Climbing to the top of the plateau in the misty drizzle, Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan saw Xu Huai sitting on the cliff outside the village wall wearing a raincoat, and Liu Qiong'er holding a plain oil-paper umbrella, standing gracefully against Xu Huai. They didn't know what there was in the mountain gorge to the south that deserved their attention.
The guards blocked Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan's path and signaled them to hand over the weapons they carried.
Xu Huai waved his hand towards the guard and said: "I am not qualified to present this score, so don't neglect the guests."
Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan approached and saw hundreds of people working under raincoats in the valley to the south of Wuchi Plain. After looking at it for a while, these people seemed to be repairing the canyon extending south.
Chen Zixiao looked at the scene in front of him and asked doubtfully: "The Red Husbands captured Liaoyang Mansion with almost no effort, and even surrendered tens of thousands of Bohai soldiers and Han troops in Liaoyang. Now it can be almost concluded that the Red Husbands will conquer Liaoyang after the autumn." If you will head south brazenly, you probably have no long-term plans to seize Xishan, right?"
"Hitting a child on a rainy day is just free time..." Xu Huai said with a smile.
In the end, 700 people from the Wuchi clan, including Jianrui, a Tibetan soldier, chose to stay. At this time, there were still more than 1,300 prisoners, plus the Hu women and children who were gradually transferred from Shuozhou City into the mountains, the scale was already quite large. Already.
At this time, there are only a few months away from the autumn when the horses are fat and strong. The Chihu cavalry may go south at any time. It is impossible for Xu Huai to organize land reclamation and plant millet grains near Wuchi Plain, nor to search for mineral veins nearby. Open a furnace to smelt iron, but if so many people are simply raised, not only will they not be grateful, but it will breed a lot of unnecessary disputes and even become chaotic.
When large-scale transfers are needed, these people will become a huge burden and burden.
Therefore, Wuchi Village and the nearby Shanzhai might be abandoned at any time. Xu Huai still mixed everyone into the work camp, dug mountains and roads around Wuchizhai, and built the Shanzhai - doing this , not only must so many people be more tightly organized, so that everyone can get used to strict control, heavy and regular work, but it can also help strengthen the relationship between the old Tongbai mountain soldiers who have been incorporated into the work camp and the Hu people. The connection and integration of women, children, and people of the Wuchi clan can even absorb some captives who were struggling at the bottom of the original tribe and suffered bullying.
Only in this way can such a large population move with the main force of Tongbai Mountain when necessary, instead of dragging down the pace of the main force.
The rocks on both sides were wet, and Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan were climbing to the plateau in the rain, so Xu Huai invited them to go directly to the village to talk.
Before mid-April, there had not been a few drops of rain in Shuozhou, but in the past half month there have been several heavy rains. The sky and the earth have become green and no longer gray. At this time, it is drizzling and the weather has not yet become hot. It feels like walking in Tongbai Mountain.
At this time, Xu Huai no longer concealed some of his plans in front of Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan.
"Are you going to move all these people to Tongbai Mountain?" Xiao Yanhan asked with her black and white eyes widening in disbelief.
"This is all due to the good things Mr. Chen did in Tongbai Mountain." Xu Huai said calmly.
Chen Zixiao knew that Xu Huai was saying that although the bandit rebellion in Tongbai Mountain did not last long, it caused irreparable damage to Tongbai Mountain.
Chen Zixiao glanced into the misty rain, changed the topic and asked: "Do you think that once the Red Husbands go south, the battle line will most likely be pushed directly to Tongbai Mountain?"
Xiao Yanhan looked at Chen Zixiao in confusion. She didn't know why he suddenly asked such a question. How could he tell Xu Huai that the Red Husbands would kill directly at the foot of Tongbai Mountain after going south?
Xu Huai saved some face for Xiao Yanhan this time, pretending not to know and asked Chen Zixiao: "Why does Mr. Chen ask this?"
"The Southern Dynasty was vast and densely populated, and its population was ten times that of the Khitan. If the front line did not collapse, there would be no shortage of recruits to join the army in Hedong, Hebei, Jingdong Southeast Road, Jingdong Northeast Road, Jingxin South Road, Jingxi North Road and Guanzhong.
"It doesn't make any sense whether there are three to five thousand more people in Tongbai Mountain or three to five thousand less people in Tongbai Mountain," Chen Zixiao said, "However, if the Southern Dynasty could not withstand the Chihu people's attack in the area north of the Huai River,
, the so-called defense is completely destroyed, and the strategic position of Tongbai Mountain will suddenly be highlighted. At that time, whether Tongbai Mountain has relatively sufficient Dingkou for timely recruitment will affect whether the Southern Dynasty can effectively attack the northern part of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River.
We organized one or two defenses to delay the Chihu people's offensive. Only by avoiding the premature fall of Jianghuai, Jingxiang and other places can the Southern Dynasty gain a chance to breathe..."
"Is this Xiao Lali's judgment on the future war situation in the Central Plains?" Xu Huai looked at Chen Zixiao and asked.
Chen Zixiao nodded.
Xu Huai stared blankly at the rain and mist that looked like green gauze.
This is probably the most accurate judgment on the future development of the situation that he has heard so far. Unfortunately, even a person like Xiao Linshi can only struggle in the dark and narrow corners of the upcoming fate.
Xu Huai sighed: "Every time comes, heaven and earth work together to transport heroes without freedom!"
Chen Zixiao also liked to read poetry when he was young, but he had never heard of Xu Huai's sentiments. The more he thought about it, the more desolate and sad he felt. He almost felt out of breath. He said almost angrily: "The Khitans may not be able to escape defeat. The Southern Dynasty
With you here, there may not be no chance!"
Xiao Yanhan opened her eyes wide and looked at Chen Zixiao in surprise. She felt very dissatisfied with what he said, but in the end she didn't say anything.
There was a large group of people in the village tinkering around in the open space.
"Are they digging a well out front?" Chen Zixiao asked curiously when he saw the tools piled on the site.
"Yeah." Xu Huai nodded.
"How is that possible? If a well is to be dug on the plateau, wouldn't it be necessary to dig thirty or forty feet deep to get water?" Xiao Yanhan asked in disbelief.
"I heard that Bashu dug deep wells to obtain salt brine. The deep wells could not only break through the rock wall, but were also more than a hundred feet deep, but I never had the opportunity to go to Bashu and see the grand scene." Chen Zixiao said with emotion.
In Chen Zixiao's opinion, it is not impossible to dig a well thirty to forty feet deep, but the grassland does not have the corresponding technology.
When digging deep wells on the Loess Plateau, you rarely encounter problems with rock formations, but how to ensure that the walls of wells that are tens to thirty to forty feet deep do not collapse during the excavation process is still somewhat technical.
In the past two months, Xu Huai took advantage of the situation when Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili brothers were suppressing dissidents and reorganizing the Tianxiong Army. Through Yan Xiaoyi, Shen Zhene and others, Xu Huai organized the previously disorganized into the Forbidden Xiang Army. Five
More than a dozen prisoners who had been engaged in various craftsmanship for half their lives before being exiled were directly recruited and incorporated into the labor camp.
The Tianxiong Army had just experienced a major defeat. Although Wang Fan had reorganized the tens of thousands of scattered troops, he found that 70 to 80 people, or even 3 to 500 people were missing. It might be
A small-scale desertion occurred during this period, and it is possible that the generals below had falsely signed up, but in this world, it is not a major matter worthy of serious investigation.
Although I might be forced to give up Wuchi Village in three to five months, spanking my children on a rainy day is still idle.
"We found a well digger some time ago and said he can dig a deep well, but we don't know if it will work yet," Xu Huai said. "If it works, I will find a few prisoners here to learn the technology of digging a well and send them to you."
The grassland tribes live in pursuit of water and grass, but in the face of the powerful soldiers of the Chihu people, they often have to stay away from water sources with easy terrain and enter hilly and mountainous areas that are easy to defend and difficult to attack, but lack water sources.
At this time, whether they could master the technology of quickly digging deep wells was very important for their family to move westward.
Chen Zixiao had no intention of testing anything at this time and said directly:
"Time waits for no one. Master Lin Shi sent me and the princess here in the hope that we can directly send troops to take over the area from Yushuchong to Shenhekou in the north of Shuozhou. Xiao Xinhan and Li Chulin have the idea of selling for a price. In fact, They have reduced their few direct troops and horses back to Datong. We hope to directly control the large passage from Yingzhou, Jincheng and from the north of Shuozhou to the middle and north foot of Xishan, and at the same time, we also need to establish defenses along the Shenhekou line. , it is possible to temporarily move hundreds of thousands of tribesmen to the Xishan Mountains when the situation collapses. We have nothing else to repay for what Shuozhou has done so far. On the one hand, we will try our best to facilitate the Xishan tribes to take control of the Xishan Mountains. The horses were redeemed from your hands for the captives. On the other hand, after the Datong War, we finally captured only more than 2,900 Tianxiong soldiers, including 700 Tongbai Mountain soldiers, who we treated well - —If you intend to take over these prisoners, we will arrange them into a separate stronghold as soon as possible for you to hijack!"
"We'd better accept the 700 Tongbai Mountain soldiers and prisoner soldiers first - the former Tianxiong Army and Lanzhou Xiang Army generals. We can't digest them at this time. We hope you can treat them kindly first." Xu Huai said.
The former captured soldiers of Tianxiong Army and Lanzhou Xiang Army basically all had their families in Lan, Xin and Taiyuan. If Xu Huai took them over but refused to let them leave, they would have to cause a mutiny; but if he let them go, Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili took over, and Xu Huai definitely couldn't do it.
Only the Tongbai Mountain soldiers and the prisoner soldiers who were originally exiled to Lanzhou as prisoners can be incorporated into the various ranks of Shuozhou soldiers and horses after being taken over.
Of course, the most critical point is that Xiao Linshi promised to help the Xishan tribes to redeem the prisoners of war from them with horses. This would provide them with extremely valuable two to three thousand good horses, thus making all Tongbai Mountain soldiers mobile. Much stronger horse infantry...
