Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 181 Struggle

An oxcart slowly approached, and on the cart sat a man in a wide robe and belt, sitting upright. He was about forty years old, and his face was full of majesty.

You don't need to ask to know it's Xie Kun.

The armored soldiers behind him were shining with silver light, tall and mighty, with extraordinary momentum.

As expected of the Xie family's Taiwanese soldiers, they still retained the elite spirit of the Battle of Feishui. As soon as they appeared, they overshadowed the other Northern Army generals.

This time, the court placed high hopes on Xie Yan in the campaign against the evil bandits, and appointed him as the military commander of Wuxing and Yixing counties. Liu Laozhi, as the governor of the Northern Palace, was only appointed as the military commander of Wu county.

It is obvious that he wants to promote Xie Yan and suppress Liu Laozhi.

The ox cart stopped and two young generals came forward to support him, but Xie Yan remained indifferent.

It was not until Liu Laozhi led a group of Northern Palace officers and officials to come forward to pay their respects that Xie Yan slowly got out of the car with the help of two of his personal generals.

Liu Laozhi and his father Liu Jian were both subordinates of Xie Yan and served in the same Zhenglu Army Headquarters. There was nothing wrong with Liu Laozhi taking the initiative to greet him, but Xie Yan's expression was too arrogant and he never even looked at him from beginning to end.

This was in front of the Northern Army generals. The real commander was Liu Laozhi, not Xie Yan.

If Liu Laozhi didn't have a purple face, he would have been so angry that his face turned red.

Liu Daogui sighed in his heart. The grace of a gentleman will be cut off after five generations. The same applies to the Xie family. Only two generations have passed, and the Xie family has become like this.

The gap between the gentry and the common people did not disappear with the rise of Liu Laozhi, but instead deepened.

As the two men entered the central military tent, Liu Daogui and Liu Huaishen followed behind.

Gao Xun, Tan Ji, Yuan Can, Zhao Lunzhi and others stayed outside.

There is only one main seat in the big tent.

All the generals looked at Xie Yan, and Liu Laozhi remained silent. The atmosphere became inexplicably strange.

There can't be two tigers in one mountain, and there can only be one main general in the army.

The Northern Army is essentially an alliance, with each general having his own troops, and who sits in the main seat is of great significance.

Xie Yan hesitated for a moment, but did not make a mistake at this time and took the initiative to sit in the chief seat on the left.

Liu Laozhi strode forward and sat on the commander's seat.

The strange atmosphere in the tent suddenly disappeared, and Liu Daogui looked for his seat. The relationship between the Huan family and the court was tense, so Huan Hong asked Liu Huaisu and Liu Daogui to come. In theory, there should be a seat for the Zhenglu Army in the big tent.

There were just too many people and I couldn’t find it.

This was also Liu Daogui's first time attending such an occasion. Just when he was confused, someone patted his shoulder. When he turned around, it was his brother Liu Yu.

"This way."

Liu Daogui followed him to the second seat on the right, where Liu Jingxuan was sitting. He turned around, smiled and nodded as a greeting.

"Greetings, Governor!" everyone shouted in unison.

"It has been many years since the Battle of Feishui. With evil bandits wreaking havoc in the Three Wus, it is time for us to make achievements and unite our efforts."

Liu Laozhi had a loud voice.

A long-bearded veteran in the second seat opposite said with a smile, "With the commander-in-chief leading us, we will surely win the battle."

Liu Laozhi was very polite, "General Gao is still as elegant as ever."

His surname is Gao and he is so old, so he should be Gao Heng, the old general of the Northern Palace. Like Liu Laozhi, he comes from a family of generals. His grandson Gao Yazhi is Liu Laozhi's son-in-law.

"The evil bandits are powerful. I, Sun, am incompetent, but I am willing to be the vanguard and wipe out Wu County!" A general sitting at the upper right seat bowed.

The person who could sit in front of Liu Jingxuan should be General Sun Wuzhong. During the Jin Dynasty, General was a third-rank military rank, an important one, often awarded to those with outstanding military achievements. The last two Generals were Zhou Chu and Xie Xuan, both of whom had outstanding military achievements.

Sun Wuzhong's reputation is not as good as Gao Heng's, but he is braver than Gao Heng and is the second most powerful general after Liu Laozhi.

Of course, he is the vanguard.

But at this moment, Xie Yan, who was sitting opposite him, shouted, "The art of war lies in strategic planning. Moving south from Jingkou, we must pass through Wuxing, Yixing, and Wu Commanderies. This will take a long time. It would be better to concentrate our elite forces and attack Kuaiji directly to catch the enemy army off guard!"

This statement was somewhat disrespectful to the generals present, and also a bit too boastful.

Sun En had more than 300,000 troops in Kuaiji and a fortified city. The Northern Army had less than 50,000 troops in total.

Once we penetrate deep into enemy territory, we will not be able to capture the city in a short period of time, and it will be difficult to supply food and grass...

Sun Wuzhong said, "Although General Wei's plan is good, the evil bandits are numerous and powerful. Except for the elite troops under Commander Liu who have been through many battles, the rest of the troops have not fought in years..."

"The evil bandits are holding the people of the Three Wus hostage. We should use both firmness and flexibility, suppress and appease them at the same time, show them kindness and righteousness, and the bandit army will collapse on its own. Although Xie Gong's strategy is good, it is easy to break with firmness." Liu Jingxuan also gave Xie Yan a way out.

Liu Daogui couldn't help but look at him with admiration, and his words hit the nail on the head.

The evil bandit is so powerful because he has coerced the people. It would be great if only 30% of them are willing to follow him to cause chaos.

Unexpectedly, Xie Yan stood up and looked at Sun Wuzhong and Liu Jingxuan with disdain. "I'm not afraid of Fu Jian's millions of troops. I've already crossed the river with 7,000 elite soldiers and won a victory in one battle. What about a mere demonic bandit? The court is in trouble now, so a quick victory is necessary!"

His words were clearly from the court's perspective.

The Three Wus and Eight Counties were the foundation of the imperial court, and Jiankang relied entirely on these areas for its survival.

If the country falls into a long-term turmoil, the noble families in the court will lose their supplies.

However, he was standing on the court's side and did not consider the current situation. If the attack was unsuccessful, the Northern Army would also be in trouble.

The atmosphere in the tent became awkward again.

Liu Laozhi didn't want to offend Xie Yan, so naturally he couldn't say some things.

Just when everyone was at a loss for words, Liu Yu stepped forward and bowed to Xie Yan. "Mr. Xie, please be patient. The bandits are rampant, and the three counties of Wuxing, Yixing, and Wu have been occupied by the bandits Lu Gui, Qiu Weng, and Xu Yun. If we can recapture these three counties first, we will not only break the bandits' momentum, but also boost morale and prove to the court that the bandits are only superficial. Our army only needs to advance cautiously and we can wipe them out."

From a military perspective, Xie Yan's plan was too dangerous. If they failed to capture Kuaiji, they would be besieged by bandits.

If they marched south to capture the three counties of Eastern Wu, they would be able to cut off one of Sun En's arms and suppress the evil bandits south of the Qiantang River.

The veteran general Gao Heng on the opposite side asked, "What if the demonic bandits come to support the three counties?"

Liu Yu laughed and said, "The enemy has left their lair and is seeking death by engaging our army in a field battle!"

The Northern Army dared to fight the Xianbei cavalry in the field, so they were naturally not afraid of the evil bandits.

Sun En's advantage was not his large number of men, but his strong city.

"Who are you?" Xie Yan's face changed.

Liu Yu was neither humble nor arrogant. He said, "I, Liu Yu, the military officer of the Northern Palace, have made many false statements. Thank you for your forgiveness."

Xie Yan was also an expert in military affairs, and knew that what Liu Yu said made sense. As a member of a noble family, he naturally disdained to argue with a corrupt official. He glanced at the expressions of Liu Laozhi and the others, snorted coldly, and sat in his seat without saying a word.

"Ji Nu's words are very insightful about the art of war." Sun Wuzhong praised loudly.

Liu Yu bowed and returned to Liu Jingxuan's back.

Liu Laozhi showed an expression of approval, "Since everyone agrees, then it's settled. We will send out troops tomorrow to recapture the three counties first!"

"Yes, sir!" the generals said in unison.

(End of this chapter)