Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 221 The Cheating Emperor
Zhao Yifu left in a leisurely manner, leaving the task to his generals.

To be honest, this was a bit unfair. However, because of Zhao Yifu's strong work ability, his delegation of power seemed to be giving everyone an opportunity to exercise.

That's how everyone sees it anyway, because everyone is matched with similar opponents.

Zhou Qingzhao was a new recruit, helping her train the soldiers quickly.

Zhu Fei's attack on powerful enemies truly established his prestige and also fully demonstrated his talents.

Wei Kang led his troops to take on the most difficult and thankless task. This was because of his status as a surrendered general, allowing him to establish the most unenviable achievements so that he could regain his footing in Daxu.

These delicate thoughts were gradually realized by the generals when they gathered together to discuss the matter.

"Brother is well versed in the art of employing people. All we need to do is follow his instructions and we'll accomplish our mission."

Zhou Qingzhao spoke first, and her status was actually the highest among those present.

Zhu Fei, who was only temporarily acting as deputy commander, disagreed: "But that only meets the sir's basic requirements. We can actually do better."

Wei Kang said, "As long as I'm here, no enemy will cross the border from Xiachuan!"

Zhu Fei said: "No, you are also important. We should look at the three directions together."

Zhou Qingzhao was enlightened by this and said, "After all, we have fewer soldiers, and as the main attacker, we actually have the initiative. We can gather local superior forces and try to defeat them one by one."

Wei Kang also came to his senses and said, "Look at this map. There are many places suitable for ambushes."

Zhou Qingzhao smiled faintly and said, "Then we need to plan it carefully..."

The three generals consulted together and were surprisingly harmonious. They quickly worked out a series of battle plans with various alternative strategies.

According to this battle plan, even if the three generals couldn't communicate in time, they could still know the general dynamics of their colleagues through their judgment of the battle situation... It can be said that they had studied this battle thoroughly.

……

"All three of them are very talented. I don't know where you found so many talents."

Zhou Su's Yang Shen secretly watched his daughter in a meeting, and when he came back, he sighed to Zhao Yi Fu.

Zhao Yifu said, "That's impossible. Qingzhao's skills were all taught by my mentor, and Wei Kang was a talent left to me by my mentor. Naturally, they are both useful."

Zhou Su laughed and scolded, "Don't be so modest, you sly fellow! How could Qing Zhao have made such rapid progress beside me? And only you can make good use of Wei Kang. And this Zhu Fei was specially selected from the ranks by you, so he can be considered your disciple."

"Even Wu Dun, who was originally of little use, seems to have been developed into a remarkable domestic affairs expert by you."

"It's hard to imagine what kind of career you would have achieved if you were given a little more time and the right opportunity."

Zhao Yifu felt something was wrong when he heard this. What could he possibly do?
So he quickly waved his hand and said, "Master, you shouldn't say that."

Zhou Su smiled and shook his head, "Never mind. Do you need any support from Xiangyang?"

Zhao Yifu said, "Master Zhou, please do as you wish. Although the imperial court has not yet launched the Northern Expedition, our actions are actually the aftermath of our previous fight against the Liao Kingdom's southern invasion. Including the occupation of Fancheng, it is all for the purpose of better protecting Xiangyang."

He paused, then threw out a coined word Zhou Su had never heard of: "We are proactively defending."

Wow, proactive defense? So, I'm afraid my neighbor might attack me, so I go to their house and disarm them, right?

Anyway, Zhou Su understood it and also agreed with this kind of thing.

He said, "In that case, I'll let Yun Gui, Zai Xuan, and the others show their strength... Pushing the defense line northward a hundred miles to act as a buffer should be enough, right?"

Zhao Yifu said, "Master, it's up to you to decide."

……

The three generals had almost finished their discussion, and they all felt that they wanted more.

Wei Kang sighed, "I'm a surrendered general. I never thought you would not despise me as a friend. I'm very fortunate."

Zhu Fei smiled and said nothing, but the more sentimental Zhou Qingzhao said, "General Wei, you're too kind. In fact, we are all people whose fate has changed because of Senior Brother Junxin. We are born to be together."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Fei nodded with emotion and said, "Indeed, I was originally a Moyang Ranger. It was you who gave me a painting that made me realize that I should be a hero!"

Zhou Qingzhao smiled generously upon hearing this and said, "This is quite similar to my younger sister. Back then, I was just an ignorant girl. I read a few books and thought I was great, but I never knew the suffering of ordinary people."

"Later, my younger sister asked my senior brother to paint her portrait, and he asked me what my ambition was... Recalling my childhood passion, I jokingly said I wanted to defend my country. As a result... I've never been able to step out of the painting since then."

The other two showed empathy. Zhu Fei sighed, "I'm the same. I've always aimed to be as heroic as the person in the painting, and have been trying hard to live like that..."

Wei Kang said with relief: "We were all confused and in pain, but we were all saved by your calligraphy. This is the true law of fate."

Zhou Qingzhao smiled and said, "How about we become sworn brothers?"

The other two showed happy expressions when they heard this, and then they prepared things to become sworn brothers.

……

Zhou Su said with emotion: "It's not bad for Qing Zhao to have two sworn brothers, but Wei Kang's moral character is a little lacking after all. He is a fickle person."

That's how it is these days. Once you do something wrong, it's like you have a criminal record, and you can never hold your head up in society.

Zhao Yifu consoled him, saying, "A prodigal son who returns is worth more than gold. He is a criminal. If he can learn from his shame and fight bravely to regain his merit, that would be a good thing."

Zhou Su said: "Alright, this time let's see what kind of strategies they have set up."

Zhao Yifu said, "It's a bit difficult to occupy all three counties, but at the very least, we can destroy the Liao Kingdom's food and supplies gathered in the three counties, and prevent them from invading the south again."

Zhou Su looked at Zhao Yi Fu and hesitated for a moment. He really wanted to say: Is there a possibility that they are just guarding against our attack?
But seeing Zhao Yifu's confident look, he didn't say much. He simply nodded and said, "Okay, this time we will evaluate the various abilities of these three people and make plans for the Northern Expedition."

Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "That's as it should be."

The two Yang Gods floated above the entire battle situation like ghosts, overlooking the progress of the battle from a "God's perspective".

There were a total of 5,000 people, Zhou Qingzhao had 1,000, Zhu Fei and Wei Kang had 2,000 each, and another 1,000 were left to defend Fancheng. The three groups of troops marched out at the same time.

However, when they reached a three-way intersection, the three armies split up and went to find their own opponents.

But when Zhao Yifu saw the direction of these three generals, he felt something was wrong.

Because Zhou Qingzhao was originally assigned to Baishui County, which had just recruited new soldiers, but she went to Xiachuan, where there were strong enemies.

Zhu Fei went to Yunqiu, but he marched with great fanfare along the way, as if he was afraid that the enemy would not know of their arrival.

Wei Kang had switched opponents with Zhou Qingzhao, and traveled the fastest with light luggage, and had already sneaked to the foot of Baishui City.

Then the war began.

Wei Kang launched a night raid, leading his team to scale the wall and seize the gate. Within an hour, he captured Baishui County, not letting a single person escape. After the capture, he left 500 men behind to guard the city, while the rest fled the city overnight, heading towards Xiachuan.

At this time, Zhu Fei had just lured out the troops from Yunqiu County with a high-profile march and they were about to attack him at night... The result was naturally an ambush within the camp, which lured out all the attackers and killed them all.

After the battle, Zhu Fei let go of several messengers, left a small number of soldiers and horses to continue watching outside the city, and led his troops eastward towards Xiachuan.

Xiachuan County is named this way because there is a rather turbulent stream here that flows southward and merges into the Xiangshui River.

At this time, Zhou Qingzhao was confronting tens of thousands of enemy troops from Xiachuan across this turbulent river.

In this kind of cold weapon battlefield, confrontation across the river is very annoying.

Because the Xiachuan army did not know Zhou Qingzhao's strength, they were worried about being attacked halfway across the river if they crossed the river in large groups, while small groups that crossed the river separately were quickly discovered by Zhou Qingzhao and then defeated one by one with her precise command.

This calmness and graciousness really has the style of a great general.

However, this situation cannot last long, because once the other party gets the news of Yunqiu's emergency and finally decides to split up and force a crossing, Zhou Qingzhao will eventually have no choice but to retreat.

But the problem is that there is actually not much time left for the other party to hesitate.

When the generals of the Liao Kingdom saw that Zhou Qingzhao was a military general, they naturally looked down on him, so after hesitating for a day, they chose to force their way across the river.

Zhou Qingzhao set up a defense line along the river, blocking one direction and two directions, but the enemy's 10,000 people were divided into five groups to cross the river, and the number of people in each group was twice hers... So when she defeated the second group of enemy troops crossing the river, the remaining main force of the enemy had already completed the crossing and began to assemble.

Seeing this, she retreated with her soldiers without any hesitation.

The general of the Liao Kingdom did not suspect anything and led his troops in pursuit.

Until they entered a valley.

The generals of the Liao Kingdom were also experienced. Not long after entering the valley, they sensed something was wrong and stopped the army to prepare for withdrawal...

Then I saw soldiers coming out from both sides...it was Wei Kang who had marched here quickly!

Wei Kang actually quickly captured Baishui County and then marched here to set up an ambush!
Liao's army did not go deep into the ambush circle, so the effect of this ambush was not very good, but it was enough to make them frightened.

Wei Kang was especially brave, leading his subordinates to charge at the front, giving people a feeling of being irresistible.

Zhou Qingzhao calmly commanded the troops in the rear, using her own military formation to force the Na Liao army to retreat to where she needed them.

Until they arrived at the small river again, the general of Liao State was a responsible man. He led 3,000 people to stay behind to cover their retreat, while the remaining nearly 5,000 people chose to cross the river.

This has the momentum of a fight to the death.

The tight military formation made it difficult to find a breakthrough, until...

The troops crossing the river behind him were suddenly attacked halfway across the river from the other side!
It turned out to be Zhu Fei who led his men over.

In fact, if the Liao army had not forced their way across the river to pursue them, Zhu Fei would have led his men on the other side to block or ambush them... In short, this strategy was not intended to allow these 10,000 people to return alive.

The Liao soldiers who were left behind were in great chaos, and Zhou Qingzhao and Wei Kang took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack... A siege and annihilation battle began.

Zhao Yifu laughed heartily upon seeing this and said, "So they're planning on swallowing up all ten thousand elite soldiers in one gulp... What a calculated plan, and what courage."

Zhou Su showed a gratified look upon seeing this, and then said, "Now let's judge how these three generals performed."

Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "I will evaluate their martial arts, and I will ask Master to evaluate their military strategy."

Zhou Su smiled and nodded.

Zhao Yifu said, "Let's talk about Qing Zhao first. Her martial arts skills haven't been revealed yet, but I'm good at martial arts. Judging from her skills, she must have improved recently. If my second uncle's score is 85, she's already around 87 to ."

This is taking into account the bonus from her weapon. If it weren't for the magic spear that Zhao Yi Fu forged for her, her fighting power would be good enough.

Zhou Su nodded and said, "Qing Zhao is indeed quite good. If we take the military strategy of the great general who nearly saved the day a hundred years ago as the perfect score, then Qing Zhao's military strategy could be between 78 and 80."

Zhao Yifu praised: "Junior Sister Qingzhao has only just started actual combat. Her military strategy is in a stage of rapid growth. Her future is limitless."

Zhou Su nodded in satisfaction and said, "Qing Zhao's military strategy, I think it's almost good enough to reach 98 points. At present, she may become a lieutenant general. With more polishing, she may be able to command a region."

The so-called "little general" is a general who leads a small army and can undertake independent military tasks. In fact, it is already a very high evaluation.

Zhao Yifu added, "I don't know much about Wei Kang, but judging by his martial arts prowess, it should be 97 points, just a hair behind Zai Xuan. His fighting methods are also fierce... Oh, now, please let Master judge."

Zhou Su smiled, pointing at Zhao Yifu and saying, "Wei Kang is an extremely brave general. He could be a capable commander capable of destroying cities and empires. With a wise and resourceful advisor, he could also rule a region. It's a pity that while he possesses both wisdom and courage, his commanding abilities are limited. I'm afraid he can't command an army independently."

"As for his military strategy... it's around 85 points. There may be room for improvement, but it depends on his willingness to improve."

Zhao Yifu smiled and nodded, saying, "Wei Kang is quite talented. He is more than qualified to be a vanguard general in the Northern Expedition."

Zhou Su also nodded in agreement. As more and more talents were available for the Northern Expedition, he became more and more happy.

Finally, it was Zhu Fei's turn. Zhao Yifu said, "Zhu Fei is amazing. He seems to be changing every day since he joined the army. He's making rapid progress."

"Now his martial arts strength is firmly above 90, even reaching 92, but I think his strength is not bravery."

Zhou Su nodded and said, "His personal bravery is sufficient. His military strategy is also quite good. It seems to be above 90 now."

"What's even more rare is that he is very spiritual. He clearly still has a lot of room for improvement. Perhaps he can grow into another great general of our time."

Zhao Yifu was astonished when he heard this. He didn't expect Zhou Su to have such a high opinion of Zhu Fei.

He said, "I wonder how Zhu Fei compares to my second uncle?"

Zhou Su stroked his beard and said, "It goes without saying that Yun Gui is brave and courageous. He has also been learning military tactics from me for a long time. At present, he is still stronger than Zhu Fei, but it is hard to say how he will perform in the future."

"And Zaixuan also has great potential and has the potential to become a divine general."

"God bless our Great Xu! Three heroes with the stature of divine generals have appeared in succession. Could it be that my wish of a Northern Expedition will finally come true in my lifetime?"

Zhao Yifu said decisively, "That is inevitable. My dear teacher, you will get what you want."

After all, if things really don't work out, he can always roll up his sleeves and do it himself. As for the rules... it's okay to be flexible depending on the situation.

Facts have proved that Zhao Yifu's "active defense" this time was very effective, and the person with the greatest military merit was not any of the three generals, but Yang Zaixuan who sent troops from Xiangyang.

He took advantage of the fact that Liao State's attention was drawn to the battles in Baishui, Yunqiu and Xiachuan, and the main force of Liao Army in Dengzhou was attracted there. He quickly cut off the retreat and captured Dengzhou City!
Unfortunately, this was not a proper Northern Expedition, so there were no follow-up troops to consolidate the results of the battle. Therefore, Yang Zaixuan could only choose to withdraw his troops after emptying the Dengzhou treasury.

To be honest, this gave the Liao court a big shock.

If Dengzhou were to fall, their hinterland would be completely empty, and Yang Zaixuan could march directly to the outskirts of Bianjing.

The strength of this army is so great that it is extremely frightening.

However, this also gave the three generals who were attacking the three counties enough time to react.

After completely annihilating the defenders in Xiachuan, the three generals joined forces and quickly captured Yunqiu County. Then they calmly moved all the supplies stored in Yunqiu and transported them back to Fancheng.

As for Baishui County and Yunqiu County, which had already been conquered, they were temporarily abandoned like Dengzhou.

However, the purpose of this battle has been achieved. The armed forces and supplies of the three counties under Dengzhou were wiped out. Dengzhou was left empty, which also gave Fancheng enough time to develop.

Zhao Yifu and Zhou Su were both quite satisfied after watching this local battle.

At this time, the generals in the Northern Expedition were still relatively young, but they had already begun to show their brilliance.

And Ying Cong in the capital saw the battlefield being broadcast remotely and was also excited and ready to fight.

With Zhao Yifu as his "radio", he could see the situation on the battlefield, which was much more intuitive and clear than what the officials in the rear told him.

What's even more interesting is that Zhao Yifu also marked his and Zhou Su's calculated 'ability value'. This was a big deal. From then on, Emperor Da Xu became addicted to the 'cultivation game' and couldn't stop.

He even made an outrageous request: "Little Taoist priest, how about you bear a little hardship and help me mark the stats of the opposing generals?"

Zhao Yi Fu was bewildered... Oh my god, he really treated this as a game.

But there is no way, who made the emperor have this hobby?

So Zhao Yifu worked hard for the next period of time. During the day, his incarnations walked around the villages and towns in Fancheng, and at night, his yang spirit traveled all over China, roughly figuring out the abilities of the generals in various places.

He also took great pains to draw a topographic map of the entire Chinese land for Ying Cong, which was a well-intentioned move.

In short, Ying Cong was full of confidence in this topographic map.

Because he discovered that there was really hope for Da Xu to defeat Liao State.

Even the military strength and supplies of Da Xu were far superior to those of Liao State, but they were inferior to the other side in the average level of their generals.

But then again, the generals are a little bit worse on average, but at the top level, Da Xu has the advantage.

Especially the current Xiangzhou area, which is where the essence of Daxu is gathered.

With this intuitive data display, Ying Cong was no longer in a hurry to urge the Northern Expedition.

Because for the first time he clearly saw the strengths and weaknesses of both sides... With the help of Zhao Yifu's "global perspective", the emperor can also be a strategist.

(End of this chapter)