Chapter 971 War Drums!

The continuous rain finally stopped.

Although the ground was still muddy and wet, the haziness that made everything in front and around seem to be "holding a pipa, half-veiled" was gone.

However,

Whether she was there or not, by this point, it really didn't matter anymore, because no matter how much you dragged your feet, you had reached the stage where the Overlord had to force himself on the bow, no matter what.

"Boom!"

A team of cavalry lassoed the fence and then pulled it in the same direction. The fence, which wasn't very sturdy to begin with, was directly pulled to the ground.

Immediately afterward,

The remaining cavalry rushed into the military camp. However, everyone came in with great enthusiasm, but that enthusiasm quickly faded, becoming instantly dull.

Because the military camp seemed large from the outside, with fluttering banners, but it was extremely empty inside, a completely empty camp. Only some laborers-like Chu people huddled together, trembling in the face of the menacing Yan army.

The real Chu army was actually pitifully small.

Perhaps, only in the first few days of contact between the two sides were there frequent small-scale skirmishes. After that, the Chu army was like a paper figurine with holes, soaked and rotten in the rain, invisible and unrecoverable.

Liang Cheng sat on his pixiu,

Tian Tian and Chen Xianba were also riding their respective pixiu, staying on either side of Liang Cheng.

The fur of the pixiu under Liang Cheng had begun to show black crystallization, making it seem aloof in front of the two pixiu, while the two ordinary pixiu next to it seemed cautious.

Just like their masters.

Although both Tian Tian and Chen Xianba idolized the Prince, as people in the military, they naturally understood the status of General Liang Cheng in the army.

Moreover, the General himself was also one of the gentlemen, but the Prince's Palace rarely called him that.

Although there were rumors that the General was a disciple of the Prince, personally trained by the Prince as a military general, these were not things that Tian Tian and Chen Xianba needed to consider.

When Liang Cheng was here, they immediately became extremely docile and obedient.

The Chu army camp in front of them had been captured. Similar scenes were happening constantly along this north-south direction. Except for occasional small-scale resistance, most of the military camps were simply stormed in this way.

"General, the Chu people are indeed putting on a show." Chen Xianba said something useless.

"Yes, that's right." Tian Tian also echoed with something useless.

Liang Cheng glanced at them, of course knowing what they were thinking, and shook his head directly:

"Don't even think about it."

"General, I..."

"There aren't enough troops. I only brought ten thousand cavalry with me this time. The Yan army in your hands, plus the Chu army that you've plundered and brought over, is much larger than my force."

Chen Xianba immediately said, "But General, we have more heads, but if we fight, we can only send more heads. Xie Zhuyang's main force is in the southwest. If we don't go after him now, what if that old fox runs away?"

"That's the Xie family army, and they haven't been defeated. If you go after them, they'll counterattack."

"And Gou Shuai's savage army can respond..."

"The savage army has been struggling for so long, how much strength is left? Xie Zhuyang is a Pillar of the State, that's true, but if the Chu Kingdom is gone, how much is this Pillar of the State worth?"

Liang Cheng looked at Chen Xianba, whom his master had praised as the seed of the next generation of famous generals.

In fact, Liang Cheng agreed with this point, and he knew Chen Xianba even better than his master did.

"You two entered the Sansuo and Liusha prefectures in advance to seize territory. This was the prelude.

I led ten thousand cavalry and spent two months repeatedly pulling and creating the impression that a large army was heading west. This was the foundation.

The scenes before our eyes are the development.

We've done what we should do. The rest is at the Wei River, with the Prince.

Xie Zhuyang himself is prepared to use himself as bait and die. For him, continuing to live well is harder to accept than killing him.

Furthermore, my ten thousand cavalry are now scattered. It's impossible to gather many of them in a hurry. You also said that the troops under your command are uneven and difficult to rely on in a real crisis.

First gather the troops, move closer to the savage army. There are some supplies in the team that can help the savage army meet their immediate needs."

Speaking of this,

Liang Cheng rarely comforted Chen Xianba:

"In the early years, we were hungry wolves, biting a piece of meat and refusing to let go even if we died. Now, as the Prince said, this is a rich man's war that has been accumulated over many years. We can take it easy.

Xianba, Tian Tian,

Times have changed. The days when our heads were tied to our belts, and it was either life or death, are over.

Blindly seeking ruthlessness, speed, and perfection will also lead to a disadvantage."

Tian Tian and Chen Xianba clasped their fists together:

"Your subordinate has been taught."

One of the young generals went to gather the troops, and the other went to organize the transportation of supplies.

In fact, their previous ideas were not wrong and were not unfeasible.

First, use a cavalry force to forcibly rush to pursue Xie Zhuyang's main force, and then wait for the main force of the savage army to encircle them. There was a chance to intercept them before Xie Zhuyang's main force returned to Guyue City.

Although there were many uncertain factors, generals were certainly familiar with this.

Taking a certain risk to get Xie Zhuyang's head and trying to annihilate the Xie family army was a worthwhile deal.

With the abilities of Chen Xianba and Tian Tian, giving them a small number of elite cavalry would allow them to achieve a war-constraining effect. Liang Cheng had no doubts about this, not to mention that the Xie family army was currently in a state of being cut off from north to south, making it an excellent opportunity to defeat them one by one.

But there was one thing that Liang Cheng couldn't say clearly.

That was that the morale of the savage army was, without accident, extremely low.

The reason for the low morale was not the continuous rain, not the panic of being "surrounded," and not the lack of food and hunger.

The root cause was that the commander of the savage army, the former Savage King, deliberately let go and watched indifferently, even "deflating" his own army.

If the savage army was really a desperate army seeking survival, suddenly seeing reinforcements appear and discovering that the so-called "encirclement" was fake, they would surely erupt with blood and courage again, howling and continuing to chase after the Chu army.

But what about now?

Liang Cheng knew that the Savage King was not a god who could deliberately bring the morale of the army to a low point and then pull it to a peak in an instant.

Therefore, at this moment, securing a profit was actually the most worthwhile deal.

It was just a little regrettable...

Liang Cheng couldn't help but look east.

He wasn't there.

……

Reinforcements appeared. Although the number was small, they brought the much-needed food. The savage army immediately erupted in cheers, but there was also a trace of exhaustion in these cheers.

Gou Moli stood outside the command tent, watching this scene, and could only laugh self-deprecatingly, then reach out and rub his face vigorously, sighing:

"It's difficult."

Silence surrounded him.

Gou Moli looked through his fingers at the Sword Saint sitting there.

"Hmm hmm hmm~"

The Sword Saint ignored him.

"Hmm hmm~ hmm hmm~"

Gou Moli twisted his butt and stomped his foot.

The Sword Saint turned his face away, unable to watch, but still said:

"Where is the difficulty?"

"Hehe."

Having received the desired response, Gou Moli immediately said with a smile:

"The difficulty lies in one, forcibly suppressing the generals from choosing to break through on both flanks, because I'm afraid that Xie Zhuyang doesn't have enough troops, and that the so-called encirclement, the so-called Chu reinforcements, are just fancy tricks. If one of my troops accidentally breaks through, hey, it'll be a direct stab. What am I supposed to do then?

Wouldn't I be embarrassed? Wouldn't Xie Zhuyang be embarrassed too?

Am I supposed to break through or not?

So, I have to find all sorts of real reasons, plus my prestige, to forcibly suppress them. But they are clearly right."

"What about the second?"

"The difficulty in the second lies in the fact that the Chu army to the north is clearly part of the Xie family army. Although we haven't been able to capture them for a long time, the offensives are all organized by my own generals.

I deliberately don't go myself,

And I deliberately have to stagger their offensive times,

As much as possible, without causing a reaction from the people below, I have to give the other side more time to breathe, so they don't accidentally collapse on me.

I can't personally go into battle, and I can't boost my own morale. I have to take it easy, restrain myself, and deliberately pretend to be clueless, making the soldiers' morale even lower, even lower.

Oh, it's difficult.

Some people think it's difficult to win a battle, but for me, losing a battle is also quite difficult."

"Anything else?"

"Anything else? Actually, there's nothing else. The main thing is that Xie Zhuyang knows that I'm deliberately being surrounded by him, and I also know that Xie Zhuyang knows that I'm deliberately being surrounded by him.

Thankfully, Xie Zhuyang is acting with me.

Do you think it's interesting?

This play,

Is actually being performed knowingly by the generals of both sides. If there's a flaw somewhere, or a mistake somewhere, both sides have to work together to fix it, so that this play can continue to be performed well.

It's a pity,

It's a pity,

The biggest tragedy of the Chu people is not the lack of elite soldiers, but the lack of strong generals. In recent years, too many talented commanders have been lost, and now they have a shortage of talent in their country. Hey, they can't get up.

To put it bluntly,

This battle, this play, depends on who's directing it.

It's not the most difficult here for me. Xie Zhuyang is wholeheartedly using himself as bait, which is not very difficult either. My control over my troops and his control over his troops are both about life and death.

The most difficult thing

Is the direction of the last big play on the periphery.

Using a small number of troops to create the momentum of trampling down a chain of camps, taking advantage of the torrential rain to create a magnificent scene of more than 200,000 troops.

This is the real expert, the expert!

Only those who have reached the pinnacle of the art of war can do it, can achieve it!

If I'm not mistaken, it should be our General Liang who has come in person.

Only he can have such military capabilities.

What's this called?

This is called clout!

The wealthy war that the Prince spoke of is not just about having enough food and equipment.

But...

But I'm just lying here quietly, watching you make your move.

I don't need to do anything extra.

You make a move, and I'll counter it. You make your move as you please, and I'll counter it as I please.

Tsk tsk tsk,

Not to mention our Prince, I, Gouzi, have never fought such a wealthy war in my life."

"So, is this called getting to the point?" the Sword Saint asked, "In the end, it comes back to flattering him. You should write a memorial. I won't pass on these words."

"This is really not flattery. I'm saying, what kind of person do you think our Prince is?"

"This is really hard to say."

"Everyone sees a different peak, hehe.

Actually,

This whole arrangement is the Prince's work. He didn't say it explicitly, but I understood what he meant."

Gou Moli's gaze fell on the set of porcelain dolls,

"What do you think is a real genius? From the perspective of you cultivators, a spirit child? A sword embryo? These are what count, right?"

The Sword Saint shook his head and said, "It's not that absolute."

"Do you think you're a genius? Don't compare yourself to others. Just compare yourself to your past self."

"Not really."

"You're being modest."

"I just don't want to cooperate with you anymore."

"Hahahaha." Gou Moli opened his mouth and laughed. He had already seen the two young generals riding pixiu coming towards him, so he quickly said:

"What is a genius?

You can think about it,

In my opinion, a real genius is just like our Prince.

He works hard to do something, and he can always make progress."

……

On the wall of the military camp,

There was a large recliner placed there.

Zheng Fan leaned back in it, wearing a black python robe that Si Niang had personally woven.

It was very smooth to the touch and extremely warm.

In the charcoal basin in front of him, charcoal was constantly burning.

The darkness of the night was also isolated here... no, it was repelled.

Zheng Fan was dozing off,

In this brief dream, he seemed to relive the past for a moment.

The world all said that the Regent of Great Yan was a disciple of the Prince of Jingnan, and they firmly believed it.

Only Zheng Fan knew that for a long time, this had been a joke.

The joke was in his surprise when he killed someone for the first time in the desert, and the joke was in his memorizing the answers from Liang Cheng in advance and then going back to Tian Wujing to recite them.

So, he was always timid, and sometimes he inevitably hesitated. On a chessboard, a move could mean life or death for a large area. He wasn't even afraid of charging into battle, but he was more afraid of taking responsibility.

The Three Kingdoms War of that year was him being forced to act in order to subvert the situation.

But... what about this time?

If the world were to hear the true thoughts in the heart of this Regent of Great Yan at this moment, they would cough up a mouthful of blood and die. Those famous generals and heroes who had died at his hands might even rise from their graves because of this.

Because what this Regent was thinking now was:

I think I've finally learned how to fight a war.

Unfortunately, this nap didn't last long.

A Jinyi guard ran up in a hurry, knelt on one knee, and reported:

"Your Highness, the Chu army opposite us has moved!"

The Prince slowly opened his eyes,

Yawned,

And said:

"Oh."