weaving

Chapter 1228 Marshal, No!

At the critical moment, ten miles south of the Weiyuan Camp of the Yongyi Army, on a high platform in the Central Army Camp where General Liu Zongmin of the Chuang Army was stationed, Liu Tichun thought for a moment and replied, "From what I understand, the Xuanfu Army should have cannons, but most of them are small cannons suitable for close combat, and cannons that can shoot far seem to be rare.

As for why they didn't fire their cannons during our attack this afternoon, I can't guess. Maybe they were able to stop our offensive with their muskets, so they didn't use cannons.

Of course, they might be saving some gunpowder for the more intense battles later on!"

Liu Zongmin's eyes flashed with a gleam of light, and he asked, "You mean... the Xuanfu Army's artillery can't reach far?"

"More or less... Anyway, they used to be like this. The barrel was very thin and the body was a little long. It fired fast, but it didn't seem to fire very far."

"Okay, that's good."

Liu Zongmin seemed to have lost interest in chatting any further. He strode towards the military tent and said as he walked, "Erhu, let's go and have dinner."

…………

"What?"

Lin Fangping's face was filled with question marks. He asked in confusion, "Marshal Jue, if we really want to send Hao Yaoqi to Marshal Hu, don't you want to surrender him?"

"Humph."

Zhang Cheng snorted heavily and said nonchalantly: "Are there not enough brave generals under Benbo's command?"

He took two steps and patted Lin Fangping on the shoulder, then said to him, "I originally wanted to persuade him to surrender, so as to set an example for the other generals in the two bandit camps of Chuang Cao. As long as they surrender, I can guarantee that they will all be well-dressed, well-fed, and rich. However, since General Hu wants to use him to vent his anger, we don't need to waste any more energy on him!"

Lin Fangping seemed a little unwilling to give up. He whispered, "Marshal Jue, how about I ask him again? If Hao Yaoqi still refuses to surrender to us, it won't be too late to hand him over to Marshal Hu."

Zhang Cheng's eyes widened immediately after hearing this, and he said in a deep voice: "What if Hao Yaoqi is willing to surrender?"

Lin Fangping was speechless, not knowing how to respond for a moment, but then he heard Zhang Cheng say again: "Don't bother with that, just send it directly to Tiger Marshal and let him deal with it."

"Yes, Sir."

Zhang Cheng looked at Lin Fangping with hope in his eyes, and said patiently: "Fangping, the most taboo in leading troops to fight is indecision. Although Hao Yaoqi is also very brave, if we surrender him, not only will we have one more powerful general under our command, but we will also be able to undermine the morale of the enemy army.

But have you ever thought about it, how can these benefits compare to our friendship with Tiger General? You know, in this world, 'three-legged frogs are hard to find, but two-legged people are everywhere'. Now, even in our Yongyi Army, there are so many loyal and brave Tiger Generals, can't we still need someone like Hao Yaoqi!"

"Yes, Fangping understands."

"Well, let's go do our work."

Lin Fangping had just left when he saw the central military officer Zhang Chengfang quietly enter the central military tent.

…………

"Where are the people?"

Zhang Chengfang replied respectfully: "Father, I am waiting outside the tent."

"Well, let him come in."

"Here."

Soon, Zhang Chengfang brought a man in from outside the tent. He was dressed in a light and tight suit, had a full beard, and looked weathered.

"Oh, Jin Hai."

Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng came forward excitedly, patted Liu Jinhai's shoulders with both hands, and then said, "I'm sorry for the trouble you've caused me these two days."

Liu Jinhai looked flattered. He knelt on his knees and bowed excitedly, saying, "Liu Jinhai, congratulations to the Marshal for being conferred the title of Earl of Yongning. Congratulations to the Marshal, to the Yongyi Army, and to the Earl of Yongning!"

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhang Cheng and Liu Jinhai had not seen each other for more than a year. Seeing that he still missed him so much, he felt deeply moved. He hurriedly helped him up, told him to find a seat and serve tea.

After Liu Jinhai stood up, he stared at Zhang Cheng, tears in his eyes, and said happily: "Marshal, Jinhai missed you so much!"

"I miss you, too. You've worked hard these past two years. I know everything that's going on in Henan. You've done a great job."

"It's all thanks to the Marshal. In fact, Liu Hongqi, Han Jiadi and other local powerful figures are all fence-sitters. They will lean towards the stronger side.

However, I have dealt with them quite a lot over the past year or so, and I have some understanding of their background. At present, it seems unlikely that they will follow the thief Li in the rebellion."

"Jin Hai, based on your understanding of them, if I appoint them as officials and generals in the name of the court, can I ask them to help block the thief Li from returning to Funiu Mountain?"

Liu Jinhai fell into deep thought after hearing this. After a while, he raised his head and said, "Liu Hongqi of Runing and Han Jia'er of Xuzhou are both willing to work for the court. Although Li Hao of Yuzhou has had a lot of contact with me, he has been in constant contact with Li the thief. It is hard to guess what his true feelings are. And Liu Xuan of Xiangcheng is very cold to me, but he is also so mean to Li the thief. It seems that he only wants to protect his own territory and does not want to get involved in the forces of various parties."

Zhang Cheng nodded as he listened. Although Liu Jinhai had already reported all this to him via letter, hearing it from Liu Jinhai's mouth now sounded more real and intuitive.

"Jin Hai, tell me how strong they are?"

"The most powerful one is Liu Hongqi of Runing Prefecture. The Li bandits never attacked there. Only the Xian bandits and the five Gezuo bandits were active in Luoshan, Guangzhou, and Shangcheng. Therefore, Liu Hongqi's power has never been suppressed by the bandits. In addition, the imperial court is busy dealing with several major bandits and has no time or power to restrict him.

Furthermore, there were constant military incidents in the surrounding prefectures and cities, and many refugees and deserters fled to Runing. Among them, the strong and fierce ones were mostly recruited by Liu Hongqi, and his strength grew rapidly during this period.

But there is a problem, which is also a common problem among these local forces. Although they have a large number of people and horses, their weapons are very simple and their armor is even less."

Zhang Cheng listened to his story quietly and nodded frequently. Everything was consistent with his guess.

"The next is Yuzhou Li Hao. Although his strength is far inferior to Liu Hongqi's, he is much stronger than Han Jiadi and Liu Xuan. Moreover, he has very close contacts with Li the thief. According to my investigation, he is very likely helping Li the thief to sell the stolen goods in secret.

Many of the gold, silver, pearls, jade, silks, and other valuable items that Li the bandit had looted were transported to Yuzhou in carts. In return, they received not only grain but also a lot of controlled military supplies such as armor, weapons, and iron materials.

Li Hao also earned a lot of money from this, so although his troops were not as many as Liu Hongqi's, their armor and weapons were much better than Liu Hongqi's."

Liu Jinhai took a sip of tea before continuing, "Liu Xuan of Xiangcheng and Han Jiadi of Xuzhou are the weakest, mainly because Li's army frequently crossed the border and plundered the local area too harshly.

Therefore, both of them are quite jealous of Li the thief, but Han Jiadi is more loyal to us, while Liu Xuan wants to protect himself and is afraid that getting too close to us will bring him trouble. "

"Oh."

Zhang Cheng also fell into deep thought after listening to this. After a while, he asked, "Jin Hai, if we send out a group of several hundred elite cavalrymen, can we break through their lair in one fell swoop?"

"General, no. Absolutely not!" Liu Jinhai said anxiously, "They are all local tyrants. They all have many houses and nests, and they often change their residences. If the surprise attack fails, it will inevitably lead to their collective backlash."

Zhang Cheng nodded after hearing what he said, but Liu Jinhai continued, "The number of young and strong men they have gathered is tens of thousands, at least 10,000. Although most of their weapons are farm tools such as hoes, rakes, and pickaxes, they also train every day, and each of them has thousands of elite soldiers under their command.

Marshal, you can only win them over by promising them high positions and generous salaries, and never attack them rashly, lest you force them to join the traitor Li's side!"

"Ah."

Zhang Cheng nodded and said to him, "Jin Hai, you should rest here for a few more days. I will order people to prepare the gold medals and appointment documents. Liu Hongqi will be the general of Runing, Han Jiadi will be the deputy general of Xuzhou, Liu Xuan will be the deputy general of Xiangcheng, and Li Hao will be the deputy general of Yuzhou. In a few days, you can take these gold medals and appointment documents and go on the road to recruit them for me."

"Yes."

"Jin Hai, you can tell them clearly that I don't require them to be enemies with Li, but I will never allow them to collude with Li after receiving the support of the imperial officials. If they aid the enemy again, I will punish them severely according to military law."

"Yes. Please rest assured, Marshal, Jin Hai will definitely convey the message."

"One more thing. We need to treat Liu Hongqi and Han Jiadi differently. Bring them an extra gift for me and tell them that if they are willing to work sincerely for the court and for me, I will try to provide them with some armor and weapons in the near future."

"Yes. Jin Hai has made a note of it!"

At this time, Zhang Cheng seemed to remember something, so he asked him casually: "Jin Hai, I want to ask your doctor Wu where he is now, and is everything okay?"

“Reporting to the commander, the bandit problem in southern Henan is too severe. Although Doctor Wu wanted to go there, he was always blocked by me. Now he is visiting Lanyang and Yifen in eastern Henan to practice medicine.

Because I know that the Marshal thinks highly of Dr. Wu, I have always sent capable subordinates to accompany Dr. Wu to help him and protect his safety. "

"Good. You did a good job."

After receiving the praise from Earl Yongning, Liu Jinhai's weather-beaten face also showed a trace of happy smile. He continued, "After receiving the military order from the Marshal some time ago, I immediately sent people to Lanyang to look for Doctor Wu. If nothing unexpected happens, I think Doctor Wu will be in Kaifeng within one or two days."

"Well, I'll leave this matter to you. Please come and see me as soon as Dr. Wu arrives."

"Yes, handsome!"

…………

"Grand Marshal, look at the arrangement of the military camp in Xianggong Temple, with flower hedges, deep ditches and high walls. It seems that they want to defend the camp to the death." Wu Ruyi said softly.

Li Zicheng turned his head to Song Xiance who was standing beside him and asked him, "Military Advisor, what do you think of the Xuanfu Army's deployment at Xianggong Temple?"

Song Xiance rode on his horse and looked at the flower hedges and trenches in the distance, and said, "The camp defense is clearly layered, and the flower hedges and trenches rely on each other. The flower hedges block my attack, but they can hide in the trenches and shoot arrows and fire guns at my soldiers. If we deploy some artillery at key locations, it will be really difficult to attack."

Li Zicheng nodded his approval of Song Xiance's analysis and said, "I think the situation won't be much worse at the critical moment. I wonder if Jiexuan can break through the Xuanfu Army's defense camp."

Song Xiance stroked his beard and said, "Grand Marshal, don't worry. All of Zhang Nai's firearms battalion has been sent to Jiexuan. With these cannons, no matter how cleverly the government army's camp defenses are arranged, they will not be able to withstand the bombardment day and night."

King Chuang thought about it and realized that this was the truth, but he heard Song Xiance whisper to him, "However, there is one thing that the Grand Marshal was indeed a little rash."

"What's the matter?" Li Zicheng asked with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Song Xiance glanced at the generals around him, urged his horse to slowly move up a mound in front. Li Zicheng knew that he wanted to tell him some secrets, so he urged his horse to follow him without saying a word.

"Grand Marshal, we shouldn't let Cao Ying go deep into the front line alone and cut off the retreat of Xuanfu Army at this critical moment."

While Song Xiance was speaking, he had been observing the changes in Li Zicheng's facial expression. Seeing that he seemed to have noticed something, he continued, "It is even more wrong to let General Cao lead the army in person."

"You mean you're afraid of letting the tiger go back to the mountains?"

"Exactly."

Song Xiance then continued, "I am afraid that Cao's troops will never come back!"

"will not."

Li Zicheng said confidently: "Rucai, he will never abandon me at this time."

"Grand Marshal, please forgive me for being frank."

"Military Advisor, please speak."

"Perhaps General Cao will still take our old friendship into consideration and will not split up with me and go elsewhere at the critical moment of attacking Kaifeng. But the Grand Marshal also knows that there is another military advisor in Cao's camp."

"You mean Ji Ziyu?"

"Exactly this person."

Song Xiance seemed a little excited when he mentioned Ji Gui, and he said, "Marshal Luo obeys Ji Ziyu's orders, and the Grand Marshal knows this.

But Ji Ziyu has been encouraging General Luo to leave our army and go out on his own. I believe the Grand Marshal has also felt and heard about this. Now he has made Cao Ying fight alone, and let General Cao lead his army personally. If General Cao is persuaded by Ji Ziyu and really leads his army to him, how can we besiege Kaifeng without tens of thousands of troops from General Cao? "

"So what do you say?"

"Immediately send a cavalry unit to assist General Cao and cut off the retreat of the government troops at this critical juncture."

"How many men and horses are suitable?"

"Too many men and horses might arouse General Cao's suspicion, but too few men and horses will be useless. I think five thousand elite cavalry will be enough!"

"How about sending Dang Shousu?"

"I thought it was inappropriate!"

"Then who does the military advisor think can go?"

Song Xian thought for a moment and said, "This person must have a certain prestige, otherwise he will not be able to check and balance Cao Shuai, let alone intimidate Cao Ying."

"Then let Li go, is it okay?"

"I think it's feasible!"