At night, outside the Desheng Gate of Beijing City, nearly 10,000 Ming troops are stationed here, located on both sides, forming a corner trend, facing the direction of Shunyi due north. Between the defenses, there is an offensive momentum again.

At this moment, in one of the camps, in the big tent of the Chinese army, as the chief soldier of Datong and the chief soldier of Xuanfu, there is no difference between the rank of Man Gui and Hou Shilu, and they both joined the army in their early years, and after years of hard work, they were promoted to the post of chief soldier. Therefore, neither of the two is worse than the other.

Therefore, the two stood side by side, looking at the generals below, including many subordinates such as deputy commanders, staff generals, guerrillas, etc., and mainly Man Gui's subordinates.

However, among the generals, there was one who seemed to be isolated by others, and there was an isolated space around him, and no one stood with him, it was none other than Shen Fu, a deputy general under Man Gui.

It seems that everyone does not exist as Shen Fu and does not pay attention to it at all, even more so Man Gui and Hou Shilu, the latter said with some low emotions: "General soldier Man, if You Shiwei, the general soldier of Changping, did not guard the imperial mausoleum, the three of us together, there would be more than 20,000 people." If that's the case, the three armies are placed in front of the Desheng Gate in the shape of a zigzag, even if Huang Taiji attacks the capital from here, we will have a greater chance of winning. ”

"Yes, General Hou, if we only rely on more than 10,000 of us to guard the Desheng Gate and resist the Eight Banners Army of Huang Taiji, it will be very difficult." Man Gui nodded, revealing a look of amazement, and a trace of worry flashed.

At this time, Hou Shilu seemed to think of something, his face showed helplessness, and he said seriously: "General Man, according to the news that my brother heard during this time, those city defense troops in the capital have not fought for many years, and their military quality is ridiculously poor, and there is no difference between them and those soldiers who have newly joined the army, sometimes they are far inferior, and they are very arrogant. ”

"So, brother, guarding the Desheng Gate and resisting the Houjin army may only be able to rely on ourselves, the task is arduous, don't have too much hope for those city defense troops. Otherwise, the greater the disappointment, and the possibility of unbearable disaster"

Man Guishen nodded approvingly, and said noncommittally: "Hey... It can't be helped, it's better than nothing. However, fortunately, Yuan Chonghuan and the others will arrive in Jingshi tomorrow and be stationed at Guangqumen. In this way, even if Huang Taiji calls tomorrow, we will have a lot less pressure and will not fight alone. ”

Hou Shilu also showed a look of joy, and suddenly asked: "Hey~ By the way, General Man, Yuan Chonghuan sent a letter in advance, hoping that you will send a team to assist him and garrison Guangqumen, who are you going to send?" ”

"Hehe, Mr. Hou, if you don't remind me, I really forgot about this stubble." As soon as the words fell, Man Gui set his eyes on Shen Fu and said lightly: "Deputy Chief Shen, the matter of going to assist Yuan Chonghuan will be handed over to you." Early tomorrow morning, you will take your subordinates to Guangqumen to meet the Guanning army and assist in the defense. ”

"Yes, Mr. Man."

Shen Fu replied calmly, as if nothing had happened last night, and that Man Gui's men had not fired arrows at his camp, causing casualties.

Shen Fu left, with a little gloom in his back, and a sense of relaxation from the sea of suffering. However, all this performance did not win the pity of others.

"Haha..."

Everyone laughed at the same time, like driving away a rat poop that would spoil a pot of porridge, and the laughter was very hearty, but it was so harsh that it was uncomfortable.

Man Gui and Hou Shilu glanced at each other, and they both saw a trace of disdain and contempt in each other's eyes, and the former said even more faintly: "Hmph, like this, who is neither a meritorious family nor a person who has been promoted all the way from the war, why did he ascend to the sky in one step and become the deputy commander-in-chief?" Just with such a person, he also wants to stand with a general like us, and he is also worthy? ”

Immediately afterwards, Hou Shilu also echoed: "Yes, I have never been in the army, nor have I led soldiers or fought in battles, why should I become the deputy commander-in-chief?" If he hadn't taken a shortcut and been recommended by others, Shen Fu wouldn't have wanted to be the deputy chief soldier in his life......"

Hou Shilu suddenly stopped, thought of something, and said: "General Man, is that Yushi Jinsheng who participated in your book in front of the emperor in the morning have an enmity with you?" Why did he suddenly stand up for Shen Fu? ”

Speaking of this, the puzzled look on Hou Shilu's face became more and more intense, as if muttering to himself, as if reminding Man Gui, and continued: "Even if you are uneven and think about the court, you shouldn't choose this time." As long as you are a clear-eyed person, you know that for that matter, even the emperor can only turn a blind eye at this time, and will never pursue it. ”

Hearing this, Man Gui pursed his lips and said nonchalantly: "What else can it be?" Shen Fu was recommended by Jin Sheng, and it is not surprising that he would refer to me in front of the emperor. ”

After a pause, seeing what Hou Shilu wanted to ask, Man Gui's face showed a faint look, and he said slowly: "The reason why Jin Sheng did that and chose this time is not only to stand out for Shen Fu, but also to knock on the mountain and shock the tiger, I want Shen Fu to have a better time under me, so that I don't target him like that." ”

Hou Shilu nodded suddenly, and then said: "So, you sent him to Yuan Chonghuan, so you can't help but do something against him?" ”

"Out of sight, out of mind..."Man Gui said noncommittally.

Subsequently, the two did not continue to dwell on Shen Fu's matter, but looked at the generals together, and Man Gui said representatively: "Generals, if nothing happens, within these two days, Huang Taiji will definitely come to Beijing." As for which gate to attack first, it is more likely that our side will attack first. ”

Everyone nodded secretly, because they already knew that after sneaking through Jizhou, the Houjin soldiers divided into two routes, and Huang Taiji detoured to Shunyi, and had already broken through Shunyi City two days ago; As for the other way, after bypassing Jizhou, he went straight to Tongzhou, and the leader was Mang Gurtai.

Therefore, when Man Gui said that Huang Taiji attacked Deshengmen first, it was meaningless for everyone. Moreover, there is also the most critical point, compared to Guan Ning Tieqi, his side is much weaker, but he didn't make it clear.

When this thought flashed through everyone's minds, they only heard Man Gui continue: "I have discussed with General Hou, once the Houjin army attacks, we will take the initiative to meet it. And General Hou will lead his troops to fight in the front, if the combat strength is not enough, we must immediately go up to support and cooperate with General Hou to defeat Huang Taiji. ”

Before the words fell, there was silence in the camp, and no one thought that it would be such a strategy against the enemy.

The silence only lasted for a moment, and a burly and handsome man walked out, looking a little dazzling among the many generals, and as soon as he stood still, he said loudly: "General Man, I really don't understand that in terms of the current ratio of troops, it is very suitable for our army. The left and right are horns of each other, and they can resist the charge of the Houjin army. If you want to retreat, the cannons and guns in the city can support us and avoid the enemy's edge, so why take the initiative to attack and fight the enemy? ”

The other generals all gasped, thinking in their hearts that except for Hou Shilu who could talk to Man Gui like this, there were only people in front of them in the camp. In terms of position alone, the person in front of him is the chief soldier awarded by the imperial court. Although it was only a recruiting and training commander, there were only more than 1,000 people under his command.

These are not the point, the key is the qualifications of the person in front of him, no one can match it, no worse than Man Gui and Hou Shilu. Don't look at the elegance of others, but the skill of riding and archery is not bad at all, he has experienced the baptism of war, once served as a guerrilla general, made meritorious contributions all the way, and served as a general soldier.

If it weren't for being dull, too harsh, too honest and honest as an official, too self-disciplined, and offending his superiors, he would have been the chief soldier of a place a long time ago, how could he have fallen to this?

Man Gui's face stiffened, his expression was a little unbearable, and he didn't know what to say? Obviously, everyone could see that Man Gui did not accept the advice of the person who spoke, although it was very reasonable.

At this time, Hou Shilu coughed dryly twice, and said: "That, Sun Zushou Sun Zongbing, this is not the idea of General Man alone, but the two of us decided together." Moreover, you don't know that those eunuchs sent by the emperor have been emphasizing taking the initiative and not always being passive on defense. ”

Sun Zushou's face was a little moved, as if he was moved by Hou Shilu's words, but he was still unwilling to give up his opinion, and said again: "Chief Hou, don't you know? Even if the Houjin army is divided into two routes, there are at least tens of thousands of people under Huang Taiji's command, far more than us. Moreover, they are all cavalry. What's more, their cavalry combat power is much stronger than ours. If you choose to fight head-on, it is tantamount to attacking the enemy's strengths with your own shortcomings, which is really unwise. ”

Sun Zushou's tone softened a lot, he was not so strong, he was no longer aggressive, what he said was also the truth, Man Gui's face was no longer so ugly, but he was still stubborn: "General Zu, there is no need to discuss the matter of the enemy's strategy anymore. I have already reported it to the imperial court, and the emperor has approved it, and it is impossible to change it. ”

At this moment, the atmosphere was quiet and a little weird, which made people feel uneasy, and finally ended with Sun Zushou's concession.

"Well, it's come to this, and I don't have much to do, so I can only follow the battle strategy."