weaving

Chapter 1385 Finding Wealth in Danger

"Grand Marshal, how should we fight next?"

Facing Niu Jinxing's request, Li Zicheng did not respond directly, but looked at Song Xiance and asked him: "Military Advisor, what do you think?"

"Hit, hit, hit non-stop!"

Song Xiance stroked his chin with his left hand, gently waved a feather fan with his right hand, and continued with a smile and calmness, "The brave soldiers from Xuanfu are strong and well-equipped, and they are indeed difficult to deal with.

But we have more than 200,000 hungry people at our disposal. We can make good use of them. Even if we cannot defeat the Xuanfu troops on the other side, we can at least make them anxious and exhausted. Then victory will be within our grasp!"

King Chuang showed a trace of reluctance on his face. He hesitated for a moment before speaking: "But if this happens, it will be hard for the people who follow us in the camp."

Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance are both extremely smart people, so how could they not understand what he meant?

They looked at each other, and Niu Jinxing was the first to speak: "Grand Marshal, for the sake of the billions of people in the world, their sacrifice is really insignificant."

"Yes."

Song Xiance quickly added: "With the mercy of the Grand Marshal, he will never let them sacrifice in vain."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Niu Jinxing and signaled him to continue with his eyes.

"The military advisor is right."

Niu Jinxing really understood and said, "I beg the Grand Marshal to exempt the people of Kaifeng from taxes for the next three years."

Chongzhen Li Zicheng was stunned when he heard this, and said, "Sir, it has been decided before. After the world is stable in the future, the people of Kaifeng will be exempted from taxes for three years..."

He continued hesitantly, "If we do the same thing again this time, won't we be laughed at by future generations?"

Niu Jinxing didn't care. He just smiled and said, "Then please ask the Grand Marshal to exempt the people of Henan Province from paying taxes and grain for three years so that they can rest and recuperate."

"Okay, that's great...very good!" King Chuang finally made the final decision.

Niu Jinxing took the opportunity to say, "Grand Marshal, why don't you send someone to read this order to the people right away? This way, the people will feel that death is not a pity, and future generations will be grateful for the Grand Marshal's kindness in being reborn."

"Well, sir, you are quite right."

King Chuang then called Li You and ordered him to go in person on his behalf to convey the newly issued order to "exempt Henan from taxes and grain for three years" to the hungry people following the army.

"Military Advisor, how should we fight?"

"Organize the hungry people into a team of 5,000 people, and appoint a general to lead more than 100 infantrymen to supervise them."

Song Xiance continued while waving his feather fan, "One team retreats, the other team takes over, and this cycle repeats itself day and night, with constant attacks.

Although the government troops are strong, they cannot rest for a moment. Even if they are made of iron, they cannot endure it. In less than three days, their men and horses will be exhausted. At that time, with the cavalry in the front and the infantry on both wings, how can the government troops not be defeated? "

After hearing this, the King of Chuang thought for a moment before shouting, "Send a message to Han Ju, and do as the military advisor says. Five thousand hungry civilians will form a team and attack the government army formation back and forth. When one team retreats, the second team will attack, without stopping.

At the same time, the order was sent to each infantry and cavalry camp, half of the troops were to line up and wait, and the other half were to rest and eat, and to change shifts every two hours, without any negligence.

"Yes." Wu Ruyi responded loudly and turned away.

………… “Commander-in-Chief, it’s almost noon.”

The old staff officer Sun Shixiang reminded him, "We have fewer soldiers than the bandits. If we continue like this without any rest, I'm afraid that within a day, we will be exhausted and unable to fight again."

After hearing what Sun Shixiang said, Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng nodded slightly and said, "It's not that we are too weak to fight again. However, Mr. Sun is right. The bandits are only harassing the hungry people, so I don't need to have the whole army on standby."

"Order that the infantry and artillery battalions take turns to rest and eat in groups; the cavalry will be divided into three groups, one to strengthen the outer perimeter patrol, blockade and harassment, the second to be on standby behind the infantry formation to attack, and the other three to take off their armor, unsaddle their horses and rest on the spot."

"Yes." The central army commander Zhang Mingyuan immediately responded loudly and turned around to convey the message.

"General, the bandits have taken over 200,000 hungry people. If we allow them to keep harassing us, we don't know when it will end."

Yongning Bo looked at Hu Yiwen and asked him, "What does Gongqiao mean by...?"

"I think we can't let the bandits lead us by the nose."

Hu Yiwen glanced at his mentor before continuing, "From the telescope, I saw that the bandits also took a break. It can be seen that they must have judged that we dare not take the initiative to attack, so they used a small number to attack a large number."

After he said this, he suddenly stopped.

Liu Chengzu, who was standing next to him, had already figured out what was going on. He continued, "Gong Qiao means... to take the initiative?"

"Correct."

Hu Yiwen was waiting for this sentence, and immediately said: "We must take the initiative to attack and kill the bandits by surprise!"

Zhang Mingyuan had just returned from delivering the order. When he heard the words "take the initiative to attack", he was shocked and blurted out, "The enemy is powerful and has several times more troops than us. If we take the initiative to attack, once we get into a stalemate and fight with the enemy for a long time, our soldiers and horses will not be able to rest. Not only will we find it difficult to win, but we are also afraid that we will be exhausted and unable to resist the enemy."

"Zhang Zhongjun's concerns are not without reason."

Hu Yiwen first confirmed Zhang Mingyuan's concerns, but then he changed the subject: "But now the bandits' intention is very clear, that is, to use the hungry people to consume us. Although our army has strong soldiers and weapons, after all, the manpower is limited. If this continues, the main force of the bandits will not move, and our soldiers will be exhausted."

He finally asked, "Then...what is the point of fighting?"

Zhang Mingyuan was somewhat speechless after hearing his words: "This... this... Anyway, I think it is a bit dangerous to attack rashly!"

"Not a rash attack."

Hu Yiwen refuted him again, saying: "It is to act after careful planning, to catch the enemy by surprise, to attack them when they are unprepared!"

After he said this, he no longer paid attention to Zhang Mingyuan, but turned his gaze to Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng. The others also looked at Yongning Earl, waiting for him to make a decision.

Earl Yongning did not rush to make a decision, but stared at the battlefield in the south, seemingly in silent thought.

After a moment, he asked, "Mr. Sun, what do you think?"

"Commander-in-chief, if it were the day before yesterday, no matter how the bandits attacked, our army would have been able to defend the camps and lines of defense and remain unchanged in the face of all changes."

Sun Shixiang suddenly changed the subject and said, "But at this moment, our army has already moved. All the camps have been mobilized. It's like an arrow on a bow string. A battle today is inevitable."

He looked at Earl Yongning and continued, "As Gongqiao said, it is not about attacking rashly, but about making plans before taking action and catching the enemy by surprise. Only in this way can we win."

Yongning Bo also turned around at this time, looked at the few people and said: "'Fortune and honor are sought in danger', if we want to achieve great things, how can we not take some risks!"