The Art of War by Sun Tzu says: "Lure them when they are in a favorable position, seize them when they are in disorder, prepare for them when they are strong, and avoid them when they are strong.
During the Warring States Period, when Li Mu, a famous general of the State of Zhao, was guarding the border, he pretended to retreat when he encountered an invasion by a small group of Huns, and abandoned a large number of personnel and supplies along the way.
Upon hearing the news, the Xiongnu Chanyu was overjoyed and led his main force to invade.
Li Mu formed a battle array to meet the enemy and defeated more than 100,000 Hun cavalry.
Zhang Rong used a similar tactic to capture all the Nanjing Jinyiwei on the front line.
He asked Zhu Cijiong to continue moving south to Qinghe County to confront Zhu Guobi.
All the food and supplies were stored in Taoyuan County, and the news was spread.
Zhu Guobi was unable to defeat Zhu Cijiong head-on, so he could only focus on his food and supplies.
When he learned that Zhu Cijiong had stored all the food and supplies in Taoyuan County, he had to take action.
......
On October 21, the 27th year of Chongzhen, Huai'an Prefecture City.
Huai'an Prefecture had jurisdiction over two states and nine counties.
The seat of government was Shanyang County, also known as Huai'an Prefecture City.
Huai'an City is located at the confluence of the Yellow River, Huai River and the Grand Canal.
(In the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River took over the Huai River and flowed into the sea.)
Geographical location is very important.
Zhu Guobi stationed his troops here, trying to stop Zhu Cijiong from moving further south.
The battle of Anping Town forced Zhu Guobi to switch from offense to defense.
The battle of Xuzhou made Zhu Guobi face the reality.
He knew that on the front battlefield, he was no match for Zhu Cijiong.
But Zhao Zhilong's fate of being beheaded told him that he could not surrender and he could only continue to fight.
In order to stop Zhu Cijiong's offensive, he transferred a large number of Jinyiwei from Nanjing at the suggestion of Liu Kongzhao.
Trying to get them to turn the tide of the battle.
In addition, in order to defend the Huaihe River line, Zhu Guobi had ordered Ma Shiying to withdraw his troops from Henan and defend Fengyang more than ten days ago.
In the military camp outside Huai'an Prefecture.
Qiao Kegong, the commander of the Nanjing Jinyiwei, looked at Zhu Guobi and said, "Master Zhu, why did you send us to the front line?"
Before Zhu Guobi could answer the question, Qiao Keyong rushed to remind him: "We can't go to the front line. Don't even think about sending us to the front line to fight."
Zhu Guobi picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea, then personally brought it to Qiao Keyong: "Master Qiao, this is too formal, isn't it? Although I am not a member of the Imperial Guard, I know that the Imperial Guard is not good at marching and fighting."
Qiao Ke took the teacup and nodded slowly: "That's good, that's good."
He took a sip of tea and continued to ask, "What does Lord Zhu want us to do?"
Zhu Guobi coughed lightly and asked irrelevant people to leave.
When they were the only two left in the tent, Zhu Guobi lowered his voice and said, "The enemy army is coming with great force. I'm afraid our army cannot defeat them. We can only win by surprise."
Qiao Keke frowned and asked, "How do you achieve a surprise victory? You can't ask us to assassinate His Royal Highness Prince Ding, right?"
Zhu Guobi waved his hands quickly, "No, no, no, that's simply unrealistic. I recently heard from a passing caravan that the bandits have stored all their food and supplies in Taoyuan County. As long as we find a way to burn those supplies, the bandits will retreat without a fight."
Qiao Ke frowned again: "Taoyuan County? Is the news reliable?"
Zhu Guobi answered seriously: "This news should be true. If you don't believe it, you can send someone to verify it yourself."
Qiao Ke thought about it for a while, then stood up and walked out.
Not long after, he returned and said, "Master Zhu, give me two days. As long as the news is true, I will find a way to burn those supplies."
Zhu Guobi stood up and grinned: "Okay, I'll wait for your good news."
October twenty-third.
The Nanjing Jinyiwei disguised themselves as refugees and arrived outside Taoyuan County, preparing to enter the city.
After strict inspection, we finally entered the city.
After some inquiries and on-site investigation, it was confirmed that the news was true.
One day later.
This news reached Qiao Keyou's ears.
After careful consideration, Qiao Ke decided to go for the big one.
Although the risk is great, he has to take the chance.
Zhu Guobi was no longer able to confront Zhu Cijiong head-on.
Otherwise, they would not be asked to help on the front line.
If these food and supplies cannot be destroyed, Zhu Guobi will undoubtedly be defeated.
They were loyal to Crown Prince Zhu Cilang.
If Zhu Guobi is defeated, Nanjing will be in danger, and the prince will be in danger.
They will also fall into danger.
At that time, he would be unable to report to the Crown Prince Zhu Cilang, nor would he be able to report to himself.
In the following days, Qiao Keyong personally led a large number of Nanjing Jinyiwei into Taoyuan County.
Some people came to the city as grain merchants, and some came as vegetable farmers.
Some people even took out their Jinyiwei badges and entered the city as Jinyiwei.
Of course.
They would not be foolish enough to tell the other party that they were Nanjing Jinyiwei.
Instead, he forged his identity in advance and entered the city as a Jinyiwei from the capital, Henan and other places.
In a house in the city, Zhang Rong was wearing casual clothes and resting with his eyes closed.
Boom boom boom.
There was a knock on the door.
A Jinyiwei stood behind the door holding a knife and whispered, "Who?"
"Water delivery man, freshly drawn water from the well."
With a creak, the gate opened.
The man outside came in carrying two buckets of water.
As soon as the gate was closed, the man put down his pole and walked quickly to Zhang Rong: "Your Excellency, according to the news sent by the city gates, hundreds of suspicious people entered the city today."
"Did you carry a weapon?"
"None of the suspicious persons were carrying weapons, but today two Jinyiwei carriages entered the city, and the soldiers guarding the city did not dare to check. I thought the weapons were hidden in those two carriages."
Zhang Rong thought for a moment and said, "Keep a close eye on those people and the things in the carriage, and assign more people to patrol the city day and night. Make sure that there is a Jinyiwei or Dongchang soldier in each patrol team."
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