The war has come to an end for the time being.
During these days, Tianhou was stationed at Xingzi River Wangzhuang and was not idle at all. He relied on the map in Liu Shishi's hand to visit several large households in Ansai and Fushi counties.
However, these few times when they went out, the Sky Monkey always acted in coordination with the Lion Camp.
After selecting the target, the Lion Battalion sent a sentry commander to lead the sentry, plus four or five centurions from the Sky Monkey Department, and went out in a mighty manner.
Shangtianhou was worried about his subordinates and followed him out every time. However, after going out to see too many things, he felt a little strange.
Liu Chengzong sent a sentry commander under him every time. These sentry commanders took turns to act. Not only did the monkey get to know all the sentry commanders of the Lion Camp, but he also understood the organizational structure.
In addition to Liu Chengyun, who was a baggage guard in the battalion, Wei Qian'er from the Tangqi team and Han Shipan from the Jia Ding team all went out.
Especially Cao Yao, who was in charge of the artillery post of the battalion. Twenty small cannons were arranged in a row outside Tuweizi, which left a deep impression on the monkey.
The operation went very smoothly, but the monkey in the sky was not sure of Liu Chengzong's intentions.
The good thing about this fort is that it has not been repaired yet, allowing Liu Chengzong to continue repairing it according to his own ideas.
An 80-step shooting range was built outside the fort, and now the masons have been asked to make some strong stone locks. However, there is indeed a lack of flat land on the mountain. In the future, we will not be able to count on this fort for military training. We still have to find a way to find a way from the valley flat ground.
The Sky Monkey couldn't restrain his doubts and came to see Liu Chengzong when he was playing with a stone lock outside the castle.
Cheng Yun was shooting arrows with a thirty-pound light bow at his side. The target was set thirty steps away. His archery skills were as good as his own, and he could always dodge the target accurately.
Director Mei was so bored that he raised his head and rested his head on Xiao Zhuanfeng's belly to bask in the sun.
I haven't taken a shower for more than half a month and I've been running outside all day, so the monkey is dirty again.
He didn't know how to make small talk, so he ran up with the dice in his arms and the wine flask: "Hey, where is the general practicing?"
Liu Chengzong was shirtless, his tendons glistening with sweat in the sun, and he lifted two hundred kilograms of bluestone to his chest.
First, he turned to the left, then to the right. Halfway through, his hand slipped. He let go and dropped the stone to his feet. At the same time, he took a step back to avoid it.
When the boulder fell to the ground, Liu Chengzong waved his hands and sat down on the bluestone, asking: "Why did you go up the mountain?"
The Sky Monkey looked at the big stone and swallowed his saliva. He shook the wine bottle in his hand and said, "General, would you like a drink?"
What should I do if I drink my ass and call my eldest brother out?
Liu Chengzong waved his hands. He was so tired that he yawned. He took off the plain cloth from his waist and wiped the sweat and said, "Drink. What do you want to do with me?"
Hey, it was so straightforward that Heavenly Monkey couldn't react. He thought about a lot of things and had already figured it out over a drink.
He scratched his messy head and simply sat down on the slightly smaller stone lock beside him and said: "General, I would like to ask the following, what are the plans for so many of my brothers? We can't all stay here for the winter, right?"
After saying that, the monkey in the sky pursed his lips and said: "You asked several sentry commanders to take turns taking my people out. Do you want to... let me reduce the manpower and become a sentry commander?"
In fact, the monkey in the sky has some premonitions about this, but he is not sure.
He understood the composition of the Lion Battalion's troops, including post soldiers, post soldiers, guard soldiers, deserters, surrendered soldiers, and few hungry civilians.
It's like another group of officers and soldiers, all of them big and round, equipped with armor and mules, all they need is one man and one horse.
Even if he streamlined his more than 2,000 men, he might not be able to select 300 soldiers who met Liu Chengzong's requirements.
In fact, up to now, Sky Monkey is still worried about the more than 200 sets of various armors received from Liuguo Town.
There was no such thing before. Just seeing everyone under Liu Chengzong wearing armor looked majestic.
If he really got his hands on it, except for the dozens of pieces of crotch armor that protected the front and back, and the battle coats that were missing pieces of armor, the other armors were all too heavy for his people.
If you can wear it, don't expect to fight if you put it on. Walking two miles will make you paralyzed from exhaustion.
"Sergeant? No need to reduce manpower."
Liu Chengzong wiped off the sweat on his body, stood up and put on his clothes, then sat back and said: "In the past ten days, you have also seen my people, and several sentry commanders have also seen your people. I plan to join forces with you. You What do you think?"
It is indeed a joint venture.
The Sky Monkey nodded without showing any obvious rejection, but he was still confused: "If we don't streamline, then our combined force will only be over 4,000 people."
"I'll get it for you...forget it."
Liu Chengzong nodded, and originally wanted to go into the fort to get his preparations for the Lion Camp, but then he thought that the monkey in the sky couldn't read, so he simply explained to him: "You will be my deputy general, the frontier soldiers will be the combat soldiers, and your people will be the assistants." Soldiers, baggage troops, engineers.”
"In terms of establishment, there are five hundred people in the central sentry. The sentry commander is appointed by you. The others are scattered and divided into each sentry. In this way, the five sentries can go out to find a place to garrison troops. In Wangzhuang, our two teams, Dingtangqi and battalion subordinates, will be stationed. Work sentries, artillery posts, all are easy to feed."
Liu Chengzong thought about it, even if they join forces, they will still separate troops.
Xingzihe Wangzhuang itself has many farmers, and more than 4,000 of them are stationed here. Even with the recently looted grain, it will be difficult to survive this winter, not to mention it will be difficult to transport grain further away.
On the contrary, the five sentries were spread out and stationed on several surrounding hills, ten or twenty miles apart from each other and stationed on the mountains to set up villages, which made it easier for them to herd horses and collect hay.
The monkey in the sky thought for a moment and was very confused.
He was not disgusted with the joint venture. He still felt that Liu Chengzong was very generous, or even more so.
To put it simply, whether they cooperate or not, since they fought that battle together in the mountains, the monkey in the sky knew very well that it would not matter if he said it from now on.
In this half-month period, we went out in batches to carry out sieges. If the captain of the Lion Camp started to pull people, half of his people would be gone if he raised his arms.
The Sky Monkey has a very clear understanding of himself, and people follow him because he is good to his subordinates.
Among the leaders who had camped together with King Chuang in the past, King Chuang had his subordinates as soldiers, Bu Zhan Mu and Huntian Monkey had their subordinates as thieves, and he was the only one who treated his subordinates as human beings.
After those people died, he was able to dig a relatively decent grave.
But if you compare Liu Chengzong with him...Shangtian Monkey is not willing to compare with Liu Chengzong. The choice is very simple. Let alone his subordinates, he wants to be Liu Chengzong's subordinate.
Following Liu Chengzong, there is less need to think about digging graves.
It doesn't matter whether you die decently or not. If you have enough food and warm clothes in the Lion Camp, you will live a decent life.
He was confused and said directly: "Why did the general do this?"
"Why do you do this?"
Liu Chengzong was stunned by the words of the Sky Monkey. He thought for a while and then said: "What do you mean, what benefits does a joint venture have for me?"
The monkey in the sky nodded, unable to find a reason for Liu Chengzong to recruit him.
When people do things, they must have a plan.
Cooperation is a trivial matter. Even if there is no cooperation, he will have to hold Liu Chengzong's lap if he wants to live in the future.
But he has to know why he cooperates, otherwise he will feel uneasy.
"Of course this is good for me. Your people are all good soldiers."
Liu Chengzong seemed to be smiling but not smiling. The monkey in the sky suspected that he had heard wrongly. He looked left and right, pointed at his nose and asked, "A good soldier?"
In his mind, the word "good soldier" seemed a bit far away from his people.
If you say someone’s people are good soldiers, you can’t say that his people are good soldiers. That’s not a soldier.
"My men now have more than 1,500 auxiliary soldiers, less than 200 soldiers and postmen, and 300 young men selected by Wangzhuang. The rest are deserters and surrendered, and the team has grown larger. "
Liu Chengzong's physical strength had almost recovered, and he stood up and said: "Half of them are surrendered soldiers. They can fight, but they have mixed thoughts. Even if the centenarian guards and soldiers are separated, they will always meet each other when they are stationed together, which will cause trouble; if they are separated, each sentry will And there’s not enough manpower.”
After speaking, he looked at the Sky Monkey and said, "Your people are different. They all listen to your words. If they can charge at the army barracks in turns with hundreds of people, and they are not afraid to retreat when they are injured, and they retreat without breaking up, they are already very capable."
This does not necessarily mean that the people of Shangtianhou are any better than Li Wanqing and Liu Guoneng's troops. If the artillery fire comes close, they may not be as good as Liu Guoneng's troops.
But the difference is that it saves trouble.
If Liu Chengzong wanted to expand his military strength by absorbing soldiers from Liu Guoneng and others, he would have to absorb five or six leaders. It would be tiring enough just to figure out what these leaders want.
Monkey God saves trouble, as long as you take good care of this person's thoughts, this matter can be done.
"Before the battle with Li Bei, the most important thing was time, and elite soldiers were important. Now that Li Bei has been captured, Wu Weifan has led his troops back. After receiving the news that Li Bei's entire army was annihilated, he may not dare to come to me. I don't think we should fight again. It may be the beginning of next spring, and maybe there will be a four-month respite.”
Spring and autumn are the best times to use troops. It's too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. A person wearing armor is prone to heat stroke, and a person marching is prone to frostbite.
So except for surprise attacks and wars that drag into winter, the north usually rarely fights wars in winter.
Four months can improve the malnutrition of hungry people and turn them into ordinary auxiliary soldiers who have some discipline, understand orders, and master certain weapon skills.
"It doesn't matter if your team can't fight. You can practice. Besides, there are women in your team. We need to make military uniforms to keep out the cold."
"I will handle it."
The monkey in the sky became bold and took over the matter by patting his chest: "There is cotton in the fort, so this matter is not a problem, but the sentry commander is still appointed by the general. My people don't know how to lead troops. All matters concerning the joint venture are at the discretion of the general."
Liu Chengzong could feel that Heavenly Monkey actually had a low self-esteem. He said: "It's okay. I plan to select 80 literate people after the joint venture and send them to Zhuantianmao to study. You can also study if you have nothing to do. My family had a military training unit before. The booklet was not used at the time.”
"When you learn some words, I'll teach you that. Those who have passed the exams there and come back with a similar level will be sent to all the sentries in the whole camp and spend an hour every day studying."
With that said, Liu Chengzong patted the Sky Monkey on the shoulder: "When spring comes next year, these people in the Lion Camp will be different."
In fact, what he is most worried about is winter clothes, gloves, hats and quilts, which are the cold-proof equipment.
Liu Chengyun, who shot three arrows in total during the afternoon of archery, was a money-splitting boy from the Lion Camp.
Liu Chengzong had a huge fortune, and there was no shortage of gold and silver in the Lion Camp. But the gold and silver in his hands were like the peppers growing in the flowerpots of the county government house. There was no other meaning than just watching it for fun.
Carriage makes gold and silver meaningful.
Chengyuan came here to shoot archery just for fun. He usually ran back and forth in the village outside, running more frequently than the monkeys in the sky.
He has already placed orders for twenty-three villages where people still live on both sides of the Yanhe River and around its tributaries.
If you can, just buy bedding. If you can't, just buy cloth. If you don't have to weave cloth, just buy cotton and cotton thread.
Anyway, I want whatever I need.
Even so, it's not enough.
Although Gao Yingxiang returned to Yanchang County after the war, after this war, the ministries became more closely connected, and Liu Chengzu, Li Wanqing, Liu Guoneng and other ministries were actively preparing for the winter.
On the contrary, Wang Ziyong, who had obtained an official position in Yan'an Guard, was the most worry-free. His group was not good at fighting, but they were good at things other than fighting.
After the war, they all dispersed back to their respective villages. With a word from Wang Fu, thousands of households began to make clothes and bedding. They didn't need any money, but don't count on the amount. They just took it as they pleased.
This is probably Monk Wang’s alms.
When fate comes, the clothes and bedding will run to Yan'an Guard by themselves.
Liu Chengzong was not that capable and shouldered much greater responsibilities than Wang Ziyong. He was considering making his own military uniforms and armor plates.
The victory over Li Bei and the coming winter brought him a rare moment of peace. The Lion Battalion was fully staffed by joining forces, and many things could be put on the agenda.
In order to cooperate, he called Song Shouzhen from Zhuantianmao, Shichengwo and He Xin, the craftsmen from Liujiazhuang.
I became the cannonsmith's master and became the commander of the battalion's work sentry.
They built a kiln in Wangzhuang, Xingzi River, and gathered hundreds of craftsmen in the team and auxiliary apprentices to establish the Wangzhuang Ordnance Bureau, which was responsible for repairing armor plates and making Liu Chengzong's breast shield.
As for the midfielder who was lacking at the end, Liu Chengzong wanted Han Shiyou to be the guard commander. The Han brothers had experience in training servants.
However, when Liu Chengzong and Cao Yao talked about this matter, the old thief felt it was inappropriate.
"Look at the captains of the sentries. On the left and right, Feng Rui Gaoxian is an old brother from Yuhe Fort; on the front and back, there are Yang Yao and Wang Wenxiu, plus the captain of the servants, the Han brothers, who came to join you from Guyuan. Soldiers."
Cao Yao analyzed: "The left and right sentries want to oppose each other. There are two sentries before and after, and vice versa; but if you give the middle sentry to Han Shiyou, he and Yang Yao and Wang Wenxiu are old acquaintances, and Captain Ding is his brother... They are both now No problem, but you must be on guard against others.”
Liu Chengzong used to be wary of individuals, but he had not relied on crowd acquaintance to separate factions like Cao Yao. It was only because too many troops were surrendered in the battles of Liu Guozhen and Li Bei that he paid attention to the faction issue.
But what Cao Yao said really reminded him.
It's easy to talk when things are going smoothly, but in times of adversity, others have second thoughts. Han Shiyou is the commander of the central sentinel. If Yang Yao and other Guyuan soldiers rebel, he will not be able to stop them.
After such consideration, Liu Chengzong decided to appoint Zhong Hu as the commander of the central sentry.
Zhong Hu was still lying on the bed. During the battle with Liu Guozhen, four lead pellets penetrated the shield, three hit the cotton armor and one hit the iron armband. His life was saved, but he could not move easily.
Keep them for at least another three months.
But the Zhong brothers didn't have such worries. They were Lu Cheng's soldiers in the past and had nothing to do with other sentry commanders. What's more, they were injured to protect Liu Chengzong. As sentry commanders, they could also serve as the bones of a thousand-mile horse to inspire others.
Making homemade military uniforms was a new idea he came up with when reviewing the joint forces with Shangtian Monkey.
Wearing the same uniform can improve the sense of belonging and distinguish between friend and foe. This is actually only a secondary reason. The main reason is that the Lion Camp after the joint camp is too ugly.
Those with armor still look the same when they put on armor, but if you take off the armor, you can see that they are wearing everything, not to mention tatters, and there are even some wearing women's clothes.
It is the leader's responsibility for a soldier to dress like this.
More importantly, deep down in his heart, Liu Chengzong did not want his soldiers to fight in Ming Dynasty mandarin duck jackets.
He wants to have his own army and his own uniforms.
