Although Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao were stationed in separate camps, there were still basic exchanges.

The reason why they ended up in a crushing defeat in the last battle in Jiangxi was that they were suspicious and did not communicate with each other, and the other was that they were careless and underestimated the enemy.

Now that they have come back, they are naturally cautious and put the details to the extreme.

After a night of rest, the army marched towards Nanchang the next morning.

Both Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao hope to make up for the lost time.

It was indeed very smooth at the beginning. With the promise of a heavy reward, the soldiers were all like chicken blood, and there was no need for generals and officers to supervise them.

But after arriving outside Nanchang City, they found that things were not as simple as they imagined.

The Ming army seemed to have been prepared and the city was well-deployed.

And at first glance, there were not many Ming troops on the city wall.

Geng Jimao originally thought that the Ming army's troops in Jiangxi would not exceed 30,000, and this is the number at most in Nanchang City.

This is the result of all the troops in prefectures and counties in various places being concentrated in Nanchang.

But now, looking around, the city was filled with soldiers, and it didn't look like there were only 30,000 people.

Nanchang City is a first-class city. To fill such a city, there must be at least 50,000 people.

Geng Jimao began to feel restless.

Could it be that the source of the news was wrong? The Ming army did not have a Northern Expedition at all?

If this is the case, he will be furious.

Mobilizing the army is not a joke, although Geng Jimao ordered the soldiers to plunder the people and replenish a lot of food along the way.

But at the beginning, the food and supplies had to be prepared by oneself.

If you attack Jiangxi, you have to spend hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. If you just come and take a walk around, Geng Jimao will not accept it.

He subconsciously glanced at Shi Lang beside him, and Shi Lang was obviously very depressed.

Geng Jimao first told him this information, and he thought it was a bit strange at the time, but he didn't say much considering Geng Jimao's face.

Now it seems that it is likely that it was a trap set by the Ming army, waiting for Monk Geng Jimao Kexi to hit him up.

What’s sad is that Geng Jimao and Shang Kexi and the other two bumped into each other without hesitation without thinking.

"Ahem, General Shi, what should we do now?"

Geng Jimao finally couldn't hold it anymore and asked Shi Lang for advice in a deep voice.

Shi Lang spread his hands helplessly and said, "I've come here, so you can't go home empty-handed. Although there are quite a lot of Ming troops in Nanchang City, it's still much worse than the coalition forces of the prince and the Pingnan King. If we really fight, we will definitely win."

Shi Lang said this to appease Geng Jimao. In fact, he also understood that the number of coalition forces was only about three times that of the Ming army. This number could only be said to be able to fight, but if you want to be sure of winning, you really don’t have the confidence to do so. In other words, the loss of the coalition forces will definitely be huge after the fight begins. Even if you take down Nanchang City, the damage will be quite ugly.

But as he said just now, if you come back empty-handed, it is really unreasonable.

Not only was the soldiers full of anger, but Geng Jimao was about to explode himself.

So even if you bite the bullet, you have to attack Nanchang City. Only by taking Nanchang can you have the next plan.

You can choose to continue to attack Nanjing City, or you can choose to stop here.

Of course it depends on the situation.

If the main force of the Ming army did not have a Northern Expedition, it would be possible that even Geng Jimao would withdraw his troops.

Of course, it must have been robbed Nanchang City and then retreated.

Geng Jimao frowned, obviously not making up his mind.

After all, this is very different from what he imagined before. He originally thought that as long as he moved his finger, Nanchang City would be taken down by him.

But now it seems that there is a very heavy price to pay.

"Come on, please come and discuss matters by King Pingnan."

Although the two were marching in separate camps, it was inevitable that they would join forces in the face of major events such as siege.

The situation is very complicated now, so naturally we cannot make a decision by Geng Jimao alone.

Shi Lang also thought it would be better to ask Shang Kexi to discuss it together. In this way, no one would regret it if everyone made a decision.

The personal soldiers held their fists and took the order away, and then they were waiting awkwardly.

Taking advantage of this time, Shi Lang suggested: "Your Majesty, I will have a sentence that I don't know if it's said or not."

Geng Jimao waved his hand and said impatiently: "I'll say that."

"In the eyes of the last general, the defenders of Jiangxi may not be the main force of the Ming army."

When Geng Jimao heard this, his eyes were staring like a cowbell.

He stared at Shi Lang in disbelief and coughed, "Are General Shi joking? Have you ever calculated the number of soldiers of the Ming army? As far as I know, their number of soldiers will not exceed 300,000. Take Jiangxi as an example. If there are 50,000 soldiers, then should Huguang have this number, let alone Nanzhili? And Zhejiang and Sichuan..."

Geng Jimao's face looked very ugly, and he held back and did not swear.

"The prince misunderstood the meaning of the last general."

Shi Lang added slowly: "After the last general said, this may not be the main force of the Ming army. This means that the main force of the army may have already made an Northern Expedition. What is left behind is probably the township tyrants, auxiliary soldiers and other types of people who make up for the numbers."

Shi Lang pointed out the key point: "If this is the case, what is the difference between 50,000 and 30,000 people? So what if 100,000 people defend the city?"

When Geng Jimao heard this, he suddenly realized.

Yes, why didn't he expect it?

If the news misunderstood that the last general was really expedition, it would be impossible that so many soldiers would be left behind.

He has been struggling with this, but in fact he has fallen into a misunderstanding.

Because from the bottom of his heart, he believed that these 50,000 people were war soldiers.

If these 50,000 are auxiliary soldiers, the situation will be completely different.

"call!"

Geng Jimaochang let out a breath of turbid air, and then said in a deep voice: "If you say that, the Ming thief is singing an empty city plan."

Zhuge Liang's empty city plan has an exaggerated element, and it is impossible for a soldier or soldier in the city to have no.

But it means that it is very likely that Nanchang City is very empty now, with basically no combat soldiers, and it depends entirely on a group of township warriors and auxiliary soldiers to support the storefront.

The Ming army's purpose is very clear, that is, to scare away the monk Geng Jimao and Kexi.

If Monk Geng Jimao was convinced that he chose to withdraw his troops, they could easily resolve a crisis.

But if Geng Jimao Monk Kexi didn't believe it and chose to continue to attack the city, the situation would be completely different for the Ming army in the city.

The combat effectiveness of auxiliary soldiers and township heroes who lack combat experience is incomparable to that of combat soldiers. Geng Jimao feels that he will be able to take Nanchang in one day.

This is the argument he carefully analyzed after Shi Lang's advice.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was reasonable. He would know if it was a warrior or an auxiliary soldier.

It’s unreasonable to scare yourself if you don’t fight a battle.

At this time, the personal soldiers came to report that the King of Pingnan refused to come to the camp here and asked both sides to discuss at a neutral point. Moreover, the number of personal soldiers they could lead could not exceed one hundred.

Geng Jimao was blown up for a moment when he heard this. Is this old thief unable to trust him?

...

...
Chapter completed!