"You want to divide your troops?"
Mangui frowned when he heard that Jiang Yingzhao wanted to divide his troops.
Jiang Yingzhao said: "This is my plan. You and I will lead a group of troops and try to solve the scourge of traitors in Xuan Mansion in one fell swoop. As long as the main force of the traitors is eliminated, it will be easy to seize Xuan Mansion."
"Wouldn't it be too risky to divide the troops?" Man Gui was a little uneasy.
Jiang Yingzhao smiled and said: "What kind of adventure is this? Do you think it will take more than 50,000 soldiers and horses to capture Yongning City, or do you think it will take 50,000 soldiers and horses to eliminate the main force of the thieves in Xuanfu?"
"That's not what I meant." Man Gui explained, "We don't know when the main force of the traitors will come to Yongning and whether they will come to rescue Yongning. There is no need to rush to divide the troops. We can wait until the location of the main force of the traitors is determined. Deciding whether to divide the troops."
After hearing these words, Jiang Yingzhao looked at Man Gui in surprise and said, "You weren't scared by the firearms of the thieves in Yongning City, were you?"
"It's not like I've never seen a cannon before. How could I be scared by this igniter?" Man Gui curled his lips disapprovingly.
He admitted that the thieves in Yongning City had sharp firearms, but he did not think that they were invincible if they had firearms. The Ming army also had many kinds of firearms.
Jiang Yingzhao's expression became serious and he said, "I'll give you 20,000 soldiers and horses. Can we capture Yongning City?"
"Twenty thousand soldiers and horses are enough to capture Yongning City. According to my observations in the past two days, there are at most a few thousand defenders in Yongning City, and there are not many scattered on the four walls." Man Gui said.
As an experienced general, although the army has not yet captured Yongning City, he discovered some situations in Yongning City through these two days of fighting.
"Then what are you worried about? Twenty thousand troops attacked Yongning City, and the remaining tens of thousands opened their pockets outside Yongning City, waiting for the main force of thieves to break in." Jiang Yingzhao said to Man Gui.
Man Gui asked: "What if the main force of the thieves doesn't come?"
"If you don't come, you don't come. It will not delay us in taking Yongning City. We will find ways to seek opportunities for a decisive battle with the main force of the thieves in the future. I believe that as long as we fight through the cities one by one, the main force of the thieves will sooner or later be unable to help themselves from jumping out to find us. Decisive battle." Jiang Yingzhao said confidently.
Mangui thought for a while and said, "I'll do as you say. However, I have to leave the ambush to me, and it's up to you to arrange the siege. I'm more used to fighting face to face with the traitors outside the city."
"Okay." Jiang Yingzhao nodded and agreed.
It was his suggestion, and it was naturally up to Man Gui to choose what to do. Moreover, he was not sure that the main force of the thieves would definitely come to rescue Yongning City. If not, capturing Yongning City would be a credit.
After the two of them finished their meal, the soldiers waiting in the tent took out the remaining leftovers and replaced them with hot tea.
Neither Jiang Yingzhao nor Mangui left the tent.
Both of them are waiting for the news that the sentinels have returned to camp. Once no sentinels return, they can be sure that the main force of thieves has arrived nearby, even if they don't get news about the main force of the thieves.
As the sky gradually darkened, a bonfire was lit in the camp, and the patrolling soldiers walked back and forth in the camp holding torches in their hands.
"To report to the two generals, Vice General Lin is outside the tent asking for an audience." The soldiers guarding the door of the tent came in to report.
Jiang Yingzhao and Man Gui looked at each other, and then he said: "Please come in, Deputy General Lin."
The soldiers retreated.
Soon, a soldier wearing regular uniforms walked in from outside the tent.
"I've met the two generals."
After entering, the general took the lead in saying hello to Jiang Yingzhao and Man Gui who were waiting in the tent.
Jiang Yingzhao said, "Vice General Lin found a place to sit by himself."
There is not much difference between the deputy commander-in-chief and the commander-in-chief, and it is common for the deputy commander-in-chief not to give face to the commander-in-chief, so Jiang Yingzhao did not show anything in front of Lin Huai.
Even if it was necessary to stage the show, it was Xing Youwei, the nominal commander-in-chief of the army, who would naturally not offend the deputy general in the army for a trivial matter.
After Lin Huai sat down.
Man Gui on the side couldn't help but ask: "Have the sentinels sent out during the day returned?"
"No one from the five sentinel squads, with a total of twenty-five riders, has returned. The last general came here to report this to the two generals." Lin Huai shook his head slightly.
Jiang Yingzhao raised his eyebrows and said, "It looks like the main force of the bandits should have arrived."
"The general also thinks so." Lin Huai said, "Everyone in the five sentinel teams is a veteran in the army. They have never been at a disadvantage in the face of slaves and thieves catching and killing each other. But now there is no news, except for the encounter. Now that the main force of the thieves has been silenced, the general cannot think of any other possibility."
Jiang Yingzhao turned his head and said to Man Gui: "Let's divide the troops. Tomorrow morning you will lead the army to set up an ambush outside Yongning City. I will lead another army to attack Yongning City with all my strength and force the main force of the thieves to come to rescue."
Man Gui nodded and immediately said, "Do you want to talk to the supervisor?"
"No need." Jiang Yingzhao waved his hand and said, "The supervisor only cares about the results. As for how we fight, he doesn't care."
At this moment, the soldiers outside the tent came in, bowed and said, "I would like to report to the generals that the sentinel sent out has returned."
As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of the three people in the tent changed.
Among them, Jiang Yingzhao said: "Bring people in quickly."
Not long after, the soldiers helped a pale man come in from outside the tent.
"Young Ding Youkui, I have met several generals." The sentry who was helped in kneeled on the ground, with one hand on the ground, and the other arm was wrapped in a cloth strip with blood stains on it.
The injuries on his body were also noticed by several people in the tent.
"Get up quickly. How did you get this injury on your shoulder? Have you seen the military doctor?" Jiang Yingzhao asked about the injury on the sentinel's body.
The sentry got up from the ground and said: "Early this morning, I was ordered to lead a group of people to investigate the surrounding situation. Unexpectedly, when I returned, I encountered a large group of thieves. They fought hard. He was shot in the shoulder, but he finally escaped."
"Where did you meet the thieves?" Man Gui asked eagerly.
The sentry detective said: "It is twenty miles away from the army camp. I didn't notice it when I led the people passing by, but when I came back, I suddenly encountered it."
"So close." Mangui frowned.
There are many mountains and forests in Yanqing Prefecture, and sometimes they are more than ten miles apart. It would be difficult to find each other unless they bump into each other.
Lieutenant General Lin Huai asked at this time: "Besides you, who else is back?"
"The thieves all wore iron armor and used fire guns. They could shoot guns while riding on horseback. They were very difficult to deal with. Of the group of thieves, only the small one managed to escape. The others all died in the group. Among the thief riders." The sentry rider lowered his head and said.
