Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 942 Deduction
"You can't fight like this!"

"Why not? I'm very familiar with the terrain over there. As long as I go around here and attack from this side, I don't need many troops to control this area. If you send troops to rescue me, I'll be here... and I'll set up an ambush. I'll besiege the city and beat you. You'll be in big trouble then."

"Haha, they're still besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements?" Cao Bianjiao couldn't help but laugh. "The Jiannu have used this trick countless times. It's become a familiar trick. Am I stupid? I knew you would set an ambush here, but I just went along with you?"

"Anyway, I have people and food in my city, so I will close the city and not let anyone out. You can fight me and I will fight you. Why don't you go around this way? I won't follow your lead and will send troops from the east to attack your rear. How about that?"

"Tsk! Are you trying to use the same trick against me? Are the soldiers I put here just for show? I'm just watching you. As soon as you send out your troops, I'll attack you and then cut you in half. Let's see what you can do?" Cao Wenzhao sneered and pointed his finger at a certain place on the map drawn with tea on the table.

"What else can I do? I will test you first and see your reaction. If I can fight, I will fight. If not, I will retreat. Besides, the whole Liaodong is so big, why should I limit myself to this place? At that time, as long as I hold on firmly and fight with you in consumption, can you bear it? Do you still have so much food and grass to confront me? Even if we can confront, how long can we confront? One month? Two months? Half a year? Or a year? Moreover, the various departments of the imperial court are not pushovers. Don't forget that the Shandong Navy is still there. In addition, Pi Island is also in the hands of our army. When the time comes, another one will cross the sea to the north to attack your hinterland. If you don't withdraw your troops in time, maybe all these troops will be lost here." Cao Bianjiao said proudly.

"How come you dragged the whole Liaodong into this? We are discussing the attack and defense of Jinzhou, not the battle situation of the whole Liaodong. If I follow your instructions, why should I attack Jinzhou first? Don't we attack Pi Island first? If Pi Island is not resolved, sending troops will be fruitless. I am not stupid. I will fight a battle that I am not sure of winning."

"Hahaha, uncle, why are you so anxious again? There's a saying in the Art of War that those who don't plan for the overall situation are not qualified to plan for a specific area. A small move can affect the entire body. You've fought many battles, don't you understand this?"

"Asshole! How can you talk to your elders like that?" Cao Wenzhao was so angry that he blew his beard and glared and slammed the table. Cao Bianjiao laughed and was not annoyed at all. Instead, he picked up the tea in front of him and drank it with relish. Zuo Liangyu and Huang Degong on the side watched the joke happily but did not say a word to persuade him.

At this moment, Wu Xiang walked in and asked curiously, "I heard you two arguing from afar. What are you arguing about?"

“Brother Lianghuan…!”

Seeing Wu Xiang coming, everyone hurriedly stood up and saluted Wu Xiang. Among them, Wu Xiang had the highest military position, current rank, title and official position. What's more, Wu Xiang was one of the leaders of the Liaodong generals. No one could be compared with him except Zu Dashou. As for Zuo Liangyu and others, they were all from the Liao army. Some of these people were Wu Xiang's former colleagues, some were his former subordinates, and now Wu Xiang was their direct superior in the General Council. Of course they could not put on airs when the leader came.

Waving his hand, Wu Xiang didn't take it seriously. He looked at the map on the table and saw at a glance that the map was exactly the terrain near Jinzhou. Thinking back to the debate he had just heard, Wu Xiang realized that Cao Wenzhao and his nephew were just playing the roles of Jiannu and Jinzhou defenders, respectively, to deduce the battle situation.

"Lianghuan, you came just in time. Come on, come on, tell me how to fight this battle. This guy is really a rogue. He agreed to drill only one city's attack and defense, but halfway through the drill he dragged the entire Liaodong into it. If I were to attack the city like this, I would be a fool. I have fought for so many years, how could I not know this principle?"

Cao Wenzhao was still angry about Cao Bianjiao's roguery, and yelled for Wu Xiang to do justice. Wu Xiang had nothing to do anyway, so he happily walked to the table and took a closer look. He understood their previous offensive and defensive situation in a few glances. It must be said that Cao Wenzhao's tactics imitated the Jiannu very much. In Wu Xiang's opinion, if it was the Jiannu who attacked, 90% of them would adopt Cao Wenzhao's tactics. But Cao Bianjiao's tactics were slightly different from those of Zu Dashou. Cao Bianjiao was flexible and flexible, and not only cleverly cracked Cao Wenzhao's tactics, but also made Cao Wenzhao's subsequent tactics impossible to implement through the deduction of the entire Liaodong battle situation.

These two men were both fierce generals. Not to mention Cao Wenzhao, he was one of the first generals transferred by the court from Liaodong to the northwestern provinces to fight in the suppression of bandits. Over the years, countless bandits died at the hands of Cao Wenzhao, and Cao Wenzhao was even given the bandit title of "Cao Yanwang".

As for Cao Bianjiao, he was no less capable. Compared to his uncle, Cao Bianjiao was not only more powerful in battle, but also more resourceful. He was a leader among the generals of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the uncle and nephew were arguing about this matter, Wu Xiang felt that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He also felt that Cao Bianjiao's use of this tactical deduction was more reasonable. But what Cao Wenzhao said was also right. The original discussion was about the tactical attack and defense of a place, but now it has become a war for the entire Liaodong. It is equivalent to repeating Zu Dashou's previous defense of Jinzhou. What's the point of discussing this!
Wu Xiang was too familiar with Cao's uncle and nephew, especially Cao Wenzhao's bad temper. If he said he was in favor of Cao Bianjiao, Cao Wenzhao might get angry. Although Wu Xiang was not afraid of him, it was a headache when this guy got angry. He couldn't just scold him directly, right? They were all old brothers from the Liao army, so they still had to keep their relationship. Looking at Zuo Liangyu and Huang Degong, Wu Xiang cursed in his heart. No wonder these two guys were watching the fun silently. If he had known this, why did he come in?

Just as Wu Xiang was pondering what to say, he heard footsteps outside. Turning back, he thought it was He Renlong coming. Unexpectedly, when Wu Xiang saw who it was, his eyes lit up, because the person who came was none other than Zhang Xianzhong.

That’s right, it’s Zhang Xianzhong.

After Zhang Xianzhong surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shenzhui gave him a title and a nominal position in the Jinyiwei. During the two years in the capital, Zhang Xianzhong behaved very well. He was very aware of his status and position, and knew that he was lucky to have the current treatment. If he had any other intentions or made small moves in private, his end would be extremely miserable.

Moreover, with the successive demise of Li Zicheng, Luo Rucai and others, the Ming Dynasty had been pacified and the threat of bandits no longer existed. Even if Zhang Xianzhong wanted to rebel again, he no longer had the mass support. Moreover, he had no people or soldiers at his disposal. With only an empty title of nobility and an empty honor, what else could he do?

Therefore, Zhang Xianzhong had been living an honest and even cautious life. However, he never expected that not long ago, the imperial court had re-established military positions and ranks in the army. Zhang Xianzhong, who originally thought that it had nothing to do with him, was actually awarded the rank of General Dingguo (Major General). At the same time, the emperor also sent him to the newly established General Senate as a councilor. This surprised and delighted Zhang Xianzhong.

Zhang Xianzhong was surprised that he didn't know the emperor's real intention, but he was happy because he never thought that he would be given the rank of general and serve as a councilor of the General Council. For this, Zhang Xianzhong specially wrote a letter to the emperor to express his gratitude, expressed a lot of loyal words, and tentatively asked what he should do when he went to the General Council.

Zhu Shenzui's answer was very simple. He told Zhang Xianzhong not to panic. He gave him this military rank considering Zhang Xianzhong's original position in the Jinyiwei. But now Zhang Xianzhong is no longer suitable to serve in the Jinyiwei, so it was specially used as compensation when the rank was awarded.

In addition, although Zhang Xianzhong was born a bandit, he was also a good fighter. Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong had rich practical experience, and compared with the generals of the Ming army, many of his ideas were often unconventional. The General Senate needed someone like Zhang Xianzhong who had experience in military affairs, and letting him serve as a councilor was also to give full play to his strengths. As long as Zhang Xianzhong was capable and willing to work, the court would not deliberately suppress him even if he was born a bandit. Just like Gao Jie, wasn't Gao Jie also a bandit? He was also given a title, and he was directly leading the troops. Even his military rank was much higher than Zhang Xianzhong.

In this way, Zhang Xianzhong came to the General Senate to take up the post. His arrival surprised many people, especially Zuo Liangyu and Cao Wenzhao, their uncle and nephew, who had a somewhat repulsive attitude towards Zhang Xianzhong. After all, they were opponents on the battlefield, one was the government army and the other was the bandit. The two sides fought to the death and each had a lot of the other's blood on their hands. Now they have become colleagues, which really makes them feel uncomfortable.

But Zhang Xianzhong didn't care about it. Zhang Xianzhong was a flexible person, otherwise he wouldn't have surrendered, let alone lived until now. He understood the emperor's real intention of asking him to come here, so he always tried to make friends with everyone. Every time he saw someone, he would not only smile in a low-key manner, but even try to please them. This attitude made Zuo Liangyu and others not like Zhang Xianzhong, but they couldn't treat him too much. They could only let him be. Even if they didn't give him a hard time for the sake of not hitting a smiling person, they still didn't like him in their hearts.

"Generals, you have arrived early, but have you had your meal yet? Someone sent me some pot cakes yesterday, as well as some good meat and wine. They taste great together. Would you like to share some?" Zhang Xianzhong smiled before he spoke, raised his hand cheerfully to indicate a basket in his hand, and said to the people present.

How can he look like a general? He is just like an opportunist. Huang Degong snorted with disdain. Zuo Liangyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. As for the uncle and nephew of the Cao family, they ignored him and treated him as if he didn't exist.

Wu Xiang's heart was slightly moved. Zhang Xianzhong came at the right time. It was inconvenient for him to distinguish the war drills between Cao's uncle and nephew. Isn't Zhang Xianzhong just the right person? Wu Xiang immediately greeted Zhang Xianzhong warmly, and then pulled him to the table, pointed to the terrain on the table that had not yet dried, and explained the situation to Zhang Xianzhong, and then asked Zhang Xianzhong how he would attack Jinzhou City if he was the attacking party.

(End of this chapter)