Chapter 470: Cao Bin

Outside the city of Yangzhou, there is a heavily guarded camp.

Cao Bin sat in the big tent of the Chinese army, listening to a middle-aged staff member report on the situation with a blank face.

"General, I have sent people across the river many times to negotiate with the Southern Tang Dynasty, but Zhang Renjian has been perfunctory to us, he either said that the grain and grass have not been enough, or that the ordnance is not complete, or that the ships are still being mobilized, yesterday he even said that there was an epidemic in their army, and many soldiers are being treated, and there is no way to send troops now."

Cao Bin frowned, "This official has already discovered that Nantang has been delaying the dispatch of troops. It seems that they want to preserve their strength, and they don't want to be the first to fight against Nanami. They must have wanted Chen Hongjin and Qian Hongxin to fight with Seven Seas Company first. If we can win, Nantang will come out and pick up some bargains. If we are defeated, Zhang Renjian will definitely lead his troops to escape. ”

The middle-aged staff member asked: "General, according to the strategy you formulated, we should set off a few days ago, and then join up with Qian Hongxin and Chen Hongjin's sailors in Hangzhou Bay to attack several islands occupied by the Seven Seas Company. Now that the Southern Tang side is delaying time, will it affect the battle plan? ”

"This shouldn't be," Cao Bin shook his head, "Even if we set off a few days later, if we have troops from all directions, there will be at least more than 40,000 troops." According to Qian Hongxin's estimates, Seven Seas has a maximum of three or four thousand people. We have ten times the strength of the force, and we will definitely win if we attack with the overwhelming force of Mount Tai. ”

"General, what should we do now? You can't just wait. If you really can't do it, please go to Jiangnan in person to negotiate with Zhang Renjian. It seems that without putting pressure on him, he will not send troops. ”

Cao Bin sighed: "Hey, even if I go to Zhang Renjian in person, it is estimated that he will also find an excuse to push and shove." At present, our troops are too small, only 3,000 people, and there are not enough sailors and ships to form a deterrent to Jiangnan, so Zhang Renjian is not afraid of us at all, after all, he now has 20,000 soldiers and horses and hundreds of warships. The only way now is to truthfully report the situation here to the imperial court, and let the imperial court come out to put pressure on Li Yu, so as to deter the monarchs and ministers of Jiangnan and let them send troops smoothly. ”

"Then I'll go and draft the recital at once, and then ask the general to look at it."

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More than ten days have passed, and Jiangnan is already a season of mixed peanut trees and warblers.

But Cao Bin faced this intoxicating scenery, and his heart was full of worries.

There was news in Jiangnan that Seven Seas Company and Qian Hongyi's army defeated Qian Hongxin outside Hangzhou, and Qian Hongxin's entire army was defeated and fled back to Laochao Huzhou. Therefore, Qian Hongxin collapsed, and the army in his hand was not left with one out of ten, and only more than 2,000 remnants were defeated. Qian Hongyi sent Shen Chengli to command 10,000 troops, followed Qian Hongxin's rout, and chased him to the city of Huzhou. However, he did not immediately attack the city, but only regained the lost territory near Huzhou, cleared the rout, restored local farming, and relieved the local peasants, and the situation was very good.

And Qian Hongxin could only cower in Huzhou City, watching Shen Chengli's army show off its might outside the city, and he was already frightened. He sent people to the Yangzhou camp to cry and ask Cao Bin to send troops to help him defend Huzhou.

But Cao Bin has no soldiers to send, and the court only gave him a total of 3,000 men, if they are all sent to Qian Hongxin, wouldn't it be a big joke? Therefore, Cao Bin decided to ignore Qian Hongxin.

This lost dog! Cao Bin cursed Qian Hongxin in his heart. Due to the defeat of Qian Hongxin, the plan of the Great Song Dynasty was completely disrupted. Qian Hongxin not only lost nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses, but also reversed the offensive and defensive momentum, allowing Qian Hongyi to relieve the siege of Hangzhou and recover a large area of lost territory, and Chen soldiers were under the city of Huzhou. It seems that without external help, Qian Hongxin's demise is just around the corner.

But who can go to Huzhou to rescue Qian Hongxin? Nan Tang and Wu Yue are feuding, and Li Yu will never send troops to help Qian Hongxin. Qian Hongyi and Qian Hongxin killed each other, and the happiest one was the Southern Tang Dynasty. They were happy to see Wu Yueguo being beaten into a scorched earth.

Cao Bin frowned, how can this be good! Originally, the plan of the Great Song Dynasty was to let Cao Bin lead 3,000 troops to supervise the battle, and lead Qian Hongxin, Li Yu, and Chen Hongjin to attack the Seven Seas Company. Fortunately, now that Qian Hongxin was disabled, it can be said that he was struggling to survive, causing Qian Hongyi's army to be very arrogant. Although the imperial court has sent people to reprimand Li Yu, and Li Yu has also said that he will speed up the progress, the Southern Tang Dynasty has always been unwilling to send troops.

But the most infuriating thing is that yesterday Chen Hongjin sent someone to report that the Seven Seas Company had sent sailors to attack Chen Hongjin's naval camp more than half a month ago, and burned all Chen Hongjin's warships! Therefore, Chen Hongjin could only send 5,000 troops to Hangzhou by land, but when he heard that Hangzhou had been relieved, Chen Hongjin's soldiers and horses retreated to defend Quanzhou, and he was afraid that the Seven Seas Company would end his lair.

Several battalion commanders and Cao Bin's three staff members walked into the Chinese army's tent and saluted Cao Bin one after another.

Cao Bin sighed and stood up to salute the officers in return.

"General," asked a rough-looking, high-voiced officer, "we have been in the camp for more than a month, and our brothers can't hold it back, when will we send troops?" ”

Cao Bin saw that several commanders were eager to try, and his eyes were full of eagerness, so he told them about the current situation.

"General Qiyu, I heard that the Rausch Zi Seven Seas Company is just a group of pirates. Our 3,000 troops of the Great Song Dynasty can't defeat a few thousand rabble? A burly officer with a face like a heavy jujube said with some disapproval.

"Yes, yes, what Lao Zheng said is reasonable, as long as we gather the 20,000 troops of the Southern Tang Dynasty, we can't catch a group of pirates."

"General, I heard that there are a lot of good things on the bandits' old nest on Qishan Island, some people say that they have collected a lot of money and materials in Hangzhou City."

"What Brother Zhou said is true, if we can conquer Qishan Island, then everyone will make a fortune!"

Several officers talked a lot, making Cao Bin's head a few times bigger. Seeing that the eyes of these officers were full of desire to get rich~ hope, Cao Bin was a little helpless.

He cleared his throat: "Ahem, ahem, everyone, it's not that the officer doesn't want to send troops, but the current situation is like this......"

Cao Bin told several battalion commanders about the current situation, saying that Qian Hongxin was defeated and could no longer send troops; Chen Hongjin was burned to the ship of the Navy Division, and he could not come to rendezvous; The Southern Tang side is grinding again, that is, they don't want to be the first bird.

After listening to Cao Bin's words, several commanders looked at each other, and no one spoke. It seems that the army of the Seven Seas Company is not very bad. After all, with their own strength, they relied on thousands of men and horses to capture Hangzhou City and capture the lord of Wu Yueguo. Moreover, he united with Qian Hongyi's army and defeated Qian Hongxin's nearly 30,000 horses outside Hangzhou, which is indeed not a soft persimmon!

The desire to be promoted and make a fortune ~ hope occupies all the body and mind of these veteran ruffians, and they will not retreat!

"General," the rough-looking Zhou De arched his hand, "This nest of Seven Seas Company is definitely a big fat sheep, if we don't take it, we will be cheaper for Li Yu's bad seed." As long as we deal with it properly, defeating them shouldn't be a problem. ”

"Commander Zhou, tell me how to defeat the Seven Seas Company?" Cao Bin asked rhetorically.

"This, this, let's let Lao Zheng talk about it." Zhou De, a rough billet, pushed it to others when he mentioned the war.

Zheng Fa, whose face was like a heavy jujube, glared at Zhou De, stood up and said respectfully:

"General, although the army of the Seven Seas Company is very powerful, their weakness is that they are too few in number. As long as we use our troops prudently, everyone will form a group and rush over with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai, and ten times the strength of the troops will form an absolute advantage. Even if you fight with them, you are not afraid, after all, the front is Li Yu's army, and we will supervise the battle in the back. At that time, we defeated the Seven Seas Company and captured Qishan Island, where we can take the money and materials at will, it is estimated that Li Yu does not have much courage to dare to compete with us. ”

Several officers spoke out in support of Zheng Fa, and the big tent was noisy for a while.

Several of Cao Bin's staff members also whispered, saying that they could send troops, and there should be no danger, after all, the 20,000 troops of the Southern Tang Dynasty were in front. I can't beat Nanami, so you can run away at any time.

Cao Bin is a cautious person, but he also has an indecisive side in his character, and when he saw that the staff and officers said that he could fight, Cao Bin was moved.

"That's it," Cao Bin waved his hand, "Convey the order to Zhang Renjian now, and tell him to send troops in three days!" You immediately go back to reorganize the army, prepare grain and grass, and in three days all board the ship and send troops to Qushan Island! ”

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In the evening, Li Yu summoned Xu Xuan in the study of the palace.

After Xu Xuan saw the salute, Li Yu waved his hand and sent the chamberlain and the palace maid away.

Xu Xuan closed the door and sat opposite Li Yu.

"Xu Qing, Zhang Renjian came to report just now, Cao Bin asked him to send troops in three days, it seems that we can't drag it out."

"Your Majesty, we've been delaying for almost a month, and we're already worthy of Seven Seas. They shouldn't have any ideas. ”

Li Yu played with a green jade lion and said, "Xu Qing, you send someone to tell Seven Seas Company the news that we are sending troops. Then he said to them, we are fighting with them, that is, we are putting on a show, and we will not fight them to the end. I hope they can cooperate with Zhang Renjian, just make a comparison, don't get angry, that will not be good for anyone. ”

Xu Xuan nodded: "Your Majesty, I understand, those brothers of the Seven Seas Company are all shrewd people, and they won't do anything that is not beneficial." However, the minister is a little worried, if it is too fake, what can Cao Bin do if he sees it? ”

"Don't pay attention to Cao Bin, Da Song is too busy to take care of himself now, what can he do to me?"