Xiangyang was very important to the strategic position of Xia and Chu, and it had been occupied by Bactria for more than 20 years. The first emperor had a long-term vision and regarded Xiangyang as the basis for the advance of the strategy of Southern Chu. Not only were the walls built tall and strong, but there were also heavy troops stationed all the time, and a large amount of grain and ordnance were hoarded.

Even if Nanchu attacked Suizhou with all his strength after two victories, Xiangyang was also a hard bone that was enough to knock off a mouth full of big teeth. What's more, the whole country of Great Xia is martial, and there are many famous generals, which is far from being comparable to the decadence of the Southern Chu government and the opposition, and only relying on Wen Huanzhang's sole support. Since the fall of Suizhou, 30,000 garrisons in Zhongzhou and 30,000 elite forbidden troops have come to help one after another, and there is a great tendency to be ashamed.

Zhang Bohu is very sober-minded, and in such a situation, it is already very good for the Chu army to be able to hold Suizhou. When necessary, Suizhou can only be abandoned.

Zhang Bohu knows very well that he is in a very contradictory dilemma.

In terms of tactics, he has proved his ability through the Battle of Suizhou, and has won the recognition of Tan Chongyuan and Wen Huanzhang. Xia Jun's retaliation and counterattack was expected. Before the Chu army was dragged from a morale-boosting arrogant soldier to a tired soldier, and before Tan Chongyuan decided to support Kawen Huanzhang's neck in logistics, he urgently needed to fight another battle with the Xia army.

If he wins, he can not only severely frustrate the spirit of the Xia army's change of commander and counterattack, but Tan Chongyuan is forced by the pressure of the government and the opposition, and there is no reason to do the stupid thing of deducting food and salary. If he is defeated, he can not only bring back the arrogance that has grown in the hearts of some soldiers of the Chu army to normal, shrink and recuperate, but also take advantage of the gap between Wen Huanzhang and Tan Chongyuan.

Strategically, he had to buy himself enough time. He needs to further establish his prestige in the army, and he needs to establish his rightful position in the court. He wanted to do his best to guide Emperor Chu and fully embark on the road of hegemony with Great Xia. Become a generation of celebrities.

Zhang Bohu is also very self-aware. Previously, he took advantage of the psychology of the monarchs and ministers of Southern Chu to reap the benefits of fishing, and tried his best to encourage Tan Chongyuan to promise Suoli a lot of money. Secretly allied with the Turks, in order to contain Great Xia and had no time to divide his troops. Unexpectedly, Emperor Xia brazenly launched a life-and-death war with the Turks. And a big win. After that, he did not stop the war, but sent troops to the south. On the long border of confrontation between the two countries, Emperor Xia gritted his teeth and gathered more than 300,000 land and water troops, and did not hesitate to use Yang Zhi and Wei Feiyang to lead the army at the same time.

If it's just to deal with him a Zhang Bohu, why do you need to put out a huge battle? Emperor Xia intends to destroy Chu! And Nanchu is still a little unimpressed with Wen Huanzhang, the commander of the unified army! Does he still have time? Is there still a chance?

In any case, Yang Zhi still came: on May 27, Yang Zhi led Wei Feiyang, Shen Chong, Liu Dang, and Zhang Desheng to arrive in Xiangyang to take office. On the same day, the vanguard of the 30,000 forbidden army led by Chen Zhun was also camped outside the city.

Since the twenty-fourth year of Wucheng, King Zhao Dang of Ning waved his army to conquer Suizhou, and the people of Xiangyang have enjoyed a peaceful life for nearly ten years. Now it has once again become a military city at the forefront of the confrontation between Xia and Chu. On the same day, the news of the fall of Suizhou and the martyrdom of Yang Yao came, and many wealthy families in the city moved to the hinterland of Great Xia.

After hearing that Emperor Xia ordered Yang Zhi to take command of the army, most of the people who originally wanted to leave decided not to leave. Yang Zhiwei is famous, and he was commended by Emperor Xia for donating 2.65 million yuan of silver to the dead soldiers. It is even rumored that he was so miraculous that he "scattered all his family wealth" because of this, and had to move his family back to his hometown in Xinyang. This Hou Ye is tantamount to bringing his own money to play with his life, can he not work hard?

Despite this, it was still difficult for the generals of Xiangyang to be happy.

Yang Zhi condoled Yang Yao and donated a huge amount of silver, which really won the favor of the soldiers of the Xiangyang border army. But this man fought in the desert eight years ago. Since then, he has never held a military position, and he has no experience in commanding the army. As the saying goes, once the son of heaven is a courtier, this person selected five generals to come to take office together, do you know if it is not to take the command of the generals of Xiangyang and replace them? The defeated army will be unspeakably brave. The morale of the defeated army was sluggish, and the atmosphere at the banquet was extremely dull. Yang Zhi only looked indifferent and recognized the generals face to face, and there were no grandiose words. There is not a word of comfort.

Early the next morning, Yu Hualong, who was ordered to temporarily replace Yang Yao, handed over his ministry to Yang Zhi as usual. Then he asked, "Dashuai." I don't know if I have a favorite text graphic for the new handsome flag? The last general ordered the scribes and craftsmen in the army to draw and weave as soon as possible. ”

"Where is Old Yang Shuai's handsome banner?"

“…… There should still be a few left in the armory. ”

"Then don't bother. I can't write two Yang characters in one stroke, so I can use the old Yang Shuai's previous handsome flag. ”

It is said that newcomers have a new atmosphere. Yang Yao died in battle, Yang Zhi took up his new position, and even planned to use ready-made handsome flags, most people didn't say it, but they inevitably felt a little unlucky in their hearts.

"Dashuai, this ...... I'm afraid that's not good, right? It only takes a day or two to order the military craftsman to rush to make it, and it doesn't cost a few silvers. ”

Yang Zhi really doesn't care: "Old Yu, isn't it just a handsome flag with a bright name?" Why bother? I think it's pretty good. Now everyone knows that this Yang is not the other Yang, and the old Yang Shuai is not far away, and he will definitely protect our army. ”

What made the generals of Xiangyang quite confused and speechless was that in addition to the handsome flag was ready-made, Yang Zhi did not take any other measures for several days after that. He did not raise the account, nor did he summon any of the old generals, nor did he need to be led by others, but he just walked around the barracks separately with the generals who had brought them to take office.

Four days later, on the second day of the first month of June, Yang Zhi issued the first marshal order since his arrival: on the fourth day of the first month of June, the whole army will pay tribute to the old marshal Yang Yao and all the dead soldiers, and then raise the account. Except for the general Ye Chuang of Pingnan, the rest of the generals who actually led more than 10,000 soldiers and horses were not allowed to be absent.

At this time, people with a heart have already had a little appreciation of Yang Zhi's extremely pragmatic style. The use of ready-made handsome flags is not just for convenience and convenience, the public sacrifice of Yang Yao and all the dead soldiers is a great respect and respect for the Xiangyang border army. The public sacrifice and the lifting of the tent were set two days later, because of the large number of garrisons in Xiangyang, and the farthest distance was nearly 200 miles to the southeast, leaving enough time for the participating generals to hurry. The exclusion of Ye Chuang's department is also because the two places are too far apart, and there is no need to toss back and forth so much.

At present, the army under the command of Yang Zhi is actually divided into five divisions: the Xiangyang Border Army, the Zhongzhou Army that came to help one after another, the Forbidden Army, the Yangtze River Water Division, and the Ye Chuang Division in the direction of Wu Yue.

It is not easy to coordinate in the middle and work together. To a certain extent, the former old handsome Yang Yao not only died of bad luck, but also an important reason. Facts have proved that among the older generation of famous generals in Great Xia, Geng Jin, Wei Su, and Ning Wang Zhao Dang are all qualified and competent commanders, and their temperaments may be different, but without exception they are all ruthless people who can control the overall situation.

The so-called account promotion meeting is actually a military meeting of senior generals.

After the generals paid homage to the ceremony, Yang Zhi never paid much attention to the official pomp and circumstance, and said bluntly: "Everyone is busy, and the commander doesn't have much time to talk about, let's make a long story short, and then we will return to our own duties and wait for dispatch." Of course, it's not just for you to be a saw-mouth gourd, if you have any opinions, you can put them forward in person. ”

"The first thing Ben Shuai wants to say is to prepare for two battles with Nanchu within ten days. On a large scale, the intended purpose of these two battles was to advance the main force of our army to the city of Suizhou. To put it mildly, the first battle was to extinguish the prestige of the Chu army and boost the morale of our army. The second battle may be a bit harsh when you hear it, in order to teach you how to fight! (To be continued.) )