Jiuxi

Chapter 87 086 [Red sleeves add fragrance]

At the beginning of the Huadeng, the moonlight is like water.

A slender figure came to the outer study room of the Villa, leaning against the door and looking at the scene inside.

Next to the big case by the window, Lu Chen was writing and drawing on paper, with several large piles of files piled in front of him.Song Pei stood not far away, helping Lu Chen add tea and grind ink from time to time. The rest of the time, he quietly looked at Lu Chen's side face.

Lu Chen seemed to feel something in his heart. He turned to look at Lin Xi who was standing by the door, and said with some surprise: "Senior sister is here."

"Ah."

Lin Xi responded gently and then stepped in.

Song Pei hurriedly paid tribute and then resigned knowingly.

Lu Chen stood up, moved a chair and placed it next to the big case, and said to Lin Xi, "Sister, please take a seat."

Lin Xi did not refuse, but tried to avoid the documents on the case with his eyes, and smiled: "Should I call you Junior Brother now, or Captain Lu?"

"Of course Junior Brother."

Lu Chen smiled slightly and spoke sincerely.

He accepted Xiao Wangzhi's call and became a fifth-rank inspector of the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion. The job content of this position was roughly equivalent to that of a staff officer in his previous life.

Lu Chen was no stranger to being a staff officer. In his previous life, after graduating from the military academy, he first served in the army. Later, due to his outstanding performance, he was transferred to the special operations brigade and promoted to instructor, and finally became a military attache stationed abroad.

The staff officers of the previous life were different from the prosecutors and lieutenants of this era. Because of the single method of war and the difficulty of information collection at this time, it was difficult for the professional staff system to play a big role.

Most of the time, the commander-in-chief of an army will have his own staff to conduct military analysis and provide opinions and reference, but that's about it.

For Lu Chen, the biggest problem he faces now is the lack of sufficient information.

Lin Xi looked at the tiredness in his eyes and asked softly: "Are you in trouble?"

Lu Chen exhaled a breath and sighed: "The Governor's expectations of me are too high."

After staying away from the smoke of Guangling, the time spent living in Laian City Villa was very comfortable for Lin Xi.

Every morning when she gets up, she takes Lu Chen to practice Yungong, and then teaches him the boxing and sword skills passed down by the Lin family.

After breakfast, Lu Chen would go to the Governor's Mansion to do some work, while she would stay in the Villa to read the various stories that Lu Chen had collected. She would rest for half an hour at noon.

When around Shenshi, Lu Chen came back and exchanged his insights on the Xuan Jing with him.

She has lived in the mountains since she was a child, and the only thing she remembers every day is practicing hard. When she got older, she traveled around the world as a Bodhisattva, and she hardly had a free day.

Before going to bed every night, she always felt that she couldn't waste her time like this: Lin Xi, you have to teach him as soon as possible, and then go back north to help her father.

But when I woke up the next day, facing Lu Chen's smiling face and the stories and snacks he had carefully prepared, I felt that I couldn't refuse his kindness.

Seeing Lu Chen in a tormenting situation, Lin Xi thought for a while and said, "Don't be anxious, take your time."

Lu Chen told her some things, such as Xiao Wangzhi and Lu Tong having been friends for many years, so he would enter the Governor's Mansion.

But she didn't want to get to the bottom of it, because it involved the military secrets of the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion, and she was not from Qi after all.

However, for Lu Chen, after what happened before, whether Lin Xi is trustworthy is no longer a question that needs to be considered. In his heart, he is second only to Lu Tong.

Thinking of this, he took the initiative and said: "After winning the Battle of Qingxia, Governor Xiao planned to wait for the imperial court's reinforcements to arrive, and then launch a counterattack on the northern front, targeting Qingtian City and Yongquan Pass of the Puppet Yan. If the two It’s great if you can capture them at the same time, but if that doesn’t work, you can just attack one place.”

Lin Xi's eyes became softer and softer, and then she said, "What do Governor Xiao want you to do?"

Lu Chen leaned back on his chair, pointed to the files on the major case with his left hand, and said slowly: "He hopes that I can formulate a complete counterattack strategy."

"Uh?"

Lin Xi couldn't help but said in surprise.

She doesn't understand military matters and knows how difficult this matter is. A real war is definitely not a dispute between several cottages. Even the latter will have various accidents.

If you want to plan a war with real swords and guns, it requires a lot of effort. The key is that you must have such abilities.

Lin Xi did not doubt whether Lu Chen had such ability. Judging from various performances in the Battle of Guangling, this young junior brother did have military talent. Xiao Wangzhi probably took a fancy to this and tested him.

She said with some distress: "How should I start?"

Lu Chen's scalp was numb from thinking these days, so he simply cleared his mind and found a simple map he drew on the table. Then he moved his chair closer to Lin Xi, and the distance between the two quickly disappeared.

Lin Xi's eyes moved slightly, but in the end he made no move.

Lu Chen didn't think anything was wrong. He pointed at the map and said, "Sister, look carefully. The northern part of Huaizhou is the security line, blocking the puppet Yan army from going south. To the north of the original security line is the Yongquan Pass of the puppet Yan. It is located in the mountains. The terrain between them is rugged and very similar to the geographical profile of our Panlong Pass."

Lin Xi watched carefully.

Lu Chen moved his finger, staying in the northwest direction of the Lai'an defense line, and said: "This is Qingtian City, located in the valley, and to the north is the heart of the Puppet Yan Dongyang Road. If our army wants to counterattack the Puppet Yan Dongyang Road, Qingtian City It is the only way to pass. There are a large number of veterans of the Jing Dynasty stationed here, but there are not many puppet Yan troops." Lin Xi nodded and said: "I understand. If Huaizhou wants to counterattack Yan State's Dongyang Road, it must either lay down Qingtian City as the foundation for the attack , or storm Yongquan Pass to open the passage to the north, there are only two ways."

"Senior sister is very smart."

Lu Chen praised, and then said: "For Qi State, the significance of Huaizhou is to protect the land south of the Yangtze River while retaining the springboard for the Northern Expedition. If the Puppet Yan and Jing Dynasty occupy the ferry along the north bank of the river, Qi State will not have any ability to fight back. .So no matter what the big shots in the court think, they must support Governor Xiao."

"On the border between Huaizhou and Puppet Yan, from west to east, Panlong Pass, Qingtian City and Yongquan Pass are the three most critical strategic points. If these three places are under the control of the Huaizhou Governor's Office , then our army will have the absolute initiative. If we want to expedition to the north, our army can send troops northward from these three places. If we want to hold on, as long as these three places are not lost, the northern army will not be able to enter Huaizhou."

Lu Chen's explanation was simple but precise, and Lin Xi quickly understood the reason.

She frowned slightly and said: "Since Qingtian City and Yongquan Pass are so important, it will be difficult to defeat them, right?"

"It's more than difficult."

Lu Chen sighed softly, and then said: "Qingtian City is a military city, with a standing force of 1 troops, countless grain, grass, and defense weapons. After the Battle of Qingxia, the Puppet Yan sent another 2000 reinforcements here. , and they can continue to send reinforcements through the northern passage of Qingtian at any time. The terrain of Yongquan Pass is extremely dangerous. Normally, only [-] people are needed to defend it from a high position, but Jingchao has [-] old soldiers stationed here, and another [-] Pseudo-Yan soldiers and horses.”

The two major defeats in Guangling and Qingxia thwarted Beiyan's offensive, but it did not mean that they were severely weakened and could not even hold on to the border key points.

Lin Xi looked at the files on the table and said cautiously: "Is it okay to attack by force?"

Lu Chen rubbed his brows and muttered: "A strong attack is a last resort, and should only be done as a last resort. According to the battle report from the Governor's Mansion, during the Battle of Qingxia, the Zhenbei Army and Feiyun Army, which were the main attackers, lost between one thousand and two thousand. The number ranges from more than a thousand, and other armies have suffered considerable casualties, and the total strength now is about 6."

"The Panlong Army cannot move without permission, and the same goes for the Guangling Army in the rear, and it also needs to reorganize and recuperate. As a result, our army can mobilize about 3 troops. Counting the three Nanya armies in the capital that are still on the way, the total strength Less than 7 people.”

Lu Chen's expression was solemn.

Seventy thousand soldiers seemed to be a large number, and there should be no problem in uprooting the obstacles in front of Qingtian City and Yongquan Pass. However, if they wanted to attack these two important places, the number of troops was still insufficient.

The most critical point is that he learned from Xiao Wangzhi yesterday that the imperial court's attitude towards the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion was slightly ambiguous.

It is said that the left prime minister Li Daoyan, who was in charge of the power, expressed his position at the court meeting that the three armies of Nanya continued to move north, under the unified command of Xiao Wangzhi, and supported his tentative counterattack, but they must judge the situation and not rush forward forcefully.

At the same time, there was another thing. Xiao Wangzhi's reward was temporarily suppressed, and it was said that he would be rewarded together after the counterattack was over.

Lu Chen immediately heard the implication. If the battle was fought well, he would be rewarded heavily. If the battle was fought poorly, the merits would be equal to the fault. If there were very serious consequences, what awaited Xiao Wangzhi would not be rewards but punishments.

In other words, the best choice for Xiao Wangzhi is to maintain the status quo and gain a higher position based on his achievements in the Qingxia battle.

But he did not hesitate to pursue his established strategy.

The elder is so determined, how can Lu Chen not be careful?
Lin Xi looked at his wrinkled brows and suddenly raised her right hand to help him smooth it, but stopped in mid-air and retracted it.

Lu Chen was slightly startled, looking at her pretending to be calm, but her reddish earlobes revealed her mood at the moment.

He watched intently as the soft candlelight reflected on Lin Xi's fair cheeks until a faint pink color appeared.

The night is gentle and quiet.

"Does it look good?" Lin Xi asked with a sudden smile.

Just as Lu Chen was about to agree smoothly, he suddenly woke up and felt a sense of crisis.

Before he could change the subject, Lin Xi pinched his ears with fingers as green as the wind. Although he didn't use any real force, his tone was very unkind: "You now shoulder the expectations of the Governor and the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. It's all in your plan, how can you be distracted and think about other things."

Lu Chen thought to himself that I was just an ordinary staff officer. No matter how much Xiao Wangzhi valued me, he couldn't really hand over such an important task to a young and weak junior.

But he knew that now was not the time to discuss these issues, so he honestly cried out: "Senior sister, I didn't think about it."

"Huh?" Lin Xi pressed a little harder.

Lu Chen quickly changed his words: "Okay, okay, I think about it."

Lin Xi snorted softly and said bluntly: "Don't think about it!"

Lu Chen pretended to be aggrieved, as if he wanted to ask me whether I should think so?

In other words, senior sister, what exactly do you mean that I am thinking about?
Lin Xi rolled her eyes at him and stood up slowly.

When Lu Chen saw this, he asked, "Senior sister, do you want to go back?"

There was a bit more reluctance in his tone.

Lin Xi chuckled, took two steps forward to the side of the big case, picked up the ink stick on the inkstone in his bare hand, and said angrily: "Work seriously, and I will help you grind the ink."

"Eh!"

Lu Chenxi smiled broadly and agreed quickly, as if he didn't want her words to fall to the ground.

A bright smile couldn't help but bloom on Lin Xi's face.

(End of this chapter)