"If Wu Luolan was a smart person, she would never do this. If I were her, I would rather cooperate with the boss than collude with Wanyanping and Qiu Hang. If we are her enemies, then Wanyanping
Qiu is her biggest enemy! There are two evils, and she will know the pros and cons." Zhuge Xiaosheng said.
"Distant friendship and short-term attack are the rules of survival. If Uluolan cooperates with us now, it will only benefit and cause no harm... In fact, she has already made her choice, otherwise she would not be able to sit down and negotiate with us."
Li Tanhua also changed her name to Xiao Chen as "boss", which was really a smooth call.
"Then let's stick to the original plan. We'll go to Niutoushan first and establish a foothold there before moving on to other things." Xiao Chen said.
"There is only one problem now." Zhuge Xiaosheng frowned.
It's a matter of food and grass.
They now only carry two thousand shi of food, which is only enough for about twenty days. Li Tanhua said that the food in Niutoushan has been basically exhausted, and with their more than 1,500 people, they can only eat for about ten days.
Now that we have decided to stick to Niutoushan, the logistics and craftsmen must also follow, which will increase the number of thousands of people to eat.
There are also tens of thousands of people captured by Uluolan once they are released! They also need to eat, and the food and grass will not last even ten days.
Of course they can be sent back, but tens of thousands of people can't be sent back in a short while. Besides, even if they are allowed to go back, they have to be given travel expenses and dry food, right?
Li Wanjiang's food and grass are supplied on a daily basis, and he only promised a share of five thousand men and horses. He will not give any more. If he sends someone to ask for more supplies, I am afraid he will not give it.
The most unethical thing is that the Ministry of Revenue will only transport grain and grass to Yanyunguan, and Xiao Chen has to send someone to pick it up himself.
How much time does it take to get back and forth, how many mules and horses, how many civilians, how many escort troops, and how much risk does it take?
Wu Luolan retreated, and Yanyun County was only temporarily safe. Once Wanyan Pingqiu decided to go south, he would definitely send a small force to cut off Xiao Chen's food route before dispatching his large army.
Their northern Xinjiang cavalry is extremely fast and is best at fighting in roundabout ways. They are simply impossible to guard against!
In addition, there are many bandit gangs in Yanyun County. These gangs are elusive and ruthless. It doesn't matter whether you are an officer or soldier of Dazhou or an army of Xianbo. In short, they kill everyone they see and rob anything they see.
They didn't dare to harass large groups of troops, but that was not the case for convoys transporting grain and grass. After all, winter was approaching and the bandits had no food left.
It is even more impossible for Qin Gang to send troops to escort him. He is in a frightened state now, and he is only thinking about preserving his own strength, so he will not send any soldiers into dangerous areas.
But now there is no other choice, we can only take it one step at a time.
First of all, the food channel must be kept open. No matter how weak Xiao Chen's current troops are, he must send out at least a thousand troops to escort him.
It is impossible to deliver it every day. We can only deliver it once in Yanyun County until a certain amount of food and grass has been accumulated.
This task was so important that Zhuge Xiaosheng temporarily appointed Yue Zhonglin as the grain transport officer and ordered him to lead 200 musketeers and 800 light cavalry to take on this important task.
Yue Zhonglin accepted the order with great enthusiasm and asked General Zhuge to rest assured. If the food is gone, the people will be dead!
"Zhong Lin, if the food is gone, we can get it again, but people who die can't be resurrected. As the escort officer, you have the right to make a decisive decision. If the situation is urgent, you can leave the food and grass and save the lives of our brothers first. Qian
Never make meaningless sacrifices." Xiao Chen said.
"Boss, what I said is what I mean. I believe in your ability and judgment, Zhonglin, and I also give you the power to make your own decisions. As long as you feel that you can't save food even if you try your best, you can protect yourself first." Zhuge Xiaosheng.
Ye Dao.
"Yes, then I will do my best and adapt to circumstances." Yue Zhonglin felt that working with such a boss and general was really enlightening.
"Old man, you are quite tired these days, so you should go and rest early." Xiao Chen looked at Chen Jisheng and saw that he had gained a lot of white hair on his temples these days, and he had obviously lost a lot of weight.
I can't help but feel distressed.
"Why am I tired? I haven't fought or walked. Sitting in a big car all day is like enjoying a blessing. Even though I have lost a little weight, I am in good spirits. But I really have to sleep first. I have to be on my way tomorrow." Chen Jisheng said.
.
"Who said we would leave tomorrow?" Xiao Chen was surprised.
"Haha, if you don't leave, I have to leave. Yanyun County is in a state of disarray right now. I have to go and clean it up first. The weather is getting colder and colder now. The people scattered outside have no food or clothing. They don't have anything to eat.
Die of cold and starvation? They don’t even know that Xianbo will withdraw their troops, and they all have homes that they can’t return to.” Chen Jisheng said.
"I am also thinking about this, but this is something that no one else can do. You have to go, old man. It's just that you are old and have walked such a long way. I want you to take a rest first..."
In fact, Xiao Chen had already made this plan, because Chen Jisheng had to handle the matter of appeasing the people of Yanyun County before he could rest assured.
"Pull it down, it's more uncomfortable to let me rest than to let me die! I can't do anything else, this is the only one I can do. You charge at the front, and I will help you clean up the stall behind. We all do our part.
." Chen Jisheng said.
"But you have to give me some troops, otherwise my old man can't do anything with just his mouth. I don't think it takes too much. One or two hundred is enough. In addition, you can also use Yan Yun
In the name of the county governor, I was given a royal order to appoint me to some official position first, so that I can do my job with integrity."
"But..." Xiao Chen didn't want the old man to take risks alone.
"What else is there? You, the boss, can't even make a decisive decision on this matter? Our several cities in the east have not been lost yet, and there should be a lot of grain stored there. I have to take them over first, and deal with them.
Only when we have enough food can we open porridge restaurants in various places in Yanyun County so that everyone can survive this winter first."
"In addition, I have to talk to those Russians to see if I can borrow them...ah! It's our downwind port to use, so that the food we raise from the south can be transported directly by sea.
."
"The old man has really thought it through!" Zhuge Xiaosheng was overjoyed when he heard this. This old man is really resourceful and full of ideas. These are what he wanted to say, but unexpectedly, the old man had already made plans.
Got it!
"It's just that those Russians are greedy and ambitious. If you, old man, want to negotiate with them, you have to be more careful." Xiao Chen said.
"Haha, I'm not afraid that they are greedy, but I'm afraid that they are not greedy! I'm not afraid that they are ambitious, but I'm afraid that they are not ambitious!" Chen Jisheng laughed and said something shocking.
Everyone expressed their willingness to hear the details and listened attentively to your old man's wise words.