novelaction Chapter 120: Insufficient troops, Xiao Yunxi's solution
Chapter 120: Insufficient troops, Xiao Yunxi's solution
Murong Hai guessed that the Northern Barbarian Army in Wild Boar Ridge would not exceed 10,000, but the facts slapped him in the face.
When Zhuzi brought people to escort the raw stone to Tangjia Village, Zhou Jin brought him the bad news that there were more than 100 Northern Barbarian soldiers in Wild Boar Ridge.
"According to the prisoners we captured, the Northern Barbarian Army entered through a small path. They have been living deep in Wild Boar Ridge for three months, and more people are being sent to Wild Boar Ridge."
Three months!
That is to say, the northern barbarians appeared under our noses last winter!
Thinking of this, Zhuzi shuddered. If they hadn't discovered it and were suddenly attacked, the Northwest Territory would probably be littered with corpses.
Zhuzi believed Xiao Yunxi, but military intelligence could not be treated lightly and he had to see it with his own eyes. Zhou Jin sent someone to take him away, but he did not come back until the afternoon, and his face looked very bad.
Judging from the size of the camp and the feces, there were indeed more than 1 people.
To wipe out more than 10,000 northern barbarians, the military force must be at least 3 times as large.
Beisheng Pass has four garrisons, and even if all the troops are deployed, it is impossible to do it. Besides, it is impossible for Beisheng Pass to send out all its troops. The limit of what can be mobilized is probably three garrisons.
The left and right guards have just experienced turmoil, and their combat effectiveness is still unknown.
The situation was worse than Murong Hai expected and beyond Zhuzi's ability. He hurried away with his men to quickly bring the news to Murong Hai.
"Do you think the imperial court can send troops?"
The northern barbarians were so close to them that they could rush down the mountain at any time. Tangjia Village suffered heavy casualties when resisting the 200 border troops. Facing more than 10,000 northern barbarian soldiers, it was simply a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Zhou Jin looked painful and shook his head:
"I'm afraid there won't be any support in the short term. We can only rely on the four guard posts at Beisheng Pass."
Daxia's military system is very complex. Take the northwest border as an example. It consists of four important parts:
Border troops,
The Beisheng Guard, Beisheng New Guard, Beisheng Left and Right Guard stationed at Beisheng Pass belong to the border army.
Private Army,
The Yang Family Army is a private army.
The expenses of private armies are entirely the responsibility of the generals themselves, and the imperial court does not recognize them. Their livelihoods basically depend on the commander-in-chief, so naturally their number will not be too large.
The Yang family army was said to have 8000 men, but in reality there were only 3000 of them, and the remaining 5000 were in reserve.
Prince's guard,
It is also a kind of private army. The difference is that the guards are included in the court's food and salary system, and the court pays for the maintenance and expenses of the guards of the royal palace.
Usually, a vassal king is guarded by one guard. The palace of a prince whose fiefdom is located at the border can have a maximum of five guards.
Northwest is a border town and should have been protected by 5 guards. However, due to the rebellion of the King of Northwest two years ago, which affected many people, the King's Palace of Northwest is now in name only.
The new King of the Northwest is the illegitimate son of the previous one. He just turned 8 years old and has lived in the capital. Naturally, his guards are not in the Northwest.
The only troops they could rely on were the two battalions directly under the command of the Commandery, totaling about 3 men.
However, Murong Hai had no way to mobilize this part of the troops.
The commander-in-chief was beheaded by him and he was unable to take over the position completely. The court gave him the position of deputy commander-in-chief, temporarily in charge of military affairs of Beishengguan and the three surrounding counties.
The highest officer of the Duzhihuishisi was the Duzhihuishi, and there were two Tongzhis. The Duzhihuishisi directly controlled two camps in the prefectural city, which were under the jurisdiction of another Tongzhi.
The probability of him sending troops is very low.
The Northern Barbarians didn't attack the city, so there was no reason for them to send troops immediately. They sent people to check the situation, and it took an unknown amount of time to go back and forth.
The most terrible thing is,
That Tongzhi was competing with Murong Hai for the position of Commander-in-Chief, and he wished Murong Hai bad luck, so he would definitely delay the process.
Morality?
The imperial court?
common people?
What does it have to do with him? When it comes to power struggles, there are always casualties, right?
Xiao Yunxi was helpless.
From ancient times to the present, power struggles have always been cruel. Some people have a bottom line and play open schemes, while others have no bottom line and play conspiracies.
The Tongzhi in the prefectural city was obviously the latter.
"Can we recruit and organize people temporarily?"
Zhou Jin shook his head:
"The Northern Barbarians haven't attacked yet. It's not wartime. Murong Hai isn't the commander-in-chief. We still need the approval of the prefectural governor. Only the two of them can make the final decision."
An endless loop!
Even if Zhou Jin gave orders to the Tongzhi as a secret guard, it would be impossible.
The secret guards can monitor all officials, but they cannot directly interfere in military affairs. Moreover, the secret guards are only effective on other people, but this co-magistrate is the second prince's man and will not cooperate with him.
...
Fucheng,
Yan Hao received the urgent military information from Beisheng Pass. As Zhou Jin expected, he did not send anyone immediately, nor did he refuse to send anyone.
"You take people to investigate carefully and make sure the information is correct. Do you understand?"
"clear."
Being careful and conscientious means delaying as much as possible, and delaying even if it is not possible, to ensure that the intelligence is correct. This means that this intelligence can never be confirmed.
He has no ability, but he knows all the tricks of the officialdom.
After the subordinates left, a masked figure walked out from behind the screen. If Butler Luo was there, he would definitely recognize that this was Zhao En sent by the eldest princess.
"The weapons will be delivered to the capital soon, and the plan will begin soon. Before that, the princess doesn't want any mistakes to happen."
"Yes."
"Don't give His Highness any more strange suggestions from now on, understand!"
"My subordinate understands."
Yan Hao lowered his head, frowning.
His advice to the eldest princess was ultimately not adopted. He really couldn't understand why the eldest princess did this.
The emperor clearly favors the second prince and can sit back and relax without doing anything. Why does he have to do something like treason? Is it just to eliminate the threat posed by the Yang family?
According to the plan, the fall of the northwest would not threaten Yanguan, and at most the Yang family would be eliminated. The cost was so high, and the benefits in return were so little, it was really not worth it.
If Zhao En knew what he was thinking, he would probably just sneer.
The Yang family is not worth it. Your Highness wants to kill three birds with one stone. The Yang family is just the smallest bird.
wrong,
Now we should be killing four birds with one stone, and the Crown Prince can also be dealt with at the same time.
The sky in the northwest was covered with dark clouds, and Xiao Yunxi could vaguely feel that something was unusual. This was the intuition she formed on the battlefield, and this intuition had saved her many times.
She was powerless to change the war between the two countries, but she had to protect herself.
She contacted Zheng Tianming and bought grain and salt at high prices, especially from the landlords and gentry, and took as much as she could.
Wars are fought for resources. Food and salt are the most important resources. Instead of letting the northern barbarians take them away, it is better for her to save them. Maybe she can save more people.
She was preparing for the worst.
of course,
If the northern barbarians in Wild Boar Ridge can be eliminated, the northwest border should be able to be defended. This is not only for the people in the northwest, but also for Xiao Yunxi herself.
Wild Boar Ridge is too close to Tangjia Village. If we suddenly go down the mountain, we will be unable to stop it.
Beishengwei doesn't have enough soldiers, and the city won't send soldiers. There is only one way to eliminate more than 1 northern barbarians: gunpowder!
To be precise, it's dynamite!
She couldn't produce so much gunpowder by herself in a short time, so she needed Zhou Jin's help.