Chapter 1008 The Talent of the Younger Generation!

Night had fallen.

Inside the camp, the bonfires crackled from time to time.

Except for the soldiers responsible for internal and external patrols, the rest of the Qian soldiers were either resting, grooming their horses, or sharpening their knives.

Being able to prepare for war calmly and methodically before a great battle was already the mark of an elite soldier.

At least, for the Qian army, it was a completely different face from what they had been a dozen years ago.

Inside the commander's tent,

Zhong Tianlang stood before a group of generals.

"Commander Zhong, not only has the Yan army from Anhai Town come out, but the Yan army from Donghai Town has also emerged. The Yan people are planning to fight us to the death."

"Yes, Commander Zhong, the Yan army facing us is the direct line of Jin Dong, brought out by the Regent of Yan. They are indeed loyal now, knowing there's a tiger ahead, yet still walking towards it."

Zhong Tianlang tapped his forehead with his finger, leaning back slightly.

In reality, the matter of a lucky punch knocking out a master only happens in other industries, but in military confrontations, it basically won't happen. Although there are similar examples in history, they are often far-fetched.

When an old master is a commander, he can choose to do nothing when faced with an incomprehensible situation, just stay there and watch you perform. Or, you do your thing, and I do mine, and see who gets anxious in the end.

Fighting a war, in general terms, isn't anything strange or complex. Stripped to its core, only two things remain:

One is to attack the enemy in front of you when you have a relative advantage;

The second is a supplement to the first, which is to work hard to gather your advantages.

Zhong Tianlang was born into a military family, and his family education and experience were both rich. Although he had doubts in his heart, he was far from the point of making a mess.

"What I don't understand is, if these three towns of Yan army plan to risk their lives to break through and meet their prince, how are they going to do it?

Break through us?

Even if they really break through us, how will they cope with the Wu family navy's blockade on the Qian River? They can't possibly detour upstream and downstream to cross the river again, right?

If they get there, wouldn't everything be too late?

Or...

Is it really as you said, they completely disregard everything, just to be loyal to that person?"

Zhong Tianlang took a sip of tea,

"The Yan army from Anhai Town came out first, and the scouts reported that they were heading for our right flank. The Yan army from Donghai Town came out later, heading for our left flank.

But this main force of the three towns of Yan army inexplicably stopped in front of us.

First they left the city, then they stopped, and even arched a little further towards us.

I really don't understand what this means.

Does he want to contain my central army to win more room for maneuver for his two flanking friendly forces?

But if that's really his purpose, why doesn't he just defend the city, wouldn't the containment effect be greater, and wouldn't he be able to advance and retreat more freely?

He had to leave the city, give the city to us, and then turn back...

What exactly is the purpose of doing this?

I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I have a guess in my heart, you might laugh when I say it."

"Please enlighten us, Commander Zhong."

"Please enlighten us, Commander."

"That is, I think that the Yan army of these three towns may... be in conflict.

Because of infighting, leading to no one obeying anyone, and finally turning into... a simple sense of, fighting on their own."

"........." The generals.

The Qian generals in the commander's tent were silent for a moment.

They found their commander's conclusion a little... unacceptable.

Infighting? Fighting on their own?

Shouldn't this be... the situation that we Qian people would have?

What, the Yan people would also have infighting?

Zhong Tianlang looked at the reactions of his subordinates, but he didn't feel angry, not even surprised.

Ignoring the one a hundred years ago, the Qian people had really been beaten by the Yan people in the past ten years. The only one that could be counted was the great victory in Liang, but if you really wanted to count it carefully, the Regent directly took Shangjing after that great victory.

These years,

The status of Qian military generals has been improved, the quality of Qian army armor has become better, the soldiers' knives have become sharper, and the military pay has been paid more fully;

But the energy in their hearts when facing the Yan people has not been raised.

Once they get to the battlefield,

Seeing the Yan people's Black Dragon Flag,

Their own momentum immediately weakened by three points.

If they see the Yan Regent's royal flag again, it will fall by another two points;

Therefore, when facing the Jin Dong Yan army, there are basically only five points of morale left in front of the battle.

But the more he saw them like this,

The more Zhong Tianlang felt that he... should be right.

"They are all people, they are all soldiers, and even unlike barbarians and savages, we all speak the same language. And to go even further back, more than eight hundred years ago, we were all from the same ancestor.

What mistakes we can make, why can't the Yan people make?"

Zhong Tianlang stood up from the commander's seat,

He reached out and pointed to two generals:

"I order you to lead five thousand riders and turn back south!"

"This subordinate obeys!"

"You, lead five thousand riders and turn back north."

"This subordinate obeys!"

"I have already ordered the left and right armies to advance step by step, and not to be reckless...

Heh, I think they are scared to death, how dare they underestimate the enemy.

I estimate that they may be dozens of miles behind my predetermined position.

However, that's fine too, as long as they can stabilize and withstand the Yan army's offensive;

You two, then take the opportunity to outflank the Yan army from behind, and swallow these two Yan armies for me first!"

"This subordinate obeys!"

"This subordinate obeys!"

The left and right armies each had more than 20,000 troops, while the Yan army on the two wings only had about 5,000 riders. Zhong Tianlang really didn't dare to be too optimistic about the combat effectiveness of the Jiangnan local army.

Even if they have five times the number, they might still be defeated by the Yan people.

So, he finally decided to dispatch two troops to turn back and encircle them, one was to appease the left and right armies, and the other was to eat the meat that was delivered to his door first.

Immediately,

Zhong Tianlang gave another order,

"Pass down the order, the army will advance before dawn. I want to see if the Yan army in front of us dares to fight!"

This is what a general does,

They are each a gun sticking out on their respective front lines, providing strategic support for their respective flanks.

The meeting in the commander's tent ended, and the generals each took the commander's order and withdrew.

Zhong Tianlang sat alone in the commander's seat,

Playing with a jade thumb ring in his hand.

This thumb ring was given by the late emperor when he married the princess that year.

At that time, his father had just passed away, and then his uncle's life had stained the Yan people's Andong Marquis's title red.

In addition, the Western Army had been transferred north early on, and the family fortune was empty.

It can be said that if it wasn't for the late emperor first marrying the princess and then constantly pushing behind him, Zhong Tianlang, even if he was still in the army, would never have the status he has today.

But it was the late emperor who valued, promoted, and cared for him so much, who he personally led the army to force to abdicate, and even... forced to death.

"Late Emperor... you were disheartened."

Zhong Tianlang still remembered what the late emperor said on the mountain road behind the mountain before his "disintegration."

"But we are not willing, my Great Qian, still has a chance to compete."

Zhong Tianlang muttered to himself,

Then he smiled self-deprecatingly,

"If that Zheng replaced me, where would he need 30,000 troops to resist 15,000 enemy soldiers? I'm afraid 10,000 would be the most."

Zhong Tianlang didn't want to use the difference in his subordinates to excuse himself.

He covered his face with both hands,

Letting out a long sigh,

Said:

"Actually, I am also afraid in my heart."

……

The two armies were facing each other, both were cavalry legions, and the scouts had already fought each other early on. Because the distance was too close, they actually didn't have much secrets between them.

"Judging from the Qian army's posture, they are going to seek a decisive battle with me tomorrow morning."

Chen Xianba looked at the bonfire in front of him, the firelight illuminating his face, sometimes bright and sometimes dark.

When Zheng Man led his troops to attack, he was angry;

But when Tian Tian made the same choice, Chen Xianba didn't have the slightest anger in his heart.

It wasn't because Tian Tian's identity was special...

Although everyone with discerning eyes knew, and even Zheng Man himself knew, that although this adopted son had changed his surname, his position in the prince's heart was definitely far inferior to Tian Tian, who was surnamed Tian.

Chen Xianba understood,

That wolf cub Zheng Man might really go crazy suddenly, but Tian Tian would never... if what he got was really an order to obey his command.

In other words...

Very likely,

What Tian Tian and Zheng Man have in their hands is the same as mine... empty brocade bag.

After figuring this out, Chen Xianba almost had a mouthful of blood in his chest, almost spurting out, but he endured it, although his face turned red.

He still didn't dare to disobey or even doubt the prince's order,

Even if this empty brocade bag made his current situation very... passive.

Originally, the three towns' troops combined, with more than 25,000 men, were enough to wrestle with the Qian army. Although the Qian army had more men and momentum, and this time there were many more cavalry, Chen Xianba was a qualified hunter, and he believed that with his ability, he could find an opportunity to bite off a large piece of meat from the opposite Qian army.

But now, his two flanks were lost, and he was held back by the Qian army's central army.

The strategic space was instantly compressed to an extremely awkward situation.

Tomorrow,

He would either retreat east for a long distance,

Or,

He would have to bite the bullet and start a cavalry decisive battle with the Qian people here.

Chen Xianba was not afraid of fighting hard battles. On the contrary, he liked fighting challenging opponents, which would give him a greater sense of self-satisfaction.

But war is not a martial arts competition,

The Qian people's arrangement was very clear. The cavalry corps led by this駙馬 (imperial son-in-law) and tens of thousands of Qian Jiangnan miscellaneous troops were lying across Jiangdong, blocking his troops.

Then, they calmly used their superior elite forces to take Jinghai City and deal with their own prince.

Even if he only had half the enemy's troops now, Chen Xianba would dare to raise his horse lance and fight.

But what after the fight...

If he was crippled,

What would he use to continue to contain the Qian army, and what would he use to respond to and meet his own prince?

If he really exchanged his life for his at this time, even if one life was exchanged for two, the Qian people would have to wake up laughing!

"General, tomorrow..." The deputy general began to ask about tomorrow's arrangements. At this time, it was time to prepare. Whether to fight or retreat, arrangements had to be made in advance.

Chen Xianba shook his head,

Looking at the bonfire in front of him, he added a piece of firewood to it,

Immediately,

He stood up,

Said:

"If we retreat, then my two stupid younger brothers will be completely surrounded by nearly 100,000 Qian people.

Pass down the order,

Prepare food early tomorrow morning,

Add cured meat."

……

Flowers bloom in threes, each representing a different aspect.

Zheng Man, in a fit of anger, led his troops westward.

He would not rely on his troops to directly clash with the Qian army's central army, but from the beginning, he bypassed the Qian army's central army and pounced on the rear.

Then, he encountered the Qian army's right flank.

The configuration of the Qian army Jiangdong troops was a pyramid shape, with the two trailing flanks being Jiangnan garrison troops.

Due to the limitations of the arms, and the fact that they were facing the Jin Dong army, their speed of advance was naturally slow.

Fortunately, the commander Zhong Tianlang didn't intend to rely on them to fight hard battles. Their existence was to widen the battlefield and to provide two rear bases for his central army, which could really fight hard battles.

In addition, if it was a smooth battle, they could still be used to boost their morale.

But when the situation on the battlefield was not clear, and he had not completely crippled the Yan army, the Great Qian imperial son-in-law did not dare to push them to the front. In case they were defeated with a single blow, it would shake his own army's morale.

Similarly,

The home folks knew their own affairs. As opponents, the Yan army also knew which kind of Qian army was easier to fight.

Originally, Zheng Man planned to lead his troops to give the opposite side a blow first, not to break through the formation, but to drive them away and intimidate them, trying to compress the opponent a little to test their quality.

If he could scare them away, or clearly see that they were really not up to the task, then he could swagger again and make a detour, and walk further south to find a breakthrough to cross the river, and go to Jinghai City to find his prince after arriving in Jiangxi.

But the idea was very plump, but the reality was even more skeletal than the skeletal women that Zheng Man had always disliked.

Undeniably, the Qian army on the opposite side was indeed a... very bad army.

But the problem was that they had a very clear understanding of themselves.

From the generals to the ordinary soldiers, they all felt that they were not the Yan people's opponents, so they strictly followed the imperial son-in-law's military orders, underestimate the enemy and advance rashly?

Non-existent!

Not only that, but their progress was also slow;

In addition, Chen Xianba's active retreat led to Zhong Tianlang having to take the lead, so the "mouth" before and after this "pyramid" shape was pulled too long.

And these Qian troops were slow, but they were sensible, the construction of this military stronghold...

Zheng Man had personally observed in front of the battle that the other party's military stronghold could not be said to be well-organized, and even some places were very illogical. Obviously, this army did not have rich combat experience. If it was the old Qian Western Army or other border town troops, it would be impossible to build such a military stronghold;

But the problem was that they were dense and deep enough;

The fence barriers were really willing to invest in, and the trenches were really willing to put in the effort.

No wonder this Qian army's marching speed was slow, I'm afraid too much effort was simply spent on "building camps step by step."

And after having a warning in advance, no matter whether it was the main force of the Yan army or a partial division, for them, it was a terrible existence, so they had already tightened all defenses early on.

But it was precisely this situation that was the most headache-inducing. They were so cowardly that they didn't give you any chance to take advantage of them. If Zheng Man's military strength was strong enough now, and there were enough troops, the difficulty of pushing down this military stronghold would not be great, but he didn't have many troops under his command, and forcibly going head-on could only turn into spreading pancakes, paying a huge price while failing to achieve the desired effect.

The most important thing was that if he couldn't form a momentum of deterrence, and let these garrison troops suffer a little and vent their anger, Zheng Man believed that when he detoured past, this "turtle" army would definitely follow him slowly again.

And in order to avoid the Wu family navy, he would have to detour far upstream, and he would have to make some preparations at a suitable crossing position before crossing the river. If he couldn't complete the "cutting" with this Qian army, it would really turn into a tortoise stubbornly chasing a rabbit.

Zheng Man valued friendship, but he was not stupid. After all, he had been working under Zheng Fan for so many years, and he had also been trained by Jin Shuke, so it was impossible for him to send himself to his death.

To die, at least you have to die with some value, at least you have to die in front of your adoptive father, so that your adoptive father can hear a sound, right?

Without much hesitation,

Zheng Man gritted his teeth,

Ordered:

"Pass down the order, bypass this Qian army."

"General, detour south?"

Zheng Man glared at him,

Said:

"No, go north!"

……

The scout came to report that the Yan army had withdrawn.

The defending general in the military stronghold breathed a sigh of relief;

In the second half of the night, there was another military report from outside, saying that a large-scale cavalry was approaching, and the main general's heart was raised again.

However, it was immediately discovered that it was the imperial son-in-law's army, and the generals directly cried with joy.

And after the main general of this Qian army cavalry arrived, he was slightly surprised to find that the Yan army did not attack his own right flank, but after seeing the strictness and scale of this right flank's military stronghold, he was not surprised.

Anyone who is not a fool would not want to charge into this kind of military formation, right?

"Pass down the order, the Yan army must have detoured south, we will chase south!"

……

A similar scene appeared on the other side at the same time.

The two Qian army Jiangnan garrison troops carried out the cowardice tactic to the extreme. Tian Tian even felt that his hands were a little sore after seeing this kind of military stronghold.

It's just not cutting people... It would probably take half your life just to clear these fences and trenches and walk over.

Tian Tian looked back and ordered:

"Detour south!"

Similarly, not long after, the Qian army, which had been dispatched to flank the Yan army, finally chose to continue chasing north.

……

The Wangfu's new generation of generals were almost all Chen Xianba, Zheng Man, and Tian Tian.

First, they were well-connected and could be considered the unquestionable direct line, two of whom had been raised since childhood. Even Chen Xianba, who was originally a wild "adopted son-in-law," had long been raised into domestic poultry by the Wangfu with love.

Second, they were talented, after all, Chen Xianba and Tian Tian's talents had been certified by prophecy.

They were young,

They were bold,

They were also talented,

The Regent once told the blind man proudly that he had two and a half Champion Marquises under his command.

Even if Zheng Man was not suitable to be the commander-in-chief and take charge of the overall situation, being a main general and leading troops to detour around the rear was definitely no problem.

Therefore, in a strict sense,

Zheng Fan's "empty brocade bag" actually dragged them down and caused confusion in the command system of these three towns in the beginning;

But these three young people,

Under the premise that their own prince (father) was dragging them down and digging pits,

Relying on their extremely strong talent and敏锐 (keen intuition), they forcibly opened up a new situation.

This was something that the prince could not understand.

Because the prince learned to fight step by step, cautiously, and timidly. Even for several years after graduating, he did not dare to personally try to command the battle, but let Liang Cheng command him and willingly be a mascot.

People who like to stew slowly look at the young men who cook with oil on a raging fire as soon as they come up. While they advise them to know how to restrain themselves, they also envy their vitality.

In the second half of the night,

Tian Tian and Zheng Man did not meet,

But in the dark, after they had been speeding towards each other for a while,

They almost made a decision with a tacit understanding,

To the east,

Turn around,

Since going west was not feasible,

Then,

Let's go home and take a look!

……

Finally,

As the sun gradually rose;

Chen Xianba led his 15,000 troops and had completed the formation,

And when Zhong Tianlang, on the opposite side, also stepped onto his commander's carriage, preparing for a real cavalry showdown between Yan and Qian,

Suddenly, he received military reports from scouts coming from the southwest and northwest directions,

From those two directions, two Yan armies suddenly appeared!

Zhong Tianlang only felt a little funny,

He was amused that he had really embarrassed himself in the commander's tent yesterday.

He had been peeled like an onion by the other party,

Where was there any shadow of so-called infighting?

Yesterday, he had separated more than 10,000 riders who had not returned;

At the same time, the two rear troops, under the premise that they were already slow, were "scared" by the Yan people, resulting in them not being able to reach the designated position today at all.

Therefore, in a sense, the Qian army, which clearly occupied a numerical advantage, was forcibly pulled into a brief window of "evenly matched" at this moment.

Zhong Tianlang didn't feel that the sky was falling,

While ordering the central army to separate out two wings to guard against the two rear routes,

He also ordered a deployment to re-plan and enter Menhai Town to respond in case the worst situation occurred,

He,

Then he got off the commander's carriage, turned over and mounted his horse, and raised his silver spear:

"Come, let's meet."

……

And Chen Xianba also observed the changes in the Qian army's formation,

At this moment,

He didn't even send out scouts to find out, and he didn't say that he would wait for the messengers from other families to come. Just based on the Qian army's changes, he could determine what kind of transformation had taken place in the battlefield pattern.

In the entire Jiangdong, the Yan army only had these three troops, what else could there be?

It was just his two stupid younger brothers,

At the most appropriate time, they killed a carbine!

Previously, it was 25,000 against 40,000,

The advantage was already on my side!

Now, it was 25,000 against 30,000,

Then what was there to hesitate about,

Fight!

Chen Xianba rode on the Pixiu,

Raised his horse lance,

Urged the mount under his crotch forward, to the forefront of the army formation.

A similar scene was happening in front of the other two troops.

As if they had a tacit understanding,

Tian Tian and Zheng Man also stood in front of the entire army, each holding a horse lance.

It was also strange,

The prince, who had never liked to rush forward in battles in his life,

Had cultivated a group of young successors who were bound to take the lead in every fierce battle.

After brewing for a while,

In an instant,

The hooves of the horses were like thunder, and the hissing broke the dawn,

The most elite cavalry legions of Yan and Qian,

On this land,

Opened the prelude to this most hearty and most thorough slaughter!