The border town, which had been peaceful for several years, ushered in the massive invading Tatar cavalry amidst the smoke rising into the sky.
Over the years, conflicts between the border troops and the Tatars continued. Shen You led the cavalry out of the border several times, drove out the Tatar tribes, and killed young and strong Tatars. The Tatar tribes reduced by nearly 10% and had to move northward.
At this time, as soon as summer passed, the Tatars gathered tens of thousands of cavalry and invaded on a large scale. Naturally, they wanted to take advantage of the arrival of winter to burn, kill and loot fiercely.
General Meng was sitting in the Chinese army's camp. He quickly conveyed the battle report to Beijing and quickly summoned the generals in the army to discuss the response. There were more than 20 generals in the army of fourth rank or above, and they entered the main account of the Chinese army one after another. inside.
Under General Meng, Shen You has the highest official position, and he independently leads an army, with a transcendent status. Behind Shen You are Shen Jia and Fang Peng, and there are two young generals who have been promoted from the emperor's personal guard. In addition, there is another man named He Feng's young general is the eldest son of General He who died in the frontier army.
Three years after He Feng observed his filial piety, he came to the border army. He was a seventh-rank general at first. Over the years, he often accompanied Shen You out to fight and made many military exploits. This year, he was promoted to the fourth rank. In just a few years, Being promoted to the fifth rank is very rare in the frontier army.
Everyone knew that Shen You's care was indispensable in this. General He had a half-student and half-disciple relationship with Shen You back then. Later, General He died in the frontier army, and Shen You was ordered by the emperor to go to the He family to pay homage. He Feng The two brothers are currently in the cavalry camp. He Erlang's official rank is fifth rank, so he is not qualified to enter the army camp today.
There is also a second-grade military general in the tent. This General Yuan is called Yuan Jiang, the younger brother of Yuan Qing and Yuan Hai. This man is in his fifties and is a veteran general on the battlefield. The Yuan family members in the border army , now headed by him.
Among the military generals who are qualified to enter the tentative affairs, there are five Yuan family members, and the other six are from Yuan family generals. In recent years, General Meng and Shen You have secretly worked together to promote and appoint many young generals. However, Yuan The family has been in the Border Army business for several generations, and it is still very powerful despite its complex roots.
At this time, the Tatars were attacking in large numbers and the military was urgent. It was obviously not the time to contemplate factional fighting.
General Meng looked solemn and said bluntly: "The outpost camp has investigated and found that the total strength of the Tatars is 60,000. Although they are not as many as before, they are all elites. It is obvious that they want to avenge their shame and rob and kill them. .You might as well tell me how to deploy defenses and respond next."
Yuan Jiang was a veteran in the army and was the first to speak: "The Tatars are coming. There is nothing else to say. We will try our best to block the Tatars outside the border city and drive them all back."
Shen You's eyes flashed and he said calmly: "The Tatars are all cavalry, coming and going like the wind. Normally, if you want to kill the enemy, it is difficult to trace their traces. Now that they have shown up on their own initiative, it is a rare opportunity. Not only do we have to To stop the enemy, you must also try your best to kill the enemy."
Yuan Jiang glanced at Shen You and said, "General Shen is so heroic and admirable. Speaking of which, only General Shen is qualified to make such bold statements. We are leading infantry. Once the Tatars retreat, We can’t catch up even if we want to.”
Shen You has been in the frontier army for eight years. The cavalry battalion has grown from 5,000 at the beginning to more than 20,000 now, accounting for a quarter of the force of the frontier army. It can also be said to be the most elite army of the frontier army.
As the emperor's brother-in-law, Yuan Jiang, who has thirty years of seniority in the army, how can he be convinced?
Over the years, Yuan Jiang and his brother Yuan Hai have exchanged letters from time to time. Yuan Hai did not dare to mention Shen You's true life experience in his letters, but he gave a vague hint to remind Yuan Jiang that he must "be careful".
Yuan Jiang has always been prejudiced against Shen You, but the cavalry battalion has formed an independent army and has sufficient pay and horses. The generals in the cavalry battalion are either from the emperor's personal guards who came to the border army with Shen You back then, or they have developed in recent years. A rising young general was promoted and appointed by Shen You. Yuan Jiang had no way of getting involved.
Every time there was a discussion in the army, Yuan Jiang was forced to make sarcastic remarks.
Shen You was never one to be trifled with. He raised his eyes and looked back with an indifferent and calm voice: "General Yuan's words make sense. The infantry mainly defends the city. The important task of chasing and killing the enemy is naturally my responsibility."
Yuan Jiang: "..."
Yuan Jiang was so choked that he almost didn't come up.
General Meng coughed and smoothed things over with a smile: "Both generals are the mainstays of the border army. Whether it's defending the city or chasing and killing the enemy, it's all top priority."
Then, he ordered people to move the sand table over and began to deploy the war.
Shen You calmly withdrew his gaze. Yuan Jiang snorted deeply in his heart and looked at the sand table together, listening attentively.
This discussion lasted for half a day until dark.
"The war is urgent, so I won't keep you here." General Meng stood up, his eyes were as bright as fire, and his voice was deep and strong: "You all go back and make arrangements quickly."
Everyone responded in unison.
"General Shen, please stay for now." General Meng opened his mouth again, leaving Shen You behind.
Shen You opened his mouth and said yes.
Yuan Jiang snorted again in his heart. The border army was originally the territory of the Yuan family. Over the years, first General Meng and then Shen You, the Yuan family's power was greatly weakened.
General Meng is an upright person and behaves smoothly. While he is on good terms with the Yuan family, he also tries his best to win over Shen You. Isn't it because Shen You has the emperor's support behind him?
Not to mention that Yuan Jiang left with anger and dissatisfaction.
In the military tent, General Meng whispered to Shen You: "...it takes a thousand days to train the troops, but only one moment to use the troops. This time the frontier army will definitely win a big victory to live up to the high expectations of the imperial court in the past eight years."
"However, we must not lose our impatience, lest we be taken advantage of by the enemy."
Shen You managed the army strictly, took the lead, was brave and resourceful, and had a high prestige in the cavalry camp. General Meng had high expectations for him.
Shen You could feel General Meng's high expectations for him. He was not good at words and would not flatter anyone. He just nodded and said, "Don't worry, General Meng. I will not be frivolous or rash."
General Meng's eyes flashed with joy, and he reached out and patted Shen You on the shoulder: "Of course I can trust you. I just gave you a few casual instructions."
…
The military situation is urgent and war is imminent.
At this time, any personal grievances must be put aside. Yuan Jiang felt unhappy for a while, and put it down when he rode his horse back to the military camp. He immediately summoned the generals to make strategic arrangements.
The same goes for Shen You. He rode back to the cavalry camp. He didn't even have time to take a bite of dinner, so he immediately summoned all the generals to make arrangements one by one.
After being busy until midnight, Shen You breathed a sigh of relief and had dinner with Shen Jia.
Shen Jia held it in for a long time and a night, and only then did he have the opportunity to complain: "Yuan Jiang is so self-righteous, relying on his old age to show off, and holding a gun and a stick in his mouth. It's really annoying."
"If the military situation hadn't been urgent, I would have had to argue with him today."
