mtl008 Chapter 217 I Have My Own Countermeasures
Chapter 217 I Have My Own Countermeasures
Outside the tent, several generals were enthusiastically exchanging martial arts. Inside the tent, Zong Yanli took off his helmet and visor and placed them on the table. He spread out the map and frowned slightly, as if he was studying the route in detail.
Gao Feilin had now become accustomed to the general's non-stop work. While helping Zong Yanli put his armor away, he turned around to pour some tea and handed it to him.
"Bring the military register on the cabinet." Zong Yanli ordered without even looking up. He then sat down on a chair, drank the tea, and said crisply, "Grind the ink."
After Zong Yanli came back from outside, she stayed in the military tent. Gao Feilin added water and ground ink. When it was dark and Wen Nian came with the meal, Zong Yanli raised her head from the table. The armor on her body made her feel extremely hot, and she only felt uncomfortable at this moment.
Zong Yanli opened his arms and let Wen Nian come forward to take off his armor. He asked Gao Feilin to go down and have a rest, and later asked all the generals to come to the tent to discuss matters.
"General, do you have a rash on your neck?" Perhaps it was because of the hot and humid weather. Wen Nian helped Zong Yanli take off her armor and caught a glimpse of a red rash on the exposed skin at the back of her neck. He couldn't help but frown.
"Really?" Zong Yanli scratched his back casually. No wonder he felt itchy on his back today. He thought it was because he hadn't taken a bath for many days.
"I'll go get some medicine." Wen Nian frowned and turned to go out.
"Let's talk about it later." Zong Yanli endured it, turned around to wash his hands, sat down to eat, and said with his head down: "I will call all the generals to discuss matters later, and I don't want to keep them waiting for too long."
Wen Nian stopped and looked at Zong Yanli, his eyes full of helplessness.
Zong Yanli ate his meal in a hurry, fetched some water and casually wiped the back of his neck to relieve the itching, then took the map he had just drawn and the various strategic plans he had written down and headed towards the meeting camp.
When the generals arrived one after another, Zong Yanli in the camp spread out the map and was correcting some places. After a while, when everyone was present, Zong Yanli sat down in the main seat and said, "Is everyone here?"
"The Northern Army and the Lu Army retreated to the rear of Lingwen. Without the shelter of the Jin State, they are surrounded by enemies. If we encircle them, we can swallow them." Zong Yanli pointed to the map in front of him, which clearly marked the location of the enemy army and the positions of the military formations on all sides that could be used to encircle them.
"The enemy may have realized that their position is weak and has made some moves." Zong Yanli continued calmly, "If we want to fight, we must first replenish our food supplies."
"The scouts have discovered the enemy's situation, and this general has roughly deduced the enemy's route for transporting food." Zong Yanli paused and continued, "I don't know if this information is a trick to confuse the army, or if it is true."
"As for the Northern Army, I don't think they will bring any more food here. Not only will it take too long, but the route they have to take is through the State of Jin, which simply leaves a loophole for us to exploit." Zong Yanli tapped the table with his fingers, frowning slightly as if he was thinking deeply.
Yu Jinghui beside him said, "General, the Northern Army has won only a few battles since the battle, and I don't know how much food it has consumed. I'm afraid the Northern Kingdom will not send any more food and grass."
Yu Jinghui stood up and said, "But the Lu Army is different. The Lu Army is well prepared. I just don't know if the Lu Army will pay for the Northern Army."
Zong Yanli frowned slightly, then asked Yu Jinghui to talk about the two main generals Yi Tiangan and Baines in detail, and also guessed the relationship between the two parties from the side, and then asked in detail about the military arrangements of the Lu army.
It was a pity that Yu Jinghui was unable to say anything too detailed, as Yi Tiangan and Baines were clearly trying to avoid Yu Jinghui.
Many military discussions were held in private, and Yu Jinghui did not have a deep understanding of the Lu army.
"General, I think the news about grain transportation is more likely to be false." After many comparisons, Zhuang Chengbi also stood up and expressed his own opinion.
"Although the Northern Army and the Lu Army are a temporary alliance, with the withdrawal of Jin, the two sides will inevitably become more determined to form an alliance."
"In their eyes, we are the outsiders." In this way, even if there are minor conflicts between them, they will be temporarily eased in a short period of time and face the outside world together.
Zhuang Chengbi emphasized his point of view from many aspects, and then said: "I think the enemy deliberately leaked this information to deceive our army, but in fact they have other intentions."
Zong Yanli raised his hand slightly to signal Zhuang Chengbi to continue: "In your opinion, why did the enemy make such a plan?"
Zhuang Chengbi bowed, raised his eyes and smiled, and said only one sentence to Zong Yanli: "Those who are good at using troops will not register for military service again, and will not store food for more than three years; they will take what they need from the country and rely on the enemy for food, so the army will have enough food."
Zong Yanli was shocked when he heard this. His thoughts suddenly became clear. He narrowed his eyes with a cold look and said, "The enemy's intention is to attack Jin."
"General, you are wise!" Zhuang Chengbi's eyes lit up. He didn't expect that Zong Yanli would understand his meaning instantly after just one sentence from him, without him having to explain or give any advice. It was really a pleasure to have such a wise general.
"The Jin army joined the alliance, and the enemy felt that they were at a disadvantage and did not dare to attack." Zhan Haoyue beside him also said: "However, the defenses of various cities in Jin are weak."
"If we lead our army to intercept the grain route, and the enemy army attacks the city of Jin, we can easily break into the city and plunder the people to fill the military supplies."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was a sudden booing in the tent, and everyone started whispering to each other.
After a while, Sha Haoqian said, "Although this is true, it is just a guess. If the enemy really came to transport food, and we went to defend the city in advance, wouldn't we have missed a great opportunity?"
"Besides, judging from the map, there are many cities around Lingwen. How can we know which city the enemy will attack?"
"yes……"
There followed another round of whispers, with everyone actively raising questions and then beginning to think about solutions. No one in the military tent was angry because their suggestions were rejected, but instead was looking for words to debate, or if they felt that what the other party said made sense, they would calmly express their approval.
In this way, everyone is united, and there is no trace of discord from top to bottom.
Yu Jinghui had never seen such a scene before. He had been in the army for more than ten years. From following the commander-in-chief in the past to being the commander-in-chief himself now, there were many things that were difficult to balance among the generals of the various camps under his command. On weekdays, there were inevitable frictions due to the number of military merits and the competition for military supplies.
There were always some minor conflicts due to bad tempers or fights among the soldiers under his command.
It would be fine if they were all soldiers who had followed him and fought for many years, but those sitting here with Zong Yanli were not only generals from other places, but even the defenders from Gao Kingdom and the former Qing Kingdom. Yu Jinghui was deeply impressed that they could be so balanced.
"Don't take away my credit. It's my turn to intercept the grain route, right?" Sha Haoqian turned around and started arguing with Lei Jiliang.
"Let's put this matter aside for now." Zong Yanli was a little helpless and stopped Sha Haoqian and said.
Sha Haoqian and Lei Jiliang, who were about to argue just now, stopped talking, turned sideways and bowed slightly to apologize to Zong Yanli, and then went to look at the map together.
After seeing this scene, Yu Jinghui knew that many generals under Zong Yanli respected him. If Zong Yanli did not agree to many military arrangements, no matter how much they argued, it would be useless. Although Lei Jiliang and others wanted to win credit, they would never ignore the overall situation.
"General Yu, do you know anything about the two cities of Yueqi and Xinzhang?" Zong Yanli thought for a long time and called Yu Jinghui to ask about the affairs in the city.
Yu Jinghui quickly came back to his senses and said carefully, "I don't have much contact with them. If the general wants to know something, I will go back and ask someone to find out."
Zong Yanli smiled and said, "That would be great."
He then analyzed the matter again and decided that Jinghui would make a decision after finding out the details.
After everyone left, Zong Yanli raised his hand to rub his slightly sore head, then looked up and saw Wen Nian waiting outside with a medicine bottle in his hand.
Zong Yanli took a breath and motioned for Wen Nian to follow her into the tent. After returning to the tent, she ordered Gao Feilin to guard outside. She sat on the couch, loosened her belt a little, pulled her collar back, bent down to expose the back of her neck, and said, "Apply the medicine for me."
Wen Nian was stunned for a moment and walked forward. He saw a large red rash extending from the back of Zong Yanli's neck to the shoulder blades on his back. He frowned slightly and took a cloth with water to help Zong Yanli wipe it clean. Then he reached out to apply ointment for him.
"What do you think the Northern Army is planning?" Zong Yanli's mind was full of thoughts on the next move, and he was not at all moved by Wen Nian's careful application of the ointment.
"Maybe he did it on purpose." Wen Nian suppressed the throbbing in his heart and gently applied medicine to Zong Yanli. He just had some romantic thoughts in his mind, but was interrupted by Zong Yanli's question, and his thoughts dissipated.
"Do you have the same feeling?" Zong Yanli straightened up slightly, Wen Nian pressed his fingertips on her back, and quickly retracted her body.
Zong Yanli seemed to sense something and turned his head to ask, "Alright?"
Wen Nian responded vaguely, and hurriedly closed the lid of the ointment. Looking at Zong Yanli who had dressed neatly, he said softly, "The weather is hot. If it is inconvenient for the general to take off his armor, please call me."
Zong Yanli nodded, tightened his belt, stood up and said, "There's nothing to do here, you can go back."
Wen Nian put down the ointment sensibly, said that he would come back to apply medicine to the general tomorrow, then bowed and left.
Zong Yanli sat back down at the table and looked at the map for a long time, as if he had not yet come up with a good plan.
The next morning, Yu Jinghui sent people to investigate the two cities of Yueqi and Xinzhang. Considering that Bingzhou behind the Juqu River was also dangerous, Yu Jinghui sent people to two more places. This was related to the ability of their Jin State. Since it was the first time they received a military order, they naturally wanted to complete it beautifully.
I must not let myself be outdone by others, or else I would be considered useless.
Yu Jinghui works so diligently that perhaps he himself does not even realize that he has not felt this excited for many years.
Earlier, he was just able to fool around with Yi Tiangan, but now he has the desire to stand out!
"General! The patrol guards found a lot of sand and stones sunk to the bottom of the Juqu River in the upper reaches! It seems to be the work of the enemy!" During the two days of waiting, Fang Haocang hurried over and leaned over to Zong Yanli.
"Really?" Zong Yanli quickly put down the military affairs in his hands, stood up and said, "Let's go and take a look."
Zong Yanli put on his military armor and followed Fang Haocang out of the camp all the way toward the upper reaches of the Juqu River. Sure enough, he saw the patrol guarding the river bank. Someone was diving into the river and using a rope hook to pull up two or three bags of sand and gravel that had sunk to the bottom of the river.
The sack was filled with a lot of sand and stones, and it was obvious that it was sunk on purpose.
Zong Yanli went forward to check and asked the soldier who had entered the water, "How much sand and rocks are there below?"
"In reply to the general, there are already dozens of bags piled up, and there are also many stones." The soldier wiped his face and said.
"They really want to cut off our army's water source." Zong Yanli murmured secretly. After thinking for a while, he said to Fang Haocang: "Throw these sand and stones back down and clean up the traces of our presence. Don't let the enemy notice it."
"General, do you want to..." Fang Haocang turned his head and looked at Zong Yanli.
Zong Yanli smiled and said, "I have my own solution."
For the next two days, Zong Yanli sent spies to watch in secret, but no longer sent patrol guards to go there, deliberately leaving a flaw to make the enemy think that they were negligent in this regard.
The enemy really took the bait and began to pile up sand and rocks in the upper reaches of the Juqu River day and night.
On the day Yu Jinghui came back, Zong Yanli was preparing to lead his troops to ambush in the upper reaches of the Juqu River. Seeing that the enemy had almost taken the bait, and judging from the trend of the water, it was time for the enemy to make a final effort.
"Monk, take your men to Yueqi to defend the city." After careful analysis, Zong Yanli felt that if the enemy wanted to attack Jin, Yueqi would be the best choice. It was the best attack position both in terms of the height of the city wall and the terrain.
"General Sha will take his men to cut off the food supply route." Zong Yanli continued to make arrangements.
"General Long went around from Bingzhou to the rear of the enemy army."
"Bai Xiuyun, you lead the Ghost Camp to ambush outside Yueqi City and be ready to provide support at any time."
Zong Yanli mobilized all his troops, every soldier was mobilized. It seemed that the troops were dispersed, but at the same time, a hub was placed in the middle for movement. Whether it was for food supply or for defending the city, support could come from both sides.
This perfectly forms a huge triangle that covers all enemy activities.
No matter which direction the enemy attacks, they will not succeed.
This time, Zong Yanli did not lead his troops in person, but chose to stay in the camp.
"Has the general changed his character?" Everyone was greatly surprised after hearing Zong Yanli's arrangements. In the past, Zong Yanli always led the troops in battles, but now he chose to stay in the camp.
"Something's wrong..." Pei Liang, Gongsun Pu and others felt that they might have missed something.
"Each of you lead your troops down." Zong Yanli had already given the order, and everyone followed the order and went down to prepare without saying anything else.
In the military tent, Zong Yanli had some rare leisure time to take out his Langque long sword and was wiping it carefully.
He looked up and saw Gongsun Pu coming. He paused while wiping the blade and said with a smile, "Why are you here, sir?"
Gongsun Pu's eyes fell on the long sword in Zong Yanli's hand. He bowed slightly to greet him before sitting down and saying, "Pu heard that the enemy blocked the Juqu River and wanted to cut off our army's water supply?"
Zong Yanli raised his eyebrows and nodded: "It is true."