Zhu Nao

A few months ago, after a lot of effort, Ma Shu finally persuaded Han Rushan to send him to Huainan and allow him to build an army by himself.

Ma Shu told Han Rushan at that time that his goal was Xuzhou, as long as he could capture Xuzhou, he could add a life-saving talisman to Chen Guo.But Han Rushan didn't take it too seriously.The reason why Han Rushan agreed to release him was that first, he was a little moved by him, and wanted to give himself more escape routes; second, letting him strengthen the border defense might be useful in prolonging Chen Guo's life; He is extremely restless, so if he is released from Beijing, everyone can have peace.

In fact, trying to be quiet may be the main goal of Han Rushan and the dignitaries of Jiangning Mansion, but Ma Shu did exceed their expectations.After he came to Huainan, he immediately seized power in a big way. It only took a few months, and he really pulled out an army!

Not only that, in the past few months, Ma Shu has been targeting Xuzhou, and secretly developed a lot of eyes and ears in Xuzhou.Since Tian Chou was transferred away, and Xuzhou's defenders thought they were allies with Chen Guo, they were negligent in guarding against them, and did not notice Ma Shu's small actions at all.

Originally, Ma Shu wanted to win over more forces secretly in Xuzhou and train the army more powerfully in Xuzhou. At that time, he would be more confident of taking Xuzhou by cooperating with the outside.However, the Shu army triumphed all the way, destroying Liang Guo with lightning speed, and the speed was beyond his expectation, which made him unable to wait any longer.

He knew that Tian Chou had surrendered to Zhu Nao.Soon, Zhu Nao will send someone to take over Xuzhou.At that time, it will become even more difficult for him to seize Xuzhou!

Only now, at the time when powers are overlapping, Liang State is destroyed, and Xuzhou's defenders have not been formally accepted by the Shu army. They don't know who they are fighting for, so they must have no fighting spirit.This is his best chance to win Xuzhou!If you miss this time, it will be difficult to say in the future.

However, his order to capture Xuzhou was so sudden that even his soldiers were stunned.The soldier was shocked and said: "General Jianwu, why, why is it suddenly going to war?"

Seeing his bewildered face, Ma Shu couldn't help frowning.

He said righteously: "I have said it long ago. The Shu people are wolfish and ambitious. Now that Liang State has been destroyed, they will attack our Chen State soon! Xuzhou is the gateway to the south of the Yangtze River. If I can't take Xuzhou as soon as possible In the future, the Shu army will surely cross the south of the river from here! Once the Shu thieves attack, they will seize our land, occupy our property, rob our wives and children, and force us into slavery! As sons of the south of the Yangtze River, do we just sit and wait for death like this? !"

Since forming an army in Huainan, he has often exaggerated to his subordinates that the Shu people and the Liang people are vicious scourges.The south of the Yangtze River is a place where a small affluence is a place where people live in prosperity and have no ambition to attack the outside world.If you want to arouse the fighting spirit of the soldiers, you can only incite their fear and anxiety.

Sure enough, after he finished speaking, the soldiers thought of all the tragedies they would suffer after their hometown was captured by the Shu army, so they gritted their teeth and said, "Yes, General, I understand."

Ma Shu also knew that he might not be the only one who had concerns about the war, and he had to work harder if he wanted to successfully capture Xuzhou.So he said: "Let's go, let's go back together, gather the army, and I will personally motivate the whole army!"

After finishing speaking, he walked out of the woods, and the soldiers quickly followed.

"General Jianwu cares about the common people, he is really a loyal and brave man!" The soldiers sighed with sincere admiration.

They all knew about Ma Shu's situation. Just because of his bad background, Ma Shu was never reused in the imperial court. He had made great achievements, but was repeatedly suppressed.But even so, the group of dignitaries in the imperial court were all intoxicated, but only Ma Shu worked hard at the border to prepare for resisting the enemy's invasion.Ma Shu devoted himself to Chen Guo, and he was a rare loyal minister and general.

Hearing such praise, Ma Shu said impassionedly: "Since I am Jiangdong's son, I should guard the battlefield so that Jiangdong's fathers and villagers can sleep in peace. It is our duty to guard our homeland!"

The soldiers were moved by him, and their blood boiled immediately.

However, Ma Shu turned his face away, the moving expression was fleeting, leaving only a hint of sneer at the corner of his mouth.

It is true that Xuzhou is the gateway to Jiangnan. If he takes Xuzhou, he will be able to guard the northwest gate of Jiangdong and slow down the enemy's attack on Jiangnan.But is he really doing this for the long-term stability of the Chen Dynasty? — What a joke!Even Han Rushan himself was prepared to die calmly after being wiped out. Is Ma Shu crazy or stupid, wanting to devote himself to the rich and powerful of the Xie family and Liu family? !

The country of Chen is not his, and the glory and wealth are not his turn.Then he doesn't belong to Chen Guo, there is absolutely no way for him to keep the chastity for Chen Guo!

And he trained diligently and captured Xuzhou, not for the sake of protecting Jiangnan, but for himself.

He knew very well in his heart that once the Shu army attacked, those dignitaries of the Liu family of the Xie family had a deep foundation and great influence in the south of the Yangtze River. The Shu people would not kill them all, but would still use them to maintain their rule.But what about his harness?He has the name of a Jianwu general in vain, but he has no real power in his hands.There are so many generals in the Shu people, why should they give him a high look?He is also a subjugated minister, and I am afraid that after returning to the Shu Kingdom, the treatment will be worse than that in the Chen Kingdom, and he will have no future.

How could he be willing to perish like this?Therefore, he must make some achievements before the arrival of the Shu people, and let the world know his name as Ma Shu!Only in this way, when the Shu people come to conquer Chen Guo in the future, he will be qualified to negotiate conditions and become the next Xie Wuji and Huang Dongxuan!

And his soldiers didn't know that they were just climbing steps in the eyes of the general.In Ma Shu's provocative words, they are ready to shed their blood for Jiangdong's elders...

……

……

At night, the fires in the Xuzhou barracks were gradually extinguished, and the soldiers all rested as usual, but the main camp was still brightly lit.

The officers sat around the table, looking serious.

They also received news that Yecheng was captured by the Shu army.

"I didn't expect it to be so soon..." an officer sighed with emotion.

There were sighs one after another from the table.

Those sitting here are all Tian Chou's old troops. When Tian Chou decided to surrender to Zhu Nao, he sent an urgent order to the Xuzhou garrison to drive away all Taobei's troops.But even so, after being Liang Guo's ministers for so long, now seeing Liang Guo's collapse, they still feel sad in their hearts.

However, the throne is about to change hands, and what worries them is mainly their own future.

"Why did Mr. Tian just surrender like this?" One person couldn't help complaining, "What should we do with his surrender?"

"Yes..." Another person echoed, "Even though the battle is difficult, why didn't Mr. Tian return to Xuzhou and discuss countermeasures with us? Now that he surrendered easily, how will the people of Shu treat us?"

The faces of everyone at the table became more and more serious.

Many of them complained about Tian Chou.The complaint is not that Tian Chou rebelled against Liang and voted for Shu-Liang Guo is gone, and Tao Bei is chilling, and if he rebels, he will rebel-but that Tian Chou surrendered too quickly without consulting them in advance.

As Tian Chou's subordinates, their future is tied to Tian Chou.If Tian Chou can't get Zhu Nao's respect, then let alone these subordinates; but even if Tian Chou is reused by Zhu Nao, it's hard to say whether they can get Zhu Nao's trust.There is no shortage of soldiers and horses in the Kingdom of Shu, and they are not Zhu Nao's direct descendants, so it is inevitable to be suppressed by suspicion.For so many years, they have seen with their own eyes how Tao Bei treats those soldiers!

Originally, if Tian Chou could go back to Xuzhou first, they would hold their own troops and talk about conditions with Zhu Nao, maybe the big guys could conspire for a future together.But when Tian Chou fell, they were very passive.

Now, there are two paths before them, one is to leave Tian Chou directly, stand on their own in Xuzhou, negotiate conditions with the Shu army according to their ideas, and even fight a few battles first, let the Shu army know that they are difficult to deal with, They had to be appeased by high-ranking officials and generous salaries.If they are lucky, maybe they can find a good future. Of course, if they are unlucky, they may be smashed to pieces; the other way is to believe that Tian Chou has made plans for them, and they will be obedient without fighting or grabbing, and let the Shu people arrange .

Both paths have risks and opportunities.

The atmosphere in the tent became more and more tense, and the officers couldn't help turning their eyes to Xiao Jia who was sitting in the chief seat.After Tian Chou left, Xiao Jia is currently in charge of the military and horse power in Xuzhou.

After a long time, Xiao Jia finally spoke slowly: "Grand Xu is far-sighted, wise and decisive. He was not captured by the Shu army, but surrendered voluntarily. Since he did this, he must have his reasons. We should still believe that Mr. Xu..."

There was silence.

Xiao Jia said these words.It was also a struggle.The higher up they are, the more things need to be considered.They have made great contributions over the years, but they have also made many enemies.They were afraid that they would not be treated kindly by the Shu people. Not only were they reluctant to give up their power, but also because they might not even be able to protect themselves once power was delegated.

But these people are Tian Chou's confidants after all, and they have a deep friendship with Tian Chou after so many years. Tian Chou treats them not as ruthlessly as he treats those miscellaneous soldiers.They still have a glimmer of hope, maybe Tian Chou has indeed planned a way out for them...

"or……"

Suddenly a person spoke to break the silence, and everyone looked at him.The man paused, and said, "How about we march south, take Huainan first, and then go down the Huai River and Surabaya, attacking Huai'an from both sides! As long as we get Huainan and Huai'an, we can attack Jiangning at any time! Wait for Shu After the emperor pacified the Liang Kingdom, the next step is to plan for the Chen Kingdom. We offer this great gift to the Shu Emperor, so we are not afraid that he will treat us brothers badly!"

Everyone who said this was taken aback, and several people's eyes lit up immediately.

Needless to say, this is really a good idea.If he threatened Zhu Nao by relying on the self-respect of the soldiers, even if Zhu Nao gave in in the end and gave them high officials and generous salaries, there would inevitably be grudges in his heart.After the world is peaceful, it is very likely that they will still wait for an opportunity to get rid of them.But if they can make military achievements for Jun Nao, Jun Nao dare not treat them badly!This is not only because they made Jun Nao believe in their loyalty after they made meritorious service, but more importantly, if Jun Nao did not reward the heroes, it would be unreasonable logically, and it would also discourage the enthusiasm of other courtiers.

Even Xiao Jia nodded and said: "That's a good idea! The army of Chen Guo is full of embroidered pillows, which are vulnerable to a single blow. And now they regard us as allies, so they must have little defense against us. As long as we send troops, the chances of winning are great! But...if I really want to use troops, I'd better ask Mr. Tian for instructions first, and then make a decision."

In the end, this matter is of great importance. If Jun Nao had a plan in advance, they may destroy Jun Nao's plan and become self-defeating.

But thinking of the idea of ​​taking the initiative to fight, it gave them a lot of confidence in their prospects.In the final analysis, it is because Zhu Nao has spread his reputation of being open-minded and knowing people well over the years, so that people are not so resistant to joining him.If it was Tao Bei and his like, I am afraid that these Xuzhou soldiers will never surrender obediently in order to protect themselves.

The officer who first suggested marching troops to the south of the Yangtze River said: "Even if we want to ask Mr. Tian for instructions before sending troops, we should make preparations before the battle. Now we are stepping up military training, and we have to send spies to Huainan, Huai'an and other places to find out whether Chen The deployment of the army..."

"That's right." The officers nodded in agreement.Fighting a war has never been said to start a war. Whoever prepares better before the war will have a better chance of winning.

Without further ado, everyone quickly took out a map, studied the terrain of Huainan, discussed the plan of using troops, and assigned tasks.

However, they didn't know that Ma Shu had already started preparing for what they thought of doing today half a year ago.

The officers were discussing in full swing, when suddenly one of them made a silence gesture, frowned and said, "Shh... Listen, is there any movement outside?"

Everyone was a little bit disapproving.What sounds can there be in the middle of the night?

However, when they really calmed down and listened carefully, their expressions gradually changed: Why does it seem that someone is really shouting?

Xiao Jia hurriedly pointed at someone and said, "Go out and have a look, what happened outside?"

The man got the order and ran out quickly.

Everyone in the tent lost their minds about talking, and they all went outside the tent to have a look, and they saw an inexplicable fire in the distance!Listen carefully, the shouts are getting louder and louder!

Not long after, the person who was sent to investigate the situation came back scrambling.

"Xiao Gong, it's not good!!!" The man panicked and said, "There is an enemy attack at night, and the third battalion in the southeast has been broken!!!"

"What?!" Everyone's expression changed.enemy?Where did the enemy come from? !

However, now is not the time to worry about this, Xiao Jia said decisively: "Hurry up, beat the drums and fight!"

All the officers ran away, busy to assemble their own soldiers and horses.They were also ambitious and wanted to capture Huainan as their pledge of allegiance.But once Xuzhou makes mistakes, even if Tian Chou thinks about them again, their future will be over!

In the dark night, patches of flames lit up quickly, and in a blink of an eye, Xuzhou became a fierce battlefield!