Chapter 70
After Yao Chunnuan and the others had reached a consensus, they arranged for the troops to be dispatched. Sixteen thousand of the two thousand elite soldiers were selected, along with one thousand new recruits, and Lu Chengjun led them to Wuzhipo to support the general. Meng Yi, in turn, led four hundred elite soldiers and one thousand new recruits to scout the two locations Yao Chunnuan had outlined, acting as a bluff.
After the task was assigned, Lu Chengjun quickly selected his troops and generals and then set off.
Meng Yi had a heavy task ahead of him, and the key to success or failure lay with him. However, he only had 1,400 soldiers, which was not enough if he went to two different places separately.
After all, the troops are too few, Chief Steward Wu, Yu Chen and others sighed.
Yao Chunnuan, Wu Zongguan, Yu Chen, and the others were aware of this situation, but how could they resolve it? Ideally, they would focus on two locations, one focusing on the other. In other words, they would ideally be able to estimate which location was most likely to be the secret vault.
Yao Chunnuan sat there, her eyes lost in thought, her fingers tapping unconsciously on the table. Having known each other for so long, they all knew this was when Yao Chunnuan was deep in thought. Everyone was silent, waiting for her.
After Yao Chunnuan came to her senses, she pointed directly at one of the locations and said, "Funing District, you take a thousand people there. And the remaining four hundred people go to Huangshi District."
A glimmer of joy flashed in everyone's eyes. With her arrangement, it should be most likely that Marshal Zhu's second secret vault is in Funing District?
After Meng Yi received the order, he ordered his troops to set out almost immediately.
Before setting off, he called Zhou Yushu over and asked him, "I'll take you with me, and I won't gag you, but you're not allowed to warn the people in the Yichun camp along the way. Can you do that?"
Zhou Yushu nodded hesitantly. In an emergency like this, a general wouldn't bring someone from the opposing camp with him. He decided to just stay in the military settlement. Without leaving, there would be no way to warn. He was aware of the current predicament facing General Xing, and he was genuinely curious about how the Yichun military settlement would resolve this situation.
Before setting off, Meng said fiercely, "After this incident, I must recruit more soldiers and train them more, so that there will be someone to support the soldiers when they return from the expedition."
Yichun Marshal's Mansion
Marshal Zhu was in a good mood today. The entire Marshal's Mansion was decorated with lights and colorful decorations. The opera troupe began to take the stage and sing in a sing-song voice.
Well, this Yuxiang Troupe's Little Peach Red Opera is really good, with great posture and beautiful appearance. Marshal Zhu sat in front of the stage with great enjoyment, drinking wine and eating snacks, and commenting with ease.
At this moment, he was watching the play while waiting for the news of Shi Mei's victory. He was overjoyed at the thought of a large amount of supplies filling his treasury. "Xing Changfeng, oh Xing Changfeng, you never imagined that you would lead four or five thousand elite soldiers and quietly leave Yichun to rob Di Luo, but in the end, it was me, Zhu, who would benefit!"
In fact, he didn't care whether the items were seized or not. What he cared about more was that Shi Mei had given him a lot of vent for the rage he felt for having his first secret vault taken away by Xing Changfeng!
This time, he was going to fight back, leaving them speechless. Like pretending to be a bandit, huh? He was going to tell Xing Changfeng this time that he wasn't the only one who could do this; they could do it too, hehe.
The leader of the Yuxiang troupe saw Zhu Dashuai smiling and nodding frequently in the corner backstage. It was obvious that he was very satisfied with the play they had arranged. He breathed a sigh of relief and felt that this time it should be a safe bet.
This Yuxiang Troupe was actually the Yurong Troupe. Last time, they were banished from the palace by the Marshal because they were unlucky, and their business plummeted. Later, he inquired and found out that it was their own bad luck that happened to coincide with Marshal Zhu's misfortune, and they were the target of the wrath. It was really an unprovoked disaster.
After much reflection, the troupe owner decided to change the name to Yuxiang Troupe. He also took great pains to train a new actress, Xiao Taohong, and bribed one of the Marshal's confidants to recommend him to Marshal Zhu and have him perform for him again, hoping that this time he could avenge his previous defeat.
Marshal Zhu was listening to the opera with great pleasure when a trusted aide hurried towards him, "Marshal, something bad has happened!"
Both Zhu Dashuai and the head of the Yuxiang class felt a pang of fear in their hearts.
"Tell me quickly, what's wrong?" Marshal Zhu asked hurriedly.
"Just now, someone from the Funing Detention Office reported that a group of soldiers suddenly appeared there. I don't know what they're up to."
Marshal Zhu jumped up when he heard this. What was their intention? Of course, they were targeting his secret vaults! He had no doubt about the authenticity of this news. This was because, while he couldn't openly send people to protect his secret vaults, he had people secretly guarding nearby and even arranged patrols. How could the news they sent back be false?
They're doing it again! No need to think, it must have been those guys from the Yichun military settlement who did it! Damn it, could those guys from the military settlement stop staring at his vitals? Marshal Zhu was like a tiger whose tail was stepped on, his fur standing up.
Yao Chunnuan: Familiar taste, familiar recipe. Don't be afraid of old things, as long as they work.
"Tell me quickly, how many people are there in that corps?" Marshal Zhu asked loudly.
"It was too dark at night to see how many people there were, but judging by the sound of their footsteps, there were probably about one to two thousand people."
Upon hearing this, Marshal Zhu began pacing back and forth in circles. One or two thousand men. Xing Changfeng's troops were renowned for their fighting prowess. This meant he needed to spare at least five or six thousand men to make it work. But now, let alone five or six thousand, he couldn't even spare two thousand! But he didn't want to ask the other veterans in the Yichun camp for help. Otherwise, he'd chase away the tiger and attract the jackals.
Marshal Zhu quickly ordered, "Go, give Shi Mei an order to withdraw at least 5,000, no, 6,000 men to garrison Funing District!"
"Marshal, if this continues, Mr. Shi's remaining troops will be unable to withstand Xing Changfeng," his courtiers advised. His words also subtly conveyed that if the Marshal insisted on this, then their surprise attack would likely fail.
Of course, his own secret vault was more important than the spoils he hadn't yet obtained. He didn't know how much spoils he had, and if the quantity and quality of those spoils were far inferior to his second secret vault, then he would have gained the spoils but lost his second secret vault, wouldn't that be like picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons? Most importantly, a bird in the hand is worth a thousand in the bush.
The best plan was to have Shi Mei retrieve 6,000 soldiers, then ask the other veterans in the main camp to bring a few thousand more to help deal with Xing Changfeng. The spoils would then be distributed according to the number of troops sent. However, there were a few stubborn veterans in the main camp. Xing Changfeng had just returned from defeating Di Luo, so if they were asked to cut off his beard, they would probably refuse. It might even hinder him!
"Wait, bring a few more orders!"
The order was given, but Marshal Zhu still couldn't help walking around. As long as the corps in Funing was not dealt with, he would not have a moment of peace.
As he walked, he accidentally saw the members of the opera troupe who were silent as a mouse. They had stopped singing, but Marshal Zhu was furious. "Get down! Get out! Get out!"
Marshal Zhu cursed angrily, "You are a bunch of unlucky people. You call it the Yuxiang Troupe? What a blessing! You should change your name to the Buxiang Troupe!" Damn it, every time he invites this troupe, his private bank gets into trouble! If he invites this damn Yuxiang Troupe again in the future, he will be a pig!
The members of the Yuxiang Troupe, driven out of the palace once again, were in a state of panic. The troupe leader gritted his teeth and led the entire troupe back to the Yichun military settlement. He didn't see the settlement manager, so he offered to perform for the general for free. Humph, that Marshal Zhu was unlucky himself, and he blamed his troupe for his bad luck. He wouldn't serve him anymore! What's wrong with being a small-time person? Small-time people have tempers too!
At Wuzhipo,
Just as Chief Steward Sun, Yu Chen and others had expected, after Xing Changfeng sent a letter to the military settlement, he adopted a delaying tactic and was reluctant to enter the ambushers' encirclement.
Shi Mei soon discovered the delaying tactics of Xing Changfeng and his men. Following his command, the army ambushed here jumped out, pointing their swords, spears, bows and arrows at the Xing family army.
Shi Mei looked at the formation of his own army and secretly said it was a pity. He had originally planned to surround the Xing family army by surrounding them on three sides and leaving one side open, but the other side noticed something and stretched their team out, making it difficult for them to encircle them.
But it didn't matter. Their forces outnumbered the enemy several times. After displaying their battle formation, Shi Mei signaled the soldiers nearby and shouted, "Those on the other side, lay down all the spoils, including property, money, food, and slaves, and we will let you pass without making things difficult for you."
"Dream on!" This was the flesh they had torn off from Di Luo in a bloody battle. Now, these shameless people in the Yichun camp wanted to swallow up the fruits of their expedition. All the soldiers were filled with righteous indignation.
"I'll give you a quarter of an hour to think it over. If you're smart, spend the money to avoid disaster. If you're not, don't blame us for being rude!"
The Xing family army shouted, "People from the Yichun camp, do you have any shame? These are the spoils we got after fighting Di Luo with great difficulty, and you have the nerve to rob them?" They went to the battle hard and finally came back alive, but they still got robbed. It was really fucked up.
All I heard was the other party saying smugly, "Who said we are from the Yichun camp? We are from the Yalu Mountain Stronghold!"
The Xing family army was so angry that they cursed, "Damn, what a bullshit Yalu stronghold! These people have learned to act like they did before, pretending to be a stronghold. If they were at their peak combat power, they would have peeled off the skins of you!"
The deputy general next to Xing Changfeng shouted, "A quarter of an hour is too short. We can't reach a consensus. Give us more time!"
Want to use delaying tactics? Shi Mei wasn't fooled. "Just a quarter of an hour, not even a little longer!"
The deputy general frowned and said, "General, if the other party doesn't fall for it, what should we do?"
The other generals also said, "I wonder if General Wu and the officials in the shogunate can come up with a solution?"
It was truly unbearable to have them give up all their spoils. Unfortunately, they were so exhausted that some of them were barely holding on. If they sat down, they would surely fall asleep in less than a cup of tea. It was unsuitable to fight in this state. And against their comrades, especially.
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