Night, Tonghe Mansion.
With their confidants withdrawn, the three Meng brothers sat in the city of sleepiness, wanting to discuss how to deal with the predicament at hand - but they went back and forth, but nothing could be done.
If you can't beat it, you can't beat it.
The other party did not attack the city, but set up camp ten miles outside the city gate and came to scold them every day.
He wanted to attack at night, but he was hit by a hail of arrows halfway, killing more than 20 people and injuring 70 to 80 people, so he had to retreat.
They couldn't fight head-on, and they didn't dare to send out the entire army to forcibly remove the opponent's camp - the opponent's Chinese army had already reached Ming City, which was only fifty miles away from Tonghe City.
If the whole army attacks and cannot capture the opponent's camp within half a day, the opponent's follow-up troops will be able to rush to respond.
"Seek help quickly. The battle is dangerous. We must not take chances!" Meng Zheng advised.
This is not a time to lose face. You must know that the Chu army has not yet arrived. These three thousand men and horses alone dared to block the city gate and call for formation.
What's worse is that the so-called elite that the second brother put together is really vulnerable in front of others.
This is not a matter of personal force. If 3,000 people from both sides were brought out to fight one on one, Meng Zheng dared to say that at least 2,800 of the 3,000 people under his second brother would be able to defeat the opponent reliably.
But the most troublesome thing is this - if the quality of the soldiers is not a problem, who is responsible for this defeat?
The Meng family occupies the position of governing affairs in Tonghe City, not through military exploits, but through selling Tonghe City at a good price.
This position was not right in the first place, but with the help of the black and white connections and clever skills of the three Meng brothers, as well as the background of Luwu's consecutive victories, the position was considered secure. But now that the soldiers of the Chu State are approaching, that is another one. It's a situation.
Meng Yang led his troops out of the city to fight with the Chu army's forwards in the field, also to prove himself - but what did this defeat prove?
Meng Zheng is in charge of the city's government affairs, Meng Yang is in charge of the military, and Meng De is in charge of logistics and business. The three brothers each have their own division of labor.
Meng Zheng felt that since his second brother was defeated when he left the city, even his officials had looked at him differently in the past two days - of course it could be a psychological illusion, but even he had this feeling, which showed that the people in the city were indeed in danger. .
Meng Yang pondered for a moment, then shook his head with difficulty.
If the city was besieged by large armies and fought bloody battles for several months, with both sides suffering heavy casualties, it would still be reasonable for me to ask for help at that time.
But now the opponent only has 3,000 troops, but there are more than 30,000 troops in the city.
As the art of war goes, besiege the city ten times - the number of troops defending the city is ten times the number of troops attacking the city. If you go to ask for help at this time, what will others think of you?
Waste within waste?
Throughout the ages, even among those generals who have been nailed to the pillar of shame and recognized as useless, are there any such timid ones?
"Death is just around the corner, and you still care about your appearance - you really don't have any plans!" Meng Zheng stopped, smashed the tea cup in his hand, stood up and walked out of the lobby.
Brothers Meng Yang and Meng De were silent.
After a while, the third brother Meng De whispered: "How about we go and ask for reinforcements as the elder brother said?"
"Brother is used to being a master, so he naturally cherishes his life. Anyway, I have always fought hard, and he didn't even think about asking for help at this time. What does General Lu think of us? Even if the reinforcements come and defend Tonghe City, we still can't. Can you sit in this position?"
"But now the people in the city are unstable, and the Chu army is so powerful. If the whole army comes, let alone whether we can defend the city, I'm afraid someone will attack the city-" Meng De was worried.
Their brothers sold Tonghe City to achieve their current status. If they can do it, others can't?
"Now the only trustworthy people under my command are the three thousand men left by the general. I will just hand over the key points of the city gate to them." Meng Yang sighed and said helplessly.
Originally, he called Lu Wu by his first name in private.
After all, he is also a first-level master. If he fights alone, he may not lose to the fighting general. Among the three types of super-level strong men, the fighting general is the best in breaking formations and resisting battles. However, he is not good at fighting alone.
Now on the battlefield, after a big defeat, Meng Yang respected Lu Wu a lot.
"What if a large army attacks the city?" Meng De asked.
"Hmph, I can't compare to those elite frontier troops who have fought in battles for a long time. But when they attack the city, can they still line up the military formation and walk on the ladder? Besides, Tonghe City is such an important strategic location , will the general watch helplessly as Tonghe City falls?"
Meng Yang's current plan is to defend the city. As long as he can survive several attacks by the Chu army, he does not believe that Lu Wu will sit idly by.
Now he is asked to go out to fight with the Chu army in the field, but he refuses - even if he is willing, his subordinates are not willing.
Meng Yang's men were all from the Jianghu in the Five Prefectures in the South of Chu State. They came to seek refuge with him for wealth, not to die.
Of course, it's not for nothing that he has been in both the black and white lanes in recent years. He does have a group of die-hard brothers who are loyal and sincere, but when hundreds of masters are placed in front of the battle formations of the two armies, they become a huge force in the world. There is no water splash.
Tonghefu, Mingcheng.
Mingcheng is one of the counties closest to Tonghe Prefecture and is now under the control of the Chu army.
The Northland is vast and sparsely populated, and it is common for cities to be one or two hundred miles apart.
But in the Chu State in the south, there are abundant water resources, densely populated areas, and densely populated cities. The short distance is only thirty miles, and the long distance is only sixty miles.
Mingcheng is only forty-seven miles away from Tonghe Fucheng. There is a flat river between the two cities, and farmland is everywhere. Except for a few small rivers/ditches seven or eight meters wide, there is no terrain that can be called an obstacle.
In the pavilion, Chu State General Qu Dazhong and Shangqing Xiangcheng sat opposite each other. On the stone platform in the middle, there was a pot of tea on a small brass stove, which was gradually boiling.
"General, Tonghe City is managed by Meng Yang who is not good at military affairs. Why don't we take down Tonghe City at once." Xiang Cheng is the youngest brother of Chu King Xiang Tong. He is only thirty years old and naturally he does not dare to show off in front of Qu Dazhong.
In fact, since the wars between various countries began 170 years ago, the status of generals has become very high. Not to mention the pillars of the country like Qu Dazhong, even ordinary generals have a lower status than those who have no real power and fiefdoms. Not going anywhere.
"Haha, Xiang Shangqing, this battle is about pacifying the south as soon as possible, not the gains and losses of one city or one battle." Qu Dazhong stroked his long beard and said with a smile: "From what I saw, the achievements of the deer bandit were all based on the courage of one man. Horses and halberds are rampant. But there has never been an example of commanding a large army and winning a battle in a dignified formation. If I gain a huge advantage every step of the way and leave him no chance to take advantage of others, what will happen to him?"
"Well, if I were that Lu Wu, since I have the bravery of ten thousand men, the ability to kill generals and seize flags, and the magic horse that travels thousands of miles, when there is no hope of winning from the front, I can only lead a small number of cavalry to guerrilla and run out of food. Dao, harassing the place - Hey, if he really wants to do this, it will be really difficult to deal with."
Xiang Cheng thought about taking on the role of Lu Wu for a while and took a breath of cold air.
A fighting general who can smash a city gate head-on with his own bravery is a living siege ram. Who can stand such a person if he goes around guerrillas? If one city is destroyed today and another city is destroyed tomorrow, Chu will not be able to survive.
"That's not all that's difficult to deal with." Qu Dazhong shook his head and pointed at the tea cup.
Xiang Cheng picked up the teapot and poured him tea.
This is not that Qu Dazhong relied on his old age and pretended to let the royal family pour him tea, but that he regarded Xiang Cheng as a friend. Since he solved Xiang Cheng's doubts, Xiang Cheng poured him tea.
This is the same as giving a reward for listening to books in a teahouse, but of course it is much more elegant.
"That Lu Wu is indeed a great talent. Not only is his martial arts achievements astonishing, but the Zhechong method he implemented in the south is actually a variant of the Tuien Order. It is based on soldiers and has great morale in the army. Just watch him enter Chu. Now, He has hundreds of thousands of loyal men under his command, and the great clans in the south know that this man has amazing skills."
"If Lu Wu starts to guerrilla in all directions, his whereabouts will be unpredictable and he will avoid the real situation and attack the weak. How easy will it be to surround and kill this person? The rebel soldiers in the three southern prefectures have made a lot of money by using the counterattack method. Many people are willing to die for this person. If he is this person If we don’t die, I’m afraid it will be difficult for the South to settle down within a few decades.”
For the general Qu Dazhong, he had a heavy army. Against a young man like Lu Wu who was only good at rushing into battle but had no record of commanding an army, there was no suspense about victory or defeat.
But what he was afraid of was that Lu Wu would just show up and look like a gangster, and he would be eaten wherever he was beaten, and it would be ruined in all directions.
Not to mention that Lu Wu couldn't do it, Chu State had sent countless experts to the south these days. King Chu and Qu Dazhong had a copy of all the laws of Zhe Chong Mansion that were open to the public.
Even if there are some internal rules that are not open to the public, I have collected them almost exactly.
"So?" Xiang Cheng paused and asked.
"The most important thing in this battle is not to conquer the city or defeat the military formation, but to kill this officer!" Qu Dazhong took a sip of tea, put down the teacup heavily, and said.
