Liu Heng looked at General Ma in front of him and said, "Sir, what pressure did the Mongols put on you?"
"What kind of pressure can they exert? The governor and I are both ministers of the Ming Dynasty. No matter how powerful King Shunyi is, he can't control me." Ma Zongbing said calmly.
However, when Liu Heng heard this, he naturally didn't believe it. He understood that Bu Shitu must have put pressure on the governor of Datong and General Ma in front of him, otherwise the other party would not come to Xinping Fort in person.
"I say this for your own good." Ma Zongbing said, "Brother, you spent all your money on those useless forts, and you don't even have a maid to serve in your house. These days It’s a dull life, with no flavor at all.”
Liu Heng frowned slightly and said: "Xiaguan understands what you mean, but it's too late to say anything now. Xiaguan has built more than one fort on the grassland. If we withdraw now, the loss will be too great. Tiger-character flag No matter how much money you have, you can’t bear such losses.”
"Then you have to stop immediately." General Ma said, "I know that doing this will cost you a lot of money, but if you don't do it, the Mongols will not let it go. Once the Mongols invade the border, Xinping will The Fort can be said to be the first to bear the brunt.”
Liu Heng shook his head and said: "We can't stop. Now that the Dunbao has been repaired, we can only continue to repair it."
The Tumut tribes targeted the Tiger Banner not because they were building forts on the grasslands, but because Taiji of the Tumut tribes forced the Tiger Banners to withdraw from the grasslands and hand over trade roads. This led to the Tiger Banners starting to build forts on the grasslands. fort.
Of course, he would not explain this to Mr. Ma in front of him.
Ever since the Tumut ministries began to target the Tiger-Character Banner, the two sides would have a battle sooner or later. Now the Tiger-Character Banner is ready for this battle and cannot give in.
"You..." Mr. Ma was a little annoyed and wanted to get angry, but when he thought of the black firecrackers and tiger squatting cannons he saw when he came, he could only suppress the anger in his heart.
If it were an ordinary guerrilla general, he would have already ordered the other party to seize his official status and escort him back to Datong.
And ordinary guerrilla generals will not spend money on things like building forts. The money used to build forts is either used to raise more guards or to buy more big houses.
Liu Heng turned back and glanced at the sky outside the house, and said in a warm tone: "Sir, the banquet should be almost ready. Why don't we sit down first and wait until after we finish eating to talk about anything else."
General Ma touched his stomach.
Although I ate something on the way from Datong, the food I ate on the way was never very good. I was really hungry now.
Liu Heng noticed General Ma's actions, stood up with a smile, and said, "Please, sir, I'm sure you will be satisfied with the sorghum brew this time."
General Ma hesitated for a moment, thinking that it would take more than a few sentences to persuade Liu Heng to give up building the fort, so he said: "That's fine, I'll have a full stomach first before we get down to business."
Liu Heng accompanied Mr. Ma to the dining room.
There is a dining table in the middle of the dining room, with five plates, three bowls, two white porcelain wine bottles and two wine cups on it.
The food on the table was very ordinary to Mr. Ma. There was nothing fresh. Instead, it was sorghum brewed in a wine pot, which he quite liked.
Sorghum fermented wine is a strong alcoholic drink with a high alcohol content. General Ma liked it so much that he drank too much. He was already drunk even though he could not eat the food on the table. 16
There was no shortage of rooms in the general's residence, so Zhao Wu had people carry Ma General Bing into the room to rest.
Liu Heng, who had also drank a lot, washed his face with water, returned to the study, and asked Zhao Wu to brew a tea jar of strong tea to sober up.
A map of various Mongolian tribes hangs on the wall in the study room.
The map marked the main gathering points of various tribes in Monan Mongolia. On the route from Xinpingbao to Qingcheng, there were some red dots marked, as well as some circles drawn with a pen, and half of the circles dyed red.
Liu Heng stood in front of the map of Monan Mongolia, pointed at the red dots and semicircular red dots on it, and said: "Our forts have been built in these places. In two months at most, they will be able to compete with the forts at Daheihe." The forts are connected together.”
"Sir, this is the fermented tea you asked for." Zhao Wu placed the large teapot with brewed tea on the desk beside him.
Liu Heng picked up the big teapot, blew in the hot air inside, and said: "This time General Ma came here, it means that the Mongols will not give us any more time to build the fort, and the Mongolian army will be dispatched soon, but I don't know Which tribes will follow Tumut and attack us."
The arrival of Ma Zongbing was a signal to him, a signal that Shitu's patience was about to reach its limit.
"If we let the craftsmen hurry up and build the fortress, can it be completed in advance?" Zhao Wu said.
Liu Heng looked at the map and shook his head slightly, and said: "There is not enough time. No matter how fast we build the fort, it will not be completed in less than a month and a half. The people in Datong, Taiyuan and other places who are willing to build the fort for us have already Being brought to the grassland, there won’t be much change in terms of manpower.”
"Are we really going to give up these forts on the grassland like General Ma said?" Zhao Wu said unwillingly.
Liu Heng shook his head and said: "We can't give up. Once we give up these forts, the Mongols will only make further progress. It will become more difficult for us to build forts on the grassland in the future."
"But those unbuilt forts have no defense at all. Once the Mongolian army attacks, those of us there will be in great danger." Zhao Wu said worriedly.
Liu Heng closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then opened his eyes and said, "We have no choice. If the Mongols really attack, we can only choose to resist. I believe our soldiers can protect the unbuilt piers." Fort.”
Zhao Wu said nothing.
But he knew in his heart that if the Mongolian army really attacked, it would be different from the last Su Nang attack. This time it would be the entire Tumut army, at least tens of thousands of people.
Liu Heng turned around and said to Zhao Wu: "Ask the Attendant to send orders to the several military camps on the grassland. Order the fifth military battalion to divide its troops and garrison the completed forts. Order the first military battalion to garrison them. The battalion and the Fourth War Soldier Battalion were stationed at the forts under construction. At the same time, they ordered that no new forts be built for the time being. Within half a month, only two forts that were still under construction were allowed to exist, one by the first battle group. The military camp and the fourth military camp are stationed.”
Zhao Wu took a charcoal pen to record Liu Heng's orders in his notebook.
Liu Heng continued: "Order the baggage team commanded by Zhang Sancha in Daheihe Dunbao to meet up with the First Soldier Battalion and accept the command of the First Soldier Battalion. Order the Sixth Soldier Battalion stationed in Xinping Fort. The battalion dispatched two thousand-man teams to join the Fourth War Soldier Battalion, and ordered Lingqiu's newly formed baggage team to send a four-thousand-man team to join the Fifth War Soldier Battalion to join the team guarding the new castle."
After Zhao Wu finished recording the order, he worriedly said: "There is only one thousand-man team left in Xinping Fort. Is it too few?"
"A team of a thousand men is enough to guard Xinping Fort, and we can continue to recruit new soldiers." Liu Heng said to Zhao Wu, and then said, "Send the order to the Attendance Department and arrange for the personnel from the Attendance Department. Go and give orders to all the military camps."
"Yes." Zhao Wu agreed, turned around and exited the study.
