Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 418: Be Leniency to the Enemy and Be Strict to the Enemy

"Lord Commander, would you like to set up camp here?"

Zhang Baiyu saw that Liu Huai had a strange smile on his face, as if he didn't know what he was thinking about. While feeling uneasy, he still stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

Liu Huai came back to his senses, shook his head and said, "It's too late."

Building a camp is not something that can be done overnight, especially when there is no foundation. If you want to build a camp on flat ground, you will have to mobilize the laborers and it will take at least five or six days to complete.

Of course, this is a camp of the nature of a fortress. If it were an ordinary marching camp, it would be relatively simpler. However, this kind of camp is difficult to defend when facing the main attack of the enemy.

"Furthermore, the goal of this battle isn't just to defeat the Wusheng army, but to annihilate them, break our two-pronged attack, and even recapture Fufei." Liu Huai explained to the generals beside him while stroking his horse's mane, "Therefore, the next step is to fight a decisive battle in the field."

Zhang Xiaoyi hesitated. "Our army is expanding too quickly. I'm worried about our combat effectiveness. If we face nearly 10,000 regular troops of the Jin bandits, even the slightest mistake could lead to our entire army being annihilated."

Xin Qiji shook his head: "That's why our army needs to defend and counterattack. We will first rely on Chao County's defense. Once our morale and combat effectiveness are improved, we can then march out of the city and fight a decisive battle."

War is not just about the number of soldiers, and the more soldiers, the better.

Even a military genius like Liu Bang was described by Han Xin as a marshal commanding 100,000 soldiers. As the saying goes, the more generals the better, there are only a few such people in the entire history of China, like Han Xin.

But it is undeniable that in this era, when the total military strength does not exceed 100,000, as long as the military structure is complete and the generals do not make stupid moves, it is always better to have more troops.

As for the Jin army, since cavalry was its main force, when the number of Jin's regular troops reached 10,000, it was enough to produce some qualitative changes.

This is not a fantasy, but a conclusion drawn from the battle between the Zhongyi Army and the Wuxing Army.

Whether it was the ever-changing tactics, the tenacious soldiers, or the cruel means, a fully staffed Jin army put a lot of pressure on the generals of the Jingnan Army.

"You're overthinking it. How could the Wusheng Army possibly use 10,000 men?" He Boqiu explained helplessly, "Don't you want Hefei anymore? If we don't leave two Meng'an behind, if the signing army causes trouble, or the rebel army suddenly attacks and takes Hefei, then Wanyan Liang will be completely wiped out."

"If we include the Fourth Meng'an we destroyed in Chao County, the Wusheng Army can only deploy a maximum of seven Meng'an."

"Seven Meng'ans are enough..." someone muttered quietly.

Liu Huai interrupted the others, saying, "In short, both the Wusheng Army and our army are racing against time. The Jin bandits want to capture the area around the East Gate of Chao County before their food supplies run out. Our army wants to annihilate the Wusheng Army before Wanyan Liang runs out of food and returns north, so that we can fully withstand the onslaught of the 30,000 Jin bandits."

We and the Wusheng Army are a perfect match."

Wei Chang frowned and asked, "I know this is Wanyan Liang's military order, and we've captured several of them. But what if that Da Huaizhen, seeing our elite troops, decides he's no match for them and simply holds his ground, waiting for Wanyan Liang to return north with his main force and attack us from both sides?"

Liu Huai scoffed, "That only proves that this man values the future of the country more than his own life and property. If that's the case, I'd really have to look up to Da Huaizhen. But how is that possible? The Jin Kingdom has loyal ministers and capable generals, but I don't believe Da Huaizhen is such a character. Otherwise, wouldn't our luck be extremely bad?"

A low laugh rang out.

After the laughter died down, Liu Huaifu spoke again with a serious expression, "However, what Achang said does make some sense. As the saying goes, we should give the enemy a chance to be lenient. In order to lure the enemy deeper into our territory, our army may have to show weakness. Of course, this is just a preliminary calculation. As for how to fight, we still have to see what General Liang Zichu can find out."

Before he finished speaking, a small boat sped towards the surface of Chaohu Lake, bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun. "Speak of the devil, and he will appear," Liu Huai said, pointing to the lake. "Wave the banner and tell General Liang I'm here."

"General Liu."

Liang Zichu was standing shirtless in the cold wind, his sweat rising into white mist which was quickly blown away by the wind. After he took the robe thrown by Liu Huai, he started reporting military intelligence without even having time to put it on.

"This morning, over ten thousand Jin troops set out from Hefei and marched south along the Fei River." Liang Zichu swallowed twice. "Among them, there are four Meng'an soldiers, and the rest are all signed troops."

Liu Huai was slightly stunned: "Only four Meng'an?"

Liang Zichu nodded nervously. "Tell me, Commander Liu, I didn't believe it at first, but to guard against a surprise attack by the Jin bandits, I had already planted many spies near Feihe River. They were all experienced soldiers and wouldn't be wrong. There are indeed only four Meng'an flags and only forty Mouke flags. The rest are all Qian troops."

The generals of the Jingnan Army on the side looked at each other in confusion.

Just now someone was talking about an army of 10,000, nine thousand-man teams, and seven Meng'an. Now Liang Zichu suddenly told them that there were only four Meng'an coming to attack. The gap was too big.

Liu Huai continued to inquire, "Where are the rest of the Jin bandits' troops? Are they all staying in Hefei?"

Liang Zichu shook his head: "The Jin thieves had previously dispersed their troops to plunder the land. Two Meng'an went to Xiebu Town south of Shaopo. They returned to Hefei yesterday.

Two more Meng'an went to Lu'an. Anfeng also had a rebellion, and two more Meng'an went to attack Anfeng. These four thousand men never returned."

Liu Huai paced on the spot, and after a moment he said, "Something's not right."

Liang Zichu bowed and said, "I'd like to hear the details."

Liu Huai summarized the intelligence and said, "If I were the leader of the Jin bandits, I would send the scattered troops to Chao County directly. As soon as I received Wanyan Liang's order, I would leave one Meng'an to guard Hefei and lead the other two Meng'an to attack.

"What time is it now? How can we still have time to reunite with the two Meng'an in Xie Bu Town before sending out troops? And since we have waited for these two Meng'an, why not wait for the rest of the troops? It's too unreasonable."

"Something must have happened that we don't know about. Perhaps there's an uprising in Shouchun or even Zhongli, or perhaps something's wrong in Hefei. Commander Liang, I need you to mobilize all your connections and get to the bottom of this." Liu Huai said sternly, "If that doesn't work, go find the spy. We must find out why the Jin bandits are acting this way during the decisive battle between our army and the Wusheng army."

"Yes!" Liang Zichu immediately bowed in agreement, turned around and left, even forgetting to return Liu Huai's robe.

Although the strength of the Wusheng Army was far less than expected according to the situation discovered, the Jingnan Army still quickly made preparations.

The county seat of Chao County was rapidly renovated. Although it was not completely renovated, the parapet was rebuilt, trenches were dug, watchtowers and arrow towers were built, and the defense areas and rotation systems of each army were determined.

In addition, passages for troops to emerge were reserved in the weaker parts of the city wall. After all, the Jingnan army was going to encircle and kill the Wusheng army. If they were not concerned about the lack of coordination among the army and wanted to take the opportunity to train the troops, someone might have proposed in the military meeting to deploy the troops and swallow up the four Meng'an Jin troops from the front.

The Jingnan Army was like a huge machine, running in an orderly manner.

(End of this chapter)