When Fang Jie came out of the study, all the generals waiting in the yard surrounded him. This short tens of minutes is as long as centuries. Their eyes were full of urgency, eagerly waiting for Fang Xie to point out a bright path for them.
Just like in the darkest days in the northwest, King Youxu led them to persevere.
They looked at Fang Jie, and Fang Jie also looked at them.
A group of fearless men who crawled through mountains of corpses and seas of blood found it difficult to calm themselves down at this time. Everyone feels this kind of anxiety is very familiar, because three years ago when they survived in the gap between hundreds of thousands of Mongolian barbarian cavalry and hundreds of thousands of rebels, they felt exactly the same mood.
"There are fifty thousand people in the cottage."
Fang Jie spoke, his tone was very slow.
"I sat in the house for so long, trying to calm myself down, but now I'm still terrified, because I have to decide not only my own life or death, but the life and death of all of you. You should all know that now we The Black Banner Army is in a dilemma. If we return to the army, will the emperor convict us by letting the Mengyuan people go? If convicted, will you plead guilty or not?"
"Not convinced!"
In the silence, I don't know who yelled, the voice was hoarse, and it was extremely sad and indignant: "In the past four years in Langru Mountain, we have never received a copper coin from the imperial court, nor eaten a single grain of food from the imperial court! We are still holding the battle flag of the Great Sui Dynasty, fighting against the rebels and the barbarians every day. Did the defeat in Mandu Banner have anything to do with us? Why did the emperor let us be abandoned! Why! "
As soon as he spoke, the other generals expressed their dissatisfaction and anger.
The big defeat in Mandu Banner had nothing to do with them. Over the past few years, they have never stopped fighting for the glory of the empire and the soldiers. They have worked hard to maintain their dignity with their own blood and sweat, but now, they have become people abandoned by the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty.
When they entered the canyon, they were so decisive and magnificent. How disheartened they were when they withdrew from the canyon!
Hearing the discussion of the people below, Fang Xie's heart suddenly opened up a lot. What he has been worried about is that he lacks prestige, and maybe he can't make these 50,000 people completely return. If I rashly decide to take them to another place, or stay in the Langrushan Canyon, will these soldiers not agree
Will they still have illusions about the imperial court
But now, hearing the soldiers express their grievances heartily, he suddenly found that he was always worrying about gain and loss like this, and worried too much. Sometimes something happens naturally, and you don't need to deliberately guide it, it will flow there and in that direction.
At this moment, there was a rush of footsteps outside the courtyard, Fang Jie looked at the door, and saw Chen Xiaoru running in. Looking at the thick layer of dust on his body, he knew that he was in a hurry along the way.
"Master Hou, this subordinate is back!"
Fang Jie's heart warmed, and he quickly walked over to support Chen Xiaoru who was saluting. At this moment, Chen Xiaoru can come back after leaving, how can Fang Jie not feel warm in his heart? Especially when his heart was very cold, Chen Xiaoru's return made Fang Jie's gloomy heart seem like a ray of sunshine.
"Master Hou, my subordinates have found out."
Chen Xiaoru swallowed and spit, his lips were already chapped.
Fang Jie quickly asked someone to fetch water and handed it to him: "Let's talk about it here, I'm discussing with everyone. The news you brought back is very important, everyone should listen to it."
Chen Xiaoru knew that Fang Xie led the troops back to the village, so he guessed what kind of situation the team was facing now. He is the kind of person who can understand the intention without needing to explain clearly. Hearing what Fang Jie said, he immediately understood what Fang Xie meant mean. He emptied the water bag in one breath, wiped the corners of his mouth and said: "After my subordinates rushed to Jinyang, they managed to get in touch with Feiyupao who was still obeying orders in the camp outside the city."
He took a breath and continued: "Although we people in Feiyupao are losing power now, our people are still used in the garrison around the emperor's tent. A while ago...Luo Yao came to the camp alone!"
"ah!"
Everyone let out an exclamation.
Chen Xiaoru said: "Luo Yao took more than a hundred heads of Li Xiaoche and others in Jinyang City, entered the camp so blatantly, and fought with Su Buwei, the eunuch holding a pen beside the emperor, and Daoist Zhang of Wudang Mountain. The two of them teamed up and failed to defeat Luo Yao, and then Luo Yao walked away like that."
"Doesn't that mean..."
Sun Kaidao immediately shouted: "It is a foregone conclusion that Luo Yao raised the flag? If this happens, the entire Southwest, and even Jiangnan will be in chaos!"
Even if there was no such thing, Luo Yao's rebellion is well known, and Sun Kaidao's cry was actually deliberate. He said this like the last straw that crushed the soldiers' loyalty to the emperor. Sun Kaidao wanted to remind these generals that the Sui Dynasty was already in turmoil. Even if you still have the idea of loyalty to the emperor, it doesn't make sense. You are loyal to the emperor, but many people have already raised the banner of rebellion.
"Then what?"
Fang asked.
Chen Xiaoru said: "What's more, my subordinates found out that the emperor did not intend to mobilize troops, and he never told the generals below that he would send troops to support our Black Banner Army!"
This sentence caused another angry roar.
Sun Kaidao was very satisfied, he knew that these people had given up on the court now.
He winked at Chen Qianshan and Lu Fenghou, Fang Jie's two cronies, and then touched Xiahou Baichuan standing beside him with his hand. Sun Kaidao had talked to these three people before, and they stood up immediately after receiving Sun Kaidao's signal.
Chen Qianshan suddenly knelt down on one knee and cupped his fists and said, "Master Hou, we still need Master Hou to lead us to continue on our journey! We are now like children abandoned by our parents, even if we can't hate Parents, you have to find a place to live."
"Master Hou, it's time for us to think about ourselves!"
Lu Fenghou knelt down and said, "The lives and deaths of tens of thousands of horses all depend on Lord Hou alone."
Xiahou Baichuan said: "This subordinate knows that Lord Hou is loyal to His Majesty, but it's not that we don't want to be loyal to the imperial court, but the imperial court treats us as abandoned sons. This subordinate implores Lord Hou to take the brothers to conquer a piece of land. Flag rebellion, only seeking a way out!"
"this… "
Fang Jie hesitated for a moment, looked at the crowd and hesitated to speak.
"Master Hou please decide!"
Dozens of generals in the courtyard looked at each other, then knelt down and said at the same time.
Sun Kaidao stood behind Fang Jie and watched this scene, the corner of his mouth twitched and he said secretly: It's done!
…
…
Fang Jie paced back and forth in the big tent, looking serious. Sun Kaidao stood in front of the map and was marking out the various forces. Soon, the situation became very clear.
"We're here now."
Sun Kaidao pointed to the location of Dazhai: "There are no other forces within a radius of three or four hundred miles. The remnants of the rebel army know we are here so they dare not come here. Five hundred miles to the southeast is Jinyang City. Since Li Xiaoche He is already dead, and the defenders in Jinyang City may not have surrendered. After the imperial court troops break through Jinyang, the next step will definitely be to lay siege to Longxi County, and the Li family is completely over."
"Three hundred miles to the southwest of Jinyang, six hundred miles away from our cottage is the rebel Hou Wu's Shanxi camp. After Meng Wansui was defeated, he returned here with tens of thousands of remnants. Hou Wu's Shanxi camp is blocking Jinyang Between the city and Longxi County, Meng Wansui thought that Jinyang could hold out for a while, so he waited and watched, now that Li Xiaoche and others are dead, once Jinyang is broken, the emperor's next target will naturally be Meng Wansui."
"More than 200 miles south of Longxi County is Mangdang Mountain. Now the tens of thousands of remnants of Yinpo Mountain are working as bandits in Mangdang Mountain. This person's team is nothing to worry about."
After he finished speaking, he glanced at the crowd, and then pointed to the south of Mangdang Mountain: "Huang Yangdao, Luo Yao's left avant-garde has about 200,000 people stationed here now. If there is no accident, he will lead the army to a decisive battle with the emperor." Now, before that, he will watch the emperor and Meng Wansui Yin Poshan fight."
Lu Fenghou said: "Military Master, Luo Yao didn't do anything before, why would he fight the emperor now that his troops have been halved?"
"The battle is changing rapidly."
Sun Kaidao said: "Before Luo Yao didn't fight the emperor head-on, because he wanted the Mengyuan people and Li Yuanshan to join forces to drag the emperor down. He led his troops straight into the Central Plains, but now the Mengyuan people are gone, Li Yuanshan is defeated, and the emperor wipes out the remnants of the enemy." Afterwards, there will not be too many troops, and it is a tired army. Luo Yao is defeated at the beginning and needs a big victory to restore morale, so he will inevitably lead the army to prevent the emperor from returning to Chang'an. As long as the emperor is killed, the court will be in chaos. , he happened to take advantage of the chaos."
"You and I both know that Luo Yao is definitely more than the hundreds of thousands of people he brought with him. Chen Xiaoru, let me tell you about the situation in the southwest."
Chen Xiaoru came over and clasped his fists at the generals: "Generals, before I was humbled, I had been in contact with the Feiyupao that was placed in the southwest. Just before the imperial court's decisive battle with Li Yuanshan in Xiping, Luo Yao's general Ye Jinnan did all the four things in the southwest. The army of nearly one million crossed the Yishui River and entered the south of the Yangtze River. Most of the court's Yangtze River Navy was in the Luoshui River in the northwest, and there was no time to return to defense. Ye Jinnan had already led his army into the south of the Yangtze River at this time, and confronted the imperial court's six guards on Xiangfan Road .”
"Although the emperor was wary of Luo Yao's rebellion, he had carefully dispatched the Jiangnan garrison before coming to the northwest, but he must have never expected that Luo Yao would have so many troops, and the six guards would not dare to fight. If... if the emperor is in the northwest If the news of his death spreads, doesn't the General of the Six Guards have plans of his own?"
When he asked this question, everyone actually had an answer in their hearts.
Sun Kaidao took a few steps forward and said, "So, we now have three options to choose from."
"First, stay here."
He looked at the crowd and said: "I discussed with Lord Hou before that we are not short of food, grass and supplies. We can collect another batch of food after autumn. The safest and conservative thing is to stay in the cottage for the time being and wait and see. Ren Ma and Luo Yao will make plans after deciding the outcome, after all the soldiers are tired, so take this opportunity to rest. More and more people are gathering around Fan Gu, we can recruit some new soldiers and train while recuperating."
"The downside of this road is that the northwest is exhausted. Although we have no worries about food and grass now, we will be short of food after winter and spring next year. If we move again at that time, there will be no accidents. Even if we stay I'm gone, but there is no future for this place in the northwest. Li Yuanshan and the Mengyuan people have been harming here for more than three years, and the common people have almost lost their crops in the past few years. We can survive this winter, but we may not be able to survive the next winter. "
Everyone nodded, knowing that what he said was the truth.
Sun Kaidao continued: "The second way, we take advantage of the opportunity when the imperial court and the remnants of the rebel army are fighting, and lead the army to the east. If we can take advantage of the fact that the imperial court navy is guarding against Luo Yao's people, we can cross Luo Yao's army." If water enters Hedong Road, it is not difficult to take down a piece of land with our troops, but...it is difficult to hold on. Hedong Road is not short of food, and it is also rich, but there is no danger to rely on. Now we have no strength to compete with the court and Luo Yao for territory. "
"The third way."
Sun Kaidao glanced at everyone's faces, and then said slowly: "Take all the food and grass, pass through the gap between the rebels and the court troops, cross Mangdang Mountain, and enter Huangyang Road!"
"ah?!"
This sentence surprised everyone.
"Huangyang Road is also short of food, but it is much better than the Northwest. Luo Yao's foundation is in the four roads of the Southwest. We went to Huangyang Road to make a home next to the tiger's den. But think about it, Luo Yao and the emperor never thought that we would run to that place." The place, and Huangyang Road has natural dangers to rely on. Qingsong Mountain, Cuiping Mountain, and Niutoushan Mountain can all gain a foothold. Most of Luo Yao's troops left the southwest, and the remaining troops were only enough to defend the four southwest roads. When Luo Yao led the army to leave Huangyang Road After that, there will be no forces there. As long as there is no war for a year or even half a year, we can recruit soldiers to hoard food and grass, and at least double the number of troops."
"Although it is dangerous, it is the brightest."
He looked at Fang Jie, but found that Fang Jie was a little lost.
"Master Hou, everyone is waiting for your decision."
Sun Kaidao asked.
Fang Jie looked out the window silently, and suddenly said: "Get ready, go to Huangyang Road after a month's rest. Before that, I have to do one thing."