The scholar’s expression turned anxious when he heard this.

“Isn’t Liu Xi too greedy? He wants to respond to the imperial decree to send all his troops to rescue the emperor in the capital and also to attack my sect! This person is not afraid of biting off more than he can chew!”

An Cui was speechless again.

Jiang Pengji and the Red Lotus Group were enemies. It was only natural to attack the group when it was down. What, was Jiang Pengji supposed to love the Red Lotus Group like how a mother loves her child?

An Cui said, “Stay calm, don’t be impatient. I said that this is not something to get anxious about precisely because Liu Xi is too greedy. He wants the best of both worlds, and so he must move fast to maximize the results. The battle would be fought according to the normal rules and standards, they can’t afford any delays… ”

The scholar was engrossed as he listened. His ears perked up for fear of missing or mishearing a single word.

“…In such a situation, Liu Xi can only focus his forces on one point of attack. Our group has a large number of people; we have countless members. Liu Xi only has some tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, what do we have to fear of them? If he wants to take us by storm, we will concentrate our forces and drag the battle on. As time passes and he still can’t take us down after attacking for a long time, he will naturally withdraw his forces. ”

The scholar nodded while listening. He subsequently asked a stupid question.

“Why would he automatically withdraw his forces?”

An Cui choked.

He really didn’t want to answer a question that was beyond simple.

“Because of the imperial decree for all troops to march into the capital to rescue the emperor. Liu Xi cannot afford any delays.”

The scholar nodded and said “Oh,” finally understanding.

“In other words, things will be okay if we stall for time?”

As long as they stall for time, Liu Xi would stop fighting and retreat.

An Cui agreed, “Yes, this is the rationale.”

The scholar asked another question. “But, how do we know where Liu Xi will attack? Chengde County’s terrain is not complicated, but the territory is vast. It is very troublesome and time-consuming to dispatch reinforcement troops back and forth. Duo Xi, where do you think Liu Xi will concentrate his forces? Where would he attack?”

An Cui closed his eyes.

It was no wonder that the Red Lotus Group could not suppress the Tsing Yi Army when it had such a pig-brain as its military counselor.

The Red Lotus Group had a lot of men, and “many hands provide great strength,” but this was not enough to negate the fact that the brain of the group was just so stupid.

“This is why I said it’s not time to get anxious yet.” An Cui appeared as if he was talking about national affairs of great importance. He said with a smile, “Let’s wait for Liu Xi’s next move. Liu Xi is fighting a long-distance battle, meanwhile, we are on the defensive. We also have flat and even public roads in the county, so our troops can move much faster than his. Rather than worrying and panicking now, which would only cause our people to become alarmed, it is better to sit back calmly and do what we’ve always done. We should wait for the opportunity to come to us. We can wait until Liu Xi serves himself on a silver platter. No matter where he wants to attack, we just need to fix our attention on his movements. No matter what form his ambush takes, we can gain the upper hand. ”

An Cui had very realistically and seriously boasted about the Red Lotus Group to the extent that the scholar’s bones went limp and his mind swelled to the high heavens.

The scholar listened with tears shining in his eyes.

He held An Cui’s hands and called him a close friend who knew him better than himself.

An Cui snickered.

He’d never treated a pig as his close friend before.

His expression was aloof.

The scholar asked some more stupid questions in detail. An Cui answered them in detail, seemingly without the slightest intention to evade or conceal information.

The scholar was very satisfied with this frank discussion.

He patted An Cui’s shoulder. “You did very well. You’ve made great contributions to the group. I will sing your praises to the chief.”

On the surface, An Cui revealed an expression of ecstasy that was hard to suppress, but he also feigned aloofness and humbly declined the praises.

However, according to what he had learned during the initial stages of sounding out of the scholar, this man would not recommend him to the chief of the Red Lotus Group. Instead, he would deliberately “hide” him away.

Why?

Because the Red Lotus did not need two strategists who were equally “smart.” An Cui was clever and capable, and he would make the scholar appear stupid and useless.

An Cui was well aware of this little ploy to suppress him.

Anyway, he didn’t need the Red Lotus Group to place any significant importance on him. Praises or not, they meant little to him.

The Red Lotus’s chief had more trust in the scholar. There was no way that An Cui could build a similar level of trust with him in a short time.

As the 007 spy planted by Jiang Pengji, An Cui needed the chief of the Red Lotus Group to firmly believe in his words and the scholar was the best mouthpiece to ensure that it happened.

As expected, the scholar returned and reported to the chief of the Red Lotus Group. He changed An Cui’s words and repositioned them as his own ideas, all without the slightest mention of An Cui’s existence.

The chief of the Red Lotus Group was a stocky man less than 165 centimeters tall. His face was full of bumpy pockmarks. To hide his ugliness, he’d grown a set of sideburns. He was from the same village as the scholar, and they’d had a rather good relationship before the rise of the rebellion. After the rebellion, he had even greater trust in the scholar.

He pinched his beard and muttered to himself for some time.

“Just do as you say. I want to see what kind of capabilities this Liu Xi possesses that he dares to offend the gods!”

This was previously mentioned. The Tsing Yi Army was a group of bandits, and the Red Lotus Group was a group of religious bandits.

This chief professed to be an incarnation of a deity who had come down to earth to rescue its people.

In reality…

Before he was the “incarnation of a deity,” he was just a quack doctor who had been through a few years of school and studied medicine for another few years.

By chance, he’d gotten a copy of a sects’ “doctrine” that had been circulated and passed down since the chaos of the Sixteen Kingdoms. After reading it, he’d deeply felt that the teachings were very intelligent and rational, so he’d spread them around everywhere. But it was not clearly stated in the ancient text from which sect it had originated from. Hence, he’d simply named it after his native home, Red Lotus County.

A few years later, he had accumulated a group of believers in his native Red Lotus County, establishing the foundation for the subsequent uprising.

Then it just so happened that the capital was struck with an earthquake. The royal family moved the capital and did not care whether the peasants lived or died. He’d simply held up the doctrine and led the members to rebel.

If the Red Lotus Group had gotten better luck and had they not been obstructed by the Tsing Yi Army, it was estimated that the group would have spread throughout the north.

It was a pity that they were out of luck.

The Tsingyi Army suddenly emerged as a new force to be reckoned with. The tactics they used to one-up the Red Lotus Group were extremely ferocious in the north.

In the end, neither one of them had successfully dealt with the other. Neither had grown or strengthened themselves. On the contrary, Jiang Pengji had been able to take advantage of the situation.

The scholar received a considerable reward for his scheming and advice. This also strengthened his intention to keep suppressing An Cui.

But to maintain such a “high level” of IQ, he also needed An Cui to produce more work for him to pass off as his own.

In order to further gain the scholar’s trust, An Cui helped him solve another two issues.

From point of view of the Red Lotus members, their military strategist seemed to have entered a whole new league, and the light around his body shone even more brilliantly.

At the same time, Jiang Pengji was ready to go on the military campaign. There was plenty of grain that had been diverted for the troops, and the soldiers she’d selected were the best of the best. Even though they had to march in the cold winds, their posture remained tall and straight.

Jiang Pengji ascended to the platform to appoint the duties for this campaign. She officially announced that she would be taking on the post of the Supreme Commander for the Vanguard Battalion.

Li Yun was promoted from Vice-Captain to Captain, leading the right-wing to support the Vanguard Battalion and their main army.

Meng Hun stayed behind to take care of the base. Meanwhile, Luo Yue was responsible for grain transportation for the rear army and shouldered various logistics matters.

Dian Yan was appointed as the Vice-Captain of the Vanguard Battalion and would charge into battle with Jiang Pengji.

The women’s battalion led by Jiang Nongqin was part of the Vanguard’s plan. It would act in concert with the assault tactics of the Vanguard Battalion.

As for the military counselor that would follow them on this expedition, Jiang Pengji had considered several people before finally choosing Yang Si.

Qiguan Rang would oversee the main army. Wei Ci and Xu Ke would stay behind to take care of their seat of power. Yang Si would follow the army.

Yang Si could not help but marvel at the results.

“I really don’t know if your lord is generous or magnanimous. He even dares to put the people who have not acknowledged their allegiance to him in important positions.”

Wei Ci laughed. “If my lord dares to put a person to use, she naturally believes in the other party. Not to mention, you are the one who came up with the plan for this surprise attack. Who else would she take with her but you? Just… I heard that mountain roads can be arduous and steep. Jing Rong, you must be careful. ”

Yang Si’s expression sank. His face grew dark as the soot at the bottom of a pot.

“It’s definitely the fault of your tongue if we sever our friendship one day!”