Thief Emperor

Chapter 777: I can't break the trick

The gates of Tongguan were wide open.

Tens of thousands of Shuofang troops set out from Tongguan in an orderly manner, marching eastward all the way to Shanzhou.

The Shuofang army has a strength of about 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers, and these 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers are not troops assembled in a short period of time, but garrisons stationed near Tongguan.

After all, Tongguan, as the western gateway of Guanzhong, had to face the threat of the Jiangdong Army from the Central Plains. General Wei stationed almost half of the Shuofang Army here to guard Tongguan as solid as a rock.

At this time, it is convenient to use it.

As the backbone of the Shuofang Army, General Wei naturally sat in the central army at this time, while his eldest son Wei Yao followed closely behind his father.

Dozens of miles after the father and son left Tongguan, the sky darkened. At a command from General Wei, tens of thousands of Shuofang troops began to set up camp.

After it got dark, only the father and son were left in the central army tent. General Wei sat in the main seat, lowered his head and drank a sip of wine, then looked at his son and ordered: "After the troops march tomorrow, my son will lead 10,000 elite soldiers as the vanguard to test the front."

Wei Yao did not hesitate and nodded his head and said yes.

General Wei looked at him and continued, "There are a few things I want to remind you of."

Wei Yao poured tea for his old father and said with his head down, "Father ordered me to do that."

"We have several principles to follow when we enter the Central Plains this time."

General Wei raised his head and took a sip of wine, then said, "First of all, if our main force encounters the main force of the Jiangdong Army, we should not confront them head-on."

"The second thing."

Wei Quanzhong looked at his son and warned him, "Try not to fight a siege."

Hearing this, before Wei Quanzhong finished speaking, Wei Yao frowned and said, "Dad, I understand why you don't attack Luoyang. With the fighting power of the Jiangdong Army and their gunpowder pot, it's impossible to take Luoyang. But don't you want to attack other cities too?"

"If you can avoid fighting, don't fight."

General Wei said slowly: "If you really feel that a fight is necessary, you can mobilize new soldiers to charge forward and train those newly recruited soldiers."

Hearing this, Major General Wei Yao's breathing became a little rapid.

Using war as training is indeed a way to train soldiers, but it also depends on the situation. When facing a strong enemy like the Jiangdong Army, and in a siege war, sending these new recruits is not much different from sending them to their deaths.

It’s just a different name.

Just as he was about to speak, he heard General Wei continue, "The third thing is that we are sending troops here, and the Hedong Army will probably also send troops. We will try to let the Hedong Army take care of the difficult areas later."

"There is one last and most important thing."

Wei Quanzhong narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "This time, we have to be more ruthless."

Wei Yao was a little confused and asked, "Dad, what do you mean by being cruel?"

"Luoyang and the Central Plains are well managed by Li Er. We cannot watch this situation continue, and..."

"Even if the Jiangdong Army takes away 50,000 men, they have firearms, and it is unlikely that we can take back the Central Plains from them. Since we cannot take it back, the Central Plains is not ours."

He looked at Wei Yao, his voice a little hoarse: "It's not ours, so destroy it if you can."

Wei Yao stood there in a daze.

"Dad, what do you mean?"

"Don't you understand what your father said?"

General Wei said calmly: "Wherever we march, we should be ruthless. If we encounter ripe grain along the way, we should harvest it if possible, or burn it if we can't."

"Every village and house we encountered was burned down."

"We in Guanzhong have not recovered yet, and we cannot let the Central Plains recover before us."

At this point, General Wei sneered.

"At the same time, it will also scare the people of the Central Plains and make them stop treating Li Er as their subjects."

Wei Yao's face changed, and he whispered, "Dad, it's normal for the army to kill a few people and rob a few women on weekdays, but if we really destroy fields, kill people and burn houses, we will really be notorious."

"stupid."

General Wei scolded his son and said unhappily, "Why do you have to do these things in the name of our Shuofang Army? If you take off your skin, who would know that we are the Shuofang Army?"

"Why don't you just raise a Li flag?"

Wei Yao shook his head slightly: "Based on just a flag, it would be hard for the local people to believe that it was the Jiangdong Army who did it?"

"Who asked them to believe that Li Yun could have done it?"

General Wei sneered: "The Hedong Li family, isn't their surname also Li?"

"Let those peasants guess for themselves."

Wei Yao was silent for a while and did not answer.

"Look at you, you woman." General Wei was so disappointed with Wei Yao that he scolded her several times before mumbling, "Forget it, you just serve as a pioneer at the front. I'll let others do the dirty work!"

Major General Wei Yao took a deep breath, clasped his fists and saluted, saying, "My son..."

"As ordered."

…………

Shanzhou and Shan County west of Luoyang.

The county seat of Shan County is the provincial capital of Shanzhou. At this time, on the western side of the provincial capital of Shanzhou, Li Yun was standing at the front with his hands behind his back. Behind him on the left was Li Zheng, whom he had not seen for quite a long time.

At the back right is the mysterious Chief of the Nine Departments, Liu Bo.

Behind the three people was Meng Qing, who was wearing armor.

Li Yun used a telescope to look west, then turned his head to look around and said with a smile: "The Shuofang Army has left Tongguan, right? Where are they now?"

Liu Bo looked at Li Yun and said, "They have divided their troops outside Tongguan, and a vanguard has already headed straight for Shanzhou."

Li Yun nodded slightly without saying anything. Li Zheng on the side looked at Li Yun, then turned back to look at Meng Qing behind him, waved at Meng Qing, and said with a smile: "Little Meng, why are you standing so far away? Come closer, come closer."

When they went to Shidai County, Xuanzhou, Li Yun went with Li Zheng. Li Zheng also played a role in saving the teenagers in Hexi Village.

Now, even Zhao Cheng and Su Sheng, when they see Meng Qing, most of them would call him General Meng. Only Li Zheng could still call him General Meng with a smile.

Meng Qing stepped forward, clasped his fists towards Li Zheng and said with a smile, "General, give your orders!"

"It's strange, it's strange."

Li Zheng patted Meng Qing on the shoulder, looked at Li Yun, and said with a smile: "My superiors, you are in charge here now. I have to discuss military matters with you. I am here as a guest in the Central Plains. Otherwise, Xiao Meng, you should be more generous and let me take charge of the battle in Shanzhou."

Meng Qing was stunned. He looked up at Li Zheng, then at Li Yun, lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "General, I can't make the decision on this matter. I have to ask the higher-ups for their opinions."

At this time, Li Yun also put down the telescope, looked back at the two of them, and said with a smile: "Okay, stop making trouble, Shanzhou..."

"I'm not prepared to defend."

Liu Bo, who was standing by, had obviously known about this for a long time. He smiled and said, "Shanzhou is the last prefecture that our Jiangdong Army recovered in the Central Plains. It has only been two months, and the officials of Shanzhou have not yet arrived, and people's livelihood has not recovered at all. It is not a pity to give it up now."

Li Zheng then let go of Meng Qing and looked at Li Yun with some curiosity: "Second brother, if we don't fight at all and just abandon Shanzhou, I guess the Shuofang Army will get suspicious, right?"

Li Yun touched his chin and thought for a while, then turned to look at Meng Qing and said with a smile: "General Meng, what do you think?"

Meng Qing lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "Master, Commander Yu Ye, your commanding officer's battalion has been restored, but it has not had a chance to go to the battlefield for several months. In the Shanzhou battlefield, Commander Yu's troops can make contact with the vanguard of the Shuofang Army."

"There's no need to get too entangled. We just need to have a fight with the Shuofang Army and stop when the time is right. Then we can give up Shanzhou."

Li Yun nodded happily and said with a smile: "Then let's listen to General Xiao Meng's arrangements."

His words were somewhat joking, and the two "big brothers" Li Zheng and Liu Bo couldn't help laughing when they heard it.

Meng Qing blushed, and he clasped his fists towards Li Yun, Li Zheng and Liu Bo and said, "Go ahead, my two brothers. I'll go down and make arrangements."

After saying this, he lowered his head and retreated from the city wall.

Li Yun looked at his back and smiled dumbly: "This kid doesn't know how to talk, why doesn't he mention the three brothers?"

Li Zheng, who was standing by, said with a smile: "This is where he knows how to speak. Xiao Meng will have a bright future."

"Must be better than me."

Li Yun did not express his opinion, but just looked at Li Zheng and said softly: "General Gongsun, we must reach the previously determined location as soon as possible."

"We can't neglect it."

Li Zheng nodded immediately, clasped his fists and said: "Don't worry, second brother, General Gongsun..."

“Much more reliable than me.”

……

In the eastern part of Shanzhou, near Taolin.

Yu Ye was ordered to lead the troops westward. Soon, the scouts reported that the Shuofang Army was spotted ahead. Yu Ye did not hesitate and shouted, "Arrange the troops and charge at them! Charge for a while, and then we will retreat immediately!"

"Yes!"

Following Yu Ye's order, his troops of thousands began to attack westward.

The vanguard of the Shuofang Army to his west had also discovered the position of Yu Ye's troops. After a confrontation, the two sides retreated quickly at the same time, leaving a gap of several miles in front of them.

"It's really weird."

Captain Yu put down the telescope and frowned.

"Taught by the same master?"

(End of this chapter)