Chapter 528 The Ma family’s three moves!
This is not the era of relying on personal bravery hundreds of years ago, so as a general, you must learn to fight with your brain, instead of wanting to go into battle personally when encountering problems. Swords and guns are blind on the battlefield. Although the main general has personal soldiers to protect him, if he is beheaded by the enemy, the morale of his side will drop greatly at best, and the worst is that the whole line will be defeated without a leader...
Therefore, in order to be responsible for the war and the lives of the Fengwu Army soldiers, Ma Zhongjun must make Chen Chuanwu correct this bad habit!

Honestly speaking, as Chen Chuanwu's superior now, Ma Zhongjun still feels very strange. After all, when he was serving as a sentry chief under Lin Huaiwu, Chen Chuanwu was already the youngest commander in the entire army and the rising star of the Fengwu Army. But now the circumstances of the two have changed drastically!

Ma Zhongjun is now the deputy general of the First Division and is the most likely candidate to become a general after the Fengwu Army expands in the future. However, Ma Zhongjun is only a sentry leader and is serving his sentence for meritorious service. If he does not do well this time, he will never have another chance in the Fengwu Army in the future.

Whenever he saw Chen Chuanwu like this, Ma Zhongjun secretly warned himself in his heart to learn from Chen Chuanwu's example and not to be proud and complacent.

At the combat meeting, Ma Zhongjun received Ye Mingsheng's order to command Chen Chuanwu. He still had some concerns in his heart. After all, Chen Chuanwu's personality was as famous as his martial arts in the Fengwu Army. He even dared to disobey Ye Mingsheng's orders, killed prisoners privately, and got together with that old woman again. This matter spread throughout the Fengwu Army at that time!
At that time, many people in the Fengwu Army believed that Ye Mingsheng, who had always demanded strict military discipline, would most likely directly order the execution of Chen Chuanwu. Fortunately, Ye Mingsheng decided to show leniency to Chen Chuanwu because of his loyalty and the merits of following him all the way from Luoan. He only demoted Chen Chuanwu to the reserve and made him a martial arts coach...

If Chen Chuanwu just had a strong personality, it would be fine. The strict discipline of the Fengwu Army would not allow him to act recklessly. However, everyone in the Fengwu Army knew that he had a background. The Chief of Staff He Jingyun and the General of the First Division Yuan Song were both old acquaintances of his uncle Chen Yannian. In particular, Yuan Song did not hesitate to offend the Marshal in order to help Chen Chuanwu. Therefore, a guy like Chen Chuanwu who had a strong personality and a strong background really made Ma Zhongjun feel a little tricky. He was worried that Chen Chuanwu would not obey the commander.
However, perhaps it was the more than one year of training in the reserve that tempered Chen Chuanwu's impetuous heart. In short, during the time under Ma Zhongjun's command, Chen Chuanwu behaved very honestly and did not do anything that would make Ma Zhongjun worry.

Just as Ma Zhongjun was thinking, the battle in the front became more and more stalemate. The two sides were engaged in close combat, which greatly reduced the firearms advantage of the Fengwu Army.

Although they no longer had the advantage of firearms, the Fengwu Army still showed its strong side by relying on the small-scale grouping of three or five skilled people, suppressing the overall number of the Yan Army. The balance of the war gradually tilted towards the Fengwu Army, but judging from the level of resistance of the Yan Army in the earthen stronghold, even if the Fengwu Army succeeded, there would be heavy casualties!
At this critical moment, a cannon shot suddenly came from behind the Yan army in the earthen stronghold, and a group of elite soldiers holding the black dragon flag of the Fengwu Army directly rushed into the rear of the earthen stronghold. The Yan army, who had never expected that the Fengwu Army would rush out from behind, was caught off guard, and their defense line began to gradually collapse...
Seeing this through the telescope, Ma Zhongjun showed a smug look on his face, and he slowly said:

"Where is Chen Chuanwu?"

Chen Chuanwu was still sulking because Ma Zhongjun didn't let him fight. Although he was very upset that Ma Zhongjun used his official position to suppress him, he still knew the rules, so he stood up and bowed and said:

"The general is here!"

Glancing at Chen Chuanwu, Ma Zhongjun gave a calm order:
"I order you to lead your troops to attack and make sure to annihilate all of the Yan army!"

After hearing this, Chen Chuanwu was stunned at first, and then a hint of joy appeared in his eyes. Although he didn’t know how the Fengwu Army that appeared behind the earth stronghold got up, but now that the Fengwu Army was attacking from both sides, the defeat of the Yan Army in the earth stronghold was inevitable. At this time, Ma Zhongjun asked him to go up, wasn’t it...

Although he didn't know why this Ma guy was so nice to him, he thought he would be a bastard if he didn't take advantage of the opportunity. Without thinking too much, Chen Chuanwu nodded and accepted the order:

"I will obey your order and present the head of the bandit leader to you, General!"

After saying this, the anxious Chen Chuanwu set off in a hurry, not daring to delay at all, for fear that if he was a step late, all the Yan troops in the earthen village would be defeated. Looking at Chen Chuanwu's departing back, Ma Zhongjun's eyes flashed with a strange look.

The reason why he took such good care of Chen Chuanwu was not because of anything about Chen Chuanwu. Although Chen Chuanwu did not make him worry along the way, he was also very indifferent to Chen Chuanwu. The reason why he took care of Chen Chuanwu was entirely for Yuan Song's sake.

In the First Division, Yuan Song took good care of him. He did not look down on him, reject or suppress him just because he was parachuted in. Therefore, Ma Zhongjun was always grateful to Yuan Song and always thought about repaying Yuan Song when he had the chance. However, Yuan Song was in a high position and had great power in the Fengwu Army, so there was nothing he needed help with.

So Ma Zhongjun had no choice but to temporarily extend this favor to Chen Chuanwu, the nephew of an old friend whom Yuan Song took good care of!

The Yan army in the earthen camp in front of them thought they were very smart. They knew very well that although they had an advantage in manpower, more than half of these soldiers were young and strong men who had just been recruited and their combat effectiveness was questionable. They did not dare to come out and fight them head-on with swords and guns. So they deliberately built a simple earthen camp at the foot of the mountain. No matter how Ma Zhongjun sent people to challenge them, they just would not come out...
Ma Zhongjun was very clear about their attack. If he sent troops to attack, they would resist layer by layer. If they could not win, they would run into the mountains. His troops were not enough in the vast mountains, and he could not catch them at all. If he did not attack them, but bypassed them and went straight to Shunping City, they would harass his food supply from the rear!

After realizing the opponent's intention, Ma Zhongjun began to plan his own plan. When he sent people to challenge the opponent these days, he was not idle. He had been asking his soldiers to find local people to see if there was any way to go around the back of the Yan army in Tuzhai and implement the tactics of attacking from the front and back!

After several days of hard work, under the guidance of the locals, Ma Zhongjun finally found a cliff suitable for climbing. After choosing the location, Ma Zhongjun asked the Flying Tiger Battalion of the Fengwu Army, which was specially used for special operations, to use the special iron ropes made by the Manufacturing Bureau to climb up the cliff and successfully bypass the enemy.

Although the number of people in the raid was not large, on the one hand, the enemy was completely unprepared and it was difficult for them to put up an effective resistance. On the other hand, although the number of soldiers in the Flying Tiger Battalion was small, each of them was an elite in the army and well-equipped. It might be a bit exaggerated to fight one against ten, but one against three or four was still a normal operation!

It was for this reason that Ma Zhongjun watched the Fengwu Army's frontal attack fall into a stalemate, in order to attract the attention of the Yan Army in the earthen village to the front battlefield, and create the best possible opportunity for the Flying Tiger Battalion soldiers who were attacking from the rear...
As Chen Chuanwu's fresh troops were thrown into the battlefield by Ma Zhongjun, the Yan army, which was attacked from both sides, collapsed immediately. Thousands of Yan soldiers began to flee. However, because their retreat had been blocked by the Fengwu army, the Yan army, which was attacked from both sides, had only two choices: either be killed or surrender. There was no third way!
After an incense stick of time, the war ended, and the black dragon flag symbolizing the Fengwu Army was raised above the earthen village. Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Ma Zhongjun's face. He turned and looked towards the south, his eyes full of passion and desire!
Where is the direction of Shunping! Although Ye Mingsheng had emphasized the primary combat purpose of this operation when he gave them the combat mission at the combat meeting, it was not necessary to capture Shunping and Xinle, the two cities of Youyan, but to gradually erode and destroy the Yan army and try to make Xinle and Shunping a barrier to block the southward advance of the Fengwu army. But Ma Zhongjun did not think so in his heart. The news that the General Staff was planning to expand the Fengwu army was still top secret in the army, but as the deputy general of the first division and a senior general in the Fengwu army, Ma Zhongjun still heard some rumors. Therefore, the current battle of Shunping was a great opportunity. He wanted to use a brilliant victory to save enough military merits for himself!
Now this breached earthen stronghold is the last important stronghold outside Shunping. The current Shunping City is like a bride who has entered the bridal chamber and is waiting for his arrival!

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Yijing, Military Governor's Mansion
Ye Mingsheng was writing furiously at his desk. Two days ago, Jizhou suffered a flood that happened once in a decade due to heavy rain. The flood destroyed many people's houses and farmhouses, causing serious loss of life and property to the people. According to the memorial from Jizhou prefect Liu Kaiyang to Ye Mingsheng, so far, tens of thousands of people in Jizhou have been affected by the disaster, thousands of people have gone missing or died due to the flood, and the flood has caused countless refugees.

After a cup of tea, Ye Mingsheng handed the written note to Ye Cheng who was standing beside him and said;

"Send this to the Chief Secretary and give it to Master Cui Shaocui!"

"Yes!"

Due to the financial difficulties, Ye Mingsheng felt powerless about the disaster in Jizhou, but he tried his best to support Jizhou. He embezzled military funds to allocate an emergency relief fund of 20,000 taels of silver, as well as 3,000 shi of grain, 2,000 pieces of cloth and other large quantities of daily necessities to Jizhou.

In addition to supplies, Ye Mingsheng also ordered 5,000 people from Zhao Linghu's Second Division stationed in Jizhou to participate in disaster relief, and Ye Mingsheng asked the accompanying staff to prepare their itinerary. He planned to visit Jizhou in person in the next seven days to bring hope to the people of Jizhou and boost their morale...
After receiving the approval from Ye Mingsheng, Ye Cheng did not leave, but remained standing. Ye Mingsheng, who was preparing to deal with the Shanggu corruption case reported by the Censor, looked at Ye Cheng with some surprise. Under his gaze, Ye Cheng, who finally got the chance to speak, said:

"Sir, Director Wang from the Coordination Office is here. He said he has very important information to report!"

As soon as Ye Mingsheng realized the seriousness of the matter, his expression immediately became serious, and he asked Ye Cheng in a deep voice:

"Why didn't you say it just now?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's harsh questioning, Ye Cheng quickly defended himself:

"Sir, I saw you were writing a note just now, so I didn't dare to disturb you!"

Ye Mingsheng said sternly:
"When Wang Xuecheng says there is something very important, no matter what I am doing, you should report it to me immediately!"

Ye Cheng realized that he had made a mistake, and immediately lowered his head and did not dare to defend himself. He assured Ye Mingsheng:
"My Lord, I was wrong! I won't make such a mistake again!"

After listening to Ye Cheng's words, Ye Mingsheng decided to give this young man a chance. He calmed down and said:
"Let Wang Xuecheng come in..."

"Yes!"

Soon, Wang Xuecheng, who was exhausted from the journey, came to Ye Mingsheng. After bowing to Ye Mingsheng and knowing Ye Mingsheng's style, he said directly;
"Reporting to the Lord, the Coordination Office has uncovered the overall plan of the Ma family and the interest groups behind them. Their first move is to incite public opinion in the cities and villages of Youyan controlled by our army in three days to create conflicts between our army and the people. In addition, they also plan to cooperate with the Yan army in the battles in Xinle and Shunping, and arrange personnel to disguise themselves as the remnants of the Yan army to attack our army's outposts and granaries in various places!"

"Ma Hongde of the Ma family has secretly met with Qi Guangye of the Yan army. The two may have reached a consensus. In addition, the Ma family has a second trick. They are actively trying to contact the gentry and nobles who have suffered losses in our army's new policy. They want to write a joint letter to you, sir! And they have to attach a secret letter from the Yan army to threaten you to stop the implementation of the new policy!"

Wang Xuecheng paused for a moment before continuing under Ye Mingsheng's gaze:
"Ma Hongde even planned that if you don't compromise after the previous two moves, they have a third move. The Ma family will pay the Luobi people on the grassland to send troops to harass the border and create a crisis for our army from the outside to put pressure on it!"

Before Wang Xuecheng finished speaking, a fierce light suddenly emerged in Ye Mingsheng's eyes. The first two moves of the Ma family were basically within his expectations. Ye Mingsheng had been waiting for him to do so and to uproot them with a legitimate reason. However, Ye Mingsheng really did not expect that the third move, Ma Hongde would be so cruel and daring to collude with the Luobei people...

"Will you all wake up tomorrow to see the news that Kiev has been occupied by Russia? (Manual dog head!)"

(End of this chapter)