Chapter 37: Governor Hong kills the chicken to warn the monkey
Although after Zhang Cheng came to Liaodong, he kept some distance from Zhang Ruoqi on the surface and did not get close to each other, but they had many contacts, and naturally they rarely talked about the war in Liaodong.
Although Zhang Ruoqi adhered to the wishes of his own soldier Chen Xinjia in Liaodong and advocated a quick war and urged the advancing army in every possible way, he also hoped to defeat the slaves in one battle and return to Beijing with limited success in order to make progress.
He didn't really want to lose the Liaodong war. Now that he saw that Hong Chengchou's troops left behind to guard the grain road were indeed a bit weak, he couldn't help but think of what Zhang Cheng often mentioned.
After all, he wants to win, but he also doesn’t want to lose!
Because of this, he questioned Ji Liao Governor Hong Chengchou's arrangements for the rear grain road and made inquiries at this time.
Hong Chengchou suddenly felt dissatisfied. He had been in the position of superintendent for a long time. He had been scolding Fang Qiu since the time of the northwest campaign against bandits. He had always been very confident in his own strategy.
Since he took office as Governor of Ji Liao, he has faced off against slaves and bandits more than once. Jinzhou has been besieged for many years, and he has led troops to rescue several times. Most of them were safe, which further strengthened his confidence in himself.
In his opinion, today's arrangements in Xingshan and other places are enough, but Zhang Ruoqi still questions himself in front of everyone?
"Hmph. You know nothing!"
Although he looked down upon Zhang Ruoqi in his heart, on the surface Hong Chengchou remained as gentle as ever. He patiently explained: "The Jin Shou is quite strong and cannot be easily shaken. Now the slaves and thieves are even more powerful. We should gather our troops together."
At the same time, defend and fight at the same time, and then you can successfully defend.
The garrison troops assigned to Xingshan today are enough to defend the forts in Xingshan. Songxing is not far from each other. If the captives take advantage of the situation, attack Xingshan and disrupt our food routes, it will be easy for the army to rescue us.
If we divide our troops everywhere, wouldn’t we hear about the ‘Sarhu Incident’?”
Zhang Ruoqi was dumbfounded for a moment. He didn't know much about military affairs. He just had the reputation of knowing soldiers. Especially he didn't know much about the terrain of Liaodong and the battle situation. How could he compare to Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao?
However, now that my purpose of urging Hong Chengchou to march quickly has been achieved, and Hong Chengchou has indeed arranged many generals and a large number of defenders in Xingshan and other places, there is no need for him to say more!
Zhang Ruoqi was speechless, but Zhang Dou hesitantly said: "Supervisor, would you like to arrange more defenders in Xingshan and other places? I think that the number of defenders inside and outside Xingshan Castle is too high."
It’s still a bit weak.”
Just now, Chen Jiugao was the first to express doubts, but after all, he was a guest army coming to help, and because he was a general in the Beijing camp and had many high-ranking friends in the court, Hong Chengchou was really not allowed to have an attack.
Later, Zhang Ruoqi questioned him again, but because he was the supervisor of the emperor's army, it was his duty. Although it was inconvenient for him to get angry, his words made him speechless.
Just when he was feeling complacent, he never thought that Zhang Dou, a soldier with prepared troops, would suddenly attack. In an instant, Hong Chengchou couldn't bear it anymore and all his anger burst out.
With a fierce voice, he rushed to prepare the troops and Zhang Dou shouted: "My twelve-year-old supervisor, doesn't he know if the army is weak? You are a scholar, what do you know, why do you still need to teach me?'
At this moment, all the anger in Hong Chengchou's heart was vented on the heads of his subordinate officials. After he became the governor of Jiliao, he had great prestige in Liaodong and was usually gentle with others. But when his temper suddenly broke out, he immediately prepared his troops.
Dao Zhangdou was so shocked that his face turned pale. He stammered a little and said: "Your Majesty, Governor... Calm down your anger... I am a subordinate, I am a subordinate
However, Hong Chengchou was still angry and continued to shout at him loudly: "It's just empty talk and has no practical relevance at all. What do I want from you? Get out!'
Zhang Dou was frightened out of his mind by his angry curses. He quickly got up and knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, and there was a "dong dong" sound. A large blood bag immediately swelled up on his forehead, dripping with blood, which was frightening to see.
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All the officers and generals in the lobby were frightened by Hong Chengchou's appearance for a moment. Even Chen Jiugao, who was used to being carefree, remained silent and did not dare to speak.
Although Zhang Cheng sat in his chair politely, just like everyone else, he secretly laughed in his heart that Hong Chengchou, as the governor of Jiliao, could only criticize Huaihuai and use Zhang Dou to scare chickens and monkeys.
Sure enough, Zhang Ruoqi's face was very ugly. Hong Chengchou's trick was clearly targeting Zhang Dou, but secretly he was targeting him. He kept scolding Zhang Dou for being a scholar, so why wasn't he scolding Zhang Ruoqi?
"Ahem
Zhang Cheng saw that today's military discussion was getting more and more explosive and the scene was a bit awkward. He coughed quickly and said: "Director Hong, Zhang Bingxian is also worried about the military in Liaodong. He made an unintentional mistake. Please don't be too demanding."
.
Zhang Cheng took the lead, and all the officers and generals in the hall also opened their mouths to beg for Zhang Dou's favor for the soldiers.
"snort!"
Hong Chengchou was not targeting him in the first place. When he saw that all the officials were interceding for him, he snorted and said to Zhang Dou: "Since General Zhang and the officials are interceding for you, I will spare you today. From now on, you must be careful."
Be careful!'
Zhang Dou got up from the ground and bowed repeatedly: "Yes, yes, I have remembered everything."
He raised his hand and wiped his forehead. It was bright red and his hand was full of blood. When he sat down, he didn't forget to glance at Zhang Cheng to express his gratitude.
Seeing him like this, every official in the lobby felt a sense of sadness.
Only the new soldier Ma Shaoyu continued to sit upright as before, as if everything in front of him had nothing to do with him.
Although Ma Shaoyu also obeyed the emperor's order and the private instruction of his own soldier Chen Xinjia, he came to join the army so that he could join forces with the supervisor Zhang Ruoqi to restrain Hong Chengchou and urge him to quickly march into Songjin.
But now that he saw Zhang Ruoqi humbled in front of Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, he felt a little secretly happy in his heart, as if he was happy to see Zhang Ruoqi embarrassed.
Zhang Cheng saw that the atmosphere in the lobby had returned to normal, so he smiled and said: "Master, I have something to say at the end, but I don't know whether I should say it or not!"
Hong Chengchou had just killed a chicken to scare the monkeys, and he needed to be gentle at this moment. He said gently: "General Zhang is a leader of Xuanda University. Since he has been in charge of the army, he has made many special achievements. If you have any opinions on the Liaodong military, there is no need to worry.
You can speak freely."
Zhang Cheng clasped his fists in thanks, straightened his clothes, and then said with a smile: "The slaves have stationed their troops in Yizhou and surrounded Jinzhou. It is already 20 years old and their troops are tired, so they will implement the three-month rotation strategy.
Therefore, the number of slave soldiers in front of the formation is no longer as brave as before, and they are all praying for the time when the team will be changed. Especially the soldiers and horses from Mongolia and Korea conquered by the slave thieves have stayed in Liaodong for a long time, and the soldiers are tired, mentally and physically, and often feel homesick.
Our army can take advantage of this opportunity to quickly occupy the dangerous passes with infantry and artillery, and then use fine cavalry to advance forward. If the slaves and thieves come out to fight, they will be defeated and lure the enemy, and we can join forces to surround the slaves and thieves.
If the slaves and thieves do not come out, they can use their chariot camp to force them towards Jinzhou, and join forces with Zu Shuai to attack both inside and outside, in order to open a passage to transport grain and grass into the city, and also to boost the morale of the Jinzhou city defenders.
Seeing that everyone in the hall had no objections to this, and even the governor Hong Chengchou was nodding his head frequently, he continued: "It's just that our king's army is pressing forward. Although there are many soldiers and generals, we can defend against the slaves and thieves."
The war is heartfelt, but there are many troops and horses, and the transportation of food and grass is also a big difficulty.
Therefore, the safety of food routes is of paramount importance to me. It is the lifeblood of the entire division and must be guarded against!"