The generals of the four towns had not seen Zhu Wen come to the table for a long time. They were wondering when they suddenly heard a report from the primary school, saying that the commander-in-chief had personally attacked the bandit camp.
Zhu Xuan, Zhu Jin and other generals immediately threw down their wine glasses, issued orders to assemble, and dispatched troops urgently.
Zhu Wen knew the essence of a sneak attack, which was to take him by surprise. The battle plan must not be guessed by the enemy. Not only will the enemy not know it, but he will go crazy and not even his own people will know.
The camps of the two armies were not far apart, and the vanguard of the rebel army could hear the banquet of the Bian army. Listening to the Bian army drinking wine and singing and playing drums and drums, who would have thought that they would come to steal the camp and rob the stronghold? Zhu Wen's magic soldiers descended from the sky, and the bandit army suddenly became chaotic.
Zhang Hao protected Qin Zongquan and retreated to Zhengzhou. He was as panicked as a bereaved dog and as anxious as a fish that slipped through the net.
The soldiers from the four towns chased them for nearly a hundred miles and did not retreat until dawn. He killed tens of thousands of enemies, captured many, and won a great victory.
News of Qin Zongquan's defeat spread, Cai's bandit forces collapsed, and bandits from all over the country abandoned the city and fled. In line with the principle of "what I can't get, no one can get it", Qin Zongquan ordered all armies to massacre the city along the way!
Therefore, Qin Zongquan came from Zhengzhou and Sun Ru came from Heyang, slaughtering the city all the way back to the base camp of Caizhou. There are "three lights" along the road, leaving not even an inch of grass, which is really tragic. The power of the Cai thieves also came to an end.
Qin Zongquan, who had been ill for a long time and became a doctor, decided to treat the other person's body in his own way. He took the prescribed medicine and "surprised" Zhu Wen, so he sent Zhang Hao to lead an elite force to fight back to Bianzhou for a fatal counterattack.
The trapped beast still fights, this is Qin Zongquan's big gamble. When he was dying, he took out the belongings from the bottom of the box, almost betting on the coffin.
Qin Zongquan's gamble was not clever, it was completely mechanical, and it was just a trick.
The value of a sneak attack is to be silent. Zhang Hao was in full view of everyone. This was not a sneak attack, but a suicide attempt. Zhu Wen tailor-made an ambush for them.
There is no doubt about the outcome of the battle. The Bian army won a complete victory, and the remaining main force of the Cai bandits was completely wiped out. The bandit general Zhang Hao fled back to Caizhou's lair in embarrassment, and was beheaded by the furious Qin Zongquan to vent his anger.
After this battle, Qin Zongquan's vitality was severely damaged and he had to shrink his defense line and switch from offense to defense. The once arrogant tigers and wolves have become lambs to be slaughtered.
When everyone thought that Zhu Wen would go all out to deal a last-ditch attack on Qin Zongquan, who was still alive, Zhu Wen stopped "collecting the vegetables" and pointed the butcher knife at his own allies.
【Sanzhu War】
Soldiers just fight, put the enemy to death quickly, just kill the enemy without paying attention to the reason for killing the enemy. Politicians are more interested in discussing reasons.
Zhu Wen was a passionate soldier and a calm politician. When there was only one final step left in the "collection of vegetables" war, he called a halt in time, turned his gun and attacked the friendly forces.
Of course, he had good reasons.
First of all, it’s a cliché: Raise the enemy to respect yourself.
If Cai thief dies, Zhu Wen will lose his use value. Cai's thief Qin Zongquan was Zhu Wen's bargaining chip, used to balance Li Keyong in the political field for his "protection and protection". If it weren't for Qin Zongquan's rampage, Zhu Wen would have been regarded as a political victim long ago.
Secondly, Qin Zongquan's defense line has shrunk and its concentration has increased, and he has regarded Zhu Wen of Bianzhou as his number one enemy. The difficulty of attacking Caizhou has increased, and the war dividends are very few. At this time, fighting Caizhou to the death is not worth the gain. Zhu Wen will not make the mistakes of Pang Xun, Huang Chao and others.
Qin Zongquan was not only Zhu Wen's political bargaining chip, but also Zhu Wen's cash machine.
The stolen goods snatched from Qin Zongquan were spoils of war and Zhu Wen's legal income. In other words, Qin Zongquan is just a porter of nature.
By attacking Qin Zongquan from time to time, Zhu Wen could not only gain material benefits, but also gain a foothold in politics, achieving both spiritual and material gains.
Thousands of words can be condensed into one sentence: Raise the invaders to respect themselves.
The butt determines the head. Politicians, like capitalists, always pursue maximizing interests.
So where is Zhu Wen’s value depression?
To the north is the powerful Kwantung Military Alliance. The alliance leader Li Keyong is by no means an ordinary person and has close ties with the central court. It is not suitable to compete with them from either a military or political perspective;
To the west is the sphere of influence of the central court, where the emperor is, let alone coveting it;
To the south, Qin Zongquan lingered on and was temporarily put on hold.
After all the calculations, Zhu Wen could only develop his power eastward. Caozhou, Yunzhou, Yanzhou and Xuzhou to the east came into Zhu Wen's sight.
Xuzhou was the territory of Shi Pu, and the remaining three states were the territory of the sworn brothers Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin.
From a geographical perspective, if Xuzhou is annexed, Zhu Wen's sphere of influence will be like a guillotine, cutting the entire Central Plains in two, isolating the northern and southern vassals, and surrounded by powerful neighbors. This is extremely dangerous.
From a political point of view, Shi Pu was the commander-in-chief of "collecting vegetables" and it was not suitable to attack.
Then only Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin are left.
The "Three Zhu Alliance" was first initiated by Zhu Wen, who had just helped him defeat the Cai thieves. If he wielded a butcher's knife against him, wouldn't he be accused of repaying kindness with hatred? How can I find an honest excuse to make myself famous?
Zhu Wen thought hard, but still had no idea. It is not convenient to openly solicit opinions from his subordinates on such dirty things, so he frowns and sighs every day.
Someone figured out Zhu Wen's difficulties and offered a strategy, "Commander, why don't you just follow his plan?"
It turned out that when the "Three Zhu Alliance" fought side by side, the bravery and prowess of the Bian Army left a deep impression on the two brothers Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin, so the two decided to "poach" and offer generous rewards in the border areas under their jurisdiction. Salaries, recruitment of sergeants.
Many Bian soldiers were lured by high salaries and switched jobs to join the Tianping and Taining armies.
The two Zhu brothers recruited warriors in their own territory, but Zhu Wen could only stare and sulk, suffering the consequences of being dumb.
The old dragon was lying on the beach, and he woke up the man in his dream with a few words. The phrase "take advantage of the situation" made Zhu Wen suddenly enlightened.
The strategy was as follows: First, a large number of trustworthy officers and soldiers of the Bian Army were screened out, and they went to the border to apply for jobs and successfully "jumped"; then, Zhu Wen went to the court to accuse Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin of "poaching" and recruiting surrenders and traitors. Then he sent troops to attack on the pretext of pursuing the rebels from his army.
The person who proposed the idea was named Jingxiang, and he was a talented man who failed to succeed in many trials. Wang Fa, a fellow villager, was working for Zhu Wen, so Jingxiang defected to Wang Fa and did small things like writing official documents on his behalf. Jingxiang's letters often used famous sayings, aphorisms and secular slang, which were simple and easy to understand. They were deeply loved by the majority of illiterate people, so they soon came into Zhu Wen's sight.
Zhu Wen personally interviewed Jingxiang. Jingxiang's quick thinking left a deep impression on Zhu Wen, especially his pragmatic spirit, which was completely different from other pedantic scholars. Zhu Wen regretted meeting each other so late and thought Jingxiang was a God-given counselor.
Zhu Wen later famously said, "Jingxiang, Liu Han, and Kou Yanqing were all born for me!"
Now, Jingxiang, the leader of the "Three God-given Ministers", has made his C-level debut.
Zhu Wen got Jingxiang, just like Cao Cao got Guo Jia and Liu Bei got Kong Ming.
From then on, Zhu Wen would consult Jingxiang on all important military and political matters, and Jingxiang often came up with strange ideas. The reason why Zhu Wen was able to turn around the situation in the "collection of vegetables" war in a very short period of time was thanks to this great strategist.
Now, Jingxiang taught Zhu Wen to "take advantage of the situation".
