Because Shen Yi did not personally lead the troops north this time, there was not much he could do. After arranging things, all he could do was wait for news.
In fact, this situation will gradually become the norm in the future. After all, as the family business gradually grows, Mr. Shen can no longer do it himself as before, and many things must be left to the people below.
This is also a kind of growth for Shen Yi himself. He must learn to slowly delegate power to the people below, because only in this way can he gradually grow bigger.
In fact, this is also the reason why the team will gradually grow in size and create cliques. When the people below take control of the power, they will slowly start to form factions.
After waiting for about two days at Xiangshui Camp, although news came from the front line every day, Shen Yi was not too patient to wait any longer. He took some entourage from Xiangshui Camp to Lianshui Camp to wait for the news. .
After waiting at Xiangshui Camp for about two days, the Di News Department finally sent the key news. On the third day, Shen Yi personally took Liu Mingyuan, who was staying at Lianshui Camp, to the edge of the Huaihe River to welcome Ling Su and others back.
Towards evening in the afternoon, the first batch of ships docked. Zhang Meng, who was accompanying the army on the expedition, led thousands of people to jump off the ship. After seeing Shen Yi, he immediately stepped forward, half-knelt on the ground, clasped his fists and said, "Mr. Shen! "
Shen Yi stepped forward to help him up, patted his shoulder, and asked: "What's the situation? Just tell me briefly."
Zhang Meng nodded and replied: "Back to Shen Gong, we hardly encountered large-scale Qi people in Sizhou. It was not until Suqian that we saw more than a thousand Qi people. Because of the experience last time, plus the Not many Qi people went to Suqian, so this time it only took us more than a day to capture Suqian."
Having said this, Zhang Meng lowered his head and said: "After entering the city, according to Duke Shen's instructions, we did not disturb the local people. We only killed the Qi officials in Suqian and some Zhuli people who had done evil. We only killed them in Suqian. Stayed for a day or two..."
"The scouts noticed that there were people coming from the west. General Ling didn't dare to stay any longer, so he took us to retreat to the east."
"Fortunately..."
Zhang Meng lowered his head and said: "Fortunately, the more than 10,000 people in Haizhou in the east have not moved, so we were able to retreat to the Huaihe River calmly. Our subordinates were the first batch to cross the river. General Ling and the others were behind us, and there were about two more In a matter of hours, we can all come back.”
Shen Yi nodded.
During this period, although Ling Su and others reported every day, after all, during the march and war, many things could not be reported or reported in time. Therefore, Shen Yi was quite vague about the schedule of his subordinates until he heard from Zhang Meng said this, and he got a rough idea.
Master Shen turned back to Liu Mingyuan and ordered: "General Liu, the Qi people are angry and may cross the river to pursue them. You can lead three thousand-household battalions and set up defenses along the Huaihe River to prevent the Qi people from attacking."
Liu Mingyuan immediately clasped his fists and lowered his head, turned around and went down.
Shen Yi then looked at Zhang Meng again and asked, "How many casualties are there?"
Zhang Meng was silent for a while and then said: "According to your instructions, Mr. Shen, this time we have sent out six thousand-household camps with nearly 10,000 people. When we counted at noon today, there were still more than 7,800 people left with us. Come back together."
Six thousand-household camps are about 9,000 people.
Shen Yi nodded.
"How many enemies can be wiped out?"
Zhang Meng said honestly: "The Suqian garrison consisted of 3,000 people. Many of them fled after being defeated by our army. The remaining scattered Qi people should total nearly 3,000 people."
This battle loss is acceptable to Shen Yi.
After all, it is a siege war, and in addition, it is fighting deep into enemy territory, so it is not easy to take advantage.
Moreover, this battle loss has exceeded two to one. If this battle loss can be maintained in every battle on the Northern Expedition, then not only Shen Yi, but also Emperor Hongde will probably send troops to the Northern Expedition without hesitation.
"alright."
Shen Yi patted him on the shoulder and said, "You have been working hard these days, so you should take a good rest. When all the brothers come back from crossing the river, we will set off back to Lianshui Camp together."
Zhang Meng quickly lowered his head, clasped his fists at Shen Yi, and said yes.
Shen Yi turned around and left this temporary resting place and returned to the Huaihe River. He waited until late at night before all the soldiers on the Western Front returned by boat. Ling Su was the last one to jump off the boat. After seeing Shen Yi from a distance, he quickly stepped on He half-knelt in front of Shen Yi, bowed his head respectfully and clasped his fists: "General, I will pay my respects to Duke Shen!"
Mr. Shen helped him up and said with a smile: "Generally speaking, I heard from Zhang Meng that he did a good job this time and can be regarded as a great victory."
"I will be ashamed in the end."
Ling Su lowered his head and said in a low voice: "I am dissatisfied with Mr. Shen. When we attacked Suqian City, many brothers died. A thousand households under the general's command also died under Suqian City. We finally entered Suqian." City, when I heard that Qi people’s reinforcements were arriving, I really didn’t want to leave…”
Ling Su glanced at Shen Yi's expression, lowered his head and continued: "At that time, the general counted the food and defensive equipment in Suqian city, and then looked at the city wall of Suqian, and made a mental calculation. Seven or eight thousand of us were defending Suqian. The people of Qi want to bite them off. At least ten or twenty thousand people will die in Suqian. If they can exchange for ten or twenty thousand people, then even if the general's death was not in vain..."
"If Duke Shen hadn't said that if the land was lost and the people were lost, both the people and the land would be lost. I would have fought with them in Suqian!"
Shen Yi patted Ling Su on the shoulder and forced a smile on his face: "It's good that General Ling can remember my words. It's not time to occupy the territory yet."
Master Shen thought for a moment, then said with a smile: "When will we have a hundred thousand soldiers and horses under our hands, we can have a head-on confrontation with the Qi people. By then, after taking over several cities in the north, we will have the confidence to defend them." Shou."
"But not yet."
Shen Yi looked at the embarrassed Ling Su and said, "Okay, General Ling, you have been working hard during this period. Go back and take a nap first, and then sort out the list of battle casualties, and then..."
Mr. Shen paused and said: "The soldiers on the Western Front have made great contributions in this battle. The Qi people should not dare to go south in the near future. The Western Front can be reorganized into fifteen thousand-household camps. The missing manpower in this battle may be You can recruit on your own in Lianshui County and Huai'an area."
When Ling Su heard this, he felt happy.
Because this was a real benefit, he clasped his fists and smiled at Shen Yi and said: "Mr. Shen, why don't you still send Liu Mingyuan to the southeast to recruit troops? The soldiers in Huai'an Prefecture are not easy to recruit, and their accent is different from It’s different in the southeast. Most of the brothers in the army are from the southeast, so it’s not easy to recruit soldiers from the Huai’an Prefecture.”
Shen Yi frowned, shook his head and said: "No, just recruit troops in Huai'an. The southeast is too far from here. It will take several months to come back. How can there be so much time to delay?"
The army under Shen Yi is now called the Huai'an Army most of the time, but the vast majority are from the southeast. To be precise, people from Taizhou Prefecture and Wenzhou Prefecture account for the majority, and people from Fujian and Guangdong Prefecture account for one. Less than half.
Especially the officers, most of them came from Taizhou Prefecture and Wenzhou Prefecture.
This is because Shen Yi started his career in Taizhou and his hometown was in Yueqing County, Wenzhou Prefecture. This situation is inevitable.
However, this situation cannot continue to expand. He needs troops from multiple places to prevent serious rural cliques from appearing in the army.
Ling Su nodded in agreement and took two steps behind Shen Yi. He asked: "Mr. Shen, we have been stationed in Huai'an for almost a year. During this year, the Huaihe Navy has done nothing but say nothing. Now it is even more suppressed and beaten by the Qi people in the Huaiyuan area. It is really embarrassing. "
"You can join the Huaihe Navy to fight ineffectively!"
"If all the troops of the Huaihe Navy are under your control, Mr. Shen, our Huai'an army can directly march north to attack Qi. Why do we need to fight with our hands tied like now?"
Mr. Shen stopped and glanced back at him, frowning secretly.
However, Ling Su had made a contribution, and it was difficult to blame him now, so he could only say patiently: "Now that Zhao Lu is the chief soldier of the Huaihe Navy, the court will only send another person to take charge of the Huaihe Navy, and it will not be my turn."
"Besides, the two-year agreement has not yet arrived. This matter cannot be rushed. It will be even more difficult to handle if it is urgent."
Shen Yi glanced at the south side and said, "Give me the book recording your merits as soon as possible, and I will write a memorial to report your merits to the court."
At this time, reporting victory is more useful than impeachment.
Ling Su quickly lowered his head.
"Yes, on the way back, the military documents are already being sorted out, and they will be handed over to Mr. Shen early tomorrow morning."
Shen Yi said "hmm".
"This battle was fought well. Here..."
"I will also give you a credit."
(End of chapter)
