weaving

Chapter 1174 It’s too late, it’s already too late!

After Zuo Liangyu's surprise attack on the artillery position and the enemy camp failed, he was continuously bombarded by the enemy's army until nightfall.

However, although he suffered some losses as a result, he did not gain nothing. At least through this series of events, the suspicion of people including Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue was reduced. Even the rumors about the Zuo Army in other camps were calmed down a lot. Such a result naturally boosted the morale of the soldiers in the Zuo Camp.

However, this little change alone could not save the government army from defeat...

In fact, since the winter of the 13th year of Chongzhen, when Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, led his remnants into Henan, his troops gradually realized the importance of firearms.

Now more than a year has passed, and Zhang Nai's firearms battalion alone has become a formidable force for attacking the government troops. Now facing the government troops' various artillery positions that are ready, the rebel army will soon launch a more fierce general attack on the government troops.

That very night, Ding Qirui once again summoned Yang Wenyue, Zuo Liangyu and other officers and soldiers to hold a military meeting in his central military headquarters to study the next military strategy for fighting the bandits.

The former governor Yang Wenyue still advocated launching an offensive against the rebels. He thought: Even if the attack failed, it would only result in chaos, which is much better than not attacking and letting the enemy collapse.

"At least... the court won't punish you!"

This is Yang Wenyue’s inner monologue at this moment.

However, the attitudes of the other generals were very ambiguous. No one openly opposed the initiative to attack the Chuang army, but no one expressed firm support for the attack. Everyone kept silent tacitly...

  Zuo Liangyu, the most powerful one, remained silent and acted as if it had nothing to do with him. This made Ding Qirui unable to figure out what he was thinking for a moment.

Therefore, this military discussion was doomed to be fruitless. In the end, Ding Qirui smiled bitterly and said, "Let's continue the discussion tomorrow."

…………

After returning to the camp, Zuo Liangyu became more and more upset the more he thought about it. He always felt uneasy and could not sleep. He got up and went to the wooden platform outside the tent. He looked up at the bandit camp and the several artillery batteries under the starry sky opposite, in a daze.

At this moment, Zuo Liangyu's heart was in turmoil. He kept calculating the next step of the war and various possible outcomes...

After a long time, he seemed to have made up his mind, his eyes became extremely firm, he turned around and strode down the wooden platform, and immediately ordered his personal soldiers waiting below to go and notify all the generals above the rank of lieutenant general under his command to come to his tent and listen to his orders.

About half an hour later, the generals from each camp arrived one after another. They saw that the central army tent of Zuo Liangyu was heavily guarded, with the soldiers of the standard camp alone standing in two layers. Everyone felt uneasy, not knowing what kind of military orders their commander-in-chief would give them.

Lieutenant General Jin Shenghuan gently asked his deputy general Hao Xiaozhong: "Should our army fight its way through the city of Kaifeng?"

Hao Xiaozhong actually didn't know the reason, so he just said casually: "Maybe. Anyway, we will know soon, so why rush it now."

Afterwards, the two of them entered Zuo Liangyu's central military tent together. Many generals had already gathered here. Naturally, everyone greeted each other in a low voice when they met. Privately, they couldn't help but wonder what kind of military order General Zuo would give why he summoned everyone so urgently?

Soon, all the generals above the rank of lieutenant general arrived, and the big tent fell silent instantly. Outside the central army tent, there was also silence. There was no sound from the men and horses, only the stars and the bright moon in the sky, illuminating the shadows of people on the ground. Zuo Liangyu, the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty and the General who Suppressed Bandits, came out from the back tent. He first glanced at the generals in the big tent, and then walked to the tiger-skin chair at the top and sat down.

When the generals in the tent saw his stern expression and tightly pursed lips, they knew that the battle in Zhuxian Town had reached the final decisive moment.

However, the generals could not guess what decision he would make. Some guessed that he might launch an all-out attack on the enemy army as he had intended a few days ago, seize the artillery positions and camps in the north in one fell swoop, and then break through the enemy's defenses. The entire division would head straight to the suburbs of Kaifeng and set up camp with their backs to the city in order to be invincible.

Of course, some people also knew that it would be difficult to launch an attack on the enemy camp at this time, so they made some other random guesses...

The entire tent was silent and the atmosphere was a little tense. If an embroidery needle fell to the ground at this moment, it would probably be heard by everyone.

Zuo Liangyu raised his eyes and once again scanned the generals standing in two rows according to their ranks, then he asked softly: "You all see the current situation clearly. In your opinion, how should we fight today's battle so that our entire army will not be defeated?"

Seeing that all the generals were looking at each other in silence, Zuo Liangyu looked at them with a majestic gaze and waited silently for them to speak.

Deputy General Zhang Yingyuan saw that everyone's eyes were on him. He knew he couldn't avoid it, so he cleared his throat as usual, clasped his fists and replied: "Please give the order, Marshal! We have followed you for many years. We will fight the way you want us to. We will sacrifice our lives and shed our blood, all at the command of the Marshal."

After he finished speaking, seeing that Zuo Liangyu did not react, he knew that he had not hit the mark, so he added: "Either seize the water source of the upper reaches of the Jialu River, or go straight to the city of Kaifeng. Please consider carefully, but do not hesitate, so as not to miss the opportunity."

After hearing his words, Zuo Liangyu still did not give any special response, but turned to another deputy general, Ma Jinzhong, and asked him: "Kui Yu, today's situation is so unfavorable. You have always been good at making plans. Do you have any good plans?"

Ma Jinzhong, whose courtesy name was Kuiyu, was a native of Yan'an Prefecture in Shaanxi Province. In the early years of Chongzhen, he was one of the bandits in northern Shaanxi. His nickname was "Hun Shiwan". He roamed around Shaanxi and between the borders of Henan and Chu. After the defeat in Shaanxi Prefecture in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, he surrendered to Zuo Liangyu and became his subordinate. He made many military achievements and was promoted to the rank of deputy general. He was known for his cunning and scheming.

Zuo Liangyu was not without civil officials and aides under his command, but he always thought that the generals around him who had experienced life and death on the battlefield seemed to understand the skills of risking their lives on the battlefield better, so whenever he asked for advice, he would look for them and rarely asked those scholars.

Ma Jinzhong thought for a moment and then said, "General, in my opinion, it is also a good idea to advance northward and fight to the city of Kaifeng. What do you think?"

Zuo Liangyu smiled coldly, shook his head and said: "It's too late, it's too late!"

There was silence again in the big tent...

Zuo Liangyu knew that the generals could not come up with any good ideas, and time was pressing, so he could not discuss here for too long. He looked at the generals with a serious expression and said, "It is too late to go to Kaifeng now. And it is impossible to attack the camp of Li Xiazi and retake the upstream water source.

Right now, the only best option is to leave this place as quickly as possible, leave immediately, otherwise you may not be able to leave if you are too late..."

(End of this chapter)