Plan to cut off the nine states

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Six or seven thousand people, not only soldiers who can fight, but also mouths that can eat. Each person's appetite is far less than Tang Weitian's, but together, it is like a bottomless pit that can never be filled with any amount of food.

Xu Chu had no food, and there was no place to buy food during the chaos. The rebels relied on their own dry food to fill their stomachs. When they were thirsty, they smashed ice and rubbed snow. Twice a day, the leaders gathered together, and the first question they asked was: "Military Advisor, does the Jiangdong Army really have surplus food?"

"Yes." Xu Chu answered decisively every time, but he actually had no idea in his heart.

Food and grass were his biggest concern. In comparison, winter clothes, horses, armor, etc. were secondary. A group of hungry soldiers had no intention of fighting.

The Jiangdong rebels stopped by the Rushui River and built camps by boat. A thin layer of ice formed on the river surface, which was no longer suitable for sailing, but the Jiangdong people had to rely on boats to feel at ease.

The ship tower was high and the camp was well-organized. From a distance, it looked almost the same as regular soldiers. The rebels from Jingzhou all praised him and felt a little in awe of "Military Advisor Xu".

"Set up camp on the spot." Xu Chu ordered.

"Aren't we going to join the people from Jiangdong?"

"There is a difference between host and guest. I will go to greet them first, and then introduce you leaders. We will join forces later."

"Joining forces can wait. This food... We have been hungry for a day. Everyone said they were brothers, but when we were starving, no one helped us..."

Although most of the rebels were from Jingzhou, they did not belong to one person. They relied on each other and had to be wary of each other. No one was willing to give their remaining food to others.

Xu Chu smiled and said, "Build a stove and light a fire, and wait for me to bring back food."

The leaders cheered, dispersed, called their subordinates, and rushed to set up camp.

Xu Chu took less than ten people with him and rode slowly towards the Jiangdong military camp.

Zhang Wenbi had been following the team, and he felt something was wrong these days, but the bruises on his cheeks had just subsided, so he never said anything.

Tang Weitian ran over from the opposite side. He had entered the camp an hour ago and announced to the people of Jiangdong that the "son of the Princess of Wu" was coming with troops. Before him, Xu Chu had sent three messengers one after another, and the replies they brought were contradictory. Sometimes they were overjoyed and looked forward to Xu Chu's arrival, and sometimes they were cold and perfunctory, and were full of vigilance against this righteous army that came to meet them.

Tang Weitian ran to Xu Chu's horse, grabbed the reins, and said, "The Wu people said that only the young master was seen, and no one else could enter the camp."

"Then I'll go in alone."

Xu Chu drove his horse to leave, but Tang Weitian stopped in front of the horse, grabbed the reins and shook his head, saying, "I think some of them have bad intentions, so you'd better not go in."

Xu Chu smiled and said, "I'm also a Jiangdong person, what's so scary?"

"Oh, by the way, they call themselves Wu people and don't want to hear the word Jiangdong."

Xu Chu nodded, turned his head and said to his followers, "Wait here, don't move without my order."

In less than five days, Xu Chu collected more than 20 volunteer armies and established a lot of prestige. Although the followers were sent by Ning Baoguan, they respected this military advisor very much and said yes in unison.

"I'll go into the camp with you." Tang Weitian wanted to protect his master.

"No need, it's just a few steps." Xu Chu patted his horse and galloped towards the camp alone.

"Young master, be careful, call me if you have anything!" Tang Weitian shouted.

The road to the camp was downhill. Xu Chu was thinking as he walked. The camp was not well-located. If a large group of cavalry came down the slope, the people of Jiangdong might not even have time to get on the boat.

The camp looked like a large area from a distance, but when you look closely, it was actually a small camp next to a large camp, about twenty in total.

Three riders came out of the nearest camp and soon came to Xu Chu. Wang Dian, who was in the lead, bowed and smiled, "I didn't expect to meet Mr. Xu here after parting in Yecheng."

"If there is a fate, the world will not be too wide. Brother Wang, how are you?"

"Let me introduce Mr. Xu to you. This is Meng Senglun, the general who protects the country and the left chancellor of the Ministry of Shangshu. This is Song Xingcai, the general who protects the country and the general commander of the Western Road."

Xu Chu had already inquired about it. Wu originally had seven families with the surnames of Xu, Wang, Meng, Song, Lei, Tai, and Chang. So he bowed and said, "Don't be polite immediately. I am Xu Chu, and I meet the two generals."

The people of Wu valued their titles. Although their homeland had not yet been recovered, their official titles were not small.

Song Xingcai was a young man in his twenties. He smiled and said, "You just made up your own title. What kind of general is that?"

Meng Senglun was in his forties and had an elegant appearance. From the moment he saw Xu Chu, he never took his eyes off him. He kept smiling and said, "Young Master Xu, you are a young hero. With your arrival, the people of Wu have a master."

Xu Chu loved to hear such words, but he didn't dare to accept them rashly before finding out the details. He smiled and said, "I am a wanderer in the rivers and lakes. I miss my motherland and come here to seek refuge. I hope you will accept me. I have nothing else to ask for."

"Let's go into the camp and talk in detail." Wang Dian led the way.

On the way to the camp, Meng Senglun still glanced at Xu Chu from time to time, and his eyes became more and more friendly.

Xu Chu couldn't help asking, "General Meng... have you met me?"

Meng Senglun quickly retracted his gaze and said with a smile, "Don't blame me, Master Xu. I have met your mother. When I first saw you, I couldn't help but think of my old friends. I was rude, please forgive me."

Xu Chu had already decided to make the most of his identity as "the son of the Princess of Wu", so he was prepared to talk about his mother with others frequently and could no longer remain silent as before, so he said, "My mother died early, and she didn't have time to tell me about the closeness of the old people in my hometown. I wonder what General Meng's name is in terms of seniority?"

Meng Senglun was overjoyed and said, "I don't dare to take it seriously. If we talk about it, the princess and I will be called brothers and sisters."

"Then I'm going to call you 'uncle'."

Meng Silun was even more delighted. Song Xingcai on the side smiled and said: "It's better to leave it alone. If you really talk about it, you will have so many relatives that it will give you a headache."

Meng Senglun said: "Don't pay attention to him. He is a junior, so he wants to call you 'uncle'."

"Hey, Mr. Xu is younger than me, how can he be an uncle?"

"Let's just talk about the preface, not the seniority. General Meng and I will discuss it alone." Xu Chu felt the kindness, so he tried to please both of them at the same time, but in the end he did not call out the word "uncle".

There were few horses in the camp, mostly infantry. When they heard that Princess Wu's son had arrived, they all gathered to watch. Xu Chu dismounted and held his hands in front of everyone. Meng Nilun got ahead of Wang Dian and kept looking away from the onlookers. He dragged someone out and introduced him to Xu Chu, as if he was really his "uncle".

After finally squeezing onto the ship, Meng Sylun was about to hold a banquet. Xu Chu said: "There are still 20,000 soldiers waiting outside the camp, so we don't dare to drink alone here."

Xu Chu was still not too liberal and only tripled the number of six to seven thousand people.

Wang Dian was relatively calm, and first persuaded the irrelevant people to leave the cabin, and then said: "Master Xu is right, there is no rush to get rid of the wind and dust, you have to solve the immediate matter first."

The three Wu generals looked at each other, and Meng Nilun sighed softly, "Let me tell you. Mr. Xu is not an outsider, so I won't hide it. The Wu army is divided into nineteen teams, each with its own generals. I am one of the teams here." , although everyone is under the banner of Wu State, they do not belong to each other. "

Wang Dian interjected: "The nine teams led by the children of the Seven Clans are relatively united, but the other ten teams are troublesome. Their leaders are not from the high-ranking families of our Wu Kingdom. They claim to be Wu Jun, but they refuse to accept the leadership of the Seven Clans. Instead, they want to fight with them." We are on an equal footing.”

Meng Senglun said: "In extraordinary times, we don't pay attention to these things. To be honest, our nineteen teams of Wu troops were driven here by the officers and soldiers..."

Song Xingcai started shooting the case, "Why did General Meng gain other people's ambition and destroy his own prestige?" The children of the seven tribes raised their arms and the soldiers and people of Wu responded. In ten months, they gathered 100,000 troops and fought with the officers and soldiers for dozens of battles. Although there were defeats , there is also a chance of victory. The Jiangdong officers and soldiers were hunkered down in the city and did not dare to come out, so we took the boat to the west to avenge the Wu Emperor by breaking through the eastern capital, and then use the remaining power to pacify the Wu Kingdom. "

Meng Silun chuckled and said: "That's okay. In short, all the soldiers of the Wu Kingdom are here. There is no way to go back unless the east capital is captured."

Xu Chu understood as soon as he heard that the "uneasy good intentions" mentioned by Tang Weitian were probably the other ten battalion soldiers. They simply did not show up, so he smiled and said: "Going from the west to the east, it is indeed a clever plan. I wonder who came up with it?" "

Meng Senglun said: "It was mainly General Song's idea. After everyone discussed it, we all agreed."

Song Xingcao sneered and said: "Everyone agreed when we were in Wu State, but when we got here, they all blamed me alone. The soldiers are very fast, and the army is trapped here. They don't dare to go further. They consume food and grass every day. Instead, they talk about my ideas." No, it’s really… hum.”

Wang Dian said: "Just say a few words. It is said that the World Army and the Jinyang Army have already fought with the officers and soldiers. Let's wait and see for a few more days and choose an opportunity to join the battle."

The more Song Xingcai talked, the angrier he became, "When the news comes here, it will either be a great victory for the Northerners, or the officers and soldiers will quell the rebellion. How will it be the Wu army's turn to participate in the war? Winter has arrived, and if this continues, the Wu soldiers will not fight a single battle. Half of it will freeze to death first.”

Meng Nilun and Wang Dian spoke softly to comfort each other, and Song Xingbo finally calmed down and said to Xu Chu: "If Mr. Xu is made to laugh, the Wu army will no longer be as brave as before."

Xu Chu said: "I see that the Wu army camp is very organized, with nineteen battalions connected. Someone must assign positions, right?"

Xu Chu had already made a judgment in his mind that none of these three people were the "leaders" of the Wu army.

The three of them looked at each other again, and it was Meng Nilun who spoke again, "Everyone has indeed recommended an 'Emperor Wu'."

Song Xingcai showed an angry look again, "A man surnamed Xu appeared out of nowhere and claimed to be the grandson of Emperor Wu. No one in the seventh surname recognized him, but the minor surname in the tenth camp was willing to regard him as the leader and call him Emperor Wu. We accept it for the time being. But I didn’t think he was really the Emperor of Wu. When I regain the Kingdom of Wu in the future, I must find the real prince and grandson.”

The Xu surname was originally the head of the Seven Clans. When the Wu Kingdom collapsed, they were massacred and almost uprooted. Although the Wu people still talked about the Seven Clans, there were actually very few people with the Xu surname among them.

Xu Chu stood up and said, "Thanks to the three of you, I am a native of Wu. Xu is not talented, so I am willing to offer a plan that may resolve the deadlock."

"Master Xu, please tell me, we need someone to give you some advice," Meng Senglun said.

"Not far from here is the city of Runan. The three of them can gather nine battalions of seven tribes to attack the city, seize the city and seize the people. Then they can call the other ten battalions. If they come, they will break them, if they don't come, they will drive them away. From then on, the Wu army can become one." . When the heroes besieged Dongdu, the Battle of Runan was also regarded as the beginning of the Wu army. "

The three of them looked at each other, and Song Xingcao said: "Master Xu, do you think we don't want to capture Runan City? We have sent troops to try it a long time ago. We lost hundreds of people and didn't even bring back a brick. To be honest, our Wu army is not very good at it. Siege the city."

Wang Dian also said: "The tenth battalion of the Xiao clan has more troops, while the nine battalions of the seven clans are worse."

"Please give me a real number. How many people are there in the Nine Camps?"

"The real number is only over 9,000 people, and nearly 30% of them are old and weak." Meng Nilun replied.

Song Xingcai's eyes widened, and he didn't expect Meng Senglun to give him the real number.

Xu Chu smiled and said: "To be honest, the Jingzhou rebel army I brought only has 7,000 people, but it is enough. If the two armies are combined into one, we can capture Runan City tomorrow!"

Xu Chu said a lot of big words along the way, but this time he achieved the best results.