Hu Mingyi smiled bitterly and said: "The student is incompetent and failed to convince the bandit leader to accept the imperial court's recruitment."
"Ah, how could this happen!" Li Guangyi let go of his hands supporting Hu Mingyi, disappointed, "Do you really want to kill me?"
In less than ten days, the Yanghe Road and Beidong Road areas of North Hebei Road all fell into the hands of the enemy. Once the remaining Zuowei Road also fell into the hands of the enemy, there would be no border fort between Datong Town and Xinping Fort to defend against the enemy, and the bandit army would But face the town of Datong where he is.
"Don't worry, Mr. Dong, the bandit issue is not unsolvable." Hu Mingyi stepped forward and persuaded in a low voice.
Li Guangyi looked at Hu Mingyi in confusion and said, "Sir, do you have any good ideas that can solve the problem of banditry in Datong?"
"The student has no choice, but the student will find you Dong Weng someone who can solve the bandits." As he said that, Hu Mingyi glanced at Deputy General Li who was kneeling on the ground.
Li Guangyi looked over.
For the first time, I noticed the general who came to Houya with Hu Mingyi.
"General, I would like to send my regards to the army." Vice General Li saluted Li Guangyi again.
Li Guangyi recognized him and knew that he was the general of the Fubiao camp accompanying Hu Mingyi.
At this time, I heard Hu Mingyi say: "Dong Weng, this man has a rift in his heart. On the way back from Xinpingbao, he said something to the student. The student thought it was very reasonable, so he brought him over to see Dong Weng."
"Do you have any way to help me eliminate the bandits in Xinping Fort?" Li Guangyi looked at Deputy General Li who was kneeling on the ground.
Vice General Li knew that this was his opportunity to gain the attention of the governor, and quickly told Li Guangyi what he had said to Hu Mingyi before.
After listening, Li Guangyi stroked his beard and looked thoughtful. When he saw the general in front of him still kneeling, he raised his right hand and said, "Get up first!"
"Thank you, Junmen." Vice General Li stood up from the ground and stood aside respectfully.
After Li Guangyi pondered for a moment, he said: "What you said is not unreasonable, but have you ever thought about it. What if the rebels had more soldiers and horses? Don't forget, the rebels defeated the Northern Cavalry on the grassland. So it is certain that there are still soldiers and horses of the bandits on the grassland."
"Students have also thought about this." Vice General Li said hurriedly.
After finally getting the chance to perform in front of the governor, he naturally didn't want to miss it.
Li Guangyi walked back to the main seat and sat down. He picked up the tureen on the table and said, "Tell me about it."
"The general believes that even if the bandits still have an army on the grassland, their number will not exceed 20,000. After all, Tiger Flag is just a business, and the power of a business to support an army of tens of thousands is already the limit. "Vice General Li said.
Li Guangyi nodded slightly, blew the hot air in the cup with his mouth, "Continue."
"Yes." Lieutenant General Li bowed slightly and continued, "Although there are rumors outside that the Tumut tribe has been conquered by bandits, the general feels that as one of the most powerful tribes on the grassland, the leader of the Tumut tribe has As a descendant of the Jin family, they would never be willing to be conquered by a Han force, so the rebels did not dare to send a large number of troops to Datong, because they needed to use most of their troops to stay on the grasslands to suppress the northern rebels. In this way, The military support the bandits here in Datong will receive will be limited."
Li Guangyi held the tureen in his hand with one hand and asked: "Then how many troops do you think Liu Heng will send to support the rebels in Datong?"
"At most one battalion of soldiers and horses." Lieutenant General Li raised a finger, and then said, "If there are any more, the troops will not be able to suppress the Northern prisoners on the grassland."
Li Guangyi snorted and said: "The rebels already have more than 10,000 troops in Datong. With another 5,000 troops, there will be 20,000 troops. Such a large number of troops is enough to capture most of the county towns and border forts in Datong."
"That's what the military gate said." Vice General Li agreed, and then added, "Every time the rebels capture a county or border fort, they must allocate part of their troops to garrison it. We have seventy-two border forts and cities in Datong. In addition to Datong Town and some distant prefectures and counties, there are also more than fifty side forts and cities. Once the rebels garrison troops in these places, they may not even have 5,000 troops to attack Datong Town. .”
As he spoke, he looked up at Li Guangyi.
But Li Guangyi frowned and said: "You mean to let me ignore the life and death of other places, let the bandits capture it, and let me guard only this place in Datong Town?"
"Many of the border troops that General Yang took away were soldiers and horses drawn from various border forts, so that now the interior of each border fort is empty. Even if you want to save the military gate, it will be difficult to rescue them. To gather enough troops, it is better to concentrate them in Datong Town, waiting for work, and waiting for the bandits to take the initiative to invade." Vice General Li said.
Li Guangyi thought for a moment and said: "What if the bandits coerce a large number of people to join? Don't forget, there are also many soldiers and horses from the border army and the imperial guards who were captured by the bandits. These people may join." The bandits, by then the bandits’ strength will not be 20,000, but probably 50,000, 80,000, or even 100,000 troops.”
"It doesn't matter even if the rebels have an army of 100,000. If there are more soldiers and horses, the corresponding strength will be weakened. With the high city and thick walls of Datong Town, as long as the military gate holds firm until the court reinforcements arrive, the same can be done with the court reinforcements. To defeat the bandits." Vice General Li looked at Li Guangyi and said.
Hu Mingyi, who was standing on the side, said at this time: "Can't we get rid of the bandits in Datong before the imperial army comes to help?"
"If we have enough troops, it's not impossible." Vice General Li said cryptically.
Li Guangyi said: "Okay, I understand that if we want to completely wipe out the bandits in Datong, it is impossible to rely only on Datong's own troops. Therefore, I have asked the court for reinforcements. I believe reinforcements will arrive soon." .”
"The army is wise." Vice General Li bowed slightly.
The biggest difficulty in Datong is that there are not many available troops. The few troops and horses can only be used to defend the city. It is impossible to lead troops on expeditions like Yang Guozhu.
Li Guangyi said: "If I hand over all the soldiers and horses of Fubiao Camp to you, can you hold Datong Town on my behalf until reinforcements from the imperial court arrive?"
"You can do it, General." Lieutenant General Li's eyes showed joy.
At this time, regardless of whether he could hold on to Datong Town in front of the bandits, he had to say that he could hold it. Only in this way could he gain Li Guangyi's attention and trust.
It took so much effort to get such an opportunity to make a statement in front of the military gate through Hu Mingyi just for this moment.
Li Guangyi was very satisfied with the other party's answer, "I hope you remember what I just said. Okay, let's go down first!"
"General, I will retire." Lieutenant General Li bowed and resigned.
He was satisfied with getting the result he wanted.
