Xie Ming

Chapter 105: Night Talk
Qiu Zhizhong was extremely shocked when Xu Jizu said that the return journey was difficult in the heavy rain. Qiu Zhizhong was not familiar with the mobilization of troops, so it was normal that he had never thought of it before.

"what?!"

"It's actually like this, then, what should we do now?"

"Old Xiao! Although you issued a strict order to seal off the city gates and not let anyone escape!"

"But you don't know that after you captured the west gate, I was nearby. You killed everyone and left. Do you know how many people escaped from under the city gate?"

"From what I saw, there were at least seven or eight bandits who slipped out of the city along the wall!"

Qiu Zhizhong's words were true. When Xiao Lang heard it, he felt it was a difficult situation and suddenly raised his eyebrows.

"Did you see clearly? Were there any horses leaving the city?!" Xiao Jingchuan asked hurriedly.

"It's too dark at night. I just took a rough look. I didn't find any horses escaping!"

"But, if there is none at the west gate, can you guarantee that no one at other city gates will run away in advance when the city is attacked?!"

Qiu Zhizhong also reminded again.

After he finished speaking, Xiao Lang sat down on the chair that Liu Dabala had sat on at the welcoming banquet!
"What Feiyu (Qiu Zhizhong) said is absolutely right!"

"There is always a loophole in a perfect plan, not to mention that a war involves many people, so it is difficult to keep it absolutely secret!"

As he spoke, Xiao Lang simply leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and began to search carefully.

"It's about 120 miles from here to Baoding Prefecture. If the escaping bandits can get horses to help them, it will take about two days to get reinforcements back!"

"From here, we can go straight to Zijing Pass. The mountain road is sixty to seventy miles long. The round trip is on the main road. It will take at least a day and a half for the cavalry!"

"If we head northeast to Laishui County, the shortest distance is only about 40 miles. If we march quickly and return, it will only take a day!"

"kindness"

"Fei Yu (Qiu Zhizhong), what is the current situation in Laishui County? Have you done any investigation before?!"

Xiao Jingchuan continued talking to himself without opening his eyes.

"Alas, I'm ashamed to say that I did send two people to infiltrate before. However, since the end of March, there has been no intelligence sent back from Laishui City. I guess... I guess the stakes must have been pulled out!" Qiu Zhizhong sighed and replied with a wry smile, feeling very ashamed.

"Oh, this is also my fault. I didn't plan carefully enough when I was traveling. I didn't expect that I would be hindered by heavy rain!"

"We have been heading southwest since leaving Beijing. It is normal that you did not have time to recruit more people to the northeast behind us!"

Xiao Jingchuan's words were very much in defense of Qiu Zhizhong.

"Haha, come on, Lao Xiao, you don't have to cover up for me. I didn't do my job well and I don't have enough experience. I should learn from my mistakes!"

"When we return to Jiulong Town, you have to punish me no matter what you say!" Qiu Zhizhong was eager to be blamed.

"Haha, look at you! How can you ask for trouble? You are just torturing yourself!"

"When did he become so perverted? How come I didn't know?!"

Xiao Lang kept his eyes closed and focused, and his jokes were all just nonsense. Qiu Zhixin knew in his heart that whenever this kid was troubled and had difficulty making a decision, he would deliberately pretend to be indifferent and talkative!

But Xu Jizu was still there, Zhizhong looked embarrassed, and he quickly coughed twice, reminding Xiaolang not to get too carried away, so as to avoid being laughed at by his subordinates.

But at this moment, perhaps it was the dry cough that served as a reminder, Xiao Jingchuan suddenly sat up straight and opened his eyes.

"Eh? Oh, right, Feiyu (Qiu Zhizhong), that scoundrel from Yuhu Peak! The one from Liu Ji!"

"He came from the direction of Yuhu Peak. It is very likely that he stopped in Laishui County!"

"Go, wait a moment, go and bring this man to me!"

"Maybe we can pry something out of him!"

Hearing this, Qiu Zhizhong also agreed and nodded. After that, Xiao Jingchuan stopped being depressed and hurriedly got up from his chair and brought Xu Jizu and Qiu Zhizhong closer together.

"Someone! Light up some more lights! It's too dark!"

Xiao Lang casually gave orders to the soldiers.

At the same time, he reached into his arms and took out the marching map he brought from the military camp in the capital!

"Come on, both of you, get closer!"

"Look, this time we led the team out, and the route we took was Jiulong Town - Juma River - Zhaoge Village - Longmen Township - Qifengkou - Zijing Pass - Heigou - Xiaoyugou - Yi County."

"This road is currently pouring with rain, and there are many steep slopes and muddy, slippery mountain roads. I'm afraid it will be difficult to return!"

"If we ignore the weather and insist on returning all the way here, the road will be long and difficult, and it will be difficult for the entire army to get through!"

"Secondly, it's hard to hide our tracks during the march in such heavy rain, and we've intercepted someone's windfall, so how can we not attract the enemy's pursuit?!"

"Even if we calculate based on the longest distance that the troops from Baoding Prefecture can travel, a large number of bandit troops will definitely arrive here within two days!"

"Then the other party will find the trace and chase after us!"

"Under this situation, can we get to Heigou in two days?"

"There is Zijing Pass ahead. Wouldn't his bandit soldiers send out scouts to inform Zijing Pass and send troops to search the mountains in the southeast?!"

"If that's the case!"

"Then we are really like a wolf in front of us and a tiger behind us, courting our own death!"

Xiao Jingchuan was analyzing the situation, and Xu Jizu beside him was listening very attentively.

At this time, the soldiers also followed the order and found seven or eight more candlesticks, gathered in front of the general and the other two, and lit them all to make the map clearer.

"Well, Lao Xiao, Ji Zu, I don't know much about military affairs, but I think since this road is blocked, why don't we find another way around?"

"Isn't it possible to find a slightly flatter road that can completely avoid the possible blockade in the direction of Zijing Pass?!"

As Qiu Zhizhong said, he was indeed not good at mobilizing troops, but he was smart enough and his words were accurate.

Hearing this, Xu Jizu took a deep breath, pondered for a moment, and then spoke slowly.

"Yes, General, Master Qiu, this is an easy route to take, and it can completely avoid the bandits from Zijing Pass."

"Yes, there must be!"

"But... the direction and distance are very different from before we came here!"

Xu Jizu's words were quite hesitant, as he had never participated in such a march discussion!
The journey from Jiulong Town to Yi County a few days ago was his first time to participate in the deployment of the march. As a result, we can see that there have been many unsatisfactory situations in recent days, and it was difficult to return along the way after the heavy rain!

Now, after going through it once, he had more experience, but also more worries. So, he couldn't make a decision for a long time, let alone give any constructive suggestions.

Seeing his subordinates like this, Xiao Jingchuan, who was thoughtful, immediately thought of the other party's concerns, so he comforted them with kind words to strengthen Ji Zu's confidence.

"Hey! Jizu! Don't think so much!"

"The solution depends on everyone working together to come up with it. There's no need to carry so many burdens in your mind. Just say whatever comes to your mind!"

"What do you mean by discussion? It means that you should speak out all your thoughts as much as possible. Let's discuss it together!"

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(End of this chapter)