Yang Zhong's performance was as steady as ever, and the day after Li Tai arrived in Yiyang, news came from the south that Sanguanju had been conquered. Then Yang Zhong and Quan Jingxuan quickly traveled north and rushed to Yiyang to converge.

In Yiyang City, when Yang Zhong heard the Huainan plan formulated by Li Tai, he immediately high-fived and exclaimed: "If it weren't for the talent of the head of the sky, who would be able to make this clever plan to defeat the enemy?" ”

Compared with his past operations, Li Tai didn't think this plan was so surprising, but after hearing Yang Zhong's praise, he suddenly became proud, and at the same time, he couldn't help but secretly sigh in his heart, sure enough, the common cause is the catalyst for men's friendship. Since he came to work together in the south, especially after Keding Handong, Yang Zhong's attitude towards him has become more and more lively and enthusiastic.

Quan Jingxuan was born in Longyou, and Li Tai's disciples also have many children of Longyou, so although they don't work with each other, they also know Li Tai's style through the descriptions of relatives and friends, but after hearing these plans this time, he still couldn't help but sigh: "Daxingtai knows people and makes good use of them, and the southeast is a great task for the envoy, and the thieves are not enough to be leveled!" If he can really snipe Murong Shaozong in Huainan, although the Duke of Yingchuan has sunk into the enemy country, he will be happy to hear the news! ”

No matter how good the plan is, it always depends on how it is implemented. Since the generals did not object, he began to assign tasks.

First of all, he planned to lead a part of his elite troops to hold Xiahou Qiang's appointment token, disguise himself as the defeated army of Yiyang and go straight to Shouyang, seize Shouyang first, and then send a message to Murong Shaozong in the name of Wang Xiangui to lure him to the south, while sorting out and preparing the Shouyang battlefield.

As for Yang Zhong and others, they led most of the men and horses to march slowly, making a posture of attacking Huainan on a large scale, creating a sense of urgency and panic for all parties in Huainan, and at the same time creating a false impression that time was running out for Murong Shaozong, urging him to speed up to the Huainan battlefield.

However, after hearing the specific details of the operation, Yang Zhong, who was full of praise before, first shook his head and waved his hand and refused: "Listening to this plan, consciously enterprising Shouyang is not the chief manager, but the southeast plan is all in charge." One can choose another person to do the work for him, and the other is the only choice, which is more important, and the manager should see it clearly. The last general asked to lead the front to Shouyang, and the general manager led the army to the rear! ”

"But those who enter Shouyang first, there are still many detailed tasks that need to be divided, if the deployment is not appropriate, I am afraid that it will be a big deal."

Li Tai is not addicted to danger, but there are still many details to be arranged in Shouyang, if the arrangement is not in place, it may affect the direction of the final battle, and he is still a little worried about handing it over to others.

After Yang Zhong heard this, he hugged his fists again and said: "But please ask the general to give detailed instructions on military affairs, if the final general is not in good shape, he will be willing to be dealt with by military law!" ”

Hearing that Yang Zhong insisted on asking for battle, Li Tai also knew that he was not greedy for merit, but really didn't want his main general to risk his life again, and probably had a little bit of the intention of taking care of and helping him on behalf of Duguxin, the old boss.

After thinking about it, Li Tai nodded and agreed. Yang Zhong is a steady and courageous person, and he has been in Nanliang for a short time, and he has very rich experience in personnel, as long as he carefully explains the matters that need attention, his performance on the spot may not be worse than himself.

So he first withdrew the others, leaving only Yang Zhong alone in the hall, and carefully explained the different situations that he needed to deal with and pay attention to after arriving in Shouyang, and unconsciously nearly an hour passed before ending the conversation.

When Yang Zhongxing came out, although everyone didn't dare to rush into the secrets, they were also curious about what Li Tai had confessed to him. Especially when they saw that Yang Zhong, who was usually moody, still looked surprised and surprised after leaving the straight hall, and they couldn't help but be more curious in their hearts.

But Yang Zhong did not stop here to accept everyone's questions, but went straight into the camp to select soldiers to prepare for Shouyang first. This trip was still outwitted, the soldiers were not expensive but expensive, Yang Zhong carefully selected among the camps, and soon gathered five hundred armor soldiers.

However, these soldiers can see their fierce temperament at a glance, and they really don't look like a defeated and mourned crowd. So Yang Zhong selected more than 200 Han barbarian captives who were willing to cooperate and make meritorious contributions from the remnants of the Xiahou clan, plus Gao Le, who was appointed by Li Tai to serve as Yang Zhong's deputy, formed his troops to Shouyang this time.

Without further ado, after selecting the troops and tidying up the outfit a little, Yang Zhong put away the Xiahou Qiang token delivered by Li Tai, and then the group got on their horses and left the city and went straight to the east.

Li Tai, who stayed in Yiyang, was not idle, and also began to prepare for the deployment of the army. This time, he is going to advance by land and water, putting on a posture of a large army pressing the border, and all the more than 10,000 men and horses need to be brought here.

However, the important town of Yiyang and the retreat route cannot be completely undefended, so 2,000 men and horses must be dispatched from Chubei, and Zhao Gang is responsible for guarding here. At the very least, it is necessary to ensure that when Murong Shaozong divides his troops to disturb or other forces enter the army, he can hold the city and repel the invading enemy.

Because Xiahou Qiang collected a lot of equipment and materials when he was here before, there were nearly 100 boats of all sizes alone.

There are more than 20 warships commonly used in water warfare, and there are also two building ships that are the main ships of water warfare, but one of them looks dilapidated and in worrying condition, and Li Tai does not know whether he can return after driving out.

As for other vessels used for various functions such as connection, carrying, beach grabbing, etc., they are also readily available. Li Tai learned that there were so many types of boats when he inspected the water camp, and he had the impression that there were boats that could carry people across the river. Nowadays, this perception is really shallow.

Although so many warships saved Li Tai the trouble of raising again, in fact, he didn't even know how to organize the boat division fleet to form combat units and start in an orderly manner, but fortunately, there was also a Southern Liang general Liu Fanggui who came with the army.

Liu Fanggui may not have the qualifications of a famous general in water warfare, but as a diligent veteran in Xiangyang City who worked all the way from the grassroots to the upper ranks, he is of course very familiar with the basic organizational principles of water warfare, and has proposed several formation modes based on the existing boat and ship vehicles.

Li Tai has always maintained respect for the opinions put forward by professionals and adopted them with an open mind, and after learning more about the characteristics of several formations, he chose one of the more modest formation forms that are both offensive and defensive. Although the target of the water war was Murong Shaozong, he did not underestimate the enemy.

"Chief Qiqi, the military rations required for this trip are 30,000 stones, a number of horse materials, armor and staffs, etc., all of which have been inventoried, and the book is here, please approve it."

Taking advantage of Li Tai's formation of the boat division, Zhao Gang had also sorted out the grain and grass materials needed for the army to go to war, and asked Li Tai to conduct an inspection.

Li Tai was convinced of Zhao Gang's ability, took the counting book and looked at it, while pointing to a young man behind Zhao Gang and smiling: "This Erlang is Zhao Che riding a backward in the household?" At such a young age, he joined the army and experienced it, and it seems that Zhao Cheqi has a lot of hopes for him. ”

Zhao Gang was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then looked behind him, and then laughed, raised his hand and pulled the young man behind him to his side and explained: "The chief manager misunderstood, this young man Han San is not the son of the last general, but a person who was recruited in Liyang City a few days ago.

He was originally a disciple of Huai, and his hometown changed sharply and was exiled and buried in the barbarians, and when the barbarians visited Liyang, he took the rhubarb he had in his possession to offer. The last general saw that his speech was not like a barbarian, and after a little examination, he found that he was quite talented. The steward looked at the books, and he was half-out of his hands. ”

When Li Tai heard this, he was also curious in his heart, and looked the young man up and down.

The young man has been with the army for many days, and he has seen Li Tai's majestic posture, and he was a little cramped at this time, so he was busy bowing and said respectfully: "His real name is Han Xian, the third in the household, and he is from Luxiang Township, and he moved to Huainan from his father and brother. Hou Jing rebelled against Shouyang, the rebels tyrannized the place, the eldest brother lost Huaibei, and the second brother was a thief in order to cover his humble duties and was not in the thief's ......"

Hearing the young man's own life experience, Li Tai was also quite compassionate, so he comforted a few words warmly, and after hearing this, the young man Han Xian bowed deeply to the ground and said: "I am sorry that the general manager of the lowly post will conquer Huainan, and I implore you to be able to serve as a military guide, and look back to see if there are any relatives left in the township......"

Li Tai didn't have a long-term plan for Huainan on this trip, but after listening to the young man's sad words, he came up with a few math problems after a little muttering, and Han Xian solved them all in a short time.

When he inquired again, he learned that this young man had learned so much, and he had a lot of experience and talent for the distribution and calculation of materials, and he couldn't help but have a love for talents, so he asked Zhao Gang for it. He's in such a position now, and he's dealing with old guys, but he's still young, and he still prefers to work with young people.

Zhao Gang took the young man with him, with the intention of cultivating, but at this time, when he saw Li Tai appreciating him, he was also happy to see his success, but he said to Han Xian: "You can be the manager, it can be said that you have a great future." But don't be self-sufficient, now you are rewarded for your young and fine numbers, but if you don't know how to grow your own talent and learn the scriptures, it is inevitable that you will end up with an old official, and you will not be of great use! ”

When Li Tai heard Zhao Gang's advice, he couldn't help but feel that he really liked this young man surnamed Han, and he taught him reasonably.

After hearing this, Han Xian also hurriedly bowed to Zhao Gang and said: "The humble duty must remember the teachings of Zhao Cheqi, and live up to the feelings of rescuing and carrying each other!" ”

After preparing for the battle in Yiyang City, on the third day after Yang Zhong and his entourage set off, Li Tai led the army down the Huai River.

Due to the capacity provided by the boat brigade, the people and horses on land can travel lightly, 3,000 elite horsemen can go along the river, and they can also leave Huaishui and go deep into Huainan to investigate the situation.

At the same time, the front troops led by Yang Zhong also arrived in Shouyang very smoothly without twists and turns along the way, and began to operate according to Li Tai's instructions.