When Cao Bianjiao returned to Guancheng, the sun also happened to disappear among the mountains.

Chen Wang led the troops out of the pass, and then Cao Bianjiao went to the pass.

"How's it going?"

After ascending the tower, a guard brought a chair, and Chen Wang and Cao Bianjiao sat down and started talking.

"The rogues gathered in the Zhuxi area are the main force under the command of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, and the number of them is at least more than 50,000."

"I don't have many soldiers, and the camp of the rogues is more orderly than before, and the area to explore is limited."

Cao Bianjiao took the teacup and took a sip of tea, and then put it on the square table beside him.

"As you expected before, and it is also corroborated by the battle reports from the Eastern Front, the rogues in the Zhuxi area are mostly foot soldiers, and the proportion of horsemen and cavalry is only 10%."

Chen Wang reached out and took the teapot on the side, poured another cup of tea for Cao Bianjiao, and after a moment of silence, he frowned.

"In April, the imperial court sent a report to record that Zhang Xianzhong had four battalions of soldiers and horses under his command at that time, with a total strength of more than 40,000, and in a year, under various excuses, there were more than 5,000 collars of various armors obtained privately through bribery, and all kinds of blades were enough for Zhang Xianzhong to arm more than 40,000 soldiers and horses."

"When Luo Rucai was in Gucheng, there were only more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, and by April this year, the strength of the army had swelled to 20,000, and he had also obtained a lot of ordnance and military posture, and the armament was not what it used to be."

Cao Bianjiao picked up the teacup again, his eyes were slightly dark, and he said in a deep voice.

"The Liukou is indeed not what it used to be, and its combat power is more than twice as strong as it was then."

If it was in the past, where did he want to go, how could anyone resist?

This brief confrontation with the Rogue on the way to the investigation has already proved the change of the Rogue Kou.

"There are three formations of rogue cavalry that intercepted me, each of which is divided into twenty-five teams of 1,000 people, and I will be surrounded and killed by more than three teams of soldiers and horses at the same time, no matter where I attack from."

"The cavalry of the Liukou is well-armed, mostly wears cloth and iron armor, has a clear division of labor, has entanglement of the enemy, has the enemy, and has blocked the enemy, which is much stronger than a few years ago, and it is not much worse than the elite of the border towns."

Cao Bianjiao paused, thought for a moment, and then continued.

"The eastern front is basically a fine cavalry army of rogues, with more than 10,000 people."

"If the previous investigation by the imperial court was accurate, then the scale of Zhuxi Liukou should indeed be only 50,000 people."

"50,000 ......"

Chen Wang's eyes narrowed slightly, this number was about the same as his previous estimate.

However, for the 50,000 people concentrated in Zhuxi at this time, it did not have much impact on Chen Wang.

Chen Wang knew very well that this time the Liukou attack on Hanzhong Mansion was actually just a ploy to attack the east and the west.

The real purpose of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai is to enter Sichuan first.

Chen Wang glanced at Cao Bianjiao with his spare eyes, and originally wanted to say that he would stick to it for the time being, but when the words came to an end, he finally changed his tone.

"What do you think of the current war situation?"

Cao Bianjiao tilted his head slightly, looked at Chen Wang and smiled.

"There is no need to be so cautious between you and me, when you joined the army, I was also a family member like you."

"Now that you are the general of the Ping Thief, the Yang Pavilion Department has asked you to command the Western Route Army to coordinate the attack, and this strategy is naturally yours to take it."

Chen Wang also laughed, Cao Bianjiao's words could be said to make him feel relieved, and also shortened the distance between the two of them by a lot.

Cao Bianjiao is Cao Wenzhao's nephew, and he also started as a family member when he first joined the army.

Among Cao Wenzhao's family, there are many children of the Cao clan, and then the children of the two surnames Chen Hu, and finally the good hands recruited from everywhere.

When Cao Bianjiao was promoted to guerrilla, he also accumulated military exploits all the way from his family, and jumped into Cao Wenzhao's sight, including Cao Dingjiao.

"Looking back on those days, it's really impressive."

A look of reminiscence appeared on Cao Bianjiao's face.

"I still remember what you said, let my uncle break the military rules he set."

Cao Bianjiao really remembers everything of that day to this day.

In the recruitment office of the first year of Chongzhen, two teenagers knelt on the ground and asked to join the army.

Because of the last words that were uttered, his uncle broke the rules he had set.

Those two teenagers are now Chen Wang and Chen Gong.

After joining the army, Chen Wang was silent and worked extremely hard, and he practiced for two hours when others practiced for one hour.

Others practice every three days, but he practices every day, and all the assessments are in the forefront, in the upper class, and he is selected into the sequence of family members.

In the first battle, he captured and beheaded one of Houjin's vest soldiers, and then all the battles were charged forward, and they were all captured.

If Chen Wang had shown his ability to lead the troops in battle earlier, he would have been promoted a long time ago, and he would not have waited until now.

It's not too late, though.

Cao Bianjiao turned his head to look at Chen Wang.

"Eight years of things, in fact, I wanted to say thank you for a long time, but I never had the opportunity to pull off my face."

Cao Bianjiao raised the teacup in his hand, looked at Chen Wang, and said solemnly.

Chen Wang also raised the teacup, and what Cao Bianjiao said was undoubtedly about Hutou Town.

"Later, after I returned to the camp, I learned from Ding Jiao's mouth how dangerous the situation was at that time."

"If it weren't for your reminder, I'm afraid ...... I'm going to regret it for the rest of my life......"

Chen Wang noticed that Cao Bianjiao's hand holding the teacup was a little trembling, and his eyes were a little red.

"The war is approaching, and it is inconvenient to drink, so I will thank you today with tea instead of wine."

Cao Bianjiao drank all the tea in the cup in one gulp, and solemnly thanked Chen Wang.

Although Cao Wenzhao is only his uncle, he has long been like a father.

The reason why there is the siege of Hutou Town is entirely because he carelessly underestimated the enemy and pursued all the way.

Cao Wenzhao was worried that his lone army would be besieged by the rogues, so he led his army to follow, but did not have time to send scouts to reconnoiter the Quartet, so that he almost strayed into the encirclement network.

Fortunately, because of Chen Wang's reminder and final performance, the situation did not deteriorate.

If Cao Wenzhao really died on the battlefield because of him, Cao Bianjiao himself would have no way to forgive himself.

Therefore, since the battle of Hutou Town, in all the subsequent wars, Cao Bianjiao has never underestimated the enemy's rash moves, all of them are planning and then moving, calculating the gains and losses and the situation, and will attack when he is sure, no longer blindly rushing and fighting as before.

Because of this, this time, after encountering the obstruction of the rogue, Cao Bianjiao chose to preserve his strength and accept it when he saw it.

If it was before, Cao Bianjiao was afraid that he had already led the cavalry to rush and kill several formations one after another.

"Cao Shuai also has a kindness to me."

Chen Wang picked up the teacup and drank the tea in the cup as well.

"Now I can be the general soldier of a town, and it would be impossible without Cao Shuai's help."

The general soldier is already the pinnacle of the military ministers, and along the way, most of the military exploits have been won by himself.

But without Cao Wenzhao's appeasement and mention, I am afraid that he would have already stopped in the middle way.

Chen Wang put down the teacup, and the relationship between military generals is often much simpler than that between civilian officials.

In just a short sentence, the slight estrangement between Chen Wang and Cao Bianjiao has disappeared without a trace.

"How to deal with the rogues, you should have a strategy in your heart."

Cao Bianjiao put his hand on the table, leaned slightly, and asked.

The estrangement was eliminated, and the relationship between the two was much closer.

For Chen Wang, Cao Bianjiao was not jealous of anything, but more admiration.

The victory of Qingshan Pass greatly boosted the morale of the towns.

In half an hour, the third battalion of Lianke.

Then in the bloody battle of Gongshutai, he stood on the high slope of Dongshan Mountain, and he saw it clearly with a telescope.

"It's difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and there is no certainty of victory in today's situation, so I think it's better to stick to it."

Chen Wang shook his head, the current situation.

Even if he can beat Zhang Xianzhong, he won't fight, let alone the current situation where the odds of victory are unknown.

Now there are not many soldiers and horses under his command, and there are only more than 20,000 people in the full battle.

There are four battalions of Sichuan soldiers, two strange battalions of Zhang Ling and Chen Yilong, a reinforcement battalion of Wu Shenghua, and a battalion of Tujia soldiers, a total of 10,000 people.

The Shaanxi soldiers had three battalions, one of the odd battalions led by Li Guoqi and the other two guerrilla battalions, totaling 5,000 soldiers and horses.

Cao Bianjiao has 2,000 cavalry under his command, and the guerrilla battalions of Zhang Er and Huang Long are estimated to add up to 3,000 after the reorganization.

The main barracks led by Chen Wang himself have not yet been reorganized and replenished, and there are still only 2,000 people, and there are only more than 2,300 veterans who stayed in Hanzhong, adding up to more than 20,000 in total.

Among the 5,000 soldiers and horses from Shaanxi, Li Guoqi's troops can be seen, and the other two guerrilla battalions under their jurisdiction are not even as good as Zhang Er and Huang Long.

The Sichuan soldiers can fight, but the armament is not good, the southwest climate is humid, and the armor is not easy to preserve.

Because the country has been in turmoil in recent years, most of the armaments have been transferred to the north, so there are very few armor that can be used by the Sichuan soldiers.

The Tujia soldiers were all temporarily drafted, and many of them had no armor.

There is a limit to the amount of armor that can be prepared in the arsenal of the Xuanwei Division, and it is not allowed to prepare too much.

Troops with armor and troops without armor are completely different from each other.

Chen Wang felt that if he didn't count the troops under his command, he was afraid that the armor among the Shaanxi soldiers and Sichuan soldiers was not as much as that of the rogues.

"Hold on?"

Cao Bianjiao frowned slightly.

He did not object to guarding the pass, and the battle of Qingshan Pass attacked the camp, and the family under his command suffered heavy losses, although Sun Chuanting did select elite soldiers for him to make up for it.

However, the recruits who were transferred were still not as useful as the original ones, and in fact, their combat effectiveness was still affected a lot.

"If we stick to it, I'm afraid it won't be easy for the Yang Pavilion to explain."

Cao Bianjiao felt a little embarrassed, the eastern front side suffered setbacks one after another, and Yang Sichang would most likely urge them to launch an offensive to relieve the pressure.

"It doesn't matter."

Chen Wang smiled, he naturally expected the pressure given by Yang Sichang.

"The Yang Pavilion Department must give an explanation, and the fight must be beaten, it's just a matter of how to fight."

Yesterday, Yang Sichang had already passed down the military order, so that after he arrived in Pingli, he would wait for the opportunity to launch an attack on Zhuxi to cooperate with the offensive of the Eastern Route Army.

Yang Sichang went south to take over the post of prime minister and swore an oath to the three armies, naturally wanting to quickly obtain military achievements.

Only when he has obtained military exploits can he give an account to Chongzhen.

For Yang Sichang's military order, it is still necessary to abide by it now.

In history, Zuo Liangyu did not listen to the dispatch, also because Liukou had become big at that time, and he also had tens of thousands of soldiers and horses under his command, so he had the conditions to support the army and respect himself.

At present, Chen Wang naturally does not have these conditions, and Chen Wang is not ready to follow the path taken by Zuo Liangyu in history.

"Now the time is not ripe, my soldiers and horses have suffered heavy losses in Qingshan Pass and have not been replenished for a long time, and now we have recruited troops from Hanzhong Mansion to replenish, and it will take time for the combat strength to recover."

"The situation of the Sichuan soldiers and the Shaanxi soldiers, I have already submitted them to the Yang Pavilion Department, for the time being, I will focus on defense, and send cavalry to attack and harass, and I can also give an explanation."

Chen Wang had already arranged everything properly, and when he set off from Xiangyang City, he had already expected it.

He now explained to Yang Sichang that he could not attack because of the lack of troops, and it was basically impossible for Yang Sichang to force him to attack.

All of this he said is a fact, a fact on the surface.

On the surface, he really only has these soldiers and horses under his command.

Hanzhong Town on paper, now with the 1,500 soldiers and horses under his command, there are 3,000 guards who can fight.

As for the "newly recruited" thousands of soldiers and horses, it is naturally impossible for them to have any combat effectiveness.

The remaining more than 2,000 battalion veterans in Hanzhong Town were stationed in Ningqiang Prefecture in the west of Hanzhong Prefecture under the leadership of Zhou Yumao.

North Sichuan is now a pot of hot porridge, Li Zicheng has been in northern Sichuan all the way, fighting and winning successes, almost invincible, turning like the wind.

After the Sichuan soldiers' defense line in Long'an Province was broken, the loopholes were expanded, and they could only defend in many places to block Li Zicheng's offensive.

Zhou Yumao defended Ningqiang Prefecture in order to prevent Li Zicheng from going north.

"Sending cavalry to attack and harass can also capture some heads, and with these heads, you can write a few more reports and give credit, and the cabinet will not blame too much."

Yang Sichang and his Chen Wang had very little contact, but from the understanding recorded in the history books, Yang Sichang was more concerned about whether the people under him obeyed his orders than about taking down his military exploits.

So Chen Wang was naturally ready to follow Yang Sichang.

Regarding Chen Wang's arrangement, Cao Bianjiao was noncommittal, and when he went south, Cao Wenzhao had already explained to him.

Chen Wang has always been cautious and cautious, accustomed to planning and then acting, and the officialdom has been up and down for several years, and the rules and principles are already clear.

As long as you follow Chen Wang's steps, don't do anything out of the ordinary, and go south to suppress it, nothing will go wrong.

War exploits or something, Cao Bianjiao doesn't care about it now.

Anyway, he is already the chief soldier of Lintao Town, and his career has basically reached the top, and then he is the chief military officer of the important town, and then add some princes and young guards, the names of princes and young masters, and some honorary titles, which do not have much practical significance.

Step by step steadily, even if you don't have too many combat exploits, these things can be obtained in the future.

Observing Cao Bianjiao's attitude, Chen Wang's heart was settled.

Many of the projects that had been put on hold could be put back on the agenda.

The next plot will correspond to the title of the volume "The World Chess Game", Chen Wang has already left the first son and started planning in Hanzhong.

(End of chapter)