Sun Tu, who was in Qingzhou, didn't know that Liangshanbo was now in panic. As brothers, it seemed that as long as he sent troops to attack, he could wipe out all the thousands of Liangshan bandits. He also fought with Zeng Kai in the city, planning how to further divide the Liangshan leaders and prepare for the next offensive.
In fact, even if Sun Tuzhen knew about this, he would not be in a hurry to use troops at this time. In his eyes, the troops under his command are not strong enough. More importantly, he is also worried that this will cause Liangshan to regain its internal status. united by consensus. This possibility is not impossible. Once the external threat is too great and puts the survival of the leaders into question, how can they focus on mutual suspicion and competition
Therefore, Sun Tu still stood still at this time. Even though he had completely suppressed Zeng Kaigan and learned from Zhu Fu, who had just returned, that Zhu Gui was willing to submit and cooperate, it did not make him eager to launch troops. But the smile on his face was a little brighter: "Okay, Zhu Fu, you really did not disappoint me. Once the victory is achieved, I will report your contribution to the court!"
"In my humble position, I am just doing my duty. Thank you, Inspector, for your support." Zhu Fu was also delighted and responded quickly.
Sun Tu glanced at him again and asked, "By the way, you have just been to Liangshanbo, do you have any good suggestions?" He would not let go of any possibility of success, even if Zhu Fu did not use military tactics. Being old didn't stop him from asking a few questions.
And this question really made Zhu Fu say: "Du Jian, I have actually thought about something there. If we attack head-on, even if everyone in the stronghold is separated, I am afraid we will have to pay a huge price, so I I felt that the wisest choice was to attack the mountain from the east, west, north and west where the defenses were weaker. After looking across the lake, I thought that the water fortresses were not completely invulnerable. If I could choose to approach secretly at night, I might be able to get there. Wonderful effect.”
"Launching an attack on the water at night?" Sun Tu frowned and glanced at the other generals. Whether it was Lin Chong, Dong Ping, or Qi Desheng, Yang Zhi all looked embarrassed. After all, Qingzhou is far away from rivers. No matter how diligently they train on weekdays, water warfare is still the weakest link of this army. Correspondingly, the strongest among Liangshanbo's armies is the sailors. This is completely based on their own It is really unwise to attack the enemy's strengths with shortcomings.
Sun Tu also understood this, so he quickly shook his head: "This matter is difficult. You can go back and have a rest. We have to think about how to attack the mountain."
After Zhu Fu left, Dong Ping suggested: "Captain, I think what he said is indeed reasonable. As for the navy, why don't we borrow soldiers and horses from other state capitals?"
"Lending it out?" Sun Tu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I'm afraid this will be even more difficult to do. Our Qingzhou Army has been so successful these years that we have already been tabooed by others. No matter whether the government in the DPRK or elsewhere is happy to see us No matter how easy it is to pacify the Liangshan bandits, if we don’t have the support of the imperial court, we will most likely not be able to do what we want if we borrow troops."
Everyone's face darkened, and then they all became a little angry: "How can this really be true? It is obvious that we are fighting against the bandits for the sake of the Song Dynasty, but they are not only unwilling to help, but they are always stumbling upon us behind our backs. !”
"A tree that is beautiful in the forest will be destroyed by the wind, and a man who is superior to the masses will be destroyed. Who told us that our Qingzhou Army is too strong and too sharp?" Sun Tu sighed and shook his head. This idea can be completely dismissed. Now, in order to solve the problem of Liangshanbo, we can only rely on the efforts of Shandong Province.
"Actually, it's good to put the breakthrough point in the water village on the outside. The key is how to capture it before their reaction and still hold it." Qi Desheng also frowned and thought about a way, while Luda stood aside. But there was a sigh: "We don't have many decent warships on hand now. Even if we collect them from the local area, I'm afraid they can't compare with Liangshanbo's years of hard preparation. Even if they are really approached by us because of the weather, with their water warfare power, I’m afraid they can defeat us easily.”
These words could not be considered as boosting other people's ambitions and destroying one's own prestige. Everyone froze after these words, and no one spoke again.
As a result, the good mood brought about by the capture of Zeng Kaiqian and the good news of Zhu Gui's surrender has faded a lot, and everyone has a look of worry on their faces. When Sun Tu saw this, he smiled: "Okay, I believe there is always a solution to everything, but we haven't thought of it yet. You don't have to worry too much, everything is still under our control, everyone can just continue training. , maybe in two days, we will have a way to defeat the thief."
This refreshed everyone's spirits, and after they all said yes, they dispersed. Sun Tu, on the other hand, continued to stand in front of the newly drawn topographic map around Liangshanbo, thinking about countermeasures.
But sometimes strategies can't be figured out just by thinking about it, so in the next few days, Sun Tu was still clueless about it. Seeing that March was about to enter the middle of March, the imperial court sent people to urge them again, but the officers and soldiers But still no movement was seen.
This made Zeng Kaigan a little restless. You must know that the imperial court sent people to find him directly, and now that he is in the same boat as Sun Tu, he is really on the pirate ship. If the officers and soldiers delay If he doesn't move, he won't be able to withstand the pressure.
So on March 11th, he asked to see Sun Tu again and explained his difficulties in detail: "Sun Dujian, even if you are pretending, you have to send troops to Liangshanbo, otherwise I will wait for you. It’s really hard to explain to the court. If the officials really believe that you have an evil intention to support the bandits and express your will to seize your military power, I’m afraid you and I won’t be happy to see it.”
"How can I use my troops if I'm not sure of victory? How can you and I bear it when our troops are wasted and our soldiers die in vain?" Sun Tu said helplessly. At least before he had a decision, he would rather If the matter is dragged on, at least this way we can still hope that trouble will arise within Liangshan due to his several instigations.
"Sun Dujian, don't you understand the principle of not being in charge of soldiers? Once a general has accomplished a great feat, all his bones will be withered. If you want to achieve great feats, you have to pay for it with the lives of the soldiers under your command! I think that whether it is a strong attack or a We must use any conspiracy or trick, even if we use medicine, we have to put down this Liangshan bandit as soon as possible." Zeng Kaigan was really anxious at this time, and he said something unscrupulous, and his tone was particularly tough.
This made Sun Tu feel annoyed, and he immediately snorted: "I, Sun Tu, have always regarded the soldiers as my brothers. How could I do such a thing? What's the use of tricks?"
If there was really a way to take medicine, would I put it off until now? "
"Captain..." Just when Sun Tu wanted to scold Zeng Kaigan and let him understand what it means for soldiers to be of one mind and soldiers to be courageous, Zhu Wu, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly shouted, which made him slightly confused. Surprised, he turned his head to look, only to find that this person had a bit of excitement on his face and kept blinking at him.
Sun Tu was stunned for a moment before he quickly came to his senses - Zhu Wu had a countermeasure! He immediately ignored the gloomy Zeng Kaigan and asked his soldiers to take him away. Then he looked at the other party: "Does the military advisor have any clever ideas?"
"Du Jian, we have always been stuck in the prejudice that we can break through Liangshan only by attacking by force. But in fact, as the supervisor said, we can definitely use tricks. We can forcefully attack the water stronghold with our water warfare power. , even if it is a sneak attack, it will naturally fail, but if we change the method and directly use medicine to make them lose their ability to resist, wouldn't it be easy to capture them?" Zhu Wu seemed very excited at this time, and spoke out his strategy loudly.
"Speak slowly, why do I sound a little confused... use medicine? How could we use medicine on those guys in Liangshan Water Village?" Sun Tu was still confused, but his expression became serious.
"Of course we can't do it, but there is someone within them who can. Isn't Zhu Gui the most suitable candidate?"
The words really woke up the dreamer. In just a moment, Sun Tu's face showed a look of ecstasy: "You are right, I really ignored that Zhu Gui has such a use! Yes, he runs a hotel , so it would be a matter of course to send some wine and food to the people in the water village! And they would never have thought in their wildest dreams that the wine and food delivered by their brothers would actually be mixed with Mongolian sweat medicine..." The more he thought about it, the more Sun Tu felt about it. It's feasible, and I even blame myself for why I never thought of such a good idea before
Zhu Wu was also happy when he saw that Sun Tu recognized his strategy. In fact, he really hasn't made many contributions since he surrendered, but Sun Tu treated him with great courtesy, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. He also thought about making contributions by making suggestions, and now he finally showed it. Opportunity.
Then, he said cautiously: "By the way, Du Jian, the most critical point of this plan is to grasp the time. When Zhu Gui delivers wine and food to the water village, we have to take the opportunity to get close to them, so as to take advantage of them being knocked down by the medicine." It’s time to capture the stronghold.”
"Of course I can save this, and it's easy to coordinate with the time. I can even prevent the soldiers and horses from Liangshan Village from having time to rescue them!" Once his thoughts opened up, Sun Tu had more ideas in his mind, although it was just one Concept, but he believed that as long as this first step was completed, it would no longer be difficult to break through Liangshanbo. Moreover, if this is the case, maybe not only can he defeat the thief this time, but he can also use Liang Shanbo's power for his own use.
Although the people in Liangshanbo are called bandits, their combat effectiveness is actually quite large. It is even far superior to the Xiang army of the Song Dynasty today, and is only inferior to the elite border troops. If they can be used by themselves, then The chips in his hand are even more abundant!
After heaving a long sigh of relief, Sun Tu showed a confident smile on his face: "It seems it's time to send out troops again!"