Chapter Seventeen: Cultivate the Tao with Thickness

  After Wang Lin took Gao Qi away, the remaining Goguryeo generals were also taken out, leaving only a group of officers from the Broken Army Camp in the account.

  "Sir, according to Gao Qi's information, the three cities of Nan Su, Mu Di, and Cang Yan, not far from here, do not have many defending soldiers. Each city has only 5,000 defenders. Now that I have taken down Xin Cheng without spilling a drop of blood, why don't you repeat your old trick? Let us disguise ourselves as Gao Qi's Goguryeo cavalry and sneak into the cities to capture them in one fell swoop?"

  Hu Hai's words, Chen Kefu naturally also thought about it. There is a saying that "it is better to pursue the remaining courage of the defeated enemy, and not to seek fame by imitating the tyrant king". Taking advantage of the fact that the news of the new city being attacked had not yet been leaked out, he led his army to disguise themselves as Gao Qi's subordinates and ride into the city. As long as they could enter the city, Chen Kefu was still confident in his 3,000 elite soldiers against those second-line defense troops. This is how the world works, no need to worry about repeating a strategy. One move is enough to eat all over the sky, I remember there was a good fellow named Cheng Yaojin, who was said to have only three moves with his big axe, but he could eat all over the world, and finally became a general of the Tang Dynasty and was enfeoffed as a duke. I remember this guy should be from this era, if not unexpectedly, he should be in Hebei now. Unfortunately, he can't spare time now, otherwise he would really like to get to know such a person.

  Chen Kefu turned his head and glanced at the crowd of generals in the account, smiled slightly and said, "Are you really going to do that?"

  Li Benlei was once a military commander, and naturally he also understood the tactics of war arrays. He nodded and said, "General Hu is right, this is indeed a good opportunity. Before the Goguryeo people in the three cities discover us, we can take them by surprise and achieve great things."

  Looking at the eager expressions of the various school lieutenants below, Chen Kefu sighed. Although these people were all crawling out of piles of dead men, each one had rich battlefield experience. However, this couldn't change the fact that they were only low-ranking military officers. Their gaze only reached the level of battles, and they never thought about anything more.

  He broke the military camp originally because he Chen Kefu unintentionally made great contributions, and was deliberately pulled out by Emperor Yang Guang of Sui to make a model, so he could get such rich rewards. Before this battle, the broken army had always been treated far beyond other Sui armies, which had already made many Sui military officers jealous and envious.

  This time, the broken army camped outside the new city and defeated more than 10,000 Goguryeo people in one battle, only paying out over a hundred casualties to annihilate thousands of enemies and capture tens of thousands. Moreover, they captured the commander-in-chief of Goguryeo, a prince. This is an unprecedented great achievement. The three times Sui Dynasty invaded Goguryeo, each time suffered heavy losses, even several generals of the Twelve Guards were lost. And now he, a fifth-grade Eagle General, led 3,000 people to achieve such a great merit, how can the hundreds of thousands of Sui army bear it?

  That day, Chen Kefu was also somewhat impulsive and forgot many things, directly leading three thousand men to charge into the new city with high walls, fortunately, this time's reckless behavior made him succeed again.

  But Chen Kefu, after calming down from his excitement, immediately understood that his current situation was somewhat precarious. As the saying goes, "great achievements can shock the ruler". He, a small fifth-grade Eagle General, led three thousand newly reorganized cavalrymen, and if he were to win every battle, wouldn't that be seeking death?

  Those tens of thousands of army leaders, those three-product general marshals, four-product guards, and the 24th Army's leading generals, what would they think? You can't have your cake and eat it too, this is a truth that Chen Kefu knew well before he crossed over.

  Now Nan Su, Mu Di, and Cang Yan are like fish on a chopping board, just waiting to be taken. From Liaodong to here is only a day's journey, as long as the Sui army receives news and knows the situation here, several generals will definitely come to pick this peach. At that time, everyone will get such a big credit for nothing, and they will definitely remember his personal feelings, and maybe even occasionally give them some convenience in the future. However, if he alone occupies Xincheng and also wants to seize the credit of the three cities, isn't this making all the Sui army generals jealous? At that time, so many high-ranking officials of the Sui army will secretly trip him up, and these 3,000 people and horses in this vast Liaodong land will die without knowing how.

  "Gentlemen, if we were to capture all the cities, have you considered what would happen to our other allied forces? One must be magnanimous. Our Broken Army has exhausted itself in taking down New City, with three thousand brothers wounded or killed, and without a period of rest, it is impossible for us to return to the battlefield again. Although my Broken Army brothers are willing to make new contributions, we no longer have the strength to fight the enemy. Such a daunting task can only rely on the imperial generals." Chen Kefu said this with an air of helplessness.

  "General, I know you care about the soldiers, but please be assured, we have no problem at all. Don't mention three cities, even if we attack thirty cities, it's doable. These are rewards right in front of us - gold, silver, high-ranking positions, beautiful women... everything is available, how can we bear to stop? If the gentlemen think they need a rest, then I'll lead my troops alone to take down three cities for the general."

  Chen Kefu glared at the straw bag, wishing he could kick him all the way to Liaodong. He had made himself clear, and yet this trusted aide of his was jumping out again - wasn't that losing face for him? Even Mao Hui, a fellow from Chenjiazhuang, was desperately trying to signal to Lu Shide with his eyes, but he completely ignored it, as if afraid that Mao would steal the credit.

  Li Benlei was after all a former commander of the military, and previously because of his eagerness for revenge he had neglected this matter. Now being lightly pointed out by Chen Kefu, he completely understood. Being a general is not like being a foot soldier, a foot soldier only needs to be brave and daring to fight, then they will get recognition from their superiors. But if a general is too dazzling, then they will be seen as a threat by their superiors, or even a thorn in the eye.

  "Sir, this is all my fault. If I hadn't been so eager for revenge, I should have thought of it and reminded the general long ago. Now, however, it's too late and the general has to remind me instead - it's really not right."

  "Alright, let's just end it here. The soldiers have been fighting for days and are tired too. Everyone should take turns on duty every day and get a good rest." Chen Kefu said with a wave of his hand, seemingly nonchalant.

  Only Lu Shi deep was still there, leisurely saying, "General, my men are all in high spirits, just send me to battle and I'll take down three cities..." However, although he shouted loudly, the dozens of people in the tent seemed as if they hadn't heard him at all. Everyone was chatting and laughing with each other, making plans to go somewhere to pick out a good horse or look for some good armor.

  Hu Hai walked over and slapped a heavy iron hand on Lu Shi's shoulder, laughing and saying, "General Lu, we've been colleagues for so long, but we've never had the chance to have a good drink together. Today, we must take advantage of this rare opportunity to get drunk and not leave until we're satisfied." Without waiting for his reaction, he half-pulled and half-dragged him out of the big tent, saying "Come on, I have some Persian grape wine that was specially brought back by the young men for Gao Qi's enjoyment. Today, we must give it a good taste."

  Looking at the scene in front of him, Chen Kefu couldn't help but despise his former self. What kind of master one has, that's what kind of followers they have. Looking at Lu Shideep's appearance, you can tell what Chen Kefu used to be like.

  Such a group of people, mostly composed of low-ranking officers. If they develop and grow in the future, these people will be their own backbone. Now this bird-like appearance, how can it be worthy of great use? Thinking about it, Chen Kefu patted his head, why not take advantage of the current opportunity to run a short-term military officer training class? He himself is also considered a half-theoretical theorist, and there is also an old man named Li Benlei. In addition, most of these people have risen from small soldiers to this position step by step, they have a foundation, what they lack is only a systematic theoretical summary knowledge. When he was reborn earlier, looking at the early years of Taizu's uprising, those generals were not all mud-legged, and did not even have the rich combat experience of his current officers. At that time, Taizu was fighting while training, since he succeeded, then himself followed suit, and he would definitely succeed too. Standing in this era, there is always a sense of crisis pressing on him, making him think about strengthening every bit of his power at all times.

  I took a look at the rankings, now ranked eighth in the category and fortieth overall, still a distance from the top, let's keep working hard, everyone, let's rush to the top, please give your support with votes.