February 17, Sui River.

Sheng Yong put down the marching map, looked at the embarrassed peace on the other side, and sighed.

Thanks to him, he was able to escape... 40,000 troops died and fled, Ping'an, as the main general, must be the object of the Yan army's relentless pursuit, according to Ping'an, the whole 3,000 elite horsemen chased him along the Huai River, Zhu Di must have hated him very much, and refused to let go of this once on duty under his command, and fought with himself for a few years to understand that he hated his own general, and finally if it wasn't for Ping'an's luck to roll down the hillside and hide in a pool of stagnant water, I'm afraid Sheng Yong would not be able to see him again.

However, Ping An is really a fierce general, in this big defeat, the guards around him are all dead, and when he rolls down the hillside, he broke his leg again, and he stubbornly found the big army, gritting his teeth and wanting to fight with Zhu Di again, which really can't help but make people admire, but Sheng Yong is also a little puzzled, where does Ping'an's hatred for Zhu Di come from?

It's just that it's not the right time to ask about this right now, Sheng Yong was about to ask about the details of the battle of the Xianghe River again, the curtain of the camp tent was lifted, and Tie Xuan, who still looked serious, walked in, his words were very short, but they made Sheng Yong and Ping'an tight.

"There is not enough food and grass."

That's right, how outrageous does this sound, Sheng Yong took an army of 50,000 and Tie Xuan to join forces, blocked Zhu Di on the bank of the Sui River, and confronted him for more than ten days, but the lone army went deep into the Yan army to attack thousands of miles of grain and grass There was no problem, but the central army of the dignified court was about to run out of food.

You must know that this place is a large rear, is the area actually controlled by the imperial court, and as a result, the imperial court soldiers and horses are still facing the dilemma of running out of grain when they arrive here, which is really ridiculous, but Sheng Yong and Tie Xuan have nothing to do, because since the grain and grass in Pei County, Xuzhou was burned by Zhu Di, the imperial court often faced the problem of not being able to supply the front-line grain and grass, this phenomenon is especially common around the New Year, because at the end of the year, the imperial court has no surplus grain.

It's February now, the spring ploughing in the south of the Yangtze River has just begun, the tax can't come up, the treasury of the household department is empty, and naturally it can't hoard grain and grass in the rear as before, and the front line needs to be directly transferred, if it is the previous confrontation situation, it's okay, the imperial court is trying to raise some, and then send it to the front line, the soldiers save food, and they make do with it, but in this situation, if the soldiers can't even eat, what kind of war will they fight?

Pulling a hair and moving the whole body, the Yan army went south, and the soldiers and horses of the imperial court in the entire Shandong territory moved, and I don't know how much grain and grass will be consumed in this move, plus the people who transport grain and grass also have to eat, and the consumption of each day is astronomical, and this kind of consumption has made the imperial court a little unable to bear it.

On the contrary, having made up their minds, regardless of the fact that the Yan army going south was fully prepared, no one could bring as much grain and grass as they could when they set off, even if they were slowed down by the march, it didn't matter - because the Yan army knew that this road could only go forward and could not turn back, and it was a waste to leave the military rations in Texas, this time there was no supply line, and the strategy of feeding the enemy was implemented throughout the army, and after eating the grain and grass, they went to eat the imperial court!

In addition, the cavalry rushed to the city too fast and ruthlessly, and the grain and grass reserves of each city could be retained to the greatest extent, and the Yan army received all the way to the march, and when the Xianghe River was finished, they found themselves in a deep encirclement, and the grain and grass were completely enough for them to have a long confrontation.

This is the situation faced by the two sides at the moment, the place of confrontation is a tributary of the Sui River, the river is not wide or deep, but it has become a dividing line, Sheng Yong's army and the Yan army are on both banks, and Xu Huizu has also cut off the route of the Yan army's retreat, Zhu Di has no choice, either defeat the imperial army and continue south, or be trapped here, making this attack a joke.

But there is a shortage of food... Sheng Yong's brows furrowed tightly, he stood up and wandered in the tent, the military order had already reached his lips, but he couldn't say it.

In the end, it was Tie Xuan who broke the silence for him: "Tell the herald to collect grain and grass." ”

Sheng Yong's body was stunned, how could he not know that this collection of grain and grass was to ask the army to rob the people's rations? But with an army of nearly 100,000, how many people's rations do they need, and how many people do they have to starve to death before the soldiers can fill their stomachs?

Why did they obviously come to defend the Ming Dynasty and protect the people, but they became soldiers and bandits and snatched food from the people?

Tie Xuan's face was as cold and hard as ever, and the deep sunken eye sockets and high convex nose bridge with alien blood buried in the shadows: "Military rations... Can't be broken! The people are dead, but the Ming is still the Ming; There is a problem with this 100,000 army, and the Yan army is going south, and there is no hindrance! Which is more important, this official... I don't want to say more. ”

He turned and walked out of the tent, leaving only the warm words: "Remember, be quick." ”

……

In the Yan army camp on the bank of the river, more than ten generals surrounded the sand table, looking at the encirclement that had been completely formed near the Sui River, their faces were a little gloomy.

After a long time, Zhu Di asked, "Did Xu Huizu make any moves?" ”

Gu Huai shook his head lightly: "No, after occupying the high ground, setting up camp and setting up a village, it is clear that he does not plan to take the initiative to attack." ”

"Hey, my brother-in-law, do you want to pick up the bargain?" Zhu Di sneered, "Watching me and Sheng Yong fight to the death, and then give me a ruthless blow?" ”

He bowed his body: "Seventy miles away, the march is only one day and one night, if I fall into a bitter battle with Sheng Yong, it will inevitably let Xu Huizu lead the troops to sneak attack from behind, so this battle must be fast!" As long as he can defeat Sheng Yong before Xu Huizu's soldiers arrive, Xu Huizu can only withdraw his troops, he can't afford to lose! ”

But then speaking, there are still 100,000 troops in Sheng Yong on the other side, even if he kills 100,000 pigs, he is afraid that one day and one night is not enough, and everyone knows what Sheng Yong has after fighting for so long, although he is not a top general, but there are still no loopholes in his defense, how can he say defeated?

Seeing that the generals were silent, Zhu Di, who had just finished his rhetoric, was also a little embarrassed, the Yan army had not taken the initiative to attack and try in the past few days of confrontation, but Sheng Yong obviously suffered a lot and became an expert in dealing with the Yan army, and he was stunned that he did not show a flaw, even if the Yan army had a slight advantage, he could not defeat this obstacle for a while, plus Xu Huizu's troops were too disgusting in the future, if they started fighting openly, I am afraid that it will be the Yan army that will suffer in the end.

Fucking that's the case... Zhu Di knew that if it dragged on like this, the morale of the desperate Yan army would be exhausted sooner or later, and this southward attack was too hard, although many generals did not speak out against it, they also disagreed with it, and they encountered a predicament now, if they didn't solve it early, this battle would not be able to be fought.

The more Zhu Di thought about it, the more angry he became, Sheng Yong's Ping'an, Xu Huizu, these old enemies really made him want to scold his mother.

But before the words could be scolded, the scout knelt outside the camp tent and said that the Southern Army was sending soldiers to collect grain and grass everywhere, and Gu Huai, who was standing on the side, suddenly became very exciting when he heard it, he glanced at Zhu Di, thinking that this is not what the Yan army did under Zhending City in the first place?

Obviously, Zhu Di also thought of this, he frowned and asked carefully, when he heard that the southern army had used more than 10,000 soldiers, and the plague was generally plagued along the Sui River, he fell silent, his eyes flickering.

Something is wrong... Could it be that the Southern Army is now learning and selling, and wants to repeat the scene when the city was really set?

He looked at Gu Huai, Gu Huai comprehended, and after thinking for a moment, he shook his head: "Probably not, they represent the imperial court." ”

A word woke up the dreamer, Zhu Di understood, it is indeed such a truth, when the Yan army was collecting grain and grass around the edge of Zhending City, they only emptied the warehouses of the nearby cities, and did not touch the rations of the people, and later they were scolded a lot, and now Sheng Yong brought the army of the imperial court, and they all dared to attack the people's rations, not caring about the impact afterwards, it was clear that the southern army really ran out of food, and used this method in desperation.

This is the difference between the Central Army and the rebel army, there are some things that only the rebel army can do, the Central Army dares to do it, and it will immediately lose the hearts of the people, Zhu Di has risen up to rebel, and he doesn't dare to be too ruthless against the people, where did he get the courage to rob the army and grab food? It seems that the shortage of food in the southern army will only be more serious than I thought.

So the question is, should you take advantage of this opportunity to attack?

Zhu Di glanced at those generals, several generals showed excited expressions on their faces, it seemed that they also had the same idea, but Zhu Di really likes to use yin tricks in war, he has never been a person who plays cards openly, even if the southern army is now weakened like this, he is not willing to launch a general attack, or wants to use his best method.

Sneak attack.

He loosened his brow and began to give military orders:

"Order, arrange foot soldiers on the riverbank, build a pontoon bridge overnight, always pay attention to every move of the southern army battalion, and if they snatch the pontoon bridge, report it immediately!"

"The order was given, the cavalry retreated thirty miles overnight, divided the troops into two places, and forcibly crossed the river at the shoals upstream and downstream, and joined forces behind the enemy!"

He slapped his palm on the sand table: "Tonight's third watch, the whole army will attack, and it is bound to defeat Sheng Yong in one fell swoop and clear the way south!" ”