Chapter 1007 A Chaotic Mess

The messages from the two "brothers" confused Tiantian, who was already somewhat dazed.

Although the three towns were close together, they were still some distance apart. Furthermore, the Qian's scouting parties nearby had become more active, making information exchange more difficult and less efficient.

So,

what exactly were these two "brothers" doing?

At such a critical moment, they were deliberately sending such inexplicable messages?

The three towns' beacon fire system was still in place, but it was used to transmit enemy information and couldn't be used for detailed communication.

The root cause of this phenomenon was that Chen Xianba and Zheng Man both believed that they were the only ones who had received the empty brocade sack, and they both thought they understood what the Prince meant. At the same time, they instinctively believed that the others had received clear orders, not empty sacks.

In fact, as early as the Jingnan Prince's era, there was a military system that combined great disadvantages and advantages. That was, the commander-in-chief controlled all aspects of the battlefield in an all-encompassing manner.

Every day, all departments had to send memorials to the commander's tent, from logistics and military supplies to trivial matters like soldier conflicts and punishments, all needed to be reported to the commander's tent, so that the commander's tent had a deeper understanding of the entire army;

The disadvantage was that this would undoubtedly make the various troops below puppets, losing much of their autonomy.

Moreover, because the commander-in-chief's position and prestige were too high, the "deterrence" would naturally be stronger, making the various military leaders dare not cross the line.

Therefore, if the commander-in-chief was wise and divine, the army could be united into one rope, and on the entire war chessboard, they could calmly make moves without worrying about others;

But once the commander-in-chief's quality and level were not up to par, it could easily cause an avalanche effect. At that time, even if someone wanted to turn the tide, it would be a luxury.

The Jingnan Prince had always fought in this way.

As the Jingnan Prince's close disciple, Zheng Fan inherited this system when he went on expeditions.

There was no way not to inherit it, because Old Tian had almost personally let Zheng Fan practice and operate it. After he completed his apprenticeship, he would definitely use the method that was most comfortable and familiar to him to deal with the situation;

Most importantly… the former had never lost.

Therefore,

when the Regent Prince, as the commander-in-chief and the soul of the army, cut off his control over the puppet lines with the "empty brocade sack,"

it directly triggered a series of… chaos in the secondary military command.

When the Chu army went on an expedition, the Qian army went on an expedition, or even other factions of the Yan army went on an expedition,

the first thing they listened to was naturally the commander-in-chief. When the commander-in-chief's orders were unclear or other unexpected factors interfered, the troops adjacent to each other on the local battlefield could easily "rank" and select a new "commander" on the local battlefield.

Titles,

military merits,

status,

family background,

factions,

etc., there were too many factors that could be balanced and divided, forming a new small group.

Even as their commander-in-chief, they often had to spend time appeasing the various factional military leaders under their command to prevent situations where subordinates challenged their superiors.

The old Jingnan army and the current Jdong Army did not have the problem of subordinates challenging their superiors. Even though there were many factions and the ethnic composition was more complex, because a strongman was suppressing them, no one dared to jump out.

It should be known that Zheng Fan, who was the most "self-respecting with his troops" and had no national or overall concept back then, had to take out his family assets for the army to use as long as the Jingnan Prince issued a royal order, which was enough to show how docile other generals were under this military centralization system.

Therefore,

the situation that emerged was that

Jin Shu could never overstep his authority to command Li Chenghui;

If Gou Moli hadn't been for the timely appearance of the Sword Saint on the battlefield in front of the Gu Yue City, he would have almost been overthrown by a mutiny.

The current main generals of these three towns, although they grew up together as children, did not have a clear subordinate relationship at the military level;

Moreover, the three's "background" was also different.

Tiantian was the eldest son of the Jingnan Prince's heir, the Regent Prince. In theory, he had the most noble status, but he was the youngest;

Chen Xianba was undoubtedly a grassroots rise, but his greatest merit and extremely talented martial artist cultivation led to his arrogant temper;

Zheng Man was an adopted son, and the earliest to join this group. After all, Tiantian wasn't even born when he came. Furthermore, for a long time, Jdong had always liked to absorb barbarians into it, and Jin Shu's rise made Zheng Man's affiliation to the Prince's Mansion's faction predetermined early on.

If the three brothers could really sit together and discuss it, things would be almost done, after all, no one harbored evil intentions.

But the problem was that the three brothers were now stationed in the three towns respectively, and there was no way to take the time to hold a meeting. Without clarifying the subordinate relationship, and even with Zheng Man believing that the other two were going to run away,

there was no concept of coordinated command and combat at all.

Most importantly,

perhaps he had made a decision long ago,

or perhaps he was taunted by that "empty brocade sack,"

in short,

Zhong Tianlang issued an order to advance.

This was the correct war choice. The Qian had become accustomed to passive defense on the battlefield, but the problem was that he had the largest and most elite cavalry regiment of the Great Qian under his command. Was he supposed to let the cavalry dismount, dig trenches, set up camps, and hold shields, waiting for the Yan army to attack?

Most importantly, as long as the Yan army wasn't stupid, they wouldn't take the initiative to attack at this time, right?

Therefore,

the left and right Jiangnan local armies began to advance eastward step by step at the pace of old men and old ladies, while Zhong Tianlang personally led his troops, taking the lead and directly seizing the initiative on the battlefield.

And from then on,

the prelude to the strange confrontation on the local battlefield east of the Qian River under this great battle was opened.

…

"Zhong Tianlang is here."

Chen Xianba stood on the city tower, having just heard the report from his scouts.

How could someone who had set the Prince as his idol since he was a child not pay attention to the Prince's lifelong opponent?

Counting them,

of the existences that were once ranked alongside his Prince as the Four Great Generals, the barbarian little prince had long disappeared, and he didn't know where the Jingnan Prince had chased him to;

Nian Yao had been castrated and had now become his own dog;

Only this young commander of the Zhong family was still alive and kicking.

There's no need for my Prince to take action to deal with you. Are you worthy of fighting my Prince?

Also stimulated by this "empty brocade sack," Chen Xianba had become extremely confident.

"The Qian army is coming aggressively, this initiative to take the lead is to trap the three of us in these three towns.

They want to lock us down and save effort,

damn it,

how much do they look down on us.

Alright,

I'll play with you."

"General, what do you plan to do?"

"I plan to jump out and take him for a walk. Aren't his subordinates known as the elite of the Great Qian's iron cavalry? Then I'll teach him, let them see what real iron cavalry is, what real elite is!"

The Zhenbei Army was dismantled, and the Jingnan Army was divided.

Now,

the Great Yan's number one iron cavalry belonged to Jdong long ago.

Chen Xianba had 15,000 Jdong iron cavalry under his command, which was his greatest asset. Even if he was at a disadvantage in terms of troop strength, he was still not flustered.

On the contrary, the more this kind of situation, the more excited he became.

He had this kind of plot of meeting difficulties head-on in his bones.

What he didn't know was that Zheng Fan had chatted with the Blind, saying that always letting Xianba this kid win easy battles might wither the original seed of a general.

Right now, this was actually the best situation.

There was no constant military strength, and the latter often added that there was no constant shape of water. Extending this rhetoric, which should have been at the military level, to morality and life was actually a reduction in understanding, because too few people understood military affairs, while everyone could talk about morality.

Chen Xianba didn't miss the city wall under him at all, and his decision to abandon it was also very direct.

"Don't care about the gains and losses of one city and one place. The entire Jiangdong is our battlefield to gallop across.

Just leave a stronghold, and I'll see if the Qian dare to put their minds at ease to attack the city when our main force is outside!

Pass down the order, my unit will prepare to withdraw from Menhai Town;

In addition, pass down the order to the other two towns separately,

tell Tiantian to continue to defend Donghai Town;

And order that wolf cub,

to retreat with me first, and give the battlefield to the Qian first."

…

"Damn you, Chen Xianba, you ungrateful, shit-eating beast!"

General Zheng Man directly threw the order on the ground and stomped on it several times.

The messenger who came to deliver the order was dumbfounded.

Fortunately, Zheng Man hadn't gone so far as to vent his anger on a messenger for no reason.

"Tell that bastard Chen Xianba to withdraw himself.

I don't want to care about any long-term plans,

I don't want to hear any nonsense about keeping the green hills so there's no worry about firewood,

I just know that

if it weren't for the Prince back then, I wouldn't have lived to be this old!

If you want me to stand by and watch the Prince die, I'd rather kill myself right now!"

In fact, as people who had all listened to orders under the commander's tent;

Zheng Man's subsequent development was actually the worst.

Not to mention Chen Xianba, just looking at the number of troops under his command now was enough to know his current status; Liu Dahu had also become the Prince's first secretary early on;

It looked like Zheng Man had already been caught up by Tiantian…

You really can't blame others, at least Zheng Man's last name was also Zheng, but his temper was the main factor restricting his development.

To a certain extent, he was more suitable to be a small wolf king in the desert, who was clear about his loves and hates and was admired and followed, rather than being a top general under a strict military system.

Therefore, for a long time, Chen Xianba faced the Chu on the front line of Shanggu County, while Zheng Man was once thrown to the west of Jdong to catch wild men who made trouble in the mountains and arrest smuggling merchants because he had made several mistakes in a row.

"Light the beacon fire, my unit will take the initiative to attack!

Damn it,

I'm going to break through the Qian's military formation first, then break through the Wu family water bandits on the river, and finally, even if there are only five hundred or fifty people left in these five thousand troops, even if there are only five people left, I will die by the Prince's side!"

…

When Zhong Tianlang had just led his main force to Menhai Town, he learned from the front that the strongest of the three towns had actually withdrawn on its own before he arrived.

What was in front of him now was an empty city.

His shot had directly hit nothing.

"Not bad, the Yan general on the opposite side is good at using troops."

With such a short period of military change, Zhong Tianlang didn't believe that it was the one surnamed Zheng who was in command, it could only be the decision made by the general on the opposite side himself.

He had originally wanted to entangle the Yan army in these three towns at the smallest cost. At that time, not only would he have completed his strategic mission, but he might even have the opportunity to transfer a part of the main force to the Jiangxi battlefield.

Now it seemed that his plan was obviously going to fail.

The Yan army on the opposite side had clearly anticipated his intentions in advance.

"Okay, if you want to take me for a walk, then I'll see who is the dog being taken for a walk.

Continue to scout,

I estimate that these two military towns on both sides will have to withdraw one more, only keeping one as a nail, and the other two will retreat first."

"Yes, sir!"

But to Zhong Tianlang's surprise,

just as he issued the order, a messenger from the north sent an urgent military report.

Seeing this military report,

Zhong Tianlang's eyebrows furrowed directly.

The Yan army in Anhai Town had all left the city, and instead of retreating east, they were actively advancing west.

They directly ignored his strong central army and actively rushed towards his left army, which was the Jiangnan county army.

This meant that he only needed to divide a part of his troops at this moment to抄后(surround from the rear), and he would be able to complete the encirclement of that Yan army, thereby swallowing it whole.

"The Yan are… crazy?"

This change that violated military common sense made Zhong Tianlang a little dazed for a while, and then he instinctively began to wonder if there was any conspiracy in it.

Because of his long war experience and encounters, he knew clearly how high the Yan army's military quality was. He had to know that what he was facing was not the other factions of the Yan country's troops, but the Jdong Army that had just defeated the Chu.

So,

should he now draw a part of his headquarters to turn back south and eat the Yan army that was obviously courting death?

The Great Qian's駙馬爺(imperial son-in-law),

was actually a little hesitant.

…

"Nonsense, bastard, I'm going to whip him myself!"

Chen Xianba, who had just withdrawn eastward, received a message from Zheng Man.

He received it much faster than Zhong Tianlang, because Zhong Tianlang's side had received the report of his own army after the event had happened, while Chen Xianba here had sent someone to reply to him before Zheng Man was about to act.

Chen Xianba clenched his fist and tore the letter in his hand to pieces.

In the letter, Zheng Man had used the most insulting words to scold him, Chen Xianba, as a coward and a perfidious person;

The most hateful thing was that this dog-crawling handwriting really made people feel disgusted at a glance!

"The Prince handed over the command to me, how dare you not obey me, you bastard!"

The point that Chen Xianba was really angry about was that, in his cognition, the troops of these three towns had already been placed under his command. Under the Jdong system, royal orders were a symbol that could not be violated, and Zheng Man dared to violate the royal order.

At the same time, in his opinion, the reason why Zheng Man violated the royal order was that he didn't want to bow his head in front of him.

This beast,

didn't he know how he used to be beaten by him!

As the main general of an army, Chen Xianba really didn't expect that he would have to take care of and appease the emotions of the thorns under his command during the war, and that this thorn would explode so unreasonably!

But,

although he was angry,

as the commander-in-chief of the "Three Armies," although he was the self-proclaimed nominal commander-in-chief of the "Three Armies," Chen Xianba still stood from the perspective of a commander and thought about the problem, trying to put his personal emotions aside as much as possible.

"Pass down the order, stop retreating east, and press west for me, resist the Qian's central army for me!

And immediately send someone to pass down the order to that wolf cub, tell him to retreat back to me quickly!

And pass down the order to Donghai Town, let Tiantian lead his troops out to sweep the battlefield first, and after that wolf cub withdraws, my unit will approach him and use him as a support."

Sweeping the battlefield here did not refer to clearing the spoils of war, but to using the convenience of the cavalry to quickly sweep out a safe area to facilitate the safe entry of his own troops.

Chen Xianba decided to first use his central army to resist the Qian's central army,

to give Zheng Man a chance to withdraw,

and after that, the two armies would approach Donghai Town together, and after Tiantian responded, they would use Donghai Town as a stronghold to break free from the Qian army's bite, thereby pulling the entire battlefield situation back to the track he, Chen Xianba, had preset.

Because he believed that with his level, as long as all the troops were under his control, he had the confidence to play a few rounds of pushing hands with the Qian prince on the opposite side and then find his flaws.

However,

standing in Tiantian's position,

the military reports constantly sent by the two brother armies

made him simply at a loss.

First of all, he saw the beacon fire information from Anhai Town, Zheng Man's unit had actually taken the initiative to attack.

Then, the military reports he received from Chen Xianba were sometimes asking him to defend his town, and sometimes asking him to come out to sweep the battlefield.

Tiantian immediately had a feeling that

the two older brothers were all showing off, and only he, the younger brother, was dazed the whole time.

It was just like when he was a child watching the two of them fight, although every time Zheng Man was pressed to the ground and beaten by Xianba, Zheng Man was always happy to continue provoking Ba Ge to be beaten.

At this time,

Tiantian took out the empty brocade sack in his hand again;

He was family, a true member of the family, he respected his father very much, but at the same time, he was different from the others, he didn't have that much of a filter for Zheng Fan…

Therefore, he was probably the one who could see the purpose of the empty brocade sack most essentially.

Tiantian looked back to the east with some doubts,

but it was undeniable that,

although there was no filter, the sense of worship that his father was omnipotent and had everything under control under the general mentality would not be affected in the slightest.

Tiantian took out a new iron box from his arms;

He had passed the old one on to his younger brother Zheng Lin.

This new one was specially made to imitate it, but there was no smoke in it, because his dad didn't allow him to smoke;

Tiantian's fingertips caressed the iron box,

"I always felt that what Father meant was to let us… handle it ourselves."

After saying this,

Tiantian continued to say to himself:

"Anyway, in the end, we'll only win.

So, the two older brothers had already understood what Father meant, so they were playing so enthusiastically."

In an instant,

everything made sense!

So,

since he was told to handle it himself… Tiantian's eyes became deep.

In the end, what he had inherited deep in his blood was always the aura of that man.

And the most common decision that man made on the battlefield was…

Tiantian took a deep breath,

put the iron box back into the inner lining of his armor,

and ordered:

"Pass down the order, the entire army attacks!"