Chapter 200: Fusui, Pai Fang, the scheme of the chain.

South of the border, in the army tent.

Pa Sha was a dark-cheeked hombre with a pale, expressionless face.

He raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, holding a page of letterhead in one hand, and resting the other against the parchment map, searching for a location.

In front of the map stood a man in the middle of the plains, is even seen a few times will not be familiar with him, the standard thirty or forty years old middle-aged man's appearance. He grasped a sheepskin hat, mouth wide grin, can not see a smile, neck forward, can not use the cap edge rolled with the fur to rub the chin on the endless stream of sweat.

Pa Sha looked at him for a moment before saying coldly, "Go down and collect your reward."

Only then did the corners of the man's lips curl up flatteringly, and he bowed twice in a row with a smile on his face, "Thank you, Master, thank you, Master."

He stooped and retreated like a shrimp.

Pa Sha grunted when the men left.

His lieutenant general followed him up, his expression dark: "Pa Sha sir, the words of this surname Chu, do you still want to believe them."

Pa Sha murmured, actually looking acquiescent.

"Why do you still believe him?" Pa Sha's deputy general was Ai Sha's nephew, and was extremely annoyed by his uncle's death, "He was the one who caused Lord Ai Sha's violent death, and we also detected hemlock poison in the fire paint. His letter is a clear attempt to harm Lord Ai Sha!"

Pa Sha said, "He has passed on many useful messages, and is a camel's thorn we have planted in the North's army, so how can we discard him lightly?"

The vice general was not satisfied: "The other day Dingyuan suffered a great defeat and lost thousands of elite soldiers, wasn't he the one who wanted us to go and attack?"

Pa Sha was a bit annoyed and raised his voice slightly, "But the message he gave was not wrong! We attacked Dingyuan three times, and Wen Feiru did not fight!"

The lieutenant general stopped speaking, but by the look on his face, he half looked as if he had been convinced.

He asked, "Does the general think that the northern government army is really going to attack Fusui?"

Fusui is a city captured by the Southland in the great war the year before last, like Pei Cheng, at the border position of Zhennan Pass, the city is fortified, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Because Fusui's geographic location is not considered superior, and is a hard bone to gnaw, the northern government army for the sake of rest and recuperation, facing this steel fortress, did not move for a year.

Pa Sha asks, "What makes you think the Northern army won't take the city?"

The Vice General said, "It is not that my subordinate does not believe in your judgment, it is that I do not believe in the words of that surname Chu. The Northern Household Army has not moved for a year, so why should it attack Fusui now?"

Pa Sha asked rhetorically, "Do you know about the Thirteenth Prince's visit to the border on behalf of that old dog of the Middle Kingdom."

The adjutant general was stunned.

Pa Sha looked down at the sheepskin map: "The dogs of the Central Plains are good for success, and that Shi Jinghong will not be an exception, so naturally he wants to find a good battle to fight for that emperor. Pei Cheng's victory is close at hand, it is necessary to take advantage of the high morale, a drum, and win another victory. Fusui, is the best choice."

Pa Sha pointed to the map of Fusui: "...... Fusui is not a big city, on its terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, they do not need to force the attack, only need to siege the city, three thousand soldiers and horses enough. And Fusui nearby, within a day or two can mobilize the northern government army, at most only three thousand."

Vice General: "There are two thousand soldiers in the city. With the danger of the land, we can hold out until the reinforcements arrive, right?"

Pa Sha: "Are you stupid? You do the math, Fusui is located at the edge of the Zhennan Pass, a small city, the letter post is released once every five days to show that it is safe, if the dogs in the Central Plains only siege the city, not to attack the city, do you want to give up the city's danger, with two thousand soldiers and horses to shake the enemy of three thousand not?"

The vice general is still not convinced: "Although Fusui does not have a beacon, but there is a warning whistle, and five days do not report peace, there will be close to the army to send spies to check the situation. Moreover, I remember clearly, to date, General Wu Yichun Wu's grain army only transported new grain to Fusui not long ago, five days of the siege, Fusui how to fear?"

Pa Sha asked again, "...... Then do you remember that the drinking water of the whole city of Fusui is supplied only by the Fusui River?"

The Vice Admiral was speechless.

"Fusui River is but a tributary, and now that spring has arrived not long ago, the volume of water is not large; if the Northern Household Army devises a design to cut off the flow of water, and Fusui City is cut off from its water source, and relies on a few wells and canals, how long can it be sustained?"

The Adjutant General was relieved to realize the seriousness of the situation, "What does the General think we should do? Should we report this to General Tie Muer?"

Pa Sha waved his hand, "Ai Sha's death and my unauthorized return to the city to take care of his affairs has already caused Tie Muer to resent me. Besides, it is time for one of our own to benefit from the many feats I have delivered for him over the years."

"But we can't move troops without General Tie Muer's orders ......"

"Didn't you just say that?" Pa Sha's partially green eyes rolled, showing a bit of wolf-like cunning, "Wu Yichun's food-carrying army just left not long ago."

The vice general frowned: "Although General Wu ...... s grain transportation army has a crowd of five thousand; but in terms of combat strength, the generals in our battalion can be enough to fight one against two."

"Plus what about the two thousand elite troops that are besieged in Fusui?" Pa Sha put down the letter and pressed his hands on the edge of the map, "The Beifu army's trip was a secret run to catch them off guard, they wouldn't really deploy a large army to attack a small city in the district, and now that their tactics are known to us, the secret has become a joke."

He exhaled, ''Use the best horse and send a letter to General Wu. Tell him that he doesn't need to spend his days with grain and grass anymore, and that the opportunity to make a mark has come. With Fusui's 2,000 troops as the main fighting force, they don't have to put in too much effort, they only need to supplement from the side and attack from the inside and the outside, and it will be a great achievement."

"The most important thing is ......" he continued, "that thirteenth prince is likely to come to supervise the battle, after all, this battle is fought to him. If he can capture that son of a bitch, whether alive or dead, then he will have one foot on the Green Cloud Ladder."

The vice general asked one more time, "With the time the letter was sent, the Northern Household Army should have just started. Then why not send the letter directly to Fusui to avoid ......"

Pa Sha's green eyes slanted, and a little cold smile curled the corners of her mouth.

The vice general figured it out and immediately said, "Then my subordinate will go and write a letter, asking General Wu to order his troops and horses and make all preparations, so that when Fusui runs out of ammunition and food, then he will go and rush to help."

Pa Sha nodded slightly, pleased with his enlightenment, "Go for it."

Walking to the front of the tent, the vice general hesitated and turned back, "General, after saying this much, my subordinate still has one thing unknown. Why ...... do you trust a Central Plains man so much?"

Pa Sha doesn't say anything, just waves his hand and tells him to get out.

The adjutant general received the military order and retired in silence.

Pa Sha smoothed the corners of the parchment map, remembering the piece of paper that Ai Sha had held so dearly before his eyes two years ago.

It was a trace of a jade pendant on a topo.

The seal was bright red and distinct, and on it was the eagle mark that could only be used by the King of the Southern Border.

He exclaimed, "Do you know where this came from? ...... Do you remember Chu Ziling? The man from the Central Plains who always delivers news for us? According to him, this object is a token of remembrance left by his biological father to his biological mother."

Pa Sha, at the time, realized what Ai Sha was saying and was slightly shocked, but not very impressed: "How do you know it's not an imitation?"

Ai Sha said, "This man has corresponded with us for three years, and he is indeed a member of Shi Jinghong's government, and he has indeed given us many messages."

Pa Sha disdained, "Even if he really is the King's legacy, what can a bastard do?"

To this day, Pa Sha remembers Ai Sha's bright eyes, "A bastard can be our ladder to the green clouds."

The words "Green Ladder" echoed in Pa Sha's head.

At that time, he laughed at Ai Sha for trusting Chu Ziling too much, but after a few years, he has also made a good ladder out of Chu Ziling.

If you think about it, wouldn't Chu Ziling be the same?

Since we are using each other, let's talk in terms of benefits.

As Ai Sha once said, Chu Ziling had helped them so much, why would he poison Ai Sha for no reason, breaking the power he had cultivated for nearly ten years?

It doesn't make sense.

The letter can be replaced, perhaps by some concubine or slave who hates Ai Sha.

The worst case scenario is that the Shi family found out that someone was sending a message out, intercepted the carrier pigeon, and lent him a hand to turn the tables and eliminate the recipient of the message, but failed to find out who the sender was.

That Chu Ziling is very meticulous, his right hand writes a hand of beautiful fly-head script, but his left hand can imitate Shi Tingyun's dashing handwriting, and he never uses his left hand to show his handwriting to others. And at that time small Gong Zi's word heard in Wangcheng is a masterpiece, often have people imitation, Shi Tingyun and trust his side of the people, must not have suspected to Chu Ziling body, otherwise this kind of national traitors, will be killed immediately, which have to continue to stay in the side of the reason?

Pa Sha rolled the parchment map up slowly, his green eyes glowing with a stone-cold luster.

...... To take a step back, Chu Ziling's intention and identity were really discovered by Shi Tingyun, and this time he tipped off his troops with the intention of transferring his own troops to send them to their deaths, which is also a bad move.

He will not act rashly. Even if he has to die, it is Wu Yichun who will go.

Let's see how this plays out.

Meanwhile, in a small city fifty miles away from Fusui.

Chi Xiaochi has come here first and set up camp.

Running to this spent a whole half day, once came to arrange a lot of affairs, now Chi Xiaochi has sleepy hard, not to go back to the room, in a temporary opened up, used as a command post of the mansion hall, propped up his head to fall asleep.

Chu Ziling entered the room to pour tea, and saw Li Yeshu sitting in Gong Zi's lower seat, frowning, holding a map and pondering over a sand table.

Chu Ziling put the tea down and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Li Yeshu shushed to make sure he hadn't woken up the napping Gong Zi before saying, "Keep it down, Gong Zi is exhausted."

Chu Ziling The corners of his mouth turned slightly.

When it is really a small boy eyesight, fuss, in the barracks, this kind of labor is nothing?

He leaned over to look at the map in Li Yeshu's hand.

Li Yeshu, however, gathered up the map and said in a serious manner, "No. This is what Gong Zi gave me. This is what Gong Zi gave me."

Chu Ziling looked at him unexpectedly, "Gong Zi allowed me to participate in military affairs, have you forgotten?"

Li Yeshu still covered it up and refused to show it to me: "Gong Zi said that this matter involves confidentiality, and only let me realize it alone, and did not allow me to talk about it with outsiders, nor did he ask me to ask outsiders about it."

Chu Ziling teased him, "Isn't that the map of Fusui you are looking at? This plan was set up by Gong Zi, and I assisted him, so what secrets are there for me? Besides, I am not an outsider."

Unexpectedly, Li Yeshu did not eat this set of his, covering the map protectively and going around to the other side of the sand table, saying seriously, "I will not show you what you say. I have never asked Gong Zi about the war strategy he handed over to you before."

Chu Ziling froze for a long time, and when he came back to his senses, he was good-humored and amused.

...... He really takes himself seriously?

The sound of Li Yeshu's footsteps seemed to startle the person in the upper position, Chi Xiaochi woke up, rubbed his eyes, and frankly drank the hot tea that Chu Ziling had just served.

Chu Ziling laughed from the sidelines, "Gong Zi, good news, the warehouses in the city where the letter posts are stored have been infiltrated by the dead soldiers, and the letter posts were doused with water beforehand, making them all dumb."

Chi Xiaochi nodded.

Li Yeshu but said, "But ...... Gong Zi, I feel that this attack on Fusui is slightly inappropriate ......"

Chi Xiaochi put down the tea cup and asked him patiently, "How is it wrong?"

Li Yeshu was not very confident, glanced at Chu Ziling and stammered, "Can we ...... really break the city in five days? If the soldiers in the city, due to the lack of water, the fish will die and rush out of the city to fight to the death ......"

Chi Xiaochi said nothing, smiled and turned to look at Chu Ziling.

Chu Ziling also found it amusing, "A Shu, the Northern Household Army is not a wine bag, and the Southern Borderers are just two shoulders and a skull, so why grow others' ambition? Two thousand versus three thousand, where is the reason why we can't defeat them?"

Li Yeshu was a bit anxious, slightly stuttering as he held up the map and gestured, "Gong Zi, I'm just afraid that someone has set up a pocket and is waiting for us to get into it."

Chu Ziling's heart skipped a beat, and he retorted, "The movement of troops is a confidential matter, as long as there is no insider, this battle is a sure thing. Besides, if everyone is as afraid of this and that as you are, the battle will be impossible to fight."

Li Yeshu was inexperienced, and seeing that Gong Zi did not refute Chu Ziling's words, he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

"Don't think about it so much." Chi Xiaochi got up, "A Ling, go back to pack and rest a bit, and follow me to the battlefield this night."

Chu Ziling's eyes lit up and he turned to look at Li Yeshu who was a bit downcast, feeling amused by his hidden worries these days.

He is just a small child who has to rack his brain even to think of a war strategy. In terms of Gong Zi's trust in himself, how can he compare to himself?

Chi Xiaochi went out and around to the backyard, slapping his face with cool water to wake up.

Lou Ying appeared from behind him, rocking his wheelchair, and laughed, "Planning to do it?"

"...... Chu Ziling wants to be a duck and also wants to set up a house of cards." Chi Xiaochi wiped his face with the towel he handed him, revealing a pair of smiling eyes, "...... Then I'll tattoo a semi-permanent pagoda on his face for him."