The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 94: Murderous Intentions Everywhere

The time to go to the tent has not yet come.

People in the hall arrived one after another. Those who were qualified to enter the hall to discuss matters were either the lieutenant general of the unit or the generals of the left and right wings. The lowest rank among them was guerrilla, who was only qualified to stand by the door. As for the commander, he was not qualified to enter.

The guards were tight. Outside the iron and wooden gate, there were two rows of guards holding spears and swords on their waists. The iron armor and scales on their bodies were frosty in the morning light.

The draft swept through the seventy-two eternally burning lamps and swayed over the black boots on the feet of the clerks and clerks. The cold north wind forced people to stamp their feet, and because there was no ground heating in the festival hall, charcoal basins were piled up early.

"Are you Wang Xin?"

A man wearing the uniform of a second-rank military officer, surrounded by several generals, opened the curtain and walked in. The moment the curtain was opened, cold air rushed into the room.

Seeing the unfamiliar face, the second-rank military officer stopped.

No need to guess, this is the general on the left.

Wang Xin came to the meeting hall for the first time. He did not intend to speak, but only listened, so he was quite quiet. He did not expect the general on the left to ask him a question, so he stood up and replied, "But General Liu, I am Wang Xin."

General Liu looked at Wang Xin for a few times, and as if he was thinking of something, he laughed a few times and then left without saying a word. The people behind him also followed, all of them were generals from the left wing.

From this situation, it can be seen that the left side is stronger than the right side. In terms of unity, the right side is completely incomparable.

Although there is also a general on the right.

But the truth has not changed since ancient times. If the superiors do not feed the subordinates, the subordinates will not benefit. No one cares who your superiors are. Cheng Hong, the general on the right, is too greedy. Although the subordinates dare not offend him, they do not have the momentum to follow his footsteps like the ones on the left.

No wonder the Admiral's attempt to intervene on the left flank seemed unsuccessful.

Wang Xin was confused and didn't understand General Liu's attitude, but a lot of useful information could be seen from these small details.

Such as people's hearts, atmosphere and so on.

There is a chair behind the desk, which is the admiral's seat.

There are two rows of chairs below, with only three in each row. The position of deputy general of the headquarters is vacant, with one seat each for the left and right generals, followed by one each for the left and right lieutenant generals, and then the two lieutenant generals of the headquarters.

A dozen guerrillas could only stand.

It can be easily seen.

The guerrilla commander led a battalion and was also the commander-in-chief who led the charge. Above him was the lieutenant general, responsible for coordinating the battalions, while the general was responsible for one area, and the admiral was responsible for the overall situation.

In this room.

A guerrilla general is just a pawn.

But this soldier, if he were to be placed outside, would be a general leading a battalion, a real general, controlling thousands of people. Of course, there are also generals without troops, so I brought two thousand troops with me, and I was a newly promoted one. I guess there are more than a dozen people around me in this room, and many of them are jealous, so I have to keep a low profile.

Wang Xin is not afraid of trouble, but he doesn't want to cause trouble either.

"Account increase!"

Everyone was gathered. After a while, someone came in from the side door of the inner room and shouted. The generals and lieutenant generals stood up one after another and everyone greeted the admiral. Zhu Wei came in quickly, accompanied by two clerks.

"Welcome, Admiral!"

"Ah."

Zhu Wei responded and sat down behind the desk. He had been in charge of the Eastern Army for four or five years, and had previously been in charge of a part of the Imperial Guards. Many of his men were his old subordinates, and then he waved his hand nonchalantly.

The other generals and lieutenant generals then sat down, and the guerrilla generals also stood up, with Wang Xin's seat closest to the door.

Although there are curtains, they cannot completely block the wind and cold.

The winter in Jinling is also cold.

However, the temperature in the house was still warm enough that my hands and feet would not be frozen.

The clerks were not idle either. One of them sat at a small table on the side and took out the four clerical tools and a stack of blank booklets, ready to record everything. His main task was to record the military affairs assigned by the admiral. Another clerk stood beside the admiral.

"A country maintains an army for a thousand days and deploys it for a moment. This governor doesn't preach big principles, only rewards meritorious service and promotions. Anyone who obeys my orders, kills the enemy with all their heart, and achieves military merit, this governor will not be stingy." Zhu Wei spoke slowly, then read out a name, "Wang Xin!"

"The general is here!"

Wang Xin didn't expect his name to be called, so he quickly stepped out of the line and bowed in response.

Zhu Wei said in a deep voice, full of vigor, worthy of being an admiral.

"You were ordered by this governor to lead the army's vanguard, understand the enemy's situation, and win the first battle. You have won four more battles in a row, annihilating tens of thousands of pirates. For such great achievements, this governor will promote you to guerrilla general and give you 2,000 men and horses, commanding a battalion. I hope you will achieve more."

Although everyone knew it, many people were still moved after hearing it.

At least half of the guerrilla generals present had less than a thousand men under their command, and the admiral had reorganized nearly 20,000 men from the other three armies, and had recently allocated a lot of manpower.

Feeling the jealous gazes of his colleagues, Wang Xin smiled bitterly inwardly.

The admiral is taking advantage of himself.

really.

Zhu Wei said again, "Don't be jealous. There will be plenty of opportunities to make meritorious deeds in the future. However, I hope that the incident that happened during the initial march will not happen again. Anyone who dares to delay the military order issued by me will be severely punished!"

Zhu Wei did not let Wang Xin go down. Seeing that the beating had a good effect, he brought up the focus of today's meeting, which was how to deploy the troops next.

Let Wang Xin speak.

That is the military strategy we discussed yesterday.

The admiral did give me some sweet benefits, but he also worked me to death. Why do I miss Lin Ruhai a little?

Wang Xin did not dare to neglect.

Now, in public, who would dare not give the admiral face? For the sake of his own prestige, the admiral would really kill people according to military discipline, so even the left and right generals had to behave themselves. Although Wang Xin was dissatisfied, he could only introduce himself obediently.

That is to say, first attack the sea and then the land, and trap the Japanese pirates in three directions.

As soon as Wang Xin finished speaking, many people showed incredible expressions. A guerrilla general next to him stared at Wang Xin straight, as if there was something on Wang Xin's face.

The general on the left looked at Cheng Hong, the general on the right opposite him.

Cheng Hong gave him an unhappy look.

Liu Ding felt helpless.

For many years, Cheng Hong has relied on his ability to flatter the Ministry of War. Sometimes he is more stable than himself, making the admiral unable to do anything to him. Instead, he is the one who is targeted everywhere. It is really unreasonable.

He can't even control his own men. It seems that the right flank will belong to the admiral from now on.

Liu Ding frowned.

Zhu Wei was too arbitrary in his actions. He wanted to turn the Eastern Army into his own private property and let his son inherit the Eastern Army, just like the Jia family in the past, who also inherited the position of Jiedushi of the Beijing Camp.

That's why Zhu Wei couldn't tolerate me, fearing that I would take away the position of admiral of the Eastern Army in the future.

What kind of person is Zhu Shenggong? He is just a child.

What's scary is his father, who has been encroaching step by step for many years and has finally begun to swallow up the right side. He will be unable to hold on alone and his situation will be even more difficult. I'm afraid that the next step will be for Zhu Wei to take action against him.

Therefore, we cannot allow Zhu Wei to easily take over the right flank.

The root lies in the young man in front of us. He is the nail that Zhu Wei has driven into the right side.

Liu Ding looked at Wang Xin calmly and listened to Wang Xin's plan.

The capital of Taizhou Prefecture was captured by Japanese pirates, which shows how rampant they were.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the Japanese pirates were at their peak, the navy defeated their fleet and cut off their retreat, but they stationed their troops in Xianju in advance to prevent the Japanese pirates from escaping to the interior and destroying the area. In addition, two other groups were stationed, one in Ningbo and the other in Shaoxing.

When the opportunity comes, we will advance in three directions and wipe out all the Japanese pirates.

This is the best result.

Secondly, the navy failed to defeat the Japanese pirates' fleet. The army defeated the Japanese pirates on land. The Japanese pirates saw that the situation was not good and escaped by boat, waiting for the opportunity to make a comeback. The southeast still needs to be on high alert.

Or maybe the Japanese pirates simply boarded the ship and ran away before the navy could catch them.

The worst result was that the navy failed to defeat the enemy fleet, and the army failed to defeat the Japanese pirates.

Needless to say, just as Luo Ming had arranged, the remaining troops were dispersed to various places to strengthen the local city defense capabilities, use the city to resist the Japanese pirates, and wait for the arrival of reinforcements.

Liu Ding nodded secretly. There was nothing surprising about the military strategy, but it was also relatively comprehensive.

The best-case scenario is unlikely.

I have learned about the Japanese pirates.

The biggest advantage of the Japanese pirates is that they come and go without a trace and are difficult to guard against, so it is impossible for the Japanese pirates to give up their advantage unless they lose their minds. As for the worst situation, Liu Ding does not think it will happen.

The Prime Minister controls the imperial court and the local areas. Who can turn the tide again?

As long as there was no internal involvement, the army would never be defeated by the Japanese pirates. The Beijing Camp alone mobilized 30,000 troops, plus the local troops, a total of tens of thousands of troops, how could it be defeated by the Japanese pirates.

Unless tens of thousands of troops are cut off from food and supplies and collapse on their own.

This is Luo Ming's ending.

The court is more stable now, and such nonsense will not happen again. None of the gentry have been held accountable, and the responsibility lies entirely with Luo Ming.

So there are two left.

The Japanese pirates either run away directly, and everything is over, or we can only passively defend.

But if the Japanese pirates didn't run away.

Probably.

If they wanted to run away, they would have run away long ago. But now they are not running away, they must want to plunder more. After all, the opportunity is rare. Otherwise, when the reinforcements arrive and the defense is deployed in the southeast, it will be difficult for the Japanese pirates to have such a party like today.

So consider the middle policy.

This person also thought so.

Should I say that he is bold and reckless, or that he is extremely confident?

The army is behind and he is in front.

How many troops does he have, and how many elite soldiers can he have? Or is it because he is young and thinks he is different from others, that others may die in battle but he will not, so it is puzzling?

Liu Ding couldn't figure it out.

He was so close to the Japanese pirates. If they surrounded him, they would be several times more numerous than him. The Japanese pirates were not made of wood and they did have some skills. I really don't know how he could not be defeated.

Young people are ignorant of the immensity of the world and always think they are different from others.

Little do we know that we only have one life.

It saves trouble.

after that.

After leaving Jietang, Wang Xin felt out of tune with the people around him.

Deep suspicion.

Still not sophisticated enough.

His victory report clearly stated that the number was in the thousands, but the admiral waved his hand and without blinking an eye, increased it tenfold to tens of thousands, without fear of being investigated by his superiors. This shows what the atmosphere was like.

The Beijing Army is indeed different from others. I need to learn more.

"Wang Xin."

Zhu Shenggong called out Wang Xin's name.

Wang Xin looked over and saw Zhu Shenggong leading a horse, smiling and waving. Everyone knew Zhu Shenggong and could see what the admiral was thinking. The officers and generals who passed by greeted him one after another, and Zhu Shenggong nodded to each one.

When Wang Xin came over, Zhu Shenggong said with a smile, "This fine horse is given to you. I wish you success and more achievements."

far away.

Liu Ding crossed his arms and snorted coldly, "Cheng Hong, are you just going to let the people below do what they want?"

Cheng Hong ignored Liu Ding. No one should try to trick others into taking the lead. No one is a fool. However, Cheng Hong still stared at Wang Xin over there and Zhu Shenggong beside him. The enthusiastic attitude on Zhu Shenggong's face seemed to indicate that this guy had indeed defected to Zhu Wei.

"Young people don't know how to respect the elderly, so when they get old they are looked down upon."

Cheng Hong sighed.

Liu Ding knew Cheng Hong's temperament. He knew that relying on Cheng Hong would be a waste of time, so he didn't play tricks and said directly: "If that person dies on the battlefield one day, don't come forward and think that I attacked you."

It was quiet for a moment.

Wait until Cheng Hong nodded softly.

Liu Ding left without any regrets.

Still anxious.

Cheng Hong looked at Liu Ding's receding back and couldn't help but smile and shook his head. It was more important to see the road clearly than to walk in a hurry. Otherwise, he would go astray and walk further and further away.

(End of this chapter)