Plan to cut off the nine states

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When the news came that the soldiers of Dongdu were approaching Mengjin, Xue Liujia summoned the kings to discuss how to deal with it.

"Let's use the old method. Do you agree?" Xue Liujia didn't intend to ask for too many opinions.

"The old method was taught by Maitreya Buddha. We relied on it to dominate Qinzhou. We even beat General Lou Wen to pieces. Of course, we have to use it this time." The leaders agreed.

Xue Liujia looked at Ning Baoguan, "What does King Ning think?"

Ning Baoguan shook his head, "The old way of fighting is very good, I have no idea, let's leave it like this."

Xue Liujia was very satisfied and turned to Ma Wei, "What about King Liang?"

Ma Wei had no idea what the "old way of fighting" was. Seeing that Ning Baoguan agreed, he naturally could not object. He smiled and said, "Very good, the ancestor king's brilliant plan was divinely inspired, and he will surely win a great victory. He will be able to take the Eastern Capital in a few days."

"Haha, well said, this way of fighting is indeed divinely inspired, and mortals can't think of it. Well, I won't be polite. Although everyone has become king, there is a first and a second. According to the order, my position with King Ning and King Liang is ahead of you. Let the three of us decide."

In the big tent, only three people sat on chairs, Xue Liujia in the middle, Ning Baoguan on the left, Ma Wei on the right, and the others stood. No one raised any objections, even to Ma Wei, and acquiesced to his identity as the "third king".

"I will be in charge of the central army." Xue Liujia continued to make arrangements. Since it was the "old method", there was no need to introduce it in detail. "King Ning... Just like before, lead all the cavalry and find an opportunity to stab the officers and soldiers from behind. I will also give you the cavalry here. You will temporarily hand over the infantry to others for custody and exchange them after the war, haha."

The Jiangshi Army lacked horses, and the cavalry was only over a thousand at most. Ning Baoguan had to use thousands of infantry to exchange for a small number of cavalry. It sounded very disadvantageous, but he did not object and hummed coldly.

Xue Liujia was somewhat afraid of Ning Baoguan. He did not care about his coldness at all. Instead, he was overjoyed, laughed even more happily, and praised him publicly.

Xue Liujia had no fear of the third-ranked King Liang, and said directly: "King Liang will be the vanguard, and the battle will start tomorrow!"

Ma Wei hurriedly said: "Since I joined the Advent Army, I have not made any achievements except for capturing Mengjin. I have always hoped to share the worries of the ancestor king. I am very happy to get the vanguard position. But I have few soldiers. I am not afraid of fighting to the death, but I am afraid that it will ruin the ancestor king's big plan."

Xue Liujia waved his hand, "Can I let you take a few hundred people to fight the officers and soldiers? Before tonight, I will give you 10,000 people."

Ma Wei was relieved, bowed his hands to thank him, and secretly arranged the troops, thinking that 10,000 soldiers should be enough.

Xue Liujia kept his promise. Before dark, "10,000 people" entered the big city through the small town. The number was more than 10,000, but there were not many real soldiers. They were all old, weak, women and children. They cursed and cried, cursing that there were no men in their families, or that the men were not motivated, so they took the risk to go to the battlefield to resist the front. They cried that they were unlucky. They escaped famine but could not escape war. They died on the battlefield and there was no one to collect their bodies.

It turns out that the 10,000 people Xue Liujia mentioned were really 10,000 "people", not 10,000 soldiers.

Ma Wei was shocked and rode his horse against the crowd to the small town to find Ning Baoguan for justice.

"This is the old way of fighting of the Jiangshi Army. The people blocked the officers and soldiers in front, and the army followed. I led the cavalry to attack. I dare not say that I have won every battle, but I have won a few battles."

"But...but..."

Ning Baoguan stood up and put one hand on Ma Wei's shoulder. "The Jiangshi Army was originally made up of poor people. They didn't know how to fight. After the number exceeded five times, they could barely fight with the officers and soldiers. But there were too many people and no one could command them. This way of fighting is also a helpless move. It's not that we don't care about the people."

Ma Wei didn't care too much about the life and death of the people, "What about me?"

"You just need to lead the troops to guard the rear, drive the people forward, and don't let them run back. If the officers and soldiers break through the people, you just retreat, and Xue Liujia will support you."

Ma Wei was stunned for a long while, "I can lead troops, no matter how many people are given to me, I can arrange them in an orderly manner."

Ning Baoguan laughed, "I don't doubt the ability of King Liang, but you can arrange, how can you guarantee that the people under you will obey? The generals are all Xue Liujia's relatives and friends. Even he sometimes can't command them, let alone you and me? Don't worry, although this is not a good way to fight, at least it beats Lou Wen."

Ma Wei was stunned for a while, "The ancestor king will definitely lead the troops forward?"

"According to the rules of the advent army, the first charge, the one who kills the most enemies, and the one who kills the generals and captures the generals will all be rewarded, and other generals will share 20% of the spoils, so everyone is usually very brave."

Ma Wei said goodbye with a pale face. He knew that he was being calculated, but he didn't dare to object.

The people could not live in the city. They were all driven out of the city and temporarily lived in a flat wilderness. The food distributed was more than usual, which was considered encouragement and comfort.

After nightfall, Xue Liujia led the real army through the two cities. He was unwilling to use all his troops, and only brought more than 20,000 people. The city gates were open to facilitate his retreat and escape.

They were called soldiers, but in fact they were just a large group of men who could hold weapons. Nearly half of them held farm tools and sticks in their hands, and they didn't even have a piece of armor on their bodies. There were only three to five thousand elite soldiers with relatively complete armor.

No one arranged the troops, and it was all up to the generals to be self-conscious. After nearly two years of rebellion and dozens of battles, these people had figured out a little bit of the tricks, knowing where the enemy was dangerous and where the good place was to advance or retreat. They fought with each other, cursed each other in public, and wrestled.

Xue Liujia inspected the position. When there was a quarrel, he would dissuade them if he could. If he couldn't, he would beat them with his stick. After an hour, they were somewhat organized and not so disorganized.

The more than a thousand cavalry led by Ning Baoguan are indeed the elite among the elite. Although the armor is messy, it is at least relatively complete. Ning Baoguan has always been known for his strictness, and his advance and retreat are well-founded. Even if the army is broken up, he can still defeat the whole army. He retreated, so he was respected by the soldiers of the World Army and willing to be driven by him.

The three armies rested on the spot. Ma Wei could not sleep. He led hundreds of his soldiers to check on the people who were used as bait and human walls to prevent too many people from escaping.

The result surprised him. Although everyone scolded and cried, there were very few escapees. They were all weak. They did not dare to run and had nowhere to run in the unfamiliar south bank of Mengjin.

Everyone built simple shacks in the wilderness, set up pots to cook, and kept part of the food allocated to make long-term plans.

This isn't the first time they've been pushed to the front.

Ma Wei felt a little relieved. He was very familiar with the nearby terrain. He ran around again overnight and selected a place that was convenient for driving away the people. He was still worried about the battle the next day.

Hundreds of miles away, Xu Chu was also worried.

The imperial court sent another group of envoys, and the deputy envoy turned out to be a princess. Although no one knew which one it was, Xu Chu immediately thought of Huanyan - although there were many princesses, this was the only one who could serve as a lobbyist.

But the whole thing still seems very strange. Why did Tiancheng Dynasty send a royal noblewoman to win over the generals of Jizhou before it was completely defeated?

Guo Shifeng followed Xu Chu back to his residence. When there were no outsiders around, he was finally able to tell the truth: "The situation is not good. Shen Da went to see the generals almost every day and got a lot of promises, but they just refused to leave. It seemed that they had to I won’t make a choice until the Mengjin war is over.”

"Brother Guo, have you seen them?"

"Well, the soldiers of Jizhou were originally prepared by Emperor Wu for many years to conquer the He Rong tribe. They came from different sources. After Huangfu and his son left and Emperor Wu died, Jizhou soldiers were divided into five groups. One was local soldiers from Jizhou, and the other four groups They were mobilized from elsewhere. It stands to reason that there are many soldiers from other places and should have the advantage, but the Jizhou soldiers are the most powerful and are known as the sudden cavalry. They also have the support of local officials and people, so they become the first to be suppressed by the Jizhou sudden cavalry. Even the soldiers from the Ministry and the state dared not leave without permission."

"The general of the Jizhou headquarters is Wang Tiemei, right?"

"Yes, he was an illiterate man who saw opportunities faster than others. Not long after Huangfu left, he seized military power and asked the court for the title of 'General Zhenbei', putting him above all the generals. "

"The imperial court actually gave it to him?"

"Hey, the imperial court thought it could use the title to trick him into going to Mengjin to assist the officers and soldiers."

"Huangfu Kai is back, doesn't Wang Tiemei recognize his old master?"

"Huangfu Kai was exempted from being a commoner by the court, and he accepted the title of king of the Incarnation Army. Wang Tiemei kept him in the army, neither admitting nor punishing him. In short, he had to wait for the situation to become clear before deciding which side to join. "

"If the rebels are defeated, Jizhou soldiers will surrender to the imperial court. If the rebels win, Wang Tiemei is likely to support his old master, which will not be beneficial to Bingzhou or the rebels."

"That's right, but no matter what, the Tiancheng Dynasty will be finished. Even if the Avatar Army is eliminated in Mengjin, it will only be able to survive. Brother Chu, do you know how many envoys there are in this city?"

"It is said to be seventeen times."

"Hey, is that what Huang Greedy said? Huaizhou, Wuzhou...even Yizhou in the southwest have sent people, and more than one group has been sent. The states in the south of the Yangtze River are more divided than in the north."

"Except Huaizhou and Jizhou are adjacent, what are the other states doing to win over soldiers from Jizhou?"

"It's not to win over, but to wait and see. Alas, everyone is waiting and watching, even Shen Bingzhou and the World Army are no exception."

Not long after Xu Chugang left Mengjin, he knew that what Guo Shifeng said was true, "Brother Ma has been named King of Liang by the King of the World."

"I heard that Brother Ma dreamed of it, but he was too impatient. Huangfu's title has not yet been recognized, let alone a former Liang emperor with no real power?"

Xu Chu took out the letter from his arms and handed it to Guo Shifeng, "Brother Ma wrote a letter specifically for you."

Guo Shifeng looked very surprised. He took the letter, opened it, read it, looked up at Xu Chu, read the letter again, and said with a smile: "Hey, this Ma Wei... I really don't know what to say about him. Brother Chu Have you read the letter?"

Xu Chu shook his head, "I don't know anything."

Guo Shifeng put away his smile and the letter, "I have done everything I need to say and persuade. Does Brother Chu have any clever ideas?"

"No, I'm here to play it by ear."

"Well, then you came just in time. The time is coming soon. We have to do another assassination."

"Who to kill? Wang Tiemei?"

Guo Shifeng shook his head, "The envoys of the imperial court, Lan Yong and Zhang Shiyu, one is the son of a powerful official in the dynasty, and the other is the prince of Jibei. If they die in Yecheng, the governor of Zhou and the generals of Jizhou will be inseparable. Only It will be easy to raise the flag to rebel, and then persuade them to join the Bingzhou Army. "

Xu Chu remained silent.