Fu Hongzhi laughed: "You still have a way, but if we are separated on foot and cavalry like this, it will be easy for us to defeat each other. If the enemy sets up an ambush and our front army suffers heavy losses, it will not be easy to withdraw to the camp for defense. , and if Xu Daofu comes to take command, I'm afraid he won't be so intimidated by us. If he has 30,000 to 50,000 troops, even if Brother Daogui comes in person, there will be no advantage. If the field battle is unfavorable, I think It will be difficult to retreat and defend the city."
Tan Zhi shook his head: "Now we attack, not to directly destroy all the enemy troops and drive them down the river, but also to buy time for the people to evacuate. Before, we only allowed the villages along the highway like Zatoichi to evacuate. The residents were transferred, and the people in each township and village were only asked to strengthen their vigilance. There was no time to transfer the old, weak, women and children, and we did not recruit strong men. Where these manpower and materials are, we did not occupy them, but fled or were unable to hold on. , let the demon thieves plunder them and turn them into their own resources, then the demon thieves will soon have a legion of 108,000 Jingzhou natives."
Having said this, Tan Zhi paused and said seriously: "The demon thieves are different from ordinary rebel thieves. Their methods are brutal and they are good at deceiving people. If we are temporarily unfavorable on the battlefield and retreat, we will be blamed for them." After our army was defeated, our army ran away and left the people alone. The only ones who could save them were these demon thieves. If they refused, they would massacre the villages and destroy the fortresses, force the people to eat human flesh and then join them. If they didn’t obey, they would kill them, or spread them. The epidemic, falsely claiming that this is the wrath of God, will be exterminated if they don’t help them. Such evil spells and sorcery have given the people no chance to wait and see, so they can only join them. The reason why this time the Tianshi Dao army increased its strength So quickly, even the last time Wu Di raised troops, it was able to cause such a big commotion, all because of this!"
Fu Hongzhi frowned: "It's not such an exaggeration. Although they have two to three hundred thousand soldiers and horses after raising troops in Lingnan, they can't say that all the villages, prefectures and counties along the way have joined them. Most of them are still the same as before. Otherwise, Xiao Shitou wouldn't have been able to stay in Jiangzhou, and Yu Yue wouldn't have been guerrilla for a year before."
Tan Zhi sighed: "That's because the previous demon thieves were in a hurry to attack Jiankang, and their soldiers were so fast that they didn't have time to spread their troops around and plunder the countryside to do this. And a little earlier, he and Brother Wuji made peace with Dao After Gui Ge fought and gained some advantages, he was in a long-term confrontation with Xile Ge and Dao Gui Ge. He did not dare to divide his troops. He could only accept the submission of the powerful landlords in these places on the condition that he would not go to their villages and towns to engage in such things. Even so, nearly 200,000 mobs joined them. If they had time to launch, I am afraid that the demon thieves now have an army of one million."
Fu Hongzhi opened his mouth in surprise: "Can they have such ability? It's impossible!"
Tan Zhi said sternly: "I have fought with them in Wudi for many years, and I have seen those deserted villages and ruins. If they really do this, it is absolutely possible. These demon thieves are inhumane and good at deceiving people. , which has nothing to do with production. This kind of coercion is very scary and will create a scale effect."
"If Xu Daofu leads the army, he will know this very well. His vanguard will not be too strong, and he will think of using the manpower of Jingzhou. When the time comes, these people of Jingzhou will be protected by us and should join us. , will become the enemy's sergeants. Even if we defeat the demon thieves, we will still have grudges with these people's families. It will be doubly difficult to rule and manage in the future. This is what we try to avoid. Therefore, we can defeat the demon thieves. It is best to suppress him at Wulindu and prevent him from going out to harm the people. Even if he cannot suppress it, he can at least buy time for the people to evacuate, so that the demon thieves will not control the whole village and the whole countryside."
Fu Hongzhi sighed: "What do you mean, do you mean that half of my cavalry will be divided and go to every village and township with your order to tell the village officials in these places to evacuate quickly? Then do you want to recruit all the people? Are the village men and women coming to join us?"
Tan Zhi shook his head: "The enemy army has already reached Wulin. At this time, it is too late to recruit Ding and the whole army. Let the Ding Zhuangs protect the whole village and escape together. Brother Daogui had a plan before, letting them When we go to certain evacuation points, we will definitely arrange a small number of sergeants at these evacuation points to protect the people and recruit young men and women at the same time. But these are things for later. What we have to do now is to give the demon thieves a head-on blow as much as possible. , to stop them from dividing their troops and plundering. Hongzhi, I don’t want to be greedy for success, I just want to weaken the enemy. Even if I can stop them for a day or two until the army arrives, it will be good."
Fu Hongzhi nodded: "I understand what you mean. You don't want the people to think that the demon thieves really defeated our army. We abandoned the people and fled. You want the people to see that we are capable and determined." To stop the enemy. In fact, Brother Daogui has the same idea. Otherwise, why would you let me come? Instead, I would ask you to evacuate the Matou Camp and return to Jiangling to defend."
Tan Zhi said sternly: "Our troops may not be less than the enemy's, but they are now scattered in various places, and not all men have been recruited and mobilized in the entire Jingzhou. If there is enough opportunity, there will be no problem in recruiting 100,000 or 80,000 men. Yes, but if we abandon the camp and leave this vast countryside to the demon thieves, then these manpower will become theirs. When the demon thieves raised an army in Wu, there were only a few thousand people at the beginning. The county guard was greedy for life and feared death, so he ordered all the troops to concentrate on the county and abandoned the villages. This allowed the demon bandits to expand rapidly. We can learn from the past and we cannot make the same mistake again."
Fu Hongzhi sighed: "But after all, after all, we only have five or six thousand to fight, and we still need to divide some troops to defend the camp. If we really face the demon thieves, our military strength is absolutely at a disadvantage, and there is no such strong force in the wild. The camp allows us to defend it, but what if the demon thieves attack in large numbers and surround us?"
Tan Zhi laughed and said, "When Brother Ji Nu came to Jingkou, didn't he only have one or two thousand men under his command? But Huan Xuan didn't know the truth and thought we had thousands of troops, so in the end he backed down and did not dare to continue. Attack, but we attacked Jiankang, and finally the Beifu army defected in front of the formation, and we wiped out Huan in one fell swoop. Hongzhi, when you were in Huanxuan's army and counterattacked us at Luoluo Bridge, what were you thinking?"
Fu Hongzhi laughed: "I thought you had at least 10,000 to 20,000 troops. Otherwise, how could you dare to advance so lightly? Ah Zhi, I understand what you mean, and I will do as you say. I will go first, and you will come behind me." Be careful, if the enemy troops come out in large numbers, quickly form a formation with vehicles and wait for reinforcements!"
