"Enter the city, enter the city!"
In Lizhou and Bocheng, under the winter snow, a sturdy general was riding on a horse and kept shouting.
Behind this general, there were many serious-looking family members. These sons of aristocratic families were all carefully selected to join the Beiyu Army and trained as generals.
"General Shentu, many people in Bocheng have left."
Immediately Shentu Guan didn't sound surprised. Anyone looking at this look of gathering troops would think they were preparing for war.
Of course, we are indeed preparing for war. Just wait until spring begins, and Beiyu and Xishu will most likely have a vigorous fight.
He raised his head and looked in the direction of Dawan Pass. There was too much unwillingness on Shen Tuguan's face. If he hadn't fallen into the lame man's trick at the beginning, I'm afraid that Lizhou would still be tightly held in Beiyu's hands at this time.
Now that Dawan Pass is lost, if it cannot be recaptured, Beiyu will fall into a passive situation before long.
"Where's the sheepherder's military advisor?"
"I caught wind and cold in the past two days, which slowed down my leg strength, but I guess it will be here soon."
Shen Tu Guan exhaled.
Although it wasn't the Lantern Festival yet, it seemed like the war was already looming overhead.
"General Shentu and Northern Route Army General Huang Zhizhou have returned to Fei County."
"Huang Zhizhou." Shen Tuguan was silent for a while, "He saved Shen Tujiu's life, so he can be considered an old friend. I heard that this year, the young military advisor plans to let him take charge of the army."
"Indeed, the Northern Route Army has increased to 60,000 people."
"After Jiang Meng died in battle... the whole of Beiyu really needs more people who can hold up the situation. And Huang Zhizhou is the best one among them."
Shentu, who happened to come over, also looked happy after listening to his brother's words.
"It's true. If it weren't for the busy military affairs, I would really like to go to Feixian County and have a few good drinks with this old friend."
…
At this time, in the northeast of Lizhou, Fei County.
Huang Zhizhou changed into tiger armor, his face was calm and serious, and he already looked like a general from Beiyu. Of course, this time in the Northern Route Army, in addition to his brother-in-law Che Hu, there were also five or six young generals from aristocratic families.
"General, do you want to repair the city gate?"
"No need." Huang Zhizhou turned his head and glanced at the young general from the family who asked. He understood that the 60,000-strong Northern Route Army was actually at least 20,000-strong, and they were private soldiers of aristocratic families. Of course, this is inevitable. Beiyu prioritizes aristocratic families, and many aristocratic families maintain many private soldiers.
But no matter what, he now holds a heavy army just like Jiang Meng did back then. Next, it’s time to think about more things…
"General Huang, there is an order from Changyang, and General Huang is ordered to serve as the mobile battalion for the Lizhou war, to cooperate with the main army's main formation, and wait for the opportunity to capture Dawan Pass!"
"Accept the order. I, Huang Zhizhou, will definitely live up to my lord's trust and my little military advisor's trust." Huang Zhizhou's voice was calm.
…
In Chengdu, the Lantern Festival was only three or four days away. Xu Mu in the palace finally received the news of Wei Chun's return. In the current situation, one of the things Xu Mu cares about most is the ship built by Wei Chun.
These ships will most likely become the key to victory or defeat.
Sitting on the throne, Xu Mu waited with peace of mind. Not long after, he saw a familiar figure walking in hurriedly.
"Wei Chun pays homage to the lord!"
"Wei Chun, please get up quickly!" Xu Mu smiled. This sick young master of the Wei family has always been the treasure of Xishu.
"Thank you, Lord!" Wei Chun's face was moved. After thanking him, he sat down next to him.
"I returned to Chengdu earlier, and I have been thinking about when you, the genius of Western Shu, will come back." In his tone, Xu Mu was not stingy in his praise of Wei Chun.
Without Wei Chun, the Wooden Kite in Xishu would not have succeeded, nor would the five-story boat that was about to be launched, let alone other things.
If one day the Western Shu dynasty was established, the two aristocratic families that would be the first to take the lead would be the Huang family and the Wei family, which would be a great achievement.
"Wei Chun, how is the situation over there in Cangwu Prefecture?"
Wei Chun nodded, "After I learned that Xishu had captured Dayuan Pass, I guessed that your lord needed a sea ship to do some great work. Please rest assured, lord, General Lu Xiong and I are at the dock in Cangwu Prefecture. The two of them are constantly supervising the construction, and I estimate that the first ship can be launched a month and a half ahead of schedule."
"As for the second ship, it will take another three or four months, and the third ship will need to enter autumn."
Xu Mu listened, his face a little silent.
In fact, Wei Chun's efficiency is already very high. But helplessly, the war has now undergone qualitative changes. Xishu needed sea ships and launched a surprise attack into the hinterland of Beiyu.
As if he could sense Xu Mu's thoughts, Wei Chun continued, "Lord, I have an idea. Otherwise, some of the warships in Xiangjiang River should be changed into small sea-going ships, which can be used for escort and troop transportation. . Of course, going around into the sea will be dangerous. When the time comes, these modified small ships will need to be connected to the main ship with iron ropes. Although it will be slower, the number of troops transported will be greatly increased. "
According to the previous discussion with Wei Chun, a long-distance sea ship can carry three thousand to five thousand soldiers. If there is only one ship and too few troops, it will not pose much of a threat at all.
As long as there are 20,000 people, it can be used as a strange army.
"Wei Chun, if this is the case, how many troops can be transported?"
"If we use twelve warships to defend us, excluding grain ships and baggage ships, there will be about eight or nine thousand people. If the lord can wait until around May and send out another sea ship, and so on, we can transport almost twenty thousand people. people."
Wei Chun dared to say that he must have confidence.
The war has dragged on to May, which is not a big problem, but we also need to consider that the time it takes for the voyage to go around Jijiang will be extended by at least another month. And when the time comes, we need to consider a way to avoid being discovered by the garrison in Beiyu when bypassing Qingzhou and Yanzhou.
But this matter cannot be rushed.
"Wei Chun, how is the situation with the ore at the dock?"
"Zhou Zun, the iron miner, has used the method of a pearl diver to find out clearly that there is a lot of iron ore on this seabed. It is estimated that it can be turned into 20,000 sets of armor."
"Not bad." Xu Mu breathed a sigh of relief.
"I followed the Lord's method and found rocks nearby as a solid point. Whenever the wind direction was correct, I used the ship's iron rope to drag it as a method of digging mines. So far, I have taken out some. But if I finish taking it, I guess it will take a lot of time.”
"There's no rush." Xu Mu comforted him.
For the great cause of Xi Shu, he has tried every means and used all available resources. The western region was used to gather wealth, the south of the Yangtze River was used to grow rice, the northwest was used to raise horses, and grow cotton. Even in the swamps under the Nanlin Mountains, many plain old men were specially sent to raise crocodiles for armor.
The child without an umbrella broke his leg when he ran, and finally made his way out of the siege.
