My vicious dog, my horse, I can do whatever I want with it

Chapter 256 Things are changing

At the beginning, Min Wenshan relied on Xue Liqing's help to suppress the Qiu family. Qiu Wu had long hated Min Wenshan, but because Xue Liqing never dared to make any big moves, he was suppressed by the Min family and his military power was repeatedly reduced.

When Qiu Wu heard the news that Xue Liqing had died in battle, his first reaction was not joy, but rather extreme fear.

He couldn't imagine who had such ability to kill Xue Liqing on his horse?

After all, they are all Qi people. Even if Qiu Wu has some grudges in his heart, he will not do anything to harm his country when facing a powerful enemy. He just thinks that Min Wenshan has been in a high position for too long and takes himself too seriously.

Min Wenshan, the main general, has an unshirkable responsibility for Xue Liqing's defeat this time.

Therefore, Qiu Wu brought his troops here without hesitation. He came to supervise the battle and was also waiting. If Min Wenshan really made mistakes everywhere, he would take over the battle situation.

The position of general shall be held by the capable one!

Winter comes quietly. You only feel a gust of wind blowing one day, making people shrink their necks. When you feel the chill from the north wind, you know that winter is coming.

The creaking sound of horses and carriages could be heard very clearly below the mountain road. A pair of eyes appeared in the bushes, staring at the horses and carriages below and shouting as they moved forward. The full load of food and fodder could be clearly seen behind the carriages, and the heavily armored guards followed closely in front and behind the food carts.

"General, it's Qi's grain truck." The scout who had been investigating nearby came hurriedly to report, his face showing some excitement and excitement.

"Mr. Mingxi is right." Zong Yanli was sitting on a stone in the dead woods. When he heard the report from the scout, he immediately showed joy on his face. He raised his eyes and whispered to the people below: "Pass the order down, everything is ready, act according to the plan!"

Since preparations had been made in advance and ambushes had been set, the strategy of intercepting the food supply was foolproof.

As the grain carts of Qi State entered the ambush site, they saw huge rocks and wood suddenly falling from the road ahead, blocking the road. The moment the deafening shouts of killing rang out from the rear, Daqian soldiers and horses poured out from all directions.

The guards who were escorting the grain were horrified and raised their swords to fight the enemy, but they were unable to resist at all. It was as if they were trapped and had to shut themselves in and fight the enemy.

At the same time, the same scene was happening on several other official roads. Even the waterways were ambushed. It could almost be said that several food routes of Qi State were completely cut off.

When all the Qi troops in the encircled area were wiped out, Shi Gandang rushed to the grain cart immediately, pulled out the dagger from his waist and poked a hole in the grain bag. He raised his hand to catch the white grain and smiled happily, "It's grain, all grain!"

"Hahaha! That's great!" Everyone cheered when they saw this. Shi Gandang grinned and felt completely relieved. You know, when he led the army here this time, his master had specifically instructed him to check the grain carts carefully. Apparently he was very angry because he had made a wasted trip to intercept the grain last time.

"Let's go! Back to camp!"

Generals from all over the country drove their grain carts and changed direction, returning from this battle with a full load.

When Zong Yanli brought his men back to the army, Lu Peibai, Pei Liang and others were already waiting outside the camp. Looking at the endless stream of food being pulled in cart after cart, everyone had a happy look on their face. Zong Yanli dismounted and took off the armor mask on his head.

"General." Pei Liang, Lu Peibai and others went to greet him.

"Mr.'s guess is correct. There are soldiers and horses escorting the grain carts on these grain roads." Zong Yanli smiled and looked at Lu Peibai and said, "Min Wenshan thought that if the grain carts were transported in batches, even if a grain cart on one road was lost, the loss would not be too great."

In theory, this method is a good one, as it is also the same reason why all eggs should not be put in one basket.

But Min Wenshan never expected that there was Lu Peibai by Zong Yanli's side. She knew Min Wenshan's habits very well and had such a smart observation ability. She made guesses based on the current situation of Qi State and was familiar with the passes and towns around Qi State.

It was easy for Lu Peibai to guess the grain route that Min Wenshan would definitely take. She did not expect that Zong Yanli would trust her so much and actually listened to her words. He arranged troops on these roads and did not worry at all about dividing the troops and causing them to run away.

What if Min Wenshan only took one grain route?

Because of the dispersion of troops, it is very likely that the interception of grain would fail, and instead attract the attention of the Qi army and alert the enemy.

Lu Peibai herself was also worried about this, so after Zong Yanli led his troops to leave the camp one after another, she listened to the noise outside the camp very nervously. When she heard the news that Zong Yanli had returned to the camp, she immediately ran over.

fortunately……

"Congratulations, General." Lu Peibai smiled and bowed his head slightly to Zong Yanli, saying, "The Qi army is out of food and will have a hard winter. I'm afraid they will risk sending troops here."

"General, you should make preparations early." Lu Peibai reminded in a low voice.

"Yes." Zong Yanli nodded solemnly, with a look of surprise on his face, and said, "The snow in the north is very heavy, isn't it common to have a truce?"

"That's true." Lu Peibai nodded and explained with a smile, "But this is not an inherent idea. General, just listen to it. Don't slack off, lest you be attacked by the enemy. The countries in the Northern Territory also have good combat capabilities in the severe cold."

"However, fighting in this way would cause too much loss to both sides' troops and military resources, and the gains would not outweigh the losses, so this method of 'truce' came into being."

"But there is a saying that goes, a cornered dog will jump over the wall." Lu Peibai raised his eyes slightly and looked at Zong Yanli and said with a smile: "The Qi army was defeated before, and Qi will definitely increase its troops and horses. Perhaps there will be new generals coming. Now the general has intercepted the Qi army's reserve military rations."

"How can they not be anxious?" Lu Peibai said as he leaned over to Zong Yanli and said, "Such a matter must not be taken lightly."

After hearing what Lu Peibai said, Zong Yanli nodded carefully and said, "Thank you for your advice, sir."

With a great victory just before and so much food and fodder intercepted today, the soldiers were excited. Some of them might have become arrogant, thinking that they had nothing to fear now that they had so much food and fodder. A moment of recklessness in the battle situation would surely bring disaster.

Zong Yanli slowly calmed down, turned around and asked Long Feiguang to ask someone to count the intercepted food and grass, and then come back to the tent to discuss matters.

Qiu Wu had just arrived in Taoyang City, and before he could even sit down, he heard panicked shouts coming from outside the tent: "Report --!!!"

"General! The grain carts were attacked, and all five grain routes were cut off. Our army's grain and grass were all robbed by the enemy!" The officer who came to report the news had a pale face, and when he opened his mouth to utter such bad news, Qiu Wu almost couldn't catch his breath.

"What!?" Min Wenshan didn't even have time to confront Qiu Wu. He suddenly heard the news and stood up in shock. His face was full of astonishment and he asked, "How is it possible? I have divided the food supply into five routes. How could the enemy know all of them!?"

"It's absolutely true!" The kneeling soldiers below said repeatedly, "By the time the scouts found the enemy's whereabouts, it was already too late..."

Min Wenshan took a deep breath and felt his head going dizzy.

Qiu Wu, who was sitting next to him, widened his eyes and asked, "Could it be that there is a spy under General Min's command!?"

Min Wenshan exclaimed that it was impossible. The people who stayed by his side now were all his trusted confidants. Since the defeat in Jifeng City, how could the enemy army have any spies accompanying them?

Qiu Wu stared at Min Wenshan with a dark face and said, "If it weren't for the spy tipping off, I really can't imagine who could have immediately known the five grain routes that General Min had divided into."

"I also want to know why..." Min Wenshan frowned and smiled bitterly, but he couldn't figure out the reason. In order to ensure the smooth transportation of food and grass, he was also worried that the enemy would loot the food and grass, so he divided the roads into five routes.

"Haha..." Qiu Wu sneered twice and said, "In the end, it's General Min's marching strategy that's wrong. If the food and grass hadn't been divided up, and our army had concentrated its forces to escort the food and grass, the enemy might not have been able to get it so easily!"

"Now that we have lost our food supplies, how can our army fight?" Qiu Wu's words were full of resentment, and he was deeply suspicious of Min Wenshan.

"Winter is coming. Without food and fodder, our soldiers won't survive this winter." Qiu Wu continued, "The government is in turmoil right now, and the treasury is even emptier with the new king. How can we get you military rations?"

"If we raise taxes now, it will only increase the suffering of the people. Winter will be hard to endure, and the people will have less money and food at home..."

"If the people's hearts are not strong enough, how can we defend the country?"

Qiu Wu's words seemed to describe Min Wenshan as a good-for-nothing reckless man, and in disguise he was persuading Min Wenshan to resign from the position of commander-in-chief as soon as possible!

Min Wenshan's face flushed with anger because of Qiu Wu's words. He clenched his fists and said, "General Qiu, what you said is powerful. You have never fought against Zong Yanli of Daqian in person, so you don't know how powerful this man is."

Min Wenshan naturally would not put the blame on himself, and he spoke with a sullen face about how difficult Zong Yanli was. He looked even more distressed when he mentioned that his adopted son was killed and his beloved daughter was captured.

"No matter how powerful he is, he is just one person." Qiu Wu obviously didn't believe that a mere Zong Yanli could cause such a huge loss to the Qi army. In the final analysis, it was because Min Wenshan was not as skilled as others.

"I heard that there was internal strife among General Min's subordinates, which led to the fall of Jifeng City." Qiu Wu was simply poking at Min Wenshan's sore spot, and said with a sneer, "Even General Min's confidante has turned to follow Zong Yanli?"

"..."

Min Wenshan clenched his fists. He really wanted to tear Qiu Wu’s mouth apart!

Qiu Wu couldn't hide his joy when he saw Min Wenshan's depressed face. He thought about how much he had suffered at the hands of Min Wenshan in the past. Now the situation has changed and one day he will be able to make Min Wenshan speechless.

What a pleasure!

"Don't talk nonsense. General Qiu has come here from afar. I believe he is very confident that he can take down Zong Yanli?" Min Wenshan said to Qiu Wu with a smile.

"Hmph." Qiu Wu snorted lightly, knowing that business was more important, he stopped talking and began to ask in detail about Zong Yanli and the Daqian army.

The candlelight flickered. After seeing off Long Feiguang and the others, Zong Yanli leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, looking a little tired. Wen Nian came in from outside the camp holding a robe. It was a carefully selected fox fur coat. The ink-colored coat was shiny and very beautiful.

Wen Nian nodded to Gao Feilin and walked into the tent. Looking up, he saw Zong Yanli leaning sleepily on the chair, and his pace slowed down a little.

"What's the matter?" Even so, Zong Yanli, who was dozing with his eyes closed, was still awakened.

"General, why don't you go to the tent to rest?" Wen Nian walked forward, looked at the stove in the tent that was almost extinguished, walked forward, put the fur coat on the table and said, "I picked this fur coat from the warehouse and wanted to send it to the general to try."

Wen Nian added more charcoal as he spoke, then turned to Zong Yanli and said, "General, can you try it to see if it fits you? If there's anything you don't like, send it back for alterations."

Zong Yanli raised his eyebrows and stood up. Winter was about to come and the weather would only get colder day by day. It was indeed necessary to prepare these warm winter clothes early.

She didn't seem to be shy at all. She reached out and picked up the fur coat on the table, shook it open and put it on. She turned around and took a look and said, "The neckline is a bit big, but the length is just right. It's also very warm. Just make some minor changes."

"Okay." Wen Nian looked at Zong Yanli, stretched out his hand to help her tidy up the hair at her collar, stared at Zong Yanli for a moment, his eyes unconsciously fell on the scar on her face, frowned and said: "General, don't you want to think of a way to remove that scar?"

"Maybe Doctor Xiao will have a solution." Wen Nian said in a young voice.

"It's ugly?" Zong Yanli paused and reached out to touch his face. His rough fingertips could clearly feel the tiny bumps. This scar on his face...

"No." Wen Nian shook his head, stared at Zong Yanli for a while and said, "General, you have such a handsome face, it's a pity to leave such scars."

Zong Yanli laughed when he heard that, took off his fur coat and handed it to Wen Nian, saying with a smile: "It's not a big deal. I don't have the time to care about the beauty of this face. I wear a mask when I'm out anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Wen Nian fell silent after hearing this. Zong Yanli turned around and sat back in his chair and said, "It's getting late today. You should go back and get some rest."

Wen Nian agreed, and looking at the many military matters on the table, he could not help but remind him: "General, you also need to take care of your health. The weather is getting colder, so don't overwork yourself or you will catch a cold."

"I know." Zong Yanli responded without even raising his eyes. It was unclear whether he really knew or was just pretending to know...

Wen Nian sighed silently, turned around and walked out of the tent, and met Xiao Tianhe head-on. He saw that he was holding a food box in his hand.

Seeing Wen Nian nod slightly, Xiao Tianhe said, "Deputy General Wen, has the general rested?"

Wen Nian shook his head: "Not yet."

"Doctor Xiao, this is..." Wen Nian's eyes fell on the food box in Xiao Tianhe's hand.

"It's a decoction to prevent colds." Xiao Tianhe smiled and said, "I've sent them to the tents of several generals. The only one left is the general..."

Xiao Tianhe had a helpless look on his face, as if he had already expected that each of these generals would be a cause for concern.