In the handsome tent, Li Yaoyang, Li Dingxing and Yi Xiaodao sat down. Li Yaoyang said, "Master Yi, you have worked hard during this period. How about I arrange for someone to take you back to Beijing?"
"That couldn't be better. I'll help you, King Nanhuai." Yi Xiaodao thanked him.
Li Yaoyang smiled and waved his hand: "Forgive me, Mr. Yi, since we are old friends, you should call me eldest son. It sounds more cordial to me."
Yi Xiaodao also smiled and said: "Hahaha, it doesn't matter. I think it's a bit familiar to call him King Nanhuai. He's still an eldest son, so I feel more familiar with him."
Li Dingxing was silent on the side. He naturally knew the identity of Yi Xiaodao. He was originally a little beggar. He was sent to Nanhuai by the little emperor to order troops before the battle. He didn't know when he would see him again.
Li Yaoyang didn't notice his second brother's reaction and stood up and said, "I will arrange for people to prepare immediately. Master Yi can leave at any time."
Yi Xiaodao also stood up and replied: "Of course, the sooner the better, I am eager to return home. It's just that my little brother in Nanhuai has never been heard from, the eldest son..."
"I have been sending special personnel to search for it. I will notify you as soon as there is news. Master Yi does not need to worry about this. As long as he is still in Nanhuai, he will be found when things happen here." Li Yaoyang said quickly, and then added " But these days...I'm afraid he is no longer in Nanhuai, and what's more, what happened to my father...if he also ran into Chu Xiang's group of thieves..."
Yi Xiaodao's heart tightened when he heard this. He thought Fang Long was just lost before, but he never thought about this situation. If Fang Long was really killed... Yi Xiaodao didn't dare to think about it.
Li Yaoyang did not dare to irritate Yi Xiaodao and comforted him: "Good people have their own destiny, Master Yi, don't worry too much."
Yi Xiaodao forced himself to laugh twice, cupped his hands and said, "That's it, I won't disturb the eldest young master anymore. First young master, second young master, Yi takes leave."
Li Yaoyang knew that he was eager to return home, so he did not hold back. He said, "Then I wish Mr. Yi a safe journey. Come, escort Mr. Yi back to Beijing!" Li Dingxing stood up and bowed his hand to Yi Xiaodao. The two of them had traveled together for dozens of years. It's been a long time, but at this time, they only looked at each other and smiled tacitly, without saying anything more.
After bidding farewell to Yi Xiaodao, Li Dingxing said to Li Yaoyang: "Brother, what should we do now? Without the 40,000 Nanhuai troops, the shipbuilding project will probably be delayed for a long time, and it is already early winter. Even if the ship is completed in a hurry, the winter will be over. It’s not conducive to a water war.”
Li Yaoyang sat back on his chair and said nonchalantly: "Then let's fight on land."
"Brother, how can that be done?" Li Dingxing said anxiously, "The advantage of the Nanhuai Army lies in water warfare. All the soldiers in the army are people who know the nature of water. Only water warfare can gain advantage. Moreover, the Chu Xiang Army despises the tactics of war. I'm afraid..."
"Afraid? What are you afraid of? I didn't want to make my uncles worry, so I agreed to the shipbuilding strategy. Now that we are short of 40,000 troops, the shipbuilding project can no longer keep up. Fortunately, the shipbuilding has not really started yet, so we will not build it. Furthermore, Chu Xiang’s army only talked about beheading tactics and specialized in killing generals. I would like to see whether Chu Xiang’s tactics are more powerful or my spear is more powerful,” Li Yaoyang said.
"Brother, no matter how brave you are, how can you stop an army of tens of thousands?" Li Dingxing asked anxiously.
"Hahahaha, second brother, don't worry. Don't we also have an army of 50,000? Moreover, our Nanhuai Army is well-armed and well-trained, so why can't it defeat the Chu and Xiang Army? I have made up my mind, needless to say Already." Li Yaoyang waved his hand.
Li Dingxing asked loudly: "Have you forgotten what my second uncle said before he left?"
"Have you forgotten how dad died?" Li Yaoyang asked loudly as well.
Li Dingxing took a deep breath, turned and walked out of the tent. Before leaving the tent, he turned around and said, "You can fight on land, but you must listen to me!" After that, he left the tent.
When Li Yaoyang saw Li Dingxing walking out of the tent angrily, he was about to shout, but he didn't. After a while, he lay on the handsome seat, his eyes blurred, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
…
On the other side, in the Chu Xiang military camp, Ma Liu looked at Lieutenant General Xue who was kneeling down, took a few deep breaths, and then said in a muffled voice: "Get up, if we can kidnap people, they will come to rescue them. It's not all blame. You. You were right not to chase after Jiang Ping, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to come back. And it’s not completely useless. At least the Nanhuai Army retreated 40,000 troops.”
Vice General Xue got up and stepped aside.
Another deputy general Wang came closer and asked: "General Ma, what does General Tong mean? Now that we have lost the hostages, it is not an option to waste money like this. After all, Chuxiang is not richer than Nanhuai, and the daily consumption of military rations is not small. If it continues for a long time, the prince’s side..."
Ma Liu sighed: "I wanted to use my own strength to counter the enemy's weakness, but who knew that now there is no one... Tong Meng has been so noisy for a long time, shouting that he wants to fight with that 'little overlord', He even brought out the prince to oppress me..."
"How about... just let him go first. This matter is important. We don't seek credit, but we seek no fault. If he fails and the prince blames him, he won't blame us." Vice General Wang narrowed his eyes and said coldly. said.
"No, this matter is not bigger than usual. We can't argue for a while. The court has not taken any action now. It is probably waiting for us to fight. The loser will definitely be held accountable by the court. This matter we Can’t afford it.”
"Then..." Vice General Wang was speechless.
"Why don't we attack from the north and the south and let General Tong lead the 20,000 troops to detour from the south of Poyang Lake? We will lead the 30,000 troops from the north of Poyang Lake and detour through Mount Lu. The two armies will meet on the east bank and attack the Nanhuai Army from the north and the south. "Then, no matter how brave the 'Little Overlord' is, he can only be one. How can he be two?" Vice General Xue said from the side.
Vice General Wang quickly followed up and said: "We will march half a day late, so that General Tong can confront the Nanhuai Army first, and then we will use an ambush posture to sneak in from the north unexpectedly. Not to mention that many of the 30,000 troops were saved, so that's it. General Tong is eager to fight..."
Ma Liu thought for a while, nodded and said: "That's fine, the young prince must be eager for revenge and strive for a quick victory. If he attacks Tong Meng with all his troops, we can sneak attack from behind and we will definitely win!"
In the south camp of the Chu Xiang Army, in the commander's tent, Tong Meng grabbed a cooked pig's trotter and gnawed on it: "I'm exhausted, I really need to replenish myself."
There was a screen in the handsome tent, and the delicate voices of two women came from behind the screen: "Sir, come quickly! The slave family is in a hurry~"
"Why are you so anxious! You bitch has been moaning all night, she's really powerful. Wait until I take a few bites!" Tong Meng shouted at the inside of the screen, causing a burst of laughter from inside.
"Report, a letter from General Ma." A messenger came in from outside the door, handed in the letter, and quietly glanced in the direction of the screen. Not daring to stay long, he turned around and left the commander's tent.
Tong Meng bit off a large piece of pig's trotter meat, chewed it and said vaguely: "Is that okay? I'm so hungry."
The two women behind the screen saw that there was no movement outside and were about to put their heads out to check. Tong Meng suddenly burst into laughter: "Oh, this stupid guy finally figured it out! Let me just say, it's not a solution at all." ah!"
The two women were startled when they heard Tong Meng's laughter and asked, "Sir, what are you so happy about?"
"It has nothing to do with you, don't ask any more questions. Then, I've rewarded you with this pig's trotters, don't waste it. Hahahahaha" Tong Meng threw the letter on the ground and strode out.
The two women then ran out barefoot and wrapped in quilts, grabbed the remaining pig's trotters on the table and started to eat them. After all, they had been tossing all night and were already feeling dizzy from hunger.
"Are you literate? What is... written on this paper?"
"If you're illiterate, just throw it away. It has nothing to do with us...ahem..."
"Too."
As long as they are full, other things have little to do with them.
Tong Meng was anxious. After receiving Ma Liu's letter, he immediately ordered the entire army to break camp, march south, and begin to take a detour to outflank the Nanhuai Army.
The messenger was hiding in the woods and saw Tong Meng's army rising up, so he eagerly mounted his horse and headed north. Half a day later, Ma Liu also led his entire army to rise up from the stronghold and set off northward to bypass Lushan Mountain and outflank the Nanhuai Army.
Two Chu and Hunan armies, one from the south and one from the north, bypassed Poyang Lake, forming a pincer attack, and slowly surrounded the Huai army in the south. On the Nanhuai Army's side, Yu Lu also arranged sentinels. As soon as the two armies passed Poyang Lake, the Nanhuai Army's sentinels discovered the whereabouts of the two armies, and the news was quickly reported to Li Yaoyang of the Nanhuai Camp.
"I know, let's go down."
As soon as the sentinel retreated, Li Dingxing walked in from outside the tent: "Brother, is there something going on with the Chu Xiang Army?"
"Yes, two Nanhuai armies came separately. Ma Liu led an army of 30,000 in the north, and Tong Meng led an army of 20,000 in the south. They are preparing to outflank us." Li Yaoyang replied.
The two brothers asked and answered questions very naturally, as if the previous quarrel did not exist.
"Thirty thousand...twenty thousand...Brother, you lead 40,000 troops to fight Ma Liu, and I will lead 10,000 troops to block Tong Meng's side. Ma Liu is cautious by nature. When he sees his eldest brother arriving with his army, he will not dare to fight. Once he retreats, Big brother, come back and help me. I heard that Tong Meng only knows how to fight hard but not his brain, so it shouldn't be difficult for me to block him." Li Dingxing thought briefly and came up with a plan based on the other person's character.
"No, I'm not worried that you only have 10,000 people. Tong Meng is a Chu Xiang general and there are 20,000 people. I'm afraid you won't be able to stop him." Li Yaoyang directly rejected the plan without even thinking about it.
Li Dingxing himself was actually a little scared, so he took a step back: "Then I will be able to stop him with 20,000 yuan."
Li Yaoyang still shook his head and said: "I will lead five thousand to fight Tong Meng, and you will lead forty-five thousand to repel Ma Liu. If you or I win first, just support him immediately."
"How can we fight against the enemy with five thousand soldiers! That Tong Meng has brought twenty thousand!" Li Dingxing shouted anxiously.
Li Yaoyang did not get angry this time, and calmly analyzed: "Second brother, you are very resourceful, but as the saying goes, a clever woman cannot make a meal without straw. No matter how resourceful you are, you must have soldiers. I will give you 45,000, plus your resourcefulness. Ma Liu is no match for you. As for me, even if Tong Meng brings 50,000 yuan, I won't be afraid of him! Doesn't he want to fight me? As long as he can fight me, I will definitely win. At that time, the Chu Xiang Army's tactics will no longer work. I will definitely kill Tong Meng before the Chu Xiang Army surrounds me, so that both of us can win!"
After listening to Li Yaoyang's words, Li Dingxing undoubtedly made a more reasonable analysis. I only considered the bravery and caution of the enemy's second general, but my eldest brother took the opponent's psychology into consideration and still said: "Brother, you can lead 10,000 soldiers."
Li Yaoyang hugged Li Dingxing and said: "If I take away an extra soldier from you, you will be in more danger. Remember, never expose yourself, be careful of the opponent's decapitation tactics, don't be surrounded, wait for the big brother to save you !”
Li Dingxing finally compromised. Not only that, Li Yaoyang also gave all his generals to Li Dingxing, leaving only two lieutenants with him.
Li Yaoyang looked at the eleven generals in front of him and said: "You all know how important the second brother is, no need to say more, right? An army of 50,000 is not as important as the second brother. You must protect him, do you hear me? "
"The last general will protect the second master to the death!" Eleven generals responded in unison.
