Back in the cave, Chen Hongyi and everyone had already cooked wild vegetable and corn porridge, and were just waiting for Li Xiaofei and Zhu Asan to come back.

Hundreds of people had been hungry all morning and could no longer bear it. Seeing the two people entering the cave, Chen Hongyi shouted: "Let's eat!"

Suddenly, countless hands holding helmets crowded over: "Give me more porridge and less wild vegetables!"

"Leave me with wild vegetables!"

"Save some for me! Don't finish the fight alone!"

"Dashuai Chen hasn't eaten yet!"

Everyone was shouting and making noises and then looked at Chen Hongyi. Chen Hongyi took off his helmet and said, "I'll just give you a spoon! It's all too fast to eat. If you don't eat actively, you won't be able to fight!"

Everyone quickly resumed the scene of fighting over each other. By the time Li Xiaofei and Zhu Asan started eating, the big pot had already reached the bottom.

Li Xiaofei and Zhu Asan scraped out the rice cakes from the bottom of the pot and ate them all, leaving their faces covered in black stuff.

However, everyone was no better. Li Xiaofei took a closer look at everyone and found that the main force of the Chen family army who used to be well-dressed and well-dressed was now almost like a beggar.

Their clothes were torn and their bodies were dirty. Chen Hongyi repeatedly urged them to wash their faces and hands with rainwater in an attempt to maintain their military appearance.

Soon it started to rain heavily again, and everyone huddled together with the horses to rest. That night, Chen Hongyi asked Li Xiaofei to lead a team to guard the entrance of the cave. Li Xiaofei and ten people lined up at the entrance of the cave with swords and shields and looked outside the cave.

The rain kept falling, and soon a river began to flow outside. Li Xiaofei began to chat softly with everyone again.

Just when Li Xiaofei was about to use his expertise to question them, a veteran interrupted him: "Xiao Fei, it's only been a few years, have you forgotten that we followed you to the battle line under Liyang City?"

"Yes, yes, just charge into the battle. You guys have such good memories, even I can't compare to you." Li Xiaofei touched his head in embarrassment.

"You are such a noble person and forget things. We, Marshal Chen, have given you the order to die. We must always follow you and protect you! You foolishly rushed forward, and your own subordinates have already fallen behind!"

Li Xiaofei was reminded like this and immediately remembered the situation that day. It was true that the troops around him were not the troops he led in Liyang. At that time, he only thought that the large number of people rushed forward and disrupted the formation, but he had no idea that his men had no troops at all.

Follow me, "Thanks to my brothers for fighting to the death to save it, I owe you this!"

Before Li Xiaofei could finish speaking, everyone interrupted him again: "Don't say this, you will be more careful in the future. You are also lucky to have met a master like Marshal Chen, otherwise nine lives would not be enough. You have also led soldiers for several years.

Man, we see that you still don’t know many things about this army!”

Li Xiaofei smiled awkwardly: "I just rely on everyone to take care of me. I still need to ask everyone for advice on many things."

The veteran was not polite: "I'm going to tell you today, it's not that you don't understand the art of war, but you don't understand the human heart. In this war, if 30% of the people in the camp die at once, even people like us will run away!"

Those ragtag groups can carry up to 20% of the people killed in battle! There are people in this world who are not afraid of death, but no one does not want to live, and no one is willing to die in vain!"

Li Xiaofei was a little confused: "Then why do Marshal Chen and you always like to rush forward? Aren't you afraid of death?"

"Hey, that's because we know that we can defeat the opponent. As long as we kill their most capable group of people, the rest will be chopping melons and vegetables!" the veteran said proudly.

Li Xiaofei was a little disapproving: "Isn't this good luck? Is the bet right?"

The veteran touched his nose and said: "You don't know whether you can shoot or not. You will know after taking a look and shooting arrows. Those who can shoot will have neat movements and strong bodies, and will not be surprised at all times. Those who cannot shoot will start after a few rounds of arrows.

The formation is messed up, and most of them are skinny and skinny. Look at which one of us is not a strong man."

When Li Xiaofei looked at the crowd, he saw that although there were some who were thin, they were also very strong. People like Zhu Asan, even though they were covered in scars, were strong and powerful. As soon as the veteran in front of him saw that his arms were as thick as the mouth of a bowl, he knew

This strength is not comparable to ordinary people.

The veteran continued: "We are soldiers just to have enough food, clothing and warmth, and to feed our families. But except for Chen Jiajun, there are really not many well-fed troops in the world. Even when we are like this

every day

We only have one meal to eat. How can those armies who only have one meal to eat in three days be our opponents?"

"So we retreated when we encountered the well-fed Mobei people? Is there nothing we can do?" Li Xiaofei was a little unconvinced and deliberately mentioned the loss of Hebei.

"When encountering such an elite army, there is nothing we can do. We can just go around in circles with them until they run out of food and water. If that doesn't work, we have no choice but to fight. But Marshal Chen said that generals' decisive battles are not just on the battlefield, throughout the ages

All the famous generals and elite soldiers have died on the battlefield. So let’s take a step back to see how the world is brighter!”

Li Xiaofei stared at the veteran for a while: "Amazing, amazing, I can't believe that a veteran of Chen Jiajun has such a high opinion!"

"I can't speak highly of you. This is something I have experienced over the years, especially since the imperial court has done too many things to kill donkeys. Our Chen family army has the capital to expand the army, but it has been maintained at less than 3,000 people just to avoid being

The imperial court has served it all at once!" The veteran showed a wry smile.

"It would be great if one day we could all be open to the outside world!" Li Xiaofei couldn't help but sigh.

"We haven't seen that day for half our lives. I hope you can really see it. Stop talking. The brothers in the cave still have to sleep." The veteran waved his hand and stopped talking. Soon the cave was restored.

Quiet.

Li Xiaofei was thinking about his wife and children in Xiangyang City, thinking about the next step to go to Jinling, thinking about many things, and stayed up all night.

Outside Xiangyang City, a competition has just begun.

Chen Kuan's thousand troops in red armor faced six thousand black cavalry led by Huang Chuanting and Chen Zhengnan. Emperor Liu Jian and his ministers of civil and military affairs watched the contest from a high platform.

Everyone was sweating for Chen Kuan.

"General Chen, why bother? One thousand versus six thousand, no matter what, you lose."

"Why do you want to wipe out your reputation for a lifetime just to fight for a breath?"

"What do you know? This is a fight for future military power?"

"I can't compete with you. One against six. The opponent is still a cavalry. I've lost even if I haven't fought yet!"

Chen Kuan stood upright in front of the formation with a wooden pole in his hand and shouted: "Master Huang, can we start the competition?"

Huang Chuanting laughed: "General Chen, won't you set up a defensive formation? I can give you half an hour to set up your formation!"

Chen Kuan raised the wooden pole upward: "I don't defend, I only attack!"

Chen Zhengnan almost choked: "General Chen, you still want to attack with these two hundred cavalry, six hundred archers, and two hundred swordsmen? Haha."

Chen Kuan ignored it, pushed the wooden pole forward, and jumped out: "Come with me!"

Two hundred red-coated cavalry followed Chen Kuan and rushed towards Huang Chuanting's left-wing cavalry. Upon seeing this, Huang Chuanting quickly ordered the right-wing cavalry to surround Chen Kuan. After waving the flag, some moved forward and some backward, and the formation suddenly changed.

Messy.

"Wrong, wrong, don't step back!"

"Don't all go up! Be careful of falling into a trap!"

Not only the right-wing cavalry was in chaos, but when the left-wing cavalry saw the flag waving, some of them rushed towards Chen Kuan, while others retreated.

When Chen Kuan saw that the opponent's formation was in disarray, he immediately waved his wooden pole and said: "Charge their center!"

The two hundred red cavalry suddenly changed direction and rushed toward Huang Chuanting and Chen Zhengnan. Huang Chuanting hurriedly waved his flag again, and this time it was completely chaotic.

"No, no, stop them quickly!"

"It's chaos and rebellion. It's not about blocking your own people!"

The cavalry in black who had previously attacked ran back when they saw the order flag being waved. Those who had retreated now ran forward again. They were still standing still and were at a loss. Six thousand people and horses were crowded together. Huang Chuanting and Chen Zhengnan threw away the order.

Qi shouted: "Disperse! Meet the enemy!"

As soon as they finished speaking, the black cavalry around the two men dispersed to both sides. When the surrounding black cavalry saw the Chinese army disperse, they also dispersed, but did not stop Chen Kuan.

"Come back quickly, come back quickly! Protect the Chinese army!"

After several twists and turns, the 6,000 men and horses were already in a mess and out of formation, and the people on the high platform were stunned. Shen Yuanhao even shouted out: "Chuanting, due south, retreat quickly! They are coming!"

But it was too late. Chen Kuan and the red cavalry around him had surrounded Huang Chuanting and Chen Zhengnan. The two threw away the wooden poles in their hands in despair: "These cavalry are too stupid, too stupid, they are all stupid pigs! They are all stupid.

I can’t direct you!”

Seeing that they were dissatisfied, Chen Kuan pointed behind him: "Two adults, please take a look!"

The two of them looked in the direction of Chen Kuan's finger. Chen Kuan's archers and sword and shield soldiers formed a circular formation and were already approaching. Although the surrounding black cavalry were numerous, they could not break the formation and could only watch.

Following this circular formation, it moved towards the Chinese army.

The two men were reluctantly convinced, and they also sounded gongs on the high platform to order both sides to stop fighting!

Liu Jian stood up and waved his hand: "Chen Kuan wins! Do you have any objections?"

"General Chen is mighty!"

"Liang Jun is mighty!"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

"Long live long live long live!"

All the soldiers in the audience lost their weapons and knelt on the ground shouting long live the mountain. Liu Jian looked proud: "Liang Jun is mighty, everyone returns to their base camp, and each has his reward!"

Chen Kuan stood up and shouted to everyone: "Go back to camp!"

The seven thousand troops quickly returned to their base camp under the leadership of the captains of each team and the commanders of each battalion.

Huang Chuanting and Chen Zhengnan were unwilling to lose, so they stepped forward to grab Chen Kuan and asked him to explain the reason.

Chen Kuan chuckled: "This matter must be discussed in detail in front of His Majesty. Let's talk about it back to the city!"

After returning to the city and arriving at the emperor's residence (the original Han Palace), Liu Jian also wanted to know Chen Kuan's secret, so he summoned Chen Kuan and other ministers to come.

Liu Jian first praised Chen Kuan, and then changed the topic: "General Chen can defeat many with less, I'm afraid he has a secret."

Chen Kuan knelt on the ground and replied: "I won't hide it from Your Majesty, there is indeed a secret."
To be continued...