Lord Xinling took two steps back and bowed. Jin Bi toasted the two of them and drank a bowl himself.
Lord Xinling asked again: "General, how long does it take for our army to complete its formation?"
"Two or three days is enough!"
"If the Qin army attacks in the next two or three days, how will we deal with it?"
"Our army has retreated sixty miles, and the Qin army has not followed us. Even if the Qin army arrives now, our army has already set up its formation, so there is no need to worry."
"The Qin army is good at fighting, and Marquis Rang and Lord Wu An are world-famous generals. They are always fierce and unexpected in their military use. They often make sudden and sneak attacks, so they must be guarded against."
"Young Master is very concerned. I have sent out scouts and scouts from afar. I can know the actions of the Qin army at any time."
Jin Bi suddenly said: "When the young master went out of the city, he found the Qin army moving near Guancheng, so I ask the general to be careful!"
Mang Mao's expression changed, and then returned to normal: "The Qin army scolded the princes and sentry detectives, but I failed to visit all of them. If I disturbed the young master, I will be punished by death!"
Lord Xinling straightened his body, sat upright and saluted, saying: "I can go, and the enemy can come. Our army has arrived, and the defenses are not yet solid, so it is reasonable for some to scold the princes. May I ask the general, what happened to the Qin Dynasty in the past two days? What are the military trends?"
Mang Mao seemed to take a breath and replied: "The scouts have discovered that the Qin army is still encamped in Beimang."
"There has been no movement for two days? But reinforcements have arrived?"
"The scouts were watching from a distance, and the Qin army's camp was filled with dust. It seemed that a large number of troops and horses were mobilized. The young master said that there were eight or nine of them."
"Then if the Qin army doesn't move out, are they waiting for something?"
"I haven't received the details yet. I can only think of three: first-class reinforcements, second-class food and grass, and third-class allies."
"Waiting for allies? The north is connected to Zhao, the south is connected to Han, and the east is connected to Wei to Qi. Who will form an alliance with Qin?"
"I have thought about it again and again. Zhao, Han, and Qi will not form an alliance with Qin."
"Then what the Qin army is waiting for may be food and grass. If the Qin army receives food and grass aid, how can our army fight against the Qin army?"
"It is no less than six hundred miles from Hangu to Beimang. It is impossible for Qin to send people to deliver grain. If grain and grass are raised, they must be collected locally."
"The 700,000 households in Luoyang, including all the richest people in the world, can easily acquire one and a half months of food and grass."
"As the young master said, Luoyang is a prosperous place in the world, but 700,000 rich people, who is easy to compare with! In addition, the emperor's feet are unsightly, and cannot be taken by force, nor can they be taken by force, but can only be taken by market. And these people When doing business, you can’t even peel off Qin Jun’s skin!”
Seeing that the argument was fruitless, Lord Xinling could only suppress his uneasiness and changed the topic: "Although the Qin army stopped at Beimang, it is only three or four days away from our army. It can take a day and night to attack. Still can’t help but be on guard.”
Mang Mao replied: "Young Master is very considerate and attentive. In my opinion, our army's movement in the past two days was extremely dangerous: firstly, the distance was not far, Qin's army could breathe; secondly, the movement range was large, The camp is unstable. Now the camp will be set up. It’s just a small adjustment, which echoes the front and rear. The most dangerous time has passed. Just don’t take it lightly!”
Lord Xinling nodded and said, "What the general said is true. The night is over, and we see that the Qin army will not attack, so we can move camp at dawn. As long as the formation is tight, the Qin army will not dare to attack."
Mang Mao looked towards Geng Lu and saw that the hourglass was about to end, and sighed: "It turns out that the long night is about to end! I don't want to talk to the young master, but he is so pleasant!"
Lord Xinling said: "Wuji has received a lot of lessons, but he doesn't realize that the night is coming to an end!"
Mang Mao said: "Young master, after taking a short rest, it will be time to raise the army. At that time, all the generals will come to pay homage, and they may not be able to rest."
Lord Xinling said: "Thank you, general. If you disturb the general, he will not be able to rest, and he will be uneasy!"
Mang Mao said: "How lucky I am to meet you!" After saying this, he went out of the tent and called an officer, but it was none other than Mang Shen who was on an envoy to Daliang. He ordered: "Take the master and Jin The doctor went to the back tent to rest."
Lord Xinling and Jin Bi both stood up and bowed again, and Mang Mao bowed and walked out of the tent. The two followed Mang Shen to a tent. Mang Shen opened the curtain and the two entered. Mang Shen greeted him in front of the door and said: "The general ordered Shen to accompany the young master. The young master has some errands, but Shen does not dare to resign."
The two men returned the greeting: "Young general, rest in peace, don't dare disturb me!" Mang Shen just withdrew.
The two looked inside and saw that the curtain was divided into two rooms with a brocade curtain; in each room there was a large pile of tall straw, with a layer of straw mats spread on top and thin quilts and high pillows. The two of them bowed to each other and went to their upper bunks to rest. Not long after, Jin Bi snored loudly.
Although Lord Xinling was sore all over and felt dizzy and heavy-eyed, he could not fall asleep. The first military camp life deeply stimulated him. Although the straw was spread very thickly, it was still a little prickly; the cold air leaking from the bottom of the surrounding curtains was particularly biting at this time; the patrol sentries passing by from time to time and the passwords ringing from time to time made it impossible for Lord Xinling to sleep.
But Lord Xinling's pain did not last long: soon drums sounded outside the curtain. Dong dong dong, dong dong dong,...
Lord Xinling and Jin Bi sat up at the same time, adjusted each other's clothes and armor, and walked out. They met Mang Shen who was coming in a hurry.
Seeing that the two of them had gone out, Mang Shen hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "The general is waiting in the tent."
Jin Bi returned the greeting: "Please lead the way."
Mang Shen led the way, followed by the two of them, and came to Mang Mao's big tent again. Mang Mao was fully dressed, standing at the entrance of the tent, looking majestic; a group of soldiers lined up on the left and right, guarding him with halberds. The two of them remained silent as they followed Mang Shen to Mang Mao and stood next to him.
I saw soldiers from all the camps gathering in the square in front of the tent. Those who are well-equipped with armor and carry halberds and spears are naturally military soldiers; those who wear thin armor, even clothes without armor, and carry various sticks are undoubtedly civilian soldiers suffering from famine everywhere. The square in front of the tent was not big. There were only about a thousand people lined up, about half of whom were soldiers.
As soon as the drums were played, the queue was already neatly arranged in the square. The field was very quiet, no one made a sound, which made Lord Xinling very satisfied: "Mang Mao is still very strict in managing the army!"
Soon the two toms sounded. A roll call sounded for each team; after the roll call, the calls were reported step by step. After the two drums were played, an officer walked ten feet in front of the tent and said loudly: "All ten soldiers of Zhonghu Camp are ready!"
Gradually, all the battalions of the Chinese army arrived and reported that their soldiers were all present; followed by the left and right generals who were further away.
Mang Mao brought the generals into the tent and sat down one by one. Mangmao himself took out the tiger talisman again in public, and it matched the tiger talisman carried by Lord Xinling. Knowing that the army has changed its commander, all the generals are in awe. Lord Xinling bowed deeply while sitting on his seat. Jin Bi spoke up and said: "The situation is urgent. Your Majesty has sent General Mangmao back to the capital to conspire with the ministers to deal with the aftermath. The army has been handed over to Wei Gongzi Xinlingjun Wuji for the time being."
Lord Xinling bowed again from his seat, turned around and nodded to Mangmao. Mang Mao then said: "According to the order of the young master, the distribution of each army has been decided. All generals will obey the order!"
All the generals sat up together, with serious faces...
When the three-tone drum sounded outside the tent, Mang Mao had already assigned the tasks. The generals held the talismans and returned to the camp to mobilize their troops and horses to prepare to move the camp or be on guard. The soldiers gathered in the square gradually dispersed after completing various drills.
