Chapter 33 Section VII

In the reinforcement position outside Yatan Village, an open space was surrounded. Bi Wei dispatched more than 20 engineers among the engineers to go there skillfully. Every day, he cut the hides of cattle and sheep, sewed them up, and then painted them with asphalt.In just one day's work, one-fifth of the flying capsule of the airship has been made. According to this progress, the airship can be made on the sixth day.The production cost of the airship team is too high, and many recruits in the Republican Army have never seen it before. Only a few veterans still remember this magical weapon in the Republican Army. At this scene, those veterans were elated, and felt that this battle was definitely won.They didn't know that the airship couldn't carry people at all, let alone carry mines.

Zheng Sichu watched the engineers making the airship, but suddenly felt a little uneasy in his heart.Originally, he only thought that his tricks were well established, and the enemy would definitely fall into this trap, but after hearing Bi Wei's words, he couldn't help but hesitated again.What the enemy's generals think and how to deal with it is indeed unknown. How can one wishful thinking that the enemy will act according to his own plan?Although Bi Wei added a lot to this plan, if the enemy ignores it completely and insists on sticking to it, it is bound to become a forceful attack again.And the enemy has accumulated a large amount of food and grass in Tianlu Pass, which is enough to last until next year. If the enemy really doesn't fall for it, is it really necessary to fight a war of attrition and win with the superiority of troops?

The bandit army has only a total of more than 10,000 people, and they lack supplements. When the republican army keeps replenishing them, they must not be able to afford it.But the top strategists, in order to subdue the enemy without fighting, use such a high price to put down such a bandit army, even if they win, it is not worth the loss.He couldn't help but feel a little dazed. The enemy's best strategy is to surrender with no hands and let the Republican Army give them a proper place. This is the best result, but he also knows that such a thing is wishful thinking, it is absolutely impossible, and this battle must be separated A victory or defeat comes.One side has a favorable location, and the other side has a superior force. Now the strength of the two sides should be 50-50, and the Republican Army has the upper hand. However, if the winner is to be determined, both sides will have to pay a very heavy price.

"Staff Zheng." Fang Ruoshui's voice sounded from behind.Zheng Sichu turned around, only to see Fang Ruoshui walking towards him protected by two personal soldiers.He knelt down and bowed: "General Fang, the last general is polite." Fang Ruoshui said: "This strategy..." Zheng Sichu didn't wait for him to finish speaking, and rushed to say: "This plan is easy to negotiate, General Fang, please rest assured." But he was secretly annoyed.Fang Ruoshui is also considered a famous general, so why did he say it in public without knowing the importance?Although this is the camp of the Republican Army, Anzhi will not have spies from the bandit army here.Fang Ruoshui seemed to be able to save it, and immediately said: "Exactly." He looked around and said, "Officer Zheng, I have some highland barley wine in my tent, go and drink a cup to keep out the cold."

Langyue province grows a kind of wheat called highland barley.Highland barley is very cold-resistant, so it can grow here, and the taste of wine is very mellow.Soldiers in the army are not allowed to drink alcohol when they are on an expedition, but generals are not within this prohibition.Although Zheng Sichu is young, he is already well-known in the army for his drinking capacity. Fang Ruoshui has been known for a long time for the son of the Secretary of State, and now he is also in the bandit suppression army. , It is still possible to be promoted to an official position by one or two levels.

Zheng Sichu's mouth watered when he heard the word "wine". Even though he knew that drinking was not good, he was eager to try it.Following Fang Ruoshui to his commander's tent, Fang Ruoshui asked the soldiers to bring up the wine and dishes.The whole army of Bi Wei's Fire Corps was treated equally, and even Zheng Sichu and his staff could only eat a la carte soup, noodle cakes, but Fang Ruoshui's commander's camp was quite different.Although there are no delicacies from mountains and seas in Langyue Province, he still has a lot of fresh vegetables and meat here. The meat is roasted so fragrant, and the vegetables are green and fresh. Fang Ruoshui poured a glass of wine and said with a smile: "Officer Zheng is handsome, come on, Come, let me toast you first."

The highland barley wine tasted very mellow. Zheng Sichu picked up the cup and said with a smile, "General Fang is overwhelmed. The last general is just a small soldier, and I hope General Fang will cultivate it." Fang Ruoshui said: "Don't you dare? Staff Zheng has a deep understanding of the art of war. How old is Fang? Compared with Staff Zheng, he is really ashamed. Staff Zheng is so talented. Fang has a merciless request. After the war, he will invite Staff Zheng I wonder if it is possible to come to our army as a general?" Zheng Sichu was drinking a glass of wine, when he heard Fang Ruoshui's words, he felt that the taste of the wine suddenly became worse.These excessive compliments made him really uncomfortable. If his father hadn't been the Secretary of State, Fang Ruoshui probably wouldn't even look at him.But Fang Ruoshui said it out of good intentions, he said with a faint smile: "Thank you General Fang for your love, let's talk about it after the teacher."

Fang Ruoshui sighed: "I'm not talking about Lao Bi, but Staff Officer Zheng is so talented, it's really inferior under his command." Even Qu Cai would be better than being under Fang Ruoshui's tent.Zheng Sichu thought silently.Although Fang Ruoshui is as famous as Bi Wei and is one of the five generals, there is a world of difference in their abilities.Although the treatment under Fang Ruoshui's tent would be much better, but he couldn't learn much.Zheng Sichu found that even though he didn't like Bi Wei, he would rather stay under Bi Wei's command. Perhaps, in his own blood, the blood of grandfather Duan Hairuo is still flowing, eager to fight and fight.

Fang Ruoshui probably sensed that Zheng Sichu didn't really want to join the army, so he took a sip from his cup and said, "Officer Zheng, if this plan succeeds, you will be recorded first in the credit book." Zheng Sichu said: "This all depends on the command of General Fang and General Bi. The soldiers of the three armies work hard and everyone works together to succeed. General Fang, by the way, that day I heard you call the bandit army the 'Wu De Camp'. what exactly is it?" Fang Ruoshui was a little embarrassed.The law stipulates that it is not allowed to talk about the affairs of the previous dynasty, but this time it was the son of the Secretary of State who was asking, and he also missed a sentence.This can be regarded as a military situation, not a violation of discipline, he thought, and said in his mouth: "The Wude Battalion was originally the most elite army in the previous army. At the beginning, the previous dynasty had the four-phase army of earth, fire, water, and wind. Among them, the army of the earth Then there is the Wude Battalion.”

"Earth, fire, water, and wind?" Zheng Sichu was stunned, "Isn't General Bi Wei the Fire Corps? And Marshal Deng's command is also called the Water Corps. Does it matter?" Perhaps because he had spoken, Fang Ruoshui was no longer restrained, and said: "That is the water and fire armies of the previous dynasty. Marshal Deng and General Bi were both generals in the previous dynasty." "That's what happened." Zheng Sichu suddenly realized that Bi Wei should have been a minister with this Wudeying before, and he was quite familiar with it. No wonder he knew the enemy generals well.He said: "Is that Cao Wendao the president leader of Wude Camp?"

Fang Ruoshui said with a smile: "He? It's still not in the ranking. At the beginning, the Wude Camp was full of talents, the five camps of benevolence, righteousness, faith, honesty, and bravery. Cao Wendao was only the fifth, and he belonged to the leader of the brave camp. After the death of the commanders of the Yi and Lian battalions, he studied the art of war hard, and his skills have greatly improved, which is not what it used to be." It turns out that there are only two commanders left in the Wude Camp!Because the bandit army was able to resist more than 30,000 republican troops with more than 10,000 manpower, Zheng Sichu always thought that the Wude Battalion would be unharmed. What a powerful army it must have been when it was fully equipped with such combat power!What surprised Zheng Sichu even more was that Fang Ruoshui was not the incompetent person he thought he was. He knew the enemy quite well. The three marshals and the five generals are indeed all worthy of their names.If Fang Ruoshui really deserved his reputation, then with his not overwhelmingly superior force, I am afraid that the bandit army would have come out long ago, and the current confrontation would not have happened. Zheng Sichu said: "Who is the leader of the Wude camp? Is he still there?" Fang Ruoshui seemed to be swallowed, startled, Zheng Sichu asked again, Fang Ruoshui just said: "That person..." Before he finished speaking, someone suddenly said outside the door: "General Fang, there has been a change in the enemy's army!" Fang Ruoshui stood up as if he had been pardoned, walked to the door, and said, "What happened?" Outside the door is a reprimand.He knelt at the door and said, "General Fang, the bandit army once opened the door in the early morning, and a small group of troops left and disappeared." Compared with the Republican Army, the Wude Battalion knew much more about the terrain of Lang Yue Province.Fang Ruoshui said: "Understood." He closed the tent door with a look of worry on his face.Zheng Sichu said: "General Fang, what happened?" "There is a change in the bandit army. I am worried that they will send surprise soldiers to attack our food delivery team." If Fang Ruoshui had said this yesterday, Zheng Sichu would probably have smiled, thinking that Fang Ruoshui was causing trouble, so he didn't need to pay attention to it at all.But at this moment, he knew that Fang Ruoshui was by no means incompetent, so he couldn't help but think about it.Indeed, although there is only one road into Langyue Province, Wudeying has been operating here for many years and is very familiar with it. An knows if there will be any small roads connecting it.If the food transport team is attacked and the whole army runs out of food and grass, then this battle will be impossible to fight again. This is not to worry too much. Zheng Sichu stood up and said, "General Fang, are there soldiers escorting the food transport team?" Fang Ruoshui said: "General Bi only sent 50 people to meet him. Well, what we are dealing with is the Wude Battalion, at least 200 escorts are needed." "Didn't you tell General Bi?" "I've said it, but he didn't listen. He just said I was too worried." Fang Ruoshui is one level lower than Bi Wei regardless of his military rank or official position. In addition, Fang Ruoshui is newly defeated, and he is speechless in front of Bi Wei.However, Zheng Sichu felt that Fang Ruoshui's worries were not superfluous. Food and grass were the foundation of the march, and there must be no mistakes. Bi Wei was resourceful, so how could he not consider this?He nodded and said, "General Fang's concerns are justified. I'll go to advise General Bi." Fang Ruoshui breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "What are you talking about, Staff Officer Zheng? General Bi should listen to you." In fact, he has a much higher status than Zheng Sichu, but he unconsciously regards this young man as the Secretary of State himself . Zheng Sichu stood up and was about to go out when he suddenly remembered something and said again: "General Fang, was the chief general of the local army surnamed Chu?" Fang Ruoshui was startled again, and said, "You know?" "what is his name?" Fang Ruoshui seemed to be swallowing again, after thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "His name is Chu Xiuhong." As he spoke, he suddenly smiled again, and said, "Officer Zheng, I really don't want to mention that name. I'm not afraid you will laugh, Fang Ruoshui has led the army for many years, and he won more than he lost, but he lost the worst under Chu Xiuhong back then."