Chang Suining entered Anzhou City, dismounted outside the Anzhou Governor's Mansion, and quickly ordered people to take over Anzhou's military defense affairs to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to create any more chaos and harm the people.
In addition, she sent someone to Jingzhou to deliver a message, asking them to thoroughly investigate whether there were any spies who had infiltrated the city to spy on the defenses, and to eliminate them as soon as possible.
After receiving this letter, the governor of Jingzhou was shocked to realize that Jingzhou was almost attacked... To be precise, it was a pincer attack that was enough to cause a catastrophic disaster!
The rear is the main road to the capital... Who knows? Being the governor of Jingzhou is really scary! The governor of Jingzhou was scared out of his wits. He couldn't be the only one who was scared of such a big thing. He had to send a message to General Li Xian and General Xiao Min in front of him immediately, so that they would be scared together... No, let them be careful of what tricks Bian Chunliang was secretly doing.
When Xiao Min learned about this, he was shocked and frightened, and asked Li Xian, "Jingzhou almost had such an incident, and Duke Hanguo didn't investigate it at all?"
Inside the tent, Li Xian, who was sitting at the head of the tent, came back to his senses and looked at Xiao Min, who was standing there holding an urgent letter. He sneered and said, "General Xiao, are you blaming me? Don't forget, I have been here with General Xiao to attack the Bian army these days--"
Xiao Min: "But most of the spies and sentries in charge of Jingzhou and several nearby cities are General Li's men!"
"So what?" Li Xian sneered, "This incident did not happen in Jingzhou, but in Anzhou. No matter how powerful my people are, can they still reach out to Huainan Road to investigate?"
Xiao Min tightly grasped the letter - having said that, since Anzhou and Yuezhou's Bian Chunliang were conspiring together, they would have exchanged letters, which was also within the reconnaissance range of Li Xian's men.
But at this moment, he and Li Xian were not the only ones in the tent. All the generals were also here. Xiao Min suppressed his inner dissatisfaction and did not say anything that would intensify the conflict.
Internal strife among the commanders has always been a big taboo in military operations.
"Xiao just feels that the near miss in Jingzhou this time is really frightening." Xiao Min said, "If it weren't for the Huainan Dao Chang Jieshi who led the troops to quell the rebellion in time, the consequences would be disastrous. We should take this as a warning and strengthen reconnaissance in various places to prevent this kind of danger from happening again."
At this point, Li Xian only needed to nod and the matter would be over. However, Li Xian narrowed his eyes slightly and said with a smile: "The governor of Huainan Road quelled the rebellion, and it was the rebellion under her rule. This is her duty. Why does General Xiao seem to be very grateful to him in his words?"
After a slight pause, he suddenly realized, "That's right... I almost forgot that General Xiao and Envoy Chang had fought side by side before. I think they have a close relationship."
"Xiao Min is just discussing the matter at hand." Xiao Min cupped his hands and said, "I am injured, so I will go back to change the medicine first."
After saying this, he turned and left the tent.
Seeing Xiao Min leave, Li Xian laughed and said, "If General Xiao could use this temper on the battlefield, he wouldn't have failed to take back Yuezhou City after two battles."
"That's right!" A general who had always been led by Li Xian spat, "These two siege battles were so frustrating! His tactics were so hesitant and slow, just like a woman embroidering a flower!"
Several people echoed Li Xiandao, saying, "We could have taken Yuezhou in one fell swoop, but he ordered a withdrawal! I think the general shouldn't let him make all the decisions!"
The remaining generals remained silent. They did not agree with these statements. In their opinion, Xiao Min's tactics were cautious and step-by-step, and they just needed patience to execute them. Although the second siege failed to take back Yuezhou, it dealt a considerable blow to the Bian army.
Furthermore, these people were shouting happily at the moment, but before General Xiao led the reinforcements to arrive... they didn't see them take Yuezhou? Instead, they could only be suppressed by the Bian army and hold on to Jingzhou City tightly.
Some big words are just for listening.
But you can’t listen to this stuff too much, it’s bad for your brain.
Those generals who were obviously more convinced by Xiao Min took their leave.
After they left, the remaining people started to sneer and ridicule.
"It's okay. There's no need to argue with them." Li Xian was not annoyed. He leisurely picked up the teacup in front of him and said, "After all, Yuezhou City is already in our pocket..."
He has planted the seeds by attacking Yuezhou this time. Now, he just needs to wait for the day of harvest.
Xiao Min injured his arm in this battle. When he returned to the tent and asked the military doctor to change the bandages, several generals who had left Li Xian came over and asked about Xiao Min's injury.
"It's okay." Xiao Min told them not to worry. After putting on his outer robe, he reviewed the battle situation with them.
When Xiao Min attacked Yuezhou for the first time, he used 50,000 troops. This time he increased the number to 80,000 and adjusted his tactics.
During the battle, the army almost broke through the gates of Yuezhou several times.
However, the Bian army did not continue to defend the city gate. They mobilized their forces in advance and suddenly attacked from the side.
The 30,000 Bian troops broke up Xiao Min's army formation from the side and disrupted Xiao Min's offensive.
The Bian army rushed into Xiao Min's army. Every sword strike seemed to carry infinite hatred towards the imperial court, and they bit as hard as a ferocious beast.
But Xiao Min soon realized their weakness. Although the Bian army was fierce, it lacked order.
Xiao Min quickly adjusted the formation, took command of the overall situation, personally killed several leaders of the Bian army, led the army to charge out, and killed a total of 10,000 Bian soldiers.
But he did not choose to continue the siege, but ordered a retreat.
It was already night. In Xiao Min's opinion, the army was already exhausted. If they attacked the city rashly, even if they exhausted all their strength to break into Yuezhou City, there would be a large number of Bian troops waiting in the city. Moreover, he had not even seen Bian Chunliang show up yet.
Xiao Min believed that using tired soldiers to deal with Bian Chunliang's elite troops in the city would inevitably cause huge casualties to his own soldiers, which was really not advisable.
Furthermore, he suspected that Bian Chunliang might set an ambush in Yuezhou City.
Moreover, there are still surviving civilians in the city. Once a war breaks out in the city, the civilians will inevitably be affected. Bian Chunliang can ignore the lives of the civilians, but the imperial court cannot.
Based on various pros and cons considerations, Xiao Min chose to withdraw his troops and rest.
In the next battle, he will attack with all 120,000 troops. He is confident that he will be able to successfully retake Yuezhou City! Xiao Min and several generals talked about the next battle plan, and their confidence increased after hearing it.
Finally, Xiao Min suddenly thought of something and asked, "During the siege, the subordinates of Duke Han once commanded people to use catapults to throw objects into the tower of Yuezhou... Do you generals know what they threw?"
"We saw it too. It was not only thrown at the tower, but also into the city." A general said, "It seems to be a sack filled with wet grass, which should contain lime, gunpowder and other combustion-promoting substances. After being lit, it was thrown, producing bursts of thick smoke--"
This thing has no open flame and is difficult to extinguish immediately. If you use water to put it out, it will produce even more smoke.
Another general laughed and said, "It is common to see that Duke Han does not think highly of Envoy Chang Jie of Huainan Dao, but with this move, it seems that he has learned the essence of Envoy Chang Jie's 'Chiyou Divine Smoke'."
Someone else said, "And when we were discussing the war strategy, I didn't hear him mention it."
Xiao Min did not comment. If they were really just imitating the use of smokescreen in warfare, then there was nothing wrong with it.
As the sky gradually darkened, a deputy general came into Li Xian's tent and saluted: "General, the soldiers responsible for carrying and operating the catapults for this battle have all been summoned."
Those soldiers are all good at slinging stones, and they did an excellent job this time. Did the general suddenly summon them to reward them individually?
While the deputy general was thinking, he saw Li Xian sitting there leisurely, one elbow leaning on a small table, playing with a string of Western Buddhist beads, and asked calmly: "How many people are there in total?"
"Reporting to the general, there are about a hundred people."
Li Xian nodded: "Kill them all."
The deputy general was startled, his eyes full of shock and confusion: "General, why is this happening?"
Li Xian raised his eyelids calmly and looked at the deputy general: "General Qu, are you planning to spy on the military secrets?"
The deputy general had a complicated expression: "I dare not..."
"No need to make it public, but if someone asks about it afterwards, just say that these people gathered to drink and fight, which violated military regulations, and beheaded them to serve as a warning to others." Li Xian made up an excuse.
The deputy general felt upset, but he dared not refuse.
"Remember to clean the body and bury it far away." Li Xian's final instruction.
The deputy general retreated outside the tent, and thinking of the expectant expressions of nearly a hundred soldiers when they were summoned, he felt as if his steps weighed a thousand pounds.
It didn't matter if the soldiers died in battle or died of illness due to exhaustion in the army... But why were they executed for no apparent reason? After the incident, the deputy general returned to his tent and sat there for a long time without saying a word.
On the other side, Xiao Min, who knew nothing about this matter, was about to go to bed.
But just as he took off his robe, he heard a confidant outside the tent asking to see him.
The confidant came in and delivered a letter.
After the envelope was opened, Xiao Min first saw a copper coin tied with a red string, and then a note with pleasant handwriting.
Xiao Min was overjoyed, and all the fatigue in his body disappeared instantly. He stood up suddenly and said, "Quick, prepare the horse!"
The 120,000 troops led by Xiao Min and Li Xian were stationed between Jingzhou and Yuezhou. Drawing a straight line from here to the north will lead to the Han River Basin. If this straight line continues north along the Han River, it will be the direction of Anzhou City.
In the cover of night, Xiao Min secretly left the military camp and rushed towards the Han River with a team of personal guards.
After the horses had traveled for more than two hours, they could faintly smell the damp air of the Han River, which dispelled the heat of the fast journey.
Soon, a torch lit up ahead, and a group of cavalrymen came forward in the darkness.
After seeing the leader clearly, Xiao Min signaled his confidants to put away their guard, and immediately smiled and bowed: "Sister She Cai, long time no see!"
"General Xiao, how are you?" Shepherd's Purse, who was in charge of the meeting, smiled cheerfully and turned his horse's head: "General Xiao, please follow me!"
"Thank you, Sister Shepherd's Purse, for leading the way!"
Xiao Min followed behind, with the sound of horse hooves rolling, and after nearly two quarters of an hour, they finally arrived at the bank of the Han River.
The river flowed quietly in the dark night. The river bank was overgrown with weeds. Next to the wild and natural boulders, Chang Suining, wearing a black cloak, looked at Xiao Min who was dismounting from his horse and said, "General Xiao, long time no see."
"General Ningyuan!" Xiao Min came forward, his eyes full of smiles. As he saluted, he quickly changed his words: "No, I should call you Envoy Changjie!"
Chang Suining smiled and raised his hand to invite Xiao Min, who came on a fast horse, to sit down and talk.
Xiao Min looked in the direction she pointed, and saw a bamboo mat not far away, with a clay stove and two cushions on the mat.
As Xiao Min sat cross-legged, he said with emotion, "I'm sorry for the trouble, Envoy Chang Jie."
"General Xiao has come a hundred miles to see me at this late hour. Compared to that, a pot of tea is nothing."
Chang Suining knew that Xiao Min was an extremely cautious and law-abiding person. Under such circumstances, the reason why he, the commander of an army, would take the risk to come here late at night was nothing more than trust.
"If Envoy Chang invites me, I will definitely go even if it's a mountain of swords or a sea of fire, not to mention the Han River." Xiao Min said, smiling and snatching the teapot: "Envoy Chang, let me do it."
After pouring a cup of tea for Chang Suining and himself, Xiao Min picked up the teacup and said, "Allow me to use tea instead of wine. Thank you, Envoy Chang Jie, for your generosity and for helping us out of the difficulties in Jingzhou!"
Chang Suining also picked up the teacup, but smiled and said, "This is the family affair of Huainan Dao, and it is my duty."
Xiao Min drank half a cup of tea to quench his thirst, then smiled, shook his head and sighed: "In this world today, there are no unchanging duties..."
To put it more darkly, even if Chang Suining sat back and did nothing this time, allowing the Anzhou governor and Bian Chunliang to attack Jingzhou together, what could the court do?
Punish her? What would the court use to punish her when it was too busy to take care of itself? She held the military power of Huainan Road and was so popular, would she just stand there and wait for the court to punish her?
The moral integrity that everyone should have has become a rare and precious thing in this chaotic and impetuous world.
Xiao Min said in a deep and moving voice: "Many people say that Chang Jieshi has rebellious intentions, but I know that it is just a misunderstanding of ignorant people."
"Envoy Chang defended Hezhou with his life, killed the bandits in Xu, and repelled the Japanese pirates. He also quelled the rebellion in Kangding Mountain in Youzhou, benefiting the people of Jiangdu. Now he is preventing this disaster from happening... Which one of them is for rebellion?" Xiao Min looked at the girl in front of him, his eyes full of trust and admiration: "If anyone dares to say that Envoy Chang has rebellious intentions in the future, Xiao will be the first to disagree!"
Meeting those eyes, Chang Suining smiled and asked, "...What if I say it myself?"
Xiao Min was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "Envoy Chang Jie is still so fond of joking... Xiao dares to guarantee with his own life that Envoy Chang Jie cares about the people and will never be a traitor."
"..." Chang Suining glanced at his head, smiled and silently drank a sip of tea.
It's a good thing to be trusted by others, but this level of trust... makes her feel a little stressed.
Xiao Min was obviously very happy to see Chang Suining. He asked about Chang Kuo's recent situation and some matters in Huainan Road, and Chang Suining answered all his questions one by one.
In addition to reconnecting with each other during this meeting, Chang Suining also had something important to ask Xiao Min: "General Xiao, how is the battle situation in Yuezhou?"
If someone else had asked this question, Xiao Min would have to think twice, but when Chang Suining asked, he would immediately talk like the Han River beside him. Even if Chang Suining didn't ask, he would still take the initiative to say it.
Not only did he explain the course of the previous two battles and summarize the experience, he even told Chang Suining about his next plan.
Finally, he asked, as if he had handed in his homework and was waiting for the teacher to correct it, "Does Chang Jie think this is feasible?" (End of this chapter)
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