"The military battle is the next priority, and the heart battle is the highest priority. It's interesting. Let's be more specific."
These short eight words made Yan Liang very interested in Ma Su, a young man. Although he had already guessed what Ma Su was going to say next, he still continued to ask questions.
Ma Di was not at all nervous, so he said calmly in front of many people: "The Wuxi barbarians are located in the mountainous area southwest of Wuling. They rely on the remote mountains and dangerous terrain and have been dissatisfied with our Han rule for a long time. Now my lord is personally leading the army.
Come here, with your lord's divine power, you can naturally defeat them. However, your lord is pacified today and will go on an expedition tomorrow. These barbarians will inevitably revolt. Therefore, I believe that in this battle, the best strategy is for my lord to subdue the barbarians.
.”
After hearing what Ma Su said, all the officials in the tent showed strange expressions. Even his elder brother Ma Liang was quite surprised by his younger brother's judgment.
After Yan Liang heard this, he couldn't help laughing.
In the past history, when Zhuge Liang led his army to quell the rebellion of the Southern Barbarians, Ma Di also offered Zhuge Liang such advice.
Now, when Yan Liang is going to put down the Wuxi Barbarian Rebellion in Samoko, Ma Di also said the same thing. This historical coincidence is such a coincidence, how could he not make Yan Liang laugh.
However, what Ma Su said does make sense.
Meng Huo is located in Nanyi, and Samoko is located in the southwest of Wuling. Both of these places are remote and mountainous, and the rebels are not barbarians accustomed to kingship. Zhuge Liang's principles for dealing with Meng Huo are indeed also applicable to Yan Liang.
Deal with Samoko.
The laughter subsided, and Yan Liang turned his gaze to Ma Wei and said with a smile: "What a man who 'takes the heart first and fights the war' next. Ji Chang, this brother of yours is really not a simple person."
Yan Liang praised his younger brother, and Ma Liang felt happy, but he didn't dare to show it too much.
He just smiled lightly and said: "In addition to the classics and meanings, my brother also likes to study military books. If his plan can alleviate the Lord's worries, then it will be great."
Yan Liang turned his gaze back to Ma Su and asked, "Ma Su, I don't know what position you hold now."
"He only assisted his brother in handling some county affairs, and now he is still in vain."
Although Ma Su was talented, he was still young. As a county guard, Ma Liang had enough power to obtain an official position for his younger brother, but he did not use his power. This is really commendable.
Yan Liang said happily: "Don't do any chores for your brother. I will appoint you as my assistant now. You will follow me this time to quell the rebellion of the Wuxi Barbarians."
The secretary is almost the lowest level of civil servants, but for Ma Di, who is not even a junior official and does not even have a first name, being able to serve as a secretary at this age is considered an exceptional promotion.
In terms of talent recruitment policies, Yan Liang and Cao Cao are completely similar. They both pursue the policy of "approving talents based on their talents". Especially young talents like Ma Su are the targets of Yan Liang's efforts to cultivate.
Ma Su has a talent as a genius, and since he was met by Yan Liang, Yan Liang naturally wanted to give him more experience so that he could grow into a pillar of talent early, and he thought that Yan Liang's dominance would burn his light.
Naturally, Ma Su was greatly surprised, and he hurriedly held up his hands and said: "Thank you so much for your lord's kindness. I will do my best to serve my lord as a dog and horse."
Discovering Ma Su's young talent, Yan Liang stayed one night in Baqiu. At dawn the next day, he set out with an army of 30,000 people, crossed Dongting Lake and entered the Yuanshui River. Then he headed west along the Yuanshui River, all the way to the
March to the besieged Linyuan City.
...Traveling upstream, at dusk the next day, the army was no more than a hundred miles away from Linyuan.
At this time, many fleeing people began to be encountered one after another, and following the reports from the scouts, a small group of barbarian scouts were discovered in front of them. Obviously, the barbarians were not stupid, and were also on guard against the arrival of Yan Liang's army.
As dusk approached, Yan Liang ordered the entire army to camp by the Yuan River and wait until dawn in the morning before setting off to attack Linyuan.
As night falls, smoke is everywhere in the military camp, and all the soldiers are cooking pots.
In the big tent, Yan Liang was examining the map in the Wuling area, thinking about strategies to defeat the enemy.
"My lord, why do you need so much consideration in fighting the barbarians? Please give the last general three thousand elite soldiers. The last general will definitely defeat Nasamoko and lift the siege of Linyuan in one fell swoop."
Zhou Cang clapped his chest and asked for a fight, showing full confidence.
The Wuxi barbarians were not skilled in weapons and did not practice the art of war. Apart from being brave, they were not actually elite warriors.
With Zhou Cang's ability in commanding troops, he led three thousand warriors with excellent equipment and strict military discipline to forcibly defeat the Wuxi barbarians. Theoretically, it was not difficult.
Naturally, Yan Liang would not be afraid of the Wuxi barbarian army, but defeating Samoko and lifting the siege of Linyuan was not his ultimate goal.
Yan Liang then turned his gaze to Ma Su, "Ma Shuzuo, what do you think?"
Ma Di cupped his hands and said, "My lord, my subordinates think that General Zifeng has underestimated this Samoko."
"Underestimating him? Isn't he just a barbarian? Why did I underestimate him?" Zhou Cang looked a little puzzled.
Ma Di smiled and said unhurriedly: "Although Samoko is a Wuxi barbarian, as far as I know, he is a righteous man. He has always made friends with many powerful people from the Han Dynasty. Not only is he excellent in martial arts, but he is also a righteous man."
General Zifeng is quite capable of using troops. If he wants to defeat 20,000 of his troops with only 3,000 soldiers and horses, I'm afraid it will not be easy."
After Ma Su mentioned this, Yan Liang suddenly remembered that Samoko was indeed a fierce general. In the novel, this person seemed to have killed Gan Ning, who was suffering from illness.
If such a fierce general can be used by me... Yan Liang's thoughts turned around, and a vague idea appeared in his mind.
Zhou Cang saw Ma Su praising a barbarian so highly, but he was a little disapproving. He snorted coldly: "What's this about Samoko? Even if his martial arts are superb, so what? No matter how strong he is, can he still be stronger than the lord?"
Ma Di hurriedly said: "Shamoko is naturally far inferior to my lord, but now our biggest enemy is Soochow. If we blindly use force and waste our troops on pacifying the Wuxi barbarians, wouldn't it seem that the gains outweigh the losses."
Hearing these words, Yan Liang couldn't help but be even more impressed by the young prodigy in front of him.
"At such a young age, he can have such an overall view. This Ma Su is indeed a rare talent. It is a pity that Zhuge Liang in history did not use it and ruined such a genius...
"
While he was secretly admiring it, Yan Liang said happily: "What Ma Su said is extremely true. This southern expedition is precisely to reduce unnecessary losses. Ma Su, do you have any good ideas?"
"I do have a plan, maybe I can help my lord." Ma Di showed a sly smile, as if he had a "premeditated plan".
Yan Liang's great interest is to wash his ears and listen quietly.
Ma Su then explained his plan in an awkward manner.
After hearing this, Yan Liang glanced at the map of Wuling area for a while, carefully analyzing Ma Su's strategy. Gradually, Yan Liang's blade-like eyes showed a bit of a sly smile.
Ma Di followed up and said: "Although this plan is not a brilliant plan, I think it is enough to deal with Nashamoko."
Yan Liang stood with his hands behind his hands, and after thinking for a moment with a deep brow, he said happily: "This plan is very good, very good, let's follow your plan, and let's teach the bad guys like Samoko a good lesson.
They have seen the ingenuity of our Han family's military skills."
...Two days later, outside Linyuan City.
Wuling County is a remote county, and Linyuan City, where the county government is located, is not a big city.
At this moment, the city built next to the water was surrounded by barbarian camps, with all kinds of flags with strange patterns written on them, so densely packed that they seemed to be sheltered from the sun.
In the big tent, the burly and disheveled barbarian leader exuded a wild aura. The sword with a skull handle attached to his waist reflected a faint cold light.
At this time, Samoko had a ferocious look on his face and his bloodshot eyes were staring at the map.
Samoko was very unhappy.
Linyuan City was a mere city, with only two thousand county soldiers with low combat effectiveness, but it was able to withstand the fierce attack of his 20,000 strong soldiers, and it took ten years after it was reached.
Shamoko couldn't figure out what extravagant tactics Liao Li, the Han prefect in the city, had done. Jingran used 2,000 worthless county soldiers to withstand the mad attack of 20,000 Wuxi warriors.
Footsteps sounded, and a barbarian soldier entered the tent.
"Your Majesty, the Han'er General named Xing Daorong is here."
Samoko's spirit suddenly perked up, and he waved his hand and said: "What else can you report? Please invite General Xing Dao in quickly."
The barbarian soldiers came out of the tent, and not long after, a seven-foot-long, muscular general stepped into the tent. This person was Xing Daorong, the famous Wuling general.
Xing Daorong was originally the captain of Wuling County. When Yan Liang was pacifying Jingnan, the prefect of Wuling surrendered. Xing Daorong did not want to submit to Yan Liang, so he fled to Wuling Mountain with hundreds of troops and occupied the mountain as a bandit.
After Samoko was heavily bribed by Wu Jin and rebelled, he knew that Xing Daorong was familiar with the terrain in Linyuan, so he sent troops to Wuling Mountain to invite Xing Daorong and his troops to help in the battle.
Now, just when Samoko was unable to attack the city, Xing Daorong finally arrived.
When he saw Xing Daorong, Samoko laughed as if he had found a savior: "General Xing Daorong, you are finally here. I have had a hard time waiting for you."
Xing Daorong cupped his hands and said with a smile: "When Rong heard that the king was revolting against Yan, he rushed to the alliance without stopping. He was afraid that he would be a step late."
"It won't be too late, the general is here just in time. Come on, bring me some wine."
Samoko was in a good mood, so he immediately brought the barbarian soldiers and wine, and they slaughtered cattle and sheep. They made a simple oath and agreed to deal with Yan Liang together.
The covenant was concluded, and Samoko ordered a banquet to entertain his ally.
After drinking a few bottles of good wine, Shamoko began to vomit his bitterness to Xing Daorong, saying that he was really unhappy that Linyuan City could not be captured for a long time.
"I heard that General Xing Dao was once the captain of Wuling. He must be very familiar with Linyuan City. I wonder if the general has any clever ideas to help my king break the city?" Samoko asked.
After Xing Daorong heard this, he laughed, with disdain on his face, and said boldly: "What's the problem? Rong has a plan. The king can attack Linyuan City without a single soldier."
