Lord Xinling said in surprise: "The general's plan was decided the night before. There is only room for a thousand troops in the small town, so we took the entire army to fill the army, but one of them is worth ten, so we ordered to guard the small town."
Mang Mao said: "What I said the night before was to use military soldiers alone. It is embarrassing to order four thousand civilian troops outside the city."
Lord Xinling said: "What is the explanation for this statement? Why are military soldiers alone capable of doing the job, and thousands of civilian troops are involved in the rebellion?"
Mang Mao said: "Young master, I don't know that the civilian army is a ragtag group of people. If there are no soldiers to supervise the battle, who will come forward? Four thousand people's army, supervising one battalion of soldiers will not guarantee that they will fight to the death, let alone no one to supervise the battle. At present, there are only one soldier to supervise the battle." Although the school is elite, it still cannot bear the two responsibilities. Therefore, I am worried!"
"The military flags and orders are not available? Every soldier, battalion, and school is controlled by military soldiers. I would rather not help!"
"Young master, you don't know something. The people and the army are all ignorant people in the countryside. Who fears the orders of loyalty and filial piety! The enemy is strong, the elders flee first, and the fellow villagers disperse in a panic. How can a few soldiers, battalions, and principals do anything? They must have an axe. Those who run behind will surely die, so they can fight forward and survive in death."
"I see, Wuji has learned the lesson! How can the general defeat the enemy with just soldiers?"
Mang Mao pointed to the wilderness to the west of the city and said: "I have an old case that from the enemy camp to Xiaoyi, there are dense ditches. If the ditches are used as the boundary, each camp will set up fences, thirty or fifty steps apart, and twenty or thirty fences can be erected. Military soldiers Four columns, only shoot with strong crossbows behind the fence, and then move to the next fence after shooting. In this way, the warriors can fire twenty or thirty arrows, and after one or two hours, the damage will be small. Then stick to the small city, The enemy is damaged and his courage is shattered; our army will surely arrive and we should be able to defeat the enemy."
Lord Xinling said: "The general will succeed, Wuji will take the lead!"
"But now, the young master will drive the sheep to attack the tigers and wolves. I am afraid that things will not be harmonious."
Before he could finish his words, he saw from a distance that Mr. Cao, Mr. Jin and other diners who were looking at the terrain on the way were walking back. Lord Xinling said: "The incident started with me, and I will be the one responsible for the trouble. If a war breaks out, I will be the one on the front line. Fortunately for you, sir, you will be the one who controls the small town for me."
Mang Mao said: "Young Master, I am in charge of the front line. What do you think of Young Master?"
Mr. Xinling said: "I don't have any great ideas. I am just brave enough to fight! The food in the house is ready. General, please help yourself. I and my husband will inspect each camp."
Mang Mao said: "Master, don't you want to eat first?"
Lord Xinling said, "Just bring in some grains on the way."
The two walked down the tower surrounded by diners. Mang Mao took his people back to the palace of the city lord. Lord Xinling said to Zhong Yue: "Take out all the gentlemen who can be brought out, leaving only a few to take charge of the general affairs in the city. We will meet in the square outside the city when we are young. Bring some grains, Use it on the road.”
Zhong Yue also entered the house immediately. Lord Xinling came out of the city, met Mr. Cao and his party, and asked, "What is Mr. Cao's plan?"
Mr. Cao's face looked a bit wrong: "I have traveled ten miles, but I can't see any trace of the Qin army! There seems to be no war today!"
Lord Xinling's expression also changed, remembering that although he could see Haoshan Mountain from the city, he didn't seem to see the dust raised when a large group of people marched. It's just that because I was talking to Mang Mao at the time, I ignored such an obvious anomaly. Only now that Mr. Cao mentioned it did I remember it.
At this time, Zhong Yue and other disciples also followed him out of the city, and brought grains with them. Lord Xinling felt embarrassed and asked, "What do you two gentlemen have to say?"
Mr. Cao and Jin said: "If you don't know where the enemy is coming from, how can you plan an attack?"
Zhong Yue asked: "What difficulties did you two encounter?"
Before the two of them could speak, Lord Xinling asked Zhong Yue: "Mr. Shicai, when he was in the city, did he see dust and smoke rising anywhere?" Zhong Yue shook his head blankly. Lord Xinling turned to the other disciples and asked, "Gentlemen, have you ever seen the dust smoke?" Those who followed the disciples all replied, "No!"
Lord Xinling said hurriedly: "Please invite General Mang!" while leading the retainers up to the city.
Soon Mangmao also came to the city and asked Lord Xinling: "Why do you want me to call you?"
Lord Xinling said: "I accidentally remembered that there seems to be no trace of the Qin army in the city. Why is this?"
Mang Mao also looked around and said to Lord Xinling: "My lord, I have a clear conscience. Now only the Beimang Pass in the northwest is blocked by the smoke and dust of our army. It is difficult to see. There is indeed no whereabouts of the Qin army in other directions. I think it is , Firstly, the Qin army may come from Xingbei to tail our army, which is exactly what they want; secondly, Qin is still in Beimang, so the Qin army is only sending out money and food this time, and they are bargaining with the Luoyang people."
"What about the third one?" Lord Xinling asked seemingly casually.
"Third? I think I am stupid and difficult to fathom. I hope you can give me some advice!"
Lord Xinling said to himself: "There must be three, there must be... No matter what, the Qin army will not appear in the small town today, will the general do it?"
Mang Mao looked around, then counted with his fingers, and said: "If the Qin army marches out of Yingbeiwei, our army will confront the rear army today. The small town is far away from the battlefield and may avoid the front. If we are still in Luoyang, Needless to say, there is no war for the time being.”
Lord Xinling said: "That's very good. Our army has one more day to reorganize its ranks and fight the next day, which increases the chance of victory by 10%. General, you have worked hard. Please return to your residence temporarily. If you have any doubts, come back for advice."
Mang Mao bowed and retreated, thinking to himself: "What does this mean?"
Lord Xinling led his retainers down to the city again. He went out of the city and stood by the haystack, saying, "Gentlemen, you have seen that there is no Qin army outside the city. There will be no fighting today. Gentlemen assigned to each camp, please go back first." I will then patrol the camps everywhere. It is necessary to stabilize the morale of the troops and boost their morale."
Those who came back from the camp bowed and left. Lord Xinling asked Mr. Cao, Jin and others, "Sir, you are inspecting the terrain. Can you teach me?"
Mr. Cao said: "Mr. Jin thinks the terrain here is quite favorable and can withstand thousands of troops."
Lord Xinling said: "Please teach me, Mr. Jin."
Mr. Jin said: "Although this place is called a wilderness, it is actually crisscrossed by ditches, making it difficult for vehicles and horses to pass through. It is difficult for large groups to form formations, so they have to move in small groups. Most of the rivers flow north and are blocked from east to west. It is difficult for the enemy to attack from west to east, but our army is like this If you cross the river from the lower reaches, you can point directly at the enemy's flank."
Lord Xinling said: "The Qin army coming from the west will be blocked by ditches. If it turns to the south, how will we respond?"
Mr. Jin said: "The Qin army will not dare to turn south."
Lord Xinling said: "But why?"
Mr. Jin said: "Xiaoyi is thirty miles to the south and is close to the Great Wall. Qin Duan cannot provoke me by being surrounded by enemies."
Lord Xinling said: "Sir's words suddenly make you stupid!"
Mr. Jin said: "I dare to honor you. Not only that, Mr. Cao has a strategy to defeat the enemy."
Lord Xinling said, "I really hope that Mr. Xinling can teach me."
Mr. Cao said: "My foolish opinion was briefly reported to the king last night, and now I have received Mr. Jin's golden words to make up for the shortcomings of the minister. I have a hundred elite soldiers, and I will be able to hold off the Qin army for half a day."
Lord Xinling praised: "How magnificent! I have ordered each battalion to select the best soldiers, and only one or two out of a hundred will arrive at any time. Mr. Cao can supervise and lead them to prepare for war."
Mr. Cao said: "How dare you disobey your orders! Your Majesty, you can sit in the city and watch Cao defeat the enemy!"
Lord Xinling said: "Well, congratulations sir! There is no wine in the army, so I will drink it after my triumph!" Then he said: "Those who are willing to accompany Mr. Cao can stay with Mr. Cao. The rest of the gentlemen will follow me to patrol the camp."
