"These disputes are not worth arguing about at present. The Tartars outside Yanmen Pass, who are eyeing covetously, are the most pressing issue to discuss. How about the two armies joining forces to defeat the Tartars first, Your Highness?"
As soon as Xiao Zheng finished speaking, Xiao Youcheng picked up his teacup and gently saluted Xiao Zheng.
"I have the same intention!"
The tense nerves of the negotiators on both sides finally relaxed. Being talented military commanders, they quickly focused their eyes on the map in front of them and began to analyze the pros and cons of when to send troops and how to cooperate.
Jiang Da and the others noticed that although Prince Kang was of royal blood, he was not arrogant. He listened attentively to others' ideas and nodded slightly from time to time. His words were well - organized and full of substance, far from being empty talk. Compared with the previous incompetent envoy, it was a world of difference.
After the general direction was set, the rest of the discussion was about how to cooperate better.
The Tartar army was now short of food and supplies, and the situation was urgent. To stabilize them, Xiao Zheng pretended to be interested in an alliance, which made them stay on the border observing for a long time. Now they could no longer hold back. Even if the Great Yuan army hadn't sent troops, they were bound to take a desperate gamble.
Once this war started, only by uprooting and completely annihilating the Tartar army could the northwest border be kept peaceful for twenty years.
The general of the vanguard team straightforwardly proposed to use fire attack, but Lu Chao shook his head.
"I think the fire - attack plan needs to be changed. It's already past the Beginning of Spring, and there will be more rainy days. It looks like it's going to rain. The fire may not burn well."
The plain was not like the inland areas of the Central Plains where there were many branches and could be easily set on fire by pouring kerosene. If it rained on the plain and the grass was trampled by horses' hooves, it wouldn't be as easy to ignite as in winter.
"Yeah! That makes sense! And now the Tartars are short of food, and the hay around Yanmen Pass has been eaten bare by their horses."
Xiao Zheng nodded in agreement and added.
"I have an idea."
Lu Chao counted on his fingers.
"Can Mr. Lu tell fortunes?"
Zhang Hu couldn't help asking.
Everyone also showed confused expressions.
"No, I'm counting how many beans we brought."
Xiao Zheng immediately understood what he meant.
"Good idea!"
Everyone looked at the two of them in confusion. What did it mean?
"Now that the Tartars are short of food, their horses probably haven't been well - fed. In my opinion, when we attack, we can scatter beans on the ground. How can the hungry Tartar horses resist the beans? At that time, while the enemy's warhorses are out of control and in a mess, it will be much easier for our army to defeat the enemy."
It would just consume a lot of beans.
"Great strategy!!"
"Tsk tsk tsk!! Those sons - of - bitches' horses are really lucky!! These beans are our rations!!"
Xiao Youcheng nodded approvingly.
"Then our army's warhorses should eat enough beans in the next few days and be well - fed before going into battle."
Xiao Zheng looked at Lu Chao somewhat embarrassedly and said frankly,
"The food supplies in Shuozhou City are tight. We probably don't have enough beans."
Everyone could only look at Prince Kang again.
Xiao Youcheng waved his hand: "We're all on the same side. Later, I'll arrange for someone to send the beans to you."
"Your Highness, Prince Kang, is wise!"
"Thank you, Your Highness, Prince Kang, for your generosity!"
With this strategy, the generals on both sides continued to discuss. The soldiers of the Xiao family's army had fought against the Tartar army many times and had experience. They told Prince Kang's subordinates all the precautions during the confrontation one by one.
Now that it wasn't the time for negotiation, everyone seemed to deliberately avoid talking about the future, and there was a sense of mutual appreciation.
Lu Chao stood up. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice in his ear.
He turned his head and his eyes lit up. Somehow, Xiao Zheng was standing beside him.
Lu Chao had a lot of things he wanted to ask, but now that he saw her, he didn't know what to say. The words of comfort he wanted to say seemed too pale. He could only pat Xiao Zheng on the back like a brother to comfort her.
On the opposite side, Jiang Da's eyes, as big as copper bells, widened in shock.
"Im...pertinent... Mm."
As soon as he opened his mouth, Zhang Hu covered his mouth. Jiang Da pulled Zhang Hu's hand away and said angrily,
"He dared to be disrespectful to the general!"
Zhang Hu glanced at him.
"The general is highly skilled in martial arts. If she was dissatisfied, Mr. Lu would have been lying on the ground long ago."
Have some sense! Can't you see that the general moved over there little by little on her own?!!
Jiang Da, you stupid fool, stop looking over there! Can't you see the general's eyes sweeping over?
Zhang Hu's words made sense, and Jiang Da didn't know how to refute for a moment.
"Think about it. The general is not an ordinary woman. Now she's also the lord of a city. Is it too much for her to find a young man?"
Jiang Da thought: Well, it seems really not too much. With the general's achievements, she can find several more.
"That's right. In my experience, the general is young and hasn't seen many men. There are only rough and tough soldiers in the army. After seeing them for a long time, she gets bored. Now she's very fond of this rare one. But men are all like this. Instead of trying to stop her desperately, it's better to let her hit the wall on her own. Don't you think so?"
Zhang Hu stroked his chin. Although he admitted that Mr. Lu was extremely intelligent and had helped them, as a man, which man didn't like gentle and refined ladies from noble families? Moreover, he was a young master from a prominent family.
Zhang Hu secretly speculated that those people must have had such a plan: to make the general sink into love and be trapped in the gentle hometown, so that she would stay at home as a good wife and mother and have no more interest in war. No wonder they weren't surprised at all when they learned that the general was a woman. It turned out that everything was in their plan!
It was an open plot!
Prince Kang and the others stooped so low and acted so realistically just to persuade the general to surrender. He didn't believe that he wouldn't show his true colors. When the general recognized his true face, she would definitely not trust men easily again.
Jiang Da hesitated and nodded.
In fact, not only Zhang Hu and the others were whispering, but Xiao Youcheng also noticed it from the corner of his eye. He just avoided the sight casually as if nothing had happened.
"Is the honey..."
"You..."
Both of them spoke at the same time and stopped when they heard each other's voices.
"The honey is great! Look, isn't my body much better now!"
Lu Chao smiled.
Xiao Zheng saw that although he was thin, his face was indeed better than the last time they met, and she also curved her lips.
"Sorry, I should have observed for a few more days before leaving."
Lu Chao's eyes felt a bit dry. There were a new group of people beside Xiao Zheng. The right sleeve of Zhang Hu, who had always followed her, was empty. One could imagine how fierce the battle was at that time.
A few months ago, he was still a child under the protection of his elders. Now he had to shelter the tens of thousands of people in Shuozhou from the wind and rain.
"This is not your fault. You've helped enough. We hid some of the food supplies you sent in the cellar. Unexpectedly, it saved the lives of tens of thousands of people in Shuozhou later. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be standing here now."
"Oh, by the way, the wrist warmers you sent also helped me a lot."
The arrows from the sleeve were after all tiny. If they didn't hit the right spot, they wouldn't be able to take the enemy's life. So Lu Chao had dipped all the sleeve arrows in a deadly poison. Unexpectedly, this poison became the sharp weapon for her to capture Shuozhou.
