Ma Wei and Liu Gu were confused by this group of soldiers who had suddenly appeared to block the army's advance and then suddenly retreated without any resistance. They could only watch helplessly as they abandoned their helmets and armor and ran away, not even bothering to chase after them.
"General, this …"
Sun Ting looked in the direction of the retreat of the soldiers in surprise.
Ma Wei was also stunned for a while, not knowing what was going on.
Liu Gu rode forward to meet up with Ma Wei and Sun Ting, but he was also at a loss for what to do with this strange situation.
Ma Wei and Liu Gu discussed for a while and finally came to a conclusion.
"This group of people probably did not want to fight with us and came because of orders. But coming doesn't mean they will fight to the death. If they lost too many of their own trained soldiers, no one would be able to bear it. They are just pretending to obey but secretly disobeying!"
Ma Wei finally concluded with this line of thought.
"In other words, they are just pretending to fight, and if they really start fighting, they will immediately retreat and choose to watch?"
Liu Gu also came to a realization.
Ma Wei nodded.
"It seems that at this time, no one is a fool. No one is willing to be cannon fodder. Not only will they not get any benefits, but they may even lose their lives. If they don't want to be involved, they can only choose to watch. Although they will not help us explicitly, before the situation is clear, they will not be enemies with us.
General Liu, this is a good thing. This means that at least in Sichuan and Shu, the Sichuan Inspector-General's words are no longer effective. The troops everywhere are afraid of our army's vanguard and have begun to obey him on the surface but oppose him in secret. I reckon that even if we directly attack Chengdu, the Sichuan Inspector-General will be isolated and helpless! "
Liu Gu was overjoyed.
"That's right! If we are a little stronger, when we can sweep the world, won't these cities all open their doors to us? Hahahaha! "
Ma Wei also laughed, but as he laughed, Ma Wei suddenly sighed and said, "Before the expedition, General Xiao held a military conference and told us that although the imperial court is a hundred times stronger than us, if we really fight with all our strength, the imperial court will not be as strong as we think.
At that time, I and the other generals felt sad and felt that Marshal Xiao was encouraging us and telling us not to be afraid to fight. But who would have thought that after sending out the troops for more than a month, not even two months, the progress would be so smooth. All along the way, we are all smart people. "
Liu Gu laughed and said, "Isn't it good that they're all smart people? That's why it's so easy to fight. If they were all stubborn, how could we have progressed so smoothly? After all, we don't have many soldiers. This is the best! But that's right, this battle was a little too easy. Those officials usually look at me with their nostrils, but this time, humph! "
Liu Gu was someone who had been bullied in the past, and the current situation was also helping him vent his anger. There was no need to mention how happy he was.
Ma Wei thought a little more.
"That may be the case, but it's clear to see how far Daming has gone. There are too many smart people who know how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, but there aren't many who are truly brave enough to fight to the death. General Liu, if it were the Northern Barbarians going south, do you think they would also surrender at the first sign of trouble?"
Liu Gu instantly understood what Ma Wei meant.
Now, there were many people who remembered the Shame of Jingkang and the Shame of Cliff Mountain, and the threat of the Northern Barbarians was still there. Previously, when the news of the Northern Barbarians going south to Shanxi of Datong spread, it made people panic. Everyone was worried that the Northern Barbarians would go south again.
But now, the interior of Daming was like a layer of paper that could be broken with one poke. The Empire of Daming, which claimed to have millions of troops, had no power to fight back against the Zhennan Army of a hundred thousand. Even the local officials and troops were not willing to fight back, and they all watched from the sidelines.
Ma Wei couldn't help but think, if it were the Northern Barbarians who marched like this, would they also watch from the sidelines?
Would the Northern Barbarians bring the Daming back to the barbarian era like how they destroyed the Song Dynasty?
What stage had Daming reached now?
If they succeeded in setting things right in the future, would Daming become better?
If Daming could not become better, why did Xiao Ruxun raise his troops?
What was the meaning of starting this war?
Liu Gu suddenly fell silent.
Ma Wei didn't say anything else either.
The two of them continued to reorganize their troops, and then they advanced towards Jianwei. They didn't see any white stick soldiers along the way. That afternoon, Ma Wei and Liu Gu's troops arrived at the city of Jianwei. They set up the cannons, but before they could attack the city, the gate of Jianwei was opened wide. The guards of Jianwei tied up the County Magistrate of Jianwei and opened the city to surrender.
Before Ma Wei could persuade them to surrender, the County Magistrate of Jianwei directly knelt on the ground and begged to surrender, saying that he was willing to set things right and would not work for the country's traitors. He only hoped that the Zhennan Army would not harm his wife and children in the city.
Ma Wei's mood didn't become happier. Instead, it became slightly heavier.
Why were the people only watching from the sidelines, and not fighting back?
In the absence of concrete evidence, Shen Yicheng even claimed to be righteous, while Xiao Ruxun only claimed to be self-proclaimed. He didn't even forge the Emperor's imperial edict to raise troops to suppress the rebels. He simply sent troops to the north. Before the situation in Jiangnan was clear, they had already given up resisting.
In the future, after setting things right, could these people be placed in the local areas, and could they be trusted?
Ma Wei finally understood why Xiao Ruxun wasn't worried about the millions of soldiers of the imperial court.
If the millions of soldiers were all like this, even if there were another million, it would be useless.
While his mood was heavy, Ma Wei's heart was filled with contempt for the so-called imperial court in the north. He no longer had any doubts about whether Xiao Ruxun could set things right and successfully launch a northern expedition.
Of course, the same went for Liu Gu.
After resting and reorganizing for a night, the pace of the army's attack didn't stop.
On the 27th of the eighth month, the same day that Xiao Ruxun captured Guilin, Shen Yicheng received news that Li Rusong didn't send troops to the south. Instead, he led troops to the east to suppress the Haixi Jurchen rebellion.
Shen Yicheng's face immediately darkened, and he fiercely slammed the table in front of him.
"Bastard! He dares to defy the imperial edict?! "
Shen Yicheng roared at the messenger.
The messenger was so scared that his face turned pale. He knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing.
"Grand Secretary, calm down. Grand Secretary, calm down. I can't do anything. They suddenly said that there was a battle report saying that the Haixi Jurchen had attacked the border with 30,000 soldiers. He was going to clean up the Haixi Jurchen, so he asked the imperial court to give him two months to settle the border trouble, and then …"
"Stupid! You believe everything he says?! Why didn't you stop him?! "
Shen Yicheng continued to roar.
The messenger was scared silly. He trembled and couldn't say a word.
Next to him, Daheng Xiao couldn't stand it anymore, so he tentatively said, "Grand Secretary, the Li family has great power in Liaodong. The elite soldiers under their command are all servants, and they only listen to Li Rusong's orders. This is not something that happened in a day or two. A mere messenger of the imperial court really can't do anything to him."
Shen Yicheng glared at Daheng Xiao, who was stunned and immediately lowered his head.
"If Li Rusong isn't here, what about Li Chengliang? Is he so old that he can't lead the troops?! "
Shen Yicheng continued to roar angrily.
"Li Chengliang said he was sick and didn't get up. He didn't want to see outsiders …"
The messenger said in a trembling voice.
"Ah!!"
Shen Yicheng grabbed the teacup in his hand and threw it hard. The teacup smashed on the ground.
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