Chapter 615: A layman in foreign wars, an expert in civil wars
Soochow's 100,000-strong army stopped in Wancheng for two days for the first time.
On the second day, it happened to be raining heavily again, and the ground was full of mud. The cavalry was okay...but the infantry walking on the ground and the teams dragging their baggage suffered.
Maybe even Yi Xiaotian didn't expect that the battle in Hefei, which was originally so urgent, would actually allow Jiang Ji to complete the most feasible layout at the moment due to some special reasons.
Because, on the day when the Soochow army stagnated in Wancheng, nearly 30,000 soldiers and horses led by Jiang Xia Wenpin finally arrived in Hefei.
It is said that at that time, Jiang Ji originally thought that the army in the distance was the troops of Soochow, but the people he invited turned out to be reinforcements from Jiangxia, and he was so excited that he almost fell off the city wall.
Reinforcements from Hefei had arrived - the news quickly reached the ears of Zhang Zhao, who was still stationed in Wancheng.
"Hmph! They react very quickly..."
Zhang Zhao was sitting at the table. In front of him were more than a dozen civil servants and generals who were traveling with the army this time.
Each one is a representative person sent by aristocratic families.
There are also a group of heroes who have never appeared in the battle of Chibi in Soochow - Zhu Huan, Jiang Qin, Zhou Tai, Zhu Zhi, Han Dang, etc.
As soon as Zhang Zhao slapped the table, everyone knew very well...
If nothing had happened yesterday, they would have arrived in Hefei today... and the situation would not have become so embarrassing all of a sudden.
It's just that... no one dared to show doubt in front of Zhang Zhao.
Zhang Zhao said that Cao Jun responded quickly, which is well-founded...
It only took five days from the time they sent out all their troops, and it took ten days for the news to spread from Wancheng to Xiangyang, Jiangxia to get the news and react.
Not to mention that with the coalition forces of the Sun and Liu families dragging Cao Cao on the front line, Cao Cao should not have reacted so quickly.
But this army that suddenly came out from Jiangxia seemed to have embarked on the journey early, just like a prophet who predicted the unknown. It was simply a miracle that they could reach Hefei before their army.
Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao couldn't help but think of the expert beside Cao Cao who had been repeatedly emphasized before the war by Zhuge Villager from Xiangyang and Zhou Yu and Lu Su who came belatedly -
It seems that his name is Yi Xiaotian?
Zhang Zhao doesn't have much idea about this.
He only thought that it was his behavior yesterday that delayed the opportunity to fight. Seeing that the hall was dull, in order to firmly control the morale of the soldiers, Zhang Zhao actually took the initiative to apologize to everyone:
He took off his crown and placed it on the table in front of him. After standing up, he bowed again and again to the civil and military officials in the hall, his eyes full of solemnity:
"Yesterday... I had some unpleasantness with my lord. My lord is young and has a bit of a temper. Since I am the commander of this battle, I will naturally have to strictly demand the troops during the march... Even my lord... If I want to act like a child, I will
I definitely won’t get used to it…”
"But... I admit that my handling yesterday was not appropriate. There was too much noise, which made everyone unhappy, and delayed the trip... I will definitely accept all the blame and blame fairly and justly when this battle is over——"
"I called you all together today. My original intention was to inform you about this matter... But unexpectedly, I actually received news of the arrival of enemy reinforcements on the way... I am deeply saddened by this..."
"But... what I want to say is, even if the enemy's reinforcements arrive, please rest assured... I am 90% sure that we can defeat the enemy's reinforcements together... This battle... our army will win! We will take it in one fell swoop.
Go to Hefei!"
Zhang Zhao said a lot of seemingly encouraging words, but it was obvious that everyone smiled reluctantly.
Hefei is a majestic city... Like Shouchun, it is not only surrounded by mountains and rivers, but has extremely thick city walls, and there has been no war intrusion for many years. Hefei must also have strong troops and horses... If the city cannot be broken through by surprise attack, and it can only rely on siege, I really don't know what the battle will be like.
I will fight until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse...
They are one hundred thousand soldiers and horses. One hundred thousand soldiers and horses are fighting outside. Every day, it will be a huge consumption.
The battle in Hefei, under the instigation of aristocratic families, almost wiped out Jiangdong's savings and foundation in the past twenty years. It would be okay if he won, but if he lost... the consequences would be unimaginable.
Everyone responded with dry smiles, but little did they know that at the end of the banquet, one person bit his lip until it bled after listening to Zhang Zhao's twisted explanation.
He is Pan Zhang...
As one of the generals in this battle, it seems that because of yesterday's involvement, he had to go to guard the rear. Not only that... Every word Zhang Zhao said made him feel scared from the bottom of his heart.
If he hadn't seen with his own eyes the scene yesterday where Zhang Zhao's eyes widened with anger and he pressed his sword against Sun Quan's neck, he might have really believed Zhang Zhao's words.
As for the small movements?
The small news was that Sun Quan's personal guards fought with the guards brought by Zhang Zhao, and a hundred people died in the chaos last night.
Sun Quan, who was defeated, was eventually placed under house arrest by Zhang Zhao...
If such a thing could be called a small incident, Pan Zhang really couldn't say anything.
He is not in the mood to listen to Zhang Zhao's wrangling here. He just wants to know where Sun Quan, who personally exonerated him yesterday, is being held by Zhang Zhao at this moment... If Sun Quan really has something wrong with him...
Pan Zhang clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth.
He didn't take action last night just because he thought about Zhou Yu and Lu Su's instructions to him, to protect Sun Quan no matter what.
However... the current situation forced him to consider... If the time allowed, he was even planning to kidnap Sun Quan - even if it would cause chaos in the army...
The rain... has been falling, slapping on the eaves and dripping on the iron armor. The haze hanging over the heads of the Soochow people seems to be thicker than before——
——
And on the other side, in a place they don't know.
Riding a fast horse, galloping continuously on the winding road from Xiangyang.
The man under the armor had nothing but fear in his eyes.
I don't know which day he was on the road... The rain on this day made the already solemn atmosphere in the air even more suffocating.
Da da da--
There was the sound of horse hooves, and the man hiding under a ruined temple finally saw the outline of Hefei in the distance in the hazy fog.
He was not in a hurry to enter the city because he had been ordered by others to do one thing before entering Hefei.
Wow——
The rainwater in the iron helmet poured all over the floor. The man tied up his long hair again and took out the only thing that might be dry from his arms.
This is a light yellow tip bag.
It is made of small brocade and the mouth of the bag is tied tightly with silk thread.
"Mr. Yi, you really trust me..."
Zhang Liao wiped the water on his face and felt an indescribable feeling in his heart - he had always heard that Yi Xiaotian would give some tips to the prime minister or the army ahead at certain critical moments.
But this was the first time he received such an exclusive tip bag.
Naturally, I was excited and nervous.
Zhang Liao...according to Yi Xiaotian's instructions before leaving, he rode alone to Hefei to rescue the defenders. Due to emotion and reason...such an order was a bit exaggerated.
Slowly opening the brocade bag, lying quietly inside the brocade bag was a small piece of paper.
Zhang Liao slowly scanned the contents on the paper, and soon the confusion in his eyes turned into shock.
It may not take more than a few sticks of incense... Zhang Liao was fully dressed and set out on the road again...
