"General Mulan, please come inside. The old house is old and the general is laughing at me. Please sit down wherever you want. Come, come and serve tea, good tea."
"General Mulan, what happened at the ferry just now was really a misunderstanding. I made it very clear to you on the way. It wasn't that I, Chen Yingliang, were cruel and ruthless. It's that Qiao County is too small to bear the pressure brought by so many refugees. , In order for the people of Qiao County to live and work in peace and contentment, I have no choice but to order them to be driven away, I hope you can understand my difficulties."
"Is the food and drink ready? Why haven't they been delivered yet? Come on, prepare the best food and drink for me! I want to clean up General Mulan myself!"
Being courteous for nothing, of course, is either adultery or robbery, but this time Chen Yingliang made an exception and did not have any malicious intentions. Instead, he really admired the thunderous General Mulan and didn't want her to misunderstand him, so he worked very hard to please Mulan. It's a pity that Chen Yingliang's flattery this time was photographed on the horse's hoof. Mulan's first impression of Chen Yingliang was not good enough, and seeing Chen Yingliang's ugly appearance of servile face, she still said that Chen Yingliang and other bullying and flattering Like other local officials, they are all afraid of Zhang Xutuo, the famous general of the Sui Dynasty behind him, so he is arrogant and flattering in front of him, so his impression of Chen Yingliang has not changed in the slightest, on the contrary, he has become more disdainful and contemptuous .
He thanked Chen Yingliang for his hospitality very coldly, and Mulan, who was always wearing bright light armor, did not show any courtesy to Chen Yingliang, and said directly: "Chen Tongshou, we will talk about the wine and dinner later, the military situation is raging, let's talk about business first , This is a personal letter from General Zhang Xutuo, the last general’s superior, please read it.”
As she spoke, Mulan took out a sealed letter from her bosom, and handed it to Chen Yingliang with one hand. Chen Yingliang, who knew the inside story, shivered at first, and then carefully took the letter with Mulan's body temperature on it, muttering in his heart, "No wonder they claim to have been together for twelve years. I don't know what Mulan is, so I'm so careless. If I didn't know the history, I'm afraid I wouldn't have the slightest doubt."
After muttering quietly, Chen Yingliang opened the letter and read it carefully. After reading it, Chen Yingliang frowned. It turned out that in the letter, Zhang Xutuo only praised Chen Yingliang for his ability to suppress the bandits, and then made straightforward demands. , Invited Chen Yingliang to send troops north to Liang County, set up defenses on the banks of the Bianshui River between Yucheng County and Dangshan County, and helped Zhang Xutuo intercept the bandit Meng Rang who was fleeing from Qi County to the south, block Meng Rang's fleeing road, and give Zhang Xutuo Xu Tuo's team chased and wiped out Meng Rang's team to buy time.
After carefully reading Zhang Xutuo's handwritten letter twice, Chen Yingliang handed the letter to the chief of staff Sun Wuji and Yuan Tiangang next to him, thinking with a sullen face, but Mulan became a little impatient, and said: "Chen Tongshou , Do you have a map here? Please have someone fetch it, General Zhang has drawn up a defense zone for you, and I will show it to you."
Chen Yingliang did not refuse, and ordered someone to fetch the map. Mulan was not polite, and immediately drew a line on the map in the northeast of Liang County—a rather short line, starting from Yucheng in the middle of Liang County in the west, and ending in Pengcheng in the east. The actual length of the boundary is at least one hundred and fifty or sixty miles. Seeing this scene, Chen Yingliang didn't speak, but Changsun Wuji and Yuan Tiangang beside him screamed in surprise, "It's so long? We only have twelve regiments in Yongcheng, how can we hold it?"
"You can build beacon towers along the river, and then send people to scout the route of the rebels, confirm their location across the river, and then concentrate your troops to intercept them." Mulan began to instruct Qiao County on how to use troops, and then said: "As for food and grass, Chen Tong Shou can rest assured that Ambassador Zhang has urgently ordered Yang Wang, the prefect of Liang County, to provide you with food and grass, and will not let you fight hungry. The army of Liang County will also participate in the battle and fully cooperate with you to stop Meng Rang's team."
Changsun Wuji and Yuan Tiangang turned to look at Chen Yingliang. Chen Yingliang didn't say a word, and asked after a while, "General Mulan, where is Meng Rang now? How many troops are there? Have you confirmed his escape route?"
"It was confirmed five days ago that the bandit Meng Rang fled to Jiyin County and appeared in the Jinxiang area." Mulan quickly replied: "We have received inside information that Meng Rang once tried to go westward to meet Meng Haigong, the leader of the bandit in Jiyin. The joint army was in one place, but because the two big thieves wanted to take the opportunity to annex each other, the negotiation failed, so Meng Rang decided to go south to plunder the relatively affluent Jianghuai area. His route of attack has not yet been found out. From his position, Going to Liang County or Pengcheng to go south is the most likely. As for Meng Rang's troops, there are about 20,000 troops, so it is not difficult to deal with."
"Where is the ambassador's team now? How many troops are there?" Chen Yingliang asked again.
"Qufu, Lu County, has about 15,000 troops. Ambassador Zhang decided to lead 10,000 troops to the south to pursue." Mulan replied quickly, and then said: "Please don't worry, Chen Tongshou, as long as you temporarily block the footsteps of Meng Rang's rebels, fight The main force will be borne by us, we have fought against Meng Rang more than once in Bafengying, and we know his background very well, so there is no problem in dealing with him."
"Then why didn't you kill Meng Rang in Qi County where the incident occurred?" Chen Yingliang muttered in his stomach, then stopped talking, looking at the map just for calculation.
"Also." Mulan hurriedly added: "Pengcheng Dong's main force is currently resting in the area of Peixian County. He has promised not to go north to Langya for the time being, and will do his best to help wipe out Meng Rang's bandit army. Let the bandit army go eastward into Pengcheng County. If Mengrang's team insists on going eastward into Pengcheng, he will be responsible for blocking it and cooperate with our army to wipe out Mengrang's team."
Chen Yingliang still didn't speak, while Changsun Wuji and Yuan Tiangang looked at each other, both of them were not sure about Dong Chun's promise, because Qiao County had suffered enough from Dong Chun's beggar-thy-neighbor recently.
After waiting for a long time without Chen Yingliang uttering a word, Mulan gradually became angry, and said again: "Chen Tongshou, Meng Rang's traitor is extremely treacherous, his whereabouts are erratic, and he has been running around playing hide-and-seek with us all the time. His position was only determined, and the main team is rarely far away from his team. You and Dong Liushou’s main force also happen to be not far from the battlefield. This is a rare opportunity to completely wipe out the big thief Meng Rang! There may never be such a good opportunity again!"
Chen Yingliang continued to calculate calmly, and after a long time, Chen Yingliang said slowly: "General Mulan, you are right, this is an opportunity to completely annihilate Meng Rang, and your tactical plan is also very correct, but I I don’t think this plan will work.”
"What do you mean by that?" Mulan's face changed a little.
"The defense circle is too large and the line of defense is too weak. There is very little hope of completely wiping out Meng Rang!" Chen Yingliang gestured on the map: "If my expectations are not bad, Ambassador Zhang's plan should be like this. His main force is responsible for following In the pursuit, I am responsible for intercepting the south, Dong Liushou is in charge of the southeast, and Yang Tongshou of Liangjun is in charge of the southwest. In terms of strength, our few troops are enough to kill Meng Rang's bandit army without leaving any behind! But this The arc-shaped encirclement is really too big. It stretches hundreds of miles from east to west. No matter how many of our four armies join forces, it is absolutely impossible to take into account every road and every inch of land. The Mengrang bandit army can break through everywhere, everywhere He can run away, and there is almost no way to stop him!"
"Who wants you to take care of every road and every inch of land?" Mulan said bluntly: "Since Chen Tongshou is known as Xiao Chen Qingzhi, he has been invincible on the battlefield, so it is impossible that he doesn't even know about scouts and reconnaissance. ? As long as more scouts are sent to monitor the movements of the rebels, and the army is mobilized in time, it will be enough to stop Meng Rang's rebels!"
"General Mulan, it's not that easy." Chen Yingliang shook his head and said calmly: "In the current situation, we will only suffer in terms of scouting warfare, and we will not be able to gain any advantage. Now the land of Qingxu is full of refugees who have turned into civilians. Every one of them Everyone is the eyeliner of Meng Rang's rebels, and everyone is Meng Rang's scout. Every move of our army cannot be hidden from Meng Rang's eyes. It is extremely difficult for our scouts to detect the enemy's movements. The enemy is dark and we are clear, and it is very difficult to fight."
"Also." Chen Yingliang also added: "Taking a step back, even if our scouts are capable and can keep an eye on the movements of Meng Rang's bandits, but on such a long line of defense, we will only be led by Meng Rang's bandits. Running around, exhausted, exhausted and unable to find a decisive battle opportunity, in the end, Meng Rang may be completely dragged down, turning victory into defeat!"
Mulan's pretty face turned livid, and she gritted her teeth and asked, "Chen Tongshou, so you don't want to cooperate with us to suppress the bandits?"
"It's not that I don't want to, I just don't want my brother to work hard in vain and get nothing out of exhaustion." Chen Yingliang replied solemnly: "Ambassador Zhang's tactical plan is correct, but it may not be effective, and at the same time it will make the army too tired. It is not conducive to war, so I suggest that Ambassador Zhang adjust his tactics, don't passively block and chase, but wait for work with ease, use troops flexibly, and achieve the greatest victory at the smallest cost."
"Oh, then I would like to hear about Chen Tongshou's brilliant tactical plan." Mulan sneered.
"Gao Ming doesn't dare to take the lead, he just wants to use some superficial tricks to lure the enemy to break the enemy's tricks." Chen Yingliang said with a smile: "I haven't fully figured out how to do it, but I have some clues—for example, I arranged for some people to go north to join Meng. Rang's team persuaded Meng Rang to flee in the direction of Qiao County, and then set up an ambush on the battlefield that is beneficial to us, waiting for work to ambush the enemy. As for your army, just continue to pursue, maintain pressure on Meng Rang's bandit army, and then join forces with us Just destroy the enemy."
"Hehe, hehe." Mulan laughed, and she laughed strangely, and said: "Chen Tongshou is really smart, so smart, he sent people north to join the bandit army, and persuaded Meng Rang, the traitor, to go south to die. It is a good thing to ambush the enemy while waiting for work—it can often be seen in dreams!"
Hearing Mulan's unscrupulous sarcasm, Changsun Wuji and Yuan Tiangang's expressions changed a little bit, and Changsun Wuji wanted to have a fit, but Chen Yingliang waved his hand to stop Changsun Wuji, and said to Mulan: "General Mulan, you too You are right, such a good thing is not easy to do, but I don’t think it is impossible to try.”
"Chen Tongshou, have you considered the consequences of doing this?" Mulan stopped her smile and said with a cold face, "Do you know how much our Bafeng Camp has sweated and shed in order to annihilate this Meng Rang in the past two years?" How much blood did you lose? Now that you finally have an opportunity to completely wipe him out, you refuse to cooperate in the battle and insist on engaging in some of your ambush tactics to lure the enemy. If something goes wrong, who will bear the consequences?"
"General Mulan, you misunderstood." Chen Yingliang shook his head and explained: "It's not that I don't want to cooperate in the battle, but on the contrary. I hope you can adjust your tactical plan and don't just think about chasing after the front, so that our hope of annihilating Meng Rang's team may be even greater."
"Chen Tongshou, stop talking nonsense." Mulan was completely annoyed, and asked bluntly: "Hurry up, are you willing to send troops?!"
"General Hua, let me remind you." Changsun Wuji also became angry and said angrily, "My elder brother is the governor of Qiao County. You can only invite us to send troops, you cannot force us to send troops, so whether we send troops can only be decided by ourselves!"
Mulan's face became extremely ugly, and she glared at Changsun Wuji, who stared back at her without fear. Seeing that the situation was not going well, Chen Yingliang quickly stopped between the two of them, and said, "General Mulan, don't worry, this way Come on, let me think about it overnight, and I will give you an answer tomorrow morning, you have worked so hard from afar, you should take a good rest."
Hearing what Chen Yingliang said, Mulan's expression softened a little. At this time, the servants of the Chen family had already brought good food and wine. Chen Yingliang invited Mulan to have a drink, but Mulan firmly refused, and said to Chen Yingliang, "Thank you, Chen Tongshou!" Good intentions, but Mulan is abstained from heaven, never drinks alcohol, and is used to eating the same meals as the soldiers, so I can only appreciate your kindness, and I will go back to the post and have dinner with my fellow soldiers."
Seeing Mulan's resolute expression, Chen Yingliang didn't force it, so he smiled and said: "Since General Mulan insists on sharing weal and woe with the soldiers under his command, then I won't force it. Someone, send these wine and vegetables to the post house, and let General Mulan share the joys and sorrows with her soldiers." Enjoy it with the accompanying soldiers."
The servant agreed, and hurriedly brought food boxes to put the food and wine on. Mulan was not polite, and said a few words to ask Chen Tongshou to think more about state affairs, and then resolutely said goodbye and left. As a result, as soon as Mulan left, Changsun Wuji complained and said, "What kind of Hua Mulan, she is so aggressive, begging us to be so arrogant, did she take the wrong medicine?"
"It's not that she took the wrong medicine." Chen Yingliang shook his head, and said with a smile: "I noticed that her face is a little pale, and her walking posture is a little strange. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it's because she's coming to Tiankui, so she's in a bad mood."
Changsun Wuji and Yuan Tiangang laughed out loud, saying that Chen Yingliang's guess was right, and the truth must be so. At the same time, Mulan, who had already walked out of the gate of Tongshou Mansion, sneezed twice and touched her lower abdomen quietly. , Secretly said: "Unlucky! Why did you come today?!"
After laughing at Chen Yingliang's witticism, Changsun Wuji asked Chen Yingliang: "Brother, what should we do about the matter just now? You said you need to think about it all night, are you looking for an excuse to prevaricate that Hua Mulan? Or are you really planning to reconsider? "
"Of course it's an excuse." Chen Yingliang replied smoothly: "The encirclement circle arranged by Zhang Xutuo is too big. Even if we can block Meng Rang, we will definitely be exhausted. If something goes wrong, we will not lose the battle." , It will also hurt morale because of the ineffectiveness of the teachers. This will only do harm to our growing new army. Besides, Yang Wang and Dong Chun are not reliable comrades-in-arms. Yang Wang is not strong enough. Dong Chun likes to draw the troubles out, if something goes wrong with them, we will only be more passive, and maybe we will give Meng Rang a chance to flee into Qiao County and ruin the peaceful situation in Qiao County that we have managed to maintain."
"Then what should we do?" Changsun Wuji asked again: "If we directly refuse to join forces with Zhang Xutuo, we will definitely offend Zhang Xutuo. Although we are not restricted by Zhang Xutuo, he is an important official of the court and the emperor after all. Your favorite minister, if you offend him, it will still have a negative impact on your future."
"It's nothing to offend Zhang Xutuo, the key is not to offend the fierce men under his command." Chen Yingliang muttered in his heart, nodded again, agreed with Changsun Wuji's opinion, and then said: "I think so, we Be prepared with both hands. One is to use letters to persuade Zhang Xutuo to change course, adjust the tactical plan, and change to a tactic that will save us all effort. Second, if Zhang Xutuo insists on not listening to the persuasion, we will not join forces with him In this way, if we can defeat or seriously injure Mengrang, then everything is easy to say, even if we can't win, we don't have to exhaust the army and not be defeated or dragged down."
"Tong Shou, I'm afraid this is impossible?" Yuan Tiangang said worriedly: "I have heard that Ambassador Zhang has a strong personality, and a strong person will not easily change the resolution. We want to persuade him to change course, but I am afraid there is no hope. .”
"Give it a try." Chen Yingliang replied: "I also know that it is impossible for Zhang Xutuo to agree with our tactics, but there is no way, and we cannot accept his tactical arrangements, so we can only try our best. Make every effort to arrange to fight alone, and prepare for the worst when fighting alone."
"Brother, forgive me for speaking bluntly, if we are really forced to fight independently, you must be prepared for a hard battle." Changsun Wuji solemnly reminded: "Meng Rang is no match for the opponent we encountered before. The thieves who started the riot last March fought many times with the officers and soldiers, accumulated a wealth of battlefield experience, and trained a group of elite soldiers. We just let him go but didn't eliminate him, and now his army strength has reached more than 20,000, so with our strength alone, it may be very difficult to defeat him alone."
"Of course I know this, and I will deal with it carefully." Chen Yingliang nodded, and said: "Fortunately, we haven't confirmed that Meng Rang will definitely come to Qiao County. Whether this battle is really going to start or not For now, we still have to worry about how to reject Zhang Xutuo's invitation and how to reduce his dissatisfaction with us."