"General Mulan hurry inside, please, we are old, let the general smile, please sit casually, come here, serve tea, serve good tea."

"General Mulan, the incident at the ferry just now was really a misunderstanding, I have made it very clear to you on the way, it's not that I, Chen Yingliang, am ruthless, it's really that the county is too small to withstand the pressure brought by so many displaced people, in order for the people of the county to live and work in peace and contentment, I had to order them to be driven away, I hope you can also understand my hardship."

"Are you ready for the food? Why hasn't it been delivered yet? Quick, prepare me the best wine and food! I'm going to personally pick up the wind and wash the dust for General Mulan! ”

Nothing to be courteous, of course, it is either a traitor or a thief, but Chen Yingliang made an exception this time without a bad intention, but really admired this thunderous general Mulan, and didn't want her to misunderstand herself, so she worked very hard to please Mulan. It's a pity that Chen Yingliang's sycophant this time was slapped on the horse's hooves, Mulan's first impression of Chen Yingliang was not good enough, and then saw Chen Yingliang's ugly appearance of being a lowly servile, and also said that Chen Yingliang, like other local officials who bullied and flattered, was afraid of Zhang Xutuo, the famous general of the Great Sui behind him, so he was flattering and flattering in front of him, so his impression of Chen Yingliang not only did not change at all, but on the contrary, he was even more disdainful and disdainful.

thanked Chen Yingliang very coldly for his hospitality, and Mulan, who was always wearing Mingguang armor, did not be polite to Chen Yingliang, and said directly: "Chen Tongshou, I'll talk about the wine and dinner later, the military situation is like fire, let's talk about business first, this is a handwritten letter from General Zhang Xutuo, the last general's Shangguan, please take a look." ”

As he spoke, Mulan took out a letter sealed with fire paint from her arms and handed it to Chen Yingliang with one hand, Chen Yingliang, who knew the inside story, was trembling at first, and then carefully took the letter that still carried Mulan's body temperature, and muttered in her heart, "No wonder it is claimed to have been with you for twelve years, I don't know what Mulan is, she is so aggressive, if I don't know history, I'm afraid I won't have the slightest doubt." ”

After muttering quietly, Chen Yingliang opened the letter and watched it carefully, but at a glance, Chen Yingliang frowned a little, it turned out that Zhang Xutuo praised Chen Yingliang for his ability to fight bravely in the letter, and then made a request for a single knife, inviting Chen Yingliang to send troops north to Liang County, fortify on the bank of the Bianshui River between Yucheng County and Dangshan County, and help Zhang Xutuo intercept the thief Meng Rang's team flowing south from Qi County, block Meng Rang's channeling road, and buy time for Zhang Xutuo's team to pursue and annihilate Meng Rang's team.

After carefully reading Zhang Xutuo's handwritten letter twice, Chen Yingliang handed the letter to Sun Wuji and Yuan Tiangang, the chief of staff next to him, and thought about it with a slightly calm face, but Mulan was a little impatient, and said, "Chen Tongshou, do you have a map here?" Please let someone fetch it, General Zhang has demarcated a defense zone for you, and I will show it to you. ”

Chen Yingliang did not refuse, and ordered someone to take the map, but Mulan was not polite, and immediately drew a line on the northeast of Liang County on the map - a rather short line, starting from Yucheng in the middle of Liang County in the west to the border of Pengcheng in the east, the actual length is 1560 li, to say the least. Seeing this scene, Chen Yingliang didn't speak, but the eldest grandson Wuji and Yuan Tiangang next to him screamed and said, "So long? We only have a total of twelve regiments in Yongcheng, how can we hold it? ”

"You can build beacon towers along the river, and then send people to reconnoiter the route of the bandits, confirm their location across the river, and then concentrate your forces to intercept them." Mulan opened her mouth to instruct the county on how to use the troops, and then said: "As for the grain and grass, Chen Tongshou can rest assured, Ambassador Zhang has already urgently ordered Liang County to guard Yang Wang, so that he can provide you with grain and grass, so that you will not go hungry to fight." The army of Liang County will also participate in the battle, and fully cooperate with you to stop Meng Rang's army. ”

The eldest grandson Wuji and Yuan Tiangang turned their heads to look at Chen Yingliang, Chen Yingliang was silent, and only asked after a while: "General Mulan, where is Meng Rang now?" How many soldiers and horses are there? Have you confirmed his route? ”

"It was confirmed five days ago that the thief Meng Rang fled to Jiyin County and appeared in the Jinxiang area." Mulan quickly replied: "We received inside information that Meng Rang once tried to go west to join forces with Meng Haigong, the big thief leader of Jiyin, but because the two thieves wanted to take the opportunity to merge with each other, the negotiations were unsuccessful, so Meng Rang decided to go south to plunder the relatively rich Jianghuai area, his route has not yet been discovered, and from the perspective of his position, it is most likely to go south to Liangjun or Pengcheng." As for Meng Rang's troops, about 20,000 people, it is not very difficult to deal with. ”

"Where is Ambassador Zhang's team at the moment? How many troops are there? Chen Yingliang asked again.

"Qufu, Lu County, with a strength of about 15,000, Ambassador Zhang decided to personally lead 10,000 troops south to pursue." Mulan replied quickly, and said: "Please rest assured Chen Tongshou, as long as you temporarily block the footsteps of Meng Rang's thieves, the main force of the battle will be borne by us, our Eight Winds Battalion and Meng Rang have fought more than once, we know his details very well, and there is no problem in cleaning him up." ”

"Then why didn't you kill Meng Rang in Qi County?" Chen Yingliang muttered in his stomach, and then stopped talking, looking at the map just thinking.

"And." Mulan hurriedly added: "The main force under the command of Pengcheng Dong is currently resting in the area of Pei County, and he has promised not to go north to Langya for the time being, and will fully assist in exterminating the Meng Rang thief army, and he will make every effort to prevent the Meng Rang thief army from entering Pengcheng County at that time." If Meng Rang's team insists on entering Pengcheng eastward, he will be responsible for taking on the heavy task of blocking and cooperating with our army to completely annihilate Meng Rang's team. ”

Chen Yingliang still didn't speak, while the eldest grandson Wuji and Yuan Tiangang glanced at each other, and they all didn't dare to feel at ease about Dong Chun's promise, because the county had enough of Dong Chun's beggar-thy-neighbor recently.

After waiting for a long time without seeing Chen Yingliang's voice, Mulan gradually became a little angry, and said: "Chen Tongshou, Meng Rang is a traitorous and unpredictable, his whereabouts are erratic, and he has been playing hide and seek with us all the time, this time we finally determined his location, the main force is still not far from his team, and the main force you and Dong stay behind also happen to be not far from the battlefield, this is a rare opportunity to completely annihilate the big thief Meng Rang!" If you miss it, you may never have such a good opportunity again! ”

Chen Yingliang continued to calculate quietly, and after a long time, Chen Yingliang said slowly: "General Mulan, you are right, this is an opportunity to completely annihilate Meng Rang, and your tactical plan is also correct, but I think this plan may not be effective." ”

"What do you mean by that?" Mulan's face changed slightly.

"The defense circle is too big, the defense line is too weak, and there is very little hope of being able to completely annihilate Meng Rang!" Chen Yingliang compared the map and said: "If my expectations are correct, Ambassador Zhang's plan should be like this, his main force is responsible for tailgating and pursuing, I am responsible for intercepting due south, Dong Liushou is responsible for the southeast, and Yang Tongshou of Liangjun is responsible for the southwest direction." In terms of strength, our few armies are enough to slaughter all the Meng Rang thief army, and not a single one will be left! However, this arc-shaped encirclement is too big, hundreds of miles long from east to west, no matter how many troops our four armies combined, it is impossible to take into account every road, every inch of land, Meng Rang's thief army can break through everywhere, everywhere can flow, almost nothing can stop him! ”

"Who wants you to take care of every road, every inch of land?" Mulan said unceremoniously: "Since Chen Tongshou is known as Little Chen Qingzhi and is invincible on the battlefield, it is impossible not to even know about scout reconnaissance, right?" As long as there are many scouts to monitor the movements of the thieves and mobilize the army in time, it is enough to stop the rebels! ”

"General Mulan, it's not that easy." Chen Yingliang shook his head and said calmly: "In this situation, we will only suffer losses in the scout war, and we will not take any advantage, now the land of Qingxu is full of displaced people, each of them is the eyeliner of Meng Rang's traitors, and everyone is Meng Rang's scout, our army's every move can not be hidden from Meng Rang's eyes, our scouts want to detect the enemy's movements but it is extremely difficult, the enemy is dark and I am clear, and the fight is very disadvantaged." ”

"And." Chen Yingliang also added: "Taking a step back, even if our scouts are effective and can always keep an eye on the movements of Meng Rang's thief army, but in such a long line of defense, we will only be led around by Meng Rang's thief army, tired and tired, and we can't find a chance to fight a decisive battle, and in the end, we may be completely dragged down by Meng Rang, and we will win and lose!" ”

Mulan's handsome face directly turned iron blue, and she gritted her white teeth and asked, "Chen Tongshou, so you don't want to join forces with us to suppress the thief?" ”

"It's not that I don't want my brother to work in vain, tired and half dead and get nothing." Chen Yingliang replied sternly: "Ambassador Zhang's tactical plan is very correct, but it may not be effective, and at the same time, it will make the army too tired and not conducive to war, so I suggest that Ambassador Zhang adjust his tactics, not passively block the front and chase after the rear, but to wait for work at ease, use troops flexibly, and achieve the greatest victory at the minimum cost." ”

"Oh, then I would like to hear what clever tactical plan Chen Tongshou has." Mulan said with a sneer.

"Gao Ming didn't dare to be, he just wanted to use some superficial tricks to lure the enemy to break the enemy's plan." Chen Yingliang smiled and said: "I haven't completely figured out how to act, but I have some clues-for example, I arranged for some people to go north to join Meng Rang's team, persuade Meng Rang to flow in the direction of Qian County, and then set up an ambush on the battlefield that is favorable to us, so as to ambush the enemy at ease." As for your army, as long as you continue to pursue, maintain pressure on Meng Rang's thief army, and then join forces with us to destroy the enemy. ”

"Hehe, hehe." Mulan laughed, and smiled unusually strangely, and said: "Chen Tongshou is really clever, very clever, sending people north to join the thief army, persuading Meng to let the rebel thief go south to die, and ambushing the enemy with leisure on the favorable battlefield, such a good thing - you can often see it in dreams!" ”

Hearing Mulan's unscrupulous ridicule, the faces of the eldest grandson Wuji and Yuan Tiangang changed a little, the eldest grandson Wuji still wanted to have a seizure, Chen Yingliang waved his hand to stop the eldest grandson Wuji, and said to Mulan: "General Mulan, you are also right, such a good thing is not easy to do, but I don't think it is necessary to try." ”

"Chen Tongshou, have you considered the consequences of doing this?" Mulan suppressed her smile and said with a cold face: "Do you know how much sweat and blood our Eight Winds Battalion has shed in the past two years to annihilate this Meng Rang?" Now you finally seized an opportunity to completely annihilate him, but you refused to cooperate with the battle, and insisted on engaging in your ambush plan to lure the enemy, if something went wrong, who would bear the consequences? ”

"General Mulan, you misunderstood." Chen Yingliang shook his head and explained: "It's not that I refuse to cooperate with the battle, and on the contrary, I am happy to join forces with you to annihilate Meng Rang, I just don't want the brothers to work in vain and waste military strength, so I hope you can adjust your tactical plan, don't just think about blocking the front and chasing after the rear, so that our hope of annihilating Meng Rang's team may be greater." ”

"Chen Tongshou, stop talking nonsense." Mulan was completely furious, and asked bluntly: "Hurry up, are you willing to send troops?!" ”

"General Hua, remind you." The eldest grandson Wuji was also angry, and said angrily: "My brother is the general guard of the county, although Ambassador Zhang is the ambassador of the twelve counties, but he does not happen to be in charge of the county, you can only invite us to send troops, you can't force us to send troops, so whether we send troops or not, can only be decided by ourselves!" ”

Mulan's face was extremely difficult to see, and she glared at the eldest grandson Wuji, the eldest grandson Wuji glared at her without fear, Chen Yingliang saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly stopped between the two, and then said: "General Mulan, don't worry, this way, you let me think about it all night, and I will give you an answer early tomorrow morning, you have worked hard from afar, and you should have a good rest." ”

Hearing Chen Yingliang say this, Mulan's face slowed down a little, at this time, Chen's subordinates had already sent good wine and food, Chen Yingliang invited Mulan to the table to drink, but Mulan firmly refused, and said to Chen Yingliang: "Thank you Chen Tongshou for your kindness, but Mulan has never drunk from heaven, and she is used to eating the same meals as the soldiers, so I can only understand your kindness, I still go back to the post house and eat with my fellow soldiers." ”

Seeing Mulan's resolute expression, Chen Yingliang was not reluctant, so he smiled and said: "Since General Mulan insists on sharing weal and woe with his soldiers, then I will not be reluctant, come and send these drinks and food to the post house, so that General Mulan and her entourage can enjoy them." ”

The subordinate agreed, and quickly brought the food box to put the wine and food on it, Mulan was not polite, and said a few words to ask Chen Tongshou to think more about state affairs, and then decisively said goodbye and left. As a result, as soon as Mulan left on the front foot, the eldest grandson Wuji complained on the back foot, and said: "What kind of Hua Mulan is this, it's so rushed, come to beg us to take the wrong medicine with such a big breath?" ”

"It's not that I'm taking the wrong medicine." Chen Yingliang shook his head and said with a smile: "I noticed that her face was a little pale, and her walking posture was a little strange. ”

The eldest grandson Wuji and Yuan Tiangang laughed when they heard this, and they both said that Chen Yingliang guessed very right, and the truth must be so, but at the same time, Mulan, who had already walked out of the gate of the Tongshou Mansion, sneezed twice, and quietly touched her lower abdomen, and said secretly: "Unlucky!" Why are you here today?! ”

After laughing out loud at Chen Yingliang's witty words, the eldest grandson Wuji asked Chen Yingliang: "Brother, what should I do about what happened just now?" You said you need to think about it for a night, are you looking for an excuse to prevaricate that Mulan? Or are you really going to reconsider? ”

"Of course, it's an excuse to prevaricate." Chen Yingliang replied casually: "The encirclement arranged by Zhang Xutuo is too big, even if we can block Meng Rang, we will definitely be tired and half dead, if there is any more mistakes, even if we don't suffer defeat, we will also greatly lose morale because of the failure of our labor, which will only do us a hundred harms but not benefit the new army in our growth period." Besides, Yang Wang and Dong Chun are not reliable comrades-in-arms, Yang Wang's strength is insufficient, Dong Chun likes to lead the troubles outside, once something goes wrong with them, we will only be more passive, maybe we will give Meng Rang a chance to flow into Qian County, ruining the peaceful situation of Qian County that we have managed to maintain. ”

"What then?" The eldest grandson Wuji asked again: "If we directly refuse to join forces with Zhang Xutuo, we will definitely offend Zhang Xutuo, although we are not subject to Zhang Xutuo, but after all, he is an important minister of the imperial court and a favorite of the emperor, offending him will still have an adverse impact on your future." ”

"It's nothing to offend Zhang Xutuo, the key is not to offend the fierce men under his command." Chen Yingliang muttered in his heart, nodded again, and agreed with the opinion of the eldest grandson Wuji, and then said: "I think so, let's make two preparations, one is to use the letter to persuade Zhang Xutuo to change his course, adjust the tactical plan, and change to a tactic that allows us all to fight with less effort." The second is that if Zhang Xutuo insists on not listening to persuasion, we will not join forces with him and fight alone, in this way, if we can defeat or severely damage Meng Rang, then it must be easy to say, even if we can't win, we can't make the army exhausted, not defeated and dragged down. ”

"Tongshou, I'm afraid that's unlikely, right?" Yuan Tiangang said worriedly: "I have long heard that Ambassador Zhang has a strong personality, and a strong person will definitely not change his resolution lightly, and we want to persuade him to change his ways, I am afraid there is no hope." ”

"Give it a try." Chen Yingliang replied: "I also know that it is unlikely that Zhang Xutuo will agree with our tactics, but there is no way, and we can't accept his tactical arrangements, so we can only try as much as possible, and at the same time make every effort to meet the battle alone, and prepare for the worst scenario of fighting alone." ”

"Brother, with all due respect, if we are forced to fight on our own, you must be prepared for a bitter battle." The eldest grandson Wuji solemnly reminded: "Meng Rang is no better than the opponent we encountered before, he is a thief who started in March last year, he has fought with the official army many times, has accumulated rich battlefield experience, and has also experienced a group of elite soldiers, even if it is a famous general like Zhang Xutuo and Zhou Fashang to join forces, it only let him lose and not eliminate him, and now his strength has reached more than 20,000 people, with our strength alone, if you want to defeat him alone, I am afraid it will be very difficult." ”

"Of course I know this, and I'll be careful with it." Chen Yingliang nodded, and said: "Fortunately, at present, we have not confirmed that Meng Rang must come to the side of Qianjun, whether this big war is really going to start, or two words, we still have to worry about how to refuse Zhang Xutuo's invitation, and how to reduce his dissatisfaction with us." ”