Chapter 685: To promote, you must first suppress!

"Wang Xuecheng, don't you want to know what we want to do?"

“No problem! As long as you kneel down and beg me, I will tell you…”

"Hahaha!"

Looking at Xu Dake who was laughing arrogantly without fear of death, Wang Xuecheng was not angry at all. Instead, he patted Xu Dake's bloodstained face and said with a smile:

"Xu Dake is right. I am really a dog raised by the Marshal. I will bite whoever the Marshal tells me to bite!"

After saying that, Wang Xuecheng didn't say anything more to Xu Dake. He just waved behind him, and a trembling mother and son were brought up by the soldiers.

When the mother and son saw the bloody body of Xu Dake on the stake, they were suddenly filled with surprise and grief and couldn't help but shout out loudly:

"Master!"

"father"

As they were talking, the mother and son were about to run towards Xu Dake, but as soon as they made a move, they were stopped by the soldiers. When Xu Dake saw the mother and son, he was stunned at first, and then he became furious and shouted angrily at Wang Xuecheng:
"Wang Xuecheng, I am going to kill you. I want to peel off your skin, pull out your tendons, and grind your bones to dust!"

Listening to Xu Dake's curse, Wang Xuecheng still said calmly:
"Brother Dake, your Lord sent you here to gather intelligence, not to have a good time. But you found a lover and had a child here. Do you think you are worthy of your Lord?"

After saying that, Wang Xuecheng smiled and waved his hand, and two sharp blades immediately stabbed out from the lower abdomen of Xu Dake's wife and children. Looking at his wife and children dying in front of him, Xu Dake's eyes suddenly turned bloodshot, and he cursed Wang Xuecheng like a ghost.

"Wang Xuecheng, I would never bother you even if I became a ghost..."

Wang Xuecheng smiled and said:
"Brother Dake, why are you pretending? You don't care about them at all. You clearly had the opportunity to save them, but you chose to do nothing and even tried to provoke me. They didn't die in my hands, but in your hands!"

Xu Dake was speechless when he heard this. Just as he was about to curse again to cover up his anger, a lucky charm appeared in Wang Xuecheng's hand.
"Brother Dake, do you recognize this thing?"

Seeing the object in Wang Xuecheng's hand, Xu Dake was shocked. However, with the experience and lessons learned, he did not curse at this time. Instead, he kept his mouth shut. Seeing this, Wang Xuecheng spoke again:
"Huainan, Kangyin, Liude County, Maqiao Town, Xuwang Township!"

Listening to Wang Xuecheng saying this series of place names, Xu Dake no longer had any hope in his heart and he closed his eyes in pain.

Wang Xuecheng saw this and said calmly:

"You have managed to hold out until now under the measures taken by our Coordination Office. Xu Dake, you have done your Lord a good job. Now it is your Lord who is sorry for not taking good care of your family!"

“Now the life and death of your parents, wife, children, brothers and sisters all depend on your decision. You must think carefully about what to do…”

Xu Dake glared at Wang Xuecheng when he heard this. Wang Xuecheng was no longer interested in talking to him and immediately instructed Guo Qian beside him:

"I'll leave this to you!"

After saying that, Wang Xuecheng turned around and left without looking back. Although he didn't know how many people he had killed, he still wasn't used to the bloody smell in prison.

An incense stick later, Wang Xuecheng, who was sitting in the side room drinking tea, received Xu Dake's confession from Guo Qian. Looking at the confession, Wang Xuecheng narrowed his eyes and felt a little scared. Fortunately, he had pried open Xu Dake's mouth and knew the actions of this gang of bastards. Otherwise, if they really let them complete the action, the Marshal would definitely kill him and Huo San!
Thinking of this, Wang Xuecheng planned to deploy as soon as possible to wipe out the group of rats that sneaked into Yijing. Before leaving, he instructed Guo Qian:

"Take good care of Xu Dake and hire a good doctor to treat his injuries. He holds a high position in the Zhennan Army and there is still a lot of information we can extract from him!"

Facing Wang Xuecheng's instructions, Guo Qian seemed a little hesitant. Seeing this, Wang Xuecheng seemed to realize something and asked:
"Is Xu Dake dead?"

Seeing that Wang Xuecheng had discovered him, Guo Qian nodded somewhat awkwardly and said:

"We were all very happy after hearing what he said, so we let our guard down for a moment, and Xu Dake took this opportunity to bite his tongue and commit suicide!"

After hearing what Guo Qian said, a cold light flashed in Wang Xuecheng's eyes, and he slapped him hard.

"Useless things!"

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Yi Jing, Fengwu Army General Staff

Ye Mingsheng stood beside the sand table in the conference room, listening to Deputy Chief of Staff Zhao Han's introduction to the situation in Yunbin:
"Reporting to the commander, according to the intelligence gathered from the front, the enemy's 170,000 troops are divided into three routes to attack Jinzhong. The southern and northern routes are currently still holding our army back. The enemy's main attack direction is still the Liang army led by Wang Muzhi in the middle. The enemy's strategy now seems to be a little hesitant!" "On the one hand, the enemy wants to take down our army in one fell swoop like thunder sweeping away fallen leaves, but they are also afraid of the heavy artillery deployed by our army in the four outer counties. They are afraid that they will suffer too many casualties if they force the siege, so they want to use the Liang army to cut off the connection between our Jinzhong and the four outer counties, and then slowly attack the city!"

"At the beginning of the war, Wang Muzhi led 50,000 Liang troops and set out from Dagu County to advance rapidly. In more than two days, they reached the west bank of the Sanchuan River. They even used their superior military strength to forcibly send some troops to the east bank of the Sanchuan River. However, Chief of Staff He soon realized their intentions and transferred two battalions of troops from the Second Army to Commander Guo!"

“When Commander Guo received reinforcements, he quickly annihilated the Liang army that had crossed the Sanchuan River. According to the battle report, we killed 2,000 enemies, captured 2,000 enemies, and thousands of other enemies were drowned in the Sanchuan River when they retreated. After this battle, Wang Muzhi still did not give up, and even tried to cross the river at night, but was blocked by Commander Guo. Currently, our army and the enemy are in a standoff along the Sanchuan River..."

After listening to Zhao Han's introduction, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and said:

"What does the General Staff think about the direction of the situation in Yunbing?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Zhao Han organized his words and said:

"Reporting to the Marshal, the General Staff believes that the enemy's current tactics of advancing from the center and dividing and encircling have officially failed as Wang Muzhi's troops are unable to cross the Sanchuan River!"

"At the same time, our Flying Tiger Battalion and the Coordination Office have jointly taken action and have burned down three enemy granaries in Jinyang and Guanzhong, and assassinated 19 officials of the Luoan court. These people are Shangguan Hongyuan's followers, and they are mainly responsible for the supply of the imperial army. Once they die, even if Shangguan Hongyuan can immediately find someone to replace them, it will inevitably have an adverse impact on the enemy's logistics supply!"

"According to the response from our secret agents in Luoan, Shangguan Hongyuan was furious about our army's actions behind enemy lines. On the one hand, he demanded that the guards of the grain roads and granaries be strengthened, and on the other hand, he also asked the Supervisory Department to eliminate our army's actions behind enemy lines as soon as possible."

"Based on this, the General Staff has determined that under the pressure of logistical supply, the enemy will likely be forced to abandon the current diversionary attack on the outer counties and switch to a strong attack. In this case, the guards deployed in the four outer counties will be under great pressure!"

"In the face of the enemy's strong attack, all our army can do is to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing circumstances. The cavalry of the Third Army will ensure the communication and transportation of supplies between Jinzhong and the four surrounding counties. The Flying Tiger Battalion and the General Coordination Office will strengthen harassment and sabotage behind enemy lines..."
"According to the estimates of the General Staff, the enemy's offensive will last at least a month. At least two of the four outer county towns will be lost, and it is very likely that all four will be lost. The two divisions of 50,000 troops deployed in the four county towns will suffer losses of more than 40%!"

At the end, Zhao Han's voice became more serious and low. Behind these cold numbers are living lives and families!

Ye Mingsheng just nodded slightly when he heard this. He had already been mentally prepared for the casualties in this battle. The soldiers' sacrifice was for a better tomorrow and to create an unprecedented prosperous era. Their sacrifice was worth it!
Just as Ye Mingsheng was about to make a summary speech on the forecast of the General Staff, the door of the conference room was suddenly opened, and the confidential staff officer Cao Huan walked in and reported to Ye Mingsheng in a heavy voice:

"Report to the Marshal, the news from the First Army and the Seventh Division has been delivered!"

After saying that, he handed the battle report to Ye Mingsheng with both hands.

Upon hearing this news, Ye Mingsheng's eyes lit up, and without much hesitation he ordered:
"Read!"

Cao Huan did not execute Ye Mingsheng's order immediately, but seemed a little hesitant, as if he wanted to say something to Ye Mingsheng, but was very hesitant in front of so many people.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng also had a bad premonition. At this time, Ye Cheng, who was standing aside, was very considerate and took the battle report from Cao Huan and handed it to Ye Mingsheng...
Ye Mingsheng picked up the battle report and started reading it. After reading only a short paragraph, he couldn't help but feel nervous. However, his deep scheming made him continue reading the report without any expression. After reading the report carefully twice, Ye Mingsheng, who still maintained a calm expression, handed the report to Zhao Han, who was a little curious.

Zhao Han obviously didn't have as good a skill in cultivating his Qi as Ye Mingsheng. After reading the battle report, his face suddenly changed. Ye Mingsheng said calmly:

"I'll give you one day to think of a solution. Tomorrow morning, come to my study and report!"

"Yes!"

After getting a positive answer, Ye Mingsheng immediately walked out of the staff headquarters and got on the carriage back home under strict guard.

Sitting in the carriage, Ye Mingsheng closed his eyes and thought about the battle report he had just read. There was good news and bad news!
The bad news is that five days ago in Chengfeng County, Anqing, Yuan Song's troops who were attacking the city were ambushed by Xu Zhaojie. The ambush not only injured Yuan Song himself, but also caused more than 3,000 casualties in the First Division led by him. Among them, Bai Changrong, the commander who was responsible for the rearguard, was seriously injured, and the commander Gao Chenghao died in battle.

After defeating the First Division led by Yuan Song, Xu Zhaojie originally wanted to return to annihilate the First Army Cavalry Unit that had penetrated deep into the heart of Anqing. However, the cavalry commander Xia Yunsheng was also very alert, and seeing that things were not going well, he immediately withdrew to Fengqiu...

There is no doubt that according to the battle report, the Fengwu Army suffered a defeat on the front line facing Xu Zhaojie. The loss of both soldiers and generals could even be said to be the most serious defeat the Fengwu Army had ever encountered since its establishment.

Although due to time constraints, Xu Zhaojie might still be in Anqing when this battle report was written, but if Ye Mingsheng's judgment is correct, Xu Zhaojie might have already rushed into Hebei and Henan, slaughtering officials supported by the Fengwu Army and gentry who supported the Fengwu Army.

Ye Mingsheng knew about Yuan Song's proactive attack tactics when confronting Xu Zhaojie. Due to his trust in Yuan Song and the pain of not being able to understand the battle situation on the front line in time, Ye Mingsheng allowed Yuan Song to act at his convenience. Although Yuan Song was defeated this time, Ye Mingsheng did not blame him too much in his heart.

After all, with Xu Zhaojie's ability, even if you replace Yuan Song with Guo Zhiping or Lin Huaiwu, you will not be able to win. Judging from the battle report, Xu Zhaojie first pretended to mobilize heavy troops to encircle and suppress the cavalry sent by Yuan Song to penetrate deep into the hinterland of Anqing to cause trouble, and lured Yuan Song out from Fengqiu!
As the recognized number one general of the Fengwu Army, Yuan Song would not simply believe Xu Zhaojie's movements. He also sent out a large number of scouts to investigate the movements of Xu Zhaojie's main troops. When it was confirmed that Xu Zhaojie was indeed leading the main force to wipe out the cavalry, Yuan Song led his troops out of Fengqiu to prepare for a surprise attack on Chengfeng County.

Xu Zhaojie was also a ruthless man. After learning that Yuan Song had led his troops out, he was about to return to Anqing City with his troops, but he led his troops on a forced march for a day and a night, and returned to an ambush around Chengfeng County. One thing that needs to be noted here is that because the search range of the scouts sent by Yuan Song was ten miles, in order to avoid being discovered by the scouts, Xu Zhaojie could only ambush fifteen miles away.

This directly led to the fact that when Yuan Song led his troops to attack Chengfeng County, Xu Zhaojie, who originally wanted to annihilate Yuan Song's troops in one fell swoop by relying on an ambush, could only launch an attack from fifteen miles away. This gave Yuan Song time to react, and he retreated calmly with only more than 3,000 casualties...
(Dear readers, I thought about this chapter for a long time. The main reason is that I feel that the protagonist's development is too smooth and he has basically never encountered failure. So I want to write a failure to hone his character. But please remember one thing - first criticize before you praise!)

(End of this chapter)