Two days later, Liang Jun swaggered into Shizui City.
The remaining two cities, Alxa and Bayan, are regarded as the companion capitals of the Hu State, and are less than fifty miles apart. The final battle should be here.
"Mr. Song, I heard that Chachai is being detained by you. It happens that Hu State also has many prisoners of war captured from Beiliang in the past. How about we make an exchange?"
Before leaving Shizui City, Arhan proposed to Song Che.
This was quite humane, and Song Che readily agreed.
"Then half a month later, we will exchange in Shantou Town, ten miles west of the city." Arhan said.
Half a month? Isn't this just delaying time? Of course Song Che couldn't agree: "Mr. Arhan, don't you know what it means to have a quick army? Our army can defeat most of you in half a month. I only give you three days, and the exchange location is at this city gate." Now, if you exchange one Hu man for five Liang men, you can only exchange for 10,000 people at most."
"One for five? This is so unfair!"
"It's unfair. Aren't Liang people just like 'two-legged sheep' in your Hu country? For a Hu man to trade for five sheep, I feel like this is a loss." Song Che waved his hand, "If you think it's unfair, then Forget it, it doesn’t matter to me anyway.”
Arhan gritted his teeth, said hello, and then left Shizui City.
"Brother Song, this old fox must be playing tricks." Jiang Yuntian said while looking at Arhan's leaving figure.
Song Che smiled and said: "Even General Jiang can tell that he is playing tricks, which means he is really playing tricks."
"Damn it, what do you mean by this? Can't I be smart?" Jiang Yuntian said: "In the past, when we were fighting against Japanese pirates and the Northern Expedition to Dijon, we used prisoners to earn money from the enemy's city gates. You can exchange them. We have 10,000 barbarians, and we have to take back 50,000 Liang people. Who can guarantee that these Liang people are clean? If we accept them into the city, there may be trouble."
"You all know that the prisoner exchange may be a conspiracy, why are you still afraid that something will happen?"
"What about that?"
"Use the trick and use it to your advantage."
…
Three days later, it was the tenth day of April.
Today is a good day, and it is a good day for everyone.
As promised, Arhan came to Shizui City with 50,000 prisoners of war captured from Beiliang in the past. Song Che also followed the agreement and released 10,000 Hu soldiers including Chachai.
These people of Northern Liang have been slaves in Hu State for at least five years. Some of the old, weak, sick and disabled have died. They have strong faith to survive.
In order to make the villagers feel like they were home, Song Che specially ordered people to open a porridge restaurant outside the city, killing chickens and cows to make soup.
"Yes...it's Mr. Song!"
"Mr. Song, do you still recognize me? I was building a wall in Xicheng last year!"
"And me, me too!"
The moment they fell into the arms of their compatriots, the sound of wailing and crying was so loud that Song Che couldn't help but have red eyes. It's not easy, it's really not easy...
"Dear fellow villagers, there is meat porridge below the city. After you have eaten, go to the city gate and register your names and place of origin. Then you can enter the city."
The registration work of 50,000 people lasted for a whole day, and it was only in the evening that the city gate was closed and the stalls were closed. Song Che specially designated an area on the east side of Shizui City for these compatriots to temporarily live in.
That night.
Song Che gathered together twelve civilian and military generals of fifth rank or above, including Jiang Yuntian, Wu Wei, Liu Kuang, and Shi Tao.
"This is the list based on the 'cousin' you gave me, the military advisor. Please take a look." Liu Tong, the civilian officer in charge of supervising the army, presented a thick list.
"This is called a 'form', not cousin. Use it to make statistics and you can see it clearly at a glance." Song Che took the roster and flipped through it quickly.
Liu Tong explained on the side: "Because there are many soldiers in the Northern Liang army, including Western Qiang, Tubo, and even Hu people, they all occupy a certain proportion. I have outlined them all with red lines. There are roughly 532 people, among whom There are seventy-two women and four hundred and thirty men..."
Song Che nodded and handed the roster back to Liu Tong, "The work was done well and carefully enough, but ticking the names is only the first step. How to monitor them is the most important.
The surveillance must be conducted quietly, and one must not alert the enemy. Also, this does not mean that there must be spies among the foreigners, nor does it rule out that there are traitors among the Liang people. "
He turned around and warned the generals: "From now on, if any important military information comes out of this room, you will be rotten in your stomach. Also, in addition to keeping your mouth shut, you must also keep your lower body under strict control - Among the 50,000 compatriots, there are seven to eight thousand female compatriots. They were all caught in the Hu State and used as military prostitutes. Their own fate is very miserable, and they should not be offended again."
Shi Tao said: "Military advisor, look at what you said, we are different from those beasts."
"That's hard to say," Song Che said with a sideways smile, patting Shi Tao on the shoulder: "When the group of female compatriots entered the city today, your eyes were as big as copper bells, and your saliva was about to flow out. I But it’s all in sight;
I know that marching and fighting is hard and lonely, but the easiest time for a man to let go is when he sleeps with a woman. These are extraordinary times and there is no room for carelessness, so you must restrain your men. "
“Since the Rangers took to the road and won their second victory, the enemy troops on the road began to retreat one after another;
The enemy troops in the Lower Hexi Corridor also abandoned Jinchang, Zhangye, and Jiuquan and retreated to Jiayu and Yumen Pass;
According to the news from spies in recent days, the Hu State is continuously increasing its troops to the two cities of Alxa and Bayan. Many tribes on the grassland are also converging on the Dadu front. It seems that the final decisive battle is coming. "
Jiang Yuntian gave a general explanation of the current situation, with a hint of worry on his brows: "The Hu State is a tribal alliance. If they unite as one, they may be able to muster a million soldiers; and our 600,000-strong army for the Western Expedition has already It’s a nationwide effort, and it seems like it can’t fail.”
Why isn't Song Che worried?
Even though the Liang army is well-equipped, the battle situation is often changeable, and the Hu people will lose if they lose. Anyway, they are nomadic people, and the grassland is so big, they can settle down wherever they go; but as the main battle expedition party, Liang can only If you fail once, your losses will be double those of the enemy.
Only success and no failure are allowed, which is the biggest source of pressure.
"How about...talking to them?" A civil servant suggested, "Being able to reach here is considered a great victory. Now that the power of negotiation is in our hands, why worry about not getting benefits?"
"In my opinion, we might as well use the Shizui City Painting Land as the boundary and explore it for three to five years. Over time, this place will naturally become our Daliang territory."
"It's necessary. This is a great plain. There are no dangers from mountains and rivers. If we want to ensure safety, we must heavily guard it. It consumes too much national power."
"What are you talking about? We sang triumphantly all the way, and we reached here in less than three months. At this time, the morale of the whole army is high. It is a good time to strike while the iron is hot and capture most of Hu's capital in one fell swoop. How can we not fight? ?”
"What can't be obtained in peace talks or on the battlefield, can you get it at the negotiation table? Have you forgotten how the national humiliation came about in the past? It's because you peace advocates are weak and incompetent and still think you are right!"
"Hey, General Liu, we are all new ministers of the new dynasty. Don't be so pretentious as to insult others!"
"If you're afraid of a bird feather, don't be a coward, just do it!"
Every time we come back to this juncture, there will be different disagreements, and both views are correct.
The civil and military officials were arguing until the end, and their eyes fell on Song Che and Jiang Yuntian at the same time.
"Brother Song, what do you think?" Jiang Yuntian asked.
Song Che strode to the window, pushed it open, pointed to the west, and said loudly:
"The yellow sand wears golden armor in a hundred battles, and the barbarians will never return until they are defeated!"
