***
Twenty thousand troops, with a large flag bearing the Chinese character "Qin", rumbled out of Changsha's east gate;
Qin Mu stopped the carriage by the roadside, lifted the curtain and looked at the team moving forward, frowning. After all, they were just ten days old recruits, and the whole team looked very disorganized. Qin Mu was really unsure about commanding such an army to fight.
Among the 20,000 people, only 500 were veterans that Qin Mu brought with him from Ganzhou. Feeling deeply troubled, Qin Mu had to give an order to Huang Lianshan beside the carriage: "Pass on my order and order Su Jin to lead the cavalry south immediately to join me."
"Yes, sir." Huang Lianshan responded and rode away on his horse.
Inside the carriage, Zhuge Min, He Liang and Li Yuan were huddled together, discussing over a crude map. They had learned a lesson about Qin Mu's style of doing things this time; the army had already left the city, but the marching route and ambush locations had not yet been finalized.
However, Qin Mu had his own ideas. Zhang Xianzhong had left behind all his baggage and was marching very quickly. Time was of the essence.
Furthermore, when marching and fighting, plans often cannot keep up with changes. The plans that you have discussed at home are often not effective when you go out. At this time, the wisest thing to do is to lead the army to the eastern front first, and then formulate a detailed battle plan based on the actual situation found by the scouts.
Zhuge Min pointed at the map and said to Qin Mu, "My lord, although Zhang Xianzhong has abandoned his baggage, he still has an army of more than 100,000. Going north from Liling, there are many mountains along the way, so they can only take the road of Wangxian, Pukou, Baitutan, Jingang, Dayao, and Liuyang. A hundred miles west of Liuyang is Changsha City, and northwards you can reach Yuezhou. Whether Zhang Xianzhong wants to attack Changsha or go directly north, Liuyang is a place they must pass through. At our speed, we can reach Liuyang in two days at most, but Liuyang is a tiny county with a small city and low walls. It is not enough to support it. Moreover, our army has too few troops. Once we enter the city, we will be trapped to death."
Qin Mu nodded after hearing this. If it was a big city, Zhang Xianzhong would come with a small army and he could rely on the strong city to wear down the enemy. However, in a small county like Liuyang, one could climb up with a ladder, so entering the city to defend it would be tantamount to tying one's own hands and feet.
Li Yuan stroked his short, thick, black beard and asked, "Sir, I dare to ask, do you intend to stop Zhang Xianzhong from coming west to Changsha, or do you want to stop him from going north?"
Li Yuan's question was not without purpose. After all, Qin Mu only had 20,000 new soldiers, while Zhang Xianzhong had 130,000 troops. If they only wanted to stop him from attacking Changsha from the west, Zhang Xianzhong could go north, and in the case of a shortage of food and grass, he might not fight Qin Mu head-on.
But if he wanted to block the road to the north, Zhang Xianzhong would definitely do it at all costs. When the 130,000 rebels fought to the death, Qin Mu's 20,000 new soldiers might not be able to hold out even though they had the advantage of the terrain.
As soon as Qin Mu received the news that Zhang Xianzhong was taking a shortcut to the north, he immediately sent his troops out of the city. He really hadn't had time to think about this issue in detail. Now that Li Yuan mentioned it, he pondered it in his mind and felt that if even the road to the north was blocked, Zhang Xianzhong would still fight back and he might be defeated.
But he was unwilling to let Zhang Xianzhong go north despite such a good opportunity.
He Liang thought for a moment and said, "Sir, there is also Zhang Kewang. Our plan to counter the traitor can only hold him back for a while. He will soon find out that Li Zicheng's army's march south is completely fictitious. Regardless of whether Zhang Xianzhong still trusts him in the future, he will definitely go south with all his strength this time. If things go wrong, we will be attacked from both sides. We have to be on guard."
Qin Mu thought for a while and said, "If we let Zhang Xianzhong go north so easily, his morale will surely be greatly boosted after he meets up with Zhang Kewang. When Zhang Xianzhong leads his 20-strong army south again, Changsha will be in even greater danger. We should first select a few dangerous mountain passes south of Liuyang and set up defenses in layers. We should delay Zhang Xianzhong as long as possible and observe his morale before deciding whether to send the entire army. If we cannot stop him, it will not be too late for us to retreat to the west. This way, we can also buy time for Meng Ke and his men to return north. As for Zhang Kewang in the north, let Ling Zhan hold him off first. If he cannot be stopped, then let Su Jin go north to delay the enemy."
War is like this, you can't always have the best of times, places and people.
If Qin Mu had 2,000 elite soldiers from Ganzhou, he would have a 90% chance of preventing Zhang Xianzhong's 130,000 troops from passing Liuyang. However, once these 20,000 untrained recruits were put into battle, even a god could not predict what would happen. Now he could only take one step at a time.
She was wearing a red dress, red pants, and a red cape. Even the fur of the warhorse she was riding was red, which made Lady Hong look like a burning flame. She led a group of men and followed Qin Mu's army out of the city. Gui San Tiao hesitated for a long time, but couldn't help asking, "Sister Hong, why are we following them?"
When Hongniang heard that Qin Mu was leading his army to stop Zhang Xianzhong, she followed him subconsciously. When asked by Gui Santiao, she was confused. Yes, why should she follow him? Zhang Xianzhong had already suffered a setback and it was impossible for him to occupy half of Jiangnan in a short time. In theory, her goal had been achieved. Why should she follow him
Hongniang looked at the big flag with the Chinese character "Qin" on the side of the road. The black color of the flag formed a sharp contrast with her red dress. "Qin Mu likes black." When Hongniang thought of this, she felt inexplicably melancholy.
She silently reined in her warhorse, and the team behind her also stopped. Xing Laoqi glared at Gui Sandiao, then said with a smile: "Sister Hong, they are all out. Why don't we go and take a look? We have been in Changsha for so many days, it would be good for the brothers to go out and stretch their muscles."
"Yes, yes, yes. We are almost getting sick from being bored. Sister Hong, let's go and take a look."
Lady Hong looked back at Xing Laoqi, Gui Sandiao and the others, sniffed and asked, "Do you really want to go?"
"I really want to go, Sister Hong, let's go, let's catch up quickly."
"Then you go, I don't want to go." Hong Niangzi said and turned her horse's head. Xing Laoqi gave Gui Sandiao a look like a knife and quickly stopped him, "Sister Hong, if you don't go, how can we go? Hey, Qin Mu is coming."
Everyone turned their heads to look, and indeed saw Qin Mu getting out of the carriage, jumping on his warhorse and rushing over here. Xing Laoqi coughed twice and said, "Sister Hong, you...you guys chat first, my brother and I will rest for a while."
"Yes, yes, yes." Gui Sandiao echoed repeatedly, and rode away on horseback with a group of his men.
Hongniang was left standing there in a daze, feeling a little overwhelmed for a moment.
When Qin Mu arrived, he saw her trying hard to keep a straight face and couldn't help but laugh.
"why are you laughing?"
"I'm laughing. You're so young, do you really need to learn how to do a face lift?"
"You..." Although Hong Niangzi did not understand the specific meaning of facelift for the moment, her intuition told her that Qin Mu would definitely not say anything good. Moreover, when she saw Qin Mu's smiling face, she felt an inexplicable anger in her heart, and she wanted to beat him up to vent her anger.
"Stop talking nonsense. The war is urgent. I forgot to inform you earlier. You've come at the right time. Let's go and take a look. All my men in this battle are newly recruited soldiers. I'm not sure of winning. You may have to save my life when the time comes." Qin Mu said seriously.
"What does your life or death have to do with me? It would be better for a pervert like you to die!"
Qin Mu was stunned, as if he didn't understand why Hong Niangzi would say such a thing. After looking her up and down, Qin Mu sighed sadly and said, "Since you say so, I can't force you. Well, you can go back to the city. I can't stay for long. So goodbye."
Qin Mu had just turned his horse's head when he heard Hong Niangzi's angry voice behind him: "Why should I go back to the city? You don't let me go, but I will go anyway. Go!"
A red shadow passed by Qin Mu, and the iron hoofs splashed mud onto his face, forcing him to close his eyes. Li Shi and Niu Wanshan next to him pretended they saw nothing and turned their faces away.
The 20,000-strong army marched eastward in a mighty force. Most of the journey from Changsha to Liuyang was relatively easy to travel, and the army's marching speed was not slow.
Liu Meng was still urging them back and forth. Although Qin Mu came in person, the specific matters of marching and camping were delegated to him. It was also the first time for him to command so many troops. He felt that the responsibility was heavy and did not dare to be negligent in the slightest.
The earlier we can arrive, the earlier we can build a defense line, which means we have a better chance of winning. Twenty thousand against one hundred and thirty thousand, and most of my subordinates are rookies, so I have no confidence!
.(To be continued..)
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