Nanhe City, City Lord's Mansion.
Now that Lin Ji has taken over the important task of commanding the entire army, the first thing he needs to do is to find out how much wealth Lu Wu has.
"How many cavalry can we use?" Lin Ji asked.
He was a cavalryman and liked to use cavalry the most. This was the first thing he asked.
"There are 4,300 cavalry in total, and one thousand of them are my husband's personal guards and cannot be used yet." Qiutong took care of logistical matters every day during these days, and did not need to read the records.
"Not bad, what about the infantry?"
"The standing army is 100,000, and the reserve army is 690,000." Qiutong said.
The standing army is a professional soldier, including county soldiers stationed in local areas and regular soldiers used in field operations.
The reserve army is a reserve force. It trains twice a month and can be used as labor force, but if there is no war, there will be no pay.
"How many?!
"Lin Ji couldn't believe it.
The cavalry numbers are pretty normal.
For the young horses in the south, it would be good to have a few thousand cavalry, but what on earth is the number of infantry?
With the strength of a country, Wu State only has less than 600,000 men and horses. Luwu's side only has Nanhe Prefecture, Quantu Prefecture and most of Tonghe Prefecture. How can it get 800,000 men and horses? Are you kidding? Going militarily is not the way to go.
Qiutong explained: "My husband has made a favor order, and those in the military can inherit the family business. If there is a dispute, the military will be given priority, and slave ownership will be strictly investigated. Therefore, both men and women in the three prefectures are eager to join the army——"
Under Lu Wu's rule, military personnel were given priority.
Some of Lu Wu's soldiers, who had made enough money to retire and became rich men, had conflicts with local wealthy families because of their competition for profits.
Because there was an explicit order from Luwu soldiers to give priority to them, these soldiers would not swallow their anger at all.
When you win, you need money, and when you lose, you work hard. I have a knife in my hand and a brother behind me.
If you can't even fight with all your strength, you can often pull a group of soldiers to join forces with just a word, and the government will sentence you. The most they can do is exile the murderous sergeant to the front line to fight the Chu army. Except for a few people who have committed the most heinous crimes, very few There are severe punishments - for these desperadoes who have retired from the army, killing people is just returning to the battlefield again, so there is nothing to fear.
What's more, the sergeants under Lu Wu's command must distribute all spoils according to rules. If the spoils are rich, even ordinary sergeants can make a fortune.
The poor people in the three southern prefectures all regard being a soldier as their only chance to make a comeback, and wealthy local families dare not lag behind. When villages and towns fight, soldiers are given priority. If there are no soldiers present, half of the lawsuits will be lost first.
And under the rule of Lu Wu, women can also join the army - women in other countries can also join the army, but usually cannot serve as regular soldiers - so regardless of the mere three prefectures, the number of registered soldiers is really astonishing. These 790,000 The men and horses were selected, and those who were too old, too young, and those who were too weak to lift heavy objects were not accepted.
"Okay, since we have enough troops and horses, how about food, grass and equipment?"
"We have built five warehouses, storing a total of 3.47 million shi of grain. If we only count the standing army, we can supply it for more than three years."
To be honest, Lin Ji was not optimistic about Lu Wu at first - if Lu Jinhe was in charge here, Lin Ji believed that he would do everything possible and would not make any logistical mistakes.
But young people like Lu Wu may be good at fighting, but not many people will focus on logistics, so he is ready to sort out the army starting from logistics.
Lin Ji was shocked again: "How come there are so many?"
There was unspeakable pride in Qiu Tong's eyes: "My husband is invincible in battles and conquers all attacks. All prisoners are allowed to be redeemed with grain, grass, gold and silver. Every time my husband conquers a city, he destroys three large families and confiscates their property and grain - I Since my husband started the army, he has conquered thirty-one cities, twenty-seven generals above the rank of captain, and more than one hundred thousand soldiers and officers. What is the point of accumulating all this food and grass?"
The three southern prefectures of Chu State have abundant water resources, and rice is harvested twice a year. Grain is the largest business. Almost every big household has tens of thousands or even more than 100,000 shi of grain in reserve. Without this strength, it cannot be called a big household.
Lu Wu confiscated more than a hundred large households, and his military law was very strict, with heavy rewards and heavy punishments. Few soldiers dared to attack them.
The confiscated gold and silver treasures could be discounted and distributed to the soldiers, and all the food and grass were collected by Lu Wu, so the food and grass in Lu Wu was really abundant in a short period of time.
"Then where are the bows and arrows? Where are the armor and weapons?" Lin Ji was also numb, but he still had to ask.
As the commander-in-chief of an army, you can't just direct the war. You must have a clear understanding of the materials at your disposal before you can command the army to fight.
Sometimes, for the commander of an army of hundreds of thousands, the ability to rationally allocate supplies and plan a march is even more important than the ability to command on the battlefield.
"One thousand nine hundred pairs of iron armor, one hundred and twenty-four thousand pairs of leather armor, ninety-one crossbows, eleven divine arm bows, a total of thirty-three thousand ordinary crossbows, and more than one million arrows in reserve."
"There are also a total of 5,700 horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts, which can ensure sufficient transportation capacity."
Qiutong simply said it all at once.
Qiutong was in charge of Zhechong Mansion, governed the local area with military law, forcibly promoted Lu Wu's policies, massacred wealthy families, and silenced the local wealthy families. Moreover, she also had to take charge of military affairs and logistics, so she was busy hitting the back of her head to compare these data. Lu Wu still knows.
"How is the morale of the army?" Lin Ji had never fought such a prosperous battle, but in the era of cold weapons, military morale was more important than armaments.
Qiutong spread her fingers, grabbed it with one hand, grabbed a foot-high stack of documents from under the bookcase, and threw it on the table with a bang.
"Yesterday I announced preparations for war. Today, all the documents sent by various ministries to request war are here."
Lin Ji was stunned.
With such military morale, such wealth and armaments, Lin Ji originally thought that what he took over was a mess that needed to be sorted out one by one. But now it seems that Lu Wu has been well prepared, and he is afraid that if he does not seek for success, he will not be able to hold on securely. lose.
As for how he could tell that Lu Wu was already prepared for this battle?
Lin Ji can be regarded as a veteran general in the army.
Which family captured the other party's generals and soldiers and did not ask for gold or silver, but allowed them to use grain and grass as a ransom? Especially in the south, there is no shortage of food and grass.
And those millions of arrows were lost, how could they be produced in a day or two? I'm afraid that as soon as Lu Wu captured Nanhe Prefecture, he would have already begun to control the relevant workshops and vigorously produce ordnance, right?
Although Lin Ji didn't know how Lu Wu was able to turn the land of Sanfu into an iron barrel in just over two months, making his sergeants happy to hear the battle, he also knew that with such morale and armament, even if The Chu State has mobilized its border elites, but I am afraid that victory may not be guaranteed.
"Okay, okay, everything is ready, just waiting for the Chu army!" Lin Ji's heart surged with pride and ambition.
He never thought that one day he would be able to command an army and compete head-on with the Chu State.
"By the way, where is the general?"
"My husband should have arrived at Yuci Mansion by now." Qiutong said with a smile.
