Chen Yingliang's Crow's Mouth was also effective. Zhang Xutuo gathered the troops of the three counties to attack Meng Haicheng, but he was met with tenacious resistance from Meng Haigong's bandit army.
Of course, it is not that the army of the official army cannot fight. In fact, apart from the army of Jiyin County who has been accustomed to being abused by the bandit army of Meng Haigong, even the army of Liang County under the command of former National University President Yang Wang has performed very well. Under the leadership of Zhang Xutuo, the Qi County team fought bravely, defeated Meng Haigong's bandit army several times in field battles, and forced Meng Haigong to shrink his troops under the old nest city, overhaul the camp defense, and rely on the city to fight against the government and army. Attack again.
Then the situation gradually began to be unfavorable to the officers and soldiers. Zhang Xutuo ordered Yang Wang, the general guard of Liang County, and Hua Delong, the captain of Jiyin County, to attack the camp several times, but they were all desperately resisted by the bandits. Under such circumstances, the bandit army fought tenaciously by virtue of fortifications such as ditches, fences, and earth barriers, forcing the officers and soldiers to retreat every time, and once achieved considerable results in the battle of defending the camp, and taught them a lesson. The Jiyin County army under Hua Delong's command severely damaged the morale of the officers and soldiers, and Zhang Xutuo was so angry that he ordered Hua Delong, the captain of Jiyin County who took the lead in fleeing for his life, to be pushed out of the gate and beheaded.
Chen Yingliang, who is still quite competent, has been paying close attention to the battle situation in Menghai City, collecting all information and intelligence through various channels. After hearing that Zhang Xutuo easily defeated Meng Haigong in the field, Chen Yingliang did not have any surprises. Next, if Zhang Xutuo can't beat Meng Haigong again, then he doesn't deserve to be called Zhang Xutuo. But after hearing that Meng Haigong's bandit army built a fort outside the city and defended it, Chen Yingliang was a little confused. He didn't understand why Meng Haigong didn't just retreat to Menghai City, which was safer and easier to defend, but why he had to fight outside the city with Zhang Xu. Do you want to counterbalance and increase the difficulty of your own resistance
"Could it be that the city of Menghai City is too small to house so many troops?" Chen Yingliang once had such doubts, but after careful study of the collected enemy information, Chen Yingliang quickly denied this possibility—the length of Menghai City from north to south is Five miles, and four miles from east to west, such a city is more than enough to station 20,000 troops. Unless Meng Haigong raises all the family members of the army in the city to waste food, there is still room to garrison troops anyway.
"Could it be that Meng Haigong hasn't completely given up yet, and he still wants to find a chance to counterattack and fight decisively, so he is reluctant to retreat to the city?" Changsun Wuji raised a very absurd possibility.
"If this is the case, then Zhang Xutuo must wake up from his dream with a smile." Chen Yingliang curled his lips and said, "With the fighting power of Zhang Xutuo's army, it would be no problem at all to defeat Meng Haigong's bandit army in a field battle. The biggest suspense is that Meng Haicheng, Meng Haigong insisted on fighting in the wild, and Zhang Xutuo couldn't ask for it."
"Then why did Meng Haigong insist on not returning to the city? Is this unreasonable?" Changsun Wuji said in doubt.
"I'm also surprised about this." Chen Yingliang said casually: "If I were Meng Haigong, it would have been..., long ago?!"
Unintentionally speaking here, Chen Yingliang suddenly showed surprise, and after careful calculation, Chen Yingliang quickly slapped his thigh, and said in a broken voice: "I underestimate Meng Haigong too much! If I were Meng Haigong, I would fight like him. ! Do not rush back to the city, first deal with Zhang Xutuo outside the city, this is the most correct tactic!"
"Why?" Yuan Tiangang and Qian Xiangmin beside him asked quickly.
"Meng Haigong is not in a hurry to withdraw to the city. This is a psychological tactic, and it is also a disguised tactic to slow down the army!" Chen Yingliang raised his arms and said loudly: "You can think about it, Meng Haigong's main force is not in a hurry to withdraw to the city. Isn’t it a great thing to wish for? Can Zhang Xutuo not have such a mind, first use the field battle to severely damage Meng Haigong’s main force, reduce the resistance of the siege, and then launch a siege war to break the city in one fell swoop? See if there is a chance to defeat the enemy in a field battle Zhang Xutuo will definitely try to lure Meng Haigong into a decisive battle in the wild, and will not rush to force the main force of the enemy into the city to hold on!"
"In this way, Zhang Xutuo has completely fallen into Meng Haigong's trap." Chen Yingliang said quickly: "The officers and soldiers dare not attack Meng Haigong's camp outside the city too much, and Meng Haigong's bandit army is naturally quite easy to defend with deep trenches and high fortifications. , and then relying on battalion defense to win a few small victories, even if it is a few small victories from the official troops of Liang County and Jiyin County, the defensive confidence of the bandit army will be established, and the official army team will be defeated because of Failure to win consecutive battles will inevitably affect morale, and it will inevitably lead to such thoughts—even the defense of Meng Haigong's bandit army is so difficult to attack, isn't Meng Hai City even more difficult to attack?"
"What a clever psychological hint tactic!" The psychological master Yuan Tiangang also said in a voice: "After building up the defense confidence, Meng Haigong suddenly withdraws all the troops to the city, and the bandit army must be more confident and morale when defending the city. Zhang Xu Tuo's team, because they failed to break through Meng Haigong's bandit camp repeatedly, felt fearful about the tough battle, and their morale and fighting spirit were greatly affected, and it would only be more difficult to break through Meng Haicheng!"
Chen Yingliang nodded, acknowledging that Yuan Tiangang's analysis was consistent with his own worries, and then Changsun Wuji also came to his senses, and quickly picked up the information summary to look at it carefully, and then exclaimed: "Brother, I'm afraid Zhang Xutuo has fallen into the trap! The information we have collected shows that after Meng Haigong retreated to the camp under the city, Zhang Xutuo did not dispatch the main force of Qi County's official army to attack the bandit camp, and sent Liang County or Jiyin County's official troops to attack the camp several times. From this point of view Judging from it, Zhang Xutuo probably wanted to lure Meng Haigong out of the battalion for a decisive battle, so he didn't invest in the most capable Qi County main force to attack the battalion."
"Chen Tongshou, this is a good opportunity to ease us and the army of Qi County." Qian Xiangmin was not surprised, but said quickly: "Chen Tongshou, you might as well write a letter to Zhang Xutuo and explain this to him. , Advise him to immediately attack the bandit camp with all his strength, and not fall into the psychological trap of Meng Haigong's bandit army."
"Qian Canjun, your idea is not good enough." Chen Yingliang said angrily, "Who is Zhang Xutuo? Who am I? He is older than me in terms of age and official position, and I just offended him." , Then write a letter to point out that he is wrong, put a hot face on his cold ass? Looking for scolding or hatred?"
Qian Xiangmin was at a loss for words, so he quickly shut his mouth, while the eldest grandson Wuji suggested: "Brother, you can tell Yang Wang about the situation. In this war, Yang Wang is Zhang Xutuo's de facto deputy, and his qualifications are no better than Zhang Xutuo's. Xu Tuoqian is regarded as highly respected in the imperial court. Zhang Xutuo will not ignore his opinions. Besides, Yang Wang has always been very friendly with us, and has always loved and cared for you. Everyone should remind Yang Wang."
Remind Yang Wang that there are no other consequences, and you can sell a favor to a neighbor and elder who is well connected. Of course, Chen Yingliang will not refuse such a good thing. Immediately, Chen Yingliang personally wrote a letter to Yang Wang to inform the situation, suggesting that Yang Wang persuade Zhang Xutuo exerted his strength as soon as possible to avoid continued consumption of morale, and first broke through the bandit camp before considering how to break through the city. Then after checking the letter was correct, Chen Yingliang had just sealed the letter, and Qian Xiangmin, who knew that the errand was absolutely safe, had already gathered up, and volunteered: "Tong Shou, let the villain deliver the letter for you, and the villain promises to be there soon." The letter was delivered to Yang Tongshou within two days."
Chen Yingliang handed out the letter, but took it back halfway through, then turned to pass it to Yuan Tiangang, and said, "Mr. Do me an errand by the way."
"Please follow the instructions." Yuan Tiangang didn't refuse, and took the letter with his hand.
"Please, sir, carefully explore the surrounding terrain of Menghai City for me, draw a map and bring it back." Chen Yingliang said: "The detailed work we sent out before also depicted the surrounding terrain map of Menghai City, but after all, they have limited ink, and the ones they brought back The map is too rough and crude to be of much use at all. You are an expert in this area, so please do this job for me by the way."
"No problem, if Tongshou needs it, I can make a sand table and bring it back." Yuan Tiangang, one of the most fengshui monsters in history, agreed, and then smiled and said: "Tongshou, you still want to help Zhang Xutuo what."
"I can't help it. I'm an official of the imperial court." Chen Yingliang smiled wryly, and sighed, "For the important affairs of the imperial court, I must help when it is time to help."
…
After accepting the task assigned by Chen Yingliang, he brought some survey tools and ten cavalrymen as followers and bodyguards, and Yuan Tiangang set off for the Menghai city battlefield that day. Although the world is chaotic, the border between Qiao County and Liang County has always been relatively peaceful. In addition, Zhang Xutuo and Chen Yingliang have just teamed up to sweep the battlefield of Liang County. Yuan Tiangang and his party arrived in Menghai City two days later without any problems. The battlefield, and under the guidance of the Sui Army scouts, they quickly found the camp of the Sui Army in Liang County, and immediately met Yang Wang, the prefect of Liang County who had always maintained a friendly relationship with Qiao County, and presented Chen Yingliang's personal letter to Yang. In front of Wang.
After reading Chen Yingliang's autographed letter, Yang Wang's first reaction was to find it unbelievable. He couldn't believe that Princess Menghai had not retreated to the city and defended the city with all her strength. It was because of the reason analyzed by Chen Yingliang. He went to the camp of the Sui army in Qi County suspiciously, and narrated Chen Yingliang's analysis to Zhang Xutuo in his own tone, and suggested that Zhang Xutuo should stop coveting the benefits of field battles and break through the bandit camp as soon as possible. Kill fewer enemies in the field, and stop confronting the enemy, which will damage morale and waste time.
After daring to say these words, Yang Wang was still a little worried that Zhang Xutuo would accuse him of talking nonsense, but Zhang Xutuo not only didn't get angry, but after thinking for a while with a gloomy face, he suddenly asked: "Yang Tong Shou, why are you saying these things to me now?"
"Why did you say it now?" Yang Wang was stunned, and then quickly cupped his hands and said, "Ambassador forgive me, I just figured this out, why? Ambassador Zhang, do you think the old man's superficial opinion is justified? "
"Actually, I have had this suspicion for a long time." Zhang Xutuo didn't hide it, and said frankly: "Actually, I sent your Liangjun army and Jiyin army to attack the enemy camp in turn. In fact, I didn't expect you to be able to break through the enemy's strong camp. , the real purpose is to let you lure the main force of the bandit army out of the camp, and then take the opportunity to fight decisively. But Meng Haigong has never been fooled, and has always been only defending and not fighting. On the lower level, Meng Haigong dared to use this old man to hone his army, build up his defensive confidence, and also took the opportunity to wear down our morale and confidence."
"Zhang Xutuo's thoughts were also predicted by Chen Yingliang?" Yang Wang was startled, and then quickly asked: "Ambassador Zhang, since you have already found out that something is wrong, why didn't you make up your mind to attack the camp earlier? "
"This old man wants to build siege weapons." Zhang Xutuo replied: "I originally thought so. While rushing to build siege weapons, I asked you to come forward to lure the enemy. Of course it is best to lure the enemy. A waste of time."
Speaking of this, Zhang Xutuo slammed the case in front of him heavily, and said angrily: "Now it seems that the old man has miscalculated! The old man should not be lucky enough to lure the enemy to a decisive battle, and should try his best to break through the enemy's camp, or simply ignore it. , Don’t give Meng Haigong’s bandit army a chance to build confidence and boost morale! As a result, it’s better now, our spirit has also worn off, and the siege battle is even more difficult!”
"I really didn't expect Meng Haigong's traitor to be so treacherous that he wiped us all out." Yang Wang was also extremely remorseful, and hurriedly said: "Ambassador Zhang, you and I agree, so don't hesitate, arrange the attack camp as soon as possible, can you We can kill as many enemies as we can in field battles, and winning a battle can also boost our morale."
Zhang Xutuo nodded, and immediately raised his tent to order troops. However, since it was too late to send troops immediately, he had to order the whole army to prepare for battle, and launched an all-out attack on the camp the next morning, demanding that the enemy's camp must be broken through in one battle, taking advantage of the enemy's haste If there is no opportunity to quickly withdraw into the city, eliminate as many enemies as possible to reduce the pressure of future sieges. At the same time, in order to prevent the enemy from noticing the change of their own army and withdrawing into the city overnight, Zhang Xutuo arranged double scouts to monitor the movement of the enemy camp, and ordered Luo Shixin to lead an army to stand by at any time. Big win.
Zhang Xutuo's careful arrangements seemed to be in vain. After double the scouts were sent out, no alarm report was received for a whole night. At Maoshi in the morning of the next day, when the sky was still hazy, Zhang Xutuo had already gathered the elite of Qi County to leave the camp and marched towards the bandit camp eight miles away. The neighboring Liangjun and Jiyin counties also sent troops out of the camp, joining forces with the troops of Qijun to go north.
The so-called smoothness came to an abrupt end soon. When Zhang Xutuo's main force reached the edge of the bandit camp, not only did they not encounter any enemy's blocking and interception, but the rather large bandit camp was also quiet. There was no sound, and there was no sign of preparing for battle. Only the bandit soldiers on duty stood motionless behind the fence, on the watchtower and by the camp gate. Seeing this scene, Zhang Xutuo's face changed drastically, and he hurriedly sent someone to check the situation, but what made Zhang Xutuo desperate was that the soldiers who went to check the situation quickly yelled...
"Master! It's straw people! They're all straw people! We've been tricked!"
"Strawman?" The Sui army was in an uproar, but Zhang Xutuo was so angry that he waved his whip and yelled, "Traitor! Treacherous dog thief! He even played a game of hanging sheep and beating drums under the old man's nose! Hunting geese all day long, the old man was pecked by wild geese today!"
What made Zhang Xutuo and the soldiers of the Sui army even more angry was still behind. When the soldiers of the Sui army smashed open the camp gate and rushed into the camp, the few soldiers of the Sui army who rushed to the front suddenly felt their feet sink, screamed and disappeared out of thin air On the road, at the same time, the dust was filled with smoke and dust, and the soldiers of the Sui army behind were shocked. They hurried forward to check the situation, but they were extremely sad to see that the four companions had fallen into the trap dug by the bandit army in advance. They were all nailed through their bodies by sharp wooden stakes laid in the trap, and died a miserable death. At the same time, it was at this time that earth-shattering cheers and laughter suddenly broke out on the wall of Meng Hai City not far away.
The soldiers of the bandit army in Menghai city laughed, but the soldiers of the Sui army who had sacrificed four heroic comrades in vain were yelling at them. Mulan also scolded: "Despicable! I'm a low-ranking man! It's comparable to that little thief Chen Yingliang!"
"Let the old man level down this thief camp!"
Zhang Xutuo roared: "Organize the auxiliary soldiers of the people and fill up the moats of the bandit army's city with toad carts. I want to raze this bandit city and tear Meng Haigong's traitors apart! Avenge the sacrificed soldiers!" Angry All the generals of the Sui Army who were full of chests agreed in unison, and immediately commanded the army to destroy the rebel camp.
Seeing the angry expression of the Sui army on the city wall, although some people in the bandit army spoke up and thought it was a pity to take away the military tents and flags and other things too late, Meng Haigong laughed loudly, waved his fat palm, and laughed loudly. He smiled and said: "Some rags and hundreds of military flags, if you lose them, just throw them away. There is no need to be sorry! As long as the army and weapons are safely withdrawn, it will be fine. If there are troops and weapons, I am afraid that we will not be able to get these military tents and flags in the future." ?”
Laughing loudly, Meng Haigong patted Li Mi next to him again, and said with a big laugh, "It's still the Dharma Lord who is so powerful that he saw at a glance that Zhang Xutuo's old dog was about to attack violently, and came up with a clever plan to use a straw man to trick the tyrant's lackeys! If not The master of the law is very predictable, if we want to retreat to the city smoothly, I am afraid it will not be so easy!"
"The recorder's award is actually thanks to Meng Lushi's precautions. He placed some insiders in the Jiyin army in advance and provided auxiliary information. Otherwise, I dare not conclude that Zhang Xutuo will launch a general attack today." Li Mi With a very gracious modesty, he suggested again: "Reporter, I think you should try to thank those insiders and find a way to keep in touch with them. Maybe they will be of great use."
"Of course, of course." Meng Haigong nodded repeatedly.
"Husband, Mr. Fazhu is so strategic, you should listen to his suggestions in the next battle of defending the city." A charming voice came, and a beautiful woman dressed in fancy clothes leaned on the tall and fat man. Meng Haigong was a young man, and said softly: "Don't put on your airs again and make things difficult for Mr. Fazhu."
"Have I ever made things difficult for you?" Meng Haigong laughed, and said, "I have always loved Mr. Fazhu, no matter what, Mr. Fazhu is the son-in-law of my old friend, and he can be regarded as my niece and son-in-law! Haha Ha ha!"
The charming and beautiful woman pursed her lips and smiled coquettishly, then turned her gaze to Li Mi, and said with a smile: "Mr. Fazhu, it will be up to you next time, if you have any good ideas, just tell my husband, he If you don't listen to your good words, just tell me, and I'll pull his ears for you."
"Please rest assured, madam, I will do my best."
Li Mi respectfully agreed, and didn't take a second look at Meng Haigong's wife Ma Saifei. He just turned his eyes to the city, looked at a certain place under the city, and murmured in his heart, "It's finally here, I hope the enemy won't notice it." Fortunately, this flaw can only be exploited by people who are proficient in geography and water conservancy, and only soldiers of my level can see it. Such people should not exist in Zhang Xutuo's team."