Chapter 4280 Complacency
When Su Jia, dressed as an ordinary soldier, walked into the camp, he saw Liang Jianfang holding a wine jar and drinking sips, looking a little dazed. The whole camp was filled with a strong smell of alcohol...
Su Jia couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. Although Liang Jianfang had suffered heavy losses before, with his understanding of Cheng Yaojin, he would definitely compensate Liang Jianfang later. For Liang Jianfang, the damage has been done and the compensation has been paid, so why bother to drink to drown his sorrows?
I still use distilled spirits to clean wounds, because I am afraid that I will die from drunkenness...
"I have met General Liang."
Finding that his entry into the camp did not arouse Liang Jianfang's idea, and it was unclear whether Liang Jianfang was drunk or deliberately exposing himself, Su Jia had no choice but to speak first.
"Well, General Su, please sit down quickly... burp..."
Liang Jianfang burped, put down the wine jar, invited Su Jia to sit down, and shouted outside: "Make a pot of tea!"
Su Jia sat down and looked at Liang Jianfang. He was a little confused about the other party's thoughts and asked tentatively: "Why is the general drinking so much?"
Liang Jianfang touched his mouth. It was definitely not related to binge drinking. He only drank half of a jar of wine. However, the alcohol content was too high, which made his face flush at the moment. Although he couldn't see the mirror, he knew that he must be drinking. The look of melancholy...
He followed suit and said: "In this battle, dozens of my old brothers died, and the rest are also elites in the army. It would be fine if they died in the war against foreigners on the border. They would be wrapped in horse leather and regard death as home. But now It is not worth dying in the hands of one’s own people.”
The soldiers brought tea, but Liang Jianfang waved it away and personally held the pot for Su Jia to drink tea. He asked: "I heard that your army also suffered heavy losses. Why are you not in the army to assist Duke E in handling military affairs and reorganizing the army? How can you risk the disapproval of the world?" Come to my army? If the news gets out, it will not be a good thing for you or me."
The meaning is obvious, speak up quickly and fart quickly. I see you are very annoyed and have nothing to talk about.
Su Jia smiled and said calmly: "I came here on the order of the commander-in-chief. I have a few words to tell the general."
*****
King Li Zhi of Jin, his silver armor gleaming in the sun, looked like the God of War coming to the world. At this moment, he was riding on the back of a snow-white horse without a trace of hair and passing by Xinfeng City. He turned to look at the front line composed of more than 100,000 troops beside him. The endless and overwhelming military formation, with no beginning in sight and no end in sight, was approaching Chang'an City, and naturally a huge amount of pride surged in their chests.
No wonder that for hundreds of millions of people throughout the ages to fight for the supreme position, fathers and sons can turn against each other, brothers can kill each other, and all morals, benevolence, righteousness, and etiquette can be thrown aside. This kind of feeling is that no matter what the order is, even if you go through fire and water, you must obey it. Indeed It makes people intoxicated and unable to extricate themselves.
It is not until today that Li Zhi truly understands the meaning of Xiang Yu's sentence "He can take his place" in "Historical Records"...
Pointing at the edge of the sword, an army of 100,000 men marched forward in an indomitable way. What kind of domineering spirit is this?
Especially when Yuchi sent someone to deliver the battle report yesterday, saying that the right guard had crossed the Ba River to break through the court's first line of defense and was about to reorganize the army to attack Chang'an City, this made Li Zhi excited and overjoyed.
He firmly believed that as long as he could reach Chang'an City, countless people who were suppressed by Li Chengqian and dared not say a word but were always loyal to his father would come forward and openly support him, the most respected prince of his father.
By that time, there is no need to storm Chang'an City. The central power created by Li Chengqian and other parties will collapse, and the supreme power will be at your fingertips.
Passing by the battlefield where Yu Chigong defeated Qu Tuquan and Chai Zhewei, although it had been cleaned up, the remains of weapons and weapons everywhere still showed the fierceness of the battle at that time.
Li Zhi sat on the horse, pointing the whip in his hand at a badly damaged and abandoned chariot on the roadside, and said proudly: "Previously during the Guanlong Mutiny, the Sixth Army of the East Palace fought bloody battles bravely and fearlessly. They were once praised by the late emperor as ' The most powerful army at that time, but now it has abandoned its armor and suffered a huge defeat when the king's troops came. It can be seen that the fate of destiny cannot be prepared by human power. "
Around him, banners covered the sky like a forest, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers stretched endlessly.
At this moment, the sunlight shining on Li Zhi's armor seemed to be emitting thousands of golden lights, and his handsome face was filled with arrogance, as if he were the king of the world and full of ambition.
In the carriage beside him, Xiao Yu endured his exhaustion, showed a smile, and nodded: "As the saying goes, people make plans, and things come true, God has decided that His Highness will ascend to the throne. It is indeed beyond the power of human beings to resist. This time, His Highness's soldiers are pointing at you." , the false emperor is bound to be at the end of his strength, and his hawks and claws are even more invincible.”
Li Zhi tried hard to suppress the urge to look up to the sky and laugh, not wanting to give people the impression of frivolity, but the twitching corners of his mouth still revealed the ecstasy in his heart...
A fast horse came retrograde from west to east. Because of the royal flag with the word "Jin" on its back, no soldiers or guards dared to stop it. It quickly galloped in front of Li Zhi. The cavalry stopped the horse and turned over. After dismounting, he knelt down on one knee by the roadside, raised a battle report above his head with both hands, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, please read the battle report of the Duke of E!"
Xiao Yu knocked on the wall of the carriage, and the coachman stopped the carriage, got out, lifted the curtain, and helped Xiao Yu get out of the carriage.
Behind him, Cui Xin and Chu Suiliang's carriages also stopped, but they did not get out of the car. They just raised the curtain and watched Li Zhi take the battle report on horseback.
Then, the handsome and elegant face of His Royal Highness Prince Jin seemed to be distorted in an instant, and a surge of anger seemed to burst out. Fortunately, he was a man of great political talent, and his face returned to its original expression in an instant.
Everyone's hearts sank.
Everyone knew that Yuchi Gong had forcibly crossed the Ba River two days ago, and last night he gathered a large army to attack the Ba River defense line, intending to push the troops directly to the Chang'an City, dig a direct passage to Chang'an for the Jin Dynasty's army, and clear some obstacles.
When the battle report was delivered to the army, everyone cheered and smiled, as if the victory of the mutiny was right in front of them.
Calculating the time, if everything goes well, Yuchi Gong should have broken through the defense line set by the imperial court and arrived at Chang'an City. The battle report sent at this time is naturally extremely important. Success or failure, gains and losses, are related to everyone's interests, future, and even lives.
But Li Zhi's uncontrollable expression at that moment cast a layer of gloom in everyone's hearts.
Something bad seems to have happened...
Xiao Yu looked up at Li Zhi and asked softly: "Your Highness, what do you say in the battle report?"
Li Zhi took a deep breath and handed the battle report to Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu took two steps forward and came to Li Zhima. He stretched out his hands to take the battle report. After unfolding it, he glanced at ten lines. His snow-white eyebrows were tightly knitted together, and he sighed secretly in his heart.
Sure enough, the situation will not be as easy as imagined...
Li Zhi turned over and jumped off the horse, swung the riding crop in his hand subconsciously, and squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "Yu Chi, you have mistaken me!"
Xiao Yu was silent.
Everyone knows the consequences of Yuchi Gong's frustrated attack and loss of troops. This means that the King of Jin's idea of quickly rushing to Chang'an City to stir up Guan Zhongyun was almost completely shattered. If you want to achieve the previous strategic vision, you will probably have to fight head-on with the imperial army.
However, compared to the tens of thousands of elites led by Donggong Liu and the rest of the Sixteenth Guards army that supported the emperor, the army formed by the Shandong private army on King Jin's side was a ragtag group. There might be one or two opportunities for opportunism, but there was no point in it. If you fight to the death, you will definitely lose more and win less, and your prospects will be worrying.
Yuchi Gong's Youhou Wei, who was given the most hope, proved to be of great use...
At this time, he couldn't find two words to comfort Li Zhi, so he could only remain silent for a moment and asked: "What should we do now?"
Li Zhi suddenly fell from being complacent and complacent to being worried and confused about his future. The gap made him so uncomfortable that he wanted to yell to vent his anger, but he could only hold back.
If the news of Yuchi Gong's defeat spreads among the army, it will inevitably affect the morale of the army, leading to a significant reduction in combat effectiveness, and the chance of winning will become even less...
Li Zhi looked gloomy and pondered without saying a word.
From Xiao Yu's words, it shows that one of his biggest weaknesses is the lack of a "famous commander" level figure who can propose ideas from a strategic level. Yuchi Gong is actually one of them. Although he is not as good as Li Jing, Li Ji and other great strategists in the world, he is only slightly inferior. However, Yuchi Gong is on the front line at the moment, relying on him to attack cities and plunder territory, but he cannot be placed beside him as a Staff officer.
The rest are all excellent in literature and governance but lacking in military strategy.
No matter how arrogant Li Zhi is, he just thinks that his power and tactics are far superior to Li Chengqian's, and he never dares to make up his mind on strategy...
He asked: "What does the Duke of Song think should be done?"
Xiao Yu sighed in his heart, knowing that his Highness was in chaos, so he admonished: "The troops in front are defeated, and now is the time when morale is low and the army is panicked. Your Highness should issue an order to comfort you with good words, and never use harsh or stern words." Strict instructions. As for the next step... first order Duke E to hold the position on the west bank of Ba River, and then speed up the march. When we get to the east of Ba River, we will contact Duke E to discuss countermeasures. "
Li Zhi nodded, knowing that although Xiao Yu did not give an exact strategy, his suggestions were prudent.
Since the stormy strategic vision cannot be realized, we can only seek victory steadily and not take risks easily again.
Li Zhi raised his eyes and looked around, and saw that many people were paying attention to him, and whispered to Xiao Yu: "Don't spread this matter to anyone else, otherwise the morale of the army will be unstable and morale will be low, which will be very bad."
Xiao Yu hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Save it, veteran."
Yuchi Gong's side suffered a huge defeat. Not only did they lose their troops, but countless soldiers fled in all directions. It was hard to guarantee that no one would come here. As long as one person came into contact with the army, the news would spread.
And with an army of more than 100,000 people, it is almost impossible to completely block the news...
Li Zhi squeezed the riding whip in his hand and said coldly: "Of course we can't hide this kind of thing. There will always be news and orders. Who dares to spread rumors in the army and confuse the morale of the army? Once verified, his head will be shown to the public! It's not me. The king is tyrannical, and he should take extraordinary measures in emergency situations. If he is blindly tolerant, it will be difficult to convince people. ”
Xiao Yu repeatedly agreed: "Righteousness does not control wealth, and kindness does not control soldiers. Naturally, the army must abide by military laws. Your Highness is decisive in killing, and has the style of the late emperor."
It is inevitable for an army led by Shandong's private army to have loose military discipline. Rushing to enforce strict laws can easily shake the morale of the army, but blind tolerance is not enough. People don't know fear, so how can they act in accordance with the law?
Li Zhi got on his horse, his panic and frustration gone, he looked firmly in the direction of Chang'an, and said in a deep voice: "Good things come in a long way, and I don't believe that the false emperor who steals the treasure can get the favor of God. As long as he has At the slightest chance, I will take over and bring order to the chaos! Send an order to the army to speed up their march and reach the south of Baqiao and the east of Bashui as soon as possible to join forces with the E Kingdom!" (End of this chapter)