Tan Daoji and Dao Yanzhi's expressions softened slightly. Liu Daogui looked at the two of them and said seriously: "I received news from my eldest brother that the battle of Guanggu has reached the final stage. It was a long-term siege before to reduce casualties, but now because of the demon thieves sending troops , the situation in the south is deteriorating, I am afraid that he will attack early to end this war, and return to the army to destroy the demon thieves as soon as possible. We do not need to rush to fight."
"As long as Jiangling can be firmly guarded and the demon thieves can't move as hard as they can to the east, with Xi Le's Yuzhou army blocking them in the east and our Jingzhou army cutting off the enemy's retreat in the west, the demon thieves will be unable to advance or retreat, and defeat is inevitable. , although Brother Wuji died in the battle, it is not a bad thing to be able to transfer the demon thieves from Lingnan and eliminate them. In this way, the grievances with the demon thieves for more than ten years can be settled once and for all, and the south can be completely pacified."
"But if you rush forward greedily and get ambushed by demon thieves, I'm afraid you won't have the same luck as my elder brother in the last battle of Haiyan. Although the soldiers and horses you bring are not many, they are all elite veterans of Beifu. They belong to the demon thieves." The core number of old thieves is only about ten thousand, so if you pull them out and fight them head-on, they may not be your opponents. As long as you avoid water battles with them, even if you travel slower by land, it won't be a problem."
Tan Zhi frowned: "But Daoji and Yanzhi took away more than half of the elite veterans. As a result, although there are still more than 20,000 soldiers and horses in Jiangling City, there are only more than 5,000 veterans in Beifu, and the remaining two Most of the thousands of horses are the old troops of Huan Chu in Jingzhou and the soldiers and horses of the prefectures and counties who have returned from Xiangzhou. Their hearts are unpredictable. If there is a powerful enemy attack, or even the army of the Later Qin starts from Guanzhong, crosses Wuguan and takes Jiangling directly. It will be difficult to resist."
Tan Daoji nodded: "Exactly, and we have been worried about whether Lu Zongzhi in Xiangyang will rebel. If his Yongzhou soldiers side with the demon thieves or Huan Qian, then the pressure from the north will be great. Jiangling We must be on guard. If our goal is just to follow and monitor the monster thieves, rather than attack with all our strength, then we don’t need five thousand veterans, only two thousand. The rest can lead the state and county soldiers and horses to build up momentum, and let’s recapture it. Regions can also recruit strong men to join the army."
Liu Daogui frowned: "There are only two thousand veterans with thousands of new soldiers from the state and county. It is impossible to fight the enemy head-on. Moreover, the discipline of the state and county soldiers is also a problem. They may not be able to obey your command by then."
Yanzhi curled up his lips and said, "They just need to build up their momentum. Besides, Wang Zhenzhi is not the commander-in-chief. He has a very good relationship with the local soldiers in Jingzhou. He usually provides them with equipment, food and other benefits. If he wants to attack this time, he can't be a mere general. He has three thousand soldiers who are willing to obey his orders, and he has the confidence to speak. As for Daoji and I, we will each bring a thousand Beifu veterans, and Quan Zuo will support him. "
Liu Daogui sighed: "He knows that he has no commanding talent, so he tried his best to refuse just now. I want him to be just a nominal commander, but I don't really want him to have the right to lead troops. If there are really three thousand local troops If we set off, I'm afraid that General Jingzhou will overwhelm us and encourage him to misjudge the situation."
Tan Zhi smiled slightly: "Daogui, if you really trust the Jingzhou soldiers and horses, you have to give them enough room to perform. Wang Zhenzhi can also lead troops to put down rebellions everywhere. If the Jingzhou soldiers perform well, they will be given according to the rules. The reward is that, no matter what, the Chu army was once the elite of the world. Although the Huan family was dead, many people still wanted to make contributions. Besides, many people killed their relatives and friends this time for the monster thieves and asked for war. The desire is no less than ours, so we must use this morale."
Liu Daogui's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he murmured: "What I'm afraid of is that they can't control their anger, and when they see the demon thief, they want to hit and take revenge. This is how Bao Sizhi was defeated back then, like this It’s a tragedy that I don’t want to see again.”
Tan Zhi said calmly: "It's a blessing, not a curse. It's a curse that can't be avoided. If Wang Zhenzhi doesn't even have the ability to restrain his subordinates, it will be very difficult for him to be the Sima of Jingzhou in the future. If you don't trust the Taoist rules, the big deal is I will lead 2,000 Beifu veterans, three hundred miles away, to follow behind and provide rescue services if something really happens."
Liu Daogui nodded: "Aji, if you are willing to do this, then I have nothing to worry about. In these difficult times, we still need to work together. I still say that if you hold on firmly, there will be a solution."
Tan Daoji nodded, suddenly thought of something, and said: "I heard that the traitor Zhu Chaoshi was doing well with the thieves. He stepped on the blood of his brothers and was about to be promoted to a general. If there is a chance, I can kill this thief this time." , I won’t let it go.”
Yanzhi said bitterly: "Deng Qianzhi said that Brother Wuji almost died in his hands. Poor Brother Wuji, before he died, he was still defending the thief, saying that the matter was not certain yet, so Deng Qianzhi and the others did not want to assert Zhu Chaoshi's rebellion. This is really a danger. Now that his brother Zhu Lingshi is beside the commander, there is also the possibility of rebellion. There are many relatives of the Zhu family in Jiangling City. Just as a precaution First, should we kill them first to avoid future trouble?"
Liu Daogui said decisively: "It is absolutely impossible. We have discussed this matter before. Zhu Chaoshi was trapped in the enemy camp, maybe he could not help it. Even if he rebelled and surrendered to the enemy, it was only his business and had nothing to do with the whole Zhu family. If we act impulsively and kill the entire Zhu family, we will probably do so if Zhu Lingshi doesn't rebel. Moreover, after all, the Zhu family is a famous general in Jingzhou and the first general to defect from the Huan Chu side. If the eldest brother's two direct disciples force them to rebel, I'm afraid they will completely lose the hearts of Jingzhou, and even Wang Zhenzhi may have other ideas."
Tan Zhi sighed: "Yes, now Brother Jinu has not done anything to Zhu Lingshi directly because of this. He still focuses on appeasing him and has not even relieved him of his command. We cannot cause trouble at this time, but Daoji , Yanzhi, if it is true that the demon thief sent Zhu Chaoshi to lead the troops to cut off the rear, we should still kill him if there is a chance. We also need to set an example for everyone, that is how our Jingba brothers deal with traitors!"
Liu Daogui frowned: "Azhi, I think it's best to capture Zhu Chaoshi and send it to the elder brother for interrogation and punishment. Maybe he still has his own reasons. I watched these two boys, Big Shitou and Little Shitou, grow up. Zhu Chaoshi, in particular, has always been a loyal person. I don’t know why he became like this. He betrayed the country and surrendered to the enemy just because of a slut, Lu Lanxiang. I don’t believe it now. Maybe, he will still help us."
