In the first battle of Qiling Pass, the Rongwu troops lost more than 8,000 men and horses, and the fleet was almost completely destroyed. However, Zhu Yuanzhang also knows that Yan Jitai Bazaar is his old opponent, as early as the Guo Zixing period, he has fought with him many times, losing more and winning less, if you want to win this hard bone before the Northern Expedition, you must not be in a hurry......

Fortunately, the reinforcements of the Tang War Vanguard Army arrived in time that night, preventing the Yanzhijitai troops from continuing the pursuit, otherwise Yanzhijitai forcibly landed and attacked, and the Rongwu troops were likely to be annihilated. And Lu Jingqiao used the enemy's strategy of outflanking and counter-arresting, not only stopped Yan Jitai's pursuit, but also ate the enemy's 2,000 elite soldiers alive, which can be regarded as saving a trace of face for Rongwu's fiasco...... It can be said that Tang Zhan, Lu Jing and others have made great contributions this time, but disobeying military orders is disobeying military orders......

It has been ten days since the battle of Qiling Pass, and the cage lake, which was engulfed by the sea of fire that day, has also returned to its former calm. The wreckage of the warship ten days ago loomed, but the corpses floating on the lake had already been disposed of, and there was a faint smell of blood, as if they were still remembering the tragedy of the night before the tenth......

Inside the Vanguard Tent......

"Does the wound still hurt?" In a tent, Su Jia was treating the bruises on Murong Ying's arm. Ten days ago, at the Qiling Pass, Murong Ying resisted the advance and retreat of the hundred armies with the strength of one person, although the martial arts were strong with one enemy and one hundred, but also suffered a lot of external injuries. Now ten days have passed. Murong Ying's wounds still need to be taken care of, which shows the fierceness of the fight that night.

"Thanks to Sister Su for taking care of her. Now that the wound is much better, it will not be a problem to retrain the troops......" Murong Ying said with a strong smile. "I didn't expect Sister Su to be so proficient in medical skills, it seems that I didn't meet Sister Su earlier in Bianliang City that day, it's a pity......"

However, Su Jia didn't smile much, watching Murong Ying change from a young lady to a female general on the field, the wound ten days ago has not healed until today, Su Jia, who has never experienced war, can't help but feel the incomparably cruelty of war, and a trace of confusion and panic appear in her heart. If you want to say that you encountered the Mengyuan army, you have fought against the Wind Chasing Faction, Bianliang City and Lingguan City. But the depression and tension in my heart have never been as strong as today, it was because of personal grievances in the rivers and lakes, but now I am in a place of war but I can't escape the torment, this feeling is like a thousand catties of giant tripods on my back, so that I can't extricate myself......

"What's wrong with you, Sister Su?" Seeing Su Jia's somewhat stunned expression, Murong Ying asked in a voice, compared to Su Jia, Murong Ying, who had experienced the march, had long been accustomed to this kind of military life.

"Huh? no...... It's nothing......" Su Jia immediately came back to her senses, and then recovered her emotions. "I was just thinking...... Brother Tang Zhan and Sister Jing, together with Sister Murong and you, experienced that scene that night...... General Rongwu's troops suffered more than 8,000 casualties, which should be a lot...... Tragic scene......" Su Jia's tone became more and more low.

"If Sister Su, you follow us all the way. You will gradually get used to this kind of life......" As she spoke, Murong Ying gradually withdrew her smile and said in a low voice.

"What do you mean?" Su Jia suddenly looked up and asked.

"Actually, I'm the same as you, Sister Su. The first time I accompanied my brother and Brother Nangong to the barracks, I was also scared. Afraid of the scene of dying every day, or killing others with your own hands......" Murong Ying's eyes gradually lowered. Immediately tried to ease his mood and said, "Later, I gradually realized that this world is like this, saying that it is to save the people of the world, in fact, it is inevitable to shed blood and sacrifice...... And among them, you may fall in a pool of blood one day...... War is cruel, military orders are like mountains, marching and fighting here, you can't have too many personal feelings, most people are resolutely choosing loneliness and death...... For them, we are still lucky, at least our friends and relatives are also around, my brother, Brother Nangong, and later Brother Tang, Sister Jing, and Brother Zichuan...... With them by our side, we no longer think about whether it is the right way to take this path, but how to cherish our friends and relatives by our side, and how to get through this most difficult time together......"

After listening to Murong Ying's self-description, Su Jia seemed to feel a lot of feelings, and was silent for a long time without speaking......

"The order over there has come down-" At this moment, Lu Jing and Tang Zhan walked in from outside the camp tent, Lu Jing seemed to want to report some important news, maintaining a serious expression.

Su Jia also noticed that Lu Jing, who was eccentric and humorous and optimistic in Bianliang in the past, changed a lot after entering the barracks......

"What order?" Murong Ying was also concerned about the military all the time, and immediately raised his head and asked.

Lu Jing found a chair and sat next to Su Jia, and then said: "Rong Wu was dismissed from his military post because of the fiasco of the expedition, and now he is demoted to the rank of husband...... However, because our army disobeyed the military order, we went out of the camp at Qiling Pass without authorization, and we could not go out with the team within half a month......"

"Half a month? It doesn't matter, this time the Qiling Pass was defeated, I believe that the marshal will definitely act cautiously, and to deal with Yan Jitai Bazaduo, he must not rush to send troops, the marshal will definitely make a careful plan to redeploy the army, and when the countermeasures are met, I am afraid that half a month will have already passed-" Murong Ying said optimistically.

"But the truth is just the opposite-" Tang Zhan also followed the mountain road, "Although the marshal acted cautiously, the rhythm did not seem to be slow...... According to General Xu Da's instructions, Xuzhou and Huaibei must be taken before October and marched into the northern expedition to Shandong. But now that it has entered the middle of the month, let alone Xuzhou, even this small Qiling Pass has not been taken; if it is waited for the reinforcements of Mengyuan and Timur from Luoyang to arrive, it will be even more difficult to hope for the Northern Expedition, so the marshal is ready to continue to send troops to Qiling Pass soon to crusade against Yanzhi Jitai Bazaduo——"

"But Rongwu's 20,000 horses were defeated, and we couldn't act, if the marshal and General Xu Da sent troops to advance, it was very impossible for General Yuchun to take the lead, who else would be in the vanguard?" Murong Ying continued to ask.

Tang Zhan's eyes were slightly certain. Then he said: "The marshal has given an order to order Chang Yuchun to lead 100,000 horsemen to Qiling Pass. This is not a temptation. Instead, he directly led the army to the city of Xuzhou, and it seemed that he was going to capture Xuzhou with an iron heart——"

"General Chang Yuchun has experienced a hundred battles. With a good way to lead the troops, it is no problem for him to lead the troops to deal with Yan Jitai Bazaduo, but ......" Murong Ying seemed to be worried about something, and continued to meditate.

"But the Northern Expedition army has a total of 250,000 troops, and before the Northern Expedition to Shandong, it will take 100,000 soldiers and horses to deal with a Xuzhou, and in case ......of defeat, the morale of the army will be greatly hit," Lu Jing picked up Murong Ying's words and said, "And Zhu Yuanzhang knows a lot about Yan Jitai Baza, and Yan Jitai is also to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang should be very clear in his heart." If you are too anxious to deal with him, not only will you have little chance of success, but you will probably lose the whole game if you make a slight mistake, Zhu Yuanzhang is making a risky bet......"

"Jing'er, you're right...... Tang Zhan also followed, "But I think General Chang Yuchun has a good way of using his troops and winning all battles, and he won't fall into the trap of the enemy army rashly like Rong Wu." With General Chang Yuchun's ability to command the army, he shouldn't lose to Yan Jitai Bazado, and we shouldn't worry too much-"

"General Chang Yuchun does have a good way of using soldiers, but it is still too risky to do so. With Zhu Yuanzhang's character, he should not fight an uncertain battle. But in my opinion, this battle is indeed too difficult to decide......" Lu Jing was still a little puzzled.

"Then what do you mean exactly, if you were to command the three armies, what would you do?" Murong Ying continued to ask Lu Jing.

"It's going to be the same as before. Send a small number of men and horses to test the enemy's situation, just like sending General Rongwu to test the situation before......" Lu Jing responded, "It's just that this time we will learn a lesson." Send more unchaotic generals, so compared. It is only reasonable to send our military headquarters on the expedition this time......"

"But we were given a military ......order," Tang Zhan said with some disappointment.

"It's useless to just sit and wait, we have to continue to fight-" Lu Jing stood up. As if he was going to decide something, he said to Tang Zhan, "Fool, let's go and ask the marshal and General Xu Da again to ask for the revocation of the order against our army and send our army to march to Qiling Pass instead-"

"Is it true, Jing'er?" Tang Zhan saw that Lu Jing was going to ask for his life to go on the expedition, and he began to get excited.

"Although I risk disobeying the military order, there is no way to ......," Lu Jing turned to the direction of the camp door, ready to leave, and said, "But before that, I have to visit General Rongwu, who is still recuperating from his injuries, and inquire about the situation...... Fool, you go and accompany Lao Jiu and Brother Zichuan to lead the troops to train the Five Absolute Formations, and I'll call you later when I ask for my life-"

"Hmm-" Tang Zhan simply nodded and replied, Tang Zhan, as the commander of the vanguard army, obeyed Lu Jing as a military advisor in every way in the camp tent.

Lu Jing walked outside the tent, and after temporarily separating from Tang Zhan, her heart was still not calm, and she was still thinking about something: "Zhu Yuanzhang is a scheming person, it is impossible for him not to know the trickiness of Yan Jitai Bazado, and he must not act rashly against him...... But this decision is indeed a bit rash, and it doesn't look like Zhu Yuanzhang's style. So what does he mean, he is betting on 100,000 horses and horses, and the purpose is not like really trying to take Xuzhou, but to make a show...... But why did he make a show, and who did he look at, and he would actually take 100,000 horses as a bet to make a show, what was he thinking...... Zhu Yuanzhang, although he is deeply popular with the people, loved by the people of the world, and is an enlightened ruler, I can feel that he is a terrible person, more terrible than anyone else......"

With infinite thoughts, Lu Jing had already walked to the door of the Rongwu camp. Lu Jing went in without saying hello, after all, except for Tang Zhan in this barracks, she is the biggest, and everyone has reason to bow down to her.

Lu Jing opened the curtain, and Rong Wu was lying quietly on the bed recuperating from his injuries. Ten days ago, in the battle of Qiling Pass, although he saved his life and the rest of the army, he was also injured a lot in the fiasco of the Battle of Cage Lake, and now he has been dismissed and is now injured, and he is lucky not to be dealt with by military law.

There was no one else by the bedside except for the guards who guarded it, and the guards also greeted them respectfully when they saw Lu Jing, who was the military advisor of the vanguard army. Rong Wu saw that it was Lu Jing coming, but he didn't know what he was showing, so he lay on the bed and didn't speak.

"A few of you go out first—" Lu Jingchong ordered a few guards next to him in a low voice.

"Yes—" A few of the guards got the order and walked out of the tent directly......

Only Lu Jing and Rong Wu, who were lying on the bed recuperating in the tent, were left in the tent...... Lu Jing walked a few steps earlier, sat down in front of Rong Wu's bed, and first greeted him with a greeting: "General Rong Wu's injury is okay, right?"

"Don't call me a general, I have been demoted to the rank of husband because of my failure to lead the troops......" Rong Wu smiled bitterly, still blaming and regretting his failure and not listening to the advice of Tang Zhan, Lu Jing and others, and then asked softly, "I don't know what happened to the army division this time, forgive me for being injured and inconvenient to get up......

Lu Jing paused for a moment, and then asked, "I just want to ask the general about the situation of the battle at Qiling Pass that night...... That night, because I was fighting against the camp with General Tang and General Zhao Zijin on the shore of the cage lake, I didn't know much about the situation of the water battle, so I don't know if it is convenient for General Rongwu to talk about it......"

"What's so convenient or inconvenient, after all, the result is a foregone conclusion and can't be changed......" Rong Wu smiled bitterly again, and said slowly, "Actually, it's more direct for you to ask General Zhang Xingling, but because he is General Xu Da's personal subordinate, after the battle of Qiling Pass, he went back to General Xu Da's subordinates...... As for me, the battle of Cage Lake that night, because of my carelessness, resulted in irreparable losses......"

"It must be a trick used by Yan Jitai Bazaar, after all, the Mengyuan Navy is not good at water warfare, and he also took the initiative to send a war letter to General Rongwu that night, so it is naturally to lure you deep into the hinterland of Cage Lake, isn't it?" Lu Jing continued to ask.

Rong Wu continued to recall, for the defeat that night, he will never forget: "Our naval army was originally close to the position of the Mengyuan naval army, so it was suppressed with copper cannons and rockets, quickly destroyed the first line of defense of the enemy's naval army, and then landed the enemy ships as originally planned...... I thought that the enemy's plan to empty the city was actually to send the main force to attack our rear camp, so I hurriedly turned the bow of the navy and prepared to turn back to ......."

"But what about the result?" Lu Jing continued.

"As a result...... Rong Wu said in a somewhat heavy tone as if he had said a sore spot, "Yan Jitai Bazado just took advantage of my heart, and there was a plan...... It turned out that the first line of 'empty ship defense' was just a cover-up, and the real main force of the naval army was behind the 'empty ships'. It just so happened that he grasped the psychology of what I thought was their main force sneaking up on the rear camp, and when our navy turned the bow formation in confusion, the main force of the enemy's navy 'revealed its true body' and put pressure on our army with powerful firepower...... I thought that I would be completely annihilated in the counterattack formation, so I turned back at full speed and did not resist, and finally lost 8,000 soldiers and horses...... Now that I think about it, the expected outcome was even worse than that...... If I had calmed down for a while, thought a little more, and had not turned the bow of the ship immediately, but continued to advance towards the enemy's naval camp, I would have clashed with their naval forces in a strict formation, and maybe we could have won the battle...... But it's too late to say this now......" Rong Wu not only spoke in a heavy tone, but also had obvious unwillingness in his heart.

"No, what you did is not entirely wrong, at least you know that after falling into the trap, you will directly turn back and do not fight back - this decision is at least right, if you turn the bow of the ship to fight back, then it is really possible that the whole army will be annihilated......" Lu Jing changed his tone and said, "In this way, Yan Jitai Bazado is indeed experienced and cunning, Zhu Yuanzhang has been with him many times, and he should also know this, so his decision is something else......" As he spoke, Lu Jing slowly stood up.

"What decision did the marshal decide?" Rong Wu felt that Lu Jing had something to say in his last sentence, and couldn't help but ask.

"It's nothing, just think about it too much......" Lu Jing walked towards the tent door, turned his back to Rong Wu and said, "General Rong Wu, you should have a good rest, the marshal knows the strength of Yan Ji Tai Bazado, so general, you didn't punish too much if you lost the battle......

Rong Wu couldn't guess Lu Jing's thoughts, but he knew very well that Lu Jing was a smart person, and since Qiling Pass Qiao remembered to defeat the enemy and save himself, he felt that Lu Jing was much smarter than he imagined......

Lu Jing walked out of Rongwu's camp and said secretly in her heart: "Zhu Yuanzhang, what is he for, taking an army of 100,000 people as a bet, and General Chang Yuchun, who has experienced a hundred battles, to make such a bet...... When I ask for help to see you again, maybe I'll find out......"

After thinking about it, Lu Jing turned around and walked towards the training ground, preparing to find Tang Zhan together to ask for Zhu Yuanzhang's order to go out as planned...... (To be continued......)