The reception banquet was very harmonious, and the Taizhou officials were very close to being flattering. It was a great compliment to Xue Poye. For this battle, they were obviously full of confidence. With hundreds of thousands of troops, this number made them feel at ease.
Xue Poye did not show contempt for these officials on the surface. After all, for a long time after that, the supplies provided by the imperial court will be transported to Taizhou. The officials here are the logistics force of the Northern Expedition Army, and they can still be used.
As the commander-in-chief, Xue Poye naturally became the focus of everyone's flattery, and the officials seemed to be contemptuous of Seong Fei.
For this point, Xue Poye also knew the reason in his heart. Most of the people present were civil servants, and in their hearts, he was obviously classified as a civil servant. Civil servants led troops, which made them look good. In the army, the civil servants did not admire him very much.
In the hearts of literati, warriors are always representatives of vulgarity.
From the beginning to the end, Song Fei had a gloomy face, which was very unattractive. Seeing this, Xue Poye couldn't help frowning.
Seeing that the banquet was coming to an end, he saw a general rushing to Xue Mulong's side and whispered something in his ear. Xue Mulong's face darkened, and when he looked up, he saw Xue Poye was looking at him, so he stood up and said in a low voice: "Marshal , Something happened again at the camp."
Xue Poye frowned and said, "What's wrong?"
"Hangzhou Army and Youzhou Army are quarreling."
Xue Poye sneered and said, "Do these guys only know about internal strife?" Standing up, regardless of the banquet going on, he said in a deep voice, "Let's go and have a look, Mr. Xue, please lead the way."
Xue Mulong hastily agreed.
Xue Poye walked to Song Fei's side and said with a smile, "General Song, there are some matters over there in the camp. Would you like to go together?"
Song Fei glanced at Xue Poye, and said calmly: "The commander-in-chief goes first. If the commander-in-chief comes forward, no one will dare to turn the world upside down. The last general will have a few more drinks here."
Xue Poye remained calm, smiled and said, "That's fine."
Xue Mulong wanted to lead Xue Poye to the camp, Xue Poye thought about it, first changed into the clothes of an ordinary soldier, pretended to be Xue Mulong's entourage, and then went with him, he wanted to disguise himself, to see what exactly he was bringing. How about a group of soldiers.
…
"Commander, the Youzhou army is a northern army with a wild temper, while the Hangzhou army is a southern army with many ideas. I really look down on the Youzhou army and often make sarcastic remarks. The Youzhou army will not shrink back and speak angrily. On the other hand, in this way, there will be conflicts from time to time." On the way to the camp, Xue Mulong said respectfully: "When the two parties quarreled, it brought the soldiers from other states to quarrel from time to time, and there are not even half of them gathered here. Month, there have been countless troubles, and two days ago, there was almost death."
Xue Poye looked indifferent, and said indifferently: "Those officials didn't deal with it?"
Xue Mulong smiled wryly and said: "Commander, don't blame me for talking about other people's rights and wrongs behind my back. In the document issued by the Privy Council this time, besides the Commander and Deputy Commander, there are two other generals, one is Liu Xiao from Youzhou, There is Yang Yijun from Huizhou, these two guys are like wolves, they don’t like each other, and their subordinates fight, they not only don’t stop them, but also... hehe, the commander-in-chief will go to see it, and you will know.”
Xue Poye rubbed his nose. Although Xue Mulong's words were not clear, there is no doubt that the two generals must be responsible for these fights.
It is about to face the army of the Northwest. If you take an extremely disharmonious army opposing the North and the South to face it, it is doomed to fail.
At this time, the sky was gradually getting dark, and campfires were lit in the camps over a hundred miles away, and one tent after another was connected together, like stars covering the earth.
Xue Poye rode a horse, followed behind Xue Mulong, observed carefully, and found that although there were many tents at the southern end, they were miscellaneous but not chaotic, and they were lined up in an orderly manner. That's a complete pass.
"Commander, I have also considered that the soldiers from the north and the south might be at odds, so when relocating the place, all the troops in the southern camp were arranged here. Go to the north, and that is the camp of the northern army." Xue Mulong said softly. : "The southern army is headed by Yang Yijun in Huizhou. The camps here are all arranged by him. The lower officials think that Yang Yijun still has some skills in leading the troops. But the apricot forest ahead is the northern and southern camps. At the junction of the two battalions, those disputes often occurred from there."
Xue Poye looked at the soldiers by the bonfire indifferently. In this scorching heat, most of them wore their clothes and put their weapons aside. They gathered around the fire and talked about some extremely sexy and profane topics, and from time to time they let out wanton and debauched words. laughter.
These soldiers looked very loose, without the solemn and murderous look that soldiers should have. At first glance, they looked like a group of scoundrels gathered together.
Xue Poye shook his head, but he also understood in his heart that Dachu had not fought for many years, and the military was loose. These soldiers drawn from all over the country had already developed a lazy habit. If they were serious and murderous, Xue Poye Breaking the night will be strange.
Although Xue Mulong was dressed in the official mansion, the generals along the way obviously didn't feel much about the governor of Taizhou, and they didn't restrain themselves at all because of his arrival. It gave people the feeling that there was just a horse grazing past. He didn't give Xue Mulong the respect and awe he deserved at all.
"Marshal, you have seen it too." Xue Mulong smiled helplessly, "These guys who are not tied down have no dignity, and they don't care about lower officials at all." Sighing, shaking his head and saying : "Commander, this army is really hard to lead. If you face the Yongzhou iron cavalry, the lower officials are really worried...worried about whether they have the courage to fight against each other."
Xue Poye touched his nose and remained silent.
Going straight north, after walking for a while, he saw a huge forest in front of him. Xue Poye knew that it was the apricot forest at the junction of the camps of the northern and southern armies.
The fire there was bright, much brighter than other places, and a large group of soldiers crowded here, cheering and shouting from time to time.
Xue Poye frowned, somewhat puzzled, followed Xue Mulong off the horse, and asked in a low voice, "Why are there so many people gathered here?"
Xue Mulong sighed: "There must be a fight inside."
Beside the apricot forest, there are already three floors inside and three floors outside, nearly a thousand officers and soldiers formed a big circle, Xue Mulong stood outside, and said in a deep voice: "Don't get out of the way!"
Seeing that it was Xue Mulong, the soldiers recognized the official uniform, although they didn't pay much attention to Xue Mulong, but Xue Mulong was a member of the party after all, no one dared to fight head-on, so he avoided a narrow path.
Xue Mulong and Xue Poye exchanged glances, and then led Xue Poye to squeeze in along the narrow road.
I only heard the sound of fierce fighting coming from inside, and some officers and soldiers around cheered, some shouted and cursed. After Xue Poye squeezed in, I saw clearly that in the middle of the field, two shirtless men The man was fighting with bare hands, the two of them were covered with scars, they were exhausted, but they were still biting each other like two wolves.
Xue Mulong whispered to Xue Poye: "Commander, the two sitting are Yang Yijun on the left and Liu Xiao on the right." After speaking, he pointed.
Xue Poye frowned and looked carefully, and saw under the firelight, among the crowd on the left, was sitting a general in armor. Sitting on a big chair, watching the fighting in the arena, his face was stern and his brows were tightly frowned.
This person is naturally Yang Yijun, the boss of the Southern Army.
Behind Yang Yijun, several lieutenants stood, Xue Poye glanced over, quite surprised, because he recognized two of them.
One was the Hu Dutong from the camp in Hangzhou. Once Lu's house set up a dinner party for Tan Ziqing to see him off, and this Hu Dutong was one of the guests that night.
This person's archery skills are not bad, he almost won the first prize in a fight that night, and his temperament is quite straightforward, but Xue Poye remembers it clearly.
The other, an old acquaintance of Xue Poye's, is Ye Tianxiang, deputy inspector of the Ma Jun in the Suzhou Camp.
Ye Tianxiang, wearing a white helmet and white armor, looked heroic, with an extremely serious face, staring closely at the battle in the arena.
Xue Poye thought to himself: "I didn't expect them to come too." Looking to the right, there is also a general sitting on a big chair, five big and three thick, looks like a fierce general, at this time he is stroking the dregs of his beard, A smug smile appeared on his face.
This person is naturally Liu Xiao.
Xue Poye watched coldly, seeing that the two men in the arena were fighting with the last of their strength, and sighed secretly in his heart: "These guys are fighting hard, but they are fighting among themselves. I don't know if they are actually going to the battlefield Can you still have this strength? If the entire Northern Expeditionary Army can use this strength, let alone 100,000 Yongzhou iron cavalry, it will be 200,000, 300,000, so why worry?"
Hearing a loud roar in the field, a man finally hugged another big man by the waist, lifted it over his head, and then slammed it on the ground. painfully.
Immediately, the sergeants on the right cheered in unison, and the sound was like thunder. Liu Xiao also showed a smug smile, stood up, raised his hands, and signaled the soldiers to be quiet, and then said with a smile: "General Yang, it seems that the south People still can't stand the beating, so they can only hide in the bed of the girls and toss about."
Yang Yijun gave the man who was struggling on the ground a hard look, and said loudly: "Liu Xiao, don't get complacent too early. Three out of five rounds have only passed three rounds. As long as we win two rounds in a row, Even if we win, then you will have to lick my boots, haha...!" As soon as he finished speaking, the Southern Army soldiers behind him laughed loudly.
Liu Xiao laughed loudly and said: "Yang Yijun, you are really deceiving yourself and others. My northern soldiers are all famous men. If your subordinates did not trick you in the first round, you should come and lick the boots of this general at this time. Yes. Hehe, winning two rounds in a row, you are dreaming, come, come, let me see what you can do." Turning around, he said: "Zhao Daqing, you go and teach this group of guys who can only toss in the bed of girls. "
Xue Poye could see at this time that in this battle, two generals licked each other's boots as a bet, and sent five people to each other to fight, and the winner was the winner of three out of five rounds.
Xue Mulong leaned closer and said in a low voice: "Commander, do you see?"
Xue Poye shook his head slightly, and said lightly: "Look at what other tricks they are playing!"
From behind Liu Xiao, another tall and thick man stood up, took off his shirt, walked into the arena with a smile, and said loudly, "Who? Who dares to fight me?"
Hu Dutong behind Yang Yijun immediately jumped out, took off his shirt, and shouted loudly: "Master, I will serve you."
Zhao Daqing clenched his fists and said with a chuckle: "Southerners with a body like yours are already considered powerful, but in my eyes, killing you is like killing an ant. Come, come, let me practice my skills." .”
The Northern Sergeant Science cheered and said: "Girls in the South, get the hell out of here. Let's go and fight this battle."
"His grandma, you little chickens from the south, when the time comes to the battlefield, don't wet your pants, haha...!"
"It's not necessary to wet your pants, but your legs are weak, and the Northwest Army can't run until it's in front of you, that's for sure."
As soon as the Northern Army began to curse, the Southern Army immediately cursed back.
"The grandchildren of the north, I tell you that you don't rely on strength to fight a war. It requires brains. You stupid pigs just have no brains."
"It is better to bring a herd of cattle to fight than to let the northerners fight."
"That's good, that's right. If I were the commander-in-chief, I'd just let them fetch food and grass, so as not to embarrass myself on the battlefield."
The scolding battle between the two sides was also very exciting. The northern voice was rough, and the scolding was majestic, while the southern voice was more diverse, and the scolding was even more distinctive.
After the two sides began to scold, some of them who got close even wanted to fight.
Liu Xiao's voice was like a bell, and he shouted, "Don't make noise!"
His voice was strong, but his words fell behind. Sure enough, the northern sergeant stopped yelling, and the southern sergeant cursed a few more times, and then stopped.
Zhao Daqing raised his fists in the field, looked at Hu Dutong, and said loudly: "Come on, don't be afraid, I won't kill you."
Hu Dutong strode forward and cursed: "Grandson, give me a punch." The iron bowl-like fist hit Zhao Daqing in the face, and his punch was really powerful and fierce. .
Zhao Daqing took a step back, threw a punch diagonally, and swung his arm to hit Hu Dutong's elbow.
As soon as the two came up, they did their best and showed no mercy.
Xue Poye rubbed his nose, thinking secretly: "The antagonism between the northern and southern sergeants seems to be very strong. Now that the war is imminent, it will be more difficult to eliminate the conflicts between these people in a short time. Contradictions and coordinated operations will definitely reduce the power greatly, and maybe there will be troubles, I will think of a way to solve this problem, otherwise... there is no need to fight, just surrender to the Northwest Army."
The two guys in the field were coming and going, fighting vigorously, and there were bursts of exclamations from time to time.
Compared to Liu Xiao's relaxed expression, the expressions of Yang Yijun and the generals behind him were much uglier.
Even if Liu Xiao loses this round, he still has a chance in the last round, and if Yang Yijun loses, he will have to fuck Liu Xiao's boots in front of all the soldiers. It's a small thing to lick boots, but this shame, That cannot be washed away no matter what, not only will the southern army be ridiculed by the northern army in the future, but most importantly, Yang Yijun's prestige in the hearts of the southern army will be greatly reduced in the future.
Seeing the two people fighting with all their strength in the field, Xue Poye felt a little admiration in his heart: "There are quite a few fierce generals in the Great Chu Army. As long as they work together, they may not lose to the Northwest Army."
Fisting and kicking, the two of them had already fought like a lily, they couldn't tell which was better, the surrounding soldiers forgot to shout, and watched their fight intently.
After fighting for dozens of rounds, Hu Dutong shouted: "Sure enough!" He turned around and left.
Zhao Daqing yelled wildly, caught up from behind, and slapped Hu Dutong on the back with his palm like a big cattail fan.
With the sound of exclamation, Yang Yijun's expression changed drastically, and he lowered his head. In his opinion, Hu Dutong was obviously no match for Zhao Daqing.
Just when everyone thought that Zhao Daqing was sure to win, they saw Hu Dutong leaning over suddenly, and a ponytail sweep came from his right leg, which ruthlessly swept on Zhao Daqing's leg. Zhao Daqing swayed, already Holding on, he didn't fall, but he saw Hu Dutong flipped his legs back and lifted it on Zhao Daqing's chest.
At this time, both of them were exhausted. Hu Dutong's kick was exhausting the rest of his body. It was like a stone hitting Zhao Daqing's chest. Zhao Daqing's leg was swept away. Hu Dutong kicked his chest, he couldn't hold on any longer, his huge body fell backwards, and hit the ground with a "bang".
Seeing that the plan had succeeded, Hu Dutong was so confident that he turned around and pressed his knee against Zhao Daqing's chest. He swung his iron fist and hit Zhao Daqing on the forehead.
The Southern Army was taken aback at first, and then let out deafening cheers.
Hu Dutong stood up, raised his fists high, triumphantly.
Yang Yijun thought that he was bound to lose this round, but he didn't expect that the situation changed suddenly, and Hu Dutong actually won. He was overjoyed, stood up, and roared with fists: "Damn, I said that northern pigs just don't know how to use their brains, grandma. Fighting is based on brains, not strength, haha... Hu Zong, well done, haha...!"
Liu Xiao said angrily: "|Damn it, it's a deceit again."
"Soldiers never tire of cheating." Yang Yijun said loudly: "Liu Xiao, you have led soldiers for many years, you must not understand this truth, whoever stands at the end is the winner."
Liu Xiao took off his armor and said angrily: "Grandma, there is still a while, I come, Yang Yijun, if you have the guts, come and fight with me alone?"
How could Yang Yijun show weakness at this time, she also took off her armor, and shouted: "Hit me, I'm not afraid of anyone."
The two were about to go out, but they heard a powerful voice say: "This time, I will fight."
In the noisy voice, this majestic voice actually spread far away.
All the soldiers followed the sound and saw that it was a soldier next to Xue Mulong who was speaking, they were all very surprised, but saw that soldier walked slowly into the field with his hands behind his back, and repeated a sentence under everyone's gaze: "This For a while, I'll fight."
Among all the people, Ye Tianxiang and Hu Zong were the most surprised. The two of them recognized Xue Poye at a glance. When they were tongue-tied, they saw Xue Poye's gaze had already looked over and shook his head slightly. Shake your head.
The two immediately understood that Xue Poye didn't want them to reveal his identity.
Ye Tianxiang and Hu Zong naturally got the news that the commander-in-chief of the army this time was Xue Poye, and they really didn't expect him to come to the camp in disguise.
Both Liu Xiao and Yang Yijun cast their gazes on Xue Poye, quite surprised. At this moment, a little soldier stood up, really fucking good.
Liu Xiao immediately shouted: "Boy, who do you belong to? Who do you want to fight?"
Yang Yijun also yelled: "Grandma, you have a sense, are you from the south?"
Xue Poye smiled faintly, and said: "I am from Chu, and there is no distinction between the north and the south. As for whom to fight...!" His eyes swept over Yang Yijun and Liu Xiao, and he said lightly: "Let's go up together!"