soon." ”

Zhang Fang had no choice but to say: "Then the general will go here, and the general should come earlier." ”

Watching Zhang Fang lead the army away, Shi Luosheng asked Liu Zixuan to bring someone to follow from behind, this person was not from the existing city defense army, but the farmer Liu Zixuan hired in the city last night.

After Liu Zixuan left, Shi Luosheng did not lead the army to make a detour behind the mountain to attack the camp of Aolai Peak, as he said to Zhang Fang, but sat in place and waited.

About half an hour later, the farmer rushed down from the mountain, ran to Shi Luosheng's ear and whispered a few words, Shi Luosheng heard a big wave of his hand, and led the army directly down the mountain along the road that Zhang Fang had just walked.

"General, why did you come up from behind? Aren't you going around to the back of the mountain? Zhang Fang was a little surprised to see Shi Luosheng coming from behind him.

Shi Luosheng sneered: "General Ben is worried that you won't be able to resist the mountain bandits, so he came up directly to help the general." Why, why did General Zhang stop his troops here? Could it be that you are afraid so you don't dare to move forward? ”

Zhang Fang pretended to be calm and said: "No... No, the last general saw that the soldiers were climbing the mountain hard, so he took a rest on the spot, and he was about to launch an attack later, but he didn't expect the general to personally lead the troops up. ”

Shi Luosheng didn't delve into it: "Really? In that case, we will now join forces and attack Aolai Peak together. ”

Zhang Fang hurriedly said: "Didn't the general want to take a detour to the back of the mountain, why did he change his mind now?" ”

Shi Luosheng said lightly: "The soldiers are not tired of cheating, but they can't think of it, let's go." ”

Zhang Fang was helpless, turned his head and gave a look to one of his cronies, who knew and deliberately fell behind the team, wanting to sneak around the mountain.

Shi Luosheng was paying close attention to the surrounding movements, where could the cronie's actions be hidden from his eyes, Shi Luosheng picked up a stone casually and threw it at the cronie's head with enough internal force, with a snap, it hit the back of the head, and the cronie fell to the ground and died. Shi Luosheng said loudly: "Retreat from the battle, behead according to the military order, and those who retreat without permission will be killed." ”

The city defense army saw that the stone fell and moved seriously, and they no longer dared to make small moves. Zhang Fang secretly complained bitterly, and couldn't think of any other way for a while, so he could only follow behind Shi Luosheng.

Along the way, the army did not encounter a mountain bandit, and came directly to the gate of the Aolai Peak Village, although the gate of the cottage was closed, but there was no one else at the door except for a few sentry.

Shi Luosheng glanced at Zhang Fang, who was pale-faced next to him, and then ordered to attack the village.

The mountain bandits who were on guard found that a large number of officers and soldiers suddenly appeared in front of them, and they were taken aback, and turned around to inform the bandit leaders in the back mountain, but as soon as they turned around, they saw a big knife slashing towards them, and before they could see the appearance of the attacker, the person was split in half.

It turned out that Shi Luosheng guessed that Zhang Fang was Zhang Mancheng's person, so he deliberately let Zhang Fang lead the army alone, and sent Liu Zixuan to follow behind secretly. Zhang Fang really sent his cronies up the mountain to deliver a letter on the way, telling the mountain bandit Shi Luosheng's plan to make a detour to the back mountain. As a result, the cronie was caught by Liu Zixuan, who was following, and after Liu Zixuan asked about the situation, he slaughtered him with a knife, and then pretended to be him to continue to deliver letters.

When the bandit leader saw the news sent by Liu Zixuan, he immediately dispatched heavy troops to the back mountain to defend, but the camp at the front gate was empty. After the mountain bandits left, Liu Zixuan was not in a hurry to leave Aolai Peak, and secretly found a place to lurk, and when he saw Shi Luosheng leading the army to kill, he jumped out and slaughtered all the sentries at the gate one by one, and then opened the gate of the wall, and let the army come in.