Chapter 159 Ali

"Ali."

"Here, my lord."

"Go check if those two salted fish are cured yet. If they are, hang them up on the city tower as an exhibition."

"Yes, my lord."

Fan Li turned and left immediately.

Zheng Fan reached out and patted the city wall, saying, "So, what do we do next?"

Liang Cheng said, "My lord, we've actually gone quite deep."

The land of the Three Jins is vast, but the Cheng Kingdom, which was originally the Si Tu family's sphere of influence, is less than half of the Three Jins. In terms of size, it's larger than either the He Lian or Wen Ren families individually, but smaller than the two combined.

The Wang River almost vertically cuts the Cheng Kingdom from the Tianshan Mountains, dividing it in two. Currently, the Shengle Army has crossed the Wang River and penetrated a hundred miles, which can be said to be quite far east.

Standing beside him, A Ming said, "Isn't that obvious?"

Zheng Fan nodded, saying, "I understand."

A Ming: "........."

A Ming suddenly felt that after Fan Li left, a new intellectual depression had appeared here.

When a person who is usually cool and indifferent realizes that they suddenly can't join the topic and can't understand what their companions are talking about, they tend to panic a little and feel very uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Zheng Fan continued immediately:

"In theory, it's possible, but if we go too far, will it have any adverse effects?"

Liang Cheng smiled and said,

"My lord, the Jingnan Marquis regards us as a surprise force to penetrate the river. He doesn't regard us as a specific tool, nor does he place any specific target restrictions on us.

His only requirement is that we preserve ourselves as much as possible and survive in Jiangdong, and that we maintain the effect of our existence as much as possible.

So, in theory, no matter what kind of large-scale battle is about to take place at Wang River, this force of ours should not appear as a bargaining chip on the Jingnan Marquis's desk."

The meaning is very simple: since it is a surprise force, it may have a surprising effect, and it may not make a splash at all.

This is a variable. According to the Jingnan Marquis's strategy, once he has made this move, he will not naively expect this piece to have any surprising effect when facing the opponent head-on.

Therefore,

Even if the Shengle Army is just idling and sunbathing in Fengxin City, it won't have any impact on the battle situation at the front.

A Ming continued with his indifferent face, while reaching out to take out his wine skin, taking a sip to relieve his embarrassment.

He,

Still didn't understand.

Zheng Fan stretched out his arms, yawned, and said to Liang Cheng:

"Up, or down?"

"Going down won't have a particularly good effect."

Zheng Fan clicked his tongue and said, "But going up might be a one-way trip."

A Ming felt that the two of them must be doing it on purpose, and what surprised A Ming a little was that, unconsciously, Zheng Fan had actually grown to this level, and he could even make himself feel... a profound sense of incomprehension for a moment.

Then,

A scene that made A Ming very speechless appeared,

Zheng Fan turned his head to look at A Ming,

And asked:

"A Ming, what do you think?"

I don't even understand what "up" and "down" mean, how can I have an opinion?

But he couldn't act like the idiot Fan Li, scratching his head and admitting that he didn't understand.

A Ming could only say:

"Actually, both make sense, we still have to listen to your decision, my lord."

Immediately,

In order to escape this awkward vortex,

A Ming said:

"My lord, the wine skin is a little empty, I'll go get some blood."

After a great battle, blood is the cheapest drink.

Staying here any longer would be too embarrassing, so he could only make a bloody escape.

Zheng Fan continued to say to Liang Cheng:

"Going down to the Chu border for a stroll is actually the safest."

"But my lord must know that since the Qingluan Army was able to come over, it proves that the passes originally used by the Si Tu family to defend against Chu have been occupied by the Chu people.

Even if our army goes south, let alone whether we can pass the pass, even if we do, it will be difficult to gain any advantage by going deep into Chu.

Of course, if it's just to show our faces and boost our reputation, the effect might be good."

"I understand. It would be embarrassing if we were directly blocked by the walls of Chu. Moreover, the Chu army only sent the Qingluan Army to participate in this battle. Although there is still infighting in the country, it is at least not as chaotic and overwhelmed as it seems on the surface."

"Yes, going up, approaching the Snow Sea Pass, would actually have a very large deterrent effect on the wildlings. What the Wildling King is doing now is recruiting warriors from the snowy plains to go south and join his front-line troops, while transporting the looted population, wealth, and other things back to the snowy plains. Although he says that this is the homeland and birthplace of their holy race, so they must defend it, everyone will do a break-even business.

The Chu people's Qingluan Army, occupying the Yupan City line, is more like a nail, nailed there, playing a huge role in restraining the battlefield. Your subordinate thinks that even if we cut off the Chu people's supply line, the Chu army in Yupan City probably won't come out. They themselves are actually like us, a lone army.

As for whether the Chu state will send reinforcements, your subordinate thinks that unless the front-line situation is completely collapsing or the new Chu emperor has pacified the internal affairs of Chu, the Chu people should not send more troops north in the short term.

Therefore, our role in holding here may not be that great."

Hearing this, Zheng Fan nodded, took over the conversation, and continued:

"Moreover, going up has another advantage: aren't the wildlings constantly transporting the things they've looted back to the snowy plains? Then let them work for us, and we'll intercept them."

When it comes to looting, there are really not many people more professional than the wildlings. Because there is a Sword Saint in the team, and the two factors that the Yan Emperor wants to rule here rather than completely destroy it make Zheng Fan have to pay attention to his manners even if he wants to loot, but the wildlings are different. The wildlings completely scrape the ground three feet, and it is said that they even dig up tombs.

If these things can be snatched back, then for a long time to come, Shengle will not have to worry about things like financial crises.

After accumulating the stolen goods to a certain extent, they can find a place to bury and hide them. There is Xue San, a master of mechanisms, in the team, and Liang Cheng, the big zombie, is often buried,

So their ability to hide things is definitely top-notch.

Even if tomb raiders and treasure hunters want to come and find them, it would be extremely difficult.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that the Yan Kingdom will eventually defeat the wildlings and recover the entire Jin territory, but Zheng Fan still believes that with the Jingnan Marquis in command, this battle will definitely be won.

Going up, there is a high probability of encountering the wildling army. If you stab the wildlings in the rear, the wildlings' reaction will definitely be very strong.

But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Most of the deals that really make a lot of money require you to hang your head on your belt before you can do them.

However, Zheng Fan still suggested:

"Let's stay in Fengxin City for three days first. One is to let the troops rest, and the other is to see the reaction from the Chu people."

"My lord is wise."

"Okay, that's it. But notify Xue San, he can take action first, turn north, and scout the area for the army."

"Your subordinate understands."

Zheng Fan let out a long sigh and said leisurely:

"Although I've already decided on the route, I'm still a little worried. Are we being too rash?"

"We have nothing to lose. Even if we really lose, we can make a comeback. My lord, don't worry. Just treat it as a game. To put it bluntly, even if the Yan Kingdom is gone, we can take off our armor and return to our fields. At worst, we'll open an inn again."

"Hehe, don't say it, sometimes I really think that if I had continued to run the inn in Tiger Head City, life might not have been as exciting as it is now, but it would have been peaceful."

"But we might have died in the labor camp."

The mood of reminiscing was destroyed by this sentence.

Zheng Fan nodded,

And said with emotion:

"Yeah."

Seeing that Zheng Fan was not speaking, Liang Cheng turned around to leave, but Zheng Fan spoke again:

"A Cheng, from now on, I'm counting on you."

Liang Cheng was slightly surprised, turned around and looked at Zheng Fan, and said:

"My lord, what are you talking about?"

"I don't think you are worse than Tian Wujing, whether in strength or in leading troops."

This is the truth; each Demon King has a terrifying upper limit.

Liang Cheng is not worse than Tian Wujing; the difference lies in Zheng Fan, his lord.

Above the Jingnan Marquis is the Yan Kingdom, the Yan Emperor; above Liang Cheng is Shengle, is Zheng Fan.

In terms of strength, Liang Cheng's strength has not yet recovered, and he is still restricted by Zheng Fan.

So, in short, the difference between Liang Cheng and the Jingnan Marquis is that he, Zheng Fan, is frantically holding him back.

Liang Cheng nodded.

"A Cheng, there are only so many troops right now. As always, you have the final say on how to fight. What I said earlier about hype and packaging, the most fundamental thing is to speak with solid results.

A hundred years ago, the founding Zhenbei Marquis became famous in one battle. We may not be able to do it."

Liang Cheng smiled,

And said:

"My lord, don't worry. Ten thousand riders are enough to do a lot of things."

Zheng Fan walked up to Liang Cheng, reached out, and habitually began to pat his shoulder,

"Just like what you just told me, don't be afraid of losing everything. If you lose it, we'll just earn it back. Isn't the hard work for the sake of being carefree at critical moments?"

"I understand, my lord."

…

"Burn all the food for me!"

Jin Shuke directed his men.

They had just defeated a small-scale Cheng Kingdom rebel team that was looting food from the east. He didn't know how this team had such bad luck that it didn't run into its companions who had escaped from Fengxin City earlier, and foolishly rushed towards Fengxin City with all their heart. Jin Shuke led his two hundred riders to defeat them with one charge.

He was too lazy to chase them, but the looted food had to be destroyed.

The Fengxin City granary actually received the same treatment. In order to satisfy the eating and drinking needs of the small court, Si Tu Yi's rebel army had not done less damage to the surrounding area. After all, it was a bandit's den. If they wanted to live a life of eating meat and drinking alcohol in large gulps, they had to loot wildly.

There was actually a lot of food piled up in the granary, but food is different from wealth. Wealth is easy to store and hide, but food is not easy to handle, because the Shengle Army was going to transfer. So after leaving enough food that they could carry, all the remaining food was burned to the ground.

They even divided the cavalry into several groups to break into the nearby Wubao (walled villages) and burn their stored grain, trying to bring a food shortage to this area.

These things were actually done without the Sword Saint knowing, but the Sword Saint seemed to have a premonition and had been vaccinated by Zheng Fan earlier, so during this time, he stayed in the army camp to meditate and recover without going out.

Jin Shuke reached out and patted the First Prince's shoulder, and smiled:

"Your Excellency, is your injury alright?"

The First Prince nodded and said, "It's nothing serious."

In the battle to seize the gate, the First Prince was injured. In fact, the injury has not fully healed and may affect his battle, but it does not greatly affect his activities.

After all, he has the physique of a martial artist and is resistant to rough treatment.

Jin Shuke raised his saber and shouted to his men: "Be quick, burn the food well, and then scout north again."

"Are we going north?"

The First Prince has been honestly doing his job as a colonel, and the stingy General Zheng really treats him as a colonel and resolutely does not give him the opportunity to enter the marshal's tent and interfere with his military power.

So the First Prince does not know the general strategy of the Shengle Army.

Jin Shuke replied: "I don't know, but I guess it should be. The general told us to scout more in the north. We have to be careful on the road ahead."

He had to be careful, because going north would be entering the wildling control area.

In the next few days, the First Prince saw the caution of this barbarian general named Jin Shuke. Although he always looked down on the wildlings and scolded them as "b*tch-raised."

But in the real battlefield, every decision he made revealed an extremely clear sense of caution.

The distribution of scouts, the concealment during marching, the arrangements for night rest, and everything else, were all meticulous.

These experiences all came from Jin Shuke's survival in the desert.

It was just that at that time, his opponents were other barbarian tribes or the Zhenbei Army, and now, the opponents have been replaced by wildlings.

While maintaining contact with the subsequent army, they continued to probe forward. Three days later, when everyone was chewing on dry food by the stream, Jin Shuke's face showed a relaxed expression,

And said:

"These wildling cubs may be overjoyed after entering the pass. From what I have seen along the way, they have probably forgotten even the tools they use to make a living."

To a certain extent, the snowfield wildlings are very similar to the barbarians in some aspects because of the harsh living conditions.

But based on what they had seen and heard in the past three days, including the results of trying to ambush two small groups of wildling troops, at least in this rear, the wildlings can really be said to be somewhat unscrupulous and overly careless.

The First Prince silently ate fried noodles, listening to Jin Shuke's analysis. In the past, even if he was demoted to the army for training, he was actually still one level away from the real grassroots.

Furthermore, the Zhenbei Army has always been in a state of suppression against the barbarians in the desert. When you do not have the environment and mentality of a weakling, you really cannot understand and feel some things.

"Your Excellency, a little further north, there is a city."

"Mingan City," said the First Prince.

As the former commander of the Eastern Expedition Army, geographical markers are naturally imprinted in his mind.

"Oh, so that's what it's called. Hehe, it should be a trading market."

The population, wealth, and other things looted by the wildling troops in front will pass through here when they are transferred back to the snowfield. According to the distribution of spoils, each tribe will send escorts here to trade.

Some tribes lack population, some lack ironware, and some lack other things. The spoils are redistributed here;

Then, people from each tribe will continue to transport them back in batches, pass through the Snow Sea Pass, and enter the snowfield.

Seize in the front, divide in the back. This is a very primitive mode of warfare, because one of the characteristics of war is plunder.

Jin Shuke is very familiar with this method, because that's how desert tribes do it every time they unite to attack a place. In the words of Mr. Bei, this is a group of uncivilized bandits' behavior.

Jin Shuke also deeply felt ashamed of this. He realized that he used to be so unbearable.

Fortunately, he had Mr. Bei's guidance, telling them what they should fight for. Under the banner of General Zheng, they will fight for their homeland, for their future, and for their beliefs and faith.

Jin Shuke doesn't understand what beliefs and faith are.

Mr. Bei explained that it seems to mean your children, your wife, such as the worry-free food and clothing in Shengle City, and your beautiful life.

Jin Shuke sometimes wonders, because when he used to fight in the desert tribe, wasn't robbing things also for the sake of his children and wives being able to live a better life? What's the difference between the two?

However, Jin Shuke doesn't think Mr. Bei is wrong. He thinks he just hasn't been able to comprehend the true meaning of Mr. Bei's words. Yes, it must be so!

"Are we going to attack here?" the First Prince asked. "There are no fewer than two ten-thousand-households stationed inside and outside the city."

The wildlings' military system is easy to observe. Each ten-thousand-household has its own unique flag or tribal totem.

As the last barrier of the wildlings before the Snow Sea Pass and the center of the trading market, Mingan City is naturally heavily guarded. Moreover, if the front-line battle is not good, it can also respond to the main force of the wildling army returning to the snowfield.

The Shengle Army has a full strength of ten thousand riders. Attacking a city with twenty thousand wildlings stationed there would be very difficult, because the wildlings' morale and combat beliefs are far higher than those of Si Tu Yi's small court in Fengxin City.

In the Wang River battle, the wildling army forcibly charged into the left-wing army camp and eventually drove the left-wing army off the river. As the commander at the time, the First Prince naturally remembered it vividly.

Moreover, there is also a wildling stronghold not far to the west, only dozens of miles away. Once there is a situation in Mingan City, troops can be transferred to support it at any time.

"Let's take a look first. Since General Zheng is leading us north, he will always have a place to relieve himself."

It is to have a definite object in view.

But the First Prince has become accustomed to Jin Shuke's forced Xia Language (a mixed dialect of different languages).

"I think it would be dangerous if we continue to go deeper," the First Prince hesitated for a moment, but still said.

He abides by his current duty. No matter what ideas he has in his heart, he will not go to Zheng Fan to say it. In an army, how can a colonel casually see the general and talk?

So, some things can only be said to his superior, Jin Shuke.

Jin Shuke turned his head to look at the First Prince, pointed at his nose, and smiled:

"Your Excellency, do you mean that we are in danger, or the army?"

"The army."

"Oh?"

"The news of Fengxin's fall was not concealed at all, because too many defeated soldiers escaped. According to the schedule, the wildlings and Chu people on the front line should have received the news.

Our going north is certainly a shocking move to enter the tiger's den, but the wildlings or Chu people only need to send a force to Fengxin City, and then follow the traces to check. It is not difficult to find out the location of our army.

Furthermore, you ordered us to eat several groups of wildling rangers in the past two days. The wildlings are not stupid. Their military system seems loose, but in fact, they have their own set of methods.

We should have been exposed, and our exposure is actually equal to exposing the army that has been following us behind.

I have observed with you outside Mingan City these past days. The wildlings' looting of Jin territory must not be over yet. After they learned the news that the Jingnan Marquis took command, they will definitely speed up their pace to transport everything they have looted back to the snowfield as the greatest insurance.

But look at it now, outside Mingan City, are there still teams transporting slaves and wealth in and out?

The entire city seems as usual, but it is actually loose on the outside and tight on the inside. This is clearly waiting for us.

And I also judge that there are probably wildling troops in the outer area who have bypassed Fengxin City and are exploring and investigating here. A fishing net should be about to cover our heads.

We are now staring at that Mingan City, staring at the wealth and slaves in that city, but the wildlings may already be staring at us.

I am inconvenient to say these words to General Zheng. I implore you to speak to General Zheng."

In the First Prince's view, Zheng Fan's move to go north was certainly unexpected, but the wildlings are not fools, especially the Wildling King and the several wildling generals under his command are not easy to deal with.

The current Mingan City may be the bait.

Jin Shuke scratched his head, was silent for a while, but said:

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, I can't say these words."

"Why?"

The First Prince has been in the Shengle Army for a long time and naturally knows the atmosphere in this army, an atmosphere where everyone worships and believes in General Zheng.

The First Prince did not have any rejection of this atmosphere, because this has already been the tradition of Great Yan. When the Zhenbei Marquis and his father were acting, how many Zhenbei Army soldiers dreamed of killing into Yanjing and grabbing the emperor's dragon chair for their Marquis to sit on?

It is no exaggeration to say that as long as the Jingnan Marquis gives an order, the soldiers of the Jingnan Army will really dare to accompany their Marquis to "clean up the emperor's side"!

But the First Prince felt that worship and following also had a limit. At least, suggestions can be used.

Jin Shuke took off the water bag in his hand,

And said:

"Because what you said, General Zheng has already told me before our department set out as the vanguard."

"He did it on purpose?"

So, was deliberately killing wildling rangers also on purpose? Was exposing the location also on purpose?

Was it for the purpose of mobilizing the wildling troops in this area to approach and surround themselves?

If all of this was Zheng Fan's calculation, then the situation and dangers faced must have been considered by Zheng Fan.

The First Prince was actually a little fortunate for a moment, fortunate that he obeyed the rules and did not go to the Central Army Commander's Tent to talk to Zheng Fan about this, otherwise, he would really lose face.

"If all of this is General Zheng's plan, then I can only say that General Zheng's art of using troops is above me."

Hearing this, Jin Shuke immediately showed a look of deep approval:

"Our general is not only superb in the use of troops, but also proficient in forging, smelting, architecture, medicine, poetry, books, astronomy, and geography.

There is nothing in this world that our general is not proficient in. It is our honor in this life to follow in the general's footsteps."

As he spoke,

Jin Shuke clenched his right fist and slammed it against his left chest, making a muffled sound.

At the same time,

The barbarian soldiers who were originally resting around also showed serious expressions and made the same movements.

Every time Mr. Bei finished his speech, he would lead everyone to do this action together to express their respect and praise for General Zheng.

As a prince, he would naturally feel uncomfortable with this scene.

Because if nothing unexpected happens, as long as this army continues to develop, Great Yan will have another army similar to the Jingnan Army, which only knows the marshal but does not know the emperor.

But,

The First Prince then felt relieved again,

Anyway, this is already the tradition of Great Yan. Besides, does he need to worry about it?

He has never coveted the throne, so it should be the Second Prince who should be worried.

Or,

Little Six?

————

A bit of writer's block, only one update today, well, this chapter still has a lot of words.