In the Tingzhou Governor's Mansion, Liu Mingzhi threw a few pieces of charcoal into the brazier to ensure that the temperature in the room would not be too cold.
As for briquettes, a heating object, the Three Kingdoms had fought continuously and the mutual trade had long existed in name only. How could there be any briquettes sold to the people of the Jin Kingdom?
Liu Dashao, who was accustomed to the convenience of briquettes for heating, had no choice but to return to his previous charcoal heating behavior.
"Commander, you want to record the military affairs during these days and the military strategies compiled at the same time by the commander-in-chief."
Du Yu gasped while holding a large pile of literary strategies and put them on the table in front of Young Master Liu. Although he didn't know why the commander suddenly wanted to review these literary strategies, Du Yu still moved them all over.
Liu Mingzhi nodded slightly, rummaged through the literary policies, selected the literary policies that were recorded after the Northern Expedition, and read through them one by one attentively.
Liu Mingzhi's expression was complicated and changeable when he was looking through the essays. There was some understanding in the confusion, and a little confusion in the understanding. It was obvious that he had encountered something that he could not determine.
Du Yu stood aside and didn't dare to breathe, for fear of disturbing Young Master Liu's thoughts.
The commander's reaction was enough to illustrate the importance of the two letters. Du Yu didn't want to get into trouble for no reason.
Major General Liu Da selected a few articles and reviewed them, then wandered around the room thoughtfully.
After half a stick of incense, Liu Mingzhi stopped and pulled out the battle reports from Yunyang these days among a pile of articles and read them carefully.
When Young Master Liu was halfway through, brothers Cheng Kai and Tang Ru hurried in. Before they could speak, Du Yu signaled them to be silent.
The two of them looked at Mr. Liu who was holding Wen Ce attentively, understood what Du Yu meant, and stood aside and waited silently.
After a long time, Liu Mingzhi threw the Wen Ce in his hand on the table, a trace of panic flashed in his eyes.
In the past, he had not paid much attention to these things, until the news came that the thirty-fifth city of the Jin Kingdom and most of the territory north of the Suluo River had been burned to the ground by the enemy. Liu Mingzhi reviewed the enemy's grain and grass seized in the past few days and finally noticed something was wrong. coming.
Whether it was himself or the army from Yunyang, the food and grass seized was not too much, not too little, just enough to last for about seven or eight days, not too much, not too little.
It seems that the enemy intentionally left so much grain and grass to supply our side and captured it. Otherwise, the grain and grass stored in cities of different sizes should not be so similar.
Now that thirty-five cities have been burned to the ground, if...
Thinking of the possibility behind it, Liu Mingzhi's heart trembled violently, and there was a hint of uneasiness in his eyes.
"Commander, General Tang Ru has been ordered to come!"
Liu Mingzhi was startled and looked at Tang Ru: "When did you come? I didn't notice it at all."
"It took about a stick of incense. The commander-in-chief had just been concentrating on reviewing the war report and strategy. He didn't realize that the end of the world was just a reasonable thing."
"I don't know why the commander-in-chief urgently sent a message to the last general?"
Liu Mingzhi suppressed the uneasiness in his heart: "I ask you, how many days can our current food and grass last?"
Tang Ru hurriedly took out an account from his arms and looked through it for a moment: "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, seventeen...nineteen...not less than fifteen days, not more than twenty days!"
"It won't take more than twenty days. When will the court's follow-up food and grass arrive?"
Tang Ru gently closed the account book and shook his head: "I don't know, I don't know. Since one and a half months ago, I have sent eighteen urging documents to the capital."
"I haven't received any reply so far. I can't guarantee whether the food and grass are on the way. I don't know whether the food and grass have arrived."
"If we hadn't continued to seize Jin Kingdom's food and grass to replenish ourselves, I'm afraid our food and grass would have already reached a critical point. As long as we capture Jin Kingdom's Xingzhou tomorrow, we can seize about ten days of food and grass. Even if the court's The delay in food and grass for more than ten days will not be a big trouble."
Tang Ru still doesn't know that the thirty-five large and small cities in the Jin Kingdom north of Tingzhou have been burned to the ground, and he is still sorting out the plan to prepare food and grass according to the previous ideas.
Tang Ru was about to continue saying something, but Liu Mingzhi fell down on the chair with a clang.
He completely understood why the troops of the Jin Kingdom and the Turks had to fight and then retreat. They were making a bet with themselves, a bet that the front was too long and their own food and grass could not be supplied in time.
What Tang Ru just said made Liu Mingzhi know that the Turks of the Jin Kingdom had won the bet.
Liu Mingzhi's reaction made Tang Ru jump. He hurriedly walked up: "Commander, are you okay?"
Cheng Kai sighed silently and told Tang Ru the content of the letter sent by the scout in a concise and clear manner.
"What? Thirty-five cities have been burned down. Doesn't this mean that we won't be able to seize any food and grass in the future? We currently only have about twenty days of food and grass. If the imperial court's subsequent food and grass cannot be transported in time, what else can we do? Will you continue to fight?"
After learning that thirty-five cities were burned to the ground, Tang Ru, a quartermaster, was completely panicked.
If the imperial court is unable to sustain its supplies of food and grass, there will be no other option but to withdraw its troops.
Even if the food and grass can last for twenty days, it will take about seven or eight days for Thirty-Fifth City to march without any hindrance. If the enemy forces continue to interfere, it is unknown how long it will take to reach the city where Jin soldiers and horses are stationed.
If the food and grass were exhausted before reaching the next city where the food and grass could be seized, Tang Ru no longer dared to think about the consequences.
Nearly half a million soldiers and horses have no food to eat, and no one is sure what kind of chaos it will cause.
If at that time, the enemy soldiers took advantage of the danger and came back, Tang Ru clenched his fists tightly and forcibly cut off the thoughts in his mind.
These things were no longer something he, a quartermaster, should consider.
"Tang Ru, haven't you received any reply from the eighteen letters urging food and grass?"
"Yes, there are a total of 18 emergency documents for food and grass sent to the imperial court, but there is no news from all of them. The general is wondering whether the national treasury is already empty and can no longer provide follow-up food and grass."
"The general thought that this possibility may not be impossible. Our front line is too long. We consume nearly 20,000 dan of food and grass every day. It is not impossible that the treasury will be completely empty."
"impossible!"
Liu Mingzhi said the word "impossible" categorically and extremely firmly.
"I used to serve as the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Although I have not seen the current situation of the national treasury with my own eyes, based on the current national strength of my Dalong, I can deduce it with my eyes closed."
"With the amount of silver we paid this autumn, let alone less than three months of fighting, it will be no problem even if we fight for more than half a year, seven or eight months."
"Even if there are natural disasters such as drought, floods, and locust plagues in the rear, after the court allocates disaster relief funds, the strength of the national treasury can support us for at least half a year."
“It’s still early for the treasury to be empty!”
"this......"
Mr. Liu had said so, and Tang Ru was naturally speechless. He knew that what Mr. Liu said was the truth. No one present was more aware of the situation of the treasury than Liu Mingzhi, who had served as the left minister of the household department.
"The general doesn't know why this happened."
Liu Mingzhi closed his eyes and sighed silently.
"It's not that you don't know, it's just that you don't dare to say it!"
"For this to happen, either something unexpected happened or someone interfered."
Tang Ru was speechless and lowered his head silently, not knowing how to answer.
Cheng Kai sat opposite Liu Mingzhi with a complicated expression: "Commander, what should we do next? To fight or not to fight?"
"It's hard to say. The enemy is clearly trying to cut off the strength of its warriors and abandon their chariots to protect their commanders. It's hard to predict the outcome if the battle continues. If we don't fight, we won't be willing to do it."
"There is only one last small step left to complete the big step of unifying the world."
"pity……"
"In the final analysis, we ourselves are still not up to par."
"Continue to push for food and fodder. Let's wait a few more days and see?"
"Got the order!"
