weaving

Chapter 1226 A Difficult Decision

Luo Rucai, the "Great General Who Suffers the People on Behalf of Heaven" got off his horse. He waved and asked Ji Gui to sit on a large rock beside him. Then he asked him softly, "Tell me what the two strategies are?"

Ji Gui said calmly, "The first strategy is to try to get in touch with the Earl of Yongning in the north. Our army will submit to the imperial court and work together to defeat the army of King Chuang. With such a great achievement, it will not be difficult for General Luo to be awarded the title of Earl or Marquis. This will bring honor to our ancestors and bring blessings to our descendants!"

Luo Rucai shook his head and continued, "You want me to surrender to the court and then fight Zicheng and Jingxuan. How can I accept this?"

"'No poison, no hero', Mr. Luo!"

"No, this is absolutely not possible. If you ask me to turn around and fight Zicheng and Jingxuan, I really can't do it."

Luo Rucai looked determined and said in a resolute tone: "What do you think of your second plan? Tell us first."

Ji Gui shook his head secretly and said, "The second strategy is relatively simple. We take advantage of this opportunity to separate the government troops and temporarily break away from Li Chuangwang. Our army suddenly moves eastward to the border between Henan and Shandong, and immediately escapes from Li Chuangwang's control.

Then he turned south and entered the territory of Yingshan and Huoshan from Guide Prefecture, where he joined the Eight Great Kings and Geliyan and lived a happy life again with the saying "God is the Great King and I am the Second King."

"It's not impossible to break away and work on your own."

Luo Rucai murmured softly, but hesitated again in an instant: "But if so, wouldn't our beautiful women be left to me?"

"Oh, my goodness, it's already this late, and you're still thinking about this!"

Ji Gui said to him with a little excitement: "General, we are now like meat in Li Zicheng's bowl. He doesn't eat us, and we can't escape, so we can still live a happy life now, but once he knows that we have the intention to escape, he will definitely take action to 'get rid of us first and then quickly'."

Luo Rucai's face also looked a little solemn, as if he was thinking about something, but he shook his hand and said softly: "No, Zicheng won't do that."

"How foolish! How foolish! Li Zicheng is a real hero of the time, and now he wants to rule the world. How could he allow a real tiger like you to return to the mountains and forests?"

Although Ji Gui was worried about Luo Rucai, he still patiently explained to him: "General, now we are like Li Zicheng's 'prey in the bag'. If we think of escaping, he will definitely get rid of us first.

But if we take advantage of their unpreparedness and lead our men to escape successfully, Li Chuang Wang will not only not make things difficult for us, but will also send people to ask about our well-being, and even send his close people to personally return the ladies who stayed in the camp. Who knows, he may even give us money, food, weapons, etc. as gifts. "

Luo Rucai also nodded slightly at this time, but he asked softly: "Why is this?"

"Humph. Li Zicheng is obsessed with becoming the 'emperor' and has used all kinds of false benevolence and righteousness to win people's hearts. If we are still in his hands, for the sake of his great cause of ruling the world, he would rather bear the infamy and swallow up our 'Cao Camp' to strengthen his power and eliminate a future opponent.

But once we are out of his hands, the situation will be completely reversed. We will then become a force of our own, and he will naturally not want to become our mortal enemy, so he will certainly do everything he can to show his good will to the Marshal."

Ji Gui added, "He is also afraid that we will unite with the Eight Kings and make things difficult for him, so he will definitely make friends with you, so that you will not be embarrassed to be his enemy again."

"Now that you put it that way, it seems to be true!"

"General, now that you have figured it out, please make a quick decision."

Luo Rucai stood up and looked at the troops setting up camp, and said softly: "This matter... let's take a long-term view."

"Marshal, 'Opportunity is fleeting'!"

Ji Gui had just seen that he was showing signs of loosening up in his words, and was getting excited when he heard that he still wanted to "take a long-term view". He immediately got angry and grabbed Luo Rucai's sleeve, saying excitedly: "From Li Chuangwang's recent military strategy, he has been on high alert against our Cao camp. Whenever our Cao camp generals go to battle, there must be a general from the Chuang camp going with them.

Even you, the Marshal, requested to fight Li Zicheng several times, but you always refused with various excuses. Let's not talk about other things for now. Just take the fact that we defeated hundreds of thousands of government troops at Shuipo the day before yesterday and seized countless money, food and military weapons. You also know all this, the Marshal.

Although what was allocated to our Cao camp was richer than before, it was all money and food that was not enough to use, while the armor and weapons, especially the newly captured guns and cannons, were mostly left in his camp. Even the captured officers and soldiers were picked out by their camp first, and only the remaining old, weak, sick and disabled were given to our Cao camp.

These... Marshal, you also know them!"

Luo Rucai was quite surprised and asked him back: "Isn't this good? Everyone was originally shouting that King Chuang was unfair, but you see, isn't it much better this time?"

"My great commander..."

Ji Gui didn't know what to say for a moment. He gasped for breath for a while before he finally caught his breath. He said, "Zi Yu is grateful for the Marshal's kindness. He also knows that although the Marshal looks fierce and cunning, he is actually a true man who values ​​friendship. That's why he took the trouble to make far-reaching plans for the Marshal. He has absolutely no selfish motives in this."

This made Luo Rucai feel embarrassed. He held Ji Gui and said sincerely, "Sir, why do you say that? How could I, Luo, not know what you are thinking?"

"Okay, okay, okay. Since the Marshal says so, I will make my point clear."

Ji Gui held Luo Rucai's hand tightly and said, "The King of Chuang has no good intentions. The old government has restricted the food supply to Cao Ying for various reasons, and the King of Chuang has used various excuses to punish the soldiers of Cao Ying to establish his authority. It is nothing more than elevating the Chuang Ying and suppressing the Cao Ying.

Now, seeing that he can encircle Kaifeng City, Li Zicheng's dream of becoming the emperor is about to come true, so he distributes more money and food to our Cao camp, intending to reassure the hearts of our soldiers in Cao camp, but in fact it is to paralyze you, the commander-in-chief.

Why aren't there more armor, weapons, and guns for Cao's camp? Why aren't there more young and strong captive soldiers for Cao's camp? The benefits and the key points of this, don't you understand, Marshal?"

"what!"

Luo Rucai looked as if he had just woken up from a dream. He slapped his thigh and said, "So there are so many twists and turns in this."

"Marshal, please stop pretending to be confused."

…………

  How could Ji Gui not know what Luo Rucai was thinking? You know, Luo Rucai didn't get the nickname "Cao Cao" for nothing!

In fact, Luo Rucai knew all of this very well, even better than anyone else, but he was too confident in himself, always thinking that based on his more than ten years of life and death relationship with Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng would never treat him like that.

Another point is his own character flaws.

Although Luo Rucai was known for his resourcefulness, cunning and treachery, he was absolutely honest with his brothers. That was why he got along very well with anyone from Zhang Xianzhong or Li Zicheng.

  Moreover, he was the only Tartar bandit who had worked with Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng successively!

So even though he sensed a hint of danger, he was unable to make up his mind and once again made the mistake of being "indecisive". This caused him to keep putting the matter off and he missed many good opportunities.

But Ji Gui's heartfelt words today really woke him up. Luo Rucai suddenly stood up and paced around the big rock.

Ji Gui knew that he was trying to make a choice at the moment, so he didn't dare to disturb him...

…………

May 20th, early 3 p.m.

The sky was still bright. Although the sun had already set, its heat had not diminished at all, still working very hard to scorch the earth under the light. "Order, all camps, prepare. In half an hour, launch an attack on the Xuanfu military camp at the critical juncture!"

Li You, who was in charge of the central army, was stunned when he heard this and asked hurriedly, "Master, it's almost dark, and it's almost time for dinner. If we launch an attack now..."

"Stop talking nonsense and go pass the message!"

Liu Zongmin's words were unquestionable. Although Li You had some doubts in his heart, he did not dare to say anything more. He just stuck out his tongue secretly and ran away to pass on the order.

Liu Tichun, who was standing by, asked slowly, "Master, do you want to test the strength of the Xuanfu Army?"

"Humph."

Liu Zongmin snorted and said, "If I don't try it, I'll never be sure. I want to see what's different about the border troops from Xuanfu!"

"Don't wait for Zhang Nai's firearms battalion."

"No, it's not like we're really fighting, there's no need to make extra preparations. Are you afraid that he'll come out and kill you?"

"Which side is feinting and which side is really attacking?"

"We'll fight for real. Beat him for half an hour first. I'll also see where the firearms camp is best placed!"

Liu Tichun said no more. He said goodbye to Liu Zongmin and went down to urge the central army camps to immediately form their teams and prepare for battle.

…………

To the north of the critical juncture were the troops of Bai Minghe and Xie Junyou. After all, this was the side where they might encounter reinforcements from the government troops, and it was also the direction the government troops might choose to break out, so Liu Zongmin sent the two troops to this side.

"What do you think the General means? He is only telling us to attack at this time. We are all hungry, so how can we have the energy to kill the soldiers?"

Xie Junyou glanced at Bai Minghe and said, "Yes, I don't understand this either. However, the general may have his own reasons for doing this. We just need to follow his orders."

"I guess... the general wants us to launch a feint attack, which can both test the strength of the government troops and make them feel uneasy."

"Don't tell me, that's really what I meant, but the general's military order didn't mention feinting, so we still dare not be vague."

"That's right, then I'll really beat him up."

Bai Minghe stood up and walked over, gently patted Xie Junyou on the shoulder, and said, "Old Xie, we're helping you this time, so don't make a fool of yourself."

It turned out that the two of them set up camps on the left and right, with the official road sandwiched in the middle of the two camps. Because they were the farthest away and the hungry people who served as coolies arrived later, Xie Junyou's side had already built the camp, but Bai Minghe's side had not yet been completed.

So after some discussion, it was decided that the task of attacking the government army camp would be undertaken by the troops in Xie Junyou's camp.

"Old Xie, don't worry, we will wait for you to come back before we start eating. If someone is so foolish as to touch the pot first, we will chop him to pieces!"

Xie Junyou also stood up at this time, looked back at him and said with a smile: "Hurry up and repair your East Camp, otherwise I will take over the officers and soldiers' camp, and your camp is still not repaired."

"That's perfect. I can just live in the government army camp. Why do I have to build a camp myself?"

"Hahaha……"

…………

Wei Zhice had just returned to his tent to rest for a while when he was informed that "the enemy army was assembling and seemed to be about to launch an attack". He glanced at the sky and felt puzzled, but he had to take it seriously...

"General, it's already 3 p.m., why are the bandits still attacking us? Isn't this just a waste of energy?"

"Don't worry about it. If the enemy comes, we will fight him back. If the water comes, we will block it with earth. If the enemy comes to attack our camp, we will just fight him back."

"General, how should we fight him? Should we just blast him back or let him in to fight?"

"First, send out orders to all camps to be on alert and see how hard the bandits are trying. If they are just testing us, we don't have to go all out. We still have to keep some tricks up our sleeves."

"Ah."

"Also tell Jin Yong and Tang Xiancheng to fight slowly. This battle will not be over in a day or two. You have to learn how to live with it. Especially with gunpowder shells, one less shell is one less. You have to use them where they matter most."

"Yes."

"Go!"

…………

"Damn it, hurry up, you're just dawdling and don't want to eat!" Tong Shoushan sat on his warhorse, shouting and cursing.

Bao Jiqiang also rode beside him and asked softly, "Master Shan, what do you think Master Liu is thinking? It's already this late, and he still wants to attack the critical pass. Will he let people eat?"

Tong Shoushan pretended not to hear him, and yelled at the bandits who were assembling. Then he glanced around and said softly, "You are really asking for your life. You dare to say bad things about General Liu."

"What are you afraid of? This is in our own camp."

Bao Jiqiang seemed a little unconvinced, and continued: "Master Liu is not allowed to be criticized for what he did wrong. Even the emperor allows his ministers to give advice, so why doesn't Master Liu allow others to question him?"

Tong Shoushan glared at him, then moved closer and whispered to him, "Always remember our mission. For the general's entrustment, we can lose our lives, but the general's mission cannot be ruined!"

Bao Jiqiang was startled by his glare, and nodded obediently without saying another word.

The Shan Camp dispatched three camps of bandits, namely Qi Dakan's front camp, Xiao Yunshan's left camp, and the newly formed Fangzheng front camp, with a total of more than 3,000 infantry and more than 2,000 cannon fodder.

Tong Shoushan's deployment was actually very simple. The hungry civilians were in the front responsible for clearing the hedges and filling the trenches, and then the infantry launched the charge, and the number of troops was increased or decreased depending on the situation.

After all, he also had some doubts about Liu Zongmin's military orders. If they launched an attack at this moment, it would get dark as the fighting progressed, and they would not be able to fight at night, so they would have to call off the attack.

But he also knew Liu Zongmin's temper, so he still carried out his military orders resolutely and without any compromise, and those doubts remained quietly in his heart.