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Tanghe County, also known as Tang County, is about 200 miles away from Xiangfan in the southwest, and is a place with convenient transportation. The old battalion of the two allied forces of Chuang Cao is hidden here. In this position, if you go north, you can face the Qin soldiers of Sun Chuanting's department who paid Tongguan, and you can quickly reinforce Liu Zongmin, Lao Huihui and others when you go south. After Li Zicheng arrived, because the county town of Tanghe was ruined by soldiers, the army did not enter the county seat, but was stationed in Yuantan Town in the north of the city.

Soon after arriving in Yuantan Town, Li Zicheng found out Zuo Liangyu's actual strength and knew that the battle would undoubtedly be won. He first consulted with Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Li Yan and several generals, and decided that Liu Zongmin would have full command of the campaign. Unexpectedly, when communicating with Luo Rucai, Luo Rucai actually proposed that his nephew Wang Long's new army would be used as the main force in this battle to eliminate the main force of Zuo Liangyu's army, or to capture Xiangyang City.

It turned out that since the Battle of Kaifeng, the Dragon and Tiger Battalion composed of Wang Long of Cao Ying and Luo Hu of the camp is impressive. On the one hand, he believed that the more prominent Cao Ying's achievements were, the more stable his position would be; On the other hand, he was also quite willing to show his resourcefulness and command ability in front of the newcomers Ge Zuo and others.

Also present were Niu, Song and Ji Jue. After Li Zicheng listened to Luo Rucai's request for battle, he was stunned for a moment, then reached out and patted Luo's shoulder, and said with a friendly smile, "Rucai, I understand your good intentions, but this time I don't need you to fight Zuo Liangyu in person, just send Jiexuan to go." How to use the deployment of soldiers and horses on the battlefield, we will leave it to Jiexuan! Jie Xuan is my subordinate and your subordinate, and he is Wang Lung's elder, are you still afraid that he will not give Wang Long a chance to make meritorious contributions? . Send him to war. If you don't fight well, I can punish him, and you can also punish him. If your general goes in person, in case Zuo Liangyu struggles with Xiangjiang as a trapped beast and you can't attack it in a short time, won't it damage your prestige? ”

Luo Rucai said: "If the deadline is over, my nephew who is not a weapon cannot take Xiangyang." Give it to the generalissimo with both hands, and ask the generalissimo to punish him in accordance with military law! ”

Li Zicheng laughed and said, "Rucai, my good brother, where did you say it!" ……”

"I'm really asking the Generalissimo to fight. Since I came to Henan, I have been by the generalissimo's side for more than a year. Since the generalissimo can afford me and make me a general, please send me to attack Xiangyang and let me make a little contribution. lest you always be ashamed in your heart. If it doesn't work, be willing to be a military order! ”

In Li Zicheng's heart, Luo Rucai is already a tumor that will be cut off sooner or later, he can give the other party a lot of praise and rewards, but he is never happy to see Cao Ying really grow in the war; After the Battle of Kaifeng, he regretted letting Wang Long and Luo Hu go to Shandong to release the foreign team, and let Cao Ying expand his strength in vain. In the matter of attacking Xiangyang, he was even more reluctant to let Luo Rucai take the big credit.

He smiled again and said, "You are talented." What a word! You are known among the leaders of the thirteen families and seventy-two battalions for your resourcefulness. In the past year or so, which of the victories we have achieved has been less than Cao Ying? Take the recent beatings of Fu Zonglong and Yang Wenyue as an example, Cao Ying's contributions are also obvious to all. I know. I can rest assured that you will be in command of the Xiangfan military. However, after the battle of Zhu Xianzhen, Zuo Liangyu's elite soldiers and generals were almost lost, and although they are currently claimed to have 200,000 people, most of them are rabble who have recruited rebels and mixed up in Xiangfan in recent months. There was neither discipline nor discipline. So I thought about it again and again, and the attack on Xiangyang didn't require the general of labor to go out in person, and it was handed over to Jiexuan to handle this matter. ”

Luo Rucai couldn't help but sneer in his heart. I thought to myself, ten days ago in Xuchang. In order to tie the eyes of Ge Li and Lao Hui back to your side, you let Song Shorty say that the Left Army is so strong, as if you can't win unless everyone works together, and now I'm afraid that I, Cao Cao, will make meritorious contributions, and I will say that the Left Army is so bad. A mouth flips around, and it's all nonsense! But it was not good to directly point out Li Zicheng's inconsistencies, so I had to ask again: "Generalissimo, are you worried that I won't be able to clean up Zuo Liangyu, but you don't want to say it clearly, right?" I am willing to make a military order to the Generalissimo. If I can't capture Xiangyang within the time limit, I'll be punished! ”

Li Zicheng smiled and asked Luo Rucai quietly: "Rucai, now only Mr. Niu, Song Junshi and Ji Junshi are present, and there is no one else in the room. You and I are like brothers, and we have nothing to say. Are you worried that Liu Jiexuan will not be able to command the battle of Xiangyang this time? ”

Luo Rucai said: "Jiexuan and I have been friends for many years, and I know that he is brave and strategic, and he is worthy of the talent of a general." But in Xuchang ......"

He couldn't help but bring out what Li Zicheng said when he was in Xuchang about how difficult the battle of Xiangyang was and how the terrain was not conducive to the attacking side. With General Jiexuan commanding the troops, how can it be unreasonable? Today, the generalissimo asked the generalissimo to lead troops, but he just took this opportunity to do a little work for the generalissimo to start a business. Since the generalissimo doesn't think there is a need for the general to go in person, and has decided to order General Jiexuan to take on this important task, Cao Shuai, I don't think you have to work hard this time. ”

Luo Rucai had calmed down and reluctantly said, "It's okay, it's okay." But after that, there will be more important battles, and I will ask the generalissimo for battle! ”

Li Zicheng said: "When there is a need in the future, it is inevitable to ask you to come out on my behalf." Let Liu Jiexuan go this time, you and I will wait for Jieyin. In the past few days, you just have to rest the soldiers and horses, and when you lure Old Man Sun's army out of Tongguan, I still have military aircraft to discuss with you at any time. ”

Luo Rucai pondered the meaning of Li Zicheng's last sentence, and did not answer immediately. He knew that since the Chuang Luo joint camp, Li Zicheng had been on guard, fearing that Cao Ying would break up halfway. And because of ghost things such as "The Legend", it is difficult for him to "get along and disperse" with the camp like he did with Zhang Xianzhong at the beginning. Now Li Zicheng said on the surface that there was a big matter to discuss at any time, but in fact, I am afraid that he was still worried that he would suddenly pull the team away. was pondering, only to hear Song Xiance say: "This arrangement is very good, please don't worry about it, general." Offering advice as the military advisor of King Chuang, he still has to stay around King Chuang, so as to consult at any time, not to mention that the general is above the generals. is also scheming, and with a full word, how can he easily leave the king of Chuang. ”

Niu Jinxing also said: "The generalissimo and the general have agreed that after occupying Xiangyang, they will go south and occupy Chengtian, Jingzhou, Yiling, and De'an, and then they can temporarily use Jingxiang as a foothold. called on the world, and then seized the Ming Dynasty with the momentum of destroying the withering and decaying. At present, Jin Xing and the Song military division are discussing from time to time how to build the country in the future, how to formulate the civil and military official system of the central and local governments, and how to formulate the new dynasty and the lords. As for the next step, how to go north and south and clear the four seas, we must plan in advance. The generalissimo needs to consult with the general at all times on all these important matters. The generalissimo could not do without the general for this. I think the general will be able to deeply understand the generalissimo's trust and enthusiasm. ”

Luo Rucai had completely recovered his inherent tone of speech, and said: "My old Cao wholeheartedly supports the generalissimo to establish the eternal country, even if he is ruined on the battlefield, he will not hesitate. It's just that I am a well-known drunkard among the leaders of the thirteen rebels, and I don't like to read on weekdays, so I don't know how to establish various systems for the new dynasty. but to obey the decision. My only wish is that after the Generalissimo's ascension. If I can be a rich idler, there are many concubines, and there is no shortage of wine, meat, singing and dancing, and I will thank the emperor for his grace. ”

Li Zicheng pretended to believe Luo Rucai's nonsense on the surface, and laughed. Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance also laughed. After laughing, Li Zicheng said, "Rucai." Your requirements are too low. If I am sincerely supported by my subordinates, create a foundation, and become a great treasure, my brother will be crowned a prince and awarded an iron coupon. Inherited from generation to generation, rest with the country! ”

Luo Rucai quickly got up, bowed deeply to Li Zicheng, and said: "Luo Rucai has no merit, and I really dare not take it by this special grace, but I will be satisfied with the blessings of peace in the new dynasty." ”

At noon that day, Li Zicheng held a banquet to entertain Luo Rucai and Ji Jue, and the conversation was very hearty. When saying goodbye after the banquet, Li Zicheng gave Luo Rucai an agate mountain, which was engraved with pavilions, pine cranes and deer. This was originally a treasure of the Beijing Imperial Palace, which was brought to Luoyang by King Fu when he was "in the country", and then from King Fu Palace to Li Zicheng's hands. In addition, he also gave you a horse; Give Ji Jue a piece of jade, five hundred taels of silver. Napeiyu is an unearthed thing from the Han tomb in Beibi Mountain, Luoyang, and it is said that carrying it on the body can avoid back pain.

After lunch, Yuan Zongdi led his own soldiers to gallop through the garrison of Cao Ying, claiming that he was ordered by the generalissimo to go south to Chengtian, De'an and other places, cutting off Zuo Liangyu's eastward retreat.

"Ziyu, do you see it, our generalissimo, this time not only to occupy this land of fish and rice, but also to solve Zuo Liangyu in a battle!"

"Dashuai, Zuo Liangyu was defeated, the tomb was conquered, the mausoleum was lost, and the Ming court was bound to be shaken. Students, I'm starting to worry about the general!" Ji Jue's face was not happy, but on the contrary, his face was full of gloom and sadness.

"You mean to say?"

"Dashuai, don't forget that sentence, since ancient times, it has been easy to share hardships and hardships, and it is difficult to share wealth and prosperity. What's more, you are a heavy soldier, how can you let Li Chuang rest assured that you can share the country with you? ! ”

After saying this, Ji Jue said even more coldly, "What's more, Li Chuang has already started to do it!" Many of the commander's subordinates have already gotten very close to the campers openly and secretly. Now, there is only him in the center of the mouth, who is a bullshit generalissimo who advocates righteousness and righteousness, and there are not a few people in our Cao Ying. ”

"He digs the corner of my old Cao? It's impossible to dig up! How many people want to dig, our Lao Cao's soldiers are all immovable! ”

"What if, he first digs the corner of the Fifth Battalion of the Hui Revolution, and then lets the soldiers and horses of the Fifth Battalion of the Hui Revolution and his old foundation come together to deal with our Cao Ying?" Ji Jue saw that Luo Rucai was a little moved, and quickly made up for it. "Dashuai, the five marshals of the fifth battalion of the Huige Revolution are no longer of the same heart! Have you forgotten what Gregorian and Lao Hui said to you in Xuchang a few days ago?! ”

After Xu Changming made a plan for the Battle of Xiangyang and the elimination of Sun Chuanting, He Yilong invited Ma Shouying to come to Cao Ying together. Luo Rucai instructed his subordinates to bring out the best fruits and refreshments to entertain the two. Because He Jin, Liu Xiyao, and Lin Chengcheng didn't come together, he asked first: "In the past, they all went in and out together, why are there three out of five today, and those three brothers didn't come together to be happy and happy?" ”

He Yilong said: "I didn't invite them, so we can talk better." ”

Ma Shouying said: "Alas, I didn't expect that my brothers would also climb the high branches, and I am afraid that I will not be able to eat endless regret medicine in the future!" ”

He Yilong said: "People have their own aspirations, so there is no need to talk about them now." What I am not convinced in my heart is that when the meeting was discussed, in order not to let us go back to the old territory of Yinghuo Mountain. Song Er'er said that everyone had to work together to beat Zuo Liangyu; However, the assignment of errands is still a matter for us to lure the enemy and guard the enemy, and it is just a matter of seeing the meritorious service of Blacksmith Liu. ”

"Yes," Luo Rucai remembered Hao Shaoqi's snatching of Cao Ying's war horse, and a grumble rose from his heart again, "The rivers and lakes are honest when they speak." What's more, the commander of an army of hundreds of thousands, how can he convince people when he changes back and forth? Although my old Cao is said by others to be like a glass monkey, he says one to his friends, and he is never ambiguous! ”

"That's it! I only hope that I can work with Cao Shuai in the future, rest assured! Comfortable! He Yilong said.

"Me too." Ma Shouying said, "As long as Brother Cao can afford it, we will follow you!" Hey, Brother Cao, you say. After taking Xiangyang this time, where will you march next? What will it send us? ”

"After taking Xiangyang, if there is no accident, the first step should be to go south to Chengtian. Then go all the way east to attack De'an, and then go east and return to your old territory; The other road will continue southward, pass through Jingmen and Songzi, and occupy the northwest of Hunan ......"

"Good! It's better to let me go this way, and let me go back and go south for a while. Stay away from him Generalissimo. And what about Wuchang? Why did Brother Cao forget Wuchang? ”

Luo Rucai smiled: "I was about to say that I was interrupted by your strong wind." Wuchang is definitely going to go. But it depends on what Zuo Liangyu does next. In addition, after taking Xiangyang, there is also an elbow and armpit problem, which is Yunyang's high doushu......"

"I'm not going to fight Yunyang!" Ma Shouying hurriedly said again.

"Why?" Luo Rucai asked.

"That high doushu is a hard bone to gnaw; Besides, Wang Guangen and Wang Guangxing were all there, but they flew out of their own nests, and they knew exactly what tricks they had with each other. This battle is not easy to fight! ”

Several people laughed when they heard this. Ji Jue said coldly in laughter: "Actually, this time to play Xiangyang, it is simply a stinky move!" ”

"What do you say, Mr. Ji?" He Yilong asked puzzled.

"What Cao Shuai said just now is the chess path after winning Xiangyang. If we turn the move upside down, attack Dean first. Take Chengtian again, and then march to Xiangyang, where else can Zuo Liangyu escape? He could only go to Yunyang. Not to mention that Xunyang is barren and poor, and grain and grass are not easy to supply, let's just say that Xunyang Governor Gao Doushu is not a fuel-efficient lamp. I heard that last summer, Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu passed through Yunyang, and Gao Doushu politely refused them to enter the city, and even Ding Qirui spent the night in the Guandi Temple outside the city. Now he will let Zuo Liangyu into the city? I don't think so! Whether we put it on or not, we can watch a good show at a leisurely pace! ”

"Clever!" He Yilong blurted out praise, "Mr. Ji is really full of strategy. But such a good chess move, why didn't you bring it up to King Chuang? ”

Ji Jue smiled but did not answer. He has always believed that the balanced existence of multiple military forces in the outside world is the greatest protection for Cao Ying, so during the battle of Zhu Xianzhen, he advocated that Zuo Liangyu should be given a way out, and now he does not want Zuo Liangyu to be completely wiped out. But he is not good at saying this, and he is not good at saying it to Hui Ge and so on. Hearing He Yilong ask again, he smiled indifferently and said, "He has a Song military division who can pinch and calculate, why use me to say more!" ”

"What can be pinched, Song Dwarf is blind and blows the lamp - nonsense!" When Ma Shouying said this, he laughed first, looked at He Yilong and said, "Lao Ge, I didn't mean you. I know you're amazing, blow the lamp and blow it accurately! ”

"Let's just say that the battle of Kaifeng that day, according to the Song Shorty's hexagram, it should be waiting until this spring to besiege Kaifeng, if it weren't for Brother Cao's nephew Wang Long and Luo Hu, who broke into the camp, suddenly came back with hundreds of thousands of people, I'm afraid we are still going around in eastern Henan!" ……

Thinking of the words of a few people in Xuchang that day, and then thinking about the people of Yuan Zong's first brigade going to Chengtian, De'an and other places today, Cao Cao suddenly felt a chill in his back. "Could it be that Li Zicheng really planted and attracted a lot of people in the Fifth Camp of the Hui Revolution and my Cao Camp? Otherwise, the drawbacks of the Xiangyang Battle analyzed by Ziyu that day were at most just driving Zuo Liangyu away from Xiangyang, how did it reach Li Zicheng's ears, and how could it be remedied today? ”

Between the seven and eight times in his heart, Ji Jue also had a cloudy look on his face and hurriedly came to Cao Cao's residence.

"Marshal, Yuan Zongdi led 30,000 troops and horses, and hurriedly went to the direction of De'an."

"Which way to go?" Luo Rucai tried his best to control his emotions, and he couldn't show a panicked appearance in front of his subordinates.

"Send troops from the Tang River, pass through Huyang and Zaoyang, tend to Suizhou, break through De'an, and then turn around, occupy Yingcheng and Jingshan, and return to the division to capture Chengtian, as for whether there are other people leading troops and horses to other state capitals, it is unknown at the moment!" Ji Jue didn't try to control his emotions like Luo Rucai, but he was a little angry.

"If this goes on for a long time, the general wants to keep his wealth and wealth, and he will sing and dance and drink with the male soldiers, which is not only a spring dream, but I am afraid that the head will not be able to be preserved!"

"Ziyu, don't worry. At present, Zuo Liangyu has not been defeated, Chengtian and other places have not been able to break through, and Sun Lao'er is still immersed in training troops in Tongguan, planting cotton and repairing water conservancy, and he is very busy. Where is the energy to go out and fight with us? ”

It seemed that he was specifically going against Luo Rucai, and Zhao Yuanji, a member of the Cao camp, rushed in to report the news.

"Dashuai, the emergency military report sent by Wang Long, Zuo Liangyu's former battalion of tens of thousands of people has crossed the Han River from Xiangyang, arrived in Fancheng, and went straight to the front line of Xinye Deng County!" (To be continued......)