On the third day of winter, in Jinling City, inside the temporary White Tiger Festival Hall.
Although there were many civil and military officials sitting in the hall, it was extremely quiet. No one dared to take a breath, and you could hear a pin drop. The reason for all this was that Zhu Meng's expression was not good after he was sitting on the Marshal's case. Not only did his face sink when he looked at the military report in his hand, but even the fat on his cheeks trembled slightly from behind.
After a long while, he slapped the military report on the case and angrily shouted: "Incompetent! Absolutely incompetent! Tens of thousands of our Song Dynasty officers and soldiers were defeated by the rebels at the foot of Changzhou City. Although the city was saved, it was not lost. It is really unreasonable to let him retreat calmly!"
As soon as these words came out, all of his subordinates Wen Wu became even more silent, no one dared to speak. In fact, they had already received the news before they came here. They heard that the wars in Changzhou and Wuxi had not been won, so everyone who came to discuss the military situation today was very low-key, for fear that if they said anything wrong, they would directly offend Zhu Meng. .
After scolding several times but receiving no response, Zhu Meng's anger increased instead. He immediately slapped the table again and shouted at a pale-faced general not far away: "Gu You, give me a Tell me, why are the two armies in Huainan and Shandong still unable to win a victory? Then what do Sun Tu and Peng Yongzhen do for food? The combined 50,000-strong army can't sustain this little rebel force?"
Gu You was a general in the Huainan Army. This time he was ordered to send the battle report from Changzhou to Jinling. Although he was prepared, when he faced the furious Zhu Meng, he was still frightened for a while. He could only lower his head and reply: "It was the last general who waited for the unfavorable battle that allowed the rebels to retreat calmly. But the defeat in this battle is really serious." In terms of responsibility, most of it lies with the Shandong Army."
"Hmph, everyone will say that if you want to shirk responsibility, what basis do you have?" Zhu Meng still said with a gloomy face, but it was obvious that he wanted to listen to what he said.
Gu You seized the opportunity and immediately filed a complaint: "Shuai Zhu didn't know something. Originally, our army was bound to win when he went to rescue Changzhou. However, Sun Qianjia of Shandong Province proposed to take the first step halfway, thus dividing the enemy. The combat effectiveness of our army was reduced. What was even more despicable was that when our army arrived in Changzhou, he and his elite men were nowhere to be seen. As a result, our army could only hastily engage in a head-on confrontation with the rebels who were attacking the city. As a result, our army had been defeated for many days. After trekking, the division veterans were tired and lost the first battle.
"The Shandong Army refused to obey the orders after that, and just defended with all its strength. Regardless of Changzhou being besieged by the enemy, we, the soldiers of the Huainan Army, almost fought with our own strength. Naturally, we were no match. In the end, we lost our troops and generals... But it was me. Thanks to the hard work of the soldiers, the siege of Changzhou was finally lifted and the city was preserved. However, due to the timidity of the Shandong Army, the rebels were still able to retreat, and the final victory was not achieved!"
His words were obviously not entirely true, and there were many contradictions in them. Some of the generals who knew the military skills present had heard the problem and frowned slightly. This was completely a way to take credit and blame others. For example, he clearly said that the division's veterans were tired and lost the first battle. How could he later help the Changzhou defenders retreat in a head-on confrontation with the enemy
And now that we have won the battle to defend the city, we can then take advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack and gain a big victory. How can the opponent retreat completely? Also, in this battle, the Shandong Army was really timid before fighting as he said, and just watched from the sidelines? opposite
When I was about to talk about loopholes, I just caught a lot of them.
But at this time, no one stood up to speak for the Shandong Army, because he mentioned a key point at the beginning - Sun Tu, the leader of the Shandong Army, had led his army and disappeared halfway!
what is this? Running away? Once this matter is really investigated, the guilt will be so great that no one dares to touch it. What's more, Sun Tu didn't have any friendship with them. Everyone was jealous of the Shandong Army's special treatment in military rations and were afraid of this powerful guy. Now that he has made a mistake, people will only add insult to injury, and no one will stand up to speak for him.
Only Tong Mu, who was sitting at the bottom, turned pale at the moment and was not worried: "Sanlang, Sanlang, you are too confused. Once Zhu Meng seizes the opportunity and takes the opportunity to convict you, even you will bear the responsibility. I'm sorry..." But with his current status, he obviously couldn't defend Sun Tu.
And he knew very well that the reason for such a disadvantageous situation was also caused by Sun Tu's absence in the army. Otherwise, this battle report would not have been sent only by people from the Huainan Army. At any rate, a general from the Shandong Army would have to be sent along, but this would put the initiative in the hands of the other party.
A bright light flashed in Zhu Meng's eyes. Although Changzhou's defeat in the first battle made him quite annoyed, such a result was what he wanted to see. If we could really take this opportunity to convict Sun Tu, not only would he be able to express his previous bad breath, but he would also be able to fulfill Cai Jing's entrustment.
So after pondering for a moment, he slammed the table again and shouted angrily: "Do you really mean what you said? Then Sun Tu really dares to ignore my military orders and lead his troops away without knowing where he is going?"
This momentum really scared Gu You to death. After swallowing secretly to calm down, he quickly nodded and said: "What the general said is absolutely true. If Sun Tu was not here and the Shandong Army did not obey the orders, Our army will definitely win the battle in Changzhou!" He had already received the order when he came, and he must put all the blame on Sun Tu and the Shandong Army. Naturally, he would not let go of the opportunity at this time.
"It's really unreasonable, you should be killed!" Zhu Meng slammed the table again and shouted angrily: "Come here, check for me, where did Sun Tu lead his troops? If you find him, let him return to Jinling immediately for trial! I will never tolerate those who disobey orders and act recklessly!"
"Zhu Shuai is wise!" Gu You praised loudly in a hurry, but he wanted to finalize the matter. Others also followed suit after being stunned for a moment, but Tong Mu was even more worried and didn't know what to do.
Just when Zhu Meng was angrily planning to send troops and horses to search for the whereabouts of Sun Tu's men, a soldier strode to the front of the hall: "Report! Zhu Shuai, the battle report of Danyang City has been sent. Our army has won a great victory. Kill them." There were two thousand enemies and nearly a thousand square meters of rebels were captured!"
Hearing this, Zhu Meng, who was originally full of anger, was stunned for a moment, and then his anger turned into joy. He smiled and stroked his beard and said: "Okay! This is the biggest victory our army has won since the Jiangnan chaos. Mo Jingyao did not disappoint me, please send me the good news quickly!"
The soldier hurriedly stepped forward and respectfully held a piece of good news in his hands. After Zhu Meng took it, he opened it casually, and took the opportunity to mock Sun Tu: "I think that day, Sun Tu kept mentioning that he should be careful of the rebels who would attack my Danyang. I had said at that time that I had already There are elites stationed in Danyang. If the rebels dare to go there..." said
At this point, his voice stopped, and his eyes were staring blankly at the battle report in his hand. His face turned from red to white, and then from white to green, leaving the generals below confused as to what was going on. .
After a while, Zhu Meng finally broke out. With a wave of his hand, he overturned the entire Shuai case in front of him, and then threw out the battle report in his hand: "Trash! Damn it! Everyone deserves to die!" At this moment, Zhu Meng was completely out of control...
Zhu Meng was not an easily emotional person to begin with. To achieve his current status, the city was naturally very deep. But since he became the real master of Jiangnan and had all the power in his hands, his complacency led to his temper getting bigger and bigger.
Originally, Suzhou was defeated and he fled to Jinling in embarrassment, which made him restrain himself. That's why he had the peaceful atmosphere when he met Sun Tuchu. Even if there were conflicts later, he could restrain himself. Of course, it is also true that Sun Tu has been regarded as a thorn in his side. As long as he finds an opportunity, he will definitely get rid of this hateful guy.
Today, he thought that the opportunity had arrived. Taking advantage of the failure to complete the battle in Changzhou and Sun Tu's escape before the battle, Zhu Meng could legitimately take down Sun Tu. Even killing him would not be a problem. But in the end, the battle report he got now gave him a loud slap in the face!
Especially since just now he was showing off to his subordinates how wise he was, and used this to ridicule Sun Tu for his previous worries. But after reading this report about the victory of the Battle of Danyang written by Sun Tu, he felt that all the mocking words fell back on him. This feeling was so embarrassing that Zhu Meng immediately lost control and became furious!
The generals below were also confused by this sudden anger. Seeing Zhu Meng's chest rising and falling rapidly, staring straight ahead but not speaking, everyone became even more nervous. After all, someone finally had the courage to pick up the good news he threw on the ground and read it carefully. After looking at it, this person's expression also changed, and then passed it to his colleagues around him.
After a while, everyone in the hall saw this good news, even Tong Mu, who was sitting at the end, saw it. Then the worry on his face disappeared, and he let out a long sigh of relief: "No wonder , I said that Sanlang is not a random person, it turns out that he has seen through the rebel conspiracy a long time ago! From this point of view, not only is he not guilty, he has actually made a great contribution!"
It can be said that half of the people in the hall had similar thoughts to him. Because it was clearly written in the victory report that Sun Tu not only defeated tens of thousands of Fangla rebels who attacked Danyang, killed and captured thousands of enemies, but also saved half of the food in the city. This was a great contribution to the entire Jiangnan war situation. .
Even those who are prejudiced against Sun Tu cannot deny this, because food and grass are the foundation of the army. If it is really obtained or destroyed by the enemy, the blow to the Jiangnan war situation will undoubtedly be devastating.
At the same time, many people showed suspicion and dissatisfaction. It turned out that the food and grass they had been begging for had been hidden in Danyang by Zhu Meng. If it hadn't been for Sun Tu to turn the tide and save Danyang's food and grass, his army would have been lost in the south of the Yangtze River.
After feeling these unkind glances, Zhu Meng felt a chill in his heart. Only then did he suddenly wake up. Half of the people in the hall were not Jiangnan officials, and they were not beings who could do whatever they wanted...