Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

A few days later.

"boom!"

In Tong Guan's temporary camp, Tong Guan looked at a military report in front of him and was furious!

He was so angry that he couldn't eat, and he slammed a bowl of rice down on the table!

"That's 50,000 people! Not 50,000 pigs! And some of them even fought against the Liao people! How could they suffer such a crushing defeat in just one battle against Liangshan?!"

Tong Guan truly couldn't believe that a battle he thought he had a pretty good chance of winning would end in such a quick defeat!

"My lord, according to the defeated soldiers, Liangshan... Liangshan used heavenly thunder."

The junior officer hesitated for a moment before speaking to Tong Guan.

"Heavenly lightning? What's that?"

Tong Guan was so surprised he couldn't speak.

Of the 50,000 vanguard troops, the routed soldiers scattered all over the mountains and fields, and in the end, Tong Guan only managed to find and bring back a little over 20,000.

"Judging from those people's descriptions, it must have been firearms. They said that many thunderbolts fell from the sky, making a huge sound when they landed, and there were severed limbs and remains everywhere!"

"I believe that the claim of 'heavenly thunder' is definitely false. The transcribed description should refer to a powerful firearm."

It must be said that the junior officers under Tong Guan are quite capable; at least they can quickly realize that the so-called "heavenly thunder" is just hype and is actually a firearm!

"That's weird, where did Liangshan get firearms?"

Tong Guan frowned, not even bothering to clean up the food in his hands.

He had also served on the border, and he knew the power of firearms. Although they were rather clumsy and lacked mobility, their power was indeed quite impressive.

The problem is that these firearms are treasures of the Song Dynasty. Only the imperial court has the technology and formulas for making firearms. Where did Liangshan get these firearms?

"Privy Councilor, have you forgotten that there was once a man in Tokyo named Ling Zhen, who was a firearms expert for generations? He offended Grand Commandant Gao for some reason and was demoted. Later, somehow he ended up on Liangshan Mountain, and he is famous on the stone tablet there."

"Do you remember when you first arrived at the Western Army, you wanted to call that person's name to come along, but the Imperial Guards at the time rejected it?"

"Thunderous strike? That's not surprising, that's not surprising."

Upon hearing Ling Zhen's name, Tong Guan remembered some things. At the same time, he turned the bowl in his hand over and shoveled the rice off the table back into the bowl.

"That Ling Zhen was indeed quite capable. I had high hopes for him back then, but we lost contact with him afterward. I never expected that he would also be sent to Liangshan by Gao Qiu?"

"Throughout his life, Gao Qiu has sent far more people to Liangshan than he has sent to the imperial court. Is he the Grand Commandant of our Great Song Dynasty or the Grand Commandant of Liangshan?"

Thinking of this, Tong Guan cursed and dragged Gao Qiu out to whip his corpse.

The junior officer beside him lowered his head and dared not speak. Although Gao Qiu was dead, there was still a highly regarded member of the Gao family in the capital, Gao Kan, who was now working in the Privy Council.

Tong Guan was the Privy Councilor, so he could be unafraid of the Gao family, but the other servants wouldn't dare say that.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you afraid of that good-for-nothing son of the Gao family? Afraid of nothing! Even Gao Qiu wouldn't dare to yell at me, do you think his fake son would?"

Tong Guan rolled his eyes at his subordinates. This is Tong Guan's army. Can't you be a little bolder?

"General, what do we do now? Vanguard has lost a battle, what about those who were originally under Vanguard Wang's command?"

"Someone of Wang Qing's men escaped back? What about him? Why didn't he escape?"

Tong Guan was somewhat surprised. "Wang Qing, you've disappointed me greatly. Your men can all run back, but you can't?"

"According to them, Wang Xianfeng got separated from them at the time, so he didn't make it out in the end..."

"Stupid! So stupid!"

Tong Guan was so angry he couldn't eat! He had previously thought Wang Qing had some potential and was even considering nurturing him.

"A vanguard officer who isn't strong enough in combat retreats instead of retreating with his stronger subordinates. Is he stupid? Do I have to teach him how to retreat?"

Thinking of this, Tong Guan once again turned the rice back up onto the table!

This is infuriating! I'm not eating!

"General, please calm down. Don't get sick from anger."

The junior officer quickly went up to pat Tong Guan on the back to help him catch his breath, and then took out another letter from his pocket and placed it in front of Tong Guan.

"What is this?"

Tong Guan looked puzzled.

"Ahem... General, this is a letter from Liangshan addressed to you for your personal opening."

"To my honor? Ren Yuan is a military man, why is he using such flowery language? Does he think that will make him seem like a scholar?"

Tong Guan was very disdainful of Ren Yuan; in Tong Guan's mind, Ren Yuan was just a brute.

After taking the letter and opening it, Tong Guan blushed after reading only a few lines!

He slammed his fist on the table and jumped up!

"This is outrageous! This is absolutely outrageous!"

Tong Guan pointed at the letter with one hand and put the other on his hip, cursing loudly!

"Who is this Ren Yuan? What is he trying to do? Is he threatening me?"

"Does he think that by capturing Wang Qing, he has our imperial army under his control? He even dares to order me to retreat! Where does he get the guts!"

"General, Ren Yuan is ordering us to retreat?"

The junior officer was also somewhat surprised.

"Hmph, that's right, this bandit seems to have been living too comfortably and has forgotten that he's a thief!"

"I still have over 100,000 troops under my command! He actually wants me to retreat? Dream on!"

Tong Guan gave the order directly:

"Order the entire army to prepare for battle today! Dinner is at the second watch tonight! We will break camp and march at the third watch! Tomorrow, at the crack of dawn, the army will be at the foot of Liangshan! We will surround Liangshan!"

"General, our troops can't surround it, and our navy hasn't arrived yet. At most, we can only reach the lake near Liangshan."

After a moment's hesitation, the junior officer told Tong Guan.

"Hmph, then let's set up camp in their lakeside village!"

"Don't they claim to be acting on behalf of Heaven? Let's set up camp in the surrounding villages! Let's see if they dare to raid our camp!"

"The provisions are stored in the people's homes! I want to see if those Liangshan people dare to set fire to the village!"

You know what, Tong Guan's move was quite clever. Fearing that Liangshan might raid the camp or burn the grain, he arranged for the stockade and supplies to be stored in the homes of ordinary people. This indeed prevented Liangshan from using tactics such as burning the grain.

Burning down ordinary people's homes is something Liangshan would never do.

"The commander-in-chief is truly a brilliant strategist!"

The junior officer quickly offered flattery.

"Hmph, all Liangshan is about upholding justice on behalf of Heaven, isn't that their foundation? They may have temporarily misled many people, but once that foundation is destroyed, they're nothing but a bunch of clay chickens and earthen dogs!"

Tong Guan certainly had strategic vision; he could see that Liangshan's greatest asset was also their greatest limitation.

That's why he used this tactic.

Although it involves a bit of moral blackmail, it has to be said that it's very useful.

"Also! Notify Uncle Zhang! He promised to come and provide support within three days! If he doesn't come, then he shouldn't come at all!"

"Also! Tell that brat from the Zhe family to come quickly! He's been on his way for so long without any news. What happened? Did he get lost?"

"Then, General, what about Wang Xianfeng? He is, after all, your son-in-law..."

The junior officer asked cautiously.

"What son-in-law? I don't have such a son-in-law!"

……