On the morning of the next day, the commander of the Chongyang army was in the barracks, and the Central Military Hall.

Today is the first general meeting since the assembly of the army, and dozens of generals are standing with their hands down according to their ranks, all with blank expressions, listening to Zhang Kuang's words.

Zhang Kuang quoted scriptures, spoke at length, and lectured for a long time, and some people couldn't bear it, and began to secretly look left and right, and glanced at Wang Kefan from time to time.

In the past two or three months, Wang Kefan has been suppressing bandits in Chongyang, not to mention the Biao Battalion, there are also many newcomers in the Gongyi Battalion who don't know him, but they have all heard that he defeated Song Jiang and won more with less.

For military generals, winning battles is the best way to prove their strength and win respect, many newcomers are full of curiosity about Wang Kefan, and have the meaning of getting close to him, and those officers who are the disciples of the sect still don't deal with him, but they also have to admit that this show does have some ability, not to be underestimated.

Wang Kefan also looked at these colleagues from the corner of his eye, and made an intuitive rough judgment on them. What is disappointing is that most of the generals have a ruffian aura on their bodies, and after standing for a little longer, some people begin to shake their hands and legs, and their discipline is loose, and they don't even have the basic temperament of a soldier.

Suddenly, a sharp gaze shot over, and Wang Kefan immediately felt like a man's back.

He looked up at the place where his gaze came from, and the feeling of being on his back disappeared immediately, but he saw a scribe standing solemnly behind Zhang Kuang, looking at his nose and mouth, his mouth and heart, and his eyes did not squint, as if nothing had happened just now.

Meng Zhengfa!

Zhang Kuang and the Meng family were originally world friends, and they got acquainted with Meng Zhengfa very early and appreciated them very much. This time, he was promoted to the post of Huguang Supervisor of the Military Dao, led the army to Chongyang, and immediately invited Meng Zhengfa to serve as his staff member and appointed him as a military counselor in the army.

Meng Zhengfa was suffering from the lack of a way to take the imperial examination, and happily accepted Zhang Kuang's invitation. However, he said first, he only temporarily served as the military counselor, and in the future, he still had to go down to the field and enter the Shilin, and he must remain in the ranks of civil officials, and he would never abandon literature and martial arts like some people, and for the sake of fame and fortune, he didn't even want the integrity and face of a scholar.

Throwing a pen from Rong is a betrayal of the entire Shilin, Wang Kefan has inadvertently offended many people, whether it is Zhang Kuang or Meng Zhengfa, they are full of hostility towards him from the bottom of their hearts.

"We are officials, we should report to Jun En, go down to Lishu, Song Jiang bandits will not be eliminated for a day, and this commander will never withdraw ......troops for a day" Zhang Kuang's precept finally came to an end: "The army will set off in two days, go straight to the city bandits' nest, and be sure to annihilate Song Jiang's gang of water robbers in one fell swoop, if you have no other objections, go back and prepare for each other." ”

This was originally just a scene, Zhang Kuang is the commander of the army, since the battle has been announced, everyone will follow it, and if there is any objection, it will not be raised in public on this occasion.

However, Wang Kefan suddenly came out of the crowd.

"Qi Qi Zhang Shuai, the final general is not properly arranged for this battle."

Under the surprised gaze of everyone, he said loudly: "The city wall of Tongcheng is strong, and it is backed by Mufu Mountain, and it is bordered by the Junshui River in the north, and the terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. If our army attacks on a large scale, Song Jiang will definitely rely on the city to hold on, and it will be difficult to capture it urgently......"

In this era, there were no siege weapons such as artillery and explosives, and siege warfare was very difficult, even if the attacker had an absolute advantage in troops, it might be difficult to break through a city for several months. With the quality of Zhang Kuang's troops, after the attack is frustrated and loses its sharpness, it may not be the opponent of those outlaw bandits, and there is a chance that they will be defeated.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty was about to go south to Huguang, and the Dubiao Battalion and the Gongyi Battalion had nearly 10,000 horses, well-equipped, sufficient food and salary, and although their combat effectiveness was poor, they could not afford to fold in the hands of the water bandits.

Of course, doing so would offend Zhang Kuang, but he couldn't pretend to be deaf and dumb.

Zhang Kuang's face immediately sank, Meng Zhengfa glanced at him, and shouted to Wang Kefan: "Presumptuous! You are just a partial general, and you dare to criticize the strategy of the army, can you be guilty......"

Wang Kefan didn't allow him to be mad, and immediately pushed back stiffly: "I, the Son of Heaven, don't stop talking, I'm just participating in the military discussion, what's the crime?" Besides, Zhang Shuai has said first, and there will be objections in the end, of course, he must explain it truthfully. ”

"Well......" Zhang Kuang's face was even more angry, and he stared at Wang Kefan for a long time before he gritted his back molars and said: "Okay, Ben Shuai has to listen, what tricks do you have to break the enemy!" ”

"If you are in a hurry to attack the city, the water bandits can hold on to the city and wait for work, which is not good for our army." Wang Kefan said calmly: "Therefore, our army should first attack the Yanglou Cave, cut off the passage between Linxiang and Tongcheng, lead Song Jiang out of Tongcheng, and defeat him outside the city......"

Yanglou Cave is located in the west of Chongyang sixty miles, is the throat between connecting Linxiang and Tongcheng, there is no solid walled city, the terrain is not conducive to defense, only by the remnants of the Dulong King guard, much better than Tongcheng.

"Hehe, ridiculous." Zhang Kuang pouted: "Hit the Yanglou Cave first, will Song Jiang come to the rescue?" What should he do if he shrinks into Tongcheng and doesn't come out? ”

"Linxiang is next to Dongting Lake, is the nest of Song Jiang's gang of water bandits, our army attacked Yanglou Cave, cut off their way home, Song Jiang had to send troops to rescue." Wang Kefan patiently explained: "Of course, if Song Jiang really doesn't dare to come, we will first attack Linxiang, cut off its way back, break its lair, turn Tongcheng into a lonely city, and win without a fight......"

"Needless to say!" Zhang Kuang was too lazy to listen any longer, and interrupted Wang Kefan: "With a thunderous blow from the army, I can easily break through the city, why go around to Yanglou Cave?" The army will set off tomorrow, and any more words will disturb the hearts of our army, so retreat. ”

There is a Junshui River waterway between Chongyang and Tongcheng, and it is convenient for the army to transport grain and grass, but it is a land route to go to Yanglou Cave, and it takes several more days.

"Storming the city is a short and long strategy, and I ask Zhang Shuai to take back his life!" Wang Kefan still did not give up and insisted on doing Zuihou's efforts.

"You're so bold!" Zhang Kuang finally couldn't hold it back, turned around and shouted angrily: "Niu Xietai, your generals are so arrogant, how should you deal with it?" ”

Niu Zhongxiao, as the camp officer of the Gongyi Battalion, if he echoed Zhang Kuang, Wang Kefan could be punished on the spot, but how could he embarrass his beloved general.

"Zhang Observation, please calm your anger, Wang Shoubei is young and doesn't understand the rules of the army, why should he be like him?"

Niu Zhongxiao saluted respectfully, and said with a smile: "The last general thinks that it is always right to be careful, it is better to divide a group of soldiers and horses to fight Yanglou Cave, first, to block the Linxiangshui bandits, in case they rescue Tongcheng, and second, to block the retreat of Song Jiang, lest he escape back to the lair......"

This is the old and serious approach, no one can find fault, and the Gongyi camp will echo it. With the strength of 10,000 people of the Ming army, it is fully capable of dividing a partial division to capture the Yanglou Cave, the choke point of traffic, and cut off the connection between Linxiang and Tongcheng, and then break them individually.

In this way, he not only adopted Wang Kefan's suggestion, but also found a step under Zhang Kuang, Zhang Kuang's face was black for a long time, and under the repeated persuasion of Niu Zhongxiao and others, he finally reluctantly agreed to divide the troops.

However, he was even more annoyed with Wang Kefan.

"Wang Garrison, since you have repeatedly insisted, I ordered you to lead your troops to capture Yanglou Cave." Zhang Kuang's eyes were as sharp as a blade, staring at Wang Kefan tightly: "If Song Jiang escapes to Yanglou Cave, he must be captured alive, otherwise, don't blame this marshal for being ruthless!" ”