Li Wei refused simply, and he claimed that he was incapable of commanding an army of hundreds of thousands, which made Shi Huai a little dumbfounded, and he could only look at Zhang Tao again and ask if he had any other candidates.

Zhang Tao smiled slightly and said: "General Li Wei is too modest, if General Li Wei is not competent, then I am afraid that no one among the generals of the Manchu Dynasty is capable of this post." ”

At this time, the great general Yin Liang also stood up and said: "Yes, General Li, now is the crisis of the country, and it is too bad time for you to be humble and give in when you are employing people." ”

Li Wei looked at Zhang Tao, then at Yin Liang, sneered in his heart, he raised his eyes and arched his hand to Shi Huai and said: "My lord, there is a suitable candidate in the heart of the last general, who can definitely take on this important responsibility, as long as this person comes out, Jin Jun will definitely be terrified!"

"Oh, come, who is General Li's recommendation?" Shi Huai's face was happy, his eyes lit up, and he looked at Li Wei without blinking.

Li Wei raised his hand and pointed at Yin Liang and said: "It's the great general! The country is in danger, and the general, as the head of the generals, should fight for the country and share worries for the king." What's more, the general is highly respected and famous in the army, as long as the general comes out, the morale of the officers and men of our army will definitely be doubled, and the gold thieves will be ruined!"

His words praised Yin Liang thoroughly, but instead of having the slightest joy, Yin Liang collectively greeted Li Wei's eighteenth generation ancestors in his heart.

He knows best that he, a general, is obtained by relying on his noble background and figuring out the monarch's mind to play with power, let him 'play with people', let him 'play with soldiers', it will be like playing with his life, and he will not dare to fight with the Jin army if he is killed.

Shi Huai is cruel to brutality, but he still has the wisdom to understand people. How capable Yin Liang is, he knows in his heart, let Yin Liang lead the army to fight against the Jin army, and let him kill as many people as he wants. His face sank, and he said coldly: "General Li, there is no joke in front of you. Are you fooling the king?"

Li Wei raised his head and asked rhetorically: "Could it be that the king thinks that the great general has his place, but he is incompetent?"

Li Wei's questioning made Shi Huai's face flush with anger, his eyebrows stood up, he slapped the table, stood up, pointed at Li Wei, and shouted: "Li Wei, you are so bold." How dare you speak disrespectfully to this king?!"

"The last general will not dare. Li Wei lowered his head and said: "It's just that the last general is upright by nature and doesn't vomit or be unhappy." ”

"Okay, okay, this king will let you vomit today!" Shi Huai smoked and roared angrily outside the hall: "Come on, drag this bold traitor out of this king and kill him!"

As he spoke, several guards strode into the hall and approached Li Wei. I couldn't help but say, and I escorted him out.

Li Wei didn't even say a word of pleading. Let the guards drag and pull him, and walk out of the main hall.

Li Wei is a veteran in the Red Army, and the reason why he is a veteran is not that he is old, but that he has been in the army for a long time, and he joined the army at the age of fifteen. It's been almost twenty years now. Among the Red Army, there are still many generals who admire Li Wei, including Jin Hu and other Red Tiger generals.

Seeing that the king really wanted to kill Li Wei, the golden tiger stepped out of the ranks, knelt on the ground and kowtowed. He hurriedly said: "King, General Li is the king of the country and has always been loyal, and General Li is the commander of the Huwei Army, and the king is now beheading General Li, I am afraid that it will cause dissatisfaction among the soldiers of the Huwei Army, which is not good for our country, and I hope the king will think twice!"

If someone else came to persuade him, Shi Huai, who was angry, might have to kill the people who dissuaded him, but at this time, it was Jin Hu who persuaded him, and he was the tiger general he loved and valued the most, and the anger in his chest gradually suppressed.

"This thief is hateful, he doesn't take this king in his eyes at all, how can this king keep him?" said this, but Shi Huai's face had softened a little, and he slowly sat back when he stood up.

"General Li is straightforward by nature, he can say whatever he wants, the king sees General Li's love for fighting for the country for more than ten years, and he still spares General Li this time!"

At this time, many other generals also knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said: "I hope that the king will take back his life and spare General Li's life!"

Killing the general in battle is indeed not good for one's own side. Shi Huai, who calmed down, also felt that it was not appropriate to behead Li Wei in this situation, and it happened that all the generals were interceding for him, so Shi Huai also borrowed the slope to get off the donkey, and said along the river: "Okay! For the sake of your Aiqing interceding for him, this king will spare him first this time." But the capital crime can be avoided, and the living crime is unforgivable, put Li Wei in prison first, and wait for the fate!"

It was not easy to save Li Wei's life under the king's knife, and everyone didn't dare to ask for anything more, so they kowtowed forward again and said in unison: "The king is wise!"

Although Shi Huai did not kill Li Wei, the commander who resisted the Jin army still had to be chosen, Li Wei would definitely not be able to use it, the general Yin Liang was not capable enough, and Jin Hu was known for his courage and good fighting, and he was a layman in commanding the army.

Even in this situation where no one was available, Shi Huai did not dare to propose to take the expedition himself, set an example, and fight to the death with the Jin army. This may be the biggest difference between him and Lin Haotian!

The ministers discussed and discussed, and finally thought of a person, the lieutenant general of the Red Kingdom, and Xu Fang, the general of the counterinsurgency.

Xu Fang is a veteran of the Red Army, the old man is nearly sixty years old, although he has always served as the commander of the Red Army, but he is in charge of the navy, not the army.

The eastern part of the Red Kingdom is bordered by the sea, pirates and bandits are rampant, and from time to time there are small groups of Fanbang Navy invasion and plunder, so it has not been peaceful, when Shi Huai's father Shi Tie was the Red King, the eastern Donghai County also had the county head was bought by Fanbang, rebelled, and declared itself as a country. At that time, Shi Tie worshiped Xu Fang as the commander, led the naval army to crusade, and defeated the rebellion of Donghai County in one fell swoop, so he also got the title of counterinsurgency general.

After the rebellion of Donghai County was put down, Xu Fang was stationed there, serving as the commander of the navy and the head of Donghai County, until now.

Now, the situation in Chiguo is critical, and Xu Fang, the commander of the naval army who is far away in Donghai County, has thought of it, and it can be seen that there is indeed no one available. In fact, even Shi Huai was muttering, it was absolutely no problem for Xu Fang to fight a water war, but could he do it if he fought a land war?

The explanation of Yin Liang, Zhang Tao, Zhang Rong and others is that although the battle of land and water is different, the principle is the same, since Xu Fang can command the naval army as if it were in fire. Then it is definitely possible to command on land.

In the end, Shi Huai still accepted the statement of Yin Liang and others, and immediately passed it to Donghai County, and urgently transferred Xu back to the capital.

Xu Fang, the commander of the Eastern Navy of the Red Kingdom, was recalled to Zhenjiang by Shi Huai in this way, and then made him a general. He gave him the title of General Pingbei, and worshiped him as the commander of the three armies, ordered 300,000 troops, and went to Haowan County, where he was united with the central army of the Red Kingdom, and fought to the death with the Jin army that invaded Zeping County.

In fact, Yin Liang, Zhang Tao and others are right, the navy and the army are connected, and they can fight water wars, and they are not far from returning to land. Don't look at Xu Fang's age. But his ambition was not small, and he gladly accepted Shi Huai's appointment, and he also saw this expedition as an opportunity for his greatest achievements before returning to the field.

When the Jin army heard that the Red Kingdom sent a naval marshal to serve as the commander of the Central Army, people almost laughed off their jaws.

Guan He took the initiative to ask Lin Haotian for help. I am willing to be a pioneer army and enter Haowan County. Sweep away enemy troops.

The Red Army did not have a way to crack the heavy cavalry, which caused the Seventh Army to enter a no-man's land on the battlefield, and no one was invincible, and Guan He was even more arrogant and had completely ignored the Red Army.

Lin Haotian is also facing a problem now, that is, dividing troops to fight.

After laying down Zepyeong-gun. According to the deployment of the military and political hall, the Jin army is now divided into troops, and the goal of the main force is still to the south and attack Haowan County, but at the same time, a part of the troops must be divided to attack Surabaya. The main purpose is to help the new Red Army open the door to the Red Country, so that the New Red Army can enter the Red Country smoothly.

First of all, the combat power of the First Army is strong, and with the current defense of Surabaya, the First Army can easily take it, and secondly, the reputation of the First Army is great, and after the defeat of Surabaya and the integration with the New Red Army, with the First Army as a backer, the morale of the New Red Army can also be improved a lot, and the combat power will naturally be improved, which is conducive to fighting with the main army of their own side.

The division of the First Army has a great impact on the overall combat strength of the Jin Army, and Lin Haotian is also thinking about how to fight the next southward war.

Judging from the current situation of the war, the Red Army was obviously ill-prepared for the emergence of the Seventh Army and had no way to deal with it, and it would be a pity if they did not take advantage of this opportunity.

After thinking about it carefully, Lin Haotian decided to send the Seventh Army to take the lead, first suppress the Red Army, and then lead the main force to suppress and completely defeat the Red Army.

The Seventh Army led by Guan He got Lin Haotian's approval and took the lead in opening Changdu and marched southward, while the main force of the Jin Army led by Lin Haotian also left Changdu on the second day of the Seventh Army and went to Jiangyang, the border town of Zeping and Haowan.

Now the main army on Lin Haotian's side is the Fourth Army Corps, the Fifth Army Corps, the Seventh Army Corps and the Iron Lion Army, with a total strength of nearly 600,000, and the Red Army on the other side is just the same as the Jin Army, which is also around 600,000.

However, the Jin army has follow-up forces, once the first army takes Surabaya, then the 200,000 new Red Army will advance into the Red Army, and then the new Red Army and the first army will be united, and the Red Army will attack Haowan from Surabaya, and the Red Army can form a flanking attack.

Therefore, the pressure of this battle is completely on the side of the Red Army, and if the Red Army cannot quickly defeat the Jin Army, the next battle will fall into a complete passivity.

Before the war began, the Jin army already had a psychological advantage, and the morale of the officers and men of the whole army was very high. But what is unexpected is that the arrival of Xu Fang has made the already clear situation between the two sides less clear.

Xu Fang has not yet arrived in Haowan County, people on the road, he continued to give command, he ordered the Red Army in Haowan County to build more camps, trenches, mainly defense, can fight, can be delayed, really can't fight, immediately retreat, as much as possible to preserve their own troops. On the other hand, he sent an order to Tianyang County, ordering Lechen, the head of Tianyang County, to personally command an elite army, break through from Tianyang County to Zeping County, and attack the rear base camp of the Jin army, Changdu.

The spies of the Jin army knew every move of the Red Army, and in the same way, the spies of the Red Army were very aware of the movements of the Jin Army.

The entire Jin army went south, wanting to fight to the death with their own side in Haowan County, and often had empty defenses, in Xu Fang's view, this was a great opportunity for their own side to launch a sneak attack. If Haowan County sends troops to sneak attack, it is easy to be detected by the Jin army, but it is different from Tianyang County. In the battle of Changdu, the Red Army suffered heavy losses and retreated to Haowan County, including the Red Army of Tianyang County, which no longer posed a threat to the Jin Army. It is also impossible for the Jin Army's defense to be on the side of Tianyang County.

As for the sneak attack on Changdu, Xu Fang values the logistics supply of the Jin army, the Jin army has hoarded a large number of materials in Changdu, as long as it is destroyed, it will be very beneficial to his own next battle situation, in addition, he has a deeper plan......

A few days later, the Seventh Army crossed Jiangyang and entered Haowan County.

The Red Army stationed in Haowan County followed Xu Fang's orders. A large number of temporary checkpoints, fortresses and camps were built between cities and towns, towns and even villages to resist the attacks of the Jin army.

At the beginning, Guan He dealt with it carefully, but as the battle continued, Guan He found that although the Red Army had many fortifications, the soldiers had no fighting spirit and little resistance, as long as their own offensive was slightly fierce. The Red Army fled in fright.

The Red Army did not dare to defeat the Seventh Army Corps, but blindly retreated and defended. Retreat again, defend again, and give up all the large number of checkpoints and fortresses that have been built with great difficulty to the Jin Army.

The battle was so easy, Guan He was even more complacent and confident, and on the third day of entering Haowan County, Guan He let out his words. The Red Army is vulnerable, and the army of the Lord can be stationed in Jiangyang without moving, and the Seventh Army is enough to take the Red Army lightly and take the entire Haowan County with its own strength.

The Seventh Army was in Haowan County, and it won successive battles. Rushing into more than 100 miles in one breath, no one could resist its edge, and Lin Haotian, who was in Jiangyang, was also happy to relax, allowing the Seventh Army to rampage through Haowan County and sweep away the enemy.

But just when the Seventh Army was reporting successes, something happened in the rear of the Jin Army.

Lechen, the head of Tianyang County, who received Xu Fang's military order, led a Red Army of 20,000 people to suddenly enter Zeping County and successfully attacked Changdu.

The Jin army always had defenders, but the number of troops was not much, only about 3,000 people. The Jin army never expected that the Red Army would suddenly attack Changdu, the preparation was insufficient, the guards were lax, and the Red Army was taking advantage of the night to sneak attack and was killed by others.

After the occupation of Changdu, Lechen Ma ordered to burn the grain, grass and armaments hoarded by the Jin army in the city, and there was only one thing he did not burn, that is, the Jin army's broken crossbow. Lechen asked people to gather the broken army crossbow in one place, and after the fire burned, he led his men out of the city, and took the broken army crossbow with him by the way.

The Red Army's sneak attack was very fast, and it only took two hours before and after, and it was not stationed in Changdu, and ran away after the fight, but the grain, grass and materials hoarded by the Jin Army in Changdu were burned clean, and what was especially hateful was that the Red Army also robbed hundreds of broken crossbows.

Lin Haotian, who heard the news in Jiangyang, was furious, and immediately ordered to behead the guards who stayed in Changdu for neglecting their duties, and in addition, he assigned 20,000 Fourth Army Corps, and appointed Shen Zhichen, the deputy commander of the Fourth Army Corps, as the main general, to garrison Changdu to ensure that Changdu was foolproof.

Fortunately, the Jin army now has sufficient grain, grass and materials, and although the losses in Changdu are large, they are not yet a threat to the Jin army.

However, this bad breath is difficult to swallow, Lin Haotian temporarily changed his tactics, made the decision to divide the troops again, and sent Jin Cheng to lead the 100,000 Fifth Army Corps to advance into Tianyang, and it was necessary to annihilate the remnants of the Red Army in Tianyang County in one fell swoop.

Jin Cheng received the order and commanded the 100,000 Fifth Army Corps to turn back from Jiangyang and attack Tianyang County.

Now, there are not many troops left in Tianyang County, otherwise the county leader Lechen could not only take 20,000 people to risk a sneak attack on Changdu, hearing the news that the Fifth Legion of the Jin Army turned to attack Tianyang County, Lechen was so frightened that the six gods were lost, and hurriedly passed to Xu Fang and asked for help.

Xu Fang's reply was very fast, and it was also very simple, asking him for soldiers, no! I asked him for help, I'm sorry, I can't send a single soldier to Tianyang, as for how to resist the Jin army, I can only figure out how to do it myself.

Seeing Xu Fang's reply, Le Chen was so angry that he scolded his mother on the spot, he let himself sneak attack Changdu, he acted according to orders, and the sneak attack was successful, he let himself snatch the Jin Army's broken army crossbow, and he did so, and specially sent someone to send him over, and now the Jin Army turned the spearhead to retaliate, but Xu Fang left himself alone, how can there be such a ruthless and unrighteous cold-blooded person in the world?

Lechen hated the root of his teeth, but there was nothing he could do about it, and in the end, he could only retreat all the troops scattered throughout the county and defend Huaqiao, the county seat of Tianyang County.

Huaqiao is located in the center of Tianyang County, and it is also a large city with high walls and perfect city defense. It was also very useful for Lechen to give up resistance early and shrink all the available troops in the county to Huaqiao.

The Fifth Army Corps led by Jin Cheng drove straight into Tianyang County without any resistance, and the soldiers pressed directly under Huaqiao City, and the persuasion to surrender was fruitless. Jin Cheng ordered the whole army to attack the city.

The tragic situation of Changdu is still vivid, the soldiers and civilians in Huaqiao City are all sideways, desperately resisting the Jin army, the Fifth Army attacked for a whole day, no progress, Jin Cheng had to order the withdrawal of troops.

The Fifth Army Corps hit Huaqiao here, it was a stalemate, there were not many Red Army in the city, and the Central Army and the local army together were less than 60,000 people, but there were too many people in the city, these people were afraid that after breaking the city, they would become the same as the people of Changdu to become the meal on the plate of the Jin Army.

At this time, the defenders and people of Huaqiao have achieved the degree of unity of the army and the people, which has also made Huaqiao impregnable, and the Fifth Army has been unable to attack for a long time.

On the other side, the Seventh Army Corps, which was fighting in Haowan County, was also in trouble. (To be continued......)