.

Entering May, the plum rain began to show its power unscrupulously. Humidity, mud, itching, sourness, uneven heat and cold, exhaustion and disease more or less invaded all military camps and marching columns.

By this time, all the famous teachers and generals were defeated.

Among the battalions at the front of the army, those who liked jumping around the most were no longer able to show off their talents. Shan Tonghai, Wu Jingfeng, Liu Heifu, Xiahou Ningyuan, and Wu Chang all withered away in several battalions. Fan Wang, Cao Chen and other Hebei cavalry battalions also None of them dared to run around anymore. On the contrary, Li Zida and Zuo Cai were in charge of several camps. Because there were many locals from top to bottom, they were familiar with the climate and were good at coping with it, so they remained active.

This situation greatly stimulated Li Ding and Li Longtou. Before Zhang Xing went south again and reached the front line, he entered the lower reaches of the Huan River several times, sometimes accompanied by Xu Shiying, sometimes accompanied by Xiong Bonan, in order to observe the frontline troops at close range. The situation with the Forbidden Army, and the results he got made him even more itchy... The reason is self-evident. Compared with the army that occupied half of the home field advantage, the Forbidden Army that set off in a hurry was worse at coping with Meiyu and encountered greater difficulties. , the weakening of the troops is also more obvious.

Not to mention, as the rain gradually accumulates, the tributaries of the Huaihe River in Huaibei are rising. This makes the imperial army moving from east to west naturally disconnected, and the army traveling from the north to the south is more likely to seize the opportunity.

In a word, even though they had expected it, the gang still underestimated Tianwei and overestimated the logistical support capabilities of the Forbidden Army.

Times have changed, the Wei Dynasty is gone, all the warehouses are left with is broken old grain, and the things that test everyone have also changed.

On the evening of May 4th, when he heard that Zhang Xing was returning to Mangdang Mountain day and night, Li Ding immediately returned from the front line, explained the situation to Zhang Xing face to face, and put forward formal military suggestions:

"The current situation is that, first of all, the main force of our twenty-five battalions has all arrived nearby. They have just left Mangdang Mountain and are heading towards the vicinity of Youji Mountain in Huanshui River.

"Secondly, the Forbidden Army's march was loose and delayed due to the rainy season. Its main force forward has left Huankou Town for three days, and there are still troops at the rear who have not yet left Huankou. Their advance guard Tu Wan Chang Lun has reached Fei further west. Shuikou, while the defender Yujieluo encountered logistical difficulties and was still trudging southwest of Xuzhou.

"Again, in order to avoid the rain and obtain supplies, the main force of the Forbidden Army was obviously planning to go along the Huan River to Qiaojun and then turn around. This was equivalent to turning in front of us and exposing their waists to us.

"In this case, by the time the main force of the Forbidden Army arrives at the southernmost tip of Qiao County and is about to leave Huanshui and turn around, our troops should already be in place in the Jishan area. At that time, we will immediately send troops south to intercept the Forbidden Army at Huanshui, and then cooperate with the fifteen battalions on the front line. , sandwiched between two sides, you can swallow up part of the east bank of Huanshui River, the main force of the Forbidden Army, in one fell swoop, and then in turn, calmly force everyone to surrender...

"The advantage of this plan is that it can strike quickly and catch you off guard. As long as the battle is resolved quickly, the rest of the Forbidden Army and Dong will not have time to react, and they may not dare to react in the future."

Zhang Xing's eyes fell on the intermittent dripping of rainwater under the opponent's body, and he listened to the opponent's words without saying a word... In fact, he had already realized before he finished listening that this plan was worse than the conceptual plan he received in Hebei.

It was more clear, and Li Ding's attitude also showed that the other party made the plan after careful consideration. At least Li Si himself believed that this plan was sufficiently feasible.

Of course, if Li Ding believes that this military plan is sufficiently feasible, then Zhang Xing will naturally recognize its feasibility.

At this time, it was already the night of the second watch. The rain was pouring outside, and you could even hear the sound of water flowing down the cliff. The lights on the Juyi Hall in Mangdang Mountain, which was still a bit chaotic, were brightly lit. At this time, only Zhang Xing and Fan Liuchu

, Qin Bao and other few people came to listen to Li Ding's words. The rest of the patrolmen, clerks, soldiers and other accompanying or left-behind personnel were busy. As for Zhang Shizhao, because he was old and tired, he went to the Immortal Cave below to rest as soon as he arrived.

Yes, I didn't call him at all.

Under the gaze of several people, Zhang Xing only took a few breaths to give an answer: "Send the patrol messenger out, and all the leaders who can come back before tomorrow night will come back here. Let's raise the flag together."

It is up to you to decide whether to start a war."

As soon as he said this, the Juyi Hall burst into chaos. Li Ding stared at his friend, and for a moment he didn't know how he should feel.

Are you grateful for the other person’s quick response and quick decision?

Or do you despise the opponent's hesitation to start a war and push the initiative to all frontline leaders?

And soon, a man as smart as Li Ding came to his senses - Zhang Xing still resisted the war personally (I don't know whether it was due to political or other considerations), but he recognized the war plan militarily, that's why he acted like this.

With this thought, Li Ding decided to make his last effort to change the other party's attitude: "Zhang San, don't worry about battle losses. Looking at it now, the situation is better than expected. And according to this plan, even if there are battle losses, we can still

After the war, through capture and expansion, we quickly made up for our losses and even gained more."

"I believe you." Zhang Xing nodded, his eyes a little bloodshot. "But I'm not only afraid of heavy losses, I'm also afraid of this."

"What does this mean?" Li Ding was confused for a moment. "Which one is this?"

"I'm just afraid that too many of my own people will die, and I'm also afraid that many Forbidden troops will be replaced after their deaths." Zhang Xing responded calmly. "Li Si, tell yourself, even if these Forbidden troops surrender, are they really reliable? Wugenzhi

Recruiting troops, settling in Dongdu, and spending the best four years of his life in Jiangdu... There are fifty or sixty battalions in the gang, about one hundred thousand people. If twenty or thirty thousand people die and another twenty or thirty thousand forbidden troops are brought in,

does it worth?"

Li Ding became more and more puzzled: "As for the army, what is missing must be made up for. Then military discipline must be strictly enforced, and training must be done properly. As long as it can be used... I am worried that their military morale will be unstable, so I will break it up first to make up for it, and then slowly start over in a few years."

Just replace them with new recruits and send them out, so why worry about gain and loss to this extent?"

"Li Si, the army of our gang is not only used for fighting." Zhang Xing was silent for a moment and gave his final answer. "To be specific, before this, because of the war, the gang was the army and the army was the gang.

; But now, the gang has established a foundation and has built a Dahangtai. It is time to spread the gang out from the army and reshape it into a large gang; not to mention, once the Forbidden Army leaves, Hebei will also have the opportunity to fight or not.

It will probably expand in the future. When the time comes, will we have to follow the example of the past and directly appoint subordinates? Where do these local officials and Xingtai officials come from? Naturally, they come from the army. Therefore, at this juncture, the army has suffered large-scale damage and has an impact

It’s not just the temporary combat power, but the development of the entire gang.”

This time it was Li Ding's turn to be silent.

After a long while, he sighed: "You always have your own reasons, but I still feel that it would be a pity not to fight this battle, and as long as you win, the situation will open up, and it will be easier to do whatever you want... let alone

, if there is a real fight, there may not be that many casualties."

Zhang Xing nodded and said nothing.

Li Ding didn't say anything either.

There is no way, the matter is just like this, military activities are risky, no one can guarantee it. And now, it is useless for the two of them to care about each other. They have not changed each other's minds for so many years, and it is impossible for them to be together like this.

Prompt the other party to change day and night.

Therefore, the two of them had no choice but to wait together in this humid Juyi Hall for someone to come.

During the rainy season, the boring waiting process was undoubtedly torturous, but in fact, the big bosses who braved the rain to return home after receiving the news were the real sufferers.

Zhang Xing did not deliberately conceal the reason for summoning the leaders. Li Ding's previous repeated investigations and statements as well as the situation at hand were naturally known to everyone on the front line.

Therefore, on the fifth day of May, at the intersection outside Mangdang Mountain, Liu Heifu, who was speeding in the rain, saw Dan Tonghai waiting here, and he complained directly: "Shan Longtou! There are marching everywhere, and it's raining like this. Damn it."

Everything is ruined. Why is Li Longtou so crazy that he has to force the chief to gather people together in such a hurry? With my level of cultivation and equestrian skills, a horse fell on the road!"

"Don't complain." Shan Tonghai frowned on the spot. When the other party dismounted and came over, he felt that his tone was wrong, so he explained in the rain. "In any case, the war hasn't started yet. It's a good thing that the chief and Li Longtou are willing to hold a meeting to discuss!"

Liu Heifu just nodded casually.

Shan Dalang saw this, but he was puzzled: "Heilong (the nickname Liu Heifu just called recently, the origin is unknown), haven't you always wanted to fight? Logically speaking, you should be happy, right? Why are you so dissatisfied?"

"I want to fight, but I can't trust Li Ding." Liu Heifu had arrived at Mangdang Mountain without any scruples, so he opened his mouth to come. "Who is this Li Ding? He's just surrendered, but he hasn't shown his ability. Why should he fight just because he said it?"

Fight? Why should he fight as he says? I don’t accept it!"

Shan Dalang suddenly understood, but was a little speechless: "If this is the case, what do you think?"

"Of course I want Shan Longtou to be the first line, Xu Dalang to be the second line, and I will be the vanguard!" Liu Heifu's voice became louder and louder as he entered the mountain under the special terrain of Mangdang Mountain. "Chief Zhang will be the head coach himself, and in Mangdang Mountain

Or if Jishan is in charge, he can command Ruoding!"

"Chief Zhang may not be good at commanding so many soldiers and horses." Shan Tonghai frowned again and corrected. "Usually, there is a division commander Ma leading the soldiers to plan for him. Now that division commander Ma is gone, we can only rely on Li Longtou... Before, our army

Li Longtou helped plan the formation, he is really capable, and several leaders on the podium are also convinced by Li Longtou."

When Liu Heifu heard this, he finally felt a little uneasy. He quickly stopped talking about Li Ding and lowered his tone: "No matter what happens, we should fight. This should be the same."

Shan Tonghai didn't say a word, but just led the horse into the Immortal Cave.

Xianren Cave is a natural cave inside Mangdang Mountain. It was originally not conspicuous in Mangdang Mountain. However, when more than 20 battalions gathered here during the rainy season, it became the best place to store supplies. Later, people who suffered from Yumo disease

After a while, it became a place where the sick and wounded were repaired and a small stove was set up. Now that the army had set off, this place naturally became the last natural barracks.

On the contrary, Juyi Hall is on the top of the cliff, which is damp and inconvenient, but the air is better.

It was noon at this time, and many leaders had already arrived. Liu Heifu claimed that he was very tired from the journey, but after entering the Immortal Cave, he immediately started running around to join forces, intent on instigating a war.

Let's say that there are at least forty leaders among the forty battalions around, and twenty-five of them are near Mangdang Mountain, and they all arrived in the morning... This is also the condition for Zhang Xing to hold a frontline meeting, and with Liu

The big leader's vitality would naturally make him like a fish in water among these people in theory, but in fact, after the black dragon dived in, he found that the leaders came from all kinds of sources, and even he had some difficulty.

Originally, those from Jiyin Xingtai or Jiangling Xingtai were okay, as they had fought side by side with Hebei, and they got involved after just a few words; but there were also some Jibei Xingtai leaders brought by Chai Xiaohe who were really difficult to acquire, because

Most of them were descendants from the lower reaches of the Jishui River. They have been idle in the reserve team in recent years. However, they are older than Liu Heifu. Moreover, they had not shown up in Hebei before, but now they are active and united near their hometown in Henan.

Quite a few; as for the leaders of the five battalions brought by Li Ding, he was even more confused. Only considering that Li Ding's subordinates were actually allies who supported the war, he didn't need to pay more attention to them.

In fact, after focusing his energy mainly on the dozen or so leaders of Jiyinxingtai and obtaining certain commitments, Liu Heifu did the math with his fingers and was surprised to find that these main combatants who had expressed their stance had increased

In fact, Li Ding's new and old subordinates already accounted for the majority... It seemed that as long as the frontline resolution was brought up, the war would have been approved... I couldn't help but make up my mind.

In the afternoon, better news came. In order not to waste time, when thirty-seven frontline leaders, big and small, had already arrived, Chief Zhang and King Xiongtian plus two frontline leaders had a short discussion and decided not to wait any longer.

, a resolution was held immediately.

After hearing the news, everyone immediately got up and walked towards the Juyi Hall. When they got there, they looked around and knew who they were.

First of all, there are several people from Chief Zhang's side, including King Xiongtian, Zhang Shizhao from the Mengji Department, and Chief Zhang. Qin Bao is also here, but he has no authority and responsibility to raise his hands. Similarly, there are Yu Changnan and

Bai Youbin, but Zhuge Dewei, who was the prefect of Qiao County, did not come.

The people leading the troops below are roughly divided into four groups:

Led by Xu Shiying, including Niu Da, Jia Yue, Zhai Qian, Mang Jingang, Xu Kaidao, Zhang Shanxiang, Fang Yanshi, Pang Jingang, Zhang Gongshen, Feng Duan, Wang Xiongdan, Jia Runshi, a total of thirteen battalions, mostly from Hebei

come over;

Led by Chai Xiaohe, including Xu Shiren, Fan Bao, Jia Wugen, Zuo Caixiang, Guan Xu, Zhang Daoxian... This platform in the lower reaches of Jishui River has always been the weakest, but this time seven battalions came due to geographical reasons, but it was an overwhelming victory.

Out;

Li Ding was the leader, and his subordinates designated the big leader Su Mu, and the three leaders Wang Chenxing, Fan Lihua, Su Jingfang, and Wang Chenxing each led a battalion, and brought five battalions out... His wife Zhang Shiniang temporarily led the camp on Li Ding's behalf.

, who also has the identity of a leader, also came over.

Shan Tonghai is the leader, but it does not refer to the Jiyin Xingtai he led, but the leaders of the frontline battalion under his temporary command who arrived at this time, including Wang Shuyong, Wu Jingfeng, Liu Heifu, Fan Wang, Zuo Caixiang, and Xiahou Ningyuan

, Guo Jingke, Shang Huaien, Han Erlang, Cao Chen, Wu Changzai...the other battalions had not arrived at this time because they were far away.
To be continued...