Chapter 314 Gathering

Chapter 314 Gathering

Chapter 314 Gathering
When Wang Yan drove to Liang County, he saw the tense atmosphere of war everywhere.

In the village, the Silver Spear Army soldiers who had finished their rest left home in twos and threes.

The father pushed the millstone silently, collecting the "white flour" mixed with a lot of bran, and occasionally glancing at his son who was ready to go.

My mother was picking cabbage absentmindedly, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself.

The wife stuffed the prepared dry food into the package and whispered, "The Hu cakes have been soaked in vinegar according to the military method. Keep them carefully. If we run out of food, we can still survive for a few days. The steamed cakes are freshly made and will be eaten in the next two days. This is salted soy sauce, which is better than the pickles in the army. My husband has been fighting hard, so when you are tired, you can eat the cakes with it. Don't be frugal."

"Why do you need to pack so much food?" The soldier had a gentle smile on his face, but he scolded, "I only need to take two vinegar cakes with me. The army has cakes and rice, so we won't starve. The wheat harvest is poor this year, and my family is not well off, so I won't bring steamed cakes."

After that, he stuffed a few steamed buns that were still warm into his wife's hands and said, "When I return from Jingzhou, I will bring you some silk to make you a new set of clothes."

The wife's face turned red. She glanced at her father-in-law and mother-in-law who were working, and looked at her husband with a reproachful look.

The husband understood, turned around and said, "Father, mother, the army is pressing us, so I'm leaving now."

"Go ahead." The father replied in a muffled voice, "Your elder brother was pulling boats on the river before, and he got sick. He died young, without a wife or children. You are better than him. You are a soldier of the Marquis of Chen, and you get so much money and food every year. Life at home is getting better and better. I am at home, so you don't have to worry. Your third and fourth brothers have grown up, and they can work in the fields. It's not a big deal. Go ahead and fight well."

"Don't be too brave on the battlefield." Mother wiped her tears and said, "Zhang Ba from the west end of the village was not satisfied with killing one bandit, he insisted on killing two and three, and somehow he was shot to death. You should be careful. I pickled a fish for you to eat when you come back for the New Year."

"The more you fear death, the easier it is to die." My father muttered in a low voice.

The sergeant nodded, took the bag from his wife, waved to his son and daughter, and strode away.

Outside the stone bridge defense, the soldiers were talking and laughing loudly, leading their horses away from the village.

The government soldiers are generally referred to as the "Long Sword Army".

But now it has become just a military bugle call.

The majority of people still use heavy swords and crossbows, but there are also many people who use various other weapons.

Some people even practiced cavalry warfare for a few years and began to develop in the direction of close combat cavalry.

They have 150 acres of prime farmland, soldiers to help with the work, they eat well and have plenty of time to hone their skills. Many of them are multi-talented.

Shao Xun never formed a dedicated cavalry unit because the expenses were too huge.

The fact that some of the soldiers were training in cavalry warfare was also the result of his special guidance. To put it bluntly, it was just to shift the training costs down to the soldiers themselves.

Correspondingly, the soldiers familiar with cavalry warfare would be organized separately as a close combat assault force. They would receive more rewards and better treatment when going on an expedition.

Of course, there were also poorer soldiers.

One man lost two horses in succession and his soldiers died after going to war. He also suffered more severe losses than others in two consecutive years of disasters and was unable to spend money to buy new horses.

They were now infantry.

A military system will be like this over time.

The Shiqiao defense was only established a few years ago. If it had continued for decades or even a hundred years, the Fubing would have gradually become divided.

Some of them were wearing bright armor and riding tall horses, looking very majestic.

Some people suffered defeat in battle, lost their armor, and had no money to buy new ones, so they could only serve as lightly armored infantry.

Things in the world are nothing more than this.

For this expedition, the Shiqiao and Lijia defenses of Liang County's three defenses were mobilized and 300 people were dispatched.

The Lushan Defense, one of the two Luyang Defenses, dispatched 150 people.

Ruyang and Nanshan each sent out a hundred men.

Yangdi, Yangcheng...

Except for the two newly established defense forces in Yangxia County, a total of one thousand people were recruited from the other ten defense forces to serve as the vanguard.

Frequent wars were not good for the soldiers, as they would consume their wealth. But so far, everything seemed to be fine, and after paying for the expenses, there was still a little surplus from the rewards they received.

But if they experience a devastating defeat that wipes out the entire army, it will be difficult for them to recover in a short time.

The new recruits have not yet been trained, their fighting capacity is not as good as that of the old ones, and they may not have the money to buy suitable protective gear and sophisticated weapons.

Such government soldiers are only slightly stronger than the farmers temporarily recruited from the fields - they are stronger in that they have received more military training since childhood and may have mastered limited basic martial arts.

In addition to the palace soldiers and the Silver Spear Army, a large number of auxiliary troops were also mobilized, mainly from the captured garrison troops in Guangchengze.

Due to the locust plague this year, the garrison soldiers have a hard time. Currently, there are only about 29,000 people left, organized into six groups.

For this expedition, 3,000 men with relatively good performance were selected and transferred to the Luyang farming army.

It is a great thing to escape from suffering.

The tunding would rather fight in the battlefield and risk being injured or even killed in battle than continue to undertake heavy and dangerous labor in Guangchengze day after day and serve as human livestock.

In recent months, a large number of refugees have moved south from Luoyang.

To be honest, Shao Xun can't afford it either.

He is not a god and cannot create so much food.

There was a severe drought in the first year and a locust plague in the second year. Even though most of the risks were avoided by relying on winter wheat, a reduction in production was inevitable.

Today, there is not much food left, and he does not dare to recruit people on a large scale.

In the end, after careful selection, 3,000 families were selected. As for the other refugees, a few bowls of porridge and two Hu cakes were given to each person, and then they were sent away.

These three thousand households were also incorporated into the Luyang Military Farm.

By this point, the army had 11,000 households and more than 20,000 men, women, young and old.

The auxiliary troops gathered even earlier than the combat troops.

Peng Ling, a refugee from Hanoi, looked silently at a set of leather armor, a spear, and a ring-handled sword at his feet.

I became a sergeant of auxiliary troops without knowing what was going on, and unexpectedly I was assigned these things.

Everyone around him looked at him with envy.

Swords and guns are not a big deal, but leather armor is still very useful. You may rely on it to save your life at a critical moment.

Peng Ling looked at these people, his eyes filled with indifference towards life.

His parents were dead, his wife was dead, and his son was trampled to death outside the Daxia Gate. He had nothing left to lose.

He lived only on instinct.

They wandered instinctively, ate instinctively, were incorporated into the Luyang farming army instinctively, and prepared to die on the battlefield instinctively... The autumn wind suddenly blew, bringing with it gusts of chill.

Peng Ling still had that expression on his face: indifference.

He seemed to have lost all joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, and had forgotten pain and laughter. He became a walking corpse and a wild beast.

The only thing that kept him going was the hatred buried deep in his heart.

He thought back to the day when he was drafted into the army.

The famous Lord Chen, surrounded by his personal soldiers, reviewed their troops.

He and Lord Chen exchanged glances.

That look lasted for quite a while, and he no longer remembered what it was like.

Later, Chen Hou's personal general Tang Jian came over and promoted him to the position of auxiliary soldier squad leader, in charge of the other nine people.

Among these people, most were refugees, but there were also two garrison soldiers who were farming in Guangchengze.

Tunding was the tribe of Ji Sang and Wang Mi.

Peng Ling had heard of Wang Mi but had never heard of Ji Sang's name, but it didn't matter because they were defeated by the Lord of Chen anyway.

The garrison soldiers knew more and mentioned mysteriously that they were heading south to fight a bandit leader named Wang Ru.

If Wang Ru occupied the city, there might be an attack on the city, and there would be countless casualties.

Peng Ling didn't care much.

He was dead, so what? What he cared more about was whether he could kill a few more dog officials before he died.

It’s a pity that Wang Ru is also a rebel, so it’s difficult for him 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 just happened to lift the curtain of the ox cart, and looked at Peng Ling, and immediately frowned.

This person is determined to die, and his eyes are full of hostility. It's really strange.

Moreover, when he saw himself, his eyes, which had been indifferent until now, actually had some light, as if he was staring at a prey.

What absurdity!

Wang Yan lowered the curtain and stopped looking at the man.

After traveling for half a day, the convoy soon arrived at Green Willow Garden.

A large group of soldiers stood outside the garden, looking murderous.

The Ru River was filled with boats loaded with food and military supplies.

When the convoy stopped, someone quickly came over to unload the cargo from the vehicles.

Luoyang was out of food, but the various weapons that the craftsmen had worked so hard to make were also very valuable. Especially the consumables such as bow tips, bow strings, and arrows, which were not something that the Marquis of Chen could replenish in the short term. And this seemed to be one of the few things that the court could bargain for.

Shao Xun was practicing martial arts in the courtyard. When he saw Wang Yan, he smiled and said, "We are going to go to war soon. Why did the commander come to urge us? Don't you trust me?"

Wang Yan also laughed when he heard this and said, "I came to see you with good intentions, but I got ridiculed by you. This is not the way to treat guests."

"General, do you have anything to teach me?" Shao Xun asked as he put his sword back into the weapon rack.

Wang Yan nodded and said, "The Xiongnu may be heading south, so I came to tell you."

"Why does the general need to come in person for such a matter? Just send a messenger to deliver the message." Shao Xun said.

Wang Yan looked at the brave and vigorous soldier in front of him, sighed, and said, "It has been a long time since I last saw you, my lord. At this critical moment, I don't know why I wanted to come and see you."

"It makes me feel like I'm going to go somewhere without coming back." Shao Xun was not shy at all and joked, "Wang Ru, Hou Tuo, Yan Yi and others may be harder to fight than Ji Sang and Wang Mi, but so what? I don't know how many bandits I've suppressed over the years, so I'll just fight them all."

"Since you are so generous, I don't know what to say." Wang Yan said, "I was worried that you would not send troops soon, but I saw that the army was gathering together. It seems that they will set out soon."

"Taiwei, there is no need to test me. I will leave tomorrow." Shao Xun said, "Countless people fight for territory and power, but there are always exceptions. Regardless of whether Taiwei believes it or not, even if no one comes to urge me, I also want to go out as soon as possible to quell the chaos and save the people from their misery."

These words made Wang Yan silent.

Shao Xun was a man who sometimes calculated every penny and would do anything to get benefits. Sometimes he was very "naive" and would fight for the common people without hesitation, even if it meant causing great trouble.

Such a contradictory person is truly amazing.

"It is inevitable that the Huns will move south to Luoyang. Can Your Excellency offer any advice?" Wang Yan asked after calming down.

"I only have one sentence."

"Your Excellency, please feel free to speak."

"Build deep trenches and high fortifications, and don't fight recklessly." Shao Xun said, "At most, we can set up camps and forts outside the gates, and communicate with the defenders inside the gates from a distance, and hold our ground to resist the enemy."

"that is all?"

"That's all." Shao Xun nodded, and then said, "Don't pursue them no matter what. The Xiongnu have many cavalrymen, and if we rush out of the city, we may fall into their trap. The Xiongnu are better at cavalry, and the imperial army are better at infantry. They have a big city behind them. As long as we don't make any mistakes, even if Shi Le, Wang Mi, Zhao Gu and others die, they won't be able to capture Luoyang."

"Xun Taijian suggested to defend at the outer forts, and the emperor quite agreed." Wang Yan said: "I remember that when Wang Mi attacked Luoyang, you advocated to meet the enemy at the three passes in southern Luo..."

"It's a different time now." Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "Two years ago, Wang Mi had many soldiers, but they were mostly a motley crowd, and there weren't many cavalry. Resisting the enemy outside the Eight Passes can reduce the losses of the people in Luoyang. Today's Wang Mi is no longer the same as he was two years ago. The Xiongnu also have many regular troops with good combat effectiveness. If we go far to resist the enemy, the enemy army may intercept our retreat, and we will be panicked and the outcome will most likely be bad."

"Then we should fight by relying on the city?"

"Fight against the city."

Wang Yan nodded slightly.

There was much discussion in the court about how to defend against the enemy.

Wang Yan advocated that the entire army retreat and rely on the newly delivered grain to hold out and wait for the Huns to retreat, but many people opposed this.

The emperor did not agree very much, thinking that the Huns would divide their forces to plunder the surrounding counties, making the situation even worse.

Wang Yan didn't know much about military affairs, and after hearing what they said, he was a little shaken. He wondered if it was too conservative to defend Luoyang to the death. When the Xiongnu ran out of food and retreated, they didn't even dare to pursue them. Wasn't that too cowardly?
After listening to Shao Xun's talk today, he became more determined in his thinking.

When it comes to fighting, he only trusts Shao Xun.

(End of this chapter)