"How does Brother Zhang plan to help?"
Zhang Bao asked Zhang Hongtao.
"I know, you need men and horses now, I have them!"
"I can give you 50,000 horses, plus the 50,000 horses you have left from Dongzhou, making up 100,000 horses. Entering Xiazhou from the direction of Huizhou, there are a lot of things that can be done."
Zhang Hongtao said to Zhang Bao.
"what would you like?"
Zhang Bao did not answer, but asked Zhang Hongtao.
Giving 50,000 troops for no reason is not a small amount. If it is true as Zhang Hongtao said, attacking Xiazhou with another 100,000 troops from Huizhou will not only distract the original defensive focus of Xiazhou , and it can even disrupt Cao Kang's existing plans.
“I don’t need anything, I just need a place for me in Huizhou in the future.”
Zhang Hongtao said to Zhang Bao with a smile.
"Brother Zhang, you're welcome. Based on your previous behavior and attitude towards the Japanese, you will be our forever friend!"
"If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't necessarily be relieved."
Zhang Bao also smiled.
"good!"
"Zhangzhou Mu, please speak quickly. Within three days, the soldiers and horses will be here. I will do what I say."
Zhang Hongtao stood up as he spoke.
After Zhang Hongtao walked out, Zhang Bao came to the backyard.
Now that 50,000 troops have been added from Zhang Hongtao's side, the pressure on Fang Fu is no longer so great.
After all this time.
Fang Fu knew that Zhang Bao wanted to use troops, so he was busy selecting and training the soldiers who surrendered from Xiazhou.
It is necessary to provide Zhang Bao with a usable army of soldiers within a short period of time.
Thus.
Fang Fu can directly allocate the available troops and horses under his men to Zhang Bao, while Fang Fu can slowly manage the remaining troops by himself.
As long as Zhang Bao and the others successfully capture Xiazhou, these troops and horses will naturally not be a problem.
"Zhang Bao, are you going out to fight?"
Xixue came out excitedly.
"How did you know?"
Zhang Bao was a little surprised. He had just decided to take people there by himself. How could Xixue have guessed it?
"Uncle He told me."
"Uncle He also said that you are going to Xiazhou to attack Cao Kang?"
"Is it already so fast?"
Xixue asked with surprise on her face.
"Yeah, it's so fast."
"To be honest, I didn't expect it to happen so quickly."
"Cao Kang obviously has such strength, but to be beaten like this is really unbelievable, and I can't understand it either."
Zhang Bao walked in shaking his head.
"Uncle He, is your waist okay?"
Zhang Bao asked Lao He.
"well……"
"He's old. This man can't accept his old age!"
"This time, I will take girl Xixue back to Hezhou first and not leave with you."
"Otherwise, it will be very inconvenient for those marching and fighting along the way."
Lao He said to Zhang Bao.
"Well, that's fine too."
"I really don't know what will happen next, and I can't be sure. And judging from the progress we are making, if we want to help, we probably have to leave as soon as possible."
After listening to Lao He's words, Zhang Bao nodded.
"But I really didn't expect that Cao Kang would be defeated so quickly."
"According to my estimation, Cao Kang's power is so powerful, how can it last for several years? Just like the current situation, don't look at Liu Xiu's hundreds of thousands of troops."
"But there are still a lot of people in Xiazhou."
Zhang Bao said to Lao He.
"I do understand this somewhat."
Xixue, who was on the side, interjected.
"Um?"
"you understand?"
Zhang Bao was a little surprised.
"right!"
"During this period, I often went outside to talk to those people. Many of them came from Xiazhou."
"Now this Xiazhou is not suitable for normal people to live at all. For them, not only are there high taxes, but they are also recruiting troops at every turn."
"When Ma Yaohan and others attacked Xiazhou last time, they killed many of Cao Kang's troops along the way. The fact that they were able to replenish them in such a short period of time has a lot to do with the fact that they recruited troops everywhere."
"And their conscription is not conscription under normal circumstances like ours. Their conscription is forced conscription."
"The few people I met had no place to go because their family property was expropriated by Cao Kang. If they didn't join the army, they would have no choice but to leave their homes and go to other places."
"This is the real reason why Cao Kang and others lost power."
Xixue said to Zhang Bao.
"Um!"
"I can't see that you actually know so many things."
"If I really follow what you said, then maybe we can fight this battle smarter."
"There is no need to directly compete for the number of people."
Zhang Bao nodded.
"What other clever ideas do you have, kid?"
"Every time you roll your eyes, I know you must be up to something wrong."
Lao He said with a grin.
"Uncle He, this is called wisdom."
"Conquering the enemy without fighting is the best policy!"
Zhang Bao said with great disdain.
"You mean to persuade him to surrender in advance?"
Xixue asked from the side.
"I'm afraid it will be difficult to persuade us to surrender, but we can go to Xiazhou in advance to lay some groundwork."
"Now that we know that many of the scattered soldiers in Xiazhou are forced to serve as soldiers, they do not have much combat effectiveness. More importantly, in the process, they are not willing to serve as soldiers."
"We sent people in advance to spread the news, saying that as long as our soldiers and horses in Hezhou throw away their weapons and surrender, we will give preferential treatment to the prisoners."
"And after surrendering, you can do whatever you want. You can go home to farm or do business. In short, you don't have to fight. This will destroy their courage to fight us!"
Zhang Bao explained to the two people.
"You think they are all fools, but I don't believe you!"
"Everything you said during the war was all lies!"
Lao He said on the side.
"So this matter needs to be spoken by someone with authority."
"But there is no suitable person now."
Zhang Bao frowned.
"me!"
Xixue on the side said quickly.
"Stop it!"
"Why are women meddling in the war?"
Lao He said very dissatisfied.
"Uncle He, you underestimate me too much."
"No matter what, I was also Princess Yongtai before, and if they are the people of Xiazhou, I can directly affect them."
"For them, I should still be trustworthy. It's better than what a random person says."
Xixue said to Lao He.
Zhang Bao didn't speak on the side.
I have to say, what Xixue said is right.
As the princess of Daxia, their crusade against Cao Kang this time was actually to crusade against rebellion, and they had no intention of recognizing Cao Kang's throne.
If Xixue could come out, it would have a good influence.
Moreover, Xixue's father may have many old subordinates before him. If Xixue can stand up, some battles may not even be fought.
