Chapter 29 Taoist

Hundreds of ox carts full of grain and grass are driving westward by ordinary people. Around the front and back of the convoy are 500 soldiers wearing armor and holding knives, guns and other weapons. In the middle of the car, there was a high flag with the word "Yunzhou" written on it. They were the people who were ordered to send Yunzhou's grain and fodder to Dingxi City.

These 500 sergeants are all elites selected from the 5,000 Yunzhou Weixuanzi camp. Although it can't be said that they can be one against ten, they are also brave and selected by Xu Jinghong himself. Among them, the most backbone is naturally the eighth fifth team where Xu Jinghong is located, and the rest is divided into nine teams, led by nine teams and placed in all directions of the team.

Xu Jinghong has become the leader of this 500-person team at this time. Although he is still a team, the same status as the other nine teams, he has the power to manage everyone. When selecting these soldiers, he had already explained to everyone that his ability had been played in the Xuanzi camp. Naturally, no one dared to fight against him at this time, and the soldiers got 20 taels each because of him, and everyone was even more convinced of him.

Originally, those teams with the same status wanted to see him make a fool of himself when arranging everything on the road, but as a result, two days later, Xu Jinghong managed the team of these 2,000 people in an orderly manner without any sign of chaos, which made the nine teams no longer despise him and decided to work together with him. Do, send the grain and fodder to Dingxi as soon as possible.

If there is any objection, only Xiong Geng and Xu Jinghong are the closest people. They still don't know that Xu Jinghong can easily take on such a heavy burden. Shortly after leaving the city, Xiong Geng said bluntly, "Team Zheng, we have to escort so much food and fodder, and when we have a confrontation with barbarians, aren't you afraid of any problems? Now we have finally become free. If we are blamed by the court for our mistakes, it will not be worth it.

For this view, Xu Jinghong and disapproved: "Old Bear, why do you always grow other people's ambition and destroy our own prestige? Although the barbarians have used troops against us, nearly 100,000 troops in Dingxi City are blocking us in front of us. Are you afraid that they will have a large group of people coming to our Songjing? Besides, this is a good opportunity for our brothers to go further. If we can deliver the grain and fodder safely, we will be credited to defeat the barbarians this time.

"That's right, but the team is thinking that we are sure of winning?" The old dog also said with little confidence, "I heard that this has suffered a big loss as soon as the Xizhou army started to fight. It seems that this barbarian is not as easy to deal with as we thought before. If we lose at that time, will we also be implicated?

Xu Jinghong stared at them angrily: "I didn't expect you to be as mediocre as those people. Do you really think that this kind of failure can determine my strong and weak posture between us and the barbarians?"

Does the team mean that we will still be the winner? In this case, why did General Wang and others just stick to Dingxi City, but did not take troops? Tian Dahu couldn't help asking at this time.

looked at Tian Dahu with a smile. Xu Jinghong said, "The old dog and the old bear have no experience in fighting. It's okay if you can't see through it in this regard. Can't you see it with your experience?"

"Oh? The team is talking about why we are far ahead of each other, but we don't take the initiative to send troops? Tian Dahu didn't think so and continued to ask with a smile.

Xu Jinghong looked at him and said, "It seems that the deputy of the Tian team is going to try to grasp the situation. Well, so that everyone can rest assured, and I will tell you what I think. Xu Jinghong's voice was suddenly raised a lot, so that the soldiers around him could easily hear it. As the soldiers rushed on their way, they focused on their leader to see what he had to say.

"In fact, Marshal Wang has only one consideration for doing so, that is, it is safe, because he is worried that we will suffer losses compared with the barbarians in terms of location. Although this southwest is the land of our Song Dynasty, we are really unfamiliar with those continuous mountains and forests. Except for some hunters who rely on the mountains and forests to eat, most of them live in the fortress. Once we really take the initiative to attack, our Song army and the barbarians will have to fight in these mountains and forests. At that time, we will lose the land. Even if we have an advantage in our military strength, we will still suffer losses and pay a lot of casualties. The reason why the Xizhou Army lost more than 10,000 this time was not only because of greed, but also because of the strangeness of the terrain. Xu Jinghong sighed: "This is also the consequence of our Song army not moving swords over the years. If it hadn't been for the peace of 20 years, how could everyone have become so strange to the environment around them? I originally wanted to pull the team to the wild for training after this big match in the army, but I didn't expect to fight with the barbarians so soon.

Hearing Xu Jinghong's words, the two teams around him seemed to be lost in thought, feeling that they were indeed too comfortable to wait, which weakened the combat effectiveness of the army.

After looking at the people around him, Xu Jinghong continued: "This is also the key that our Song army has never really sent troops to flatten the barbarians. Everyone, please think about it. Songguang has 100,000 troops on the southwest border. If you really want to destroy the barbarians, it must not be too difficult. But why haven't we used troops against the barbarians in 20 years? It is precisely because those generals understand our weaknesses and the strengths of barbarians. Mountains and forests are their best barrier!

"Now let's talk about why I don't think our defeat in the first battle will affect the overall situation. In fact, the answer is also the word mountains and forests. Although the barbarians are small, they are only suitable to fight in the mountains and forests. Once they really reach the plain and face my well-equipped Song border army, they will not have any chance at all. They also understood this deeply, so they also breathed off after getting a little cheaper.

"After they are defeated, I, Song Jun, will inevitably be dismayed and send a large army to attack them, so that they can fulfill their wish and fight against us at their home court. However, Marshal Wang saw their conspiracy. Even if we suffered a loss, we would never take the lead. Instead, we returned to the city, which would definitely make the barbarians very uncomfortable.

After listening to Xu Jinghong's analysis, the soldiers seemed to have some understanding of the situation of Song Jun, and Tian Dahu was shining in the woodlight. It seemed that they did not expect that a team could have such a reasonable opinion.

"Now, there are only two ways in front of the barbarians. One is to sacrifice your own strengths and come out of the mountains and forests to fight with us, and the other is to retreat to the forest to eliminate your ambitions." Xu Jinghong finally concluded.

"But don't we suffer a big loss in this way? The grain and killed soldiers looted by the barbarians in advance, more than 10,000 people were killed by the Xizhou army alone. How can we stick to it like this? A soldier couldn't help asking, which was also the opinion of everyone present.

Xu Jing nodded: "Yes, if things really end like this, let alone if we don't agree, the court won't just forget it. If so, in a few months, Marshal Wang will be captured and taken back to Beijing. But if this is the case, it is impossible for Marshal Wang to become Marshal Wang today. He still has his own plans.

"What are you going to do?" Unconsciously, everyone was full of trust in Xu Jinghong's words and looked at him with inquiring eyes.

Xu Jinghong is also happy to establish his prestige in this team, so that after this, the relationship between these 500 people and himself will be very close, and it is more likely to become his team in the army, so he smiled and said, "Naturally, it is the intention to fight back. They hurt so many of us. Can it really be like this? The marshal transferred all the soldiers and horses of the three states to Dingxi and asked us to transport enough grain and fodder, just to prepare for the barbarians.

"But didn't you just say that we can't take advantage of going to the mountains and forests?" Someone immediately asked back.

"Yes, if we attack in a hurry now, we will definitely suffer great losses, but if we step by step and slowly advance after mastering certain information, the victory of this battle must belong to us!" Xu Jinghong looked around and said, "I came here like a barbarian, but now, hasn't it become a smooth road? There are also Dingxi City and the town barbarian castle, which used to be haunted by barbarians. Now they have become the fortresses of our Song Dynasty, haven't they? So as long as you give Marshal Wang time and support, it will not be difficult to eliminate the barbarians this time!"

When everyone looked at the officials before and after, they nodded with deep thought. Sometimes the facts are much more convincing than those gorgeous words.

Xu Jinghong said again, "But the barbarians are not stupid. I think they will definitely have a countermeasure. For example, cutting off the grain road and cutting off the grain sent from Sanzhou to Dingxi City, so that it will be difficult for tens of thousands of troops to gather in Dingxi City for a long time.

"But the team clearly said that they would not come..." Xiong Geng remembered the conversation just now.

"It's not that they won't come, but that there are not a large number of people coming to our Songjing. But they still have a way to send a small team to attack us. Therefore, the burden on our shoulders is also light. Everyone should lift their spirits and ensure that these grains and worts arrive safely. This is the key to the stability of our southwest Song Dynasty and the safety of 100,000 troops!" Xu Jinghong's words are full of deep responsibility.