Chapter 995: Fight for credit!

Feeling Li Xin's slightly meaningful words, Duan Zhibao was also a little confused. He couldn't figure out what Li Xin was up to today...

However, after a little thought, Duan Zhibao suddenly had an idea in his mind, and immediately asked Li Xin:
"Are you planning to use this incident to attack the Zhennan Army?"

Seeing that Duan Zhibao realized his idea, Li Xin nodded with a smile, and then said with a serious face:

"Master Duan, why do you think those big men in the upper echelons of the Fengwu Army dislike us brothers?"

Facing this question, Duan Zhibao had a complicated expression. Although he was very angry about the Fengwu Army's discrimination against close and distant members, Duan Zhibao's mind was still clear.

Duan Zhibao knew that in addition to the main reason that he had just surrendered and was not trusted by the upper echelons of the Fengwu Army, there were also considerable problems within the Jingchu Army, such as but not limited to eating empty salaries, lax military discipline, and reselling firearms and armor.

These drawbacks resulted in the Jingchu Army's weak combat effectiveness, otherwise they would not have been unable to defeat even a detachment of the Zhennan Army and the stalemate has lasted until now!
This meant that even though the Jingchu Army had surrendered to the Fengwu Army, they were still looked down upon by the Fengwu Army's upper echelons, and received the worst food and salary treatment!

However, although Duan Zhibao knew the reason, he was unwilling to say it directly to his subordinate Li Xin·····················

Li Xin also spoke confidently upon seeing this:
"I think the main reason is that our Jingchu Army didn't achieve any results and was looked down upon by those bastards in the Fengwu Army!"

"As far as I know, the Fengwu Army has always had strict military discipline, emphasizing rewards for meritorious service and punishment for faults, and highly respects military merits. So right now, my Jingchu Army has not achieved the military merits it deserves, so those bastards in the Fengwu Army look down on us!"

"If we can accomplish a great feat, I believe the leaders of the Fengwu Army will look at us differently and will no longer look down on our brothers in the Jingchu Army!"

Listening to Li Xin's ideas, Duan Zhibao also felt that what he said made some sense. The Fengwu Army attached great importance to military exploits. If they could win a great victory, then their status in the Fengwu Army would naturally improve, and it would be much easier to ask for money at that time!

Although I think what Li Xin said makes sense, if military merit is so easy to gain, they would not have waited until today. Although the Zhennan Army has few troops in Jingchu, their combat effectiveness is indeed strong. It is not easy to gain military merit from them!

Seeing the confident look on Li Xin's face, Duan Zhibao looked at him deeply and said:
"What plans do you have?"

Li Xin also spoke mysteriously after hearing this:
“Although the Zhennan Army instigated me to rebel and cut off our army’s food supply, they still don’t trust me and talked to me about sending 5,000 people to garrison in our camp in Xiaowu Mountain…”

"I plan to pretend to agree, and then Sir Duan, you will lead the main force to ambush outside. When the 5,000 Zhennan troops appear, you will surround them in Xiaowu Mountain. In this way, the 5,000 Zhennan troops will be like turtles in a jar, unable to escape!"

"After we wipe out these 5,000 Zhennan troops, we can kill some more prisoners and gather more than 7,000 bandits. Then we can claim to have defeated the Zhennan troops and beheaded nearly 10,000 soldiers in Jingchu. This will be a great achievement!"

"The Fengwu Army values ​​military achievements the most. If we present this achievement to them, it will definitely shock these Fengwu Army bastards. They will never have thought that we brothers could accomplish such a feat!"

"If they try to trick people in the future, we brothers will have merits to challenge them. Otherwise, we brothers will not have the confidence to challenge them now that we have done nothing!"

""After this battle, you will definitely get what you want. The Fengwu Army sent less than a thousand muskets, and we will spit in their faces!"

Li Xin's words made Duan Zhibao more and more excited. Although the Fifth Army did not have a commander, he, the commander-in-chief, was actually the commander!
But this still made Duan Zhibao feel a little uncomfortable, for he was afraid that one day the Fengwu Army would abandon them and send a commander from within their ranks to replace him.

So Li Xin’s last sentence could be said to have touched his heart, making Duan Zhibao more and more moved································
Duan Zhibao, who was very excited, stood up from his chair and paced back and forth in the room. Thinking of the victory scene that Li Xin had just described to him, Duan Zhibao stopped and asked Li Xin solemnly:

"How confident are you that you can accomplish this?"

Li Xin said without hesitation:
"If you, Lord Duan, can give me your full support, I am 100% sure that I can accomplish this feat for you, Lord Duan!"

Duan Zhibao continued to ask:
"How can one fully support the law?"

Li Xin spoke carefully and seriously:
"Master Duan, you know that the Zhennan Army has a strong fighting capacity. And if my guess is correct, the 5,000 people who came to Xiaowu Mountain are most likely the elite troops drawn from Yongshao by the enemy. Therefore, if you want to annihilate all of these 5,000 people, you must gather a large force!"

Hearing the words "heavy troops", Duan Zhibao's eyelids jumped, and after hesitating for a moment, he said:

"How many people do you want?"

Under Duan Zhibao's gaze, Li Xin raised three fingers and said seriously:

"Sir, we need at least 30,000 people!"

At the end, Li Xin paused and added:

"A real 30,000 soldiers and horses!"

Duan Zhibao couldn't help but frowned when he got the number of 30,000. Although the Fifth Army now has more than 80,000 people on the roster, as the commander-in-chief, Duan Zhibao knows very well what the situation is below...

According to his idea, of the 80,000 soldiers on the roster, it would be great if they could actually have 50,000. Therefore, although the 30,000 troops that Li Xin wanted were nominally less than half of their Fifth Army, they actually occupied most of the troops of their Fifth Army!
From this point of view, the conditions offered by Li Xin are not low!
However, Duan Zhibao was still convinced by this number. After all, he was also a man who led troops to fight, and he knew that the combat effectiveness of the Zhennan Army was not bad.

In addition, the other side is the elite of the Zhennan Army, so to be honest, 30,000 soldiers and horses is not a lot for Li Xin!
However, if these 30,000 people were given, the troops in the base camp of Tanzhou would be relatively empty. Duan Zhibao also heard that the Zhennan Army had borrowed more than 20,000 troops from Sichuan!

Although Duan Zhibao also believed that these 20,000-plus Shu troops were going to Anqing for a decisive battle with the Fengwu Army, they might pass through Jingchu after all. As the saying goes, it is better to be safe than sorry, so Duan Zhibao had to be on guard!
Seeing Duan Zhibao's hesitation, Li Xin, who was eager to make a contribution, continued, "Sir, the opportunity is fleeting. If we succeed in this battle, no one in the Fengwu Army will be able to look down on us anymore!"

Duan Zhibao made up his mind after hearing this. He nodded at Li Xin and said:

"This battle is done!"

Li Xin was overjoyed when these words came out, but the next second Duan Zhibao's words made his smile freeze on his face!
“I will lead the team personally in this battle! We must annihilate these Zhennan troops at Xiaowu Mountain…”

Li Xin never expected Duan Zhibao to do this. He originally wanted to command this battle himself. In this way, if the battle was successful, he, Li Xin, would become famous in one battle, which would be very beneficial to his future development in the Fengwu Army.

However, no one expected Duan Zhibao to lead the team himself. In this way, even if the battle was won, most of the credit would be credited to Duan Zhibao. Even if the plan was planned by Li Xin, he could only get some benefits and would not become famous in one battle!

Thinking of this, Li Xin still wanted to fight for his own rights. He forced a smile on his face and spoke to Duan Zhibao;
"Lord Duan, as the saying goes, a son of a rich family should not sit in the hall. There are only 5,000 enemy troops. There is no need for you to take action. I, the commander, have shown great respect for them. You can stay in Tanzhou and command, and wait for good news from me!"

Duan Zhibao naturally saw what Li Xin was thinking, but he pretended not to know and patted Li Xin on the shoulder and said:

"Li Xin, you are wrong! I am just a warrior, not a son of a rich family. Marshal Ye is such a hero, and he is personally leading the battle this time. Compared with him, what am I?"

“Li Xin, you’ve done a good job, but this battle requires 50,000 soldiers and horses. The water is still too deep. I’m afraid you can’t control it…”

"So I have to lead the team personally this time. Don't worry, Li Xin, as long as we win this battle, you will definitely get a share of the credit!"

Hearing Duan Zhibao say this, Li Xin also understood that this Duan was determined to take credit for his achievement!

Although he was furious and wanted to punch Duan Zhibao's hypocritical face, as the saying goes, a higher-ranking official can crush a person, so what good solution could Li Xin have? He could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger, and said helplessly with his hands folded:

"I will follow your orders, sir! Thank you for your support!"

Seeing Li Xin bow his head, Duan Zhibao was very proud. He patted Li Xin on the shoulder again and praised:
"Among all the people in our Fifth Army, I think you, Li Xin, have the most active brains and the most promising future!"

"Your future is definitely limitless, don't forget your big brother Duan when that time comes!"

Li Xin felt so sick that he wanted to vomit, but he still had to preach hypocritically:
"Brother Duan, you are too kind. I am where I am today thanks to your cultivation. I will need your continued support in the future!"

Seeing that Li Xin was sensible and didn't take advantage of him, Duan Zhibao waved his hand and said arrogantly:

"We are all family! No need to support each other, everything can be discussed!"

“Li Xin, don’t worry! As long as your big brother Duan is in power, I will not treat you unfairly…”

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Just as Duan Zhibao and Li Xin were competing with each other for their military exploits, which had not yet been achieved, at the same time, in a luxurious mansion in Yongzhou City in the south of Jingchu.

Xu Zhaojie held a grand banquet to entertain Yang Zhen and Cai Qiang who came from Sichuan. While they were toasting, Cai Qiang raised his glass to Xu Zhaojie and said:
"I have long heard that Lord Xu is a great hero and a great man, a rare man of integrity. Today I see that he is indeed the case. I offer this glass of wine to Lord Xu!"

After he finished speaking, Cai Qiang drank the wine in the glass generously. Seeing his courage, everyone at the banquet applauded him!
Because Xu Zhaojie promised that as long as Yang Zhen and Cai Qiang led their troops to Sichuan, he would immediately fulfill his promise and hand over Yongzhou and Hengzhou to the Shu army.

So under the temptation of the two states, Yang Zhen and Cai Qiang did not hesitate at all and rushed to Jingchu day and night. Xu Zhaojie did not break his promise and readily gave the two states to the Shu army.

This also led to Yang Zhen and Cai Qiang being very satisfied with Xu Zhaojie's actions and feeling that their trip to Sichuan was not in vain!
Xu Zhaojie sneered in his heart at Cai Qiang's praise. His territory is not so easy to take!

Despite this, on the surface, Xu Zhaojie also pretended to be generous in his sermon:
"Just two state capitals, what's that?"

“Now the main force of the Fengwu Army is in the north. They are very short of troops in the southern provinces. Especially in Anqing, they only have one Fourth Army…
"This Fourth Army is made up of the former Qilu surrendered troops. They are all a bunch of rabble. If we take them down this time, I will give you half of Anqing!"

"General Yang, General Cai, what do you think?"

Although Yang Zhen and Cai Qiang thought the Fengwu Army was not so easy to deal with based on reason, a hint of greed could not help but surface in their expressions when they thought of Anqing's prosperity!
Although he wanted to ask Xu Zhaojie about the specific battle plan, the generals of the Zhennan Army who were accompanying him evaded the question and said that the real business could be discussed tomorrow!
Let’s drink and enjoy life today. We have finally sat together, so we must not ruin the mood!

After reveling for nearly two hours, the banquet was finally declared over. When Xu Zhaojie returned home, his newly recruited legal advisor Xiang Zeng was already waiting for him.

Xu Zhaojie looked at Xiang Zeng while he was drinking the hangover soup and asked calmly:

"Mr. Xiang, what can you teach me about this Shu army?"

Xiang Zeng said very calmly:
"Song Weijie is not an ordinary person. He saw that you wanted to drag Sichuan into this, so he took advantage of the situation to eliminate dissidents and sent Yang Zhen and Cai Qiang out. I believe he should have had contact with the Fengwu Army and informed them of this matter!"

"And the most important thing is, as long as the war starts on our side, I believe Song Weijie will try to unify Sichuan..."

(End of this chapter)