The main force of the five battalions, which totaled more than 18,000 people, formed Lao Zhu's core combat force. In addition, there were Qianhu of Huayun's cavalry, who had not been upgraded.

The main reason is that Lao Zhu does not have so many war horses, and the cavalry brigade in the Huaihe River cannot be used. Of course, if he can successfully defeat Tuotuo and seize some from the Yuan army, Lao Zhu will still be happy to get a cavalry.

Camp.

So far, with the main force of 20,000 infantry and cavalry, plus some unorganized second-class thousand households, as well as peripheral forces such as Miao Daheng, Peng Zaozhu, Hu Dahai, etc., Zhu Yuanzhang's total force exceeds 50,000.

In fact, Lao Zhu could expand the number of troops even more, but he knew very well that the troops should be elite rather than large. Moreover, blindly expanding the army and poor command would be worse than not expanding at all.

Again, if you can successfully defeat Tuotuo, sharpen your troops and become veterans, and Hezhou's food supply can keep up, why not expand the army?

Who has the final say these days is who has the strongest troops and horses.

Even father and son don’t work!

The person who feels this most deeply is probably Guo Zixing.

His father-in-law had been kept in Huaiyuan by Zhu Yuanzhang for almost a year.

His orders are known to everyone from the front door of the Commander's Mansion to the back door of the Commander's Mansion.

After getting into this position, Guo Zixing was so broad-minded that he didn't hang himself and wipe his neck. All he could say was that he was a real man.

However, after all, Guo Zixing is getting older, his health is getting worse, and he is in a bad mood. He is now seriously ill and is expected to die soon.

Currently, there are more than 8,000 people under Guo Zixing's command, less than 10,000.

With just such a small number of people, in the spirit of infinite subdivision, two factions emerged.

One of them is Guo Tianxu and Zhang Tianyou. They rely on Guo Zixing's prestige to control thousands of confidants. There are also two people, one named Shao Rong and the other named Zhao Jizu.

The two of them were the first old men to follow Guo Zi in raising troops, and they were among the senior generals second only to several generals.

These two people looked down upon Zhu Yuanzhang and did not follow Lao Zhu.

But they also knew that with their military strength, they would definitely not be able to replace Guo Zixing and stand on his own feet.

Therefore, Shao Rong and Zhao Jizu encouraged Guo Zixing to join Liu Futong.

Rather than being bullied by his son-in-law, it is better to find another backer and use Liu Futong's troops to deal with Zhu Yuanzhang and let out this bad temper.

It wasn't that Guo Zixing was unwilling to agree, but he was really not in good health, and he was also afraid that Liu Futong would swallow him up, so he delayed it like this.

As Guo Zixing became seriously ill, Guo Tianxu and Zhang Tianyou became more and more depressed. Shao Rong and Zhao Jizu's prestige increased day by day, and they gradually did not take Guo Zixing seriously.

The commander-in-chief and the general should be related to Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, while Guo Zixing and Shao Rong became Liang Shanbo and Wo Kuotai.

In this strange atmosphere, Tang He led his troops and horses, escorting Zhao Junyong, to Huaiyuan City.

Hearing that Tang He had arrived, Guo Zixing took the initiative to go out of the city to greet him. This was one of the few opportunities for him to leave the city.

When the two parties met, Tang He was shocked.

Is this still the same Marshal Guo?

Why have you aged like this?

His beard turned white, his back was bent, and he needed help when walking. He was really at the end of his rope... Tang He surrendered to the army earlier than Zhu Yuanzhang, and he was really sighing and sighing at this moment.

"The general will pay homage to the Generalissimo!"

Tang He knelt on the ground and bowed.

Guo Zixing forced a smile and said hurriedly: "Quick, get up!" When Tang He stood up, Guo Zixing took his arm and asked: "How is my virtuous son-in-law?"

"Okay! The superior position is very good now! We just won the battle, so I asked the humble one to report the victory to the commander-in-chief."

Guo Zixing nodded repeatedly, "Okay, I knew he was a promising boy who could fight. Only in his hands can the Red Scarf Army prosper!"

Guo Zixing seems to be really old and has become indifferent to the world. He has no intention of scheming. He is very happy when he hears that his younger generation is doing well.

Guo Tianxu and Zhang Tianyou all relied on Guo Zixing, and they were very obedient at the moment, not even daring to show off.

Shao Rong, on the other hand, snorted coldly, "Tang He, do you know me?"

Tang He smiled and said, "Why don't you know Shao Rong Shao Wanhu!"

"Yes!" Shao Rong said: "Zhu Yuanzhang is becoming more and more arrogant. Why doesn't he come to see the commander-in-chief?"

Tang He also sneered. In the past, he was just Shao Rong's subordinate, but now, the situation is different.

"Who said that the higher-ups came here disrespecting the commander-in-chief? Hundreds of thousands of Yuan troops marched south, and the higher-ups had to go all out to plan against the Yuan army. Naturally, they couldn't get away from it. But the higher-ups had a gift that they wanted to give to the commander-in-chief."

"A gift?" Guo Zixing was surprised, and then said: "No, no need, it's not easy for him. There are so many soldiers and horses, and any extra money should be used to raise soldiers."

The corners of Tang He's mouth turned up, he raised his hand, clapped it twice, "Put it up!"

After hearing the news, the soldiers below immediately brought over a cage and placed it in front of Guo Zixing. Tang He smiled and said: "Commander, this is not gold or silver, but a living person, your enemy!"

"My enemy?" Guo Zixing's eyes widened and his breathing became rapid.

Tang He stretched out his hand and pulled off the cloth covering it, revealing the Lushan face of the person inside.

Guo Zixing leaned over and saw that he looked familiar. He quickly rubbed Laohua's eyeballs and suddenly screamed in surprise.

"This, this is Zhao Junyong!"

Tang He nodded, "Yes, Zhao Jun used this traitor to defect to Yuan Ting and launch a sneak attack on Chuzhou. However, the superiors used his plan to annihilate them all in one fell swoop! The superiors knew that he had kidnapped the commander-in-chief, so they sent him over to ask the commander-in-chief to punish him!"

Guo Zixing finally understood. He trembled, walked closer, and asked someone to open the cage. He leaned over and observed carefully. He found that Zhao Junyong's face was pale, his teeth were clenched, and he seemed to have passed out.

Guo Zixing raised his palm, like slapping a watermelon, and hit Zhao Junyong's face several times.

After a long while, Zhao Junyong shook his head and slowly opened his eyes.

At this moment, Guo Zixing grinned like a child who got his favorite toy.

"He, he is alive!"

This sentence contained too much anger, too much surprise, and the voice changed.

The biggest loss Guo Zixing had ever suffered in his life was that he was caught by Zhao Jun in a daze and almost lost his life. If Zhu Yuanzhang hadn't been able to rescue him, Guo Zixing would have really been doomed.

But it was because of this that Guo Zixing's prestige was completely destroyed, and all the energy he had accumulated after his victory in Haozhou was wiped away.

From then on, it never recovered!

Contrary to Guo Zixing, Zhao Jun destroyed Peng Da and his power increased day by day. Although he was not as good as Zhu Yuanzhang, he was not on the same level as Guo Zixing.

Lao Guo thought he would never be able to compare with others in his life!

But how could he have imagined that one day, Zhao Junyong would be placed in front of him like a dog.

"What, what's going on?" Guo Zixing's voice trembled.

Tang He talked about the situation of the war, and also focused on the matter of letting a few children take Zhao Jun as prisoners... This made Guo Zixing extremely happy.

"Okay, well caught! This beast, a white-eyed wolf! I took him in, but he repaid me with kindness, and he deserves it!" Guo Zixing scolded, then turned around and asked Tang He, "Then, what does Yuan Zhang mean?"

Tang He said with a smile: "Of course it's up to the commander-in-chief to decide!"

"Okay!" Guo Zixing said immediately: "I'm going to kill him now! Take out his heart and liver and take a good look at what he is!"

Tang He naturally has no objection. You, Marshal Guo, can vent your anger however you want!

Guo Zixing was as happy as if he had received the imperial edict, and quickly ordered to summon all his subordinates.

He gathered his troops and built a tall platform in the middle of the crowd.

And in order to torture Zhao Jun for a while longer, he also found the ginseng that was used to extend his life and drank it into Zhao Jun's mouth.

With this bowl of old ginseng soup, Zhao Junyong was finally able to speak.

"Bah! I'm so unlucky that I fell into the hands of a pig!"

Snapped!

Guo Zixing slapped him!

"You are worse than a pig or a dog!" Zhao Junyong scolded him back.

Guo Zixing slapped him again, but Guo Zixing didn't have the strength, and Zhao Junyong kept yelling and scolding him. He simply found a dagger, stabbed it into Zhao Junyong's mouth, stirred it up, and even stabbed his cheek.

They also asked people to bring nails, pierce Zhao Jun's knees, and nail them to the platform. Then they blinded his eyes, cut open his abdomen, took out his heart and liver, and threw them into the fire.

After it was burned until only the bones were left, the bones were crushed and ashes were thrown away, and he fell down at the crossroads and was trampled by thousands of people and tens of thousands of people!

The resentment in Guo Zixing's stomach was vomited out. He was in a good mood and seemed to be young again. He held a special banquet in the evening for Tang He.

At the banquet, Guo Zixing kept asking about Zhu Yuanzhang. Tang He answered them one by one, and Guo Zixing nodded again and again.

He also specially called his wife Zhang and asked her to listen.

Zhang sneered and said: "I have known for a long time that Yuan Zhang is a promising child, different from Tian Xu! Master, why are you still hesitating now? Why are you still reluctant to hand over the power to Yuan Zhang?"

Guo Zixing was startled. Guo Tianxu and Zhang Tianyou next to him wanted to speak, but they were not careful. Tang He glared at them, and they were so scared that they shut up. However, their hearts were still filled with resentment, shock and fear, for fear that Guo Zixing would nod in agreement.

"Madam, I, I..." Guo Zixing still couldn't say anything.

Zhang was anxious, "Master, Commander! Take a good look at it! That Shao Rong and Zhao Jizu, they formed a clique and gathered so many people. If you have any shortcomings, they can kill Tian Xu."

, kill our family! At this point, only Yuan Zhang can protect us, why can’t you figure it out?”

Guo Zixing perked up. It wasn't that he couldn't figure it out, but he just couldn't bear it... At this time, Tang He looked at his words and hurriedly said: "Commander, I have no intention of replacing the commander in chief. No matter when the time comes, Haozhou Red Scarf will listen to the commander-in-chief.
To be continued...