Chapter 74 Bottom Line Thinking
Chapter 74 Bottom Line Thinking
After the drill, the entire army returned to the city.
Thirty riders from the training team escorted Shao Xun, Mi Huang, He Lun, Wang Bing and Yu Liang, and fell behind the main force.
When passing through the Daxia Gate in the north of the city, Shao Xun looked up unconsciously.
Not far to the west is Jinyong City.
This city is located in the northwest corner of Luoyang and is not embedded in Luoyang city as a whole.
To be precise, among the three cities of Jinyong, only the South City is located in Luoyang City, while the Middle City and the North City protrude outside.
Doing so is beneficial because it actually turns the northern section of Luoyang's city wall into an irregular shape. Once the enemy attacks the Daxia Gate, they will easily be attacked from the side by the defenders of Jinyong City, resulting in greater casualties.
Several camps were set up outside the Daxia Gate, with three to four thousand Hebei soldiers stationed there.
These soldiers were unable to go home to take care of their farmland and reunite with their families, and they were already very angry. Therefore, when facing the people entering and leaving Luoyang, they often extorted as much as they could to compensate for their losses - the losses they perceived.
However, when they saw the fully armed Chen Yougen and others, they became cowardly again. They waved their hands and told them to hurry into the city and not to block the entrance. When the people saw this, they started to curse, and the Hebei soldiers cursed back. For a while, there was a lot of chaos, which made people laugh and cry.
"After five months of garrisoning in Luoyang, these people have become useless." Shao Xun sneered in his heart.
He went in and out of the Daxia Gate many times, and almost watched these Ye soldiers "rot" bit by bit.
They were not elite soldiers, but just farmers pulled out of the fields. After some rough training and six months of fighting, they had some military experience, but after five months of being idle in and out of the city gates, the discipline in the camp was lax and no longer as tight as it was at the beginning of the year.
Just like what happened just now, our comrades were arguing with the people and merchants, while others stood by and acted as if it had nothing to do with them, or even laughed. This is very problematic.
I heard that Sima Ying was trying to rebuild a new army, which was normal. The fewer people who were forced to fight in the fields, the better. Maybe it could work for now, but it would only become less and less in line with the requirements of the times.
After entering the city, he went straight back to his own residence, and Mi Huang and Yu Liang followed him.
After a while, Xu Lang, who received the news, found an excuse and also paid a visit.
Sima Yue's government had a large number of people. As the saying goes, there was no faction in the government, and all kinds of people were of different kinds. Shao, Mi, Yu, and Xu were a small group that was taking shape.
"He Lun just showed his goodwill to me and asked for advice..." Mi Huang spoke after several people sat down.
The soldiers in the training team were skilled in boiling water, making tea, and making fire to cook.
There were no servants in the mansion, and all the chores of life were taken care of by the soldiers.
"Let him get rid of all those rotten soldiers." Shao Xun said bluntly: "It's not too late to recruit new people now. There are many deserters outside Luoyang City, which can reduce a lot of training time. There are still a lot of bandits in the mountains and forests. If we have the confidence to suppress them, bandits are more suitable for soldiers than people in the city."
Yu Liang opened his eyes wide and listened silently.
Xu Lang's expression was very serious, and he was also excited about being involved in a big event.
"I will go find him tomorrow, but he may not be willing to let go. Are the city people who have been trained for five months really useless?" Mi Huang asked.
"Didn't you see it today?" Shao Xun asked, "The slaves in the brothels, the servants in the restaurants, the agents in the shops, and even the monks and Taoists, can't fight a damn battle. They will fall down as soon as they are charged. I'm afraid they are not even qualified to defend the city."
Several people were silent and the atmosphere was a little heavy.
After a moment, Mi Huang suddenly said, "Today, the Minister of Works has granted me the position of 'Supervisor of Luoyang'. Young Master, it is as you wish."
"Oh? How many soldiers are left behind?" Shao Xun asked with interest.
"The 3,000 soldiers of the Kingdom Army must be left behind," Mi Huang said. "Maybe there are a few thousand more, but don't think too much about it. They may be new recruits or they may not obey my orders. How can Luoyang abide by the law? Do you have any strategy?"
Shao Xun thought for a moment and said, "Now that things have come to this, we should be frank. In my opinion, if Luoyang can be defended, then defend it. If not, then retreat to Jinyong City. This city is extremely strong, with complete defense equipment, large warehouses, granaries, and many wells. As long as the granaries and warehouses are filled, we can hold on for a long time."
"So this is your idea." Mi Huang slapped his thigh, pondered for a moment, and then said: "Jinyong City can indeed be defended, but how long will it take? If Sikong is defeated, won't we die without a burial place?"
"What should we do?" Shao Xun asked, "To flee without fighting is the greatest sin."
As he said this, he glanced at Yu Liang and Xu Lang.
Both of them felt a little uncomfortable, and they were obviously unwilling to run away like this. In other words, they could run away, but they would lose their positions, and all their previous accumulation would be invalidated, and they would have to start all over again - for the sons of aristocratic families, it was actually not a big deal.
"Escape without fighting is indeed not a good strategy." Mi Huang frowned and thought hard, after a moment he said: "If Sikong wins the Northern Expedition, everything will be fine. If he loses, the whole army will not be wiped out. Zhang Fang is also afraid of tens of thousands of troops fleeing back to Luoyang. I guess that Luoyang will still be in the current situation by then. It is hard to say what the ending of Sikong will be, maybe good, maybe not. If he is captured and killed by Sima Ying, Luoyang will most likely have to elect a new person. At that time, we will have to find our own way out after the demise of our lord, just like the staff of Sima Jiong and Sima Yi." Mi Huang's words sounded a bit pessimistic.
Shao Xun couldn't help but glance at Yu Liang and Xu Lang again, but seeing that they didn't have any special reactions, he felt relieved.
Perhaps, this is the way the nobles do things, just working for a living, there is loyalty but not much.
"Sikong will not be captured and killed." Shao Xun said, "It is not wrong to hold on to Luoyang."
"Why are you so sure?" Yu Liang couldn't help but ask.
Shao Xun couldn't answer.
In fact, his thoughts are a little confused now.
He knew that Sima Yue was the victor of the Rebellion of the Eight Kings. Even if the Northern Expedition failed, he should be able to escape back to Luoyang safely and make a comeback - this should be the historical trajectory of the original time and space, right?
But he wasn't completely sure.
What if there is a butterfly effect?
Or maybe Sima Yue just got lucky and won the Northern Expedition?
The information history is too good to be judged.
"Sikong has no less than twenty fast horses with him. If he still can't escape, it would be too bad luck." Shao Xun replied vaguely.
If you haven’t mastered the unique skill of “riding alone to escape”, it’s best not to go out and mess around…
Yu Liang nodded doubtfully, as if - there was some truth in it?
"Let's not talk about this for now. If necessary, all your family members in the city should move to Jinyong City." Shao Xun knew that his words had many loopholes, so he decided to change the subject. He stared at Yu Liang and said sincerely.
Yu Liang was deeply moved.
Shao Langjun's eyes were sincere, as if to say, I care about your family very much, and I am determined to make you my friend.
"We also need to store more food, arrows, medicine and other military supplies in advance, right?" Xu Lang was alone in Luoyang, without any family to worry about, so he asked the core question directly.
"Of course we have to prepare in advance." Shao Xun looked at everyone and said, "However, it is best for the court to handle this matter."
"Okay." Mi Huang and Yu Liang nodded repeatedly like subordinates and agreed.
"Have you forgotten Shi Chao? He has tens of thousands of soldiers under his command." Xu Lang asked weakly.
"I haven't forgotten him." Shao Xun smiled and said, "If we can't even get past Shi Chao, how can we talk about the Northern Expedition? With more than 20,000 troops in Luoyang, we have a great chance of winning if we plan with intention and without intention."
Xu Lang nodded hesitantly, obviously not very reassured.
Shao Xun certainly knew that in a war, there was no such thing as 100% certainty of winning.
If Sima Yue can't even get rid of Shi Chao, the stumbling block, then I will not play with you anymore. I will take the student soldiers to Donghai overnight and become the son-in-law of the Mi family.
Well, if there is still time, I will take Concubine Pei and the Crown Prince with me. If I cannot become the son-in-law of the Mi family, I can take Concubine Pei and the Crown Prince back to the fiefdom and wait and see the situation.
If this doesn't work - then I will occupy the mountain and become the king, and make Concubine Pei, who is most likely a widow, my wife. At least I will have a wife, which can be regarded as a commemoration of my life in Luoyang for the past two or three years.
Mr. Shao has always had bottom-line thinking.
He could sense that the time to take action was getting closer and everything would be revealed soon.
Pretty much the same, actually.
A few days later, Mi Huang summoned Shao Xun, He Lun and Wang Bing with a serious face and read out Sikong's order in private.
We took action on July 6th and wiped out Shi Chao's troops in one fell swoop!
(End of this chapter)