The imperial capital of Luojing.

The mansion of the first assistant of the dynasty is located in the south of the city, covering an area of hundreds of acres, built with splendid and magnificent atmosphere, and many areas are more luxurious than the royal gardens.

Outside the quiet study, a row of guards with knives stood straight under the pillars, and there were maids and servants standing at the door, with their eyebrows bowed, ready to be called by their masters inside.

After a while, the head of the Prime Minister's Mansion led a middle-aged scribe from afar, and when he came to the door, he whispered a few words of advice and let him in.

The light in the study was slightly dim, and Shousuke-sama, dressed in civilian clothes, leaned back on the seat behind the desk, his eyes deep and he couldn't see joy or anger.

Hearing the sound of gentle footsteps, Zhang Minxin's eyebrows moved, and a flat voice sounded: "Is Mr. Cao here?" Sit down and talk. ”

"The minister Cao Yun has seen the lord."

The middle-aged scribe bowed in a proper manner before taking a seat on the side.

His facial features look relatively mediocre, even a little ugly, but he has an inexplicable demeanor, which makes outsiders not have the slightest contempt and slack.

This Cao Yun has been famous since he was a child, and he is known to be talented, but he offended the powerful people of the dynasty because of his youth and vigor, and since then he has lost his career and has been displaced.

After 30 years of age, he met a stranger, apprenticed to the Tao, and traveled out of the mountains after learning something, and met Zhang Mincheng who was still in the south as a county commander by chance, and judged that this person was very extraordinary, and he would become a man of the hour in the future.

So he decided to take refuge in his assistant, recommended himself as a staff member, and secretly gave him advice and strategizing, so that Zhang Minzhen successfully defeated many political enemies, and rose all the way to the top of the ranks, until he became a very popular minister.

As a result, Cao Yun also won the high trust and reliance of this first assistant, and his status in the palace was respected, and even Zhang Minxin's heirs were very respectful to him.

"This is a report on the war in the South for some time, sir, take a look." Zhang Minxin glanced at the file on the table and continued.

Cao Yun agreed, got up and took the stack of documents into his hand, sat down again, quickly flipped through and browsed, and frowned slightly:

"It seems that the situation in the south is ...... There are signs of getting out of control, and the lord has to plan early. ”

In several southern states, the encirclement and suppression operations of several counterinsurgency armies of the imperial court did not go smoothly. The most powerful Wu Zhence already owned the land of the seven counties, and is currently leading the army to besiege Nanhuai County, which will soon be taken, and according to the secret report of the imperial court installed in his army, this person has been secretly preparing to establish himself as king.

The remaining princes should not be underestimated, especially Zhao Yuanjin in Jingzhou, although the current territory is less than two counties, but he is a powerful person who once killed Meng Luo. He also captured Yangcheng County by means of surprise attacks, and more than 20,000 court elites in the city were defeated without doing anything, and most of them were taken prisoner.

Although Feng Qingyun led the army to encircle and suppress it, according to the latest battle report, the two armies fought for many days, but the imperial army made no progress, not only suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, but also commanded Yu Fangzhou to attack in a hurry, and died of illness due to the recurrence of old injuries.

Therefore, Feng Qingyun, who was afraid, did not move now, and did not dare to continue to launch the offensive, and the battle situation had reached a stalemate.

"The fortunes of the country are difficult, and the rebels are becoming more and more powerful, I wonder if Mr. has any good strategies to help me?" Zhang Minxin rubbed his eyebrows, with a faint tiredness on his face.

Cao Yun muttered: "For today's plan, the only way to do this is to concentrate the superior forces of the imperial court to attack one place first, and then consider the next road after calming down." What does the lord think? ”

Zhang Min was silent for a long time, and sighed slightly: "This is my fault, if I adopt Mr.'s words as soon as possible, why is the current situation like this?" ”

At the beginning, when the smoke first rose in various places, the ministers of the imperial court discussed the plan to quell the rebellion, but Cao Yun did not approve of the strategy of attacking everywhere and advancing in multiple directions. After all, the imperial court has accumulated shortcomings for a long time, and its prestige is not as influential as before, and its control over various places is also worrisome. Coupled with the emptiness of the treasury and the inability to make ends meet year after year, how can there be enough financial and material resources to wage war on multiple fronts at the same time?

Moreover, there was also serious corruption in the imperial army, eating empty salaries, drinking soldiers' blood, and reselling ordnance and materials...... All kinds of shady scenes emerge one after another, and the combat power is very different from that of the founding of the country.

It's just that the adults in the court are pampered, and there are few who are familiar with the folk world, and they are extremely contemptuous and contemptuous of the homeless rebels in their bones, thinking that they are just a group of ignorant and short-sighted mud legs after all, and how big a wave can they stir? With the glory of the imperial court, it can be destroyed by turning your hand!

Although Zhang Minzhen had doubts about this at that time, after several weighings, he still adopted the opinions of his ministers, and ordered the army to go to various places to suppress the rebellion, dispersing the strength, so that the defeat continued and the loss of troops was lost. The performance of a few generals who can fight a war is better, but it cannot change the trend of the overall situation becoming more and more erosive.

"In that case, that's Wu Zhence?"

Zhang Min said sincerely: "Order the troops and horses from all walks of life in the south to evacuate, and then concentrate on the Huaiyang area." Prioritize the biggest threat and then move on to the next rebel army depending on the situation. ”

"What the lord said is very good, and the minister has no objection." Cao Yun said.

But there was some regret in his heart, he wanted to say that Zhao Yuanjin in Jingzhou was the most dangerous target, but now Wu Zhence's territory and military strength are far superior, and his momentum is huge, and he has faintly become the first prince in the south.

Therefore, from Zhang Minxin's standpoint, this Wu Zhence must not be allowed to continue to expand, and all the military forces in the south must be concentrated and exterminated at any cost.

In fact, there is a bolder strategy, that is, the imperial court soldiers and horses completely withdraw from the south, sit and watch several princes fight each other, and wait until each other's vitality is greatly injured and exhausted, and then attack and destroy each other, and the overall situation in the south can be determined.

Of course, this strategy is only theoretically feasible, but it may not be the case in practice, and it is more likely that one of the princes swallowed up other separatist forces and took the opportunity to gain power, which eventually led to the complete fall of the entire south.

So Cao Yun just thought about it in his heart, and did not put forward this immature strategy.

……

Yangseong-gun.

“…… My lord, after many days of exploration, the scout camp has found the main grain and grass gathering place of the imperial army, which is in this small valley twenty miles away. ”

In the conference hall, Ling Yuanqing put a map in front of Zhao Yuanjin and said excitedly.

Qin Feng, who was sitting next to him, glanced at it, this map was drawn by hand, it was relatively simple, and it couldn't be compared with the map of the world he was in, but it could also express the information it should have.

Sun Xiangqing said with a smile: "This is God bless our army, with this map, the lord can send a brigade of elites to sneak attack at night, as long as the grain and grass are burned, the imperial army on the opposite side will collapse without a fight." ”

Zhao Yuanjin nodded, looked at Qin Feng and said, "The scout camp is certainly indispensable, of course, this can be done, and I still have to thank Mr. for the magical equipment he brought." ”

The location of the storage of ordnance, grain and grass has always been the top secret in the army, and Feng Qingyun is also very cautious in handling this aspect. The selection of the location of the grain storage is extremely secretive, and there are rangers patrolling and guarding the valley day and night, and those who dare to approach within ten miles will be shot and killed.

Under normal circumstances, the scout camp wants to find this grain and grass camp, not to say absolutely nothing, but it is also very low, and it is not something that can be done in a short period of time.

However, Feng Qingyun didn't know that there was something called a night vision telescope, and the scout battalion under Zhao Yuanjin sent capable men to lurk and follow for several nights, and finally successfully confirmed this important target.

For example, in the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao was able to defeat Yuan Shao's army of more than 100,000 with 20,000 troops, and the key reason was that Yuan Shao's granary in Wuchao was burned, which turned the tide of the war and laid the foundation for the unification of the north.

The idea was made, and the corresponding attack plan was immediately worked out. Ling Yuanqing led a thousand elites to attack at night, and Qin Feng acted with the army as usual.