At the south gate of Tancheng, after seeing Hua Qi off in person, Xu Zongwen and his party returned to the prefect's mansion.
"Brother, why do you treat those eunuchs with courtesy and take the initiative to show your kindness?" Zheng Lue didn't understand what Xu Zongwen did. Since the end of the Han Dynasty when the ten constant servants and others disrupted the imperial court and caused the world to fall apart, eunuchs have become street rats. They were severely suppressed and their power was severely reduced.
Xu Zongwen stopped, straightened up and explained: "We are now emerging in the army, and I don't know how many people are eyeing us. It is always wiser to be kind to others than to be evil, right?"
"It is indeed a feasible way for the eldest brother to make friends with Hua Qi. If you master Hua Qi, you can get the news from the palace in advance. These can't be obtained by spending a lot of money!" Shen Yu was thinking the same as Xu Zongwen, and he also I feel like one more friend means one more path.
"When we join Pengcheng with Zhu Shijun, capture Pengcheng, and even recover the entire Xuzhou, and march north to Qingzhou and Yanzhou, one day the war will be over, and by then the Beifu army will return to the capital, and I, the cavalryman, will There is no one under the command of the captain, so he must return to Jiankang to report on his duties. If we can know in advance what prefectures and counties will be released, we can also make preparations earlier, so that we won't even have time to go back to Jingkou."
Shen Yushen agreed, and he also said: "Except for the more than a thousand Beifu troops under our command, the rest are county soldiers from Xiapi and Donghai. Without the imperial edict, we cannot control ourselves for a long time, and without the imperial government's food and salary, we cannot retain people." , I can only wait until one day when my eldest brother can become the chief officer of one party, then we can legitimately recruit soldiers and horses for my use!"
"That's the truth," Xu Zongwen got on his horse and urged, "Okay, gather people immediately, and let's discuss how to march next."
Grand Administrator's Mansion, lobby.
Fake Sima Shen Yu, Army Sima Zheng Lue, Zhuge Kan, the leader of the Beifu Army Cavalry, Tian Luo and Zhang Gui, the leaders of the Beifu Army, as well as the captain of Xiapi County, and several building owners from Tancheng County all gathered here, Xu Zongwen Take a seat at the main seat, and everyone will sit in order and kneel in order.
"May I ask Captain Qi, what is the topic today?"
"Today's topic is how to capture Pengcheng?"
Zhuge Kan said: "Pengcheng is the seat of Xuzhou County and an important town on the Huaisi front line. The Qin army has 50,000 troops garrisoned. Our army currently only has 3,000 troops. It is difficult to capture Pengcheng!"
Xiapi surrendered voluntarily, so the Jin army did not suffer any damage, but added a lot of troops. However, in the battle last night to attack Tancheng, the Qin army had a total of 15,000 troops in Tancheng, and the Jin army beheaded 1,800 people. More than 3,000 people were killed, and the rest surrendered. Nearly 1,000 of the 4,000 people in the army were killed, and 2,000 were lightly or seriously wounded!
Injuring the enemy by 1,000 and damaging yourself by 800. Although this is not the case, the Jin army has also injured its muscles and bones after this battle and is in urgent need of training. To attack the 50,000-strong army remaining in Pengcheng is simply an egg against a rock!
Xiapi County Lieutenant also agreed: "Yes! Three thousand people and horses are all cavalry. There are no siege equipment and not enough troops. They can't even encircle Pengcheng. How easy is it to capture Pengcheng?"
"What do you think?" Xu Zongwen did not comment after hearing this, but turned to ask Shen Yu.
"In my opinion, our army is all elite cavalry. Our army's advantage lies in its mobility and flexibility. It can concentrate its forces to eat up Pengcheng's scouts, plug their ears, and blindfold their eyes so that they do not know our army's intentions. With their true strength, let them become deaf and blind, so that our army can take the next step!"
"Shen Yu said it very well!"
"Who said that when we capture the city, we must form a formation and fight the enemy head-on under the city?" When everyone's attention was focused on Xu Zongwen, Xu Zongwen stood up.
Xu Zongwen walked around the crowd and continued: "I have written to Zhu Shijun, inviting him to march quickly and besiege Pengcheng without attacking. We first clear out all the cities around Pengcheng, and then concentrate the troops from these counties to mobilize these troops to besiege Pengcheng, and the subsequent combat mission of the main force of our army is to cut off Pengcheng's connection with Yanzhou and Qingzhou, create a cover-up, confuse the Qin army in Pengcheng, and make them confused about our true purpose!"
Pengcheng County has a total of eight counties. Excluding Pengcheng, the remaining counties of Wuyuan, Fuyang, Lu, Liu, Wu, and Guangqi have as many as seven or eight thousand troops, or as few as one or two thousand, or at least 20,000 or 30,000 troops. These people gathered together to besiege Pengcheng. Their power cannot be underestimated!
"I remember that not all other counties in Donghai County have surrendered yet, right?"
Seeing Xu Zongwen walking towards him, Shen Yu thought for a while and replied: "There is no city coming yet. Except for Tancheng, there is no news from the six counties of Zhuqi, Qu, Xiangben, Licheng, Ganyu, and Houqiu. .”
"Send people to persuade you to surrender. After you surrender, gather all your troops in Tancheng. If you don't surrender, attack the city!" Xu Zongwen clenched his right fist, his cold eyes showing fierceness!
The total number of troops in the seven counties of Pengcheng and the seven counties of Donghai should be at least 40,000. If all these troops were brought to Pengcheng, it would be more than enough to scare the Qin army guarding the city!
Xu Zongwen walked to the main seat and sat down. He glanced at the generals who were full of fighting spirit, patted the wooden case and said loudly: "Finally, we will meet up with Zhu Shijun's army. By then, Pengcheng will definitely be in panic, and it will not last long!"
"At that time, the enemy's momentum was gradually declining, but our army's morale was high and victory was within grasp. As one battle ebbs and the other ebbs, Pengcheng will definitely be defeated in one battle! Once Pengcheng is defeated, several other counties in Xuzhou will be within easy reach. "
Xu Zongwen talked for a long time, and all the generals were inspired by him. They expressed their opinions one after another, starting from how to isolate Pengcheng, how to cut off Pengcheng's military supplies from Surabaya, and how to publicize the defeat of the Qin army in the Battle of Feishui and the defeat of Xiapi and Donghai counties. The news of the Jin army's successive recoveries, as well as the ambushes of Yanzhou and Qingzhou's troops who might come to rescue Pengcheng, were discussed in detail.
At the last moment, Xu Zongwen also revealed his plans to the generals one by one.
Everyone continued to discuss in the lobby for four or five hours. During this period, Zhang Si sent people to deliver the meals. Everyone was chatting while eating, and they were in high spirits!
At the end of the discussion, Xu Zongwen went to see the injured Ah San and comforted him to rest in peace and recuperate. He was indispensable for the destruction of the city, and he would wait for him to receive rewards after he recovered from his injuries.
During the day, Tao Keju's experience suddenly reminded Xu Zongwen of something. He came to Shen Yu and asked: "I promised my brothers a reward of three thousand and one hundred catties of corn each after they break the city. Can I pay it truthfully?"
Shen Yu shook his head and said, "It has not been implemented yet."
Xu Zongwen patted his head and sighed: "How dare Zhuge Kan's men ignore military regulations like this? I leave this matter to you. Do it quickly without delay!"
"What kind of credit does Tao Keju have?" Shen Yu meant that since this was the general's mistake, should he be exempted from the punishment of those military sticks?
Xu Zongwen thought about it carefully, patted Shen Yu's broad shoulder and explained: "There are no jokes in the army, let alone military orders? Just treat it as a warning to let them remember this lesson."
In his previous life, Xu Zongwen, who had just joined the army, had always admired the military's fine qualities of not taking advantage of the masses! Although it is impossible to do that completely in these troubled times, when leading troops, at the very least, he must do no harm to the common people and cannot be careless.
At night, when everything was carried out in an orderly manner, Xu Zongwen lay alone on the bed in the study room of the prefect's mansion. He stared at the official seal of the Cavalry Commander placed on the case for a long time.
I heard from Shen Yu that the Cavalry Commander is a sixth-grade official. Although he has no real power without leading troops, he still has a salary. The Cavalry Commander's salary is one hundred and eleven taels of silver, and each salary is one tael. A handful of lumi is a good treatment!
Turning around, Xu Zongwen thought that he had unknowingly been in this world for more than half a month. He had also relied on the advantage of still remembering the rolling wheels of history to achieve military success and gain an official position. The most important thing was He still has a lot of military power!
He doesn't know if he can go back, and he doesn't know if he will die in the coming war. All he can do is defeat the enemies standing in front of him one after another, accumulate military merit, gain some power, and be able to preserve himself. .
Only after achieving self-survival first can we think about the national interests, historical trends, the rise and fall of the country, and the well-being of the people!
"I really want to meet a hero like Murong Chui and Fu Jian for a while, what a pity!"
Murong Chui of Xianbei might have a chance to meet him, but it is unlikely that he would meet King Fu Jian of Qin. Xu Zongwen remembered that within a year or two Fu Jian would be strangled to death by the Qiang chief Yao Chang in the Xinping Buddhist Temple!
Xu Zongwen fell asleep, and he had a long dream. In the dream, he started from picking up Fu Rong's head in the Battle of Feishui, and along the way he attacked cities and villages, beheaded enemies, and grew into a great general and a great hero. , respected by the world and worshiped by thousands of girls...
