In the face of the silent praise, Qi Jiguang seemed extremely calm, he shook his head and said: "My lord praised it falsely, after the test of actual combat, I found that there are still big problems in the new army. ”

"Oh, let's hear it." Sitting silently opposite Qi Jiguang, he said.

"You remember, when we were just fighting, as soon as the Japanese were pressing, their formation shrank into a ball." Qi Jiguang's face turned blue.

"Oh," Shen Mo remembered, it was the kind of formation where the four mandarin ducks faced the enemy back-to-back, and said, "That effect is not bad, is there any problem?" ”

"Yes." Qi Jiguang nodded and said: "Actually, they don't have to worry about the back - the weakness of the Mandarin Duck Formation is true on the tail side, but in a face-to-face confrontation, the weakness behind it doesn't matter, as long as they keep the posture of facing the enemy at all times, how can they be attacked behind them?" He sighed and said: "But they had to ensure that they were in absolute safety before they dared to fight the enemy, so they spontaneously formed that kind of 'turtle formation', but they protected the two wings and behind them...... But they lost the ability to move. ”

"Hehe, it's actually working pretty well." He smiled silently, "I can't do anything about those widows. ”

"I can't help it this time, just because I won't have it next time." Qi Jiguang shook his head and said: "This weakness is too obvious, the Japanese will not notice it, if they bring more bows and arrows next time, we will suffer a big loss." ”

"Then change it," said silently, "I won't let them do this next time." ”

"It's not easy to say," Qi Jiguang shook his head and sighed: "Although I have tried my best to train and strictly enforce military law, there are some things that cannot be changed." ”

"What?" Shen Mo asked.

"Most of our army are state soldiers and Shaoxing soldiers." Qi Jiguang said: "The soldiers in these two places have their own advantages - the soldiers of the state are brave and indomitable; Shaoxing soldiers endured hardships and stood hard work and obeyed orders. ”

"Isn't that great?" Shen Mo said strangely: "Isn't a soldier who fights bravely and obeys orders still a good soldier?" ”

"The combination of bravery and obedience to orders makes him the perfect soldier." Qi Jiguang said with a wry smile: "But the problem is that they only account for half of them." As he spoke, he decomposed for Shen Mo and said: "It's good that the soldiers in Chuzhou are brave in battle, but they are too assertive...... Before the battle, I must inform them of the number and composition of the enemy, as well as my battle plan, and then the 'army leaders' among them will get together and discuss whether the battle will be fought or not, and if so, what the level of silver will be required...... For example, when fighting against bandits, a head costs three taels, but this time, one tael is twenty taels. ”

"So expensive?" Shen Mo was surprised, his first reaction was, he wouldn't have to pay for this money, right? Of course, I can't say it now.

"It's good to be able to make an offer." Qi Jiguang sighed and said: "I'm afraid that they won't even open the price, which means that they are unwilling to fight this battle, even if they use military law to drive them to the battlefield, they will definitely not be able to work." ”

Silent this sweat, coughed dryly and said: "Shaoxing soldiers should not have this problem, Shaoxing people are still honest and obedient......"

"Yes," Qi Jiguang echoed: "Compared with the Chuzhou soldiers, the Shaoxing soldiers' obedience surnames are better, and they don't talk about the conditions like the Chuzhou soldiers, but ...... I'd rather have all the state soldiers under my command. ”

"This ......" Shen Mo couldn't hold back his face, and sneered: "Why? ”

"Because the Shaoxing soldiers are more afraid of death, they can't be expected to attack and block the attack, etc., and any battle with too many casualties ......" Qi Jiguang said: "I don't know if the adults have paid attention to it, the formation on the battlefield has shrunk, and it is the Shaoxing soldiers who take the lead...... All in all, the Shaoxing soldiers are really unreliable at the critical moment. ”

"I see that Brother Yuan Jing, your military law is strict, why can't you restrain them?" Shen Mo asked.

"As the saying goes, the country is easy to change, but the surname is difficult to change." Qi Jiguang rubbed his face depressedly and said: "There is also a saying that poor mountains and bad waters produce Diao people, green mountains and beautiful waters show talents, and I can't change this kind of thing in my bones." ”

Shen Mo understood what Qi Jiguang meant, he said that the prefecture is mountainous, the economy is backward, and the ethnic minorities live together, so that the people there have tougher surnames and strong customs; Shaoxing's economy is developed and the people live a prosperous life, but because of this, no one is willing to beg for a living and earn those two money, and they have developed the surname of 'safety first'.

After listening to Qi Jiguang's words, Shen Mo could only comfort: "It's okay, you have done better than others, don't ask too much...... Let's find a way to play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses. ”

"I can only make do with it first." Qi Jiguang nodded and said: "But according to the latest intelligence, the number of Japanese invaders this time has reached 30,000, and if they attack Suzhou with the main force, they will not be able to stop it with only our 3,000 people." ”

"Really?" Shen Mo was a little disappointed, he saw that the Qi family's army was full of power today, and he thought that he could defeat the Japanese invaders this time.

"Yes, sir." Qi Jiguang said in a deep voice: "Unless there is the kind of soldier who combines two qualities into one, I can't do this."

"I'll definitely find it later," Shen Mo said a little absent-mindedly, if Qi Jiguang couldn't stop the would-be robbers, then how should he deal with this situation?

In fact, he really expected too much...... Seeing that this battle was fought, he regarded Qi Jiguang as a life-saving straw, and when the straw told him that he was not buoyant enough, disappointment was inevitable.

I only heard Qi Jiguang say again: "The last general has thought about this problem and is about to ask the adult for instructions." "The Ming Dynasty is a civilian, although he is of a higher grade than Shen Mo, although Shen Mo respects him very much, but any of his military actions must be approved by Shen Mo before they can be put into practice.

"Please." Shen Mo nodded.

"The last general thought, after the siege of Suzhou City is lifted, I will not enter the city, but lead my subordinates to cruise around several surrounding counties......"

"Why?" Shen Mo listened to it at the time, and he was not very happy, but he still said quietly on his face.

Qi Jiguang said: "This can reduce the pressure on several counties; secondly, in order to prevent being attacked by the back road, so that the Japanese did not dare to attack Suzhou City with all their might; Third, finding the enemy's vital forces and annihilating them is the correct way to deter the enemy and destroy the enemy. ”

Shen Mo didn't reply immediately, but asked, "You say, can Hu Butang count on it?" ”

"Reinforcements ......" Qi Jiguang said softly: "There will be, but I don't know when." He said in a lower voice: "You know the surname of the ministry better than me. ”

Shen Mo nodded, and sighed: "Yes, Ruan He scolded him for 'beggar-thy-neighbor and not saving him when he sees death'...... Although it is not in the middle, it is not far away. ”

Qi Jiguang also sighed and said: "It's better to ask for others than for yourself, you have to save yourself before someone can save you." ”

After some discussion, Shen Mo had to admit that Qi Jiguang's method could maximize the effectiveness of their only army. Despite this, he will have no soldiers to guard Suzhou City, but from the overall situation, he is the prefect of Suzhou Prefecture after all, with jurisdiction over one state and seven counties, not just the city lord of Suzhou City, so he still agreed to Qi Jiguang's opinion.

This is the biggest difference between silence and ordinary officials - those people will definitely try their best to protect the city, because the countryside has suffered, and even the county town has a problem, in the eyes of the province and the capital, it is not a big deal after all, but if there is a problem in Suzhou City, even the king of heaven and Lao Tzu will not be able to keep his black yarn, so the vast majority of officials will definitely choose to defend Suzhou with all their might, and 'strategically' abandon other places.

At the critical moment, if you can really distinguish which is more important than the other, you can be worthy of the three words of parents and officials...... At least that's what Silence thinks.

Suzhou City. Mrs. Qi persevered for two days with the 'empty city plan', and on the third day, the reinforcements finally arrived.

Looking at the two big banners of 'Shen' and 'Qi' killed in the distance, Xin Wulang, who had been drinking the wind outside the city for two days, was completely depressed, but at this moment, he had not received the news of Xu Hong's defeat, he just thought that the guy was careless for a while and did not stop the silent army.

After the initial panic of "...... West", he touched his beard and said: "That's fine, let the Xu brothers see who is the real main force." He commanded his subordinates to launch a counterattack.

The unsuspecting butterfly array, against the more and more skilled mandarin duck array, after a few rounds, it was chaotic. At this time, Mrs. Qi in the city saw the opportunity and rushed out of the city on horseback with the selected five hundred warriors...... In fact, it was still a bluff, and the combat effectiveness was not much at all, but the Japanese did not know the details, and thought it was really a cavalry, so they were so frightened that they could no longer hold on, and fled in defeat.

Qi Jiguang glanced at the heroic lady, but Wang moved his eyes to the side, he sighed secretly, rode his horse and whipped, led the army to cover and kill, and soon disappeared.

Naturally, the Wang family will not chase, but they are unwilling, but they are really powerless.

Shen Mo had already heard about the fact that the Wang family had come forward to guard Suzhou City, so he came to her side and said with a smile: "Thank you to Mrs. Sister-in-law for standing up for righteousness, so that Suzhou City was saved from great disaster." ”

"Thank me." Mrs. Qi glanced at him, and said in a somewhat rushed tone: "I'm not here to help you, if it's really your own business, I don't care." ”

Shen Mo was stunned for a moment, knowing that she was complaining about herself for helping Qi Jiguang deal with her, maybe she thought that her man had learned badly because she had too much contact with him, a 'merry man'.

This is really a fire at the city gate, which affects the fish in the pond. Shen Mo smiled bitterly and said: "On behalf of the fathers and villagers of Suzhou City, thank you sister-in-law, this is always okay, right?" ”

"That's fine." Mrs. Qi nodded and said, "When Qi Jiguang comes back, it is time for me, the temporary commander, to step down, but fortunately, I still insist on your class teacher." ”

"This ......" said with a smile in silence: "The matter of city defense will continue to be biased towards my sister-in-law." ”

"Why?" Mrs. Qi's eyebrows frowned slightly: "Do you want me to lead Qi Jiguang?" That's not bad. ”

"That's not it," Shen Khan quickly explained: "General Qi will be fighting guerrilla operations on the periphery, and he has no time to take care of the city defense...... So we had to ask my sister-in-law to do it for me, and of course he left us five hundred people. ”

"That's the case......" Mrs. Qi didn't hear his last sentence at all, her eyes couldn't help but drift to the direction where her husband disappeared, not knowing what she was thinking.

Shen Mo thought that she was still unwilling to work for herself, so she quickly changed her words and said: "It's not me who begs my sister-in-law, but the fathers and villagers in Suzhou City who beg you to ......."

"What did you say?" Mrs. Qi came back to her senses at this time.

Silent this sweat, I had to repeat Fang Cai's words.

"Okay." Mrs. Qi nodded and said, "What else is going on?" ”

"And ...... Nope. The sense of oppression of this tall woman is too strong, standing silently in front of her, she always has the feeling of wanting to escape, and she can't help but deeply sympathize with General Qi, who can't escape for the rest of her life.

When he returned to Suzhou City, he didn't care about returning home, so Shen Mo immediately went to Jinyiwei's stronghold and found Zhu Shisan's deputy...... Zhu Shisan sent Yu Dayou to Yanjing, and now the Jinyi Wei Thousand Households in Suzhou is in charge of this person named Ma Quan.

"Brother Ma, it's a time for survival, and I need your help," Shen Mo said as he stared at him tightly.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured." Ma Quan said with a smile: "Before the thirteenth master went north, he instructed the little one to let me listen to your arrangements." ”

"Well, I'm not going to be polite to you." Shen Mo shook his hand and said, "Please tell me the latest situation you know." ”

"Okay." Ma Quanxing was born in the army, and he explained the current situation to Shen Mo: "The current situation is that the Japanese chieftains Xu Hai, Ye Ma, Xin Wulang, and more than 10,000 local troops have united to launch this invasion, which is also the largest in the history. ”

"Those 10,000 are called Ben Kou, landing from Beixinguan to attack Hangzhou City." Ma Quan continued: "Xu Hai led 10,000 people to attack Songjiang City, probably to seize the bridgehead; Xin Wulang and Xu Hong needless to say, as for Ye Ma, he led 5,000 men and horses to block Liu Xian...... Oh no, it should be General Yu's troops. ”

"Is the information reliable?" Shen Mo asked.

"This is the news I just received," Ma Quan said ashamedly: "But the Japanese are besieging the city, and our news has also been broken, and it only came in after the siege was lifted." He was very ashamed of Jinyiwei for providing expired and deteriorating news, and without waiting for Shen Mo to make a request, he took the initiative to say: "I will immediately send someone to collect information and pass the latest news to the adults as soon as possible." ”

"Very good, trouble Brother Ma." Shen Mo smiled gratefully: "There is one more thing, please help." ”

"Your Excellency, please speak." Ma Quan hurriedly said.

"Now Suzhou City is allowed to enter and not leave, but after all, it is not a matter...... "If the widows don't leave for a few months, can people still not go out of the city for a few months?" So he said silently: "I want to ask Brother Ma to use your strength to check out suspicious elements, so as to relieve the pressure on the city defense." ”

"That's the duty, no problem." Ma Quan happily agreed: "Actually, we Jinyiwei have been doing this, and we have caught more than 100 annihilators in the past three days...... We don't have a prison here, so please clear the county prison so that these people can be contained. ”

"That's fine," said silently, "You can take them over at any time." ”

In an extraordinary period, without further ado, Ma Quan strung more than 100 suspects with cow tendon ropes, and escorted them to the government office by the silent guards and the people of the Jinyi Guard.

Shen Mo rode a horse and watched coldly from the side, he wanted to see these slender appearances, to see the noteworthy characters, who knew that he really found one...... Looking at the middle-aged man with a beard, rough and dark skin, and a plain appearance that was the only one locked with an iron chain, Shen Mo couldn't help but be a little excited. Secretly: 'Good guy, you really appeared! If it weren't for the last few days, when his thoughts about this man had reached the point of longing for him, he really wouldn't have recognized him.

Ma Quan followed the silent gaze, also saw the man, and explained softly to Shen Mo: "This has to be interrogated, and it takes a lot of effort to arrest him." ”

The man seemed to feel that someone was watching him, and when he turned around, he saw that it was two silent, so he silently turned his head and continued to be led forward.

Seeing that the lord was really interested in that person, Ma Quan elaborated: "This person was originally very raw, but since the day of the siege, he has sat in the teahouse opposite the government and drank tea every day, but he didn't know that it was a stronghold set up by our brother to protect the lord. "The words are nice, in fact, the teahouse is the place where the Jinyi guards routinely monitor the main officials; But it can't be mistaken, because Zhu Shisan's relationship with Shen Mo is iron, so the function here has been transformed into an invisible doorman.

The man obviously didn't understand this, and thought that he was very low-key and no one noticed. As a result, someone put Jinyiwei's powerful sweat medicine in the tea, and he was directly put down and caught.

Recalling the process of the arrest, Ma Quan still had palpitations and said: "This person is so powerful, he can sleep even a tiger for half a day after taking our sweat medicine, but it only took him more than an hour to wake up, and he broke the hemp rope thick with his fingers. ”

"Can you torture him?" Shen Mo asked with concern.

"There has been no trial yet," Ma Quan said, "the brothers are going to polish his surname first." ”

Silence was visibly relieved. Said: "When I arrived at the palace, I immediately interrogated him." ”

"Let the brethren loosen his bones first." Ma Quandao: "This guy is a practitioner, his bones are very hard, if he doesn't die and live, he won't confess easily." ”

"No need." Shen Mo shook his head and said, "I have my own opinions. ”

(To be continued)