In the past, Xue Wei was more like a warrior than a general.
But now, after several years of "externalization", Xue Wei has obviously made great progress compared to before, and is now fully capable of taking charge of his own business.
After knowing that Xue Wei was not in any danger now, Shen Yi was relieved. He pulled Wan Zhong to sit down and said, "Let's talk about the current situation in Datong. Where are the defenders of Datong Guard Station now?"
"Those people were all new recruits for about half a year. After we entered Datong, most of them surrendered. General Xue presided over the capture of prisoners. According to Mr. Shen's original method, those who are willing to stay can stay and continue to guard the border. Guard the border in the name of our great Chen."
"Those who don't want to stay will be let go home."
"But, but..."
Wan Zhong scratched his head and continued: "But the effect is not very good. Most of them have gone home. Of the original 20,000 garrison troops in Datong, only six or seven thousand people are left..."
Mr. Shen couldn't help rubbing his eyebrows and said helplessly: "Since they were forcibly recruited by the Northern Qi Dynasty, they will naturally not trust any court, whether it is the Northern Qi court or the Da Chen court. If they are allowed to leave, of course they will run away. ."
"At this time, Datong is short of manpower, so we should use means to keep more people here."
This is the disadvantage of Xue Wei and others imitating Shen Yi.
Sometimes, they imitate Shen Yi, and they can learn about 70% or 80% of it, but if they blindly imitate Shen Yi regardless of the situation, sometimes it seems inappropriate.
Wan Zhong bowed slightly: "Yes, after the discussion between General Xue and the general, they both felt that something was not right. During this time, they started recruiting troops in Datong again. Although the recruitment was based on the treatment of our Huai'an Army, the effect was still not very good."
Shen Yi nodded and asked: "How is the current situation of the Pioneer Army?"
Since the vanguard army entered Shanxi, although it has not fought many cities, it still fought many tough battles from Taiyuan to Datong.
In fact, Wan Zhong is responsible for most of the daily affairs of the Pioneer Army. Naturally, he knows this problem very well. He immediately nodded and said: "Back to Mr. Shen, when we were in Henan, we fought too fast and suffered a lot of casualties. We rested and entered in Henan. When we were in Shanxi, there were only about 20,000 people. When we captured Taiyuan, we lost some of our manpower. Fortunately, the attack on Taiyuan was not too strenuous..."
"After entering Taiyuan, with the help of Mr. Shen, we temporarily recruited some new soldiers. However, because we had to keep 5,000 people in Taiyuan, when General Xue took us north to Datong, we still had less than 20,000 troops."
"Up to now, even including those Datong Qi troops who surrendered, the total strength of Datong's troops is just over 20,000."
"Currently, there are ten complete Qianhu Battalions, following General Xue, fighting the Tatars on the front line."
After hearing this, Shen Yi was silent for a while.
The force consumption of the vanguard army exceeded his expectation. Originally, if the Tatars did not move so quickly, after the vanguard army occupied a big city like Taiyuan, it would not take long, only half a year, to quickly replenish its troops. However, Now, the vanguard army does not have time to stay in Taiyuan for so long.
The military strength has never been complete.
Up to now, compared with the thirty or forty thousand people in the vanguard army at its most complete, the real combat strength may be only half!
However, the remaining 20,000 or so people can be said to be truly experienced in many battles. Even within the entire Huai'an Army, they can definitely be called the elite.
Steel can be made into steel a hundred times, and nothing can be better than this.
"The loss is too serious."
After Shen Yi said this, he shook his head slightly: "It seems that if the Tatars attack Shanxi in an all-out way, it will be difficult for the vanguard army to withstand it."
Wan Zhong said solemnly: "As long as you say a word, Mr. Shen, I will die in Shanxi and Taiyuan!"
Mr. Shen felt a little distressed at this moment. He shook his head and said, "I have said long ago that if you lose people if you save land, you will lose both people and land."
"I need to reconsider the matter in Shanxi and send a letter to Xue Wei, asking him not to be obsessed with fighting. After thinking about it, I need to retreat from the battlefield and return to Datong."
After saying this, Shen Yi asked again: "The food here in Datong..."
"Don't worry, Mr. Shen, we have brought a lot of food and grass from Taiyuan, and there will be no problem in supporting it for a while."
Shen Yi nodded and said, "That's good."
He stood up and patted Wan Zhong on the shoulder: "General Wan, let's go and rest first. Let's discuss it again when Xue Wei comes back."
Wan Zhong lowered his head.
"I will finally retire!"
After Wan Zhong left, Mr. Shen sat in his seat and thought for a long time.
Outside, Jiang Sheng held a stack of documents in his hand. He walked to the door and thought about it, then patted the shoulder of Ling Zhan who was guarding the door, and said with a smile: "Brother Ling, go and give these to Mr. Hou." ."
Ling Zhan quickly took it and responded: "Yes."
After that, he reached out and knocked on the door, and walked carefully to Shen Yi. When he saw no one around, he lowered his head and said, "Uncle."
"Brother Jiang asked me to send the documents."
Shen Yi was still deep in thought at the moment. Hearing this, he immediately came back to his senses, looked up at Ling Zhan, and laughed dumbly: "You and he are quite like brothers."
Ling Zhan first put the paperwork on the table, then scratched his head: "During this period, Brother Jiang has treated his nephew very well..."
Lord Shen shook his head slightly in his heart.
It’s been a long time coming.
However, he didn't say much. He looked at the documents, then looked at Ling Zhan, and said, "You wait here. I will have some letters in a while and I will send them to the other route troops as soon as possible."
Ling Zhan nodded respectfully: "Yes."
Mr. Shen then sat on the main seat and opened these documents one by one. After reading all the intelligence and military reporting documents, he wrote a letter to Liu Mingyuan and Zhou Huai.
After writing the two letters, he added his own seal and handed them to Ling Zhan: "Have someone send them out six hundred miles away as soon as possible."
Ling Zhan took the document with both hands.
"yes!"
After saying that, the young man turned his head and ran away without a trace.
Shen Yi looked at Ling Zhan's retreating back and let out a "tsk" sound.
"Young people are so energetic."
…………
On the fourth day after Shen Yi arrived in Datong, Xue Wei finally returned to Datong.
At this time, General Xue was covered in blood, and the clothes on his body were almost soaked with blood.
However, he was not seriously injured, just minor injuries. After seeing Shen Yi, General Xue was very happy. He knelt on the ground with a plop, lowered his head and said: "Mr. Shen!"
When Mr. Shen saw him like this, he was startled at first, but when he heard his angry voice, he felt relieved and laughed dumbly: "How did it get like this?"
"Did you fight the Tatars? How was the battle?"
Xue Wei stood up and said with a grin: "I will fight with them for several days!"
"These Tatars are really good at riding and shooting!"
Xue Wei couldn't help but said: "The general originally thought that the Qi people were already top-notch in mounted archery. Only after meeting those Tatars did I know what real mounted archery is like!"
"Their light cavalry can run and shoot arrows, and they will almost certainly hit the mark if they take a hundred steps!"
Xue Wei said with emotion: "After the general came into contact with them, he almost suffered a big loss. Fortunately, he retreated in time."
"Mr. Shen..."
Xue Wei chuckled: "These Tatars are very weak at attacking cities. The general has several camps of hundreds of households and guards them in several military fortresses. With gunpowder and crossbows, they can It is easy to resist these Tatars."
He looked up at Shen Yi and continued: "If the stubborn Qi people hadn't let them in, with the several gates of Northern Qi and the long city wall, the general could have easily defended them."
"Now, let them in."
Xue Wei said in a deep voice: "The cost of a head-on confrontation is too high. What I mean is to rely on Datong Prefecture and some cities in Taiyuan Prefecture to defend it."
"These Tatars lack siege equipment and siege experience."
"The general can be sure that even if it is a county town, it will not be easy for them to invade!"
Shen Yi thought for a while, then looked at Xue Wei.
"Xue Da, are you sure you want to defend Shanxi?"
Xue Wei patted his chest: "Mr. Shen, if these Tatars cannot attack the city, and they continue to go south, there will be our strongholds behind them."
"They dare not go south."
"Although we have no way to drive them away for the time being, the population of the Tatars is not very large, and they do not have much food and grass. Autumn is coming soon. As long as we stick to the city and gather the people."
"They won't last long."
"This method in the art of war is called..."
General Xue scratched his head and said four words.
"Strong walls clear the wilderness."
He looked at Shen Yi and said in a low voice: "There are not many people at the border gate like Datong, so I thought it would be a good idea to give it a try."
Shen Yi thought for a while, then nodded in agreement.
"Then it's up to you."
"But there is one thing I want to tell you."
Shen Yi said slowly: "I have made Liu Mingyuan pregnant and hastened to go north."
"My original intention was that if I couldn't defend the Tatars, I would have to give up Shanxi as a last resort, end the main battlefield with all my strength, and then go back and deal with Shanxi when the other side was free."
"Now, the military order has been issued."
"There will be a big war on that side soon."
Xue Wei thought carefully and then looked determined.
"Mr. Shen, the Tatars have extraordinary fighting prowess. If we allow the Tatars to grow in Shanxi, it will be even more troublesome later."