The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 567: Invisible Smoke, All Parties Prepare for War

"Don't worry, great master. My master, Master Li, the Lord of Pushan, has a plan to offer." In the gathering hall of Wagangzhai, Wang Bo spoke to Zhai Rang, who had a worried look on his face. However, what he said was not his own idea, but the so-called guide to the great cause passed down by Li Mi.

"The emperor is incompetent, the people resentful, and he has exhausted his elite troops in Liaodong. He has severed friendly relations with the Turks and is currently touring Yangzhou and Yuezhou, abandoning Luoyang and Chang'an. This is the time to fight for the world like Liu Bang and Xiang Yu. With your great talent and strategy, elite troops and generals, you can seize Luoyang and Chang'an and eliminate these brutal forces, which will easily bring down the Sui Dynasty."

Zhai Rang was not from a prominent family, and the Wagang Army was just a not-too-powerful rebel force struggling to survive in the cracks.

Well, calling them righteous army sounds good, but calling them bandits is not so good. Zhai Rang has some personal fighting ability, but it is difficult to call him a man of great talent and strategy. Fortunately, he still has some people who can be used. Shan Xiongxin is brave and agile, and Xu Shiji is courageous and resourceful. Only then can he barely get by, but he still cannot compete with the regular army of the Sui Dynasty, and is always overshadowed by Zhang Xutuo.

Sometimes people are always forced to act against their will in the environment. When they first commit a crime and are imprisoned, all they think about is saving their lives. When they have some capital, they start robbing houses. When their subordinates reach a certain size and they want to maintain it, they have to expand outward, otherwise they will either advance or retreat and be in danger of destruction.

At this time, Zhai Rang's shortcoming of lack of vision was revealed. Some of his subordinates were capable of fighting, some were smart, but there was no one who could make overall plans and look at the overall situation. At this time, Wang Bodang brought Pushan Gong Li Mi, which made Zhai Rang overjoyed.

People desire what they lack. Zhai Rang was born in a humble family, so he longed for a wealthy and aristocratic family the most. Li Mi was born into a noble family in Guanlong, and the dignified Duke of Pushan was no ordinary person. He was a noble figure who could be ranked among the top 100 or even the top 50 in the entire Sui Dynasty. It was no exaggeration for Zhai Rang to value him.

This person was good at planning, was both civil and military, and had great ambitions. During the Kaihuang period, he inherited the title of Pushan Gong, distributed his family property, helped relatives and friends, adopted retainers, and treated talented people with courtesy. He was quite prestigious among the literati, and had many talented people under his command.

Wang Bodang was his disciple and had joined the Wagang Camp early on. He became his guide at this time. He had military advisors Shen Luoyan and Zu Junyan in civil affairs, and Fu Zhen, Fu Yan and Zheng Zong from the Changbai Sect in military affairs. He also had the support of the gentry in Guanlong and Shandong. Even Xu Shiji respected him very much.

When Li Mi came to power and joined Wagang, many people had already fallen in love with him, but Zhai Rang didn't know it yet. When he heard Wang Bodang's words, he was overjoyed and thought that this person joined the gang to assist him. He was even excited and wanted this great man to come as soon as possible.

Joining the Wagang Camp was the result of Li Mi's careful planning and screening, and the strategy he gave to Zhai Rang was the path he wanted to take. He had absolute confidence that he could control the Wagang Army.

Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty abandoned the powerful northern families who had supported him. He fell out with the Turks, inflicting heavy losses, and established ties with them through his sect (the Demonic Sect). He abandoned Luoyang and Chang'an, promising locations for his imperial ambitions, while Li Mi was eager to take over.

He had only one ultimate goal: to replace Yang Guang and become the emperor of Central Plains!

The Eighteen Sons rule the world. Wang Bo, Pei Changcai, Shi Zihe, Guo Fangyu, Lu Mingyue, Yang Xuangan and Zhai Rang are just the vanguards of the king. He is the true emperor!

The destiny was determined long ago, and Li Mi firmly believed this.

The general direction was conveyed to Zhai Rang, who was delighted. However, Zhai Rang's own prestige was insufficient, and the Wagang Army was not invincible, so they were unable to convince the rebels, large and small. Zhai Rang had no choice but to ask Li Mi to recruit and persuade the smaller rebel groups. Li Mi, accompanied by envoys from the wealthy families behind the various rebel groups, naturally came to surrender upon hearing the news. This greatly increased Li Mi's prestige within the Wagang Army, and he ascended to the throne of second in command without any military achievements.

Seeing the various rebel forces gathering in Wagangzhai and the increasing number of soldiers and horses, Zhai Rang, the former legal officer of the Sui Dynasty, gradually lost control. Moreover, due to the large number of troops, the supply of food and grass began to be insufficient.

The people below were in chaos, and all kinds of conflicts, disputes and trivial matters came one after another, making Zhai Rang very busy and overwhelmed. At this time, Li Mizhi returned triumphantly, demonstrated his ability again, and quickly suppressed the disobedience below.

Can it be said that Li Mi really went deep into the grassroots and completely resolved the conflicts?

No, he just sent the boss of the boss at the bottom level out, and there is no need to say more about it.

Faced with the Wagang Army's predicament, Li Mi, the Duke of Pushan, once again advised: "We already have a large number of troops, but we have nowhere to get food and fodder. If we delay any longer, our men and horses will become exhausted. Once a powerful enemy arrives, we will be defeated in a matter of days! It would be better to capture Xingyang directly, rest our troops, and store food and fodder. When we are strong, we can then fight for the throne with others."

Zhai Rang reorganized his troops and captured Jinti Pass, heading straight for Xingyang and other county towns. For a time, the entire Xingyang was in chaos, and urgent reports were continuously sent to Xingyang County.

It has been several months since Yue Buqun entered Tongshou Mansion. He declined the responsibility of leading the personal guards, but personally trained a scout team and eight groups of sixteen swordsmen. Each group has two people specializing in the Yin-Yang sword technique. A single group of two second-rate masters can barely withstand the attack of a first-rate martial arts master. If four groups join forces, they can compete with innate masters. If eight groups take turns to fight, even if hundreds of ordinary soldiers rush forward, they can protect themselves.

Well, their swordsmanship is more defensive, and they cooperated with each other from all sides to protect Zhang Xutuo in the center. Qin Qiong led 300 cavalrymen to charge back and forth three times without stopping, which made everyone admire him. However, this swordsmanship is quite particular, and it is not something that ordinary soldiers can practice successfully. Yue Buqun carefully selected and found only 16 people from tens of thousands of people. It took several months and thousands of taels of silver to achieve today's achievements. The cost-effectiveness made Zhang Xutuo and others twitch their lips and say that they could not afford to support them.

Sixteen second-rate sword-bearing guards, one hundred and eight third-rate scouts, and twelve maids who are proficient in musical instruments. These are the results of Yue Buqun's training. Although they look fancy, the actual effect is unknown.

What made Zhang Xutuo most happy was that Mr. Yue was proficient in hawk training and had specially equipped the scout team with two harriers. This was a top secret of the grassland tribe and there was no intention of spreading it to the outside world. He did not expect that Mr. Yue was so powerful that he could actually perform such a skill.

Just as Zhang Xutuo was preparing to send more soldiers to Yue Buqun's side, news came in that the Wagang Army had invaded the towns around Xingyang County, and a war was about to break out.

Xingyang prefect Yang Qing and Tongshou Zhang Xutuo swore to go to war with great fanfare. On the other side, in the Wagang army camp, Zhai Rang, who had been defeated by Zhang Xutuo's men, was extremely frightened and prepared to avoid him as far as possible.

Li Mi's eyes flashed with disdain, a gleam of brilliance, then turned gentle and soft. He said, "Zhang Xutuo is brave but lacks strategy. His troops have won several battles, but he is arrogant and vicious. We can capture him in one battle. Simply deploy your troops and wait. I will defeat him for you."