A person's name, the shadow of a tree. Without leaving the borders of Shandong and walking outside, Sun Tu really didn't know that he and his troops had already become famous all over the world, respected by countless officials and people, and had become heroes in the eyes of countless people.
When the army entered Gyeonggi Road, it immediately won the welcome of the people along the road. The people in every county, city and state capital consciously walked out of their homes to welcome this army from Shandong. They had pacified several groups of bandits during the Song Dynasty. The heroic master of bandits. And not only the local people, but also some state officials would often come out to entertain Sun Tu and his subordinates.
Although Sun Tu always declined the good intentions of these people, it was enough to see that Sun Tu's army had already become famous and well known to people in the northern lands.
It is precisely because there are always people greeting and seeing off along the way that the whole army is more energetic and the marching team is more orderly than imagined. And when all this fell into the eyes of the people, they felt even better about this mighty and ever-victorious army. The majestic and high-spirited spirit, the orderly and solemn team, not to mention compared with those local soldiers and ruffians, Even the so-called elite Forbidden Forces that can always be seen near Gyeonggi Province are far inferior to them.
What is even more talked about is the strict military discipline and rules of this army, which truly does not offend the common people along the way. Even if the common people send food to reward the sergeants, they will abide by the rules and pay for the things. , compared with them, those officers and soldiers who always claimed to love and serve the people in the past are really a big joke.
So unknowingly, this kind of evaluation came out from all over the north - among the millions of officers and soldiers in the world, the Sun Army is the first-class army, and no one can surpass it, whether it is the imperial army or the border army. Correspondingly, the name of Sun Tu, the leader of the three armies, has become more and more famous. Among the people, he has even been called the God of War. It is said that he is rigorous in running the army and uses troops like a god. He is really the best among the Song Dynasty armies. People.
When this title spread like the wind, although the generals from all walks of life in the world didn't say much, they obviously had some opinions in their hearts. In particular, some of the arrogant border army and forbidden army generals planned to compete with Sun Tu once they had the opportunity to suppress his arrogance.
And when the news reached Jiangnan and was known to the Fang La rebel army, which was becoming more and more powerful, many people were eager to fight with this army. Because as they thought, since the Song Dynasty court praised this army so highly, as long as they defeated the opponent on the battlefield, the blow to the Song Dynasty court would be fatal, and maybe they could take advantage of this battle to defeat Wu The territory of the country has expanded again and developed to places other than Jiangnan.
It can be said that when Sun Tu was still on the way, some people's unintentional compliments made his team of just over 20,000 people become the focus of many enemies and friends, and also made him many enemies.
However, there are certainly benefits. After walking along the road for less than half a month, no less than two thousand young and strong men from Gyeonggi Province came to join the army. You must know that this is the Song Dynasty, which believed that good men should not be soldiers. This is how Sun Tu's army is supported by the people, even if they know that they will go to Jiangnan to fight against Fang La's rebels. , they surrendered without hesitation
In the army, just to follow the heroes in my mind, fight together to kill the enemy, and protect the home and country.
Naturally, Sun Tu would not refuse these enthusiastic men who came to surrender, and immediately incorporated them into the army. Although these people are of limited use on the battlefield, they are enough to help the rear army transport food, grass and baggage on weekdays. What's more, as long as they experience a few battles and accept the military rules and regulations set by Sun Tu, many of them will naturally grow into qualified military lieutenants in a year or two.
Then a magical scene occurred. When other Xiang troops who went south to conquer Fang La's rebel army continued to have deserters, causing their numbers to shrink sharply, Sun Tu's Shandong army not only did not decrease, but expanded rapidly. After half a month, Two thousand people were added out of thin air, and the military strength immediately exceeded 20,000.
But as a result, the logistical pressure became even greater. Sun Tu could only send people to rush for the transportation of grain and grass. At the same time, he was still temporarily stationed outside Xinyang City before leaving Gyeonggi Road and entering Huainan Road, just waiting for the imperial court to get the promised goods. After allocating his own food and fodder, he can continue heading south.
But in the end, what Sun Tu waited for was only enough food and grass for the army to consume for several months, and Fang Qian with a guilty look on his face. After rushing to the army and seeing Sun Tu, Fang Qian apologized in advance: "Qianli, please forgive me. Now the imperial court has dispatched too many local Xiang troops to Jiangnan to quell the chaos, so in terms of the transportation of grain and grass, There is also some confusion. The grain and grass that should have been allocated after you set off were sent to Jiangnan in advance. Now the Ministry of Revenue can only scrape together this batch of grain to feed the soldiers on the road."
When Sun Tu heard this, he frowned slightly: "Are you serious? Don't wait until I lead the army to the south of the Yangtze River and the court will find other excuses to refuse to send all the grain and grass to our army, right?"
"As Qian Li said, how could the imperial court do such a thing?" Fang Qian hurriedly smiled and explained: "This was really caused by some accidents. Who would have thought that Fang Thief would dare to do such a heinous act? , Now Your Majesty is furious and will mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to completely annihilate the rebels as soon as possible with the overwhelming force of Mount Tai, so there were some mistakes in the mobilization of food and grass."
After a pause, he took out another document from his sleeve and handed it over: "This is a military order jointly issued by our Privy Council and the Ministry of Household Affairs. As long as you arrive in Jiangnan, you can get it directly from the official warehouse with this document." Enough for all the supplies and food for your army!”
People had said this and showed such sincerity. Naturally, Sun Tu could not hold on to this matter any longer. He could only accept the military order and express that he would not let down the trust and importance of the imperial court. So much. In fact, the most important thing is that he has already led his troops here. It is impossible to lead his troops back to Shandong just because the food and grass are not fully in place. Then he will really be despised by the people of the world.
Just when Sun Tu sent Fang Qian out of the military camp and planned to continue leading his troops south tomorrow, a familiar old voice came from the front: "Sun Tu..."
"You are so bold, you dare to call me by the name of my lord!" When the soldiers guarding the camp gate heard this address, they immediately angrily reprimanded him. Sun Tu, after staying for a while, quickly looked over in surprise...
If we were in Qingzhou City, in front of the military camp
No one is allowed to approach within ten feet, but now that they are in Xinyang, they are just borrowing land to stay temporarily, so there is no need to pay so much attention. As long as the people do not break into the military camp, no one will come to drive them away. So at this time, there were actually many local people in front of the military camp to see the legendary military power of the Sun family.
Among the people in Xinyang, Sun Tu saw at a glance an old man with white beard and hair but a rosy complexion, and a young man who was dressed in coarse cloth but could not hide his heroic spirit, standing a few feet away, nodding at him. laugh. This immediately put a respectful smile on his face, and he rushed up to meet the old man. When he came to the old man, he got down on one knee and bowed: "Master, why are you here? I have seen Master before." !”
This old man who suddenly appeared in front of the military camp and dared to call Sun Tu by his name was none other than his mentor, the martial arts master Zhou Tong!
Although most of Sun Tu's martial arts skills were what he learned before he traveled through time, plus he learned from the strengths of others, he must not ignore Zhou Tong's careful teaching in Bianjing City. It can be said that Sun Tu's achievements and martial arts skills today are really thanks to his guidance at the beginning, so Sun Tu still admires this master from the bottom of his heart.
But his move shocked the people around him. At first, everyone thought that the old man had lost his mind and went crazy. He actually dared to run to the military camp and call Sun Qian's name to cause trouble. Now, they are suspicious of him. A lot of respect - to be able to teach a great hero like Sun Qianha, this old man must be an upright person!
As for the soldier who had just scolded Zhou Tong, his face turned pale with fright, and he almost knelt down, and quickly stepped forward to admit his mistake. At this time, Zhou Tong quickly stretched out his hand to help Sun Tu, who had just knelt down, and said, "You are now the commander-in-chief of the three armies. How can you do this? It will not weaken the momentum of the army."
"Master's lesson is correct, but my disciple failed to consider it." Sun Tu followed the trend and accepted the lesson humbly. Then he looked at the soldier who was kneeling to apologize, and begged: "Master, this brother did not offend unintentionally. Please don't blame him..."
"Hey, he is also trying to maintain the majesty of you as the general. How can I blame him?" Zhou Tong said, and stepped forward to help this man up: "You did a good job. I am really just It is very inconvenient for a commoner to call Sun Qianjia by his name in public."
The soldier finally felt relieved when he heard these words and thanked him again and again before retreating. Zhou Tong looked at Sun Tudi with a smile and said: "It seems that you have trained a rare elite division for us in the Song Dynasty, as you said when you were in Bianjing. Just look at this general. If you defend yourself like this, you can see that you are really supported by the soldiers. Good!"
"Master, thank you. I just received the wrong love from my brothers." Sun Tu said modestly, then he realized that his family was still outside the camp, so he quickly invited Zhou Tong into the camp. Only then did he look at the young man who had been standing behind Zhou Tong. Although he was silent, he could not hide his heroic spirit: "Master, who is this?"
"Oh, he is a close disciple accepted by the master. His name is Yue Fei and his courtesy name is Pengju. Pengju, you haven't met your senior brother yet?" Zhou Tong's casual introduction made Sun Tu stunned. On the spot, a pair of eyes stared directly at his junior brother...