Chapter 577 False Flag Operation!

After a long silence, Guo Zhiping looked at Cheng Ran, who was kneeling on the ground, ready to die. He sighed and said:

"Well, let's give it a try..."

Just when Cheng Ran didn't know what he meant, Guo Zhiping asked in a deep voice:
"Qinglian came to Yijing, right?"

When Cheng Ran heard Guo Zhiping mention his fiancée's name, his expression dimmed by three points. He lowered his head and said:
"Qinglian and her father just came to Yijing yesterday!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Zhiping directly ordered:
"Go find Qinglian now and tell her not to delay any further. Go to the Governor's Mansion and ask the old lady to intervene. I heard that the old lady likes Qinglian very much. Only the old lady can persuade the Marshal at this time. No one else can do it!"

Cheng Ran, who had already prepared himself for certain death, immediately realized upon hearing Guo Zhiping's words that Guo Zhiping was going to help him. He was immediately overjoyed and kowtowed three times to Guo Zhiping and said;

"General, your kindness is too great for me to repay even if I die a hundred times! I am willing to follow you till death!"

Listening to what Cheng Ran said, Guo Zhiping's face became serious and he snorted coldly and said:
"I am willing to help you this time because you are a talent. Sparing your life will allow you to better serve the Fengwu Army and be loyal to the Marshal, not for your reward!"

"The decision is still in the hands of the Marshal. I can only do my best. As for success or failure, it all depends on your luck!"

At this point, Guo Zhiping's eyes flashed with coldness and he said coldly:

"This is the first and last time. If you commit crimes again, Cheng Ran, I will personally skin you alive without the higher-ups having to arrest you!"

Feeling the undisguised murderous intent in Guo Zhiping's words, Cheng Ran trembled all over and quickly assured:

“For God’s sake, I will never dare to do it again. If I, Ruoshui, violate the military law, please let me be struck by lightning and die miserably…”

After listening to Cheng Ran's oath, Guo Zhiping nodded slightly and then said:

"Come back immediately after you find Qinglian. I'll take you to the Governor's Mansion to meet the Marshal before dark!"

Cheng Ran was startled when he heard this, and said in a low voice with some trepidation in his heart:

"The General is going to the Governor's Palace?"

Guo Zhiping glanced at him and said coldly:

"Now you know you're afraid?"

Cheng Ran nodded silently, because Ye Mingsheng single-handedly founded the Fengwu Army, and in just a few years, he led the Fengwu Army to become one of the important forces competing for the world. It is precisely because of such great achievements that Ye Mingsheng's prestige in the army is unparalleled.

Although he had met Ye Mingsheng several times hiding in the crowd when Ye Mingsheng inspected the Third Division for research, when Cheng Ran really heard Guo Zhiping say that he was going to meet Ye Mingsheng, and for this reason, he was still very nervous and didn't know what to do!
Seeing Cheng Ran like this, Guo Zhiping shook his head and said:

"The order was personally issued by the Marshal. Without the Marshal's approval, who in the entire Fengwu Army can protect you?"

"Speed ​​is of the essence now. While the solution for you has not yet been decided, go to the Marshal to plead for mercy. You may still have a chance of survival. By the time the solution is issued, even if the king of heaven comes, you will be dead for sure!"

After hearing this, Cheng Ran realized more clearly how dangerous the situation he was facing was. He immediately overcame his fear, nodded, and said:

"General, I understand. I will obey you!"

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Governor's Mansion, inside the study

Ye Mingsheng, who was still unaware that the news had leaked out, was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, while Huo San stood respectfully in front of him and explained the situation.

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, General Lin Huaiwu has completely controlled Jinzhong. Zhao Jianan and Huang Wenzhe are both dead. Our army has captured more than 10,000 remnants of the Yan army. The warehouses in Jinzhong are intact and have not suffered any damage!"

"In addition, we also captured Liang Hao, the envoy sent by Shangguan Hongyuan to Jinzhong. Liang Hao is Shangguan Hongyuan's brother-in-law and is trusted by Shangguan Hongyuan. He is now being escorted to Yijing by General Lin. He will arrive in Yijing in about two days!"

After Huo San finished speaking, Ye Mingsheng rubbed his Qingming acupoint and said lightly:
"What's the situation in Jinyang?"

Seeing Ye Mingsheng asking this, Huo San said without hesitation:
"According to the report from our spies in Jinyang, Feng Han stationed in Jinyang is preparing to recruit 10,000 new soldiers. However, it seems that he does not want to attack our army, but wants to build large-scale construction around Jinyang and construct fortifications to resist our army's possible westward advance!"

After hearing this answer, Ye Mingsheng stopped what he was doing, opened his eyes, looked at Huo San and said:

"I've seen the battle report from the General Staff. You did a good job this time. The captain named Li Musheng was very courageous. Only a dozen people dared to attack Zhao Jianan's residence. You should reward him well..."

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's "not bad", Huo San's heart was filled with mixed feelings. He felt that his efforts these days were worth it. After organizing his words, he quickly replied:

"Reporting to the commander, Li Musheng is indeed a fierce general in our coordination office. He is very loyal to the Fengwu Army and you, the commander. I am very optimistic about him and have been honing his skills. Now he is doing so well in Jinzhong, which is enough to show that he is ready to take on greater responsibilities!" Ye Mingsheng nodded when he heard this, and then changed the subject and continued:
"What's the situation in the Central Plains?"

Seeing Ye Mingsheng asking this, Huo San pondered for a moment before speaking:
"The current situation in the Central Plains is somewhat chaotic. Although the peasant uprisings caught the Henan Army off guard at the beginning, captured several county towns, killed several landlords and gentry, and divided up several granaries, but as the Henan Army recovered, the uprisings exposed many problems and were defeated by the Henan Army. The captured county towns were basically taken back. Now the uprisings can only roam around the countryside!"

"Now only Zhu Sanshan, nicknamed Sanshanhao, still occupies Yingcheng. However, our spies in Yujing have also reported that the Henan Army has noticed Zhu Sanshan's existence, and they are preparing to gather heavy troops to defeat Zhu Sanshan and retake Yingcheng, an important grain-producing area..."

Hearing this, Ye Mingsheng became interested and said:
"How many soldiers does Zhu Sanshan have now?"

Huo San thought about it carefully and said:
"Before the riot, Zhu Sanshan had already stored a lot of food. The existence of these foods also allowed Zhu Sanshan to rapidly expand his strength after the riot. The number of his men also grew from more than a thousand to several thousand. When attacking Yingcheng, he took advantage of the problem of the Henan Army's unpaid wages and played the local card to accuse Gao Zongchang of injustice, which aroused strong resonance among the Yingcheng defenders and greatly weakened their fighting will. Yingcheng was captured without much effort!"

"After taking over Yingcheng, Zhu Sanshan's strength has also grown rapidly. Currently, the total number of his troops should have exceeded 10,000. If all other troops are added together, there may already be 15,000 troops, and no more than 20,000 at most!"

Listening to Huo San's introduction, Ye Mingsheng asked calmly:

"What do you think of Zhu Sanshan?"

Huo San was somewhat surprised by Ye Mingsheng's question. He thought for a while before slowly saying:

"Combining intelligence from all sides, the Battle of Yingcheng will be the key to whether Zhu Sanshan can succeed. If he can survive the encirclement and suppression of the Henan Army, he may become a major threat to Gao Zongchang, but..."

Seeing Huo San hesitated when he got to the key point, Ye Mingsheng waved his hand and said:

"Whatever you think, you can speak freely without any scruples!"

Seeing Ye Mingsheng say this, Huo Sancai was relieved of his burden and said:

"Although Zhu Sanshan is developing very fast now, I don't think he can defend Yingcheng. Among Zhu Sanshan's soldiers, except for the more than 1,000 bandits who followed him at the beginning and the more than 3,000 Henan troops who rebelled in Yingcheng, the rest are farmers. They have not received much military training. Zhu Sanshan gave them a weapon and they followed him to the battlefield!"

"In fact, Zhu Sanshan was very lucky to be able to take over Yingcheng with the help of the hometown card this time, but this is a problem of under-utilization. Playing the hometown card is a surprise move. It works well the first time, but I don't know if it will have the same effect the second time!"

"According to the intelligence sent by our spies in Yujing, because Yingcheng is an important grain-producing area, Gao Zongchang has issued a death order to recapture Yingcheng at all costs. The Henan Army has used more than 50,000 troops to encircle and suppress Zhu Sanshan. In addition, in order to prevent Zhu Sanshan from repeating his old tricks and playing the local card, the Henan Army has also made special deployments and strengthened control over the soldiers. Gao Zongchang has also invested a lot of money this time and distributed sufficient travel expenses to the soldiers!"

"So according to the current situation, if Zhu Sanshan holds the city and fights the Henan Army head-on, I don't think he can hold out for more than seven days. I think the best way for Zhu Sanshan now is to withdraw from Yingcheng, use Daya Mountain as a base, and fight guerrilla warfare with the Henan Army in the countryside."

"The Henan Army is under great financial pressure. Plus, there are peasant uprisings throughout Hebei and Henan. So as long as they hold out for a while, the Henan Army will not be able to hold on and will have to withdraw if they don't see any obvious results in a short period of time..."

Listening to Huo San's analysis, Ye Mingsheng's expression became serious. Because it would take some time to integrate Youyan's resources, it was already a consensus within the core layer of the Fengwu Army to secretly support the peasant uprisings in Hebei, Henan, Qi and Lu in order to consume Gao Zongchang and Cao Changping.

At present, the peasant uprisings in Qi, Lu, Hebei and Henan have gone from being so powerful in the beginning to being gradually suppressed by the government troops who have reacted quickly. Now only Zhu Sanshan is able to make a difference. Therefore, if Zhu Sanshan is also completely suppressed, the Fengwu Army's plan to support the peasant uprising and consume Hebei, Henan, Qi and Lu will lack an important support point, and the effect that can be achieved will be very limited.

So now that Zhu Sanshan is facing the test of life and death, Ye Mingsheng has to think carefully to see if there is any way to help Zhu Sanshan get through this difficult time.

After thinking for a while, Ye Mingsheng instructed Huo San:
"How is the false flag operation preparation going?"

When Huo San heard Ye Mingsheng ask this, he became very serious and said:

"We have already instigated a rebellion. The Yan army has previously planted intelligence personnel in Hebei and Henan. Everything is ready!"

Ye Mingsheng did not hesitate to say:
"We can start the false flag operation now. Even if we can't let Zhu Sanshan survive, we must deplete the strength of the Henan Army as much as possible!"

"Yes!"

Although using peasant uprisings to consume the strength of the Henan and Qi armies was the established policy of the Fengwu Army's next march south, this did not mean that the Fengwu Army would casually support a certain peasant uprising army...
After all, support must be put into practice, not just slogans. The Fengwu Army is prepared to provide money, food, intelligence and other resources. However, the Fengwu Army itself is not very rich in money and food. Therefore, in order to improve efficiency and make every penny count, the Fengwu Army did not make blind bets, but instead decided based on your performance in the encirclement and suppression by the government troops and whether you have potential.

It is based on this concept that the preliminary preparations of the Coordination Office have been actively carried out, but it has not officially started. Now that the first round of encirclement and suppression is coming to an end, Zhu Sanshan has demonstrated his abilities, so Ye Mingsheng is also preparing to give him a big gift package as a reward.

However, in order not to offend the gentry class represented by the powerful families, Ye Mingsheng naturally could not give this gift package openly, but gave it quietly in the name of someone else!

So even though the Yan army is already in name only, using them as a scapegoat is still a good choice!

After discussing Ji Yu's problem, Ye Mingsheng seemed to have thought of something and asked Huo San again:
"How's the battle situation in Huainan?"

Huo San thought for a moment and said:
"Sir, five days ago, the spy we planted in Xu Zhaojie's army sent a report saying that due to the great pressure of logistics and finance, Xu Zhaojie did not launch an attack on Kangyin after repelling Cao Changping and retaking Bozhou!"

“And Huainan Governor Feng Keqin has now calmed down, and is preparing to launch a counterattack on Bozhou. The current situation in Huainan is still stalemate in general. Xu Zhaojie's expansion momentum is no longer as strong as it was at the beginning. Although Xu Zhaojie is good at fighting, Feng Keqin has fought on his home ground and has a solid foundation in Huainan after more than ten years of operation. The outcome of the two sides is still unknown..."

(End of this chapter)