Three days later, Liu Bogen led 20,000 Donglai troops and arrived at Yidu City with a large amount of grain supplies collected by the rear.
After Liu Bogen arrived, Liu Yu said in front of everyone that since Yin Gong had returned to the army, he would hand over his duties as General Lang of the Fu Army and Prefect of Beihai, and return to his original position as Sima of another department.
Liu Bogen sincerely rejected Liu Yu's proposal, saying that the "rebellion cause" was far from successful, and that fierce generals like Liu Yu would have many opportunities to make contributions in the future.
Liu Yu continued to have the title of Lieutenant General of the Fu Army. Although he no longer commanded Liu Bogen's troops, 2,000 people were transferred to Liu Yu from the 20,000 new recruits he brought.
Most of these two thousand people were the refugees Liu Yu met outside Xiami City, and they were led by Guan Tao and others.
The equipment of the two thousand newly attached refugee troops is extremely poor. Most of them only have weapons such as spears and knives. There are basically no shields, crossbows and other weapons. Besides, except for Guan Tao, a few refugee commanders, who have leather armor, the other soldiers have no weapons. He only had a single coat of coarse cloth.
After Liu Yu read it, he felt that the biggest role of this group of poor infantry on the battlefield was to consume the enemy's arrows and physical strength.
"Why are you willing to follow Yin Gong to Yidu? There are only two thousand soldiers with almost no training and not enough armor or weapons. I'm afraid they will be used as human shields when they get to the battlefield." Liu Yu said to Guan Tao and others. said.
Guan Tao and others looked at each other, sighed and said, "It's no good if you don't come. Yin Gong has plundered all the food in Xia Mi, Duchang and Pingshou, and told us who can follow him to get the food. If we don't follow, If he leaves, then you can find a way to get food from those powerful clans."
"What about your family members?" Liu Yu remembered that there were thousands of family members among these refugees.
"They all followed us to Juxian County. When we got there, Duke Yin said that after passing Yidu, there would be a war. He was not allowed to bring his family with him any more. So Duke Yin left a thousand men there to protect the family."
According to the county, it is forty or fifty miles southeast of Yidu. The city there is relatively strong. A thousand soldiers are enough to guard against bandits and bandits.
"Today's world will only become more and more chaotic, and you can't escape by running away." Liu Yu said to Guan Tao and others, "In that case, then you should follow me well. Once we have two thousand strong elite soldiers, No matter where I go, I will never be bullied like a refugee again."
Guan Tao and others swore that they would follow General Liu well and go through fire and water without hesitation.
After Guan Tao's 2,000 people and Liu Yu's 1,000 people from his headquarters merged, Liu Yu transferred some people from his headquarters' brigade commanders to serve as officers of the 2,000 new soldiers. According to Gongsun Sheng's plan for the Hexi frontier army, The method of training is practice.
On the third day, the Donglai Army, which had completed supplies and reorganization, finally marched westward in a mighty manner under the leadership of Liu Bogen and Wang Mi, aiming directly at Linzi.
After joining together at Yidu, the number of Donglai Army has reached nearly 50,000.
Liu Yu, as the rear army, was responsible for the logistical protection of the baggage at the end.
Liu Yu took this opportunity to understand the scale of 50,000 people.
So many people set out from the west and north gates of Yidu City at the same time starting from 10 o'clock in the morning. By the time Liu Yu led all the troops behind the palace to walk out of the gate of Yidu City, it was already noon.
Liu Yu rode his horse and looked forward. There were rows of Donglai Army soldiers, chariots and horses on the flat official road. There were still soldiers, chariots and horses until he saw the end of the road.
Liu Yu couldn't help but secretly be stunned. This was only less than 50,000 troops, but it felt like it was boundless. I really don't know how those armies of 200,000, 300,000, or even 500,000 or 600,000 were recorded in history books. of deploying, marching and commanding.
Gongsun Sheng, who was following him, saw all of Liu Yu's expression.
Gongsun Sheng chuckled and said to Liu Yu: "This must be the first time for the general to see forty or fifty thousand soldiers marching together."
"Exactly. I was thinking just now that it would be very difficult for me to command 40,000 to 50,000 people to march, camp and fight. I really don't know how the battle of 500,000 to 600,000 people from both sides was achieved in the history books." Liu Yu said unabashedly.
"Haha, according to my observation, among the 40,000 to 50,000 people, combat soldiers account for less than half, not more than 20,000. As long as you have 20,000 people under command, you can basically move forward and retreat freely." Gongsun Sheng walked closer. , continued, "In the crusade against the Xianbei bandits in Hexi, as long as the 20,000 Liangzhou border troops were properly commanded, it was enough to defeat the 100,000 Xianbei bandits who fled in all directions."
"Twenty to thirty thousand soldiers and horses can also use fast horses to communicate. How did the generals on both sides direct those battles involving five to six million people on both sides?" Liu Yu was very curious about how a large battle with hundreds of thousands of people would be conducted.
"My uncle and father participated in the battle to destroy Wu. At that time, Emperor Wu sent more than 200,000 troops to destroy Soochow. Often the forward army had already broken through the city, while the rear army was still thirty or forty miles away. Only those who finally surrounded Soochow Jianye At that time, only a hundred thousand waterway troops gathered in the north of the Yangtze River, and they camped for dozens of miles. In fact, most of the time, there were often fights between 30,000 and 40,000 people on both sides." Gongsun Sheng explained.
"Haha, I understand. This kind of army march is like a snake fighting show. The forward is the snake's head, and the body is the rest of the army. When two snakes meet, the victory may be determined by the snake's head biting, or the snake's body may need to fight to determine the outcome. Win or lose," Liu Yu said jokingly.
"Well, there are two or three points of truth, but military battles are complicated and complicated. Sometimes, even if all the plans are exhausted, danger will suddenly arise. But it is much more complicated than a fight between two snakes." Gongsun Sheng said with a serious face.
"Sir, don't blame me. I made a mistake."
Liu Yu found it boring. People like Gongsun Sheng would not accept his ridiculing remarks. Dong Ping, Li Feng and others still thought that they were the same young knights from the Wei and Jin Dynasties who loved martial arts and gambling.
He even felt a little lonely. It was really not easy to find a good chat partner in this era of Western Jin Dynasty.
Gongsun Sheng also noticed Liu Yu's unhappiness, he sighed and said.
"General, the so-called advice that goes against the ears, the reason why I say this is just to let the general remember that marching and fighting must be cautious and careful, and must not be taken lightly. It is not only about victory or defeat, but also about the life and death of the soldiers under his command."
Gongsun Sheng raised his hand and pointed at the long queue in front of him.
"So many good men are rushing to the battlefield. Even if they win, many people will die. If they lose, I don't know how many people will die."
After listening to Gongsun Sheng's words, Liu Yu was silent for a while.
It turned out that he was only thinking about how to escape Liu Bogen's defeat in history, and how to survive on his own.
Now he suddenly discovered that it was not only himself, but also so many living people whose destiny was influenced by him.
Liu Yu looked at the soldiers marching forward. Every one of them was a living person. They were husbands, fathers, sons and brothers of their respective families. They were no longer just a cold and simple string of numbers in history books.
"Mr. Gongsun's teachings, please remember them carefully." Liu Yu saluted Gongsun Sheng slightly on his horse.
One day later, nearly 50,000 Donglai troops crossed the shallow turbid water and marched to Dong'anping City, which was across the river from Linzi City.
Linzi, the ancient capital of the Three Qi Dynasties, is just three miles away.
