Du Tan paced back and forth in the tent irritably, feeling a little angry when he looked at the subordinates in front of him.
It's not that they haven't tried to divide their troops in the past two days, but they have become more and more scattered. More than a dozen Jin soldiers have disappeared, and the traces of the Jin army seem to have been deliberately leaked. There are elaborate arrangements in many inconspicuous places. There are many traps waiting for the Jin soldiers to come to their door. Most of the Jin army's deaths in the past two days were due to these traps, so that now the Jin soldiers are extremely cautious after discovering the traces of the Jin army.
Du Tan roughly guessed the Jin army's strategy at a glance, but he felt that he had no solution.
He divided the Jin army into as many troops as he wanted. Even though he had the advantage in strength, he didn't know how many people there were in each line of the Jin army. Moreover, the Jin army could always suddenly gather a lot of troops to surround and annihilate his troops. Moreover, the camp must always be guarded, and the food, grass and baggage must be guarded. In this case, it is simply passive everywhere, as if being led by the nose by Guan Cheng.
Du Tan swore that he had never fought such a frustrating battle, nor had he seen such a cunning enemy.
Deng Li's suggestion can be considered. The Jin army has so many people, divided into four groups, each with at least seven or eight hundred people. As long as the Jin army can be delayed and the main force arrives, it will be done.
But the Jin army is not a pig.
After the troops gathered together, there were more blind spots on the map. The entire battlefield was like a fog, and the Jin army was like a ghost in the fog.
Du Tan can already feel that morale has been affected to a certain extent. Although there are no negative rumors in the army, all departments have definitely felt the decline in the soldiers' mobility. There is a feeling of unrest in the army.
Should we call for reinforcements?
Du Tan always felt a bit embarrassed after thinking about it, and the Kingdom of Jin had just experienced a war. Although he succeeded in getting Peng and Shu to cede a lot of interest, the more than 60,000 people brought out by the leader Liu Jie only returned 40,000 Unexpectedly, a large number of attrition has weakened the strength of Jin State to a certain extent, and there is reliable news that Liang State is also ready to take action at this time, and it is no longer suitable to take any action until the training of Jin State's new soldiers is completed.
At present, he still has more than 3,000 elites in his hands, which seems to be more than three times that of the Jin army, but it is really not worth mentioning in this vast mountain.
Outside the tent, Deng Li, Diao Chang and others were issuing orders to gather all the troops.
Du Tan has always felt that the enemy must not be led by the nose in a war, otherwise failure is not far away. The most important thing right now is to find the main force of the Jin army or Guan Cheng. Before that, the Jin army must ensure that it has sufficient strength.
"General, there is an order from Jincheng."
Du Tan, who was meditating, couldn't help but frown. What order could come at this time? He had a bad premonition in his heart. The leader of the country, Liu Dang, was very thoughtful. It would be easier to trust his relatives, but it would be difficult for the Qing clan. As for the common people, in Liu Dang's eyes, they were just cannon fodder to die.
"Come in."
After hearing the order, the soldiers outside the tent turned around and said to a young company commander behind him: "The general invites you."
The young man walked in fully dressed.
Du Tan sat in front of the desk, still speculating in his mind, but when he raised his head, he was shocked and even changed his face.
Du Tan quickly stood up, walked quickly to the middle and said in a deep voice: "Sima Du Tan, the Imperial Rear Army Commander, has met His Highness the Crown Prince. I didn't know that His Highness was not far away when he arrived, so please forgive me!"
The visitor turned out to be Liu Jie's eldest son, Liu Dong, the crown prince of the Jin Kingdom.
There are three things that Liu You is most proud of in his life so far. One is to fight against the Liang Kingdom and win, the other is to prevent Peng and Shu from being threatened by the Jin Kingdom, and the last is to have Liu Dong, a noble son with both civil and military talents. .
Sixteen-year-old Liu Dong has been the heir apparent for ten years.
Liu Dong and Guan Cheng are the same age, but they are very different in status, treatment and environment. As the crown prince, Guan Cheng is really pitiful compared to Liu Dong.
Liu Jie clasped his hands in his fists, bowed slightly and said, "Liu Dong, the company commander of the Forbidden Army, has met Du Sima."
But how could Lao Du dare to accept Liu Dong's courtesy? He hurriedly took a few steps forward, dragged Liu Dong's arms to help him up and asked, "Why did His Highness come here? But what are your orders?"
Liu Dong shook his head and said with a smile: "Du Sima is my golden god of war, and he is the best at using troops. This encirclement and suppression of the Jin army is a good opportunity for me to learn, so I specially asked for such a job, and I also Please take care of Du Sima." Liu Dong did not appear to be arrogant because of his status as the heir apparent, and his aristocratic temperament was clearly evident in his every move.
Du Tan laughed and said: "It is a blessing for me to have His Highness come to my tent. What else can I say? His Highness is not afraid of swordsmanship and coming to the front line in person. The soldiers will be greatly encouraged when they know it. We can defeat the Jin army just around the corner." .”
Liu Dong said: "Dong is just an unknown person, so he does not deserve Du Sima's praise. Now that I have been appointed, I will be in front of the tent in the name of the emperor and listen to orders. Du Sima will definitely not disappoint the general despite his arrangement."
Du Tan also nodded, and then ordered all officers above the company commander to come here.
The meaning of Liu Jie paving the road is quite obvious. Lao Du thought he saw it clearly, so he naturally wanted to support him.
During this period, Liu Dong stepped forward and asked, "May I ask Sima, how is the current situation of the war? On the way down from the post, I heard that the Jin army had been surrounded in Hangning Mountain, and most of them had been killed in the battle, with only a few hundred people left. on one's last legs."
Du Tan was shocked. He never expected that the public opinion would be like this. Du Tan's first reaction was that someone was trying to harm him, the bastard Yan Tao.
But then I thought that it shouldn't be. Yesterday, Yan Tao sent an envoy to report that 500 elite troops were on their way. You must know that the left army now only has 5,000 men. To send 10% of the troops at once is enough to show that Yan Tao's determination.
Who could it be?
Liu Dong looked at Du Tan's furrowed brows and smiled slightly: "Du Sima, don't worry too much. I'll understand what I saw along the way. Rumors stop with the wise. Your Majesty, the Divine, Civil and Holy Martial Arts, will definitely not leave a message about this." I'm confused, otherwise I wouldn't have come here, and I also brought five hundred guards."
Du Tan's heart skipped a beat. The meaning behind Liu Dong's words was already obvious. The imperial family was inherently Machiavellian and ruthless.
Du Tan adjusted slightly and said with a joyful smile on his face: "With His Highness's five hundred elites, Nachen's chances of winning here are a little better."
"Oh? It seems that the war is not just a simple matter of not going well. Can you please elaborate, Sima?"
Du Tan said: "That's natural."
While he was talking, military generals had already arrived outside the account to ask for an audience. The first to arrive was Diao Chang, followed by Deng Li and a group of company commanders.
Everyone who knew Liu Dong was extremely shocked. They didn’t expect that the Lord would pay so much attention to this. Liu Dong naturally would not miss this opportunity and kept a polite smile to greet the generals. This made many people feel uneasy. The officer's mind calmed down a little, and then the fire in his heart burned a little brighter. The prince was here, and what he saw was what the king saw.
Du Tan was well aware of the encouragement given by his superiors to the military spirit, so within a very short period of time the whole camp began to spread:
Did you hear that? Your Majesty decided to personally conquer the Jin army.
The soldier had a look of disbelief on his face and even curled his lips. It was obvious that he didn't believe it. That was because the soldier immediately became anxious and said, "You guys, if you don't believe me, look at it. The guards are all here, more than five hundred people."
That piece of sophisticated equipment is indeed extremely conspicuous.
Later at night, in a hidden cave in the forest with leeward wind, Guan Cheng sat at the entrance of the cave, holding a piece of dry food in his hand and asked with an expression of disbelief: "What did you say? Liu Jie came here in person?"
