On August 26, at 6 o'clock in the morning, the Western Qi Army led by Tian Dan had begun to attack Suxian County.
Naturally, Zhao Hongrun would not miss the opportunity to watch this siege battle. After casually throwing the "borrowed general" Gan Mao to Wu Ji, he took Zong Wei and King Su's guards back to the southwest of Suxian County
, found a high slope with a good view, and stood up to observe the battle.
After all, whether it is the "main army" of Chu State or the army of Qi State, they are the objects that Zhao Hongrun needs to observe. He has not yet come to a reliable conclusion about the general strength of the two.
This caused hardship to the young general Wu Ji, the commander of the Shang Shui Army.
Although he was also very angry with the Qi army generals for insulting them, insulting them as peasant soldiers.
It is true that they were peasant soldiers at first, but you must know that since they surrendered to the Wei State, both the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army have strictly followed the Wei State's infantry training requirements for a whole year. Not to mention
, when Gao Kuo, Zhong Zhao and other Zongwei from the Zongfu temporarily joined the Shangshui Army, the training of the Shangshui Army became more rigorous, and they gradually became more aligned with Yu Linlang, the most elite Zongwei in the Wei State.
Therefore, the peasant soldiers of the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army can already be called qualified Wei infantry.
Under this premise, the generals of the Qi army still looked at them with the same eyes as in the past and called them peasant soldiers with contempt. What is this if not an insult?
But having said that, Wu Ji still couldn't bear it: asking a dignified general of the Qi army to be a pawn in the Shangshui army was simply to make the general die on the battlefield.
And it was precisely because they had figured this out that Qu Cheng and Yan Mo aligned themselves and showed Gan Mao such a malicious smile.
However, he couldn't bear it anymore. Since Zhao Hongrun had already spoken, how could Wu Ji dare to disobey him? What's more, although he felt a little regretful, he didn't have a good impression of Gan Mao. Who dared to humiliate them in front of His Highness King Su?
"Come with Wu!"
Wu Ji said to Gan Mao expressionlessly, neither taking the opportunity to add insult to injury nor being too polite to the latter.
Gan Mao looked bitter, after all, he already understood his fate.
Following Wu Ji, Gan Mao came to the place where the Shang Shui Army temporarily rested with a miserable look on his face.
As the saying goes, good deeds never go out and bad deeds travel thousands of miles. I don’t know who is so quick to talk. At this time, the story of "His Royal Highness King Su angrily criticized the generals of the Qi army" had already spread among the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army. Therefore, when he saw the people wearing
Gan Mao, who was wearing the armor of a general of the Qi army, understood clearly and pointed at Gan Mao, sneering again and again.
"Is this this guy?"
"Isn't that right!... Hey, the general of the Qi army who was 'borrowed' to our Shang Shui Army."
"How many days do you think this guy can live?"
"I bet I won't survive until tomorrow's sunset."
When Gan Mao passed by the Shang Shui soldiers, the idle soldiers started talking about it.
No one is optimistic that Gan Mao can survive until sunset tomorrow.
After all, if Tian Dan and his army from the east route cannot attack Suxian today, it will be up to the Wei army from the west route to attack Suxian tomorrow.
Siege warfare has always been the most serious consumption of soldiers.
Although Gan Mao is a general, he may have great martial arts skills, but on the battlefield, personal martial arts can actually play a very small role. If you don't have a trusted companion to protect you, even a general will inevitably fight.
Death battlefield.
What's more, Gan Mao is "the general of the Qi army who has already completely offended both the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army." Who can guarantee that there will not be any disgruntled soldiers on the battlefield who are plotting behind their backs?
To take a step back, even if there is no evil behind the scenes, as long as Gan Mao is not protected when the time comes, even if the latter is a general, he will definitely not survive the siege.
Therefore, almost all the Shangshui soldiers nearby regarded Gan Mao as a dead man. Therefore, except for sneering and ridiculing, no one made trouble for Gan Mao.
Think about it, why bother with a dead person who is destined to die?
Seeing this scene, Gan Mao's mood sank deeper and deeper.
Finally, Wu Ji and Gan Mao stopped beside a group of Shangshui soldiers. He looked around a few times and finally found the target he was looking for: Ran Teng, a general of thousands.
"Ran Teng." Wu Ji shouted from a distance.
At this time, the Thousand-Man General Ran Teng was chatting with several village commanders and bo-chans in his Thousand-Man Team. Suddenly, he heard shouting and subconsciously looked back, only to realize that it was Wu Ji, the general of their Shang Shui Army.
He did not dare to neglect, and immediately walked over quickly, clasped his fists and called: "General."
Wu Ji nodded, casually pointed at Gan Mao behind him, and said to Ran Teng: "King Su has an order, this general... Well, he will serve as a soldier in our army for the time being... Don't ask any more questions."
Perhaps because he was afraid that Ran Teng would ask questions, Wu Ji spoke in advance.
In fact, Ran Teng had already heard about this, but he didn't expect that this "good thing" would happen to his team of thousands.
"I obey my orders." Ran Teng glanced at Gan Mao and grinned twice.
Seeing this, Wu Ji frowned slightly, put his arm around Ran Teng's shoulders and pulled him a few steps away. He whispered to the latter: "Ran Teng, although this person humiliated our Shang Shui Army, his crime will not lead to death.
, not to mention having been taught a lesson by His Highness, Wu thought, it would be a pity for such a dignified general to die in vain, please take care of him."
After hearing this, Ran Teng was slightly startled. After thinking for a moment, he whispered: "General, I heard that I am humbled by my position. Isn't that what His Highness meant?"
Wu Ji naturally understood the profound meaning of Ran Teng's words, shook his head and said: "Who is Your Highness? How can you really care about the life and death of a Qi general? Your Highness is just using this to teach this person a lesson and warn the other Qi generals.
, His Highness will not care whether this person is dead or alive." After saying that, he patted Ran Teng on the shoulder and warned: "Listen to Wu."
Ran Teng hesitated for a moment and finally nodded.
Seeing this, Wu Ji let go of Ran Teng, but turned around and said to Gan Mao: "General Gan Mao, this man is one of the three most courageous generals of a thousand men in our Shangshui Army. Ran Teng, the thousand men he led
The team is the elite of our merchant navy, so you can be under his command for the time being."
In the past, Gan Mao would not have taken a serious look at a person with this position among thousands of people, but now, he was not allowed to bow his head.
He hugged his fists at Ran Teng.
Seeing that Gan Mao's attitude was quite acceptable at this time, Ran Teng nodded and said goodbye to Wu Ji.
"Your Highness wants to teach this man a lesson and make him a pawn. General Wu Ji is kind-hearted and entrusts me to take care of him. This is a bit difficult..."
Ran Teng pondered for a moment, recalling the various units in the thousand-man team under his command.
Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat.
"In terms of our thousand-man team, this team is the strongest and should be able to protect Gan Mao from death."
After thinking about it, Ran Teng led Gan Mao to find the target, a seemingly ordinary five-man team: Jiao Meng was the leader, and Jiao Zhong, Li Hui, Le Bao, and Yang Wu were the soldiers.
Even though they are just one team, it is undeniable that the reason why Ran Teng's thousand-man team is called the elite of the Shang Shui Army is precisely because the soldiers under his command are all brave and can equal ten to one.
Especially the man named Yangwu, whose military strength is actually no less than that of a hundred-man general, and his military merits are enough to be promoted to the rank of commander, even the commander of a village.
It's just that Yangwu didn't want to be separated from his two companions, Li Hui and Le Bao, and he didn't have any big ambitions, so he wasn't promoted.
As for Li Hui and Le Bao, one was calm and the other was thoughtful. In Ran Teng's opinion, they were both young people with great potential. In time, they would probably become the backbone officers of the merchant navy.
Even the corps commander Jiao Meng and his brother Jiao Zhong, who have less potential, are experienced veterans.
This may be the best option.
Thinking of this, Ran Teng called Wu Chief Jiao Meng and threw Gan Mao, the hot potato, to this Wu.
Before leaving, he conveyed Wu Ji's intention to Jiao Meng privately.
"I, Gan Mao, have actually fallen into the company of soldiers..."
Being in a new environment, Gan Mao was completely despairing.
"Hey, new guy." Soldier Yangwu looked Gan Mao up and down for a while and asked curiously: "Are you an officer who committed something and was demoted? I see that the armor you are wearing is quite bright...
"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Le Bao, a soldier next to him, sneer and explain: "This person is a Qi general who has offended His Royal Highness King Su!" After saying that, he glanced at Gan Mao, his eyes a little unkind, presumably because of the Qi army.
Previously, he looked down upon their merchant navy and held deep hostility towards Gan Mao.
At the end, he added: "My colleagues in the army are all guessing whether this guy can survive until sunset tomorrow."
After hearing this, Gan Mao's expression became more and more miserable, and he found a place to sit down with a tragic look on his face.
Seeing his appearance, Yang Wu rolled his eyes slightly, came to Gan Mao's side with a strange smile, put his arms around his shoulders and said stably: "Don't worry, I'll just protect you... But you're wearing armor.
, can you let me wear it?"
After hearing this, Gan Mao took a deep breath and adjusted his mood. He slapped Yang Wu's hand on his shoulder and said in a deep voice with a bit of tragedy: "After I die in the battle, this armor will
I’ll give it to you.”
"This guy...has a lot of backbone."
Yang Wu and Le Bao looked at each other and had a slight change in their view of Gan Mao.
At this time, bursts of bugles came from the south, accompanied by the roar of drums.
Hearing this sound, Yang Wu put away his playful smile and said seriously: "The Qi army has launched an offensive against Suxian."
"Hmm." Le Bao nodded and said with a solemn expression: "This battle is not easy to fight... If it weren't for merit, I really don't want to attack Suxian County. Why is His Highness and Tian Dan so anxious to get it?"
What about conquering Su County? How about sending troops to surround Su County and ambush the reinforcements sent by Fu Lisai first?"
"Surrounding the area to call for reinforcements...?"
Gan Mao glanced at Le Bao with some surprise. At this time, he heard the soldier Li Hui whisper: "Maybe it's to protect King Qi's army, so we can't delay here... After all, Fulisai is the real target."
.”
Listening to the conversation of several soldiers, Gan Mao hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help but remind them: "The attack on Su County is not only to protect our king's army as soon as possible, but also to make Fu Lisi's guard Xiang Mo.
Realizing our inevitable victory over this fortress
Heart!... If Xiang Mo is smart enough, he will give up Fuli Fortress after losing Suxian and choose to break out south. In this way, we will not need to fight Xiang Mo in Fuli Fortress.
, we can advance the front to the Hui River area in the shortest possible time.”
"..."
Li Hui, Le Bao, and Yang Wu suddenly realized what they were saying and looked at each other in shock.
It has to be said that Gan Mao was a general after all, and his vision and experience were not comparable to those of Li Hui and other junior soldiers.