When the large force of the Perak Army entered Hengyuan Village, all the new soldiers in the village had already fled, and all the fodder was burned. Fortunately, the food and baggage storage areas were far away and were not affected by the fire. spread. In order to attack Wanjiazhai this time, the Mongolian army prepared a month's worth of logistics equipment. Now, in addition to the burned fodder, most of these supplies have been taken over by the Perak Army. These supplies include not only weapons such as swords, spears, bows, shields, and siege equipment, but also daily necessities such as linen clothes, straw sandals, and cooking utensils. In addition, there are more than a hundred transportation vehicles. wheelbarrow. This wheelbarrow is called the "Chicken Gong Car" in Shu. It is said to be the prototype of the "Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse" invented by Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period. Of course, the most important items seized were grain and silver. It was roughly estimated that the grain was 100,000 catties and the silver was about 3,000 taels. In addition, there was a large amount of iron money.
Although it was already dark when they entered the stronghold, in order to prevent the Mongols from counterattack, Cao Ergou ordered the loot to be carried to the mountains overnight. He estimated that the Mongolian Hundreds would not give up after escaping, and would definitely come back with their troops. The Hengyuan Village, which has a broken city defense, and even the walls of the village are now incomplete, is really not a place that can be defended for a long time. Cao Ergou believed that when the number of soldiers was about the same, the Pili army would definitely cause heavy casualties to the Mongolian army if they defended the stronghold, but his own vitality would also be severely damaged. For the currently weak Perak Army, it is really impossible to take this risk. As long as the Perak Army retreated to the mountains and defended themselves against danger, the Mongolian cavalry, which had lost its mobility, would be helpless in the face of solid defensive fortresses and sharp firearms, and would not be able to take advantage at all.
After more than 400 people from the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th companies worked all night, most of the loot was transported to the mountain road for storage before dawn. Only valuables such as money arrived at Wanjiapu. Although the soldiers of the Perak Army drink pine needle water every day and now have no night blindness and have a large number of torches for lighting, it is too dangerous to transport bulk materials such as grain when it is dark and the roads are narrow, so Cao Cao soon after entering the mountainous area Ergou ordered the personnel to rest where they were, and the supplies were temporarily piled on the mountain road until dawn before being transported to Wanjiabao. In order to prepare for a sneak attack, he asked the third company with the strongest combat effectiveness to set up a tight defensive formation at the mountain pass.
Ouyang Xuan was really surprised by the salary that arrived at Wanjiabao overnight. It was expected that a large amount of weapons and food would be captured after taking down Hengyuan Village. After all, this was the logistics base for the new annexed army to attack the mountains. But what was the use of carrying silver coins that had nothing to do with marching and fighting? Could it be that the new annexed army wants to use these heavy silver coins to hit the Perak Army? Just when Ouyang Xuan was puzzled, Yu Zhu, standing aside, explained the reason. When Cao Ergou led his men to pursue the Mongolian army and attack Hengyuan Village, Yu Zhu led two companies of the garrison battalion to help defend Wanjiabao according to Ouyang Xuan's order.
"Brother Xuan, this money is not useless, but it is of great use. Without this money, all these traitors would have disappeared long ago." The entire Perak Army despised the new vassals who surrendered to the Mongols, calling them traitors. Seeing that Ouyang Xuan still looked confused, Yu Zhu explained the reason in detail. Since ancient times, the combat effectiveness of the army has been closely related to the military system. The important reason why the Sui and Tang Dynasties were strong was the implementation of the government army system. The government allocated tax-free land to the soldiers. The soldiers were trained during farming and free time. In wartime, they prepared their own swords, weapons, horses, and food for expeditions. This kind of army was powerful. , the financial pressure on the government is also small, but it requires a large number of homesteaders. However, since the Tang Dynasty, land annexation has been serious, the land equalization system has been destroyed, and the military system can no longer be maintained. Therefore, starting from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the recruitment system became popular. But everyone knows that the combat effectiveness of the army that adopts the recruitment system is not good, and the two Song Dynasties gave two solutions. One is to hope that a brave man will be rewarded with a heavy reward - the annual salary of an ordinary soldier in the Forbidden Army of the two Song Dynasties can reach 100 guan (not considering the deduction by the superior), which is equivalent to 7.5 today based on the price of grain. Ten thousand yuan, this is simply an unprecedentedly high salary. The high salary to support the army directly caused military expenditures in the Song Dynasty to account for more than 70% of the fiscal revenue, becoming the most unsolvable of the "three redundancies" problem. However, due to the corruption of officialdom and the lax military discipline, the Song army's phenomenon of eating short quotas and drinking soldiers' blood was simply crazy. Even the most elite frontier troops of the Song Army can only reach 70% of their establishment. For most Song troops, 30% of their actual strength is pretty good. In areas that have been without war for a long time and are not very important, soldiers who can breathe can account for one or two percent of the number on the roster, and the generals who lead the troops can be considered conscientious. And it is not uncommon for troops to exist only in the military register issued by the Privy Council, and not even a ghost can be found in the local area...
Compared with the shortage of soldiers due to empty pay, why they fight is the more serious problem for the Song army. During the Jingkang Incident, General Zhong Shizhong of the Western Army led his troops to aid Taiyuan, but was surrounded by Jin General Wanyan Zonghan (ie Nianhan). Although the situation was critical, the Song army was not without the strength to fight, so the battle was very tense. But suddenly, the Song army collapsed inexplicably. Why? Because of the urgent military situation, the troops in the division did not bring enough money when they sent out troops... and according to the unspoken rules at the time, no matter what the soldiers of the Song Army did, they had to get "piece-rate wages" - they had to pay when they broke camp, and when they marched to a certain You have to pay for mileage, you have to pay for fighting with the enemy, and there is a price for winning or losing. Even the price of each round of crossbow arrows is clearly marked. At that time, the Song army was surrounded, and they relied on firing divine arm bows to block the Jin army's offensive. However, as they continued to shoot, they emptied the pockets of the masters. So the soldiers who couldn't get the promised rewards for a long time were too lazy to work for others and simply dispersed. The soldiers who became the polished commanders had no choice but to die miserably.
Except for Xiong Ben's men, these new vassals who had recently surrendered to the Mongols were just bandits in the garb of officers and soldiers. Whether they were the new vassals in Dayi County or Qingcheng County, they still inherited the old habits of the Song army. He also brought a large amount of money with him. Of course, it is impossible to make these soldiers licking blood from their swords to work hard just by paying them some money. Looting people and property after indulging in victory is the main method to motivate these desperadoes.
Yu Zhu's words made Ouyang Xuan thoughtful. On the one hand, he felt that the officers and soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty were really hopeless. On the other hand, he also thought of the military system of the Perak Army. The current discrimination and persecution by the government and the looting and massacre by the Mongols have made the Perak Army tightly united due to the pressure of survival. But when the survival crisis is resolved, how to ensure the combat effectiveness of the Perak Army? It seems that in addition to strengthening ideological and political education so that every soldier understands why he fights, it is also necessary to establish a complete and motivating military system.
