Chapter 314 Assembly
When Wang Yan drove to Liang County, what he saw was a tense atmosphere of war everywhere.
In the village, the Silver Spear soldiers who had finished their separation left home in twos and threes and hit the road.
The father silently pushed the stone mill, put away the "white flour" mixed with a lot of bran, and occasionally glanced at his son who was getting ready to go.
My mother picked at the cabbage absentmindedly, but hesitated to speak.
The wife stuffed the prepared dry food into the package and said softly: "The Hu cakes are soaked in vinegar according to the military method and put away carefully. In case of food shortage, they can still last for a few days. Steamed cakes It's freshly made and will be eaten in the next two days. This is salted black pepper, which is more delicious than the pickles in the army. My husband has been working hard, so he eats it with cakes when he is tired. Don't be frugal."
" What's the point of eating so much?" The sergeant had a gentle smile on his face, but he said reproachfully: "I can just take two vinegar cakes with me on the road. The army has its own bread and rice. This year's wheat harvest is bad, and the family is not hungry. I'm rich, so I won't bring the steamed cakes with me."
After that, he put a few steamed cakes that were still warm into his wife's hands and said, "When I return from Jingzhou, I will bring back some pieces of silk for you. , make a new suit of clothes.”
The wife blushed a little, glanced at the old woman who was working, and looked at her husband with an angry look.
The husband understood, turned around and said, "Master, grandma, the army is urging me, so I'm leaving now."
"Go." The father replied in a muffled voice: "Your brother was working on the river and fell ill. He died at a young age and had no wife or children. You are better than him and became Chen Hou's soldier. With so much money and food every year, the family's life is getting better day by day. You don't have to worry about me now. Your third and fourth brothers have grown up and can work in the fields. Go ahead and have a good time."
“Don’t be brave in battle.” My mother wiped away her tears and said, “Zhang Ba in the west of the village, it was not enough to kill one thief, but he had to kill two or three. In the end, I don’t know. Why did you get hit by an arrow and die? You should be more careful. Auntie made a fish for you to eat when you come back during the New Year.
The sergeant nodded, took the bundle from his wife, waved to his son and daughter, and strode away.
Beyond the Shiqiao defense, the soldiers were chatting and laughing loudly, leading their horses and leaving the village.
Fu soldiers are generally called the "Long Sword Army".
But up to now, this is just a bugle.
The majority of people use heavy swords and crossbows, but there are also many people who use other weapons.
In fact, some people have practiced cavalry combat for several years and began to develop in the direction of close combat cavalry.
They have one hundred and fifty acres of good farmland, have tribes to help with the work, eat well, and have plenty of time to hone their skills. Many of them are all-rounders.
Shao Xun has never set up a special cavalry force because the expenditure is so huge.
Part of the soldiers' training in cavalry warfare was also the result of his special guidance. To put it bluntly, it is just to move the training cost down and let the soldiers bear it themselves.
Correspondingly, the soldiers who are familiar with cavalry warfare will be grouped together separately to serve as a melee assault force. There will be more rewards and better treatment when you go on an expedition.
Of course there are also poorer soldiers.
Some people lost two horses in a row after going on an expedition, and some of them died. They also suffered more losses than others in the two consecutive years of disasters, and were unable to spend money to buy new horses.
They are now infantry.
A military system will look like this over time.
The construction of the stone bridge defense took only a few years. If it develops over a long period of decades or even more than a hundred years, the army will gradually differentiate.
Some people are wearing bright armor and riding tall horses, looking majestic.
Some people suffered defeats, lost their iron armor, and had no money to buy new ones, so they could only serve as light-armored infantrymen.
Things in the world are nothing more than this.
In this expedition, Shiqiao and Lijia's second defenses among the three defenses in Liang County were mobilized, and three hundred people were dispatched.
The Lushan Defense, one of Luyang’s second defenses, dispatched 150 people.
The second defenses of Ruyang and Nanshan each have a hundred people.
Yangzhai, Yangcheng...
Except for the newly established two defenses in Yangxia County, which were not mobilized, a total of one thousand people were recruited from the other ten defenses as an army to trap the enemy.
Frequent wars are not a good thing for the soldiers, because they will consume their wealth. But so far, everything seems to be going well. After paying for the expenses, there is still a little left over from the rewards from the expedition.
But if they experience a disastrous defeat at the level of annihilation, it will be difficult for them to recover for a while.
Newcomers have not yet been trained, their combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the old people, and they may not have the money to buy suitable armor and sophisticated weapons.
Such government soldiers are infinitely stronger than the farmers who were temporarily raised in the fields - they are stronger because they have received more military training since childhood, and may have mastered limited basic martial arts.
In addition to the government soldiers and the Silver Spear Army, a large number of auxiliary soldiers were also mobilized, mainly from the captives in Guangchengze.
This year's locust plague has made life difficult for the campers. Currently, there are only about 29,000 people left, organized into six groups.
In this expedition, 3,000 people who performed relatively well were selected and transferred to the Luyang field army.
Escape from suffering is a great thing.
The campers would rather go into battle and risk being injured or even killed in battle, than continue to bear heavy and dangerous labor day after day in Guangchengze, acting as humanoid beasts.
In recent months, a large number of refugees have moved south from Luoyang.
To be honest, Shao Xun can’t afford it.
He is not a god and cannot produce so much food.
There was a severe drought in the first year and a locust plague in the second year. Even if most risks were avoided by relying on winter wheat, production reduction was inevitable.
Today, there is not much food left, and he does not dare to recruit people on a large scale.
In the end, I picked and picked and got three thousand homes. The other refugees gave a few meals of porridge and two biscuits to each of them, and then sent them away.
These three thousand families were also incorporated into the Luyang Tuntian Army.
So far, this army has 11,000 households and more than 20,000 men, women, old and children.
The auxiliary soldiers even gathered before the combat soldiers.
Peng Ling, a refugee in Hanoi, looked at the set of leather armor, a long spear and a ring-headed sword at his feet in silence.
I became the commander of the auxiliary army in a daze, and I was actually assigned these things.
Everyone else looked at him with envy.
Knives and guns are nothing, but leather armor is still very useful. You may rely on this to save your life at critical moments.
Peng Ling looked at these people with a disregard for life in his eyes.
My mother-in-law is dead, my wife is dead, and my son was trampled to death outside Daxia Gate. He has nothing to lose.
He lives only by instinct.
Instinctively wander, instinctively eat, instinctively be incorporated into the Luyang field army, instinctively prepare to go to the battlefield and die... The autumn wind suddenly blows, and the chill comes.
Peng Ling still had the same expression on his face: indifference.
He seemed to have lost all his joy, anger, sorrow, pain, and laughter, and became a walking corpse and a beast.
There is only one thing that supports him: the hatred buried deep in his heart.
He remembered the day he was recruited into the army.
The famous Marquis Chen, surrounded by his own soldiers, reviewed their troops.
He and Chen Hou looked at each other.
That look lasted for a long time, and he could no longer remember what it looked like at that time.
Later, Chen Hou's personal general Tang Jian came over and promoted him to the chief of the auxiliary army, in charge of nine other people.
Most of these people are refugees, but there are also two Tunding who are farming in Guangchengze.
Tunding is the tribe of Ji Sang and Wang Mi.
Peng Ling had heard of Wang Mi but not Ji Sang's name, but it didn't matter. Anyway, they were defeated by Chen Hou.
The campers knew better and mysteriously mentioned that they were going south to fight a handsome thief named Wang Ru.
If the king occupies the city, he might attack the city, and the people who will die will be unlucky.
Peng Ling doesn’t really care.
Death is death, so what? What he cares more about is whether he can kill a few more dog officials before he dies.
It is a pity that Wang Ru is also a rebel, so I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve his wish.
A large convoy passed by, attracting the attention of the auxiliary soldiers who were resting on the roadside.
Peng Ling looked over.
Wang Yan happened to lift the curtain of the bullock cart, looked at each other and frowned immediately.
This man is already determined to die, and his eyes are full of hostility. It’s really strange.
Moreover, when he saw himself, his eyes that had always been indifferent actually became a little brighter, as if he was staring at a prey.
How ridiculous!
Wang Yan put down the car curtain and stopped looking at this person.
After traveling for half a day, the team quickly arrived at Green Willow Garden.
A large group of sergeants stood outside the park, full of murderous intent.
The Ru River is full of ships, loaded with food and military supplies.
When the convoy stopped, someone quickly came over to unload the goods on the car.
Luoyang could no longer produce food, but the various ordnances that the craftsmen hurriedly crafted were also very valuable. In particular, consumables such as bow tips, bow strings, and arrows cannot be replenished by Chen Hou in the short term. And this seems to be one of the few things the court can bargain with.
Shao Xun was practicing martial arts in the yard. When he saw Wang Yan, he immediately smiled and said, "The expedition is about to begin. Why does the Taiwei come to urge him personally? Don't you trust me?"
Wang Yanyi He also laughed and said: "I came to see you with good intentions, but I got ridiculed. This is not the way to treat guests."
"Come here, Taiwei, may you have something to teach me?" Shao Xun inserted the long sword back into the instrument rack and asked.
Wang Yan nodded and said: "The Huns may be going south, so I came here to tell you."
"Why does the captain need to come in person for such a thing? Just send a messenger to bring the message. Yes." Shao Xun said.
Wang Yan looked at the tall and vigorous soldier in front of him, sighed, and said, "I haven't seen you for a long time. At this time of critical life and death, I don't know why, but I just wanted to come and see him. Look."
"It sounds like I have gone away and never come back." Shao Xun was not shy at all and joked: "Wang Ru, Hou Tuo, Yan Yi and others may be more difficult than Ji Sang and Wang Mi. Fight, but so what? I have defeated many bandits in these years, just fight them all." "The prince is so heroic, I can't say anything," Wang Yan said. "Earlier, I was worried that the monarch would delay sending troops, so we traveled all the way, but seeing the army gathering in sequence, it seems that they will set off soon."
"There is no need to test it, Taiwei. We will leave tomorrow." Shao Xun said: "Countless people fight for territory and power, but there are always exceptions. Regardless of whether the Taiwei believes it or not, even if no one comes to urge me, I still want to send troops as soon as possible to calm the chaos and relieve the people from hanging."
These words made Wang Yan a little silent.
Shao Xun is a person who sometimes cares about everything, trying his best to get benefits. Sometimes he is very "naive". For the sake of the humble common people in Guizhou, he draws his sword and fights without hesitation, even if he creates a big trap.
Such a contradictory person is really surprising.
"It has become inevitable for the Xiongnu to go south to Luoyang. Is it possible for the monarch to make suggestions?" Wang Yan asked after calming down.
“I have only one sentence.”
“It’s okay for you to say so.”
“Deep trenches and high fortresses, don’t waste your time fighting.” Shao Xun said: “ At most, we can set up camps outside the gates to respond to the defenders inside and resist the enemy."
"That's all?"
"That's all," Shao Xun ordered. Nodding, he added: "Don't pursue it no matter what. There are many Huns cavalry, and if you rush out of the city, you may fall into their treacherous plot. The Huns are better than the cavalry, and the imperial army is better than the infantry, and they have the big city as their back. As long as they don't make mistakes, they can rely on Shi Le, Wang Mi, Zhao Gu and others can't capture Luoyang even if they are all dead."
"Xun Taijian suggested to guard the outer pass, and the emperor agreed." Wang Yan said again: "I remember. In the past, when Wang Mi invaded Luoyang, the king proposed to meet the enemy at the three passes of Luonan..."
"This moment is the same as that moment." Shao Xun waved his hand and said: "Wang Mi two years ago had many soldiers, but they were a mob and there were not many cavalry. Defending the enemy beyond the eight passes can reduce the losses of the people of Luoyang. Today's King Mi is no longer what he was two years ago. The Xiongnu also has many well-controlled troops and good combat power. If they go far to defend the enemy, they may be intercepted by the rebel army. If they panic, they will probably end badly. "
"Then fight against the city?"
"Fight against the city."
Wang Yan nodded slightly.
There was a lot of discussion between the DPRK and China regarding strategies to defend against enemies.
Wang Yan advocated that the entire army retreat and rely on the newly shipped grain this year to wait for the Xiongnu to retreat. As a result, many people opposed it.
The emperor did not agree very much, thinking that the Huns would divide their troops and plunder the surrounding counties, making the situation even more corrupt.
Wang Yan didn’t know much about military affairs. When they said this, he felt a little shaken. He secretly wondered if it was too conservative to defend Luoyang? When the Huns ran out of food and retreated, they didn't even dare to pursue them. Was it too cowardly?
After listening to Shao Xun's speech today, he strengthened his idea.
When it comes to war, he only trusts Shao Xun.
(End of this chapter)