Chapter 200: Fusui , the house of cards, the scheme of the chain.

Nan Southern , in the military tent.

Sha Pa is a dark-faced man with a light face and little expression.

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

In front of the map stood a Central Plains-like man, a standard middle-aged man in his thirties or forties whose face would not be familiar even if we met him a few times. He grasped his sheepskin hat with one hand, his mouth was wide, and he couldn't see a smile, his neck was leaning forward, and he couldn't stop rubbing the sweat from his chin with the fur on the rim of his hat.

Sha Pa looked at it for a while before saying coldly, "Go down and receive your reward."

The corners of the man's lips curled up flatteringly, and he bowed twice with a smile: "Thank you, Master, thank you, Master."

He bent over, shrimp-like, and backed out.

Sha Pa grunted when the people left.

His lieutenant followed him up, looking obscure: " Sha Pa sir, this surname Chu's words, you still want to believe."

Sha Pa sulked and actually looked like he was acquiescing.

"Why do you still believe him?" Sha Pa's lieutenant, Sha Ai's nephew, was extremely angry about his uncle's death, "He was responsible for Sha Ai's violent death, and we found hemlock poison in the fire paint. His letter is clearly meant to harm Lord Sha Ai!"

Sha Pa is incoherent: "He has sent many useful messages and is a camel's thorn in the side of the Beifu Army that we can't afford to abandon."

The adjutant general was uneven: "The other day Ding Yuan was defeated, losing thousands of elite soldiers, wasn't he the one who asked us to attack?"

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

The adjutant general stopped talking, but looking at his face, he didn't look half as if he was convinced.

He asked, "Does the general think that the Beifu Army is really going to attack Fusui?"

Fusui, a city captured by Nan Southern in the previous year's battle, is located at the border of Zhennanguan, like Bui, and is strongly fortified and difficult to attack.

Because Fusui's location is not ideal and it is a tough nut to crack, the Beifu Army has been facing this steel fortress for a year in order to recuperate.

Sha Pa asked, "What makes you think the Beifu Army won't take the city?"

The adjutant general said, "I don't disbelieve your judgment, but I don't believe the words of Chu. The Beifu Army has not moved for a year, so why should they attack Fusui now?"

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

The adjutant was stunned.

Sha Pa looked down at the sheepskin map: " Central Plains Dogs are very happy with their success, and at that time, the alarming Hong will not be an exception, it is natural to find a good battle to the emperor's old man. Pei Cheng's victory is near, it is necessary to take advantage of the high morale, a drum to win another victory. Fusui, is the best choice."

Sha Pa pointed to Fusui on the map: "...... Fusui is not a large city, but its terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, they do not need to forcefully attack, just siege the city, three thousand troops are sufficient. The Beifu Army that can be mobilized in a day or two around Fusui is only three thousand at most."

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

Sha Pa: "Are you stupid? If the dogs of Central Plains only surround the city and do not attack it, do you want the soldiers to give up the danger of the city and fight against 3,000 enemies with 2,000 soldiers?"

The adjutant general was still not convinced: "Although Fusui has no beacon, there is a signal post for warning, and if we don't report peace for five days, there will be spies from the near army to check the situation. Moreover, I remember clearly that, based on the date, General Yichun Wu's army had only recently brought new grain to Fusui, so why would Fusui be afraid of a five-day siege?"

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

The adjutant was speechless.

"If the Beifu Army designs to cut off the flow of water, how long can the city of Fusui be sustained with only a few wells and canals?"

The adjutant general was relieved to realize the seriousness of the situation: "What do you think we should do, General? Should we report the matter to General Muer Tie?"

Sha Pa waved a hand: " Sha Ai's death and my unauthorized return to the city to take care of his affairs has caused Muer Tie to resent me. Besides, after all the merits I've given him over the years, it's time to let our own people suffer some benefits."

"But we can't transfer troops without General Muer Tie's order ......"

"Didn't you just say that?" Sha Pa's greenish eyes rolled, showing some wolf-like cunning, " Yichun Wu's army of grain carriers just left not long ago."

Vice General frowned: "General Wu ...... grain army has five thousand people; but in terms of combat power, our battalion soldiers can be one against two."

"What about the 2,000 elite troops besieged in Fusui?" Sha Pa put down the letter and pressed his hands on the edge of the map, " The Beifu Army was on a secret run to catch them off guard, they wouldn't really move a large army to attack a small city, and now that their tactics are known to us, the secret is a joke."

He exhaled: "Use the best horses and send a letter to General Wu. Tell him that he no longer has to spend his days with provisions, and that the opportunity to make a mark has come. With Fusui's two thousand troops as the main force, they do not have to work too hard, they only need to assist from the side and attack from the inside and outside, it will be a great achievement."

"The most important thing is ......" he continued, "that the thirteenth prince is likely to come to supervise the battle, after all, this battle is fought for him to see. 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 adjutant general asked, "Given the time the letter was sent, the Beifu Army should have just pulled out. Then why not send the letter directly to Fusui to avoid ......"

Sha Pa's green eyes slanted, the corners of his mouth hooked out a little cold smile to.

The deputy general figured it out and immediately said, "Then I will go and write a letter, asking General Wu to order his troops and horses, and to be prepared to go to the rescue when Fusui runs out of ammunition."

Sha Pa nodded slightly, pleased with his enlightenment: "Go ahead and do it."

The second-in-command hesitated and turned back to the tent: "General, after all this, I still don't know one thing. ...... Why do you trust a Central Plains man so much?"

Sha Pa did not say anything, but waved his hand and told him to go out.

The deputy general received the military order and silently retired.

Sha Pa smoothed the corners of the sheepskin map and remembered the paper that Sha Ai had held so dearly in front of her eyes two years ago.

It was a jade pendant trace on the topography.

The seal is bright red and distinctive, with the eagle mark used only by the Nan Southern king.

He said excitedly, "Do you know where this came from? ...... Do you remember Ziling Chu? The Central Plains man who always delivered our messages? According to him, this object was left by his biological father as a memorial to his biological mother."

Sha Pa, who understood Sha Ai's meaning at the time, was slightly shocked, but not very impressed: "How do you know it's not an imitation?"

Sha Ai said, "This person has been communicating with us for three years, and he is indeed a member of Shih's House, and he has indeed provided us with many messages."

Sha Pa disdained: "Even if he is really the king's legacy, what can an illegitimate son do?"

To this day, Sha Pa still remembers Sha Ai's bright eyes: "A bastard child, too, can be our green ladder."

The words "Qing Yun Ladder" echoed in Sha Pa's mind.

At the time, he laughed at Sha Ai for trusting Ziling Chu too much, but over the years, he has come to see Ziling Chu as a good ladder.

If you think about it, isn't Ziling Chu also like this?

Since we are using each other, let's talk with benefits.

As Sha Ai once said, Ziling Chu has helped them so much, why would he poison Sha Ai for no reason and cut off the power he had cultivated for nearly a decade?

It doesn't make sense.

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

The worst case scenario is that the Shi family found out that someone was sending a message out, intercepted the pigeon and used his hand to turn the tables on the person who received the letter, but failed to find out who the person who sent the letter was.

Ziling Chu was a meticulous man, with his right hand writing beautiful small letters, but his left hand was able to imitate Tingyun Shi's dashing handwriting, and he never showed his left hand. The young master's handwriting was heard to be one of the best in Wang City and was often imitated by others. Tingyun Shi trusted his side, so he must not have suspected Ziling Chu.

Sha Pa rolled the sheepskin map slowly, a stone cold glint in his green eyes.

...... step back to say, Ziling Chu's intention and identity when really discovered by Tingyun Shi, this time to inform the message, intended to transfer their own troops to send to death, is also a bad move.

He will not move, even to send death, but also Yichun Wu to go.

Let's see how things develop at the end.

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

Xiaochi Chi has arrived here first to set up camp.

Xiaochi Chi was so sleepy that he did not go back to his room and fell asleep in the main room of a temporary residence that was used as a command post.

Ziling Chu entered the room to serve tea and saw Yeshu Li sitting in the lower seat of the Duke, frowning, holding a map and thinking over a sand table.

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

Yeshu Li gave a hush to make sure he didn't wake the napping male before saying, "Keep your voice down, the male is tired."

Ziling Chu The corners of his mouth are slightly curled.

It is really a small boy's eyes, a big deal, in the military camp, this kind of labor is nothing?

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

Yeshu Li, however, put the map away and said solemnly, "No. This is what the Duke gave me."

Ziling Chu looked at him unexpectedly, "My lord allowed me to participate in the military affairs, have you forgotten?"

Yeshu Li still covered not to show: "My son said that this matter involves confidential, only let me alone to understand, not let me with outsiders, and do not ask me outsiders."

Ziling Chu teased him, "Isn't that the Fusui map you're looking at? The plan was set up by the Duke and I assisted him, so what is confidential to me? Besides, I am not an outsider."

I didn't expect Yeshu Li would not eat his words, and he walked around to the other side of the sand table with the map in his hand, saying seriously, "I won't show it to you even if you say so. I have never asked about the war strategy that the Duke gave you before."

Ziling Chu froze for a long time, and looked back with good humor and amusement.

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

Xiaochi Chi woke up, rubbed his eyes and drank the hot tea that Ziling Chu had just served.

Ziling Chu laughed at the side, "My lord, good news, the warehouse in the city where the letter posts are kept has been infiltrated by the dead soldiers, and the letter posts were doused with water beforehand, and they all became dumb."

Xiaochi Chi nodded.

Yeshu Li but said, "But ...... grandson, I think this attack on Fusui, slightly improper ......"

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

Yeshu Li is not very confident, glanced at Ziling Chu , stammered: "We ...... can really break the city in five days? If the soldiers in the city, because of the lack of water, the fish die and rush out of the city to fight to the death ......"

Xiaochi Chi did not say anything, but smiled and turned to Ziling Chu.

Ziling Chu also found it amusing: "Shu, the Beifu Army is not a bag of wine and rice, and the Nan Southerners are only carrying a skull on their shoulders. Two thousand against three thousand, there is no reason to lose the battle?"

Yeshu Li was a little anxious and stuttered slightly, holding up the map and gesturing, "My lord, I'm afraid someone has set up a pocket and is waiting for us to go inside."

Ziling Chu's heart skipped a beat and he opened his mouth to retort: "The movement of troops is a confidential matter, as long as there is no inside man, the battle is a sure thing. Besides, if everyone is afraid of this and that like you, the battle will be impossible."

Yeshu Li was inexperienced and had to keep his mouth shut when he saw that his son did not refute Ziling Chu's words.

"Don't think so much about it." Xiaochi Chi got up, " Ling A , go back to clean up and rest a bit, follow me to the battle tonight."

Ziling Chu's eyes lit up and she turned to look at Yeshu Li, who was a little downcast, and felt amused by her own hidden worries these days.

The fact that he is just a child who has to rack his brain even to think of a battle strategy, how can he compare to himself when it comes to his son's trust in him?

Xiaochi Chi went out the door, went around to the backyard, and took cool water to pat his face to wake up.

Ying Lou appeared from behind him, rocking his wheelchair, and laughed, "Planning to make a move?"

"...... Ziling Chu wants to be a duck and also wants to set up a pagoda." Xiaochi Chi 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."