"Marshal, it's the fifth day."

At the head of the ruined Zizhou City, Wang Hui, who had been fighting for a day of blood, saw Li Shaobin, took off his pocket and clamped it under his armpit, and after coming to report the battle situation, he finally couldn't hold back and mentioned it in a low voice.

Li Shaobin looked at the Wang Division, who was still in full formation when he retreated, and replied: "The battle in Zizhou has begun for nearly half a month. ”

"Yes" Wang Hui didn't understand the meaning of Li Shaobin's answer, the other party may have avoided talking about the question he asked, but the doubts and uneasiness in his heart had already made him reluctant to follow Li Shaobin's meaning to end the topic, but further clarified: "Marshal, it has been five days since the Xichuan reinforcements arrived in Xuanwu County, and they still haven't captured Xuanwu County, I don't know what the actual situation of the battle is there?" ”

The Xichuan Army in Xuanwu County has always been in contact with Zizhou City, but Li Shaobin has never told others about the battle situation there, and whenever someone asks, he always prevaricates with the fact that the Xichuan Army is about to break the city.

Wang Hui's insistence on asking questions made Li Shaobin's heart rise a little unhappy, but it was more of a bad premonition, he turned around and glanced at Wang Hui, but he still didn't mean to tell the truth, "The Xichuan reinforcements have several times the strength, and the offensive has been going on day and night for several days, and the thief army has been unable to support it for two days, and it won't take long for his troops to come to help." ”

When he said this, Li Shaobin had been secretly looking at Wang Hui's expression, and seeing that this didn't seem to be very convincing, he aggravated his tone and continued: "I have enough troops in Zizhou, and I don't have to worry about food, and my commander has never been stingy with rewards, and tens of thousands of silver coins are issued every day, as long as the army and the people work together, the thief army wants to capture the city, it is a fool's dream!" Within a few days, reinforcements arrived, and the thieves were sure to be defeated. General Wang, the husband has made great contributions, at this time, you have always been the handsome humerus, this time I hope that you and I will work together to live up to the great rivers and mountains of Dongchuan! ”

Li Shaobin's words were full of emotion, Wang Hui was suspicious in his heart, and at this time, he couldn't help but show a very encouraged appearance, clasped his fists and said loudly: "Don't worry, the commander is in the city, and the last general swears to fight the thief army to the end!" ”

Although Li Shaobin didn't believe Wang Hui's words very much, in the face of such a statement, he naturally continued to encourage, so he took the other party's hand and said very sincerely: "There are generals in Zizhou, and this commander can be worry-free!" ”

Retreating from the city, Wang Hui held his head high, as if he was very generous to inspect the city defense. His henchmen followed up and whispered in Wang Hui's ear: "General, what does the military marshal say?" ”

"What else can I say?" Wang Hui snorted coldly, "Except for empty words, I don't want to disclose the actual situation at all." ”

The henchman's face was full of worry, "In this way, the battle situation in Xuanwu County is probably not optimistic, otherwise why would the military commander refuse to reveal the truth?" ”

"It's inevitable." Wang Hui's tone was slow, he glanced at the Wang Division's army outside the city, the ironclad ocean there, made him feel that Zizhou City was like an isolated island, isolated and helpless, and they seemed to be able to sink with the island at any time, and die in the ironclad tide, this perception made him feel very uncomfortable.

"General, if the Xichuan reinforcements can't arrive in time, I'm afraid that Zizhou City won't be able to hold it for long." The confidant general looked at Wang Hui's face and said, "The thief army is fierce, and the siege equipment is complete, so Li Congjing has been in front of the battle in person these days, and I don't know what kind of means he has used, the soldiers of the thief army are becoming more and more crazy these days, as if their lives are not their own, the casualties of the soldiers are increasing day by day, and the morale of the army is already quite unstable."

Wang Hui suddenly stopped, glared at the general, and said coldly: "Aren't you being rebelled by Li Congjing?" ”

"How dare the last general?" The general panicked, "Even if you borrow a few more dares from the general, you don't dare to have any crooked thoughts behind the general's back!" ”

Wang Hui sneered, "This is the best." ”

The general laughed a few times, hesitated, and stopped talking.

"Say whatever you want, you don't have to spit out!" Wang Hui said.

"Yes" The general was a little afraid to look at Wang Hui's eyes, lowered his head and said: "I don't know the general, have you read Li Congjing's letter of persuasion?" ”

"Shut up!" Wang Hui suddenly scolded in a low voice and grabbed the general, "You don't want to live anymore?" Dare to mention this?! ”

"Yes, the last general is confused!" The general hurriedly apologized.

Wang Hui let go of him and said with a cold face: "Listen well, although the war is difficult, the military commander has the grace of knowing us, this kind of thing, Hugh has to mention it casually, and then let the general hear it, don't blame me for military law!" ”

"The last general will never dare again." The general wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although he looked frightened, he was not very afraid in his heart, because what Wang Hui said was not that he could not mention it again, but that he could not "mention it at will", isn't this very profound?

When Wang Hui went elsewhere, the general's eyes flickered.

When he was young, a junior colonel came over and whispered to him: "Du Yuhou, what did General Wang say?" ”

The general said with a cold face: "What else can you say? Could it be that you still expect the general to abandon the city and surrender at this time? ”

"It's nature." The little colonel sneered, but then his face straightened, and he got closer to the general, and said mysteriously: "But General Wang doesn't think so, but many of the soldiers below have already moved their minds." After all, Wang Shi has the name of righteousness, and this time the war against Shu is justified, and the conditions offered by the King of Qin can be described as rich, and the wording in the letter is even more approachable. Who in the world doesn't know that King Qin is cruel and ruthless to his enemies, but he has always been very kind to his own people, and he is a man of promise."

In the conversation between the two, they no longer call Wang Shi a thief, and they no longer even call Li Congjing's name.

"What do you mean by that?" The general stared at the junior colonel with a calm face.

"Don't you know what it means to be lowly?" Xiao Xiao gritted his teeth and said, without retreating, "What is General Wang's mind, it may be because his identity is not easy to say, this is also because his identity is not ordinary, don't worry too much, but who are you waiting for me and others?" Once the matter comes to the last step, the King of Qin may be afraid of the identity of General Wang, in order to stabilize people's hearts and keep him alive, but people like us, but there is no room for bargaining. ”

The general stopped talking.

Seeing that the other party was quite moved, the little colonel continued: "Back then, Guo Gong was in Shu, how much credit did Du Yu Hou make? In the army, there are few people who can catch up, but in Dongchuan over the years, Mo said that the position of the commander has not been able to enter again even half a step, so is Du Yuhou willing? This is inevitably exaggerated, but the generals did not refute it, but they were very useful.

Speaking of this, Xiao Xiaoxiao's tone became heavier, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Good birds choose trees to perch, and good ministers choose their masters, how can you not know this truth?" I waited for a desperate battle in Dongchuan and suffered heavy casualties, but we won, so what? In a corner of Dongchuan, a radish and a pit, how many steps can you take after the war? And this time there is such an opportunity, without fighting to the death, Du Yuhou can take another big step, let alone be promoted to the commander of the capital, why not? Not only that, but when the time comes, the commander will no longer be the commander of Dongchuan, but the commander of the entire Tang Dynasty, not only get rid of the reputation of the rebels, but also become the real power of the empire, leaving a reputation of loyalty and righteousness in the world, glorifying the ancestors, why not? For the sake of Du Yu Hou, please think twice! ”

The general's eyes were constantly changing, and his heartbeat was already speeding up, so fast that even he could hear it.

If people don't die for themselves, who should die for whom to the end?

In the world of great strife, loyalty is only because the weight of betrayal is not big enough.

Outside the city of Zizhou, the camp of the king division.

"According to the commander's intentions, the last general shoots letters of surrender into the city every night, and it has been eight consecutive days without interruption, and tens of thousands of letters of persuasion have been sent." Meng Songbai is reporting on the situation.

"Good." Li Congjing bowed slightly, but did not comment much.

"Why doesn't the marshal ask about the results?" Mo Li asked with a smile as he shook his folding fan.

"There's no need to ask at this point, because the heat hasn't arrived yet." Li Congjing smiled faintly.

"According to the big handsome, when is the time to say that the fire has arrived?" Mo Li continued to ask.

"If you want Dongchuan to be a powerful general, you need to meet two conditions." Li Congjing said.

"Which two conditions?" Mo Li asked.

"One, there is no hope of victory; Both, there is no hope for reinforcements. Li Congjing said.

"How do you do both?" Mo Li asked.

"I've been doing these two things, it's just a matter of heat. In the past few days, our army's offensive has been getting heavier day by day, and presumably the Dongchuan generals have already felt the pressure, and only when there is no hope of victory, the battle has become a useless sacrifice, and their own lives are seriously threatened, will the Dongchuan generals have other ideas. Li Congjing said.

"At this time, if you tempt it to make heavy profits, you naturally don't have to worry about no one surrendering." Mo Li said with a smile.

"Exactly." Li Congjing said.

"But I don't know when the fire will come?" Mo Li asked again.

"When the Xichuan thief army was defeated and retreated." Li Congjing's words were amazing.

"However, the Xichuan thief army is strong, and it is already difficult for the Hundred Battles Army to hold on to Xuanwu County, how can the thief army be defeated?" Mo Li asked.

"The Hundred Battles Army can't do it alone, won't Ben Shuai send troops to help?" Li Congjing smiled mellowly.

"When is the marshal going to send troops to help?" Mo Li asked again.

"It's time for the fire." Li Congjing said.

"How do you know it's time?" Mo Li asked again.

"When the Xichuan reinforcements have been attacking Xuanwu for a long time, their sharpness has been lost, and the front of the army has been dull." Li Congjing said.

"The fighting in Xuanwu County has been going on for five days." Don't deviate.

"It's almost time." Li Congjing's head.

When Li Congjing and Mo Li were talking, Sang Weihan had been listening carefully, and after thinking about it, he seemed to realize something, and he was not shocked. At this point in the conversation, Sang Weihan finally couldn't help it, and asked out loud: "The commander is going to send troops to Xuanwu County to defeat the Xichuan thief army?" ”

Li Congjing turned his face, "What's wrong?" ”

"I only heard that the marshal wanted to block the Xichuan thief army from coming to help and capture Zizhou, but I never thought that the marshal was ready to defeat the Xichuan thief army here. Sang Weihan was convinced.

"Since the Xichuan thief army is here, and they have caused a lot of trouble for Ben Shuai, is Ben Shuai going to let them go and retreat?" Li Congjing said with a smile.

"Of course not!" Sang Weihan was embarrassed.

Mo Li said with a smile: "After joining the army and entering the palace, it is rare to see His Highness fighting on the battlefield, and it is not surprising that he does not know much about His Highness's military habits. In the past, when His Royal Highness was a general, the armament was not good enough, the troops were not enough, the soldiers were not elite enough, and the appetite was already very large. This time to attack Shu, it is a rebellion, there is a name for righteousness, and the newly formed forbidden army of the empire is handed, and there are a number of elite feudal army in the Tang Dynasty to accompany it, with excellent armament, worry-free worries, how can the appetite not rise? ”

When these words were spoken, there was no lack of ridicule, which caused everyone to laugh.

"If you don't have a big appetite, how can you taste all the delicious food in the world?" Li Congjing made a pun, "Those who have aspirations must have a great appetite!" ”

He stood up and said, "This battle is to besiege the city and send reinforcements, killing two birds with one stone!" ”