Chapter 222 The Most Real Thing
Chapter 222 The Most Real Thing
The court is not doing nothing.
As a result, many craftsmen were sent out to help Jingu Garden and Shao Garden repair the water mills. At the same time, they used the stored wood to make a new batch of chariots - this was what Shao Xun specifically requested.
Unfortunately, time is still short and only more than 200 vehicles have been produced so far.
Fortunately, after searching from various sources, there were still some left in the Shaofu Treasury, about three or four hundred.
Shao Xun checked it himself and found it a bit shabby.
"Don't look at them anymore. They have all been repaired. Come and hand them over quickly." Secretary General Wang Dun, along with several officials from the Imperial Household, handed over these carriages to Shao Xun on the orders of the emperor. When he saw Shao even crawling under the carriage to check, his face looked very unhappy.
Shao Xun was not angry with him. After checking everything one by one, he signed and stamped his seal to accept it.
I have already taken such a great advantage of Wang Dun, why should I be angry with him?
Song Yi's soft moans that almost made her suffocate, I don't know how much energy she had lost. In the future, she will be a core member of her own private band, so she has already made a lot of money.
Wang Chuzhong, read the military books carefully.
"Pull the car away and let the men familiarize themselves with it first." Shao Xun ordered.
"Yes." Wang Que'er and Li Chong, who came to accept the chariots on behalf of the Silver Spear Army and the Yamen Army, responded in unison.
"Let's go to Jinyong City." Shao Xun waved his hand and came to Jinyong City surrounded by soldiers.
Wang Yan, the lieutenant general of the Northern Army, is waiting here.
"Your Excellency is not magnanimous enough." Wang Yan shook his head and sighed.
For this expedition, the Cavalry Army allocated 500 cavalrymen from the "Mingzhong Huben Commander" and 100 cavalrymen from the "Youzhou Tuqi Commander", led by Cavalry Commander Duan Liang, and temporarily assigned to Shao Xun's command.
Shao Xun was not stingy either. He gave a hundred horses to the Cavalry Army so that they could have some strength when they went to war.
After receiving the horses, the Cavalry Corps asked again if they could purchase 500 more horses.
The matter was reported to Wang Yan, and Shao Xun finally gave a fair price: 250,000 hu of grain.
After some haggling, an agreement was finally reached. The grain reserves in the Liang County warehouse reached more than 720,000 hu, which was close to the storage limit.
Old Wang had no intention of paying money at first, but instead exchanged it for more than 400 old chariots collected from various units of the Imperial Guard.
But Shao Xun didn't buy it at all. The troops that were supposed to go out in early September had not made any moves yet.
In the end, Wang Yan realized the situation and knew that things were different now and the military leaders were not so easy to control. He reluctantly agreed to lend the imperial guards' chariots to Shao Xun and return them after the expedition.
"Fighting for the court and even bringing his troops along, isn't that generous?" Shao Xun seemed puzzled.
Wang Yan shook his head and stopped arguing, saying, "The carts have been repaired and covered with leather to prevent fire. Even the animals pulling the carts are covered with a thick blanket. If you think it's not enough, add another layer yourself."
Shao Xun took a closer look.
The side-carriage carriage was designed with arrow and fire protection in mind.
The so-called side-compartment carriage has baffles on the outer side and the top to protect against arrows shot by the enemy.
The baffle is fireproofed to prevent it from being ignited by rockets.
There is a shooting window on the baffle. Archers stand in the carriage and shoot outside through the window - it can accommodate 2-3 people shooting arrows at the same time.
There are also 2-3 melee warriors wearing armor sitting in the carriage. If the enemy infantry attacks, they will immediately rely on the side carriage to fight the enemy.
The animals pulling the carts were also protected from fire and arrows.
Arrows shot directly at us are blocked by baffles, and projectile arrows are not powerful enough, so they are defended by felt blankets and skins - in fact, a layer of partition could be added, but in order to save costs, we didn't do that.
This was the standard equipment that Ma Long used when he went on an expedition to Liangzhou.
After the entire vehicle was counterweighted to ensure a stable center of gravity, they traveled in two rows. When encountering the enemy, they connected end to end to form a circular defense circle. As long as they had enough military supplies and the soldiers were calm, brave and good at fighting, Ma Long and Liu Yu had both powerfully proved that the Xianbei, Southern Yan and Northern Wei cavalry could not do anything to them.
The key is that your infantry must be good at fighting and have a big heart. This is the most important thing.
After collecting a total of more than a thousand chariots, the army marched to the foot of Mangshan Mountain north of Luoyang City, trained for three days, and waited for the auxiliary troops to gather.
此番出征，计有银枪军4200人、六防府兵1000人、牙门军六幢3000人、洛阳中军轻重骑兵600、义从200，总计9000战兵。
In terms of auxiliary troops, there were 1000 soldiers from the Liufangfu, 4000 surrendered soldiers from Hebei, 800 auxiliary soldiers from the Luoyang Central Army, 2000 temporarily recruited men from the Sizhou, 3000 functional personnel such as craftsmen, drivers, grooms, veterinarians, doctors, and construction workers, totaling 10800 people.
The entire army consists of about 20,000 infantry and cavalry, which is considered to be a strong and powerful army.
Moreover, in terms of quality, it was vaguely similar to the grand occasion when the Luoyang Central Army went out to fight. In terms of combat effectiveness, although the Luoyang Central Army could find a lineup comparable to theirs, these thousands of elite soldiers were scattered among the 40,000 to 50,000 weak soldiers, and were completely overwhelmed and unable to exert their strength.
On September 19th, all the troops arrived. After a joint training, the whole army moved camp north.
Not many people paid attention to this expedition.
For the people of Luoyang, most of them didn’t even know there was a war - as long as the enemy didn’t reach Luoyang’s doorstep, it wasn’t a big deal to them.
Of course, for those who are interested, it is still of great concern.
The emperor was very concerned.
Wang Yan was very concerned.
Wang Dun was also very concerned.
In addition to them, a group of people from the Yu family also went out of the city to see them off.
Shao Xun even saw Yu Wenjun.
The little beauty mustered up the courage to look at him, and Shao Xun waved in greeting.
Cao Fu had already visited her several times and had agreed on the marriage. The next step was to pick an auspicious day and formally go to her house to propose marriage. They would talk about the marriage first, but the marriage had to be confirmed first.
Otherwise, if you don't marry her, the thirteen-year-old Yu Wenjun might get married next year.
There were also some curious people watching at the foot of Mangshan Mountain.
They may not be fully aware that the days when the Jin Dynasty would have the capability to launch an offensive offensive are numbered.
The Eight Princes Rebellion wiped out 100,000 veteran soldiers in Luoyang, emptied the national treasury, and destroyed the dignity of the imperial court...
This world can be described in one sentence: The bad days are yet to come.
******
Large groups of horses ran through abandoned villages and barren farmlands, scaring away countless people.
The Wuhuan Hu cavalry ignored them completely, singing pastoral songs leisurely and herding their horses leisurely.
In Hebei, where the military power was almost completely collapsed, no one could threaten them except the troops from Youzhou moving south.
But the people of Youzhou were busy with their own affairs and had neither the interest nor the ability to interfere in Jizhou.
Now, the huge Jizhou has become the Han Dynasty's racecourse. Even if they cannot occupy it for the time being, they can just rob and run away. It will be so satisfying.
And all this was caused by the descendants of the Sima family killing each other. Haha, how wonderful!
"You, you, and you, quickly take people to cut grass." Kui An stretched out his hand and pointed, and several Jin heroes bowed respectfully, and then took their men to cut grass.
Some of the young men seemed to be more afraid of the Jie soldiers under Kui An. When they heard the order to stay away, they were excited, but they tripped and fell to the ground.
"Haha!" The Jie people, Wuhuan people, Xiongnu people and even the Jin people all laughed.
Kui An also smiled, and looked at the withered grass around him with satisfaction.
When they invaded Hebei last year, they followed the order of the King of Han and spread countless grass seeds on the endless plains. After a year, the grass grew very fertile and strong, which made people very happy.
The Central Plains is truly a great pasture, countless times better than the grasslands.
Hebei is the best place in this excellent pasture.
The grasses before me are often half a person's height, which is completely different from the poor, pitiful and short grasses on the grassland.
The grass is already dry and yellow, so you may not be able to see it yet.
If it is midsummer, the stems and leaves are guaranteed to be plump, tender and juicy. Horses will gain strength after eating them and will not feel tired even after galloping on the battlefield for a long time.
Shi Le walked out of a thatched house and looked at the empty wilderness.
Hebei’s population is decreasing and the number of abandoned villages is increasing.
Of course, maybe not all of them ran away.
With fewer people, there is more land, and the people can freely choose the fields to cultivate. For safety reasons, they prefer to gather together to protect and help each other.
Some people also seek refuge with local tyrants and wealthy families and become their servants in the hope of saving their lives.
The land of Hebei is undergoing tremendous and profound changes as wars become increasingly frequent.
"Your Majesty."
"General."
"Captain."
Tao Bao, Wang Yang, Lu Ming and other old brothers came on horseback and saluted respectfully.
Shi Le glanced at the people behind him again.
Zhi Xiong, Huyan Mo and others suddenly realized what was going on and bowed in greeting.
Shi Le nodded and said, "How about it, is Shi Chao willing to give up Yecheng?"
"That guy won't let Yecheng go."
"He refused to move, as if Yecheng was his ancestral grave."
"Shi Chao wants to rebel, the commander-in-chief should report this to the King of Han and ask him to make the decision."
Shi Le had a blank expression on his face and reached out his hand to stop their quarrel.
As expected, everyone fell silent.
After a year of reorganization and personally serving as the vanguard to break through Huguan, Shi Le's power in front of his old brothers became increasingly stronger.
Yecheng was originally guarded by He Yu, the governor of Jizhou.
When the Han army attacked Huguan, this man even sent more than a thousand soldiers westward to rescue Huguan together with Liu Kun's general Huang Xiu.
As a result, they were naturally defeated by Shi Le in one blow, Huang Xiu was killed, Huguan fell, and then He Yu ran away.
After capturing Huguan, more than 30,000 Han troops poured into Hebei, led by seven generals: Shi Le, Shi Chao, Liu Ling, Wang Mi, Wang Sang, Yan Bin, and Qi Wuda.
Among these people, Shi Le brought 7,000 cavalry, which was the main force.
Shi Chao had three thousand soldiers.
Wang Mi had more than 5,000 followers.
Wang Sang had more than 3,000 soldiers.
Liu Ling had more than four thousand people.
Yan Pi had four thousand soldiers.
Qi Wuda led more than 3,000 Xiongnu and Han soldiers and horses to guard Huguan.
Judging from the composition of the troops, except for the more than 3,000 infantry and cavalry led by General Zhendong Qiwuda, which were the real Liu Han troops, the rest were miscellaneous.
In this expedition, Shi Le was the nominal commander, but he might not be able to command the other six generals.
Shi Le also understood this, so he did not fight for anything and just seized the opportunity to reap the benefits.
"Did you gain anything this time?" Shi Le asked.
"We have brought all the people here, a total of 8,000, which is more than we have." Wang Yang replied first.
Shi Le nodded, and then asked someone to bring in several large packages. After unpacking them, they were all official seals.
"Send the basemen over," he ordered.
Soon someone invited all the base owners over, no more, no less, exactly eight.
"Those who lead more than 1,000 soldiers will be given the seal of a general. Those who lead less than 1,000 soldiers will be given the seal of a lieutenant." Shi Le held a seal in each hand and said loudly, "Do you understand?"
"Understood." The eight base owners answered cautiously.
After Shi Le asked the eight men about the number of troops each of them commanded, he sent them out one by one.
After receiving the seals, the eight people knelt on the ground and said loudly: "Greetings to King Pingjin."
A smile appeared on Shi Le's face.
The shortcomings of the army were gradually made up.
He had tens of thousands of cavalry under his command, and he brought 7,000 this time, but the number of infantry was very small, which was not good.
There are many forts and barriers on the land of Hebei.
Some forts have a large population, high walls and deep moats, and their combat effectiveness is also strong, making them difficult to conquer.
Some fortifications only had one or two thousand, or two or three thousand strong men, and the fortress wall was just a short mud wall, which was easy to attack.
Some barriers are just hundreds or thousands of households temporarily gathered together to form a wooden fence.
He doesn't have the ability to take down the big fort now, so he will start with the small barrier.
Moreover, there is never a shortage of ambitious people in troubled times.
Before he even took any action, several bandit leaders and powerful people came to him with their troops to surrender, giving him the first batch of infantry - to be fair, he was borrowing the tiger skin of the King of Han in this matter, if he had not been named the King of Pingjin and the General of Assisting Han by the King of Han himself, others might not have taken the initiative to surrender to him.
But anyway, he succeeded.
Now is the time to capture and intimidate more forts and force them to hand over money, food, livestock and even men.
His demands were not high. He planned to stop after recruiting 50,000 men and return to Bingzhou to cultivate the land.
From then on, he will become the general with the largest number of troops under the King of Han, and his status will rise sharply.
In times of chaos, money, food and troops are the most real things.
(End of this chapter)