Great Han Empire

Chapter 171

Li Hong said to Zhang Baiqi who had been sitting silently beside him, "I know Zhang Shuai's thoughts. After all, you are an old man of the Yellow Turban Army. Surrender is surrender, and surrender is surrender. There is a difference between the two. If you joined the army and went west with me, it means that you have betrayed the Taiping Road and the Yellow Turban Army, so I understand why you don’t want to. If it were me, I would make this choice too. Go back to Taihang Mountains. "

Zhang Baiqi looked at him excitedly, and whispered, "Are you willing to let me go back to Taihang Mountain?"

"The Son of Heaven pardons the world. You have no guilt now. You are a free man. You can go wherever you want, but you'd better go back to Taihang Mountain. With your status, if you leave the camp of the Western Expeditionary Army, you will be chopped off at any time." head." Li Hong said with a smile, "Also, in the roster you gave me, more than 8000 people are leaving, right?"

Zhang Baiqi nodded and said: "Except for the old, weak, sick and disabled, those who have a family and a family must leave, and the rest are some very stubborn people who are unwilling to join the army. Your lord means too much ?"

"I just want to make sure, there is no other meaning. Now they are all innocent common people and can leave freely. How about it, tomorrow, the leaders of you Yellow Turban Army will arrange for them to leave Handan. You also know that I am very difficult now, so I can only provide them with a little money and dry food on the road, and this is my best effort."

The two were so moved that they had nothing to say, they fell on the ground, kowtowed to him several times, and left the tent.

Li Hong looked at the back of them leaving, feeling lost.He walked to the edge of the map, looked at the map with his eyes, but he was thinking of Zhang Baiqi and Huang Ting in his mind.

"Zi Long……"

Zhao Yun hurried over.

"Go and tell Zhang Baiqi and Huang Ting to bring some people back to Taihang Mountain." Li Hong said in a deep voice, "Take away those stubborn and homeless people, so that they don't organize themselves to burn, kill, and loot in the village. , to harm the common people."

"My lord, if people find out about this..."

"I have a clear conscience. What are you afraid of? You go."

The disbandment of the Yellow Turban Army's surrender soon ended, and the camp of the Western Expeditionary Army gradually became quiet amidst the noise.

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On the fields outside Handan City, teams of cavalry and infantry were conducting arduous training under the leadership of their respective commanders.The sound of war drums, horns, and shouts never stops from morning to night.

Weapons and equipment recruited from various places are still arriving in the camp one after another.

On the same day, Heng Ji, She Yingtong and Lou Lu rushed back with [-] Hu soldiers.

When Li Hong heard Zhao Yun's report, he couldn't believe it for a while. He cheered and roared excitedly, rushed out of the big tent, rode on the black panther, and swept out of the camp like a whirlwind to meet him.

Over the years, in the northern land of the Han Kingdom, only he has won the support of some Hu tribes through his own efforts, and he is the only one who has integrated the warriors of the Han and Hu tribes together and led them to conquer the north and the south. He was the only one who was invincible in all battles, and he was the only one who treated the soldiers of the Hu tribe as brothers from the bottom of their hearts.His respect and maintenance of Hu soldiers finally paid off.This time, when he needed soldiers for his expedition, several Hu tribes who supported him extended a hand of friendship without hesitation, and gave him strong support like brothers.

The matter that Li Hong has been worrying about has finally come to fruition, a touching result.At this moment, he even thought that as long as he had these daring brothers in this life, he would be able to rule the world and be invincible.I have so many brave brothers in the world, what am I afraid of.

That night Li Hong warmly received the new Hu soldiers.

Heng Ji smiled and told Li Hong that Lou Lu had sneaked out again this time.When King Heiling heard that his son was going to go to Xiliang with the Han army, he refused to let him go down to Baishan no matter what.The army can borrow, but the son cannot.Seeing that all kinds of pleading were useless, Lou Lu simply killed Baishan all the way.King Heiling was helpless, worried that his son would die in Xiliang, so he ordered the most elite iron cavalry in the tribe, his [-] personal guards, Heiling cavalry, to follow Loulu to protect Loulu's safety.He still loves his son.

The Shemo Ci of the Wuye Tribe and Lu Pofeng of the Bailu Tribe are still the same old saying, what do you say to the leopard, we will follow you, and you will follow the lead.

Li Hong smiled and said to Sheyingtong and Hengji: "You have brought several hundred people, is the strength of the tribe enough?"

She Yingtong smiled and said, "That's enough, don't worry, my lord. Since defeating Xianbei last year, the border should have been quiet for the past few years. Both Murong Feng and Tuoba Feng need time to recover."

Heng Ji also said: "Sir Wei Ji, Hu Karasuma, is recruiting troops. When his troops have a certain strength, the border will be safer."

"Is everyone willing to come? You didn't force it, did you?" Li Hong asked, "Going to Xiliang, the future is uncertain. Maybe we will all spill blood in Xijiang, so you must not coerce the soldiers."

"My lord is overthinking. Before we left, you asked us to ask everyone, but some people wanted to go home, but no one went back. You were there, you know. After you left, we asked several times, but It is true that no one wants to go back. Whoever goes back now is a coward, and even if he is alive, he will not be able to hold his head high in the tribe. Although we Hu people are not as learned and knowledgeable as you Han people, we know who is good to us and who is right. We are not good. How should we repay those who are good to us, and how should we retaliate to those who are not good to us." She Yingtong smiled and said unhurriedly.

"Your Excellency treats us like brothers, treats us as soldiers of a big man, pays us when we are alive, and gives us pensions when we die. Look at the warriors in our tribe, which one is unwilling to follow you. Everyone is willing to fight with you on the battlefield, and is willing to sacrifice their lives for you." Heng Ji said with a sigh.

Lou Lu came over and said, "My lord, we Karasuma cavalry have helped your country fight many wars for decades, but you are the first lord to pay us military salaries and the first one to pay us pensions." Your Excellency, my father was very moved when he saw the money, and tears rolled in the eyes of the old man. My father turned the money into sheep and distributed it to the families of the soldiers who died in the tribe. Father's name, I am grateful for my father's kindness, but how could they know that this is all the kindness of adults."

When Li Hong thought of the fallen soldiers, his heart ached, and tears filled his eyes.He wanted to say something, but his throat was choked and he couldn't speak.

The pension, just such a small pension, won the hearts of the Hu soldiers.

Dignity, this is the last glory and dignity of a soldier, and no one has the right to deprive it of it.

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Li Hong wrote to the emperor again.

The army has been assembled, and it is urgent for the emperor to decide on the formation of the army.Because the organizational system determines the rank of officers in each ministry, the rank of officers in each ministry determines the official position of each individual, and the official position determines the rank and salary of each individual.

Li Hong went up to the Son of Heaven, and highly praised the Wuwan and Xianbei peoples of Shanggu County and Shanggu County. He led the Western Expeditionary Army and begged His Majesty the Emperor to reward him.

At the same time, he once again urged the court to decide on the westward route of the troops as soon as possible and provide military supplies for [-] troops. It is difficult to predict whether the troops in charge can advance westward as scheduled.

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The emperor is more anxious than him now.

Zhang Wen has been appointed as a captain by the emperor, but this does not bring Zhang Wen anything substantial that can reverse the situation in Xiliang.He wants reinforcements, enough reinforcements.

After the Xiliang rebel army defeated the official army at the end of last year, they planned to capture Huaili City, the prefecture of Fufeng County, before the heavy snowfall.They used the whole long winter to assemble an army of 15 in Hanyang County.Beigong Boyu, the leader of the rebel army, is going to lead his troops to attack after the beginning of spring to capture Chang'an and invade Sanfu.

Zhang Wen got the news in February.Now all the Han troops in Sanfu add up to 10 people, including the county soldiers with weak combat effectiveness.With 10 people against 15 rebels, no matter how you fight, you can't beat them.More importantly, once Beigong Boyu attacks, he must meet tens of thousands of Xianling Qiang, Huangzhong Qiang, Yi Conghu (Qiang people from Zhangye in Liangzhou), Baima Qiang, Shenlang Qiang and other Qiang tribal cavalry. .At that time, the [-] Han army could not hold Chang'an and Sanfu at all.

Zhang Wen issued an urgent letter every day, an urgent letter every three days, and an urgent letter every six days. Kuaima went back and forth to Chang'an every day to call for reinforcements.In March, Zhang Wen simply rushed every day, and the fast horse only entered Luoyang, but never left Luoyang.

The emperor and the ministers of the court were urged like ants on a hot pot, running around in a hurry.

Li Hong's memorial finally gave the emperor a chance to breathe.With [-] soldiers, now it is necessary to solve the military supplies of the [-] army and the food and grass supplies for the westward advance.Who knows that this issue has been discussed for half a month, and there is no result yet.

Zhang Wen had just been happy for a few days, and then discovered that Li Hong's 5 troops in Jizhou had stayed in Handan and hadn't moved at all.He was in a hurry, and two express letters a day urged the court, asking them to immediately order Li Hong's army to set off westward.But the westward route of the [-] army has not been determined yet, how can Li Hong's troops be allowed to set off?If Li Hong was forced to march westward according to the original route, the soldiers and horses would probably starve to death before the army reached the east of the river without food and grass supplies along the way.Even the emperor who doesn't know how to fight knows this.

At this time, Li Hong's urging documents also began to fly to Luoyang day after day.

The emperor picks up the easy ones first.

"Loves, most of the [-] troops marching westward to Liangzhou were reorganized from captive ants and had no organizational system. So Li Zhonglang wrote a letter to inquire about this and ask for a system. How do you think about it?"

This matter is generally handled by General He Jin.

He Jin immediately went out of the class and said: "According to the military law of the Han Dynasty, the general can unify the army. There are five battalions in one barracks, and one section can have up to 2000 people. Each section is commanded by a school lieutenant or a military commander. Now Li Zhonglang leads an army of 25, at least [-] There is only one school lieutenant or army commander, but now he has only four army commanders and no school lieutenant, so how to arrange this organizational system must be discussed in a long-term way, and the minister really has no way to give an answer for a while."

The emperor was stunned.Is this a long-term plan?When will Li Hong's troops enter the Xiliang battlefield?

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(End of this chapter)