Li Zhen received the news reported by the soldiers and had no intention of chewing it carefully.
He devoured his dinner and waited for the news ahead.
All along, Li Zhen believed that Shi Dakai would definitely bring a large army to attack the Jiangbei camp, and Li Zhen had asked Huang Shihai to make preparations, and also asked Yang Banhou, Lu Shaochuan and Smith to lead troops to harass the opponent. Now, Shi Dakai suddenly brought an army to attack the Jiangbei camp. The army rushed to Shandong, completely disrupting Li Zhen's plan.
Long Ao also finished his meal quickly without saying a word, waiting for the soldiers sent out to come back and report the news.
"Tap, step,..."
There was a sound of footsteps, and immediately the tent door curtain was rolled up.
The biting cold wind blew in, and Li Zhen couldn't help but shiver. He looked up, but it was Smith who came back. Smith entered the tent, took off his cloak, rushed to Li Zhen, raised his hands to salute, and then sat down. While warming themselves by the fire, he said: "Commander, I just got the news that Shi Dakai did not come to Jiangbei..."
As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, Li Zhen waved his hand and said: "I have received the news that Shi Dakai is heading to Shandong with his army. Now I am waiting for the soldiers in front of me to confirm the situation. Don't worry, we will talk later."
Smith nodded and said no more.
Soon, Yang Banhou and Lu Shaochuan also rushed back and entered the camp.
Both of them got the news that Shi Dakai led troops to Shandong, and both were affected by Shi Dakai's dispatch of troops. Nearly two thousand people gathered together, waiting for the news. Everyone sat facing each other and talked quietly, but Li Zhen He closed his eyes and rested his mind, thinking about what Shi Dakai would do next.
Li Zhen's mind turned and he considered whether Shi Dakai really wanted to attack Shandong and open up a new base, or whether Shi Dakai was pretending to attack Shandong but wanted to attack other places.
He thought about it carefully and gradually got the answer in his mind.
After three hours, in the evening, the soldiers who inquired about the news rushed back.
At this time, the sky had already darkened, because it was already the end of December, the twelfth lunar month of winter. Not only was the weather cold, but the night fell very early. Around six o'clock in the afternoon, it had already started to get dark, and the soldiers who came back with the news were dusty. Standing in the camp, he said loudly: "Commander, the news has been confirmed. Shi Dakai is really heading towards Shandong with his army. Moreover, the number of troops under Shi Dakai's command has reached 60,000, which is unprecedentedly powerful."
Lu Shaochuan opened his mouth wide after hearing this, and was also frightened by the news brought back by the soldiers.
Sixty thousand people, this figure is too scary.
When Shi Dakai left Nanjing, the number of soldiers he followed was less than 10,000. In less than half a month, it had already reached 60,000. Now the soldiers they brought with them were less than 2,000. If the two sides were to fight, the number of soldiers would be too different.
Li Zhen's expression remained unchanged and he waved his hand for the soldiers to retreat.
Immediately, Li Zhen said in a deep voice: "Shi Dakai's movement has been determined. Within a certain period of time, he will definitely move towards Shandong. I thought about it carefully and thought that it is impossible for Shi Dakai to really go to Shandong. He is pretending to attack Shandong, because the closer to Shandong, the stronger the Qing army will be, especially the closer to Zhili, the Qing army is all elite."
After a pause, Li Zhen continued: "Shi Dakai is a smart man and it is impossible not to realize the reason. Therefore, I think Shi Dakai may choose Anhui in the east of Jiangsu Province; he may choose Jiangxi in the southwest of Jiangsu Province. It is even possible to choose to attack Zhejiang. These three places are all where Shi Dakai has led troops to fight. Since his old troops are located there, it is obviously more advantageous for Shi Dakai to leave these places."
Lu Shaochuan thought for a while and said: "Commander, I think Anhui is the most likely to be attacked."
Li Zhen asked: "What's the reason?"
Lu Shaochuan explained: "Anhui is the closest to Yangzhou and uses Anhui as a springboard. Once Shi Dakai leads his soldiers into Anhui, he can immediately enter Hubei. In this way, Shi Dakai got rid of Nanjing and also got rid of us stationed in Jiangbei University. The army of the battalion can be said to be like a dragon entering the sea. Let him kill all directions. This bird man is not a good thing. He is bad and bad. "
After listening to Lu Shaochuan's words, Li Zhen nodded and said: "It makes sense."
Smith said: "Commander, I don't deny Captain Lu's inference, but I think we can't draw a conclusion for the time being, because judging from the current situation, Shi Dakai is not a coach who plays according to common sense. The more we think about it, The easier it is to reason, the easier it is to mistake the position. Instead of doing this, it is better to wait and see what happens and let Shi Dakai go to Shandong. The advantage of this is that the forces of Shi Dakai and Shandong will compete and weaken each other, and the commander-in-chief can sit down without spending a single soldier. Harvest the fisherman's profit."
Yang Ban Hou stroked his palm and agreed: "Commander, I agree with Smith's suggestion. It is best to sit on the sidelines for the time being."
Li Zhen looked at Long Ao and asked, "Brother Long, what do you think?"
Long Ao smiled slightly and said: "I have some immature ideas in my heart, but I haven't considered them comprehensively. However, I also agree with Captain Smith's suggestion and wait and see what happens."
Li Zhen was stunned for a moment and said, "Okay, just follow Smith's suggestion."
After speaking, Li Zhen asked Smith, Lu Shaochuan and Yang Banhou to leave, leaving Long Ao alone. The two stayed in the camp and continued the discussion, but the content of the discussion was not announced. Even Smith, Lu Shaochuan and others Even the core generals in the army didn't know that after Long Ao left the camp, Li Zhen was sitting alone in the camp, with excitement and hesitation in his eyes, and a very complicated look on his face.
…
In a blink of an eye, December is over and it’s already New Year’s Eve.
This is the last day of the year. It was originally a day for families to get together. However, Shi Dakai led an army of 60,000 to fight outside. Everyone could not get together with their families. Shi Dakai did not continue marching on this day and asked the army to stop. Let the soldiers drink and eat meat. Although the soldiers can drink, there are restrictions and they can only taste it briefly.
The soldiers were unable to get together with their families, but they still had their comrades together, so they still celebrated the New Year happily.
However, Shi Dakai encountered a problem. He led his troops north to Shandong with the intention of mobilizing Li Zhen's army, but Li Zhen's army did not move at all.
Shi Dakai also felt helpless about this.
Shi Daxin had an idea, so he called Zhang Suimou to the camp and said, "Suimou, Li Zhen didn't move. I thought about it carefully and decided to fake it and really attack Shandong."
Zhang Suimou said: "Shandong is close to Zhili, so it is easy to be encircled and suppressed by the Qing army, and it is impossible to gain a foothold."
Shi Da said with a smile: "I know of course, but if Li Zhen doesn't come, we will first transfer the rest of the Qing army, and then look for opportunities to go to Sichuan. There are many opportunities, but the key is not to be restrained by Li Zhen."
"Your Majesty is wise," Zhang Suimou said.
Seeing that Zhang Suimou agreed with his idea, Shi Dakai had a smile on his face. He stood up and said loudly: "Today is New Year's Eve. It is only this day a year. Go out and celebrate with the soldiers."
Zhang Suimou stood up and left the camp with Shi Dakai.
