"No matter how General Yang challenges, we must not come out," Xu Ping was bent on confronting the new army to the end, as long as he made sure that Yang Zhiyuan could not go to reinforce Zuo Liangyu without knowing it.

When he was arranging how to defend closely with his subordinates, a staff officer reported to him outside the battalion, and after entering the door, he reported loudly to Xu Ping in front of the officers in the battalion: "General, Yang Zhiyuan is dead. ”

"General Yang?" There was a sudden gasp in the room, and Yu Shenhe asked first, "Are you sure?" ”

"Nine times out of ten." The staff officer's face was full of excitement, and he reported that there was something unusual in the new army early yesterday morning, and in the evening he found out some news, saying that Yang Zhiyuan was seriously ill, but this news was uncertain, and Xu Ping and they had long known that Yang Zhiyuan was in pain, so they still maintained their previous caution.

This morning, the camp of the New Army was very noisy, and the scouts who broke into the camp caught a few soldiers of the New Army, and they all said that there was a lot of discussion in the camp, and it was said that Yang Zhiyuan had passed away last night.

The staff officers synthesized several confessions, as well as other sources, such as some civilians near the camp of the Forces nouvelles who had not escaped, and some of them had broken into the camp, and they reported that the soldiers of the Forces nouvelles who had come to investigate the horses of the camp today were all distracted, and some woodcutters even heard the soldiers of the Forces nouvelles patrolling around the camp discussing the matter while patrolling.

"Why are the officers and soldiers so careless?" After examining the comprehensive report brought by this staff officer, Zhou Dongtian felt that most of the incident was true, and this sudden incident obviously caused great confusion to the new army, and it seemed that they had not had time to keep it secret.

"Lord Yang has passed away......" Xu Ping sighed softly, he and Chen Zhe were the only officers in the battalion who had not spoken.

"Now is not the time to be sentimental," Chen Zhe suddenly said after hearing Xu Ping's sigh: "It's okay, I'm a little restrained when fighting Lord Yang, and I won't be so polite to others." ”

Most of the people in the camp were overjoyed, and Chen Zhe concluded: "There are two reasons why this news came out so quickly: first, the new army felt that there was no need to keep it secret, and they didn't think what would happen to Lord Yang's death; Second, the new army was willing to keep secrets, but it lacked the ability and means to respond to the situation, and as a result, the whole army quickly became aware of it. Well, or both. ”

"Could this be Lord Yang's attempt to lure me into attacking?" After listening to Chen Zhe's analysis, Xu Ping said coldly.

"Why do you say that?" Chen Zhe immediately set his eyes on Xu Ping, and his expression became serious, he didn't see such clues from the intelligence.

"Because my first thought was to attack and engage the new army," Xu Ping replied, "and nothing moved me more than this news." ”

……

In the camp of the new army, a large number of commanders surrounded Huang Xiwen in the middle, and he had become the natural center of this group.

"Young Marshal, there is a lot of discussion in the army now," Zhan Tianhao was quite dissatisfied with the leakage of Yang Zhiyuan's death, and he advocated secrecy: "We should still keep it a secret, and the fluctuation of military spirit is not good for our army." ”

"How can you hide it?" Ji Xinghui retorted that he had no intention of concealing it at all, and as soon as he learned of the incident, Ji Xinghui notified his staff officers and subordinates and asked them to prepare early: "If the marshal doesn't come out to meet people, wouldn't it be even more military-minded?" It would be much better to let the officers and soldiers know about this as soon as possible, don't you remember that Hou Ye said that the best way to fight rumors is to tell the truth? ”

"This time, that time," Zhan Tianhao didn't tell his subordinates at first, and relied on lies to prevaricate for a while, but after the news leaked, he was very passive: "Even if you want to say it to the officers and soldiers, at least you have to discuss it before you do it, how can you act without permission?" ”

"Okay, stop arguing." Huang Xiwen shouted, although the generals present supported him as the temporary commander without exception, most of them were his father's subordinates and his elders, Huang Xiwen was a little lacking in confidence: "What should we do now?" ”

Today, Huang Xiwen convened the generals in the morning to discuss how to withdraw the troops, but he was unable to discuss the reason, and the generals were convened again in the afternoon, which was still this topic: how to retreat safely.

After hearing Huang Xiwen's question, the tent suddenly became silent, and no one spoke to talk about their thoughts.

"I'm going to put things in order for a few days and then start withdrawing, what do you think?" Huang Xiwen thought that it might not be good to withdraw the army immediately, so he planned to stay for a while and wait for the army's morale to calm down before starting the march.

As the commander of the Changqing Battalion, Wu Zhong was also in this camp, and after he heard Yang Zhiyuan's last order from Huang Xiwen, his first thought was to blow up all the cannons, abandon the unneeded baggage, and retreat at full speed before Xu Ping reacted. Through the retreat of Shandong, Wu Zhong believed that the withdrawal of troops should be determined and act quickly. However, the other battalion officers came to a completely different conclusion through that battle, especially Wei Wu, who supported Huang Xiwen's idea that it was better to retreat safely, and Wei Wu also learned the lessons of the Shandong rout, and most of the battalion officers held the same view as Wei Wu when the Chizhuo battalion collapsed in a hurry.

Wu Zhong felt that the experience of the Evergreen Battalion was more in line with the current situation, because the Evergreen Battalion had withdrawn under the pressure of a strong enemy, while the other battalions had never faced such pressure. But Wu Zhong didn't want to be blamed for being afraid of Xu Ping, or saying that the Changqing Camp missed the old feelings and couldn't play his strength in front of Xu Ping, etc., so he still didn't say a word.

"Young marshal, humble opposition to the withdrawal of troops." Zhang Biao suddenly shouted, he was the highest officer in the remnants of the Xuanfeng Battalion, so he also came to a meeting with the commanders of the other battalions today, and he exclaimed excitedly: "Are we going to give up the Shanlan Battalion in Kaifeng?" Jia Shuai is still waiting for us to solve the siege, and Lord Gu's revenge is still waiting for us to revenge. Zhang Biao shouted to the generals present in a desperate tone: "Don't you adults want to avenge the Xuanfeng Battalion?" ”

Zhang Biao's words caused a sigh, Huang Xiwen was silent, and among the commanders who were seen by Zhang Biao, some avoided his gaze, and some seemed moved.

Wu Zhong is a person who avoids Zhang Biao's gaze, Huang Xiwen has already said Yang Zhiyuan's last order before, since it is Yang Zhiyuan's order, then Wu Zhong feels that it must be reasonable.

"Lord Yang wants us to withdraw our troops."

I don't know who spit out these words, Wu Zhong lowered his head when he heard this, and listened quietly, without looking up at the person who spoke or echoing further.

"That's what the marshal said, but ......"

Wu Zhong heard a low mutter,

"Dashuai was a little confused at that time, and he didn't know what he was talking about."

This sentence aroused some other subtle approvals, and another commander, who seemed to be the commander of the Taishan battalion, unabashedly expressed his support for Zhang Biao, and asked the colleague who repeated Yang Zhiyuan's last words: "Are you suggesting that the young marshal abandon his colleague?" ”

"Of course I didn't mean that." The first man hurriedly discerned for himself.

Wu Zhong still didn't say anything, and a scene in Shandong flashed in his heart, Xu Ping proposed to Zhang Chengye to abandon the wounded soldiers and retreat at full speed: "This is one of Xu Ping's later major crimes, these guys present were all scolded with righteous indignation, scolded impassionedly, scolded fiercely, and even me, as well as the old Master Zhang, were unlucky together." In all fairness, Wu Zhong thought that if he hadn't abandoned the wounded soldiers and fled that time, the result would definitely be the annihilation of the two battalions of Changqing and Shanlan, but every time Wu Zhong was accused of this, every time he saw others ask himself bitterly: Why Wu Zhong didn't fight with reason, and actually destroyed the tradition left by the Marquis of Zhendong. Wu Zhongdu scolded together: Xu Ping is really unlucky, he doesn't know what he did in his previous life, Zhang Chengye doesn't know that he forgot to burn incense for the gods and Buddhas on that road, and the wounded in the Changqing Camp don't know how to get into trouble with this demon in their previous life.

Although Wu Zhong didn't plan to take the initiative to speak, someone still asked him: "Lord Wu, what do you say?" ”

Listening to the voice, this is the adjutant of the Xiliu Battalion, Wu Zhong followed the voice and looked back, and saw that the eyes of countless people were cast towards him, Wu Zhong replied calmly: "Of course you can't leave the Shanlan Camp alone, do you need to say this?" ”

"Good nephew!"

An elder sent a loud compliment.

"Lord Wu said it well."

Several young men of their own rank, who served as adjutants in other battalions, responded loudly.

"What's so great about the thief?"

Another passionate voice came, and this sentence also aroused enthusiastic echoes: "You will use tricks, if you fight in a dignified battle, you will be able to break Xu Ping." ”

Wu Zhong found that he was already on the cusp of the storm with what he had just said, and someone immediately asked him again what he thought.

"Xu Thief is nothing remarkable, I have been with him for a long time, and I know that he is the most talkative." Wu Zhong said loudly.

"Young Marshal, we have to go straight to Kaifeng and relieve the siege of Jia Shuai and the brothers of Shanlanying," many people asked Huang Xiwen: "Young Marshal, this is Lord Yang's will." ”

"Yes, young marshal, Lord Yang's last words are not true."

"Kaifeng," Wu Zhong thought in his heart: "Even Lord Yang would never set foot there before his death, so he tried to lure Xu Ping out to fight, if Lord Yang was sure, why bother, how could he be at a loss and so anxious these days?" ”

However, in the midst of an impassioned appeal, Wu Zhong said: "That's right, young marshal, we should turn our grief into strength and complete Lord Yang's will." ”

During this period, Huang Xiwen didn't speak, but what he thought of was not these, but some of the past things about his father that He Baodao and Yang Zhiyuan had mentioned to him. Huang Xiwen remembered that when his father galloped through Liaodong, it was almost at his current age, and most of his father's subordinates were older than his father and had been in the army for a longer time, but He Baodao They all said that in front of their father, don't say that these subordinates are He Baodao and generations of generals, Wu Zhong's father Wu Mu represents the authority of the imperial court, and Yang Zhiyuan, Jin Qiude's henchmen, all trembling, father said that they dare not go west, and father said that they dare not retreat.

"No one yells at their father like that, everybody says this: as long as the father has made up his mind, everyone will carry it out firmly, and there will never be any doubt." Huang Xiwen listened to the noise around him, and felt an indescribable and inexplicable emotion rising from his abdomen and permeating his chest: "Uncle Yang has been asking me to work hard these days, teach me by word and deed in the military, and help me establish my prestige, but they still look down on me in their hearts and think that I am too young, unless I can be like my father and make achievements that make people speechless, they will not ......be convinced."

"Young marshal, you have something to say."

Seeing that Huang Xiwen never said a word, someone urged impatiently.

"Do you have to retire from the army, young marshal?"

The urging turned into a suspicious question.

"Nonsense, how could the young marshal withdraw from the army," a voice defending Huang Xiwen sounded: "What the young marshal has on his body is the blood of the Hou Ye." ”

"Yes," Huang Xiwen felt that this sentence was very powerful: "What I have in my body is my father's blood, my father is an invincible famous general, how can I lose his old man's face, how can I not beat that Xu Ping, even Uncle Yang praised me very much, saying that I have the demeanor of my father when he was young." ”

"Of course we won't retreat." Huang Xiwen said slowly: "It's just that how to defeat Xu Ping, I still need to discuss with you." ”

……

"The New Army did not withdraw immediately," after hearing that Yang Zhiyuan died, Xu Ping asked Chen Zhe to personally take charge of the intelligence collection of the New Army, and now he is reporting his experience in front of the generals in the camp: "And it seems that there is no intention of withdrawing the army." ”

"No plans to retire?" Xu Ping immediately asked, "What are they going to do?" ”

"Don't know what they're waiting for? Maybe it was to wait for Zuo Liangyu to defeat King Chuang, or maybe there were other plans, anyway, I didn't find that they sent reconnaissance and reconnaissance horses on the retreat road, whether it was south or east, "Xu Ping planned to wait for the new army to retreat to find an opportunity to pursue, Chen Zhe sent scouts and detectives to the road that the new army might choose, but after they gained a firm foothold, they still did not find their counterparts on the side of the officers and soldiers: "If the new army plans to retreat, I think this must be a bad march that we have never seen." Chen Zhe boldly put forward a suggestion: "General, I think they are determined to fight to the end and forcibly relieve the siege of Kaifeng, we might as well pretend to withdraw our troops and then meet them near Kaifeng." ”

"Maybe the little marquis is waiting for us to do this," If the new army really comes to pursue, of course, it is the best, the closer to Kaifeng, the better Xu Ping's strength can be exerted, but he feels that this is too contemptuous of the opponent: "Well, maybe the little marquis is planning to deliberately show strength, let us have such a misunderstanding, and then when we retreat, we will withdraw to Shandong with lightning speed." ”

"But I don't believe it," Chen Zhe shook his head and said: "Huang Xiaohou has been in the Jin army before, I guess the generals of the Jin army will most of them try their best to stammer him, I heard that in Lord Yang's army, if Lord Yang speaks, Lord Yang will never refute it face to face." Xiao Hou Ye and General Jin Xiao are the same kind of people, they have always lived in flattery, and they have never known what it means to be no, such an arrogant person, still so young, will he have this kind of strategy? Chen Zhe shook his head violently again: "Huang Hou was cunning back then, that's because Huang Hou was going to have a meal, and he could endure what others couldn't bear, Huang Xiaohou is his son, but I don't believe he can do this." ”

"Master Hou......" Xu Ping suddenly remembered some of the past things Huang Zijun had said, about the methods and mentality of Zhendong Hou to cultivate his son, he still disagreed with Chen Zhe's bold suggestion: "We will not withdraw the army, don't be self-defeating." ”

"In that case," Li Dingguo made a suggestion: "We might as well cheat and lose twice, Huang Xiwen is young and vigorous, and when he sees that we are defeated, he will despise us and lead him to the north." ”

Xu Ping pondered for a moment, he was very clear about the arrogance of the new army, just like the Xuanfeng battalion that lost to the guards battalion twice, they did not become afraid of the enemy like a tiger, but gave birth to a more and more courageous momentum. Xu Ping knew that the New Army had always been very unconvinced of himself, and always felt that Xu Ping had taken advantage of all kinds of unfairness and won the victory by luck, although the propaganda of the New Army's top brass was to boost morale, but it did cater to the general mentality of the New Army generals, so that they could never face up to the strength of the camp.

"On the battlefield," Li Dingguo analyzed, "the new army is always swaying from side to side, they are always worried that they will encounter our ambush, and they appear to be restrained when intelligence reconnaissance is not going well, but when they are fighting head-on, they are overconfident." ”

"That's true, but you don't have to cheat." I don't know if he was born as an officer and soldier and was taught by the Marquis of Zhendong, although Xu Ping always wanted to use strategy to influence the strength of the enemy's army, or to better play the military strength of his side, but he was always more inclined to use a frontal decisive battle to make a final decision, and he was not very interested in Li Dingguo's combat style formed because of long-term mobile warfare: "In front of the new army, it is best not to play too many tricks, defeat, defeat, or defeat, and defeat will be risky, if you don't cheat and become defeated, it will be troublesome." ”

Seeing that Li Dingguo and Chen Zhe had unhappy expressions on their faces, Xu Ping said in an accentuated tone: "What's more, we now have the strength to defeat the new army head-on, so we don't have to ask for trouble, I still plan to wait for the new army to retreat." It is a mistake for the new army not to withdraw at this time, and it is enough for us to seize it, and not to give the enemy the opportunity to catch our mistake. Xu Ping believed that Li Zicheng would definitely be able to defeat Zuo Liangyu, and time was his friend rather than the new army: "Yu Dong doesn't have to care at all, if the new army does not retreat, we should not stimulate them, and when we find that the enemy may make a big mistake, it is best to wait and see what happens, don't change the situation that will make the enemy make mistakes, and don't remind them." ”

"When will that be?"

"Patience is a soldier's virtue, it's a virtue," Xu Ping smiled slightly.

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