Outside the Chinese army's tent, a young general was looking at Er Zang and Sun Tu talking with an unhappy face. He couldn't understand why a young general who had never fought against Liao Xia and other powerful enemies on the border could do this. He would be so valued by the two grandfathers, especially when he saw that the other party was not only equal to the two kinds of people, but also made the two elders look annoyed when he spoke, he almost rushed into the account.
If Di Heming hadn't stopped him in time, but even so, he still said angrily: "This Sun Tu is so brave. He dares to be so arrogant. Does he really think that his status as a marquis is so great?"
"Zhengqing calm down. This is what the two father-in-laws have agreed upon. Don't let such a trivial matter ruin the overall situation. Although Qianli is a few years older than you, he is already quite famous in the army, and he is also a close friend. The coming war is closely related, so you must not act out of your own imagination." Di Heming pulled him tightly and persuaded him earnestly.
This young man is the leader of the third generation of the Zhong family, Zhong Jing Zhong Zhengqing. Although he is young, he has surpassed many elders in terms of martial arts and military skills. However, this has also developed his arrogant character. Now he sees the two elders he respects most being killed. Tu was a little angry when he said that, so he naturally wanted to go over and teach the other party a lesson.
Fortunately, Di Heming was always watching over him, so he didn't act recklessly. Although Di Heming was only a governor in the Western Army, he was deeply respected by everyone above and below him. Even a person with such a temper as Zhong Jing was very polite to him. Under his persuasion, he could only hold back. He lost his anger and continued to watch the situation develop.
At this time, the three people in the tent had already stood up and walked out, and then walked towards the rear military camp under the slightly strange gazes of the two people. This made Di Heming stunned for a moment, and then he understood: "Two. Are you planning to take him to meet those brothers? You really have good intentions."
After Zhong Jing came to his senses, he curled his lips in disdain: "The two grandfathers are also serious. Isn't this trying to weaken the momentum of our Western Army?"
"Zhengqing, this is also the hard work of the two husbands. Compared with the life and death of the soldiers, the publicity and appearance are only a small matter after all." Di Heming said sincerely: "This is also the result of the two husbands, and even the family. The key to staying in the Western Army for a hundred years is the key."
Seeing that he spoke solemnly, Zhong Sutra just said it was true. As for how much he actually listened to it, it's hard to say.
On the other side, Sun Tu followed Er Zhong for another walk in the military camp. Only then did he really feel the big difference between the Western Army and Tong Guan's army. Everything here is much simpler than the Chinese army's Dazhai. Almost all the tents are not old, and some have patches on them, but the soldiers are full of energy, even if the sword is in the sheath and the gun is Standing on the ground, one can still feel the strong vigor and murderous intent from them. It seems that as soon as the war drums sound, all the soldiers and horses here can immediately join the battle without any mobilization and encouragement.
What does it mean to be prepared and what does it mean to be sharp? Sun Tu had the most profound experience here. The overall quality of this Western Army is even better than the Qingzhou Army that they are proud of.
It’s just that this momentum moved to the row behind to look at the newer tents.
, and then suddenly restrained himself. At this time, there were many people busy washing cloth and other items in front of the tent, and there were almost no people around with knives or guns. Only when they saw the two approaching, these people suddenly stood upright, and people saw that they were lieutenants of the army.
"This is..." Sun Tu only asked three words, and he got the answer because he smelled the strong smell of medicine coming out of the tents. They actually brought him to the wounded soldiers camp.
Erzhong glanced back at him, and then made another gesture of invitation, asking him to follow him into one of the tents. From the outside, this tent seemed to occupy a very large area. It was almost as big as the courtyard of an average house. However, after entering it, Sun Tu still felt cramped and cramped because it was filled with stretcher boards and there were also wooden boards on them. There were many wounded soldiers lying there with broken arms and legs, or dying. After a quick glance, they found that there were no less than fifty or sixty wounded soldiers here, and all of them were seriously injured.
This made Sun Tu feel a little moved. If there were wounded soldiers like this in other tents, there might be thousands of seriously wounded soldiers in this wounded barracks. Judging from the proportion of casualties in today's battles and the proportion of light and serious casualties, the casualties of the Western Army are probably quite serious.
There is a saying that no matter how much you talk, it is better to speak with real things. Neither of them gave much explanation. Sun Tu had already been shaken by his previous thoughts. If the Western Army had really just stood aside in the first battle, how could there have been so many casualties
At this time, the wounded soldiers in the tent had also seen the arrival of the two kinds, and they all propped themselves up and wanted to pay tribute, but they hurried forward to stop them. One of the soldiers even pushed back a soldier who had lost his leg and still remembered it: "I have told you so many times that there is no need to care about your superiority or inferiority here. The most important thing for you is to take good care of yourself and then follow us." The two old men went back to the west."
"Yes..." All the soldiers agreed in succession, and then they all lay back down. Then someone asked about the battle on the front line with concern, and the second type patiently helped to explain, without any hint of the commander of the first army. The airs of a veteran of many years.
After talking for a while, the two elders looked at Sun Tu who was thoughtful and said softly: "There are more than five thousand seriously injured brothers in the military camp here, and there are still the same number of wounded in the left army. Soldiers. In other words, our Western Army has now carried tens of thousands of wounded."
Sun Tu was even more moved. He wanted to say something, but Zhongshizhong spoke first: "Are you wondering why there are so many wounded in our Western Army? It's because of the wounds caused by the battle last year. Consequences. Didn't you ask us before why we didn't send troops to rescue? This is the answer. We sent troops, but we were ambushed by the Liao army and suffered heavy casualties."
Even though the answer had been thought of in advance, Sun Tu's expression changed again after hearing it: "How...how could this be?"
"Because the Liao people are more cunning than we thought, and because Tong Guan and the others are more timid than we thought." Zhong Shidao said as if gritting his teeth, and then led Sun Tu out of the tent. .
Standing outside, Sun Tucai felt that his breathing was much smoother, but the doubts in his heart became even greater. He couldn't help but look at the two elders in front of him, and opened his mouth to ask more, but the seed master said first: "
Have you heard them say that last year's defeat was due to our failure to save our lives, which led to the collapse of the entire army? It is simply confusing right and wrong. The real cause of the defeat was not our Western Army, but Tong Guan's Chinese Army. Because of their sudden advance and retreat, my left and right troops appeared in front of the entire army, and immediately suffered a new round of attacks.
"But even so, we immediately sent troops to rescue the Chinese army. But as a result, the Liao army was actually prepared and set up an ambush halfway. It was also our eagerness to rescue that gave them an opportunity to take advantage of, which led to the defeat of the Chinese army. Originally, at that time, if the Chinese army was willing to send troops to help, there was still room for recovery, but Tong Guan was afraid of the battle and led his troops to retreat continuously. He actually left us behind and became the only way for them to evacuate safely. The victims! If our Western Army soldiers had not fought bloody battles and used one army to hold back the main force of the Liao Army, I am afraid that our Northern Expedition Army would have been completely defeated before today."
Zhong Shidao's face looked quite gloomy at this moment, and then his brother said: "And what came from this switch? It was Tong Guan's rebuke, their shirk of responsibility, and their shirking of all responsibility for this defeat. When it came to our Western Army, he said that he was unwilling to send troops to rescue them, causing them to be defeated and retreat. I know very well that his purpose of doing this was to distance himself, deceive superiors and subordinates, so that he could continue to control the military. And those Northern Army and the generals of the Forbidden Army, either kept in the dark, or pretending to be ignorant, all acquiesced to all this, and imposed the blame on our Western Army. Even if we wanted them to help give more medicine, or It was to transport the wounded soldiers to the rear, but Tong Guan refused."
Sun Tu was silent, stunned, and then felt chilled for a while. At this moment, he finally understood that the Song Army, which should have the advantage in all aspects, ended up in such a situation and ended in a disastrous defeat. In the final analysis, it was caused by the quarrel between the military generals and the two sides had long become mortal enemies.
I'm afraid that after the previous battle, the Western Army had become separated from the Chinese Army led by Tong Guan. With the previous lessons learned, it would be a dream if they wanted to fight to the death with the Liao army! When such a Song army went to fight the final decisive battle with the united Liao army, defeat was inevitable.
"Then why don't you tell the court everything?" As soon as Sun Tu asked this, he smiled bitterly. Is there any need to say this
Sure enough, I heard Zhongshi Zhongdao: "Because it is impossible for the imperial court to believe our words. Didn't you say that we have never made a statement to defend ourselves? It's useless. Who will believe what we and other generals say? The Western Army has long been suppressed by the imperial court. We are regarded as aliens, and some people even think that the best outcome would be for us to perish together with the Liao army."
"Do you know what Tong Guan said at the end when we went to see him the day before yesterday? He used the life and death of these wounded soldiers as a bargaining chip to let our two wings of soldiers and horses take the lead in the next decisive battle to confront the Liao army. Confrontation, so as to create conditions for the final victory of his Chinese army." Zhongshi Daohan said with a smile on his face.
Sun Te's expression changed again, and he finally understood why the two of them looked so ugly when they left the tent that day. But at the same time, another question came to his mind, and he looked at them: "Why did you two husbands tell me all this truthfully? I think I am too humble, so I am afraid I can't change the current situation, right? "