"Send the order." Zhao Kuo slapped the barrier bitterly and was about to give the order to escort Chen Zhang.
Unexpectedly, Captain Chen Zhang had already received the report from the soldiers below, and hurriedly came to the furious Zhao Kuo.
"The last general, Chen Zhang, has met the superior general." Chen Zhang clasped his hands and saluted Zhao Kuo.
Zhao Kuo turned his head, just as he was about to get angry, he saw that Chen Zhang standing in front of him looked nothing like a captain: his head was sweating profusely, his face was dirty, and his feet looked like they had just been pulled out of the mud. Only his relatively neat armor showed his identity. Apparently, he had just arrived in a hurry from the fortifications.
"Even the captain went to work personally?" Zhao Kuo was slightly stunned.
After the Battle of the Barrier, minus the casualties in the Battle of the Barrier, Zhao Kuo's total troops were only 340,000, and the number of pursuing troops was 130,000 to 40,000, while those defending southward were more than 30,000. , the small group of troops exploring the north totaled tens of thousands of troops, and this was almost all the elite troops in Zhao Kuo's hands.
Most of the 100,000 troops in the Chinese army were replaced from the Battle of the Barrier and were in urgent need of repairs. After the repairs, they were sent to build fortresses with no intention of supporting the rear army. As a result, the full force given to Chen Zhang was only 60,000 troops, and most of them were soldiers replaced from the Minzhuang and the Battle of the Barrier.
However, this army of less than 60,000 people has to be responsible for almost all logistics. It has to transport grain and grass from Hanwang Mountain and Daliang Mountain, clean the battlefield, collect corpses, repair barriers, and transport the wounded. Chen Zhang It is really difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.
Zhao Kuo calculated the strength of his troops slightly, and obviously understood Chen Zhang's difficulty.
But understanding is understanding, and difficulties are difficulties. If you don't do it well, you haven't done it well. Zhao Kuo is not prepared to give him any more words of comfort. If he doesn't do it well, it is already the best result.
Without any more words, Zhao Kuo immediately ordered: "Instruct the Chinese army to quickly mobilize 40,000 troops to the rear camp to start repairing the barrier."
"Yes!" A messenger quickly agreed.
Turning his head, Zhao Kuo looked at Chen Zhang and asked, "How is the food transportation going?"
Chen Zhang, who was trembling on the side, naturally saw the anger in Zhao Kuo's heart, asked Zhao Kuo, and hurried forward to answer: "Reporting to the general, all the military rations and equipment from Hanwang Mountain have been transported to the west bank and are being distributed to the battalions. At present, it is sufficient for the army for twenty days. There is still a batch of military rations on the way in Daliang Mountain. When it arrives, it can be used for another five days."
When Zhao Kuo heard this, he nodded with satisfaction. After all, he had been given two important tasks, and one of them was done well.
"The shortage of personnel is already known to me!" Zhao Kuo said slowly: "After adding 40,000 troops to you, it should be enough to number one hundred thousand. You need to summon manpower immediately to repair the barrier as soon as possible. This is my hundreds of thousands. The road behind the army must not be careless. Do you understand?"
"Yes!" Chen Zhang agreed immediately. Of course, although Chen Zhang agreed happily, he still did not put this matter as a top priority in his heart. After all, now that the army has crossed west and the Qin army has fled west, is it necessary to repair the west bank barrier? It's obviously not necessary.
Zhao Kuo looked at Chen Zhang's quick reply and obviously knew what he was thinking. The faster he answered, the more it meant he didn't understand his deeper meaning, but he couldn't explain more.
As the saying goes, "If the king is not secretive, his ministers will lose; if his ministers are not secretive, they will lose their virginity; if several things are not secretive, it will cause harm." Zhao Kuo obviously couldn't tell the truth about Chen Zhang, who had not yet been included in the circle of confidants.
Using such generals to guard one's rear line of defense was obviously irresponsible to oneself and the hundreds of thousands of Zhao troops, even though the west bank barrier should have been retaken by the Qin army.
However, there is a huge difference between being captured after one day of resistance and being captured after five days of resistance. After all, no matter how well the fortress in front is built, it is just a temporary pile. How can it be as majestic as the barrier carefully built and repaired day and night by the Qin army?
If the barrier holds on for one more day, it means one more day of preparation for the rear, and the temporary fortress will be attacked for one less day, and perhaps tens of thousands more people can survive.
However, almost all the cards he can use are here: Sun Gu is needed at the forefront of the subsequent Qin army's attack on the west; another capable general Zhou Qi is being held captive in Daliang Mountain, preparing for the final raid. ; There must be someone by his side to help him. After all, after falling into a war, he must go to the battlefield to maintain the morale of the army. Xu Li, as his family general, obviously cannot do without him, even though he already has Zhao Wei by his side.
Thinking of this, Zhao Kuo shook his head helplessly. It was a new arrival and there were still not enough people!
"Send the order." Zhao Kuo looked at the tall Zhao Wei beside him, gritted his teeth and decided to sacrifice his own safety in exchange for the safety of the army: "Depose Xu Li as the general of the North Road, and the armies of the Middle Road and the North Road will be unified by Sun Yat-sen." Commanded by General Gu. Removed Chen Zhang from the post of general of the rear army, appointed Xu Li as the chief general of the rear army, and Chen Zhang as deputy general. He will command 100,000 troops. Within five days, he will quickly repair the west bank barrier. After the repair of the barrier is completed, 30,000 troops will be left to garrison. Barriers, the rest will be returned to Jianzhong Army."
"Yes!" A messenger and Chen Zhang both agreed.
"Before Xu Li arrives, you must organize and repair the barriers first." Zhao Kuo continued to give instructions.
"Yes!" Chen Zhang agreed again.
Chen Zhang didn't have much objection to Zhao Kuo's arrangement.
After all, he was just a captain. From his perspective: before, the generals only wanted to strangle the Qin army on the front line, and now it was his turn as a captain to lead tens of thousands of troops at the rear. Now that the pursuit battle has come to an end, he naturally has to hand over military power. It is not easy to get a deputy general in the rear army. It can be said that as long as there are no mistakes, after a big victory, he must take another step forward.
Unfortunately, he had no idea that Zhao Kuo originally wanted him to be the commander-in-chief of the rear army. Unfortunately, Chen Zhang failed to understand Zhao Kuo's intention and let go of an opportunity to reach the sky in one step.
After giving instructions about the barrier, Zhao Kuo immediately turned around and returned to the Chinese army's tent.
After the military judges made intensive calculations and statistics day and night, a military report had quietly laid on Zhao Kuo's major case.
Under the dim candlelight, the military report recording the casualties lay quietly, and Zhao Kuo had been staring at the major case for more than a quarter of an hour.
Pick it up and put it down again.
Zhao Kuo was really afraid to see the number of casualties.
It is said that "kindness cannot lead an army", but in the face of these almost astronomical casualties, there are a few generals who can truly accept it calmly.
You know, these lives are passing under your own command...
