"I know Yuan Zhi's concerns. Can you tell me what Jiangling's back-up plan is? What if someone attacks Jiangling?" Lan Tian pointed out the crux of the problem.

"The city of Jiangling is strong and can be defended with three to five thousand men. Unless Sun Quan mobilizes all the strength of Jiangdong, he will not be able to defeat it in a year and a half. Furthermore, when I left Wuling, I reminded Governor Su to strengthen the inspection of the Yangtze River. If there is any

We will immediately warn you of the situation, and the city defense captain Xiang Xun is from the Xiang family in Jingzhou, so he should be able to defend the city wholeheartedly." Xu Shu replied.

"This is your back-up? Xiang Xun's official position is low. If Sun Quan instigates a rebellion against the high-ranking officials in Jingzhou, will he still have the courage to defend Jiangling? Besides, there are still five thousand surrendered soldiers in the city. Yuan Zhi, are you too careless?" Lan Tian

His brows were furrowed.

Although Lan Tian was full of doubts, he did not believe that Xu Shu would let his wife, children and mother take risks. However, in history, it was because of Mi Fang and Fu Shiren's rebellion that directly led to Guan Yu's defeat in Maicheng.

Xu Shu suddenly responded with a smile: "How could it be? My back-up man is your son."

"What?" Lan Tian was confused.

Xu Shu reiterated: "He is Yunchang's prospective son-in-law, Ziyu, the second son of Lan of your family. I gave him special rights before I left. If anyone is harmful to Jiangling, Zhongling can kill him first and then report him."

"Yuan Zhi, you are too childish. Although Zhong Ling is not short, he is only twelve years old. He can play with those young soldiers. How can you entrust such an important task to a child?" Lan Tian's face became increasingly ugly.

, his tone also became stiff, he thought Xu Shu was taking a risk.

Seeing Lan Tian getting angry, Xu Shu didn't mind, but continued to explain with a smile: "Ziyu hasn't seen Zhong Ling for a long time, right? It's not easy for General Guan to allocate him the five hundred young soldiers. These children all come from general families, and most of them grew up since childhood.

As far as martial arts are concerned, their combat effectiveness is not weak at all, and Yu Jin's five thousand soldiers are under their care."

"Commander Xu, let me be fair. You did not handle this matter properly. Five hundred children are still children no matter how powerful they are. How can you stand up to Cao's soldiers who are ten times as strong as tigers and wolves? It's too late to regret something that went wrong...

"Lan Tian's face turned livid after hearing this. Fa Zheng quickly picked up the topic upon seeing this.

"Hahaha, you will understand when you meet the real person. Five thousand surrendered soldiers are divided into twenty groups and imprisoned. Zhongling takes the young soldiers every day and selects the surrendered soldiers to practice in actual combat. Only the defeated soldiers will be given a full meal.

Eat, if you lose, you will have to go hungry. When I left Jiangling, thousands of soldiers had been tortured. In short, this kid Zhongling has subverted my understanding." Xu Shu shook his head and smiled bitterly.

After hearing Xu Shu's explanation, Lan Tian's solemn expression finally softened. Thinking of Lan Ji using prisoners of war for actual combat training, he couldn't help but ask: "How dare this brat do such nonsense? Who taught him to practice like this?"

Xu Shu smiled and said nothing, but glanced at Gao Shun not far away, and the answer was so clear.

"Ahem, after listening to what Yuan Zhi said, I think Jiangling is safe for the time being, but we must defeat Lu Xun as soon as possible and deal with these rats quickly. Otherwise, if the time drags on too long, Fancheng's front line will inevitably run out of food." Lan Tian changed the topic.

"Ziyu might as well rest in Linxiang for the night and wait until Yide's cavalry arrives before heading north. It's useless to rush now anyway." Xu Shu suggested.

It didn't matter if Pound's cavalry couldn't arrive. The key was that the reconnaissance battalion must be in place quickly. He compared ceremonial intelligence in the war. Without eyes and ears, it was inconvenient to deploy strategies.

Lan Tian looked around, and his eyes finally fell on the porters, "Then rest and wait outside the city. Since the waterway has been closed by Lu Xun, when the time comes to transport grain and grass supplies by land, these soldiers will come in handy."

"Well, it can be considered a mistake. When you saw those dozens of grain ships, it was me who found something wrong and recovered them in time. Otherwise, they would have been stolen when they arrived at Dongting Lake." Xu Shu nodded.

After Gao Shun finished purging the troops and came over to ask for instructions, he heard Fazheng and Xu Shu talking about Lan Ji, and heard about the boy's deeds of using prisoners to train troops. He stood there awkwardly and was at a loss.

While resting on the shore, Lan Tian discussed the military situation with Xu Shu and Fazheng, and learned that although Lu Xun occupied Dongting, he did not let the naval warships continue southward. He only sent a dozen ships to patrol the Xiang River, which meant that he could fight a protracted war.

posture.

Two hours later, a soldier in charge of guarding the formation ran to Gao Shun, holding a cowhide quiver in his arms.

The soldier clasped his fists and reported: "General, Lieutenant Chu's reconnaissance camp should be only a few miles away from us."

Gao Shun waved his hand and ordered: "Send orders to all battalions to prepare for departure."

"only."

"General Gao, I didn't see you sending out any scouts, why are you so sure that the cavalry is coming?" Fazheng was very confused.

Seeing that Lan Tian didn't stop him, Gao Shun explained: "Did the military advisor notice the cowhide quiver just now? If you sleep on the wilderness, you can hear the sound of horse hooves several miles away. The more horses there are, the clearer the sound."

Fa Zheng saw that Gao Shun was speaking seriously, and immediately began to figure out the principles behind it. He felt that this method had a certain degree of credibility, and then praised him: "General Gao Shun is a really talented general. No wonder the lord is full of praise for you."

Gao Shun shook his head and explained, "I never thought of such a wonderful trick. The sound of the quiver was actually taught by my husband."

Lan Tian smiled slightly and did not shirk. He read this method in "Mengxi Bi Tan" and it was verified by Gao Shun that it was indeed effective. Therefore, when the trapped troops rested, there were always a few people lying on the ground on guard.

Fazheng's admiration for Lan Tian deepened even more, and he said in his heart that this man was an all-rounder, capable of both literature and martial arts.

After a while, the dust was flying in the southern wilderness, and the galloping cavalry was already visible to the naked eye.

The galloping horses were getting closer and closer. From a distance, Lan Tian saw Zhang Fei riding his horse at the front. He saw Lan Tian and others raising their whips and cheering.

Zhang Fei dismounted and found Xu Shu there. After greeting Lan Tian, ​​he opened his hands and rushed towards Xu Shu. It was his traditional bear hug.

"Is there any obstacle on the road? The cavalry didn't come quickly this time." Lan Tian put aside Zhang Fei and asked Pang De and Chu Qing.

Chu Qing lowered his head in shame, while Pang De acted a little secretive: "Uh...actually it's not bad..."

"Ziyu, don't blame them, it's me, Lao Zhang, who delayed the military plane." Zhang Fei walked over with a smile.

Not long after the cavalry troops crossed the Xiaopu Pass, the scouts in front of the reconnaissance camp discovered that there were bandits on the road. The sentry dragged the bandits and waited for reinforcements from the rear. They directly took the stronghold where they had cut the path, and interrogated the bandits at the living mouth.

His identity turned out to be that of Wang Jin who was responsible for the rebellion in Zhenyang as mentioned by Xi Zhen.

At this time, there were different opinions in the army. Chu Qing and Pang De wanted to join Linxiang as soon as possible, while Zhang Fei wanted to take the opportunity to kill this group of people. He always felt that they were the remnants of his own suppression of bandits.

Zhang Fei had the highest official position among the generals, and Pound was once his subordinate, so he neither refused nor dared to agree.

Chu Qing's 500 scouts did not listen to orders from outsiders, but they were accompanied by Xu Shuang, the deputy commander-in-chief of the trapped army. His task was to assemble reserve troops from three places in Guiyang, and he would lead them to the front line to rendezvous.

Because Xu Shuang has a more open-minded and open-minded personality than Gao Shun, and considering that the situation of the bandit Wang Jin has been grasped and can be quelled in only half a day, he made the decision and asked the reconnaissance battalion to cooperate with Pang De's cavalry unit to eliminate the bandit first and then join up.

With the powerful individual capabilities of the reconnaissance battalion, the bandits waited until the mountain stronghold was surrounded before realizing it. Most of the two thousand bandits were killed on the spot, and a few surrendered bandits were escorted to Shenyang County. The bandit leader Wang Jin was captured by Zhang when he escaped.

He was captured alive, and the entire cavalry unit was delayed in Shenyang for nearly a day.

After learning the details, Lan Tian did not blame him. Although soldiers have a bounden duty to obey orders, Lan Tian felt that officers with unique ideas and the ability to adapt were more valuable to cultivate. However, he did not expect that the bandit Wang Jin was so weak, compared to the Yue people in Longchuan.

Very far.

After the infantry and cavalry converged, Lantian ordered Chu Qing's reconnaissance battalion to immediately dispatch in batches to conduct sentinels overland in the direction of Baling. Gao Shun and his trapped troops also had to leave immediately.
Chapter completed!