Xiaoqi

"It's just a little effort, why do you need to say thank you?" Xu and Liu said politely.

Immediately, the seven people took their seats under the tent, Pang Tong sat on the upper right, Huang Zu sat on the opposite side, Xu Shu and Liu Ba sat below Pang Tong, General Wei Yansan sat next to Huang Zu.At this time, Pang Tong asked Liu Ba: "Is the Xiping'ao camp ready?"

Liu Ba was not good at words, and responded: "Don't worry, military commander, everything is ready, and you can enter the camp tonight. After the army leaves, construction will start overnight. It will not be a problem to hide [-] soldiers before dawn tomorrow. Rest, start excavation late at night, and the task will be completed within half a month."

ps: Sincere thanks: book friend "Dongzhiju" monthly ticket support, thank you!

Chapter 254 Flying Dragon and Phoenix Dance ([-])

Pang Tong nodded happily and said: "Okay, that's very good. I will entrust this matter to Brother Zichu. Remember not to act hastily and not to reveal your whereabouts. Otherwise, if there is a slight mistake or you are discovered by Xiliang scouts, I will wait for what I did before." All previous efforts will be wasted, and the situation is worrisome." Actually, he wanted to say "the big thing is over", but he was worried that Liu Ba would be under too much pressure and would be prone to mistakes if he was cautious, so he used more reserved words in addition to solemn instructions.

Liu Ba is not a mediocre person. He knows that the mission and responsibility on his shoulders are heavy, and he must not be sloppy at all, so he nodded heavily: "I promise to live up to the great trust of the military advisor, please rest assured, the military advisor!"

Pang Tong smiled and nodded, then shifted his gaze to Wei Yan, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, then looked at Xu Shu, and said with a smile: "Brother Yuan Zhi is going to set out tonight, and from now on, it will be very hard work to sleep day and night, eat in the wind and sleep in the open, Brother Yu I would like to thank my dear friend in advance, and I will be able to help you."

Xu Shu shook his head lightly when he heard the words, and said with a smile: "The salary of eating the king, the matter of being loyal to the king, how can you talk about hard work? Self-blame is a matter of self-blame, and you should do your best to fulfill your mission. You don't have to worry about it. When Brother Yu returns, you The two of us must drink to our hearts content. Hehehe!"

Pang Tong nodded approvingly: "So, my younger brother will wait here for the good news of my brother. On the day when my elder brother returns from his achievements, I will hold a big banquet to reward all the soldiers, and I will present to His Majesty to ask for my elder brother's credit."

Xu Shu said with a smile: "How can you dare to claim credit for what you have to do? What's more, if you want to succeed, you need the help of three generals, Wen Chang, You Ping, and Gong Yi. It's okay for a scholar Xu to make a plan, but fighting in the battlefield is a must." There is more than enough but not enough power!"

After hearing what Xu Shu said.Everyone in the tent laughed heartily, and Pang Tong couldn't help pointing at him.He said with a smile, "Brother Yuan Zhi's words are really too modest. You must know that being too modest is tantamount to deceiving yourself and others. It seems like a deliberate show off. Not long ago, Tie Zhu, a Xiliang warrior, beheaded four generals of our vanguard army by himself. , but was pierced by brother Yuanzhi with an arrow, and then he was beheaded by Liu Pan, Wenpin and other four generals. Today, no one in the whole army knows that you, Xu Yuanzhi, are both civil and military. He said, others don't know the details of Brother Yuan Zhi, but you can't hide it from me. Two years ago, you were a knight with a sword and traveled in various states in the Central Plains. You were a famous ranger on the Green Forest Road in Jingzhou. It is because I know that Brother Yuanzhi is capable of both civil and military affairs, that I chose you as the chief general, leading a lone army to detour northward."

Speaking of this, Pang Tong paused, did not continue, and turned to say earnestly: "This trip is extremely dangerous. It is really a lonely army going deep, and there are all city passes under the jurisdiction of the Western Jin Dynasty along the way, and there is no support or rescue. , It can be said that every step is difficult. Every step is frightening. Therefore, brother, you must be more careful, and if you can't do anything, you should immediately withdraw your troops and return. Don't use your emotions to take risks alone."

The smile on Xu Shu's face quickly faded.His expression was extraordinarily dignified, obviously he was pretending to be relaxed just now.In fact, he knew very well that his trip was full of dangers, and if he made a mistake, the entire army would be wiped out and his life would be lost.It's just that he didn't want Pang Tong to worry about him, so that he couldn't affect the emotions and fighting spirit of Wei Yan and the others, so he always greeted people with a smile on his face, as if he didn't care at all.

Now, since Pang Tong has made clear the danger of this operation, Xu Shu no longer has to pretend, and whispered solemnly: "As Shi Yuan said, the road to the north this time is very difficult. First of all, we must not reveal our whereabouts. Yes, you can’t fight the Xiliang army before completing the mission; the last point is also the most difficult, that is, you must fight all the way back, and only by killing a bloody path can you return safely to the camp.”

Pang Tong sympathized and said: "It is true. It is not easy for an army to go north alone, but it is even more difficult to return to the camp safely. Since the Northern Expedition, we have clearly seen that the Xiliang Army has been fighting all year round. , fighting tenaciously and bravely, the fighting power is far above our Jingzhou army.

In just ten days, our army opened the situation by breaking the city by surprise attack, and then continued to attack the city non-stop; so far, our army has lost more than [-] troops, but the Xiliang army has only suffered more than [-] casualties.In such a situation of surprise and unpreparedness, the casualties of our army are still twice that of the Xiliang army. If there is a head-on confrontation, the heavy casualties are almost unimaginable.From this, it is not difficult to predict that even if brother Yuanzhi leads the army northward this time, even if he completes the mission, he will be surrounded and intercepted by the Xiliang army on the way back, and the degree of danger can be imagined. "

While speaking, Pang Tong paused, and sighed softly: "The reason for the retreat of the army tonight is to avoid the scouts and eyeliners of the Xiliang Army. Brother Yuan Zhi led the army and set off at the same time as the army, leaving the army halfway, and going north by detour. This is Pang Tong. The only thing I can do, other than that, is that I can't help Brother Yuanzhi at all. In all fairness, if our army didn't urgently need this batch of horses and cavalry equipment, I would definitely not let Brother Yuanzhi and Wen Chang go deep alone. Risk!"

After he finished speaking, his eyes fell on Wei Yan, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin. Wei Yan said indifferently: "Military commanders don't have to worry. As generals, it is only natural to charge into battle. What are you afraid of waiting?" Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin's expressions changed when they heard their voices, their faces showed embarrassment, their eyes flickered and dodged, and they wanted to speak several times, but they were unable to speak out because of their identities as guest soldiers.

Who are Pang Tong and Xu Shu?How could it not be seen that Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were worried and wanted to quit several times, but it was difficult to say so?However, the two of them pretended not to see it, ignored it, and waited for Zhou and Jiang to open their mouths, and then they saw their tricks. Anyway, Jiangdong generals could not stay out of the matter anyway.

On this point, the Jingzhou Army has already reached an agreement.From Liu Biao to the leading small school, everyone knew that no matter what, the Jiangdong Army must be firmly tied to the Jingzhou Army's chariot.

It was for this purpose that the commander of the Northern Expedition was Huang Zu, but he deliberately gave up the positions of two deputy commanders to General Jiangdong.At the same time, Jiangdong generals were appointed as deputy generals in both the vanguard front and rear troops, and took care of arranging camps and food supplies. They have never been sent to attack the city since the start of the war.

Even so, the Jiangdong Army and the Jingzhou Army are still not of the same mind, and they have always regarded themselves as guest soldiers.If this situation is seen by people who don't know the inside story, they will definitely think that the Jiangdong soldiers are bystanders, or they are battlefield observers, and the relationship with the Jingzhou Army is at best friendly or allied. Under Liu Biao's command, he and the Jingzhou Army belong to the same family and have an affiliation relationship.

Sure enough, seeing that Pang Tong and Xu Shu didn't answer Wei Yan's words at all, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin looked at each other and reached a consensus.Immediately, Zhou Tai tried his best to suppress his emotions, bowed his hands and saluted, and said in a calm tone: "Master Rong, the last general and Gong Yi have not received the military order from the young master, so it is really difficult for the two of us to go north with the army. Please also ask the master Forgive me, don't embarrass the last general."

Pang Tong was not at all surprised when he heard the words, and smiled calmly and said: "General Youping, there is no need to be polite. You and I are ministers in the same palace. We are both His Majesty's ministers. In the future, we must not be more polite. These days, Pang's military affairs I am busy, I have neglected the two generals, I hope you will be more considerate of the impoliteness. It is really wrong to leave a big event behind when you are so busy!" While speaking, Pang Tong stood up and bowed his hands, impressively Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin apologized.

Seeing this, Zhou Tai quickly stretched out his hands to help him, and then avoided Pang Tong. At this moment, he and Jiang Qin looked a little flustered, feeling faintly uneasy.After all, Pang Tonggui is a military adviser and in charge of the entire army, so how could he apologize to the two of them for no reason, even if he really did something wrong to them, there is no need to apologize.But now the sun is really coming out from the west, what a strange thing!

"Military master, don't do this. How dare the two last generals accept the gift of the military adviser. I don't know if the important matter that the military adviser said is related to the two of us?" Zhou Tai asked anxiously and respectfully.

Pang Tong smiled and nodded and said: "General Youping is very good, he guessed it right. Presumably the two generals didn't know that half a month ago His Majesty sent an envoy to Jiangdong, and the eldest son Liu Qi proposed to marry him. One year later, he married the relative of the King of Wu. Aunt Sun Ren (Sun Shangxiang) is his wife, and on the day of the wedding, His Majesty will make the eldest son Prince of Jiangxia County, and the Sun family will be the princess at that time."

"Ah!" Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were shocked when they heard the words. They immediately looked at each other and said in unison, "How is it possible that Miss married Liu Qi's eldest son?" The reason why they were so surprised was because they had seen Liu Qi with their own eyes not long ago .The young man in his twenties has sunken eye sockets, two dark circles under his eyes, he is as thin as a stick, and walks lightly. He can be seen as a drunkard at first glance, and looks like he died young.How can such a bad person be worthy of Miss Sun Ren, who is a woman who doesn't let her beard?

After being interrupted by Zhou and Jiang for no reason, Pang Tong was not angry, and still smiled and said: "According to the news sent back by the sentry, Wu Guotai (Sun Jian's wife, Sun Shao's grandmother) has agreed to this marriage. I became closer to His Majesty and formed a good family. So far, Jiangdong and Jingzhou have truly become a family. Because of this, King Wu sent another [-] troops across the river and handed over to Pang Mou full command until this time Until the victory of the Northern Expedition.

Therefore, the King of Wu has given Pang Mou the full authority to command the army. From then on, the two generals Youping and Gongyi, as well as all the Jiangdong soldiers who participated in the war, will be dispatched by me. The King of Wu will not interfere with any dispatch of soldiers and horses. Before that, King Wu would not intervene in military affairs. "

Speaking of this, the smile on Pang Tong's face became brighter. He looked at Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin with a smile on his face, and asked with a smile: "Do you two generals have any questions? I want to say something, but it doesn't matter. Pang will definitely answer your questions." I will never let the two generals down." Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin looked sad after hearing the words, nodded lightly to accept the order, and immediately got up and left the tent dejectedly.After they left, the discussion of the commander-in-chief was also over, and the soldiers of the Chinese army had set out and retreated to Xiping'ao to set up camp.

Chapter 255 Flying Dragon and Phoenix Dance ([-])

"Pang Shiyuan withdrew his troops?" In the main hall of Wancheng County Guard's Mansion, Zhuge Liang asked in surprise after receiving the letter of war handed over by Bo Cai.

Bo Cai responded, "Exactly. The scouts came to report that Pang Tong led the Chinese army to pull out the stronghold and retreat ten miles back at Haishi last night, and the enemy army to attack the city retreated thirty miles. Then they set up camp in Xiping'ao in the middle of the night. An hour ago , Pang Tong sent an envoy to send the letter of war, and the military adviser led the army to arrive."

Bocai had a lot of experience in the Xiliang Army. He had been on the battlefield for a long time, and made great achievements in battle. He was the first general to follow Li Li in battle.Although he has not personally commanded a large-scale battle, he has devoted himself to his duties and diligently handled everything assigned by Li Li. He has never made a mistake in more than ten years.This is the military merit, the record, and the capital for him to be promoted to the general of the army.

Therefore, he is qualified to sit on an equal footing with Zhuge Liang, and he doesn't need to be polite, just speak the truth.However, Zhuge Liang was the chief general of the three armies in the battle of Nanyang. Although Bo Cai had a high official position, he also served as a general under his tent, waiting for dispatch.

Zhuge Liang frowned slightly after hearing the words. After reading the war book, he handed the war book to Sima Yi who was sitting beside him, and he began to meditate.The moment Sima Yi saw the war book, his eyelids twitched violently. After reading it quickly, he handed the war book to Lu Bu, and the war book was circulated among the generals.

After thinking for a while, Zhuge Liang said to Bo Cai: "Pang Shiyuan's move is quite strange. As our army marched into Wancheng, the battlefield situation has undergone a fundamental change. Our army is strong, while Jingzhou's army is weak. It is not surprising that the army retreated. It was already expected. However, he openly wrote a decisive battle when he knew that the strength of the Jingzhou army was far inferior to our Xiliang army. This move was beyond my expectations. Yu Li No. What is the general's opinion on this?" Bo Cai called him a military adviser.To show his closeness, now he reciprocates, calling Bocai the general to show his respect.It is not difficult to see from this that there is no intrigue in the Western Jin army, and all generals obey Li Li's military orders, order and prohibit, and the top and bottom are consistent.At least the current atmosphere in the army is good, and the phenomenon of fighting for fame and fortune has not yet emerged.

The sound of "General" made Bocai quite useful.The only resentment left in his heart dissipated, and a smile appeared on his face immediately, and he said with a smile: "You are welcome, military commander. From today onwards, all the soldiers and horses in the city will obey the military commander's dispatch, but if there is an order, the military commander will only take care of it." The order is, and the general will definitely go all out."

Zhuge Liang got up when he heard the words, raised his hands and said: "The general understands the righteousness, and Liang is very frightened."

Bo Cai returned the salute.Said frankly: "This time the Jingzhou army raided Nanyang, the last general did not notice for a while, so that Deng County fell, Tiegu and General Huanyi died in battle. The soldiers were lost and the general was lost. For this reason, the last general has already appealed to His Majesty for punishment, but now the last general has passed. It is the body to treat the crime. This time, I have to pay the crime under the account of the military division, so that I can feel at ease.

Don't lie to the military division.After days of fighting, the last general did not find anything unusual about the Jingzhou army.He also didn't realize that Pang Tong had done anything extraordinary.Since Wancheng was trapped until now, the Jingzhou army has been doing everything well except for attacking the city day and night. They stormed the outer city blockhouse for seven days, but they were still unable to move forward, and there was no threat to the city.Therefore, the general believed that Pang Tong's invitation to fight this time was just an expedient tactic, and he used clever words to deceive, and took the opportunity to delay the time and wait for the opportunity to withdraw the army. "

Zhuge Liang shook his head lightly: "General, don't underestimate the enemy. Pang Tong led the army to the Northern Expedition this time with a mission, and he will never retreat easily before he achieves his goal. As for the final battle, it is exactly as the general said, this is It is a strategy to delay the troops, take the opportunity to stabilize our army, and delay the time."

Having said that, Zhuge Liang paused, turned to look at Sima Yi, and asked, "Has Zhongda seen any clues?"

Sima Yi understood when he heard the sound, knowing that Zhuge Liang's clues were referring to the war letter, and immediately said calmly: "I want to cover up my shortcomings by declaring myself."

Zhuge Liang's expression moved, and he said in surprise: "Oh, how did you see it? It's okay for Zhongda to speak bluntly. I'd like to hear more about it."

Bo Cai and Lu Bu nodded, and the other generals in the hall: Ma Chao, Zhang Fei, Yang Fu, Guan Yu, Zang Ba, Sun Li and others also nodded in agreement. They really wanted to hear what Sima Yi had to say and why he said something surprising.After all, at this moment, everyone in the hall is famous and famous. Even Yang Fu, the chief secretary of the army, also gained fame in the Yizhou battle, but his qualifications are still relatively young. Given time, he may not be able to enter the hall and rank among the ranks of ministers; Sima Yi is the only one. No name.However, when Kong Ming led the army to the south this time, he placed him in the position of the commander of the army, above Yang Fu, and the seat was relatively close, and he was on an equal footing with Zhang Fei, the leader of the Suzaku camp. This arrangement undoubtedly made the generals feel that Zhuge Liang was nepotism , Put Sima Yi, the guest of honor in his shogunate, before the lieutenants of each battalion.

However, Zhuge Lianggui is His Majesty's adopted brother, who ranks high in the position of the rear general and has the right to open the mansion, so it is understandable to recruit a few servants.It's just that this is the first case of him directly bringing his staff into the army and giving him a high position. Several other generals in the army who have the power to open the government have never done this.Therefore, Sima Yi's current position is very conspicuous, which makes all the generals quite upset, but Zhuge Liang is the chief general, and he is also a trusted and important minister in front of His Majesty, so the generals dare not speak out, and can only let it go, and everything will have to wait until the war Do the calculation later.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Sima Yi showed no stage fright at all, and said calmly: "It is said in the war book that Pang Tong was willing to lead his troops back for thirty miles because of his friendship with his classmates. Obviously, this is because he knew he was invincible and had to lead his troops back. Many problems have been exposed here. First, the Jingzhou army has been unable to attack Wancheng for a long time. Judging from the ten-day siege situation, it was not Pang Tong who was in charge of the Jingzhou army, but Huang Zu and Wenpin. Therefore, Pang Tong had no chance to make a move, so naturally he would not perform exceptionally well. Third, the Jingzhou army retreated. It's not a retreat, it means that he still has support, and there must be a large army to support him. This is what I call self-exploitation."

Having said that, Sima Yi paused, looked around at the people in the hall, and saw that everyone nodded as if they had realized something, and approved of his analysis.Seeing this, Sima Yi was calm on the surface, but in fact he was very excited in his heart. He felt like scolding Fang Qiu and pointing Jiangshan. This feeling was very good and he was very useful.Speaking of which, this was the first time he showed his face in the army, the first time he went out with the army, the first time he came into contact with the army, and the first time he was recognized by the generals.

No matter how good Sima Yi feels about himself, how talented he is, and how capable he is, if he doesn't have the opportunity to display his talents, it's useless even if he has the latitude and longitude of the world.There has never been a shortage of amazingly talented people in the world, but there are only a handful of people who really have the opportunity to display their talents. If they are talented, they can't stand out. If they don't have the opportunity to stand out, their talents will be buried. That's why there is the term "outstanding talent". explain.But now, Kong Ming provided him with a stage to display his talents, let him serve as a military counselor, and asked his opinions in front of the generals, giving him a chance to express himself, so as to gain a firm foothold in the army.This is support, like the grace of knowing each other.

After calming himself down, Sima Yi took a deep breath and continued: "If Pang Tong's forced withdrawal is justified by pretending to be a classmate and self-defeating, then openly inviting our army to fight is an attempt to cover up. Judging from the current situation of the battle, even if there are reinforcements behind Pang Tong, they will arrive in a few days, but as long as the Jingzhou army does not come out in full force, the chances of winning a decisive battle with us are not great, at most, it is only five or five .

This point has been vividly demonstrated in the previous battles.The Jingzhou army suddenly launched an attack and took the initiative, but after ten days of fighting, the casualties of their soldiers and horses were twice as large as mine.This in itself shows that our army's combat effectiveness is by no means comparable to that of the Jingzhou army. Even if it faces more than twice the Jingzhou army, our army dares to fight it head-on and is sure to win it.Therefore, knowing that a direct decisive battle is not our army's opponent, Pang Tong still pretends to submit a war letter to make an appointment to fight. "

Speaking of this, Sima Yi showed an inscrutable smile on his face, and continued: "If you want to cover up, you must be trying to cover up something, or there must be an ulterior purpose in it. I guess, there are three possibilities for Pang Tong's purpose. The first is the tactic of delaying troops, delaying time in the name of a decisive battle between the two armies, and retreating to Xipingao to wait for reinforcements to arrive.

Second, use this time to prepare in advance and plan a conspiracy to defeat my Xiliang iron cavalry.Third, use the main force to contain our army here, attract our attention, and send a surprise soldier to achieve the desired goal. "Speaking of this, Sima Yi immediately stopped talking, and stopped talking. If he continued to speak, he would be suspected of showing off on purpose. People in the army should not show off their tongues, just express their own opinions. It is useless to talk boastfully. Not only is it not convincing, but it is annoying.

Sima Yi explained the current battle situation thoroughly and thoroughly, and this conclusion was unanimously approved by everyone including Zhuge Liang.

So the purpose of the lobby meeting was achieved.Immediately Zhuge Liang got up and said: "Zhongda's words are very suitable for me. After returning to the camp, you generals may wish to think about it along this line of thought. It is better to be quiet now, and pass this matter to Luoyang to inform His Majesty. And I will wait for a long-distance attack Come here, take a rest for two days, and then discuss and make decisions. All generals, go back to the camp and rest."

All the generals agreed in unison, then got up and left.After the generals had left, Zhuge Liang said to Sima Yi with a smile: "Zhongda, please work hard, and later follow me out of the city to see the camp where Pang Tong's army was stationed before, in case there is any fraud. I wonder if Zhongda would like to go with him?"

"I insist on what I want, but I dare not ask for it. I'm so lucky." Sima Yi responded happily.