Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 178 172. Sword Pointed at Two Counties
Jingzhou, especially Jiangling, the ruling center of Jingzhou, seemed unusually peaceful these days. Apart from providing relief to the local people, harvesting summer grain in an orderly manner, and training soldiers, Jingzhou did not take any major actions.

"You Chang, I am considering this matter for your sake. After all, you have never had any experience in leading troops. If..."

In Jiangling City, a middle-aged man with white eyebrows was talking to a young man like a nagging old woman, but the young man's face was full of impatience.

"Brother, they are just the remnants of the two counties. You should also know that I am well-read in military books and am not powerless. It will be easy for me to capture the two counties."

Ma Liang looked nervous and helpless. Feng Xi had been spreading rumors in the past few days, saying that he would conquer Changsha and Guiyang counties to restore Jingzhou's complete control over the south and north of Jingzhou.

There were not many people in these two counties, only a few thousand county soldiers, so Feng Xi's intention was to give the credit to these young people who had just arrived in Jingzhou.

Ma Su was immediately happy when he heard this. He had just arrived in Jingzhou and was worried about having no place to show his talents. Wasn't Feng Xi just sending him a pillow because he was sleepy?

Ma Su returned home and told his elder brother Ma Liang about this matter, but Ma Liang also knew what kind of person his younger brother was. He was good at talking about military affairs on paper, but he had never led troops in battle, so the conversation just now happened.

"How about this, Youchang? I will go talk to the Grand Commander and ask him to find you an experienced deputy general to assist you. This way, you will have someone to help you if you encounter any problems."

Seeing that he could not persuade Ma Su to change his mind, and Ma Liang also thought that his brother should accumulate some military merits, he proposed a compromise plan.

"Deputy General? Brother, isn't it just sharing the credit with me if I have one more deputy general? That's not right. Considering the situation of these two counties, I can take the victory in half a month with my own 8,000 soldiers."

Ma Su patted his chest and seemed extremely confident, but Ma Liang's eyes still revealed deep worry; he was not at ease with his brother.

……

"As you all know, now that northern Jing has been completely conquered, it is back under the control of our Han army. However, the two counties of Changsha and Guiyang in southern Jing are still in the hands of the Eastern Wu. I sent envoys to persuade them to surrender a few days ago, but the governor of Changsha, Han Teng, not only refused to surrender, but also dared to kill our Han envoys without authorization.

And Zhao Fan of Guiyang is also unwilling to surrender. If these two thieves are not eliminated, it will be difficult for us to maintain peace in southern Jing. "

Two days later, in the meeting hall of Jiangling, Feng Xi, who had taken over, sat in the main seat with a majestic figure, telling the generals and officials below about the situation in Changsha and Guiyang counties.

Feng Xi himself actually knew the situation of the two counties very well. As a clansman of the former governor Han Xuan, Han Teng had an irreconcilable hatred with the Han army, so how could he surrender easily?

Although Zhao Fan was a weak person, he was a suspicious person. He had already defected from the Han Dynasty once, and he probably didn't believe that the Han army could forgive him, so he had no choice but to go down this path.

However, the news that the main force of the Eastern Expedition army returned to Sichuan had also spread a few days ago, so it was a comfort to the two places. It made them feel that the Jingzhou army had experienced turmoil and it would take time to restore its previous combat effectiveness, giving them plenty of time to wait for help from their Eastern Wu masters.

"Grand Commander, our Jingzhou army has been in low morale and poorly trained since the death of the military marquis in the Eastern Wu. We need a few victories to boost morale. The summer grain has been harvested, and our Jingzhou army has sufficient military equipment. We should send troops immediately to wipe out the remnants of the Eastern Wu in the two counties."

Wang Fu, the military commander, stepped out with his hands clasped and offered his own advice, to which Feng Xi nodded.

"But I wonder if there is any general willing to recommend himself and take the initiative to volunteer?"

Feng Xi looked at the generals who were about to take action and deliberately asked. Ma Liang had complained to him about Ma Su's attitude a few days ago. Ma Liang even came to him specifically, hoping that he would send a deputy general to Ma Su, at least to save Ma Su's life.

"I……"

Zhang Nan stood up and was about to volunteer.

Zhang Nan and Zhao Lei had gone directly down the river after the battle of Dongting Lake and conquered the weakened Jiangxia. Now Zhao Lei stationed troops in Jiangxia to guard against a possible counterattack by the Eastern Wu, and Zhang Nan naturally returned to Jiangling to train the navy.

Hearing that there was an easy target, Zhang Nan naturally couldn't wait to lead his troops to attack. "What do you mean, sit down."

Feng Xi glared at Zhang Nan. As the Grand Admiral of the Navy, he was actually competing for credit with a group of young people who had no military merits. He was not ashamed at all.

"Uh……"

Zhang Nan glanced at the young faces below, then noticed the performance of the other generals, and reacted. He could only sit down angrily and pretend nothing had happened.

Fu Rong looked at the table in front of him. It seemed that the texture on it was very profound, as if it contained cosmic philosophy, which forced him to think carefully. Guan Xing's eyes were dull and unfocused, as if he was wandering in the sky.

They have fought countless battles since their Eastern Expedition and have made great achievements. Naturally, there will be rewards from the new king, so they will naturally not compete for credit with a group of young people. At this moment, they are all bored and pretending to be dead in the meeting room.

"I will go there eventually."

With a sense of pride, Ma Su spoke, stepped out from the bottom, bowed briefly to Feng Xi, and volunteered.

Ma Liang had a worried look on his face, his eyes moving back and forth between Ma Su and Feng Xi, hoping that Feng Xi could open a back door for him and give Ma Su some preferential treatment.

"Okay, since Youchang has volunteered to fight, I will order you to lead an army of 10,000 to Changsha and capture Changsha County."

Feng Xi nodded, not caring much about Ma Su's rudeness.

"Why do we need ten thousand? I only need eight thousand elite soldiers to take the two counties."

Ma Su raised his head, very confident.

"If that's the case, then..."

Just as Feng Xi was about to agree, another man stood up, bowed, and interrupted Feng Xi, saying, "I...I will fight. I...I only need 6,000 elite troops to take two counties."

The person who stepped out was Deng Ai. He spoke haltingly, but he wanted to compete with Ma Su for credit.

Of course, although Deng Ai was highly valued by Feng Xi at this time, he naturally did not dare to compete for credit in this way. This was just what Feng Xi had specifically instructed him to do before, so that he deliberately jumped out at this time.

"How dare you compete with me here!"

Ma Su was already angry when he saw someone competing for credit, and he became even more furious when he found out that the other person was a stutterer and couldn't speak clearly.

"So...so what if I stutter? Stuttering doesn't affect my combat. When you are in the army, how can you judge a person by his appearance?"

Deng Ai seemed to be really irritated by Ma Su, and he did not even stutter when he spoke in anger, which made Feng Xi think about something. Ma Su did not dare to show weakness and pretended to fight with Deng Ai.

"You two are the future pillars of our Han Dynasty. How can you behave like street shrews? There are two counties here. You two can each lead 8,000 troops to attack them and see who is better."

Feng Xi spoke up, interrupting the tense exchange between the two men and asked them to each capture a county, which would also be considered a competition.

(End of this chapter)