After Cai Maode said this, he paused for a moment, looked at Wen Tiren, saw that he looked thoughtful, and then said: "The ancients said that the road is simple. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoThe same is true of the way of the thief.

"If the cold ground is freezing today, Tu Achou leads the crowd into the deep mountains and old forests, and over time it will inevitably run out of food and cooking, and there will be no need for large soldiers to attack the mountains, and the chaotic people will naturally fall apart, and it will not be easy to destroy them?"

Hearing Cai Maode say this, Wen Tiren couldn't help but say: "That's true, but how can you ensure that the Tu Agu thieves hiding in the dense forest of Niutou Mountain will be starved of food and cooking?" If there is no shortage of food in the mountains, when will the officers and soldiers be able to exterminate this gang of thieves?

"Although the emperor did not urge me, as a courtier, I should do what I should do for the king's worries. Tu Augly and his gang gathered to make a rebellion, and it has been two months now, if our generation can eliminate this thief one day earlier, it would be better to destroy it one day earlier! ”

Seeing Wen Tiren say this, Cai Maode immediately said: "Before Xia Guan took up his post in Jiangxi, he served as a magistrate in Hangzhou for many years, and he traveled to and from the mountainous areas of western Zhejiang many times, and he was quite familiar with the terrain around Tianmu Mountain in western Zhejiang. This time, Jiangxi was transferred to Zhejiang as an envoy, and he also came from the east of Tianmu Mountain, so he had some understanding of the situation in the mountains.

"The peaks on Niutou Mountain are numerous, the terrain is dangerous, the highest peak is as high as more than 1,500 zhang, and the mountain is steep and the road is narrow, there are only a few roads in and out, and they are all sheep intestine paths, it can be regarded as easy to defend and difficult to attack, if the food and grass of the chaotic people are sufficient, I am afraid that the army of the chaotic people is several times that of the chaotic people is also powerless.

However, fortunately, because of the steep mountain of Niutou Mountain, it is inconvenient to enter and exit, so there are few villages in the mountains, there are not many people, there are only three or five villages, and there are only more than a thousand people.

Our army does not need to go into the mountains to commit danger, only need to dig long trenches, build earthen walls, divide troops, and besiege for a long time. ”

Cai Maode's thin and short figure seemed to contain huge energy, exuding an inexplicable confidence power all over his body, and after saying this, he looked at Wen Tiren with blazing eyes, hoping that Wen Tiren could accept his strategy.

Fan Jingwen, Zhang Cunren and others were infected by Cai Maode's self-confidence in his words and deeds, and finally agreed to his strategy.

His strategy may sound like no ingenuity at first, but you can't tell what's wrong.

Wen Tiren pondered for a while, and did not answer Cai Maode's words, but looked at Fan Jingwen and said, "What does Brother Mengzhang think?" ”

Fan Jingwen saw Wen Tiren ask this, knowing that he was in the same mood as when he first heard this statement, and he still had doubts in his heart, so he said: "Lao Dan said that if there is a lack of great success, if there is a great coincidence, he also said that being quiet is the right thing in the world. In the opinion of the following officials, Cai Zhensi's strategy is quite in line with Lao Tzu's way, if it can be done, our army can win the game. Even if it takes a little longer, it's worth it. ”

Wen Tiren saw Fan Jingwen say this, and knew that he supported Cai Maode, so he nodded, looked at the other two generals, and then asked Zhang Cunren: "General Zhang is the chief military officer of Zhejiang appointed by His Majesty, do you have a high opinion of the current situation?" ”

Seeing Wen Tiren asking, Zhang Cunren hurriedly bowed and saluted and said, "The Lord of the Army has won the award!" In the opinion of the following officials, most of the thieves in Tu Achou's department are fleeing from the disaster, and those who really have combat power are either the Taihu Lake water thieves in Tu Achou's headquarters, or the bandits who originally occupied the mountain as the king of Niutou Mountain, and the sum of the two is only one-tenth or two-tenth of the thieves and chaos.

"In addition, now that the Fujian soldiers have entered Zhejiang, there are more than 10,000 officers and soldiers in the two provinces.

"It's just that the lower officials listened to the news from Huzhou, Tu Augly and others coerced the chaotic people into the mountains and did not come out, and did not engage with the official army and township soldiers, and the terrain of Niutou Mountain is indeed as Lord Cai said, easy to defend and difficult to attack, so if Tu Augly can't hold out in the mountains, I'm afraid the officials and soldiers will really have no choice for a while.

Speaking of this, Zhang Cunren looked at the people present, and then said: "Xia Guan has just arrived in Hangzhou to take office for a long time, and the soldiers of the guards in various places have not yet completed the review and reorganization. This is a little shallow opinion of the lower officials, please make a clear view of the army! ”

After listening to what these people said, Wen Tiren nodded, looked at Zheng Zhihu who was listening carefully, and asked, "Zheng Guerrilla, you have listened to the words of these adults, what do you think?" ”

Zheng Zhihu followed into Zhejiang this time, and compared the situation in Fujian and Zhejiang along the way, and had a new understanding of the governor's office of Fujian and Zhejiang, as well as the officials and troops in Zhejiang.

Although the number of superintendents is small, the equipment is very sophisticated, at least not worse than Zheng's private army, and the military discipline is stricter than Zheng's private army.

And the fleet of Zhejiang sailors they saw in Hangzhou Bay, although the number of people is small, and the ships are also very good, but the equipment is also very sophisticated, and there are as many as 22 Franco cannons on each big ship, and the soldiers are few but fine, and they should not be underestimated.

As for the army of the Zhejiang Guard, it is now being reorganized, and it is difficult to say how it is yet.

However, just looking at the fact that Zhejiang's governors, envoys, and commanders-in-chief can work together, we know that this chaos in Zhejiang will be put down sooner or later.

At this time, when he heard the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang asking him, he immediately bowed down and said: "I have no idea of being humble but relying on the master of the army!" ”

Among the Zheng brothers, they are known as Long Zhi, Tiger Yong, Leopard Rape, and Biao Zhong.

Long Zhi is talking about Zheng Zhilong, who is smart and clever, good at judging the situation and grasping the direction.

Hu Yong is talking about Zheng Zhihu's courage and invincibility, and he is the first fierce general under Zheng Zhilong.

The leopard traitor is that Zheng Zhibao's heart is not right, and he did take the lead in surrendering to the Manchus in the end, under his lead, Zheng Zhilong saw that the general trend of the Southern Ming Dynasty had gone, and also took refuge in the Manchus.

Biao Zhong, talking about Zheng Zhibiao, that is, the later Zheng Hongkui, quite loyal, after the death of the Ming Dynasty, determined to resist the Qing Dynasty, even after the eldest brother Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he still led the army south to his nephew Zheng Chenggong, and continued to persist in the struggle against the Qing Dynasty near Kinmen and Xiamen, until he died of illness in the Kinmen army.

Of course, the current Zheng Zhibiao is still young, and he has not yet entered the decision-making core of the Zheng family, a pirate group, that is to say, he has not really stepped onto the historical stage at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Zheng Zhihu is known for his bravery, he is not without scheming, otherwise Zheng Zhilong would not have taken him as the main one and let him go north to Zhejiang with 5,000 troops.

Zheng Zhihu led the army to Zhejiang, and the food depended on Zhejiang's supply, knowing that he could not dominate the guests, let alone oppose the guest.

Moreover, before leaving, Zheng Zhilong explained to him a lot of precautions, such as that the war should be dominated by Zhejiang soldiers, and it is okay to follow by himself, but it is not okay to rush forward desperately.

Therefore, when he saw that the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang asked for his opinion, he immediately said that he had no opinion, but the commander of the army was the first to look forward.

Wen Tiren heard Zheng Zhihu say this, and of course he knew what he meant.

Thinking of this, Wen Tiren thought for a while and said: "In this case, Wen will follow your opinions, step by step, steadily, and lay a net around Niutou Mountain, waiting for the thieves in the mountains to cut off food and cooking, and collapse without a fight." ”

Speaking of this, Wen Tiren paused and continued: "But if this is the case, there is no need for Wen to go to Huzhou at this time. The affairs of besieging the thieves on the head of the cattle were fully responsible for Cai Zhensi. As for Wen, stay in Hangzhou and supervise the grain and grass affairs for the army with Fan Fu. ”

After Wen Tiren said these words, he continued to agree with Fan Jingwen, Cai Maode, Zhang Cunren, Zheng Zhihu and others on the strategy of blocking and besieging Niutou Mountain.

Because the current emperor, unlike the emperor in history who interfered in everything, had long expressed the intention of not interfering in the frontline strategy in his previous will, Wen Tiren, Fan Jingwen and others did not report to the Beijing division again, and then waited for the Beijing division's reply, but quickly mobilized the Zhejiang Weisu army, purchased and distributed grain, horses and mules, and was busy until Chinese New Year's Eve, before preparing to stop all the affairs allocated by the army.

Early in the morning of the second day of the Lunar New Year, Cai Maode took Zhang Cunren, Zheng Zhihu and other generals to lead the army of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, totaling more than 13,000 people, to leave Hangzhou City and go to Huzhou.