"......Uncle Mao, let's not talk about that. Let's talk about you killing Er Li Li. Guess who couldn't sit still when they heard about it?"

Night had fallen, and the simple room still felt the chill of winter. When this matter was mentioned, Mao Yishan and Hou Wu looked at the young man who spoke, then exchanged glances, and smiled in unison.

"Brother Luo ah..."

"Speaking of which, he went to Shandong and followed Commander Zhu Biao, who is also a ruthless man. Maybe he can take down the head of some big shot in the future?"

"I heard he killed someone named Liu Guangji before the new year."

"That was the boss of the puppet army, it doesn't count. Brother Luo has always wanted to kill a major Jin official... Ta La? Is that the name of the Jin Eastern Route leader who stayed in the Central Plains..."

Mao Yishan and Hou Wu now hold high positions in the Huaxia Army. If they want to inquire about many things, they can certainly find out, but one is focused on fighting, and the other has already shifted to logistics. They haven't delved too deeply into the still vague news from the front lines. At this time, after saying a couple of casual words, Hou Yuanrong, who is now in the intelligence department, took over the topic from his father's generation.

"Uncle Luo is indeed in the Liangshan area now, but attacking Ta La may still have some problems. They previously repelled hundreds of thousands of puppet troops, and later defeated Gao Zongbao. I heard that Uncle Luo took the initiative to attack to grab Gao Zongbao's head, but he escaped too quickly when he saw the situation was not good. Uncle Luo ultimately failed to take this head."

Hou Yuanrong said amusingly, "Not only Gao Zongbao, but last year in Xuzhou, Uncle Luo also proposed to take the initiative to kill Wang Shitong. The plan was already made, but Wang Shitong was turned to our side. As a result, Uncle Luo has only killed Liu Guangji so far. If he hears about Uncle Mao's achievements, he will definitely be extremely envious."

Among the five people who remained after Wan Yan Lou Shi was killed that year, Luo Ye was always nagging about his ambition to kill a major Jin general, which the others only slowly learned about later. Zhuo Yongqing inexplicably chopped Lou Shi, and Luo Ye nagged about it for several years. Whenever someone in the army had a successful kill, Luo Ye would often drool non-stop. This matter started as a harmless personal hobby, but later became a topic for jokes among everyone.

Of course, jokes aside, Luo Ye came from a large family, had progressive ideas, was proficient in both literature and martial arts, and was a backbone among the young generals brought out by Ning Yi. The team he led was also a true sharp knife of the Huaxia Army, winning first place in repeated competitions, and never being ambiguous in actual combat.

It is widely rumored in the Huaxia Army that the more than 20,000 people trained in Tibet have the highest combat effectiveness, but this highest combat effectiveness refers to the average. Da Yang's troops are all composed of veterans, while the Southwest troops are mixed with many new recruits, and some places inevitably have shortcomings. But if you pick out the troops with the highest combat effectiveness, the two sides are still at a similar peak.

As a representative of this peak, one of Mao Yishan's regiments was extremely solid in both offense and defense and could be included. The team led by Luo Ye was even more flexible than Mao Yishan's regiment, making it a stable peak lineup. His kills in each battle are by no means less than Mao Yishan's, but he often doesn't kill any famous big shots. During the three years in Xiaocang River, Luo Ye often pretended to sigh, and over time, it became an interesting topic.

At this time, Mao Yishan, Hou Wu, and Hou Yuanrong couldn't help but laugh. After laughing for a while, Mao Yishan said, "Then... what exactly is the situation over in Shandong, Xiao Rong? Why do you say that he can't kill Ta La?"

"It's just an estimate." Hou Yuanrong's smile faded, "Uncle Luo, Division Commander Liu, Commander Zhu, and the others in that area are suffering too much. According to the news from the front line, the people's livelihood has basically been defeated. There are no crops, and there may not even be seedlings for next year. The people near Liangshan are barely hanging on to life by relying on things in the water, but they are all starving."

Hou Yuanrong sighed, "Our Third Division fought well in Xuzhou, and we also incorporated tens of thousands of troops, but before crossing the Yellow River, the food supply ran out. The situation on the other side of the Yellow River is even more difficult. There is no room for support. Many people will starve to death after crossing the river, so the incorporated manpower cannot be brought over. In the end, we still had to open our mouths to Jin, begging for some grain from them, so that the main force of the Third Division could successfully reach Liangshan. After defeating Gao Zongbao, they robbed some logistics, but it was only enough to use. Most of the supplies were still used to repay the debt of the female prime minister of Jin."

"Is it that difficult..." Mao Yishan murmured.

Hou Yuanrong nodded, "The people's livelihood in the Liangshan area has always been difficult. Even without war, people were living in misery more than ten years ago. After more than ten years of fighting, there have been cases of cannibalism every year. The Jin people went south the year before last, and Ta La scraped that area of the Central Plains again. He was just aiming at not letting people live. So now that's the situation. I heard from a few friends in the General Staff that the most ideal situation next spring is to borrow some seedlings from Jin, and maybe we can recover a little bit of vitality by autumn, but there is another problem in between. Before autumn, Zong Fu and Zong Bi's Eastern Route Army will return from the south. Whether or not we can stop this wave is also a big problem."

Hou Yuanrong took a piece of firewood and drew a simple sketch on the ground, "The current situation is that Shandong is difficult to endure. It seems like we can only fight out, but fighting out is also unrealistic. Division Commander Liu, Commander Zhu, plus the Wu Dynasty troops led by Wang Shanyue, and their families, originally didn't have much to eat. There are hundreds of thousands of puppet troops around them who also don't have anything to eat. These puppet troops have nothing to eat, so they can only bully the people, occasionally adding a little trouble to Uncle Luo and the others. If you want to talk about fighting, Uncle Luo can defeat them a hundred times, but what happens after defeating them? There is no way to incorporate them, because there is simply nothing to eat."

"Ta La is now guarding Datong. How to get from Liangshan to Datong is a problem, logistics is a problem, and fighting is also a problem. A frontal attack is impossible, so let's play some tricks. Ta La is known for his caution. During the battle of Daming Prefecture, he used invariance to respond to all changes, and almost dragged Commander Zhu and the others to their deaths inside. So now speaking, the situation in Shandong is probably the most difficult one next. The only thing we can hope for is that after the Jin situation is broken, can that female prime minister provide some relief?"

In the Huaxia Army, old soldiers like Hou Wu and Mao Yishan, whose styles have been set, are not meticulous in their thinking and rely more on experience than analysis to do things. But among the young people, due to Ning Yi's deliberate guidance, it is already quite fashionable for young soldiers to discuss the current situation and exchange new ideas at gatherings.

At this time, seeing Hou Yuanrong talking eloquently about the situation, although the two had different opinions in their hearts, they also felt quite gratified. Mao Yishan said, "That was... at the end of the year of the rebellion, when Yuanrong came to Xiaocang River, he was only twelve years old, right? I remember... he has really become a talent now..."

Hou Wu shook his head with a smile, "Young people, lack of impulse. Since there is no other way to go, we should play tricks when we need to. Maybe the Shandong gang is already eyeing Datong."

Hou Yuanrong also smiled, "Dad, that's not how it's said. Ta La is indeed meticulous in doing things. When he is determined to defend, underestimating the enemy will be a big loss."

"Then we have to try it, otherwise, are we just waiting to die?" Hou Wu said, "And you little kid, always thinking about relying on others. Liao Yiren and that group of Han traitors in Jin are almost defeated. Begging a woman for help is not right. According to your analysis, I guess the risk of Datong will still have to be taken."

Although he felt that his son was right, he was tapping his child at this time, which was considered a father's instinct. Who knew that after this sentence, the expression on Hou Yuanrong's face suddenly became three points more exciting, and he sat over with great interest.

"No, no, Dad, Uncle Mao, that's just you old fogeys, you don't know. Mister Ning and that female prime minister, they have something going on..." He made a lewd gesture with his hands, and then quickly put them down, "...there is a story."

"What story?"

"Mister Ning and Lou Shuwan from Jin, they knew each other early on... before the war, that was when Fang La rebelled in Hangzhou. You don't know, right... Back then, that female prime minister represented the Tiger King to do business at Xiaocang River, but their story is long... Mister Ning killed Lou Shuwan's father and brothers..."

This was a drawback of the excessively high frequency of information exchange led by Ning Yi. A group of young people who enjoy exchanging information and digging for clues gathered together. Matters involving military secrets may not be able to be spoken freely, but when it comes to the gossip level, many things are inevitably embellished and spread miraculously. Mao Yishan, Hou Wu and others may have only heard a few clues about these things back then, but in the mouths of Hou Yuanrong's generation, they have become bloody and sensational legendary stories.

The two middle-aged men were initially skeptical, but later, although they only listened to it as a story in their hearts, they couldn't help but become animated.

"...I'm not lying to you. Back then... the Battle of Xiacun hadn't even arrived yet. Dad, Uncle Mao, you hadn't even met Mister Ning at all, and Mister Ning already knew Lady Hongti of Mount Lüliang... At that time, that lady had a resounding name in Lüliang, called the Blood Bodhisattva. She had killed more people than Uncle Mao!"

"That's right, that's right, I've heard of the Blood Bodhisattva's name..." Hou Wu nodded repeatedly, stroking his chin.

"...At that time, Mister Ning was planning to train troops at Mount Lüliang. During that trip, Miss Lou represented the Tiger King to Qingmu Village for the first time... I'm not talking nonsense, many people know that Commander Zhu of Shandong was responsible for protecting Mister Ning at that time... And there is someone who personally witnessed this, it is Teacher Yuwen who teaches shooting, Yuwen Feidu ah..."

"Instructor Yuwen has indeed been following Mister Ning very early on..." Mao Yishan nodded repeatedly.

"...So ah, this matter was personally told by Instructor Yuwen, and someone confirmed it... That day, Miss Lou saw Mister Ning again in a small private room. As soon as they met, that female prime minister had a big temper and threw teacups and pillows at Mister Ning. People outside even heard it... She cried and said to Mister Ning, you dead ghost, why don't you go die... Dad, I'm not talking nonsense..."

"Tell me, tell me..."

"...So, aren't there people taking care of those industries in Jin... Back then, the Tiger King wanted to kill Lou Shuwan, and Shopkeeper Dong Fangxian went too. Boom, he killed the Tiger King... Dad, Uncle Mao, you don't even know the inside story. At that time, wasn't Mister Ning pretending to be dead here? In fact, he went to Jin himself. When Jin was in turmoil, Mister Ning was there. This is what I heard... Mister Ning and Shopkeeper Dong were both there, what a lineup, how could the Tiger King withstand it..."

Chatter chatter chatter.

"...So ah, they all say in the General Staff that Miss Lou is one of us..."

"I'm just revealing this to Dad and Uncle Mao..."

"...Mister Ning is thin-skinned and doesn't want people to talk about this, but it's not a big deal..."

"...So, what's the problem with asking Jin for some grain..."

...

"Ahem, that's not how it's said." In the silhouette illuminated by the fire, Hou Wu stroked his chin, and couldn't help but teach his son about the philosophy of life, "After all, it's a bit embarrassing to open your mouth to your own woman like that."

"Brother Wu makes a little sense." Mao Yishan echoed.

"What's there to be embarrassed about?" Hou Yuanrong frowned, looking at the two old fogeys, "...This is all for Huaxia!"

The three were talking about such boring gossip in the room, and even the cold winter night became warm. At this time, Hou Wu, the oldest of the three, was gradually getting old, and the scars on his face no longer looked ferocious when he softened. He used to be very murderous, but now he smiled like an old farmer. Mao Yishan was wrapped in bandages and had a sturdy build. He had killed many enemies over the years, and he no longer hesitated when facing the enemy. When facing relatives and friends, he was already an exceptionally reliable elder and backbone.

Hou Yuanrong was already twenty-four years old. In front of his father's generation, his eyes still had a hint of youthfulness, but he already had a beard under his jaw. In front of his companions, he could already step onto the battlefield as a reliable comrade-in-arms. In the past ten years, he had experienced the development of Xiaocang River, the years of staying behind during his father's generation's arduous battles, the desolate great transfer, the oppression, desolation, and subsequent great construction of Heden County, the heroism of leaping out of the Liangshan Mountains, and finally, he had come here...