As it turned out, Bao Yuchun's decision was very wise.

Not long after the rebels abandoned Nanzhao and left Yazi Lake through the Baihe River, the vanguard troops of the First Army of Zhenjiang and the Vermilion Bird Legion arrived here one after another, and almost completely surrounded Bao Yuchun and them here.

At the same time, the two main forces of the Western Army of the Holy Tang Dynasty and the Southern Army finally successfully joined forces in Nanzhao County.

Dong Tianxing, the squire of the military department, personally sat in Nanzhao County, invited the high-level generals of the two armies to hold a meeting, and officially announced to the whole world: The great counteroffensive against the rebellion of Xuanjia is about to begin!

Li Jiangyao and Ma Hongjie are old acquaintances, when they were acting in the imperial capital, he and Xu Youchang were martial arts students, and Ma Hongjie was a teacher, and he was still a senior teacher.

The "Infantry Drill Code," the "Outline of Military Orders," and the "Yasukuni Public War Law Treatise" were all taught and preached by Ma Hongjie.

Therefore, there is a real sense of master-apprenticeship between the three of them.

Li Jiangyao and Xu Youchang did not change their innocence, and they did not feel high and forgetful at all because of today's achievement status. They still followed the rules of the martial arts hall and respectfully saluted the former teacher.

Seeing that the students of that year have now achieved such great achievements, Ma Hongjie is also full of emotion. He first generously accepted the two people's homage, and then, as the commander of the Suzaku Legion, he seriously exchanged military salutes with Li Jiangyao and them.

"Li Daduhu, General Xu, the soldiers of Zhenjiang fought bloodily and wiped out the Turks, and they are the glory and model of my Shengtang soldiers. Please accept our noble tribute! ”

With Ma Hongjie's words, all the generals of the Vermilion Bird Army responded in unison:

"Zhenjiang soldiers, brave and invincible!"

Li Jiangyao smiled and nodded, and said at the same time: "Commander Ma, your troops flew to capture Wuguan and held Luoyi, which also deterred the enemy's courage and strengthened the prestige of our army, which is an example for our Zhenjiang army!" ”

As soon as the words fell, the generals and colonels of the Zhenjiang Army responded loudly: "Salute to the Vermilion Bird Legion!" ”

Ma Hongjie laughed, pulled Li Jiangyao to sit down, waved his hand and said, "Don't boast about it." On the battlefield, there must be no falsehood. Compared with the Zhenjiang Army, we are really ashamed. Let's sit down and talk! ”

Dong Tianxing also smiled: "Commander Ma is modest. Fighting the Turks, whether it is the Western Army or the Southern Army, they have all contributed to the country and shed blood, and they are worthy of the name of the Shengtang Army. ”

Xu Youchang agreed: "Yes, although we are not in the same place, our hearts are always tightly tied together. Without the Zhenjiang Army, the problems of the Central Plains would be very difficult to handle; Without the officers and men of the Southern Army, we would not have been able to fight smoothly in the west. Only when we are united can we finally defeat the strong enemy. ”

Ma Hongjie sighed with emotion, said "yes" twice in a row, and then said: "Friend, you have been wronged." I am your teacher, and your grandfather was my teacher. The Xu family is full of loyalty, and now you are the only one left, alas......"

Xu Youchang's eyes were slightly red, and he nodded and said, "My grandfather, as well as the people in the family, they didn't sacrifice in vain. Commander Ma, brothers, the Holy Tang Dynasty has been in turmoil for so long, who hasn't died? How many people have escaped the tragedy of the separation of wives and families? As soldiers, we can only be worthy of them if we continue to fight and destroy all internal and external enemies as soon as possible. ”

Dong Tianxing slapped his thigh and said loudly: "General Xu is right!" We are gathered today precisely to unite as one and join hands to quell the rebellion! Hurry up and get rid of all those evils, the common people are too miserable. ”

Ma Hongjie bowed slightly, and turned his head to look at Li Jiangyao: "Dadu Hu, what do you think about the next battle?" ”

Li Jiangyao listened to the other party's questioning, and suddenly remembered that when he was studying, Ma Hongjie also asked such a question in the teaching hall of the martial arts hall, and he couldn't help but feel secretly funny. He smiled faintly and responded: "North of the river, Bao Yuchun will definitely not be able to keep it." The key question now is whether to let him withdraw to Jiangnan smoothly. ”

Ma Hongjie pondered: "We have similar ideas. The 300,000 soldiers and horses of the Zhenjiang Army left Tongguan, plus the 160,000 people of our Suzaku Legion, as well as the local armed forces, the total strength is close to 500,000, and all of them are veterans who have just fought against the Turks in a life-and-death struggle. Even if Bao Yuchun is fierce, he can't bear it. I am worried that, with his experience and strategy, he will soon abandon the Jiangbei region, retreat to the south in an all-round way, and then take advantage of the naval army to defend the river. ”

"Therefore, it is our strategic goal to try to keep Bao Yuchun's main force in Jiangbei and gather and annihilate it." Xu Youchang continued: "Before coming here, Dadu Hu specially discussed with us that we can start from three aspects. ”

"Oh? I would like to hear about it. Ma Hongjie and other generals were quite curious.

Li Jiangyao looked at Xu Youchang and Dong Tianxing, and said with a calm smile: "The so-called three aspects of starting refer to military, equipment and politics. Militarily speaking, it is not to force Bao Yuchun too hard, so that he feels that he is precarious, and then has the idea of slipping away. Once he is really allowed to escape, not only will it be difficult to fight the battle in the future, but it will also spread to the south and cause more people to suffer. ”

Dong Tianxing bowed slightly, and then Li Jiangyao's words continued: "In terms of equipment, most of the capital guards have made suggestions to the imperial court to quickly build a powerful naval fleet, minimize the gap with the rebels, and regain control of the waterway. Lao Yu has always been in charge of the Ordnance Department of the Ministry of War, so he is more familiar with the situation. So far, General Murong Xue has supervised the construction of more than two hundred fifth-floor fighting ships, although the number is only one-tenth of that of the other party, but it is much better than before. ”

Ma Hongjie and the others nodded again and again when they heard this, and Li Jiangyao continued: "In terms of politics, certain means are needed to instigate the differences between Lao Jianhua and Bao Yuchun, especially to make Lao Jianhua think that it is a serious mistake to abandon the Jiangbei region, and only stubbornly defending is the only option. ”

"So how do you do that?" A general of the Suzaku Legion wondered.

Li Jiangyao smiled and patiently explained to everyone: "Lao Jianhua was born in the Beiya Reverse Scale Division in the early days, and he can be regarded as a political veteran and intelligence leader, but he is not good at leading troops to fight, so it is inevitable that there will be differences with Bao Yuchun in terms of combat understanding, and there will be differences of opinion due to political considerations. As long as you can take advantage of this, you can make it obedient. ”

Ma Hongjie was slightly stunned when he heard this, and immediately said in his heart: Since Li Jiangyao pointed out that Lao Jianhua is an expert in intelligence, why is he not worried at all, among the generals here, some people were bribed by Lao Jianhua to rebel? The Zhenjiang Army has always been located in the ghost desert of Western Xinjiang, and Lao Jianhua's hand may not be stretched that long, but these generals under my command, even I don't dare to pack tickets.

In front of everyone, telling the strategy against the enemy so bluntly, aren't you afraid that Lao Jianhua will know in advance?

Li Jiangyao seemed to see Ma Hongjie's doubts, suddenly smiled slyly, and after making a look, he continued: "Among Bao Yuchun's subordinates, there are our people; Lao Jianhua also has our people by his side, and the political interference action has already begun at this time. ”

Ma Hongjie nodded knowingly: "Since that's the case, it's great." Equipment and politics, in fact, we are not very good at it, only the matter of war, we can contribute more. Dadu Hu just said that he would try to drag Bao Yuchun and prevent him from escaping, do you have any specific action strategy? ”

"My suggestion is ......" Li Jiangyao said with a smile: "From today onwards, hold your troops for the time being and confuse the enemy." ”

Xu Youchang added: "The Ninth Army of Zhenjiang, which had previously rushed to the rear of the rebels, had also received orders from Dadu Hu and was continuing to advance south. In order to completely cut off Bao Yuchun's retreat, so that he could not escape. When the interspersed troops are in place, it will not be too late for us to attack in a big way! ”

Ma Hongjie thought about it seriously and responded: "Okay, anyway, we have the initiative on the battlefield, and the rhythm of attack and defense is relatively more calm." According to your suggestion, let's temporarily stop and rest in Nanzhao County and wait and see what happens. ”

-

After the end of the joint military meeting, the Zhenjiang Army and the Suzaku Army, in accordance with the decision of the Provisional Command, did not rush to the south to attack Nanyang City, an important rebel town.

The soldiers and horses of all walks of life unloaded their armor and saddles, and began to rest.

This situation immediately aroused Bao Yuchun's doubts and vigilance.

Experienced in a hundred battles, he was a little unclear for a while, what tricks Li Jiangyao and Ma Hongjie were doing.

However, it didn't take long for his question to be answered.

And the person who sent him the answer was none other than Lao Jianhua.

"Bao Shuai, take a look, this is a secret report from my eyeliner." Lao Jianhua rushed to Nanyang, and as soon as he sat down, he handed over a letter to Bao Yuchun.

Bao Yuchun unfolded the letter and read it carefully, and couldn't help but be surprised: "Li Jiangyao is so cunning and wants to use these means to keep the main force of our army in Jiangbei?" ”

Lao Jianhua sneered: "Yes, the little abacus is very shrewd." It's a pity that the old man's ears and eyes are all over the world, and Rao is full of tricks, and in the end he can't escape the palm of my hand. Bao Shuai, what do you think? ”

Bao Yuchun hesitated for a moment and groaned: "To be honest, Bao did consider the option of taking the initiative to withdraw to Jiangnan, but ...... But that's just one of the many options. Although the imperial court soldiers are overwhelming and aggressive, we may not necessarily be unable to win. ”

"Now that you have this top-secret news, are you still hesitating?" Lao Jianhua stroked his beard and snorted: "The little fox wants to use the old man and let me interfere with Bao Shuai's plan to retreat south of the river, it's really wishful thinking. ”

Bao Yuchun nodded, and then shook his head again: "You can't say that." Withdrawal has the advantages of withdrawal, but it also has drawbacks. In the blink of an eye, the state capitals of Jiangbei were lost, wouldn't that mean that all the previous battles were fought in vain? ”

Lao Jianhua frowned: "What do you mean, you still have to hold on?" ”