After Liu Wei finished speaking, everyone heaved a sigh of relief and expressed their high opinion. Under the current circumstances, pursuing Buri Hatu was really not something a wise man would do, and Xu Sanwei's dirty tricks could not be allowed to succeed.
But at this moment, Liu Wei's servant suddenly came to report that the "flying envoy" in the army wanted to see something, and asked if the commander-in-chief had sent an order for him to come.
The title "Flying Envoy" seems a bit strange, but in fact it is just a Jinghua servant specially assigned by Gao Pangshi to Liu Wei's army to be responsible for the mission of flying pigeons to deliver messages.
The flying pigeon messenger business has been running in Beijing for many years, with excellent results. However, it is not easy to cultivate and train qualified pigeons. In addition, Jinghua, as a super giant that spans a vast area and multiple industries, has many places where carrier pigeons are needed, so it is currently in a situation of shortage of carrier pigeon resources.
Because of this, Gao Jingshi only equipped a direct line general like Liu Wei who was responsible for field operations with a set of flying pigeons to pass messages - the so-called set consisted of about a dozen excellent pigeons and twenty or thirty ordinary ones that were still in training. homing pigeon. Although the number seems large, it can only maintain short-distance messages in four or five directions and long-distance messaging in one or two directions.
Liu Wei was well aware of the power of Jinghua's flying pigeon messaging system, and also knew that the "flying envoy" would not suddenly ask for an audience with any insignificant news, so naturally he immediately ordered: "Please come quickly!"
This "flying envoy" in Liu Wei's army is actually very young, only sixteen or seventeen years old, and he even looks a little childish. The young man was smiling all over his face. When he saw Liu Wei, he cheered and said loudly: "Mr. Liu, a great event is coming!"
Liu Wei was a little nervous at first. She didn't know that there was any urgent news. But when she heard this, she felt relieved. She smiled and asked, "Oh, where does the joy come from?"
The young envoy smiled and handed Liu Wei a small piece of paper he had just pulled out of a waterproof oil paper bag and said, "General Rong, please take a look."
Liu Wei didn't say much, nodded, took the piece of paper, and quickly read the small regular script on it. Since Fei Ge usually didn't write too many words when delivering a letter, Liu Wei could read it quickly, and soon his eyes lit up. Then he laughed loudly and said to everyone around him: "Everyone, this is indeed great news - the Marquis has already passed away." Succession as chief minister of the cabinet!"
"good!"
"Very good!"
"Now we are not afraid that Xu Sanwei will be jealous of the virtuous and capable!"
Everyone cheered loudly, and everyone was extremely happy, as if they themselves had been promoted. After Liu Wei waited for them to enjoy themselves for a while, he slowly stretched out his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then said: "What you all said is true. I am very happy that the Marquis has succeeded me as the chief minister, but..."
Everyone was a little surprised. What "but" could there be for the Marquis to succeed as the first assistant? This is a matter of great benefit and no harm.
Liu Wei touched his beard and continued with a serious face: "However, Lord Marquis is so happy. If we can't repay him with a victory earlier, we will be a little ignorant."
Everyone suddenly realized. Yes, Lord Marquis has been promoted to first assistant. Isn't this the best time for us to show off our success? It is impossible for the Marquis to aspire to the top of civil servants. We here can only write a few dry reports, saying that Burihatu ran away and we did not dare to pursue him, right? This is just like Zong Rong said, it is pure ignorance.
However, Burihatu is not easy to chase. I made it very clear just now. What should I do? Everyone looked at each other and looked at each other, but no one dared to speak easily.
Liu Wei was fierce, but he was by no means a person who didn't know how to use soldiers. He also knew that everyone was thinking the same as himself. He knew that it was time to chase him now, or at least bite off Burihatu's tail and give it to the Marquis. Give a gift. But the problem is that this is too dangerous to execute, because Burihatu may have already set up a pocket array, waiting for him to take the initiative to drill it.
Liu Wei pondered and said: "The land west of Hexi is no better than other places. The cities are like a string of pearls. As for our current location, there is Longshou (Mountain) in the north and Qilian (Mountain) in the south. Since ancient times, troops have marched here, and there is only one city and one pool. We go in order, and there is no way to take a detour. This means that if Burihatu has an army to block the rear or ambush, there is no need to worry about us being able to go around him."
Everyone knew this even if he didn't say it. How could they not look at the detailed map that Jinghua had already provided along the way? As for Jinghua's method of mapping, they have long been accustomed to it over the years. They can see it much clearer than the previous maps, so of course they know these things.
However, what they didn't expect was that Liu Wei's words were intended to be exaggerated but suppressed first.
"At this point, if we don't want to fall behind others, but we must give the Marquis a victory, then we have to march in danger!" Liu Wei's face darkened, and he said with a chilling air: "I mean It has been decided that I will personally lead all eight thousand cavalry, pass through Longshou Mountain to the north, follow the mountain to the west, then pass through Heli Mountain to the south, and go straight to Suzhou!"
Everyone was so shocked that their eyes nearly popped out. Liu Tianfeng said loudly: "General Rong must not do it! Not to mention that Longshou Mountain and Heli Mountain are not easy places to pass through. Even if our cavalry is elite and General Rong personally takes risks to show his determination, this is just a mere How can eight thousand cavalry capture Suzhou after a difficult and dangerous journey?"
Zhou Yude also reacted and quickly followed Liu Tianfan's train of thought: "Yes, yes, that's it. General Rong, the total number of our cavalry is only eight thousand, and most of them are newly-reformed cavalry formations after arriving in North Korea. Even if it goes smoothly, When we arrived in Suzhou, we had fast artillery (referring to cavalry muskets), but Burihatu had an army of 100,000 men, so how could we win with 8,000 cavalry?"
Bian Zhiyuan also pondered: "General Rong, the last general also thinks that the chance of victory is too low, so it is better to slow down. It is good to be able to provide victory for the Marquis, but what if..."
But if you are involved in it, it will be a waste of time.
Liu Wei's expression remained unchanged, he just looked around the crowd coldly, as if looking for a warrior who dared to fight to the death with him. When his eyes swept all the way to a burly young man who was taller than him, the young man raised his chin proudly and said boldly: "Father, there is no need to ask more. As long as my adoptive father's blade points, I, Liu Zhaosun, will not dare to pull it out." On the knife!”
Liu Wei's indifferent expression finally thawed, revealing a smile and nodding: "Okay, you are a good boy. I did not support you in vain."
Liu Zhaosun, the adopted son of Liu Wei, was born in Wengyuan County, Shaozhou Prefecture. In the thirteenth year of Wanli, Liu Wei was passing through Guangdong when he was ordered to put down Luo Xiong's rebellion. He happened to encounter Liu Zhaosun who killed the local powerful dandy who insulted his mother and was arrested. Liu was only thirteen when he recruited his grandson, but he was already only half a head shorter than the tall and burly Liu Wei. When Liu Wei heard about his age and deeds, he was overjoyed and used some means to rescue the child and take him as his righteous son. son.
Liu Zhaosun lost his father when he was young, and his mother also committed suicide because she could not bear the humiliation. She was already alone at this time, so she was naturally willing to fall into Liu Zhao's lap. What's more, Liu Wei not only saved his life, but also asked Jinghua for help, forcing Liu Zhaosun's enemies to go bankrupt through commercial means. This was a huge favor to him, so he swore a poisonous oath to never leave his adoptive father in the future. Never regret it.
The reason why Liu Zhaosun was favored by Liu Wei was because the Liu family's martial arts originally had special requirements for physical fitness. Liu Xian and Liu Wei's father and son were all natural warriors. Liu Xian also suffered from a poor family background when he was a child and could not keep up with his diet, which was a bit of a waste of his talent.
Liu Wei is different. When he was a child, his father was already a general. He has been polishing his body since he was a child, and his supernatural powers are extraordinary. Over the years, he has rarely encountered an opponent who can take his moves head-on. Therefore, he especially likes those born with similar physiques to him. Powerful person. Coincidentally, Liu Zhaosun is such a person.
Liu Zhaosun's original family conditions were actually not bad. His father was a member of the local police station. However, his family gradually declined after his father died in a battle to put down a riot. There are other stories here, so I won’t mention them for now.
In short, Liu Zhaosun's physical development was not affected much, and he fully recovered after being raised by Liu Wei for half a year. Naturally, he ate and drank well, and he was able to practice martial arts with Liu Wei, making rapid progress. By the time he was sixteen, the only one left in the Liu family's army who could "take care of" him was Liu Wei himself.
When Liu Zhaosun said this, two more people stood up and said they were willing to go to war with the general. One of these two people is Chen Qizheng, a guerrilla in the army, and the other is Liu Shaogui, the leader of the servants and the camp commander of the Chinese army.
Chen Qizheng, a guerrilla, was different from other guerrillas. He was a rare cavalry commander in the Southern Army. Because the Liu Jiajun was a member of the Southern Army, they never had many cavalry, but Chen Qizheng worked hard in the Liu Jiajun cavalry from the very beginning - in other words, he was born in a cavalry scout battalion and had excellent equestrian skills.
Not long after he got into the head of the cavalry of Liu's army, Gao Pangshi's army happened to be in a period of strengthening cavalry. This man got lucky and was recommended by Liu Wei to be sent to Gao Pangshi's place to learn cavalry fighting.
Well, of course Gao Pragmatic himself didn't teach this, so Chen Qizheng was sent to He Lin by him just after meeting Gao Pragmatic. Yes, it was Erdemutu, where he began to learn the most traditional and arduous cavalry training in East Asia.
Two years later, Chen Qizheng returned to serve as the chief cavalry officer of Liu Wei's department. By that time, Liu Wei was about to leave for North Korea. During the Korean War, the number of cavalry in Liu Wei's tribe was still small. Chen Qizheng was mainly responsible for contacting Gao Pragmatic to provide them with additional war horses and equipment, as well as for cavalry training.
But obviously, they didn't catch up with many battles in the end, and they didn't start to gain military exploits until the Japanese army withdrew. But at least by this time, his eight thousand cavalry had seen blood, and they were no longer considered recruits.
Liu Wei was going to lead the cavalry attack personally at this moment. It didn't matter whether others went or not. It was obvious that he, Chen Qizheng, couldn't go. But it just so happened that he also wanted to take this opportunity to make a name for himself and prove that his "further education" was of great significance. He could see that the Marquis's positioning towards Liu Jiajun had undergone some changes, and he might continue to strengthen the cavalry in the future. If he didn't come out to prove himself at this time, wouldn't he be hopelessly stupid?
Liu Shaogui, who is sitting in the camp of the Chinese Army, knows from his name that he is a servant of the Liu family, and "sitting in the camp of the Chinese Army" explains his identity: the leader of Liu Wei's personal soldiers. Since he is the leader of the soldiers, he naturally goes wherever the coach goes. Even if the coach is charging towards hell, he has to rush in front of the coach. After all, according to the rules these days, if the commander dies in battle but his own soldiers are not killed, all are killed.
After these three people expressed their intention to follow, the others could only express their determination to fight, but they still felt that this battle was too much for Meng Lang and wanted to dissuade Liu Wei. Unfortunately, Liu Wei had already made up his mind and refused to listen to the persuasion. Instead, he began to order various preparations. Everyone knew that persuasion was meaningless, so they could only prepare for the war as much as possible for Liu Wei.
Preparation before a battle is a very complicated task, especially for a long-distance attack by a (semi-)armed cavalry army. There is so much to prepare. The Ming cavalry was not Mongolian cavalry, they had no flocks to lead, and their self-sustainability was far inferior to that of the Ming cavalry. The cavalry of the Ming Army could only rely on dry food to satisfy their hunger when they went out. They also had to bring some fine horse feed, at least they couldn't let all their horses eat grass.
In addition, since the Ming cavalry fired their muskets before engaging in close combat, and even used multi-team circling methods to only conduct long-range shooting when conditions permitted, sufficient preparations for gunpowder and projectiles were also required. As for other chores such as tents and pots and pans, I won’t mention them. In short, there are many things to do before departure.
Liu Wei himself was not idle either. He took the three generals who were going to fight with him back to the commander's tent and took out the largest scale detailed map of the Hexi Corridor provided by Jinghua to study the troop route.
He just said it very simply, "Go out through Longshou Mountain to the north, follow the mountain to the west, then go through Heli Mountain to the south, and go straight to Suzhou." It sounds like it is easy, but in fact there is too much to study here. .
For example, the first sentence here is "Cross Longshou Mountain and exit north." But, what does Longshou Mountain look like, how to cross it, and where to cross it from?
Longshou Mountain, known as Ganjun Mountain in ancient times, is located in the northern part of the middle section of the Hexi Corridor in later Gansu Province, and belongs to the eastern section of the northern mountain of the Hexi Corridor, the remnant of the Tianshan Mountains. It is the dividing line between the Hexi Corridor and the Alxa High Plains. The eastern part is located in Jinchang City, later Gansu Province, and the western section is located in Zhangye City, Gansu Province - in other words, it starts from Yongchang Wei in the east and ends at Ganzhou City in the west.
The name of Longshou Mountain comes from the peak of the same name in Shandong, the main peak of Dongda Mountain. Because the shape of the mountain resembles a dragon's head, it is named Longshou Mountain. The mountain is about four hundred miles long from east to west and sixty to seventy miles wide. Longshou Mountain has always been the dividing line between the Han regime in Hexi and the Mobei regime, and is actually a strategic location.
It is a big problem for cavalry to travel through the sixty-seventy-mile-long mountainous area. What's more, according to Liu Wei's plan, he first passed through Longshou Mountain and went west to the north of Suzhou. He had already reached Heli Mountain. , and have to go back to the Hexi Corridor through Heli Mountain. This journey was at least 150 miles longer than the normal route, and we had to catch up with Burihatu, who had set off early. You can imagine the difficulty.
Chen Qizheng raised this question, but fortunately Liu Qi was confident and said with a smile: "Burihatu is certainly capable, but I am also a famous general, so I don't believe that he would go straight to Suzhou so confidently and boldly. !
Huh, I've determined today that this guy will definitely be sitting in the rear, waiting for me to kick his ass - hey, I won't! "
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Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "I am Liao Zhenxin" and "doni" for their monthly support, thank you!
PS: One bad news and one good news. The bad news is, I'm positive. The good news is that although the antigen shows that I am positive, my symptoms have actually disappeared...so, I will start updating normally today.
(End of chapter)
