At noon the next day, the meeting hall of the main camp of the Loyalty Army was packed with people. Early in the morning, the generals and key personnel of each camp received an order from Zhang Diwan, requiring all the generals and above to rush to the main camp.

There is something important to announce.

Hundreds of generals, large and small, immediately set out to rush to Wang's main camp. They all speculated on what important matter Commander Zhang was going to announce. When they arrived, they asked each other, but no one knew what it was. Even Xiao Gui, Li Dazhi, Meng Liangcai, etc.

Several senior military generals did not know the reason why the commander-in-chief called everyone here today, which made everyone even more confused.

Everyone was sitting in the meeting hall and discussing in low voices. Because the morale in the army had been low recently and their morale was low, not many people made a loud noise. The atmosphere in the entire hall was quite depressing and dull.

Finally, while everyone was waiting, Zhang Diwan walked in from the door, followed by the female battalion commander Zhang Ruomei and a tall young general who was fully armed and wearing a black fur cloak. Many people actually knew this person's identity.

As for her identity, the news that Miss Ruomei's husband came here from Lin'an has actually spread to everyone in the past few days.

Seeing Zhang Diwan and others walking in, everyone stood up and saluted. Zhang Diwan smiled, bowed and said hello, walked directly to the big chair in front and sat down. Fang Zian and Zhang Ruomei sat side by side on the stool at the side.

, and everyone took their seats one after another.

Zhang Diwan coughed, and the hall suddenly became silent.

"Brothers, I have called you here today because I have something important to announce. It is an important matter related to the life and death of our loyal Eight-Character Army. Therefore, please be sure to listen carefully and carefully. If you have any ideas, we

We can speak openly and honestly, we brothers don’t have to be rigid and say whatever we say. Even if it’s just scolding your mother today, it’s okay.” Zhang Diwan said in a deep voice.

Everyone looked solemn and felt that the matter was very serious. It was a major matter related to the survival of the Zhongyi Army. This matter was really important. At the same time, their hearts were full of expectations.

"Before I get down to business, let me introduce you to someone. This person is called Fang Zian. He is Ruomei's husband, also my brother-in-law. He is the Tanhua Lang of the imperial court, and is now the commander of the Fire Army of the Song Dynasty. His subordinates are in charge

There are more than a thousand forbidden troops in the Lin'an Fire Army Office. This time he is the imperial deputy envoy to the Kingdom of Jin. Therefore, my brother-in-law is a man with all-round talents in both civil and military affairs. Many people already know him, but

Some brothers don’t know, so I would like to introduce you to you and let you know who he is. Otherwise, you may be a little confused as to why there are outsiders attending the internal meetings of our loyal eight-character army. He is not an outsider." Zhang Diwan smiled.

road.

Fang Zian stood up and bowed his hands in front of the hundreds of dark faces, saying, "Down here, Zian, I am honored to meet all of you brothers. Please take care of me."

Everyone cupped their hands and said, "Master Fang is polite, Master Fang is polite."

Someone in the crowd suddenly said: "Commander Zhang, your brother-in-law is an official of the imperial court. Did he come to our army to recruit us under the order of the imperial court? We don't tolerate the imperial court's arrogance."

"Yes, yes, we are not at odds with the imperial court. Don't let this happen. If this is what is being announced, the commander-in-chief should not talk about it. It's okay to be cold and hungry, but we don't want to be offended again."

Someone echoed.

For a while, many people started shouting.

Zhang Diwan sat quietly and said nothing, waiting for those who were talking.

After his voice calmed down, he smiled and said: "Are you finished? Listen to me after I finish speaking. I said you are stubborn, all of you have such a bad temper. Are you still 'recruiting'? Do you know what recruiting is? Rebellion.

Only those who want to recruit peace are we, are we rebels against the imperial court? Even if our Zhongyi Army is a rebel, it is also a rebellion against the Jin people. If we want to recruit peace, it is the Jin Kingdom who comes to recruit peace. Each one of them does not understand anything, and they are talking nonsense. Besides, I

Did you say that my brother-in-law was sent here by the imperial court? Are you swatting mosquitoes out of your ears? They are an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin. My brother-in-law misses my sister, so he took a turn from our place to see my sister. They are reunited as husband and wife.

.The imperial court has no intention of paying any attention to us. They are making random guesses and being filled with righteous indignation. You don’t want to see the imperial court, so why don’t I want to see the imperial court? Sit down, and don’t make any noise until you hear clearly next time. Don’t be smart."

As soon as Zhang Diwan said these words, the soldiers all scratched their heads in shame and sat down silently. These generals and soldiers were all straight-tempered and short-tempered, which was actually a sign of their temperament and was not directed at anyone.

Fang Zian nodded slightly. Zhang Diwan was indeed not a big boss. Judging from the way he talked to these people, he still had some speaking skills, and his relationship with the soldiers was also harmonious.

"Brothers, today I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you and talk about something that comes from the bottom of my heart. To be honest, I feel very uncomfortable and remorseful in my heart when I see our loyal army has reached the state it is today. I used to be loyal and loyal.

The army was so glorious. Under the old commander Wang Marshal, one hundred thousand loyal and righteous soldiers swept across the Central Plains. The Jin people and the puppet Qi soldiers were frightened. At that time, our loyal army was so majestic. Unfortunately, later, Marshal Wang was no longer there, and our loyal army was gone.

Things are getting worse, and the prestige is gone. When the former commander Li Quan was there, we still had tens of thousands of people, but unfortunately they were all destroyed. Now, with me, Zhang Rong, leading you, we only have five or six thousand troops, and we can only hide in the

Deep in the mountains, our loyal army has made its way all the way to where it is now, so how can it not make people feel sad and uncomfortable?" Zhang Diwan said with a sigh.

There was silence in the hall, and the soldiers looked solemn. Many of them had experienced this ups and downs. They felt particularly uncomfortable when they heard Zhang Diwan's words. A thriving and powerful army, now

It's hard for anyone to accept this situation. It's fine if you don't say it, but if you say it, it's like a knife piercing your heart.

"...Perhaps some brothers will say that the imperial court deceived our Zhongyi Army, and Marshal Li Yan was deceived by them, so they returned our Zhongyi Army soldiers and horses to Liu Qi's account. But in the end, the imperial court made peace with the Jin people.

, violated the original promise. Some people may say that it was Li Quan's fault for not uniting all the units of our loyal army and failing to twist them into a rope, which led to the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses being defeated by the Jin people one by one. In the end, he actually planned to

Surrendering to the golden dog violated the original intention and deserved death. Of course, some people may also think that it was my Zhang Rong's incompetence that failed to turn the situation around, and instead led everyone to suffer and freeze in the mountains. I admit all this. In the past

I don’t want to mention the matter again. But under my leadership, Zhang Rong, the Zhongyi Army has reached its current state, and I cannot escape the blame. I think I am an incompetent commander. It is me who has harmed all brothers. It is my incompetence.

Therefore, I summoned all brothers here today to apologize to all brothers. The commander was incompetent and the three armies were exhausted. Today I want to ask brothers to allow me to resign from the position of commander-in-chief and let me choose talents. I do not want to be a deserter.

I will still be in the army, sharing life and death with all my brothers, killing all the golden dogs, and shedding the last drop of blood."

As soon as Zhang Diwan said this, the entire meeting hall suddenly exploded, and everyone was frightened and stunned. He

We never expected that when we were summoned here today, it would be Commander Zhang who wanted to apologize and resign as commander.

Not to mention everyone, even Fang Zian and Zhang Ruomei were stunned. The plan of how to mobilize the soldiers discussed last night did not mention this. But soon, Fang Zian understood Zhang Diwan's intention of doing this.

Enemy Wan is playing tricks, performing a bloody trick. He wants him to apologize in public to quell the dissatisfaction of some generals in the army. It would be better for him to just make a pretense. By the way, among this loyal army, who is better than him?

High status and prestige? No one can replace him in terms of origin and ability.

"Commander, how can this happen? How can you have such an idea? How can you give up your choice at this time?"

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief. It's not your fault that our Zhongyi Army has reached this point today. If you hadn't rushed out with your brothers, our Zhongyi Army would have been led by Li Quan and surrendered to the Golden Dog. Then we would have

The whole army was destroyed."

"Exactly, exactly. Although we are in a difficult situation now, it is not your fault. We are trapped in this mountain, what else can we do? We can only endure hardship. You don't want to be like this, but you don't have to

There is a way."

"Commander, who among the Loyalty Army except you is qualified to be the commander. Who can clean up such a mess? If you just let it go, won't our Loyal Army be disbanded? In this case, you might as well announce its disbandment

Zhongyi Army, we all have a good way of making a living."

Everyone yelled with emotion. Some looked anxious and excited, some sighed and shook their heads, and some sat dumbfounded with expressions as pale as death. Everyone was shocked by Zhang Diwan's words.

Zhang Diwan sat quietly, putting his hands on his knees and looking at everyone without saying a word. Xiao Gui, who was sitting in the front row, stood up and shouted: "Commander, please say something. Look at your brother."

We are so worried. But who can shoulder this heavy burden except you? What will the brothers do if you throw away your hand? This is not like you. The commander-in-chief has always been fearless, so why did he suddenly become like this?

"

Zhang Diwan slowly said: "Brothers, listen to me."

Everyone fell silent and listened to Zhang Diwan's words.

"Brothers, although you are tolerant to me, I feel very guilty in my heart. As the leader of the Zhongyi Army, I, as the leader of the Zhongyi Army, am naturally responsible for the situation today. There is no doubt about it. If I do not bear this responsibility

, shouldn’t I ask you to take responsibility? As a leader, I am incompetent if I fail to find a way out of the predicament. My idea is to preserve my strength and not confront the Jin people head-on, but I did not consider the supplies needed to retreat to the mountains.

The supply of food and grass has caused all the brothers to suffer from cold and hunger. Recently, many people have deserted and escaped. I only wanted to control this trend with strict orders, but I forgot why they ran away. They are

I don't feel hope, I feel that if I stay in the mountains, I will be trapped and die sooner or later, so I will run away. They didn't escape when they fought with the Jin people before, but now they have to run away. Isn't that my responsibility? As the leader, I have no responsibility.

I was aware of the seriousness of the problem, failed to fundamentally solve the problem, but blindly ordered severe punishment. This is my fault."

The officers and soldiers were quite touched. What Zhang Diwan said today is something that many people are murmuring in their hearts, and it is also the reason why many people are dissatisfied. It’s just that they can’t say these words, and besides, they really don’t know what to do. It’s great today.
Chapter completed!