Tan naturally guessed that Zhang Chonghua would have such doubts, after all, Xie Ai is just an inconspicuous master bookkeeper, an out-and-out white-faced scholar, no fame, and no experience in leading troops to fight, so it is naturally impossible for Zhang Chonghua to fully believe in Xie Ai's strength.

"Your Majesty, although Xie Ai is the main book, he has a civil and military strategy, just like Lu Xun of Wu State, which is enough to deal with Ma Qiu, and the minister is willing to guarantee it with the head of the item." Zhang Tan Zhengse said.

When Zhang Chonghua heard this, he hesitated for a while, and said, "Come on, go and ask Xie Ai, the chief bookkeeper." ”

When the subordinates heard the order, they left the main hall and went to the city to summon Xie Ai.

It didn't take long for Xie Ai to be summoned to the main hall of Guzang City.

"Minister, see the king." Xie Ai bowed to Zhang Chonghua very politely.

Zhang Chonghua waved his hand, motioned Xie Ai to get up, and looked at Xie Ai, the young and gentle master in front of him, Zhang Chonghua really couldn't see what military talent he had, of course, military talent is invisible with his eyes.

"Xie Ai, Zhang Aiqing recommended you as a general with his net worth and life, and led the troops against Zhao General Ma Qiu, I don't know what your combat strategy is." Zhang Chonghua asked straight to the point.

Xie Ai clenched his fists and replied softly: "Back to the king, Ma Qiu is just a martial artist, and he can be mediocre, and the minister only needs 7,000 soldiers and horses to break it." After saying that, there was a look of confidence.

Seeing that Xie Ai's tone was so loud, all the ministers in the main hall, including Zhang Chonghua, the king of Liang, all showed surprised expressions, no one dared to believe that what Xie Ai said was true, after all, Ma Qiu's reputation was very loud, even. A few months old baby will stop crying when he hears that Ma Qiu is coming.

"There are 50,000 elite troops under Ma Qiu's command, is Master Xie too light on the enemy." One of the ministers said sarcastically.

Xie Ai smiled slightly, and retorted: "The soldiers are not many but fine, the generals are not brave but strategic, how can the army win or lose by the number of soldiers and the courage of the generals, since the lower officials dare to boast about this Haikou, they are naturally completely sure." After speaking, his face was calm.

"Xie Zhushu boasted so much. I must have a strategy in mind. I don't know what strategy Master Xie will use to break the autumn? One of the generals asked maliciously.

Xie Ai smiled and said softly: "Ma Qiu is just a mediocre general, and breaking it is only within a snap of his fingers, so why do you need a good strategy." "I was still full of confidence.

In fact. Naturally, marching and fighting a war requires the use of strategy. But. The use of the art of strategy and war requires the improvisation of various situations in advance of the battle, and when they arrive on the battlefield. It is possible that great changes can occur, so the strategy that has been thought of in advance may not be useful, so Xie Ai did not answer positively, but said in general terms that he could defeat Ma Qiu.

When Zhang Chonghua heard this, he fell into deep thought, at this moment he really hoped that Xie Ai could be as good as Lu Xun, so that he could break the main army of Ma Qiu, but he was also afraid that Xie Ai would be like Zhao Kuo, a white-faced scholar who could only talk on paper.

Whether Xie Ai is a talent like Lu Xun or a waste like Zhao Kuo, Zhang Chonghua does not have the ability to predict the future, and he cannot make accurate predictions.

Seeing that Zhang Chonghua was hesitating, Xie Ai hugged his fists and said: "Your Majesty, the enemy is currently the enemy, and the minister only needs 7,000 soldiers and horses to break the 50,000 army of Maqiu, please don't doubt it." ”

Zhang Chonghua nodded when he heard this, at this moment, the main army under Ma Qiu's command was approaching Guzang, he had no better choice, in order to repel Ma Qiu, he could only believe in Xie Ai.

"Xie Ai listens to the order, this king will give you 5,000 men and horses, and tomorrow morning, immediately lead the army to the battle." Zhang Chonghua ordered loudly.

In order to reduce the risk, Zhang Chonghua did not give Xie Ai the 7,000 men and horses he asked, but only gave 5,000 men and horses, so that Xie Ai could try his hand at it, and if Xie Ai was really talented, he could entrust the main army to everything.

Xie Ai was not ambiguous, and immediately hugged his fists and said: "The king can rest assured, the minister will do his best to break the main army of Maqiu and share the worries of the king." ”

"Okay, repel the main army of Maqiu, and this king will depend on you." Zhang Chonghua encouraged.

Xie Ai thanked him again and again, and then left the main hall and went to the barracks to gather people.

In half a day, Xie Ai assembled the 5,000 troops allocated to him and prepared various materials such as grain and straw for the expedition.

Early in the morning of the second day, Xie Ai led an army of 5,000 to leave from the south gate of Guzang and marched in the direction where the main army of Maqiu was stationed.

#####

In Ma Qiu's Chinese army tent, Ma Qiu was discussing the details of the attack on Guzang City with Sun Fudu and other important generals, and the scout reported to Ma Qiu the news that Guzang City Xie Ai led an army of 5,000 and was killing.

Hearing that Zhang Chonghua only sent 5,000 men and horses to fight him, and the general who led the troops was actually a white-faced scholar, Ma Qiu couldn't help but be very proud.

He felt that Zhang Chonghua was too young, and he was stupid by his army of 50,000, so he didn't know how to send a white-faced scholar who had never fought before.

"General, this Xie Ai is just a white-faced scholar, the official is the chief bookkeeper, and he dares to challenge our army's 50,000 troops with only 5,000 men and horses, is he impatient?" Sun Fudu shouted loudly.

"General, 10,000 soldiers and horses in the headquarters can be quickly destroyed." A subordinate general said confidently.

Ma Qiu grinned, looked at the general who asked for his life, and said, "Okay, this general will order you to lead an army of 10,000 to fight and destroy Xie Ai's soldiers and horses for me to show the strength of our army." ”

"General rest assured, the last general will definitely break the Liang army and capture Xie Ai alive." The general shouted.

Ma Qiu waved his hand and said, "Okay, you go!" Ben will be waiting for your triumphant return. ”

"Take care of the general, the last general will leave." The general clenched his fists and turned to leave Ma Qiu's Chinese army tent.

After the generals left, Ma Qiu looked at Sun Fudu and said softly: "Our army has been marching for days, and the soldiers are a little tired, so it is better to relax here, and when the front army destroys Xie Ai, tomorrow, we can wave our army and go straight to the city of Guzang." ”

"What the general said is that there are still ten thousand jars of good wine in the army, so if you don't drink it tonight, you won't worry about it after drinking all of it." Sun Fudu replied loudly.

Ma Qiu nodded, and said, "Okay, just do it, put on a feast, and celebrate the former army in advance." ”

In the evening, in the Maqiu camp in Hongchiling, the soldiers of the Zhao army had prepared all kinds of wine and food, and began to eat and drink.

At this moment, in a valley more than ten miles northwest of Hongchiling, the 10,000 former soldiers and horses of the Zhao army were resting in the valley, and in order to find Xie Ai's 5,000 men and horses for a decisive battle, they had already turned back and forth several times in an area within a radius of ten miles.

This was all Xie Ai's strategy, in order to consume the body of the former soldiers of the Zhao army, Xie Ai sent a number of teams disguised as the main army, and appeared intermittently around the valley to attract the pursuit of the main force of the Zhao army.

In the continuous pursuit, the soldiers of the Zhao army consumed a lot of body, but Xie Ai's main force was always recuperating and ready to fight at any time.

The reason why Xie Ai was able to successfully use the strategy of exhausting the enemy was mainly because the army of Liang was very familiar with the terrain here, while the army of Zhao came from afar and was not familiar with the terrain here, so it was inevitable that Xie Ai would lead him by the nose and lose the initiative.

Just when the morale of the Zhao army was resting in the valley out of breath, the main army under Xie Ai was ready to attack.

"Goo-goo-goo...... "At this moment, the terrible cry of an owl came from ......the hiding place of Xie Ai's army.

"General, listen, this is an ominous voice, I'm afraid it's not good for the battle! Can our army postpone the attack? One of the generals was frightened by the owl's cry and hurriedly stopped Xie Ai from sending his troops.

When Xie Ai heard this, anger appeared on his face, and the alarmist words of the subordinate generals would greatly dampen the morale of the soldiers.

In order to dispel the concerns of the soldiers about killing the enemy, and in order to improve morale, Xie Ai opened his mouth and said: "When playing Liubo chess, the person who gets the chess pieces decorated with the owl pattern wins, and now the owl is whining in the barracks, which is a sign of victory over the enemy." ”

When the soldiers beside him heard this, they were immediately relieved.

Xie Ai immediately ordered: "The whole army set off, attack the Zhao army in the valley, and break the Zhao army tonight, set off." ”

The soldiers under his command received the order and immediately killed in the direction of the valley.

Soon, the 5,000 soldiers and horses led by Xie Ai arrived in the valley where the 10,000 troops of the Zhao army rested.

Xie Ai looked at the soldiers of the Zhao army who were camping and resting in the valley, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he ordered: "The whole army will attack and kill ......."

......Under Xie Ai's order, the 5,000 soldiers under his command quickly launched an attack on the Zhao army that was resting in the valley.

The soldiers of Zhao State, who had just been able to rest, were taken aback when they saw that Xie Ai's army had arrived, and hurriedly looked for weapons to prepare to resist.

The army under Xie Ai came prepared, and the soldiers of the Zhao army were already tired and lacked the necessary preparations, so there was no need to say much about the outcome of the victory.

Under the attack of 5,000 men and horses of Xie Ai's department, the 10,000 horses of the front army of the Zhao army were defeated, the soldiers who were killed were 5,000 tall, and the remaining men and horses retreated in the direction of Hongchiling, where the main army was encamped.

Seeing that the Zhao army was defeated, Xie Ai then ordered: "Order, pursue the whole line, and march towards Hongchiling." ”

The soldiers under his command, according to Xie Ai's order, pursued the Zhao army all the way in the direction of Hongchiling.

At this moment, in the camp of the Zhao army in the direction of Hongchiling, the soldiers of the Zhao army who were staggering were resting in the camp tent, while its main generals Ma Qiu and Sun Fudu were waiting for the news of the victory of the front army in the big tent of the Chinese army.

"Report, general, it's not good, the front army has been defeated, and the army of Liangguo is killing in the direction of the camp." Just when Ma Qiu and Sun Fu were in a daze, bad news came from the front.

Ma Qiu and Sun Fu were both shocked when they heard this, and a lot of cold sweat suddenly broke out on their backs.

"What, the former army was defeated, how many soldiers and horses did the army of Liangguo have." Ma Qiu hurriedly asked. (To be continued......)