Astral Apostle

   Chapter 254 The Strategy to Break the Thief

  Xinghe fourteen years, autumn.

The imperial court's 400,000 troops entered Huyang in several ways. Among them, the commander of the three armies was Ma Zhen, the defense envoy of Puzhou, who led the main force all the way. , each in an important position, cooperate with Ma Zhen together.

As soon as they entered Huyang, the troops and horses of the imperial court occupied the prefecture and the county, guarding the main roads and gates, forming a thorny situation with each other, involving the front lines, forming a broad blockade, and confronting the water villages and gates of Longwangzhai. Gong rushed forward and attacked immediately.

  In order to avoid a complete blockade, it is not good for Longwangzhai to stick to its own village, so it is natural to divide troops to guard various places.

  Only Zhou Jing, who shuttled to Chen Feng, led a group of soldiers and horses, dispatched by water, and while the opponent's foothold was not stable, he went straight to one of the fortresses of the main force, intending to call a wave to see the situation.

  The waterway marched quite fast, and only a small group of enemy troops blocked the road. Zhou Jing easily rushed past and arrived at his destination smoothly. At a fortress near the lake, he met the main force of the imperial court.

   On the water around the fortress, there were continuous warships of the imperial navy, various warships, forming a formation, guarding the waterways around the fortress.

  Although Longwangzhai also has elite sailors, in terms of craftsmanship, the quality of the warships of the imperial court is higher, and the number is also larger.

   It can be seen that this time the bandit suppression court has indeed made a lot of money, and the level of support is not comparable to that of Lu Longchuan.

  Because of the large number of enemy ships around the fortress, Zhou Jing did not order his troops to attack, but confronted each other across the water, looking at the city tower of the fortress with all his eyesight.

   On the tower of the fortress, the military flag embroidered with the word "horse" fluttered.

   Soon, he saw a group of generals in helmets and armor appear on the city tower. The leader was Ma Zhen, who was also watching from a distance.

   And "Lingfengzi" Bill, who is currently in the idle state, is next to Ma Zhen.

   "This scene seems familiar..."

   Zhou Jing muttered to himself.

   Lulongchuan attacked a few months ago. They also called across the lake. Although they were not in the same pass, the scene was quite similar. They were on the water and the other was in the tower.

   The difference is that he changed his upper body object.

  Zhou Jing calmed down, used his inner strength, and laughed loudly:

"The last time your imperial court came to fight, you ended up with a big defeat and a loss and the whole army was wiped out. Then Lu Longchuan was like a lost dog, chased by the old men, and after such a short time, the imperial court sent you idiots again. Sending death, is it because the grandfathers are not killing fast enough?!"

The voice of    fell, and many children in Longwangzhai laughed, and their morale was high.

  Ma Zhen had a serious face, and shouted righteously:

   "Rebels and chaos in the party, don't be mad! Chen Feng, there is a state law, you are blatantly rebelling, and your crime cannot be forgiven. The current imperial court has sent down the heavenly soldiers to fight bandits, and the church will be wiped out."

   Zhou Jing stared at him and asked knowingly, "You are the commander-in-chief sent by the imperial court this time? Sign up!"

   "This commander is the commander-in-chief of the three armies appointed by the Sage, and the descendants of Duke Yiguo, Ma Zhen."

   "It turned out to be the son of the prince's family after the founding general... Hey, just in time, take your head and sacrifice the flag for me to wait for the uprising."

   Zhou Jing shouted loudly.

   Ma Zhen was unmoved, and said solemnly: "It's useless to talk about thieves like you. If you have the ability, come here. If you can beat this commander, it's your ability."

   After sparring with each other, Zhou Jing stopped talking and took a spear from the hand of the **** next to him.

brush!

The    spear swept across the sky and went straight to the tower, making a shrill scream.

  Ma Zhen didn't change his face, calmly moved a few steps to the side, the spear passed through where he was originally standing, and was deeply nailed into the entrance building, trembling.

   "As expected of a master who can shake the world, his arm strength is really good."

  Ma Zhen's eyelids did not blink, and he commented casually, without fear.

   Zhou Jing narrowed his eyes and nodded secretly.

   This person is more courageous than Lu Longchuan, and he is a powerful person.

   After all, the imperial court is orthodox, with a rich heritage, and it has the best talents from all over the world.

  Because there was Lingfengzi next to Ma Zhen, Zhou Jing did not continue to throw the spear, looked over, raised his eyebrows and said:

"Lingfengzi! Some time ago, you and I fought a dozen times, very happy, but unfortunately you did not fight in the end. I heard from the people in Tianwangzhai that you were poisoned by people in the court, so you had to Retreat, why, you still have to serve the court now?"

  Ling Fengzi smiled slightly, but did not make any excuses.

  It was Ma Zhen who spoke on his behalf, and said loudly: "Chen Thief, the real person is dedicated to sharing his concerns for the Holy Spirit, and his loyalty is unparalleled. How can you make fun of it?"

   Zhou Jing ignored him and continued to say loudly, "You and I haven't decided the winner yet, would you like to get closer today?"

   Lingfengzi heard the words and was about to fly down the city wall.

   At this moment, Ma Zhen held down Lingfengzi and said solemnly:

   "The real person doesn't have to pay attention to this scorpion. If he rushes into the formation, it will not be too late to deal with it. If he retreats, don't worry about it, so as not to shake the hearts of the army."

   Lingfengzi paused, nodded, and stepped aside.

In his placement mode, Zhou Jing deliberately set up a plan to let Lingfengzi act in a low-key manner in public. If it's not an important matter, then there is no need to disobey Ma Zhen's order. That is.

   Zhou Jing did not insist on calling Lingfengzi to come out for a fight, but after shouting for a while, he retreated with his troops and horses.

   He was just here to do some testing, and he didn’t plan to attack.

   "Really brave and extraordinary, hard to get rid of..."

  Ma Zhen narrowed his eyes.

   He watched Zhou Jing go away, and didn't send anyone to pursue him. He just ordered the guards to be on guard to prevent the opponent from returning to the carbine.

   Immediately, Ma Zhen and Lingfengzi returned to the central army tent, and called their high-level generals to hold a military meeting.

  Ling Fengzi was also on the sidelines, this was already agreed, and Ma Zhen had no objection.

   When everyone was ready, Ma Zhen said:

   "Today the bandits and pirates are so powerful that it is difficult to annihilate them. Do the generals have any suggestions?"

   The voice fell, and Yu Wenyan, who was also appointed to lead the troops, got up and clasped his fists and said:

"The strength of thieves and pirates lies in three things: first, Chen Fengyong is unreliable, maintaining the morale of the army and boosting morale; second, Huyang's water network is densely spread, and thieves and thieves control the geographical advantage; I would have thought that if we want to break the thief, we need to start from one of them."

  Ma Zhen nodded in agreement.

  Before he set out on the expedition, he analyzed the advantages of the bandits and bandits. The most prominent ones were these three points. If it weren't for these three advantages, even if there were hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in the Dragon King Village, in his eyes, they were just a mob.

   Yu Wenyan paused, then smiled:

"Chen Feng's bravery is hard to match and cannot be defeated for the time being, but he is only one person. We will open the front line and attack from several directions. He can at best gain the advantage along the way, so don't worry about it for the time being. , Familiar with the terrain, it is not easy to solve it, so let's start from the third place.

  The art of war is clear, attacking the heart is the first, especially in the management of bandit troubles. "

  Ma Zhen raised his eyebrows: "Let's talk about it."

   Yu Wenyan responded, restrained his smile, and said sternly:

"The first is the ten-household sitting method. The local villagers in Huyang have many acts of subordination and assistance to the thief. They need to supervise each other by the joint-sitting method. One household follows the thief, and ten households are responsible for each other. Help the thief's heart, and deter the mischievous people who try to pass the thief.

The second is to arrest people who have thieves in their homes, or arrest thieves and fellow villagers. These are all criminals, they can be called anti-thieves and partisans. According to the law, they should be killed, but I will not kill them. Opportunities, driving them in front of the battle, forcing the enemy's heart to panic, morale shaken, and thieves hampered. If the thieves ignore the large-scale killing, they will become unstable internally, bury hidden dangers, and lose the hearts of the local people in Huyang.

The third is to reassure the people, adopt a gentle policy towards the obedient people, and temporarily release land to appease them, and even temporarily pardon some sinners and let them go to lobby relatives or fellow villagers who have been convicted. Many people know that there are benefits to be gained from being an obedient citizen, and that being a thief can do more harm than good.

The fourth is to divide public opinion. There are many villages and counties in Huyang. Because of Chen Feng's atrocities, most of the tyrants have fled and no one is managing them. Whoever is in the household can get rid of the thieves, and the imperial court wins, they can keep their positions and continue to benefit, so that the villagers cannot unite as one. At the same time, it can also drive away villagers from all over the world to live in one place, while the rest of the country is hard-walled and clear.

   The fifth is to alienate the enemy generals and promise to reward some of the leaders of the bandits and bandits in order to lure them.

  ...Although Chen Feng and the higher-ranked leaders will not submit, but Chen Feng inherited the power of the Huyang Three Floods, and the dragons and snakes under his command are mixed, and the top and bottom may not be aligned. For example, among the leaders who once belonged to the Three Flood Dragons, there are naturally those who are not firm enough to persuade them to surrender. They are unable to oppose the rebellion and rebellion set by Chen Feng, so they will be given a way to recruit peace, especially those who are originally from the water. Kou gang, easier to recruit and surrender.

The multi-pronged approach of these five strategies can attract the hearts and minds of the enemy troops and gradually split... However, it will take enough time to implement them. As long as the winter is dragged on, the initial results will be achieved next year, and there will be at least ten villagers who support Chen Feng. Fifth, the longer the utility, the better. "

   After hearing this, all the generals looked surprised and whispered.

Ma Zhen pondered for a while, then nodded in appreciation: "These five strategies for breaking thieves can dig out the foundations of thieves and bandits. This commander is very happy to hear it, but he can act according to General Yuwen's strategy. No matter how strong Chen Feng is, we will destroy his wings and divide the party members. The thieves will naturally be defeated."

   Everyone should be.

   Ling Fengzi's eyes moved slightly.

   These five strategies are mostly practical. If the imperial army really does this, it will indeed cause a lot of trouble. The three Ma Zhen are far more difficult to deal with than Lu Longchuan.

  The crowd discussed for a while, before Ma Zhen let the generals disperse, and Ling Fengzi had to retire and leave.

   But after a while, the curtain of the Chinese army tent was opened again, but it was Yu Wenyan and Huang Ping who turned back.

   Ma Zhen greeted the two of them to sit down, and then asked his own soldiers to guard the vicinity, not letting others approach.

   The three of them are at the core decision-making level. The highest responsible person for this trip has already formed a small circle, avoiding other generals for discussion, and do not want others to listen to the most important secrets.

   Ma Zhen said solemnly: "Before the expedition, Pang Shumi hinted that we should fight as long as possible. The longer we delay, the better it will be. The thieves are not easy to deal with, but it is more convenient."

   The other two nodded.

  Because the privy envoy Pang Hong made a recommendation to the emperor, the three of them got this job, so they naturally wanted to sell Pang Hong's face, and they were both honorable and noble, and they also had the same interests.

   The "benefits" that Ma Zhen mentioned, both of them knew what they meant... The longer the delay, the more military spending the imperial court gave, and the more the share of the personal pockets.

   Of course, the bulk of it must be handed over to Pang Shumi.

   So the three of them did not have the will to break the thieves quickly. Even if they had a large number of troops, they did not want to rush to attack, but planned to drag them into a long battle. Yu Wenyan's proposal is not only a strategy to break the thief, but also a hidden self-interest.

   "Let's not talk about this matter, it's better to deal with the bandits first, otherwise if you lose the battle, then these are all empty talk." Yu Wenyan smiled and pulled back to the topic.

   Ma Zhen squinted his eyes and said, "The strategy you offered just now is a little less in my opinion."

   "Oh? I'd like to hear about it."

Ma Zhen said slowly: "Chen thief claims to be uprising for the people, and we will let some soldiers pretend to be thieves, loot the village, abuse the villagers, and stigmatize Chen Feng, which will make him lose the people's hearts and the foundation of the rebellion faster. ."

   "Marshal's words are right." Yu Wenyan smiled and complimented, not seeming surprised.

  Huang Ping said solemnly: "Let my department handle this matter."

  Ma shook his head in agreement.

  Among the three of them, Huang Ping ruled the army the most closely, and basically would not leak the news.

   At this moment, Ma Zhen paused, and suddenly a cold light appeared in his eyes, and said:

   "However, the war is changing rapidly, and our army has no chance of winning. If it cannot be done, we will send people to the upper reaches to dig the river, causing floods, flooding the lake and Yang, and attacking and killing thieves."

   Yu Wenyan and Huang Ping were slightly surprised.

   "This plan may be too ruthless. There are already many floods in Huyang, and if it causes floods, the people will be killed and injured countless times. I fear that Huyang will be empty in the future..."

   Yu Wenyan frowned and said.

Ma Zhen's face was expressionless: "Ci is not in charge of the army, if our army is defeated, the imperial court will be severely damaged, and it will be difficult to contain the bandits. That being the case, what's wrong with taking the place of Lake and Yang to exchange the peace of the river and mountains? Besides, the lake There has always been a lot of bandits in Yangyi, and there are many followers of the bandits, and it is not a pity to die."

   "Well... what the marshal said is very true, but this is a desperate plan. It cannot be used unless it is urgent, and it must not be disclosed, otherwise there will be more troubles."

   Huang Ping spoke slowly and did not expressly object.

   He also means the same thing. If he loses, he will be killed when he returns to the imperial court, and it would be better to use the lives of a group of grass-roots people to maintain victory and future.

  The people don't have a good life, so what? I'm going to lose, so why bother with you?

  Yu Wenyan said worriedly: "If this trick is taught to the real person, it will not be good. The real person does not want to kill too many lives, saying that there is harmony in the world. If we do this, will it damage his morality?"

   "Then don't let him know, and when it's done, he'll be unwilling and useless."

   Ma Zhen waved his hand, not paying much attention.

  Although he respects Lingfengzi and knows that he will also rely on real people in this battle, he will not change his decision as a commander because of this.

   (end of this chapter)