After entering August, the Song Army, which had won many consecutive victories, finally stopped going south to fight against rebellion and stationed itself in Huzhou. After all, after continuous, high-intensity battles, even the elite of the Shandong Army will need to spend time recuperating. As for other soldiers and horses, the situation is even more difficult.
In the battle outside Suzhou City, they indeed defeated the Wu army, and the victory was hearty enough, but in fact their own casualties were not small. If we only look at the ratio of casualties between the two armies without counting the prisoners, it would actually be comparable. If they had not occupied Given the absolute superiority in military strength, it is hard to say what the outcome of this battle will be.
As a result, the Jiangnan boundary, which had been fighting for several months, finally gained a brief period of peace. However, that is only compared to the situation on the surface in the previous few months. In fact, under the seemingly calm water, the undercurrent is many times more turbulent than before. Many local gentry, landlords, businessmen and other prominent figures in the south of the Yangtze River have begun to Looking for a way out for his own safety, many people have even begun to send people to Huzhou to ask for an audience with Sun Tu, intending to surrender to the imperial court.
This is also a matter of course. Sun Tu had spent time and effort to have people spread the revolt in various places just to get these local forces to change their ways and abandon the dark side. And with the successive victories of the government and the army, the influence of the propaganda has expanded several times. Even people who were not too concerned about it in the past began to make a big fuss about Fang La and his group's belief in Manichaeism rather than the successors of Confucianism. , persuaded the various prefectures and counties to betray the so-called Kingdom of Wu.
As time went by, half a month later, relevant forces from no less than ten prefectures and counties secretly contacted Sun Tu, expressing their willingness to surrender in Kaicheng then. Some of these people even came from a certain country south of Hangzhou. The gentry in some cities expressed this attitude. Obviously, the foundation of Fang La's rule in the south of the Yangtze River has been completely shaken by these defeats. As long as the Song army takes advantage of the situation and goes south, it can easily capture several cities without any blood, so that it can attack Hangzhou, the capital of Wu State, from all sides. Put it into a desperate situation.
In the blink of an eye, the Mid-Autumn Festival has passed, and it has entered late August, and even the climate in Jiangnan has become a little cooler. But at this time, the atmosphere in Huzhou City was even more enthusiastic than before, because the people who had stayed behind finally arrived one after another, causing the number of soldiers and horses in the city to rise rapidly, and the soldiers began to get ready to move, thinking that it was time to take a further step. Killed to the south.
In the afternoon of that day, the chiefs of the three armies of Jingnan Road, Jingji Road and Huaibei Road came to see Sun Tu again and brought up the old matters again, hoping that he could use troops against the south again as soon as possible. Of course, their attitude in front of Sun Tu was still very humble. Although the four of them actually had the same official positions, in Jiangnan now, their status was clearly defined. Sun Tu was the commander-in-chief of the army, and they were just generals who obeyed the orders.
Zhang Gun, the commander of Huaibei Road, was impatient and the most outspoken in his speech, so he naturally took the lead: "General Sun, the situation is very good now, and the morale of the soldiers below is also high. It's time to take a further step and kill Go to Hangzhou and destroy this rebel bandit!"
Sun Tu glanced at him with a smile, and then asked the other two: "Is this the reason why you came to see me today?"
Ren Shifan from Jingnan and Xu Shen from Jingji Road seemed much more prudent. Even if Sun Tu asked this, they just said vaguely: "The time seems to be ripe. If it is delayed for a while, the rebels can slow down." After all, it’s not the case after all.
Good thing. Of course, General Sun, you must have your own opinions on how to use your troops. We dare not make any arbitrary opinions. "
Although they said this, the true intentions of the two people were already quite obvious. They also hoped to expand their results as soon as possible, and it would be best to defeat Fang La and his group in one fell swoop.
It is ridiculous to say that when they were in Jinling, these Song troops were as afraid of the Wu army as snakes and scorpions. They all dragged or pushed each other away, and no one dared to take the initiative to attack. But now, everyone is scrambling to be the first, and they only regard Wu Jun as a chicken and a dog, as if they can be completely wiped out as long as they send troops.
Of course, Sun Tu was still happy to see such changes in his mood, because only a confident army could win in the end. However, in order to prevent them from being careless and underestimating the enemy, Sun Tu deliberately reminded them: "Although our army has won great victories one after another, its vitality has not been damaged after all, and it is reported that although the two generals Pang Wanchun and Fang Shifo were seriously injured, they were not fatal. The injury should have improved by now, but if we really want to use troops, we have to be careful."
"What General Sun said is true, but you don't have to be too ambitious. In our opinion, the rebels are at the end of the road. As long as our army goes south, we will be able to sweep everything and reach Hangzhou! And as long as we get to this step, even if there are still The few thieves who dare to resist are just clowns who cannot make any waves." Zhang Gun said with a smile.
Although the other two people didn't say anything, looking at their expressions, it was obvious that they had similar thoughts to this one. Sun Tu could see that they were really anxious to send troops, but they didn't make any decisions because of their own dignity.
After a moment of silence, he asked again: "Have you three thought carefully about the logistics of grain and grass? As far as I know, our grain road has been extremely long now. If we go further south to Hangzhou, the consumption will be very high." It will only get bigger. And to this day, the rewards and money and food promised by the imperial court have not been received. I am afraid that we cannot sustain it for long just relying on our previous accumulation and the food purchased from all over the north. "
"General Sun is a little worried now. We have calculated that if the food and grass are used urgently, it will still be enough for one or two months. Moreover, the court has already allowed us to get food on the spot. By then, we only need to conquer a city to get it. Supplement, why worry about not having enough food?" Ren Shifan had already cared about this and immediately answered.
But his words caused Sun Tu to frown: "General Ren, I remember clearly that when I received this military order from the court half a month ago, I had strict orders to prevent the troops from intruding on the people. Are you Do you want to disobey me?" At the end of the sentence, he narrowed his eyes and his tone was already a little unkind.
Ren Shifan was startled and hurriedly explained: "Of course I know that General Sun has always loved the people like a son, and his officers and men have never done anything wrong to the people. But that is only for the people of the Song Dynasty, but what they are facing next is the counterattack. Why should the people who are ruled by thieves..."
"General Ren—" Sun Tu immediately interrupted his words, his eyes falling like knives, "Which of the people in the south of the Yangtze River is not my subject of the Song Dynasty? They just couldn't help themselves and were coerced by others to become the people under Fang La's rule. People, by saying this, do you want to force another turmoil?"
These words immediately made Ren Shifan a little confused about what to say. Xu Shen on the side quickly stepped forward to mediate and said: "General Sun, please calm down. Lao Ren just said such words in a moment of rashness. In fact, we also know that
The people in the south of the road are all innocent, so why would you want to harm them? "
"Yes, General Sun. In fact, in my opinion, although it is only a few months of food storage, it is enough for us to fight to Hangzhou. And during this period, we can also get supplements from the warehouses of various cities along the way. In addition, the court is very quick We will transport money and food to the south, and all problems will be solved by then." Zhang Gun also said: "Moreover, if we delay it like this, of course we will have no worries, but the rebels will also use this to regain their strength. They are united, and it will be difficult to conquer Hangzhou."
"General Sun, even if we stay in Huzhou and do not continue to go south, we still have to consume the food and grass. Why not continue to go south while the military morale is available and the food and grass are sufficient now?"
The three generals kept persuading each other, and they were obviously determined to get Sun Tu to nod and send troops. When Sun Tu saw this, he sighed again. These three people had actually reached a consensus a long time ago. Even if he really disagreed, if he could stop them today, it would still be a problem in two days.
After all, although he, Sun Tu, has some prestige, he does not have the reputation of a coach after all. If the name is not correct, the words will not be correct. After all, it is impossible to really make all these generals obey his wishes. At first, because he could lead everyone to make meritorious deeds and receive rewards, all the people could follow his orders, but now, in their eyes, he has blocked everyone's path to meritorious service, and they will have other ideas.
After slowly exhaling a breath of turbidity, Sun Tu finally made a concession: "Since the three of you are willing to be thieves, I can't always stop you. Then you can send your troops south."
These words made the three of them confused. What does this mean? Is he not going to play with himself anymore
Sun Tu then added: "But what I mean is that your various troops will clean up the many prefectures and counties north of Hangzhou and slowly advance the military line to Hangzhou, but you are not allowed to fight the main force of the rebels. As long as they are forced to Entering Hangzhou and turning it into an isolated city is a great achievement."
"What about General Sun and the Shandong Army under your command?" the three asked curiously.
"After all, Huzhou is an important place in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is also related to the rear grain road. I will lead the army to stay here temporarily. When we really want to use troops against Hangzhou, it will not be too late to set off." Sun Tu revealed his true purpose, but The three of them were stunned again.
Zhang Gun wanted to say something more, but Xu Shen stopped him with a look. The latter immediately smiled and said: "Since General Sun has considered the overall situation, we should obey his orders. In the past two days, my troops from the three places have been divided into three groups to clear the city in front as soon as possible to prepare for General Sun's next big attack. Victory paves the way.”
After Sun Tu nodded in approval, the three of them stood up and left with satisfaction. It wasn't until after he went out that Zhang Gun asked Xu Shen: "Brother Xu, why didn't you let me convince Sun Tu again in the end?"
"Brother Zhang, haven't you seen it yet? Sun Tu is planning to preserve his strength. Even if he has such a great achievement at his fingertips, he has flinched. What does this mean? It means that he knows very well that he has offended him before. There are too many high-ranking officials in the court, and he has to rely on the tens of thousands of people under his command to save their lives. It is better to have less credit than to be safe.
"And this is an advantage for us brothers. This time we will not only wipe out those small cities, but also Hangzhou!" Xu Shen chuckled, looking like he had seen through everything.