knife

Chapter 778 Cooperation
Regardless of the faction, its intelligence agencies are always the kind of departments that people both like and dislike.

What I like is that the intelligence they gather can provide a relatively accurate basis for various decisions and can accomplish many things that cannot be done by conventional methods.

What's annoying is that they are ubiquitous, they have no bottom line, and they are obsessed with prying. In front of these people, it seems that no one has any secrets, like running naked in the middle of the city.

Chang Lei was no exception. The thought that his every word and action had been compiled into a book by these guys and sent to Commander Linghu, and that other guys might have also seen a lot of his private information during the process, made him feel a little uncomfortable.

There were several spies planted in their own home by the other side.

Two of his former trusted guards were turned and he dismissed them, but he didn't touch the people they later planted.

This is to remind the other party that they should act with moderation.

You can monitor me, but don't do anything to my brothers.

Everyone has weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and desires.
Human nature has never been unable to withstand testing.

Chang Lei was unwilling to let his friend, who had once shared life and death with him, fall into the other party's trap and thus painfully betray him.

Thinking about his feelings when he dealt with those two guards, Chang Lei felt very angry.

Fortunately, Yan Su later understood his own meaning and from then on, he never tried to take advantage of his brothers again.

As for the others, let them be!
There was nothing to hide from me.

"I'm preparing to launch a military campaign to the south, and this requires the full cooperation of Wolfsburg!" Without any pleasantries, Chang Lei went straight to the point.

He nodded solemnly: "I understand the General's intentions. Today, I also arranged for Zhou Gang to strengthen intelligence gathering in Nanyang and Xiangfan. He will certainly not disappoint the General."

Chang Lei smiled and shook his head: "Who said I was going to attack Xiangyang?"

Yan Su was taken aback: "Instead of capturing Nanyang, you're attacking Xiangyang? Where does the General intend to attack?"

Chang Lei walked up to the map, pointed his finger heavily at the point on it, and stared at the other person with a serious and astonished expression: "Huaiyang Prefecture?"

Chang Lei nodded: "That's right, Huaiyang County. Take Huaiyang County, and then head straight for Ruyin."

“Huaiyang is not worth mentioning, but Ruyin County is heavily guarded by Fang Xiaomao’s troops, and the prefect Han Tan is also a capable minister. Can General Chang’s current forces compete with Fang Xiaomao?” he said seriously.

"A general who lacks the courage to fight with all his might might as well stay at home with his wife, children, and a warm bed!" Chang Lei sneered. "I have over a thousand personal guards under my command, and Cui Cheng has agreed to bring out all his private troops. In addition, General Yan also has a formidable force. Furthermore, there are tens of thousands of troops stationed in Dongdu itself. If we select a few thousand capable and courageous soldiers from among them and offer them generous rewards, it shouldn't be a problem to build an elite force!" "The General actually persuaded Cui Cheng?"

"What's so difficult about that?" Chang Lei laughed. "He's just like me now, a cornered beast fighting for survival. He doesn't want to be marginalized like this; he still wants to stand in the center of the stage, so he has to take a gamble. If he wins, there's a golden road ahead. If he loses, is the loss huge? At worst, he'll be back to where he is now!"

"But why should I hand over Wolfsburg's action team to you?" Yan Su frowned and said, "Wolfsburg can't afford any more losses. Earlier, Linghu Zhishu took away most of Wolfsburg's elite troops, but they were all wiped out in the battle on Tiger Roar Plain. What's left is Wolfsburg's last remaining force!"

“Elite troops are meant to be used in the most critical moments!” Chang Lei said, “General Yan, such opportunities don’t come often, do they? We must consider Commander Linghu’s future. What if this northern expedition fails? If we fail in the north but succeed here, then our influence in the court will be greatly enhanced, and you will no longer be just the head of Wolfsburg.”

A serious silence fell over the scene.

“This matter poses absolutely no risk to you!” Chang Lei said. “Whether you do it or not is your decision. If you don’t want to join, you can still gather intelligence for me and carry out strategic deception to make our southern adversaries mistakenly believe that I am going to attack Xiangyang. But the investment is small, the risk is low, and the income is naturally low as well!”

"I need to think about this!"

“Good!” Chang Lei said, “This time I plan to gather only five thousand troops, all of them cavalry. The remaining troops stationed in Dongdu will enter Nanyang to prepare for an attack on Xiangyang.”

Five thousand cavalry?

“That’s right, actually I’m more used to using cavalry in battle!” Chang Lei laughed. “General Yan, in this battle, I don’t care about the gain or loss of a single city or territory. What I want is to disrupt the entire situation in the south and prevent Jiang Qian from achieving complete success. If I can successfully capture Huaiyang and Ruyin, then Na Wei in Liyang will have the confidence to hold out. As for the opponent’s counterattack, that would be even better. I can just turn around and leave. What can they do to me?”

He stared intently at the map for a long time before saying, "General Chang, did you only tell me half of the story? Your whole plan should be to use the mobility of cavalry to drag the entire Huaiyang and Ruyin areas into the quagmire of war, and then when Jiang Qian dispatches the majority of the army, you will use the mobility of cavalry to head straight for Nanyang. In fact, your real target is Xiangyang!"

Chang Lei sighed: "If Chen Yan's navy still existed, the success rate of this plan would increase by several times. But now, it can only be said that man proposes, God disposes. If Jiang Qian sees my true strength and fights me in Ruyin and other places while still concentrating her forces to attack Liyang County first, I will really be helpless! After all, these 10,000 cavalrymen cannot exert their full strength in the south. Those ditches and ridges limit the secrecy and surprise of their large-scale transfer, while the enemy has a large number of ships to deploy."

After a moment of serious thought, he said, "I'll go to Pengcheng!"

"The Kou family betrayed the Qin Dynasty back then, but they're not having an easy time now. Let's see if we can turn them against us and get them to stir up trouble over there so they can cooperate with us!"

"That's a good idea!" Chang Lei exclaimed with delight. "However, I only want you to know about this matter with Wolfsburg, so you can personally oversee the arrangements!"

"Zhou Gang is the Commander of the Eastern Capital!"

"Just let him take full charge of our attack on Xiangyang!" Chang Lei said. "It's not that I don't trust him, but the fewer people who know about this, the less risk of it being leaked. The five thousand cavalrymen I've assembled will only know their true destination after they set off! Even my son doesn't know this!"

Yan Su took a deep breath: "I understand General Chang's meaning. I will arrange this matter personally."

(End of this chapter)