Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 477 89 The Servant Lying on the Incense Stove-5

Xia Maoer, the commander of the battalion, asked loudly, "Who do you serve for?"

"Die for General Zhao!" Thousands of people shouted together, and they went straight into the sky.

Zhao Xingde's face changed suddenly, he looked at the soldiers who were looking at him with reverence, strode up to the battalion commander Xia Mao'er, waved him off, and then faced the soldiers.Countless eyes fell on Zhao Xingde.

Zhao Xingde's eyes were a little complicated, a little moved, he slowly looked at those simple, excited, and loyal faces, and whispered in his heart: "Thank you." He raised his head, but asked loudly: "Whose food do you eat?" Chen Dong's face changed slightly, and a strange look flashed in his eyes.

All the soldiers were extremely excited and shouted loudly: "Eat the food of Master Zhao!"

"You eat the food of the common people!" Zhao Xingde said loudly, "It is the food that the common people pay to the court!"

All the troops looked at each other in blank dismay, and some people showed doubts on their faces. Under the strict military order, they refrained from whispering.Chen Dong frowned, and then relaxed a little.Zhao Xingde's face sank like water, he looked slowly at the still silent array, nodded, and said in a deep voice: "Among you, there are people who farm, people who work, people who study, people who do business, In the past, we fed ourselves and had to pay royal rations and taxes. But now, we are supported by the imperial court. Every grain we eat, every strand of cloth we wear, and every penny we receive are all fat from the people. It is the people in the southeast who give us food! The people in the southeast save money and suffer from hunger, why are they willing to serve us? Because we can expel the northern captives and protect the people! I, Zhao Xingde, like you, fight for the people of this side!"

Although many people didn't quite understand what he said, they vaguely felt that this general was a bit different from the Confucian generals mentioned in the ordinary novels. At this time, they heard Zhao Xingde ask again: "What is a common people?"

More than a thousand soldiers stood upright quietly, listening to Zhao Xingde's lecture, most of them couldn't think of what the "common people" usually mentioned in their mouths.Chen Dong's face also 'showed' the color of 'thinking', Zhao Xingde paused for a while, and continued: "The people are you, I, and your parents, wives and children, and your fellow villagers. We Baoyi Army serve the people Wars, in the final analysis, are fought for ourselves! Do you know that?"

When all the soldiers heard this sentence, no matter whether they knew it or not, they all replied loudly: "Got it!" Fight on your own", feeling a little hot in my heart.Only a few people really understood what Zhao Xingde meant.Xia Mao'er also greeted Prime Minister Chen who was beside Zhao Xingde, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with the name Lu Mingyu set.When he fell into the grass, he ate the food of Master Lu and worked hard for Master Lu.Now that Master Lu followed General Zhao, it was natural to eat General Zhao's food and serve Zhao Xingde.

At this moment, Chen Dong nodded slightly.He didn't say anything more, only at the invitation of Zhao Xingde, he encouraged all the troops to serve the country.On the way back to the Prime Minister's Mansion, the carriage was swaying. Chen Dong sat in the car with his eyes slightly closed, and said in a deep voice: "All the armies don't know righteousness, they only know the generals but not the court. It seems that we must hurry up. Fortunately, Yuan Zhi is dedicated to serving the country, which is extremely rare. If it is another general, I am afraid that he will desperately oppose it?"

Back at the Prime Minister's Mansion, Chen Dong received a report from the town's leader, that the progress of the Eastern Expedition was very smooth, and the town's leader had already entered Shuzhou, where the terrain was dangerous and the river was narrow. , you can go straight to Nanjing.Therefore, the main force of the suppressing army temporarily stationed troops in Shuzhou and did not enter. On the one hand, they chose to build camps, and on the other hand, they divided their troops to consolidate the occupied Huaixi cities, and ordered the local states and counties to deliver military supplies to the suppressing army.

"Although Yue Fei is a bit rebellious, he is good at fighting." Chen Dong praised secretly.Before he had time to arrange the transportation of food, he received another urgent military report, but this one was still sent from Shuzhou. Chen Dong opened it and looked, but his face changed slightly.It turned out that the town had not gained a stable foothold, so it encountered tens of thousands of enemy troops from the direction of Chizhou. Yue Fei had to shrink and disperse his subordinates in prefectures and counties, and gather heavy troops to retreat to Shuzhou. This place is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The army is on its way to the west, but the army rations are about to run out. Please Ezhou quickly escort a batch of grain and grass to the front of the Shuzhou army.

"Please, General Zhao." General Chen Dong closed the newspaper and ordered immediately.

Not long after, Zhao Xingde came to the prime minister's mansion. Chen Dong handed him the general report with a serious expression: "Shuzhou controls Pengli, and Jinling is the barrier between the east and west roads in the south of the Yangtze River. If General Yue can break With the retreat of the Liao soldiers, most of the east and west roads in the south of the Yangtze River can be operated." Zhao Xingde nodded slightly, took over the military newspaper and read it, and when he saw that the town government wanted to stick to Shuzhou, he asked the prime minister's office to arrange security. The rebel army escorted the army rations, and supported Shuzhou with soldiers and horses of the Baoyi army. When they listened to Yue Fei's military order, they couldn't help frowning.

"Shuzhou is not close to Ezhou. If the Baoyi Army aids Shuzhou in the east, if the Xiangyang army goes south to capture Ezhou, this fundamental place will be in danger." General Zhao Xingde handed the report back to Chen Dong, and discussed, "Liao Army I have been entrenched in Jiangning for a long time, so it is better to let the Zhen army retreat a little to the west. Nankang is in the north of Pengli, and the lake is vast, which is convenient for the navy to move. I can lead the Baoyi army eastward and join the Zhen army in Nankang. Kang’s location is exactly in the middle of Chizhou and Ezhou. It has always been a battleground for military strategists. It can be attacked and defended. In case there are police in Ezhou, the army can immediately return to help. At this time, the enemy is strong and we are weak, and the Liao army is arrogant. Crazy, if our army shows weakness a little bit, the Liao army will definitely come after us. At that time, the Liao army’s grain roads became twice as large as in the battle of Chizhou, and after a long march, it was already at the end of its strength, and our army was assembled in Nankang. It might be a big victory.”

Chen Dong originally hoped to be able to suppress the Communist Party of China and defend Shuzhou. It would be best to repel the Liao army, shielding the Jiangnan East and West Roads and Jingnan South Road, Fujian Road and Guangnan East and West Roads. Dazhang, it only takes time to become a success.And if we retreat to Nankang according to Zhao Xingde's words, it will be difficult to preserve Jiangnan East Road and Fujian Road.

"What if the Liao army didn't chase after the town's army, but instead invaded Shuzhou and Chizhou and started to operate, sweeping Jiangnan East Road? Even Fujian Road will not be spared." Seeing that Zhao Xingde seemed to be evasive, Chen Dong's eyes were a little complicated .

"This," said Zhao Xingde, "it depends on the methods used to lure the enemy." After hesitating for a moment, he added, "Brother Timu's troops have won consecutive battles in the Jianghuai River, and they are a proud soldier. If General Yue can let his small snack suffer a loss and retreat westward to Shuzhou, the Liao army will most likely become angry and chase after them all the way. If they don't chase, our army can use Shuzhou as a base. The navy kept 'harassing' them, provoking the Liao people to attack Shuzhou."

"However, in this way, the war will last for a long time, and the people will suffer." Chen Dong sighed, "If the enemy can be resisted in Chizhou, the people of the two groups can be saved." He looked at Zhao Xingde and said, "Yuanzhi, I know Yue The general's deployment of the Baoyi Army is a bit out of order, but, this is a time when the country is in crisis, so we should work together to defeat the Liao army first."

Zhao Xingde's expression changed, but he finally asked: "Then how to solve the defense of Ezhou?"

"I don't need to worry about this," Chen Dong said with a smile, "Even if Xiangyang is under the threat of the Liao army, it is difficult to attack Ezhou with all its strength. Besides, the Baoyi army and the town police are still staying behind, plus the state The county regiment training is enough to resist for a while." He looked at Zhao Xingde, and said: "General Yue, as a privy envoy, is in charge of military affairs. I will entrust Yuanzhi to protect Shuzhou."

Seeing that both Yue and Chen are determined to protect Shuzhou, and this matter cannot be delayed, if they argue endlessly and hesitate, it will be the biggest mistake.Zhao Xingde had no way to shirk it, so he could only accept it.He sighed slightly, and couldn't help but miss the Huguo Mansion. He felt that it seemed easier to convince a group of people than to convince a single person.

What Zhao Xingde said to the troops in the morning reached the ears of Ma Yuan and other Taisheng officers in the Baoyi Army in the afternoon.Liu Wengu sighed: "If the other generals have such prestige in the army, I'm afraid it's too late to be complacent, but General Zhao is walking on thin ice, fearing that the army will ignore the righteousness because of this, it's really a humane man." Ma Yuan frowned and said : "What's the matter with Lu Tongzhi? Are you going to put General Zhao on the stove? It just happened to be heard by Chen Xiang."

Xu Guodong rubbed his weapon, somewhat disapprovingly said: "Didn't General Zhao already distinguish clearly in person?"

Ma Yuan said: "In the 'chaotic' world, the army has no leader, and the most happy to stand up a general. Although General Zhao has no intentions, it is hard to guarantee that the generals do not have this intention." He looked up and looked outside. This camp is dedicated It was for officers, Ma Yuan and others were not high-ranked, and there were no personal guards outside.Seeing that there were no idlers walking around, Ma Yuan lowered his voice and said, "The winner is a prince and the loser is a thief. If in the future, someone really wants to do what Chen Qiao did, how should we deal with it?"

The light in the tent was a bit dim, and everyone fell silent for a while. After a long time, Jia Yuanzhen laughed dryly: "This is a wild guess, why worry about it?" Ma Yuan was about to tell a few jokes to distract the matter. Xu Guodong suddenly showed a look of vigilance and said, "What's the matter? In the evening, you actually beat the drums to gather the generals?" With his reminder, everyone heard the sound like thunder from the Chinese army.The generals of the Central Army are officers above battalion control, and there is no need for several people in this camp to go.It's just that the matter of Chen Qiao was just mentioned, and everyone couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

After a while, Ma Yuancai said: "Could it be that the Liao bandits invaded and General Zhao is about to send troops to fight again?" Some people breathed a sigh of relief as if they were relieved from a heavy burden.Everyone stood up and got out of the tent, and saw many soldiers looking around. The Baoyi Army was not as strict as the Zhen Gang, and some soldiers were still whispering to find out what happened.