stubborn thief

Chapter 186
June [-]th, the fifth day in Lion Bay.

In the morning, Liu Chengzong visited the wounded soldiers at the supply post, and asked the doctor to change the dressing on the wound on his right arm by the way.

After changing the medicine and walking out of the camp, he could see the mule team returning with a full load, meandering from the river valley.

As they approached, the leader of the mule team was Chengyun. He reported with a complicated expression: "One hundred loads of rice and grain, a total of 130 six shi, was sent by the leader of the Lone Wolf in the north."

"Lone wolf...don't know."

Liu Chengzong didn't remember dealing with this leader, and asked, "Why did he send food?"

"Old Li's good brother, he used to have more than 2000 people in his hand. This is the food that Li Laozhen asked him to borrow."

Old Jackal's good brother?

Liu Chengzong was puzzled and said, "I didn't go to join Li Laozhen, and I didn't rescue him in danger. What kind of brother is he?"

"Hey, it's not that he doesn't want to save him, it's because he doesn't have the ability. The lone wolf went to Bao'an County, but he bumped into two frontier troops in the mountains and was beaten to 300 people. He couldn't save himself. How could he save Mr. Li? Jackal."

Liu Chengzong paid special attention to the number of carriers, the two teams.

If one team is mentioned, it may refer to one team, but two teams... Liu Chengzong thinks it may be a very accurate military unit.

He asked: "The two teams are one hundred frontier troops?"

"Put the food away and count it." Chengyun ordered his men to go into the camp to do things, and sighed back: "Yes, a hundred people, beat up 2000 people, and defeated them. Except for the Lion Camp, no one else lived very well. easy."

Liu Chengzong thinks so.

But immediately after, Cheng Yun said another more important news.

It took Li Laozhen four days, and he even had to borrow money to transport a total of 240 shi of rice to Shiziwan.

During these four days, the horses, donkeys and mules of the Lion Camp used grazing methods, and the soldiers' meals were also mixed with the bacon made earlier.

Even so, 220 shi rice grains were eaten.

The dried meat they accumulated was enough for 23 days, and the rice grain was enough for 22 days.

Liu Chengzong knew that there was not much time left for him to make a decision, and the Lion Camp had to divide its forces.

After seeing Chengyun, Liu Chengzong went back to the battalion headquarters to meet with Shangtianhou, and asked the officers and soldiers of the various posts from the commanding officer about their psychological conditions.

The so-called battalion headquarters is a dilapidated courtyard.

Six of the seven rooms in the compound collapsed, and the remaining one didn't look very reliable, so no one dared to use it, so Liu Chengzong used it as the battalion department, and placed ten chairs and nine stools.

The map was hung on the north side of the courtyard, and when the seven sentry chiefs arrived, Liu Chengzong went straight to the point: "When we defeated He Huchen, we should have rested in the mountains for more than a month, but Li Laozhen's food and grass were thrown into the mountains, and the supplies were insufficient."

"There are too many people in the camp now, and it is difficult to raise food. We gather and go wherever we go to eat up."

"Right now, Yanzhou in the south of Yan'an and Ningzhou in the south of Qingyang are considered stable." He turned his head and pointed at the map: "The heavy sentry post is not moving, and the six sentinels are looking for food in the counties."

Cao Yao asked, "General, how long have you been out?"

"Let's take a period of one month for the time being. These places are not far away. With Yanzhou City as the center, the distance from southeast to northwest is no more than [-] miles. If something happens, you can return within five days at the latest."

Liu Chengzong has been trying his best to avoid this situation from happening, but by this time, the lion camp has become fat and unavoidable.

"General, shall I go to Ningzhou?"

Yang Yao, the outpost chief, had been to Pingliang via Ningzhou earlier, and he was quite familiar with it. With Liu Chengzong's approval, he looked around and asked, "There are a lot of fertile fields from rich households and gentry over there. Who will join me?"

Liu Chengzong naturally looked at Wang Wenxiu.

However, Wang Wenxiu was not enthusiastic about this mission, she shook her head and said, "General, there are too many wounded soldiers in the back post, I want to go to Yichuan, which is closer to Shizigou."

They fought with the Ningxia soldiers, and there were not many sergeants killed or seriously injured, but the minor injuries in the camp were basically soldiers from the rear, and Wang Wenxiu could not use many people.

Liu Chengzong nodded and said: "Then the back post will go to Yichuan, and Ningzhou in Qingyang Prefecture will go to another one. Who will go there?"

Cao Yao glanced at Feng Ru, and Feng Ru understood, "Then general, let me go to Ningzhou with Chief Yang. It will be convenient for him to lead the way."

The manpower in Ningzhou was settled, followed by Yanzhou. This side is closer, and it is a north-south road, so it is easier to arrange.

It was finally decided that Cao Yao, Zhong Hu, and Gao Xian would go to Luochuan, Zhongbu, and Yijun counties in Fuzhou respectively.

Yang Yao and Feng Ru went to Ningzhou in the southwest; Wang Wenxiu led his troops to station in Yichuan.

Deciding where to go, Liu Chengzong told the generals: "This time the troops are divided, you all keep the wounded soldiers. Raising food and grass is of course the top priority, but the rules for collecting food are still the same."

"Each post carries a thousand taels of silver. Your book office will write down what I say next."

Liu Chengzong paused for a moment, and waited for the book office staff to take out the pens and papers they carried with them to start recording. Then he said: "Don't hurt the innocent, don't hurt the common people. Even the rich and powerful should be selective."

"Those who bully men and women, seize people's land, give loan sharks, harm people, annex fields, and create refugees, these are the people who beat them, and they have to beat them with great fanfare, so that all the people know that it is the Lion Camp who beat them."

"However, for those virtuous gentry who build bridges and repair roads, relieve the poor, lighten rent and reduce interest rates, or win the support of the surrounding people, not only can't beat them, but they have to act like a lion camp to respect them. And leave some sympathy."

"To get along with the people, the soldiers need to buy daily necessities, and they spend money when they need it. The people are willing and dare to do business with us. How much they should pay, they can give more as appropriate. These things must be clearly told to the entire battalion sergeant."

"Northern Shaanxi is our hometown. If the elders in our hometown don't support the Lion Camp and regard us as bandits, then sooner or later we will be wiped out by the government army."

After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, the chiefs of all the outposts nodded and said yes. After the book office finished recording, he continued: "We have just fought a tough battle and need time to recuperate. Don't think you are good. Go to attack the county, State, prefectural city."

As soon as he finished speaking, several whistle chiefs laughed lightly, Cao Yao said: "Don't worry, general, you are all tired and have no energy to attack the city."

Liu Chengzong also laughed, and then said: "By the way, leave me five bookstores for each sentry. You go to collect food. I can't be lazy in Lion Bay. Take advantage of this time to teach the wounded soldiers. The soldiers are all heroes, and in the future, the officers of the outposts will be promoted from among them first."

After all, he watched the crowd pause for a long time before smiling and said: "I've been thinking about it recently. In the future, each post will act more independently in preparation for the future expansion of the army."

"Are you still expanding your army?"

Wang Wenxiu said in shock: "6000 people and [-] large animals are almost out of support. If we expand the army, general...how can northern Shaanxi support so many non-working soldiers?"

"The expansion of the army I'm talking about is not the expansion of troops. If the next two years go well, I plan to first divide the two outposts into one battalion, and then divide the two outposts into one battalion, and finally form the Lion Army with three battalions."

For more than a year, with the formation of the Lion Camp, Liu Chengzong had a plan for the next step.

"Based on the left battalion, the right battalion, and the standard battalion of the central army, each of the left and right battalions has a general and deputy general, and has jurisdiction over the front, rear, middle, left, right, and six sentries. The middle sentry is directly under the artillery team of the participating generals."

After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, several post chiefs counted with their fingers. After the calculation, Wang Wenxiu looked up: "Isn't this still going to expand the army, General."

Counting 500 men per sentry, six sentries would be [-]; the standard battalion of the Chinese Army would seem to be directly under the general army, and the division would become my work sentry, that is, the total strength would reach [-].

Counting the general Ma Bian, the military strength will reach more than [-].

Liu Chengzong said with a smile: "The biggest advantage of dividing the battalion is that one battalion is stationed in one place, and they are joined together during the war. In this way, the locality can afford it. There is still a year and a half. Who can say what will happen in the future?"

"What's more, you don't want to move up, bring more soldiers, ten thousand soldiers... Brothers, ten thousand soldiers, we can walk sideways in Shaanxi."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Du Wenhuan didn't have [-] troops that could be mobilized out of the defense zone.

Cao Yao laughed and asked, "Then general, no, it's time to be called commander in chief. When shall we leave, commander in chief?"

It was the first time that someone called him a great commander, Liu Chengzong couldn't help but shook his head with a smile, and then said: "Let's set off tomorrow, there is one more thing, just as everyone is here, I want to discuss with you, discuss what we should do in the future."

Speaking of this, the whistle chiefs immediately restrained their smiles and became serious.

"Last night, our two brothers chatted very late on the mountain. When it came to where to go, Mr. Yang gave three ideas, go to Qinghai, go to Hanzhong to enter Sichuan, and go to Nanyang to occupy Huguang."

There was no sound in the yard.

Liu Chengzong originally thought that this should have a very big reaction to the whistle chiefs, and it would have the effect of stirring up a thousand waves with one stone.

But when he uttered this explosive news, the whistle chiefs looked at me and I looked at you, and no one said anything.

He looked at the Heavenly Monkey first, but the Heavenly Monkey didn't seem to hear it.

Looking at Cao Yao again, Cao Yao is very calm, as if he is waiting for others to speak; but looking at other people is not enough.

Yang Yao met his troubled eyes and said, "Commander, I grew up in Guyuan Prefecture and served as a soldier in Guyuan Town. Tell me about these five places. I have indeed heard of them all, but apart from the name, I have no idea about these five places. I understand half of it."

Wang Wenxiu also said with a bitter face: "I am like him, the farthest place I have been to is called Xizhou."

Zhong Hu didn't need to count on it: "I'm from Yanshuiguan. I went to Xizhou when I was a child. This is the place farthest from home in my life, Huanglong Mountain."

Gao Xian knows this well, from Ansai to Yuhebao.

Feng Fen and Cao Yao are from Henan.

Cao Yao was happy, biting the dry skin on his mouth, and bowed his hands to everyone: "Chengrang, Cao has been to Liaodong, and he is familiar with Beizhili and some areas in Shanxi and Henan, but he has never been to these five places."

you win.

Liu Chengzong sighed.

"Don't sigh, Commander, that's all the experience of the brothers." Cao Yao said with a smile: "The Commander is a scholar, if you know these places, please tell me about them."

Liu Chengzong thought about it too, and he took it for granted. I am afraid that there are not many people in the world who can tell the terrain and terrain, advantages and disadvantages of these five places at the same time.

The one in his mind is one.

"Three roads, in fact, none of them are good. Enter Sichuan from Hanzhong, and go to Huguang from Nanyang. Given the current situation, it is a dead end. But depending on the general trend of the world, it can be considered in five or ten years."

"Hanzhong is surrounded by mountains on all sides. It is more than [-] miles away from Fengxiang Mansion in the north, and more than [-] miles away from Ruchuan in the south. If you get blocked, you will die; Nanyang is also surrounded by mountains, and Huguang is probably surrounded by mountains."

Liu Chengzong raised two fingers and said: "But these two places have rich land, which can be used for farming and raising soldiers. For ten or eight years, it is a place that military strategists must fight for."

"The bad thing is that Sichuan has fought 40 years of war for 20 years since it was first planted, and the people's livelihood is in dire straits. Besides, it is difficult to enter Sichuan, and it is even more difficult to leave Sichuan. I want to break through Guanzhong first."

"It's not easy to go to Huguang from Nanyang. That place will also be surrounded by heavy troops from the imperial court. If you want to go to Nanyang, you need to go through Shanxi and Henan."

"Thus, these two roads can't even talk about planning for a rainy day for the time being, so all outposts should pay attention in the future. If you meet locals from Sichuan, Huguang, and Henan, try to keep them in your hands."

Shangtian Monkey asked very seriously: "What about Qinghai, do you want to meet local people in Qinghai?"

"Monkey, Qinghai... That place used to be called Gagandusi. After the Wanli Dynasty, the Tumote Department aggressively captured Qinghai and occupied that place."

Liu Chengzong organized language to explain this matter, saying: "If Lintao Town is not destroyed, it is not easy to meet local people in Qinghai."

Only then did Shangtian Monkey understand that what Liu Chengzong said about Qinghai was not under the rule of Ming Dynasty, and there was a Lintao Town next to it. He thought very seriously: "Then you can't go, it's the same as going to the north to occupy Guihua City. .”

"You don't have to stop Du Wenhuan when you go out. It's easy to go out but hard to come back. Not only are you handsome, but you also want to be a sweater?"

"Hey, you have a big heart."

Liu Chengzong said something with a smile, and then continued: "It was not easy in the past. It was not easy to penetrate Shaanxi to the west. I have seen the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Ma Chao has Qiang people under his command, and that place was the territory of Qiang people in ancient times."

"Even in the past, it was unavoidable to meet with the Tartars. That place can only support so many people. We occupy more land, but they occupy less land. Therefore, unless it is difficult to stop the army in Shanshan, otherwise it is even here. Fighting is better than getting there."

"However, there are two advantages over there. The first is that there is no Great Wall. The mountains in the north are separated by Gansu, and the small pass in the east is face to face with Xining."

"Secondly, if we desperadoes can make a living there, deserters from the frontier army in the two towns of Lintao, Gansu should be easily absorbed."

"It's good because if you go further west, it's either a desert or a snow-capped mountain. You don't have to worry about being attacked. But that's it. Don't think too beautifully. Everyone knows Guihua City."

"Going to Qinghai is better than fighting Taiyuan, Xi'an, Taiyuan, Guihua City, Xuanfu, Datong, and Beijing City. If it is said that there is no life in these places, going to Qinghai is a life-and-death fight."

"Since you don't have any other suggestions."

Liu Chengzong got up and raised his hand and tapped twice on the hanging map: "Then take that as a retreat for the time being. If one day the imperial court sweeps up the mountains and Shaanxi with all its power, we will temporarily rush there to hide for two years, and even pull out the city of Xining." That's fine, you don't have to go to Qinghai."

"Wait for the world to change, it's okay to regroup and fight from the corner of the world."

　good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)