A few more days passed like this, and when everything was ready, Zhao Yang immediately decided to mobilize the three armies and head for Chaoge.
Li Ran was also prepared to accompany him all the way, and just when Li Ran was about to leave, a letter from Guan Cong was delivered directly to Li Ran.
In the letter, Guan Cong stated that Gong Eryue and Liguang were both safe now, and also expressed his guilt for Mr. Chang.
However, he did try his best.
Later, he also introduced some newly developed "Taoji" members in Jin State on Li Ran's behalf.
Therefore, before leaving, Li Ran was able to meet Sikong of Jiangcheng under Guan Cong's arrangement.
This person's name only has the character "Shuo", and he is currently responsible for the repairs of Jiangcheng.
Sikong Shuo came to see Li Ran at night. Li Ran knew the purpose of this person's visit and arranged to meet him in the inner hall.
Sikong Shuo first bowed and saluted, and then said:
"Sir, your expedition is about to begin, but before that, I have something to tell you!"
Li Ran asked:
"Huh? What's the matter? It doesn't matter."
Sikong Shuo raised his hand and continued:
"Liang Yingfu and Fan Gaoyi are now dissatisfied with Xun Shu, and I'm afraid they will launch an attack in the near future!"
Hearing this, Li Ran couldn't help but raise his eyebrows:
"Oh? What do they want?"
Sikong Shuo stretched out a hand, but made a cutting gesture on his neck:
"The two of them are now plotting to harm Xun Shu in order to thwart his move to withdraw from the imperial court!"
When Li Ran heard this, he couldn't help but feel moved in his heart. He knew that these two people must be dissatisfied with Xun Shu, but he did not expect that the two of them would become murderous so quickly.
"Is this news...reliable?"
Sikong Shuo nodded slightly and said coldly:
"Fan Gaoyi took over the Fan family. There were people within the Fan family who were dissatisfied. As for Liang Ying's father, he was just a favorite of the Xun family and had little ability. Therefore, if we want to find out what they are doing, it is important for our Taoism.
It’s not that difficult to say!”
Li Ran couldn't help but smile slightly when he heard this and said:
"In this case... this matter may be used to some extent. But... since you all can know this news, I'm afraid Xun Shu and others must have heard about it a long time ago. Therefore, this matter is of great concern to the two of them.
I’m afraid it will be extremely difficult to accomplish anything!”
Sikong Shuo responded:
"What you said is true, but this move has nothing to do with the Zhao family after all. Even if they fail, it will not do any harm to the Zhao family."
"Since it has nothing to do with the Zhao family, I thought it would be a good idea to add fuel to the fire and help it succeed!"
After hearing this, Li Ran knew what Sikong Shuo meant and couldn't help but nodded in agreement:
"Well! That's not bad! But you must be careful and don't let others take advantage of it. Whether this matter succeeds or fails, everything just goes with the flow!"
Sikong Shuo stood up and replied:
"No! I understand!"
…
The next day, Zhao Yang went up to the general stage and read out the edict against rebellion. In the name of the monarch, he raised 30,000 troops and sent out troops to quell the rebellion.
Li Ran, Fan Li and Chu Dang also followed him, and Master Zhao marched towards Ludi with great momentum.
There were no obstacles along the way, and Master Zhao quickly reached Ludi.
Zhong Xingyin apparently did what Li Ran expected, letting Ji Qin and Gao Qiang each lead an army to block him in Ludi.
Zhao Yang immediately set up camp and sent out scouting horses in all directions.
Soon, Tan Ma came to report and found out that the enemy had deployed tens of thousands of troops around Luyi.
Zhao Yang couldn't help but frown:
"It seems that Zhong Xingyin is not stupid, and he also knows that Ludi is a battleground for military strategists!"
Afterwards, Zhao Yang said to Yang Hu beside him:
"Tiger, go prepare yourself and prepare for a strong attack!"
Yang Hu felt relieved and immediately prepared to take the order and leave. Unexpectedly, Li Ran said at this time:
"Wait a minute, general, don't be anxious to seek a decisive battle now! It's better to find out the details of each intersection first. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle without danger!"
Zhao Yang nodded and said:
"What you said is true!"
Therefore, Zhao Yang sent some more scouts, pretending to be local savages, to spy on the military situation.
At night, Zhao Yang and Yang Hu came to Li Ran's camp together. By this time, Fan Li had already set up a simple sand table for them.
Li Ran played with the sand table while listening to the report of Tan Ma's arrival. Then, he fell into deep thought for a while, and then he said:
"Although their main force only has tens of thousands of troops, there are also a lot of troops scattered in various key passes. It seems... they deliberately broke them into pieces and specially dug their pockets so that we can't take care of both the beginning and the end!"
When Zhao Yang saw this sand table, he instantly understood what Li Ran meant and couldn't help but sigh:
"Well, if that's the case, then we might as well fight quickly and go straight to their central camp. As long as we can break through their central camp, we can win in one battle!"
Yang Hu also spoke at this time:
"But according to the report from Tanma, the enemy's main force is divided into two teams. One is led by Gao Qiang, and the other is from Qin! The two of them are now at odds with each other. Once a war situation develops,
, then we can support each other, but it may be difficult to cope with it!"
"If we divide our forces into two groups, I'm afraid that the defenders at various key passes will take the opportunity to harass us. What's more, they occupy a strategic location, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack!"
Li Ran thought for a moment and said:
"Since Qin is good at fighting, strong and cautious, this battle... cannot be easily won!"
Zhao Yang sighed and said:
"Then... how about we send a team of troops to confront them, and then I personally lead the army to take the Taihang Trail and go straight to Chaoge?!"
Li Ran shook his head again and said:
"This is absolutely unacceptable. It has three disadvantages."
"First, the Taihang Trail is difficult to walk. Even if we can go straight to Chaoge, by the time we reach Chaoge City, we will be at the end of our battle! Secondly, Chaoge, as its main city, will never be undefended.
What's more, Chaoge is close to Qi. If we take Chaoge directly, I'm afraid they will send troops to help them in advance. Thirdly, if Qin comes back to block our retreat, we will be attacked from both sides."
"For these three reasons, we cannot take a detour!"
At this time, Yang Hu became a little impatient:
"Then please general, give Hu a team, and I will defeat Ji Qin. The general can choose a strong one, and use both forces to attack him hard!"
Fan Li objected:
"They are now at odds with each other, and they have peripheral skirmishers to help them. They can advance, attack, retreat or defend. This move... I'm afraid the chances of winning are not good!"
Zhao Yang stared at the sand table and narrowed his eyes:
"Then... sir, do you have a perfect plan?"
Li Ran fell silent at this time, staring at the sand table in front of him, and did not speak for a long time. Zhao Yang looked at Li Ran, and the atmosphere became solemn.
At this time, Li Ran asked Yang Hu again:
"Which of the armies led by Ji Qin and Gao Qiang is Lu Hun's army?"
Yang Hu replied:
"It's from Gao Qiang's department..."
Li Ran said:
"Lu Hun's army... is the flaw in this game!"
Yang Hu widened his eyes and asked in surprise:
"Lu Hun's army is quite brave, so how can this be his flaw?"