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However, he said that just when the Mongolian coalition troops were withdrawing from camp, Zhao Junchen took a short rest and took the time to move his troops to the south bank of the Wei River, preparing for a decisive battle with the Mongolian coalition forces here.
After setting up camp, Zhao Junchen once again summoned all civil and military officials in the army to discuss the next battle plan.
At this time, most of the wounded soldiers in the army had been transferred by Zhao Junchen to a nearby city for treatment and recuperation, so Zhao Junchen also took back his command tent.
The tent was handed over to the wounded camp for two days, and the smell of blood and medicinal soup from the wounded soldiers still lingers, making people feel a bit pungent when breathing. The carpet in the tent is not as clean as before. , blood and dirt can be found in many places.
But Zhao Junchen didn't care about this. He only used a handsome tent to win over the soldiers' hearts. This account was very cost-effective no matter how you calculate it.
Sitting at the head of the commander's tent, Zhao Junchen glanced at all the civil and military officials, and finally his eyes rested on He Zhang, and asked in a slightly hoarse voice: "Has our army's camp been prepared? How is the defense situation? ?Have you received news about the movements of the Mongolian coalition forces?"
After the battle at Xiaochuan River, Zhao Junchen took a short rest for a day, but just like a string that had been tight for a long time and suddenly relaxed, it is difficult to tighten again. Zhao Junchen only felt that his body was increasingly tired and overdrawn. When it is intense, there is always a lack of energy when thinking and acting.
On the other side, He Zhang quickly stood up and replied: "Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, our army's station has been prepared. The soldiers are now entering their respective defense positions. It will take about half a day to complete the defense line! As for the Mongolian coalition... so far No relevant information has been received yet. The latest information is still the news received yesterday, saying that the Mongolian coalition forces have withdrawn from Jiezhou City and are currently marching towards the Wei River. If the Mongolian coalition forces do not suddenly change their marching direction, according to their With the marching speed, we will arrive at the south bank of the Wei River in about one day."
When He Zhang replied, his voice was also hoarse and weak, and his face was also a little gloomy.
The war has developed to this point, and most people are already on the verge of reaching their limit. He Zhang and Zhao Junchen are just holding on.
After Zhao Junchen nodded lightly, he urged: "I urge all military officers and soldiers to set up the Wei River defense line in the shortest possible time. The defenses must be reinforced as much as possible. Now the Mongols are fighting with their backs against the wall, and they must be trapped and dying." Struggle, the next step will definitely be a hard battle, we must not take it lightly!”
After He Zhang accepted the order with a solemn expression, Zhao Junchen turned his attention to Wu Qifan and asked: "How is the morale of our soldiers now? Are the logistics supplies sufficient?"
Wu Qifan's expression was very optimistic. He stood up and replied: "Because of your actions of caring for the wounded soldiers two days ago, the Imperial Envoy, the morale of the soldiers was boosted. Everyone is willing to die for the Imperial Envoy! In addition, because our army is at Xiaochuan River A great victory on the battlefield, the entire Shaanxi and Gansu provinces are now in jubilation. Governments in various places have also received the news. They immediately sent cattle, sheep, fine wine, silver grain, materials, and labor to express condolences, and congratulatory documents were also sent one after another. In total, there were more than 400 livestock, more than 100 carts of wine, more than 8,000 tons of grain and grass, more than 240,000 taels of silver, and various other items, all of which were labor supplies sent by various prefectures. , so our army’s logistics are quite sufficient now, so there is no need to worry at all.”
After a pause, Wu Qifan hesitated and then said: "In addition, after the state officials from various places learned about your illustrious military exploits, the Imperial Envoy, they saw that the war situation was very good, and now they all want to meet you and pay tribute to you. You congratulate me in person, and there are even officials who want to come to Weishui to see you in person."
Zhao Junchen frowned, a hint of impatience flashed in his eyes, and said: "I rejected them all. Now that the war is not over, our army may not be sure of victory. I have no time to socialize with them, so they should not come here to cause trouble! "
Wu Qifan had already expected Zhao Junchen's answer and immediately agreed.
Then, Zhao Junchen seemed to have thought of something and asked again: "You just said that there are live cattle among the labor supplies?"
Wu Qifan nodded and said: "Among the labor livestock sent from each state, there are a total of 130 live cattle, 110 live sheep, and more than 200 live pigs!"
Zhao Junchen frowned again and hummed softly: "After successive years of natural disasters in Shaanxi and Gansu, farmers' farming has been abandoned. In the future, the resumption of farming will most need the help of cattle. If the governments of various places really want labor, they can send them Live sheep and pigs are enough, so why send so many live cattle? Don’t they know what these live cattle mean to farmers? How many people would rather sell their wives and children than sell their cattle? ...Hmph, there are dozens more live cattle than live sheep, what’s fishy here..."
Zhao Junchen's main focus during this period was on military affairs, but he never forgot the disaster in Shaanxi and Gansu. Now after hearing Wu Qifan's report, he immediately discovered something was wrong.
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Wu Qifan couldn't help but look embarrassed.
He has served in the local government for many years, so he naturally understands the tricks involved.
After state officials from various places learned about Zhao Junchen's illustrious military exploits, they were obsessed with pleasing Zhao Junchen, so they rushed to send labor supplies and took the opportunity to meet with Zhao Junchen. For local officials, they Naturally, the more labor supplies sent to the army, the better. The more labor supplies, the more they can prove their sincerity to Zhao Junchen.
However, after successive years of natural disasters in Shaanxi and Gansu, the people's power has long been extremely exhausted, and supplies are mostly in short supply in various places. How can they find sufficient supplies and labor in a short period of time?
Therefore, local officials naturally turned their attention to the people under their control. In order to obtain a sufficient number of livestock when they were working for the army, they probably forcibly requisitioned the cattle from many farmers. And the farmers would inevitably suffer losses after losing their cattle. Tragic and resentful.
What made Wu Qifan feel embarrassed was that he thought he was a good official who cared about the people, but when he received labor supplies from various state capitals, he was only happy and did not think about these things at all. Zhao Junchen, a corrupt and powerful official with mixed reputations, immediately thought of the losses of the people.
On the other side, Zhao Junchen ignored Wu Qifan's embarrassment and ordered: "The war is coming, we can't treat the soldiers badly! Send the order, half of the live sheep and pigs will be slaughtered tonight, and the dinners of all the soldiers will be divided." When meat is available, each soldier can also drink a glass of wine...but all live cattle must be kept and not slaughtered, because the people still expect these live cattle to support their families!"
To this day, it is not an exaggeration to say that Zhao Junchen covers the sky with one hand in Shaanxi and Gansu, but now facing the "well-intentioned labor force" from various state capitals, he still cannot blame anything. If Zhao Junchen criticized the local government because of these cattle Officials and local officials will think that Zhao Junchen is targeting them, and they may even offend the public, but the gain outweighs the loss.
In the end, Zhao Junchen could only adopt a compromise method.
After dealing with the matter of laboring the army and living cattle, Zhao Junchen turned his attention to Zhou Bo and asked: "After these few battles, have the military achievements of the soldiers been sorted out?"
Zhou Bo quickly replied: "Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, the military merits, pensions, and silver rewards of the soldiers during this period have now been calculated! There is enough money in the army now. As long as you give an order, you can transfer the previous The silver reward will be given to the soldiers."
Zhao Junchen thought about it secretly for a moment and said: "Except for the pensions for wounded soldiers, the rest of the soldiers should not be given silver rewards for the time being. Once the soldiers suddenly receive a large amount of silver rewards, I am afraid they will cherish their lives and survive. Our army Now the morale is still high, there is no need to use silver rewards to encourage us, we just need to pay pensions to the wounded soldiers first to prove that we will not break our promise!"
Seeing Zhao Junchen's thoughtfulness, Zhou Bo couldn't help but express admiration and quickly agreed.
Finally, Zhao Junchen turned his attention to Fang Zhenshan and asked, "Is there any news from the various border troops?"
Due to previous command errors in the war, Fang Zhenshan had been deprived of military power by Zhao Junchen. However, he had many friends among the Shaanxi-Gansu border troops and was very popular, so he was responsible for contacting the border troops from various places.
After hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Fang Zhenshan quickly replied: "I hope the imperial envoy will know that since the news of our army's great victory on the Xiaochuan River battlefield spread, the border troops from all over the country have been greatly excited and have expressed their intention to follow Imperial Envoy, please work together to destroy the Mongolian coalition! As of today, three garrison officers, nine generals, and twenty-five thousand households have led reinforcements to join our army, and more reinforcements are on the way. On the way... After our army passed through the battles at Zhenning Acropolis and Xiaochuan River, we suffered more than 20,000 casualties. Originally, we only had 35,000 fighting troops left. But now, after receiving reinforcements from various places, our military strength has reached More than 50,000 people! In addition, General Zhang of Gansu Military Town also personally led an army of 30,000 people and is now on his way."
Fang Zhenshan had just finished speaking, and Zhao Junchen had not said anything. He Zhang on the side had already snorted coldly: "When the Mongolian coalition invaded our territory, they were unstoppable along the way. Every one of these people were cowering and fighting. Come on, when the imperial envoy mobilized them to fight, he repeatedly shied away and refused. Now seeing that our army has wiped out nearly half of the Mongolian coalition forces and the war situation is very good, they can't wait to show up one by one! Humph, reinforcements! Our army has prepared everything now, so why do we need their support? They are not here to support us, they are clearly here to pick peaches and gain military exploits!"
After hearing what He Zhang said, Fang Zhenshan's expression remained unchanged and he said with a smile: "General He, it is a good thing that border troops from all over the country are coming to help. It can at least relieve us a lot of pressure... If we reject their offer, Good intentions', I'm afraid we will be surrounded by enemies on all sides from now on and it will be difficult to move forward, so it's better to go with the flow."
He Zhang snorted again and said: "Our army has now assembled the vast majority of the elite soldiers from the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu. However, most of the troops under these people are only the old, weak, sick and disabled. They are good at harming the people, but Our army is about to have a decisive battle with the Mongols, and their joining at this time is just adding to the chaos!"
Before He Zhang could continue, Zhao Junchen raised his hand and said: "According to the intelligence, the Mongolian coalition still has more than 25,000 troops, all of which are highly mobile cavalry. Even if our army includes those on the south bank of the Wei River, Qi Bin's new army has less than 40,000 troops, but it has to deploy a defense line along the entire Wei River. It is indeed a bit short of troops... Since these people are leading troops to help, they can just make up for our lack of troops. How can we make good use of it next? These reinforcements need to be carefully arranged by General He. If you are worried about their insufficient combat power, just arrange them on unimportant lines of defense."
In fact, whether it is the civil servants from various state capitals who have come to work for the army, or the military attachés from various border armies who have come to help, it is all out of the same idea!
Before that, Zhao Junchen had been thinking and working hard for today's war, but no one believed that Zhao Junchen could achieve the final victory, so they were all indifferent, or even overtly believing that Zhao Junchen could win the final victory. Junchen was overjoyed at his achievements and thought he was smart. He only looked forward to Zhao Junchen's jokes. But seeing that Zhao Junchen's plan came true and he was about to gain a splendid military exploit that had not been seen in a century, they were like flies that smelled something fishy. They all couldn't wait. want a piece of the pie.
Zhao Junchen was naturally disgusted with these flies, but he had no choice but to do so, because these people accounted for the vast majority of the official circles in Shaanxi and Gansu, and even Zhao Junchen could not offend them all.
As the saying goes, "Everyone carries a fancy sedan." Zhao Junchen's military achievements are this "flower sedan." When this sedan was still in tatters, everyone would avoid it, but when they saw that this sedan became After the beautiful scenery, everyone rushed to lift it.
At this time, if Zhao Junchen agrees to the "goodwill" of these people, the "fancy sedan chair" will naturally be lifted higher and higher. But if Zhao Junchen rejects the "goodwill" of these people, he is afraid that many people will secretly do it. Trip, I'm afraid this "bridal sedan chair" will also be smashed to pieces by then.
He Zhang hesitated for a moment, then finally said nothing more and sighed: "That's all it can do!"
While speaking, He Zhang suddenly thought of something, and asked Zhao Junchen: "By the way, speaking of Qi Bin's new army, are we summoning this army to the south bank of the Wei River to deploy defenses with us? This army has extremely powerful combat capabilities." They are strong, but they have never played any role. If they are left on the north shore like this, it will inevitably be a waste."
Zhao Junchen shook his head and said: "No need, Qi Bin's new army should stay on the north bank in case of emergency."
After discovering Qi Bin's fear and hostility towards him, Zhao Junchen no longer hoped that Qi Bin would play a big role in this war. Once Qi Bin's military exploits were too high, the threat to Zhao Junchen would also be in the future. It's even bigger.
During this period of time, He Zhang had placed great trust in Zhao Junchen's decisions. When he heard Zhao Junchen's decision, he didn't think deeply about it and quickly agreed.
Next, Zhao Junchen successively explained many things to various civil and military officials.
After this period of experience, Zhao Junchen has become extremely skilled in handling military and political affairs. Every order is carefully thought out and just right, so that everyone is convinced. Zhao Junchen's prestige is also getting higher and higher because of this. Many times, Even a veteran like He Zhang, or a cunning and changeable person like Fang Zhenshan, would subconsciously look at Zhao Junchen with admiration.
After everything was explained, Zhao Junchen became increasingly exhausted physically and mentally and was about to declare the end.
At this moment, Zhao Dali hurriedly entered the commander's tent and handed a secret letter to Zhao Junchen.
After receiving the secret letter, Zhao Junchen opened it and looked at it, only to see that the secret letter was sent by Wei Song, which detailed the fact that Qigemu and Su He were about to betray the Mongolian coalition.
After reading this secret letter, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but smile, and his physical and mental fatigue was relieved a lot. He raised his head and smiled at everyone: "This decisive battle... is already foolproof!"
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PS: In the previous chapter, the casualty statistics of the Mongolian coalition forces were incorrect. They have been corrected. Thank you to the reader "Book Friend 160227185121508" for the reminder.
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