Even this short march of ten miles also showed the huge gap between the soldiers of Wu Shigong's Qianhu Station and the other soldiers. Not to mention that when setting up camp, Wu Shigong's soldiers did their respective jobs in an orderly manner.
Although the nine hundred soldiers also wanted to help, they seemed a little confused about what to do. Therefore, when Yu Ji and other officers from Qianhu Station were called over by Wu Shigong, their faces were full of confusion.
Somewhat ashamed.
Wu Shigong did not blame Yu Ji and the others. After all, these officers were not Wu Shigong's direct subordinates. Instead, he comforted them: "Actually, these soldiers are not bad. At least they dared to go to the capital to fight with King Qin. As for their performance in marching and setting up camp today.
No matter how good they are, it's just because they haven't received any military training."
"But having said that, what I want to do most when I bring these good men from the German Guard to the capital is to bring them home safely. Therefore, I will also strengthen the protection against them during the march.
Training. You have to make them endure the hardships of training. Tell them that this is for their own good, and at least let them have the capital to save their lives."
"But having said that, the physical condition of the soldiers under your command is also quite poor. According to me, it should be because they have not had enough to eat for a long time. Other officers cannot guarantee that, but as long as they are under my command
Soldiers, I will never let them go hungry."
"You know, not to mention the possibility of fighting in the future, even marching and setting up camps are all physical work. According to my previous experience, as long as we continue like this for three days, most of your soldiers will fall down.
So the most urgent thing now is to recuperate these soldiers first, so that they can at least look like soldiers."
Wu Shigong did not break his promise. When the meal started, the staple food was abundant. In addition, he killed some pigs and sheep as a reward and added vegetables. All the soldiers ate happily.
After dinner, Wu Shigong logically arranged some of the better-trained soldiers from his Qianhu Station to be among the nine hundred soldiers, as instructors, and began to teach them military knowledge.
Some of the soldiers who were drawn out from other Qianhu stations were named by their own Qianhu and Baihu because they had a relatively low status in the Qianhu. As for the fairer Qianhu, they were only chosen by drawing lots.
Come and recruit these soldiers. But for these soldiers, one thing is the same, that is, they are not willing to join King Qin's army this time.
King Qin's expedition was arranged in a hurry, so even now, these soldiers still feel fear and confusion in their hearts. But after Wu Shigong arranged these instructors among them, they at least began to know that they should
They went to do something. Coupled with the full meal, the hearts of these soldiers began to stabilize.
Although the number of tents and quilts was still insufficient, because Wu Shigong brought a lot of supplies from his own thousand households, he squeezed some tents and quilts for the soldiers, and asked the soldiers to go nearby to cut more firewood, and more
After lighting a fire to keep warm, the first night of the march finally passed peacefully.
Although the march and camp on the second day were a bit chaotic, it was indeed a great improvement compared to the first day. Although deep down in Wu Shigong's heart, he was prepared to take these nine hundred soldiers in case of any unexpected situation.
The soldiers were used as cannon fodder. However, he still wanted to bring all these soldiers back to the Defu safely as much as possible.
Therefore, Wu Shigong also trained these soldiers with all his heart. In terms of supply of materials, all soldiers were treated equally. Wu Shigong even took the initiative to go to the soldiers to communicate. Under Wu Shigong's caring actions, the emotions of those soldiers also changed.
It will be more stable.
But on the night of the next day, the cavalry sent by Wu Shigong to attack the front station in Jining returned to Wu Shigong's camp. They brought bad news to Wu Shigong.
They reported to Wu Shigong: "Your Excellency, the magistrate of Jining informed the younger one and asked the younger one to report to your lord, because the troops of King Qin from South Zhili and Shandong all went north to King Qin through the Grand Canal, so the grain in the granaries beside the canal was
It’s not enough. Lord Zhizhou asked our troops returning to Dewei to change their route and go north from their territory in Henan to King Qin.”
After listening to the report of the soldier standing in front of him, Wu Shigong couldn't help but cursed. It seemed that his expedition had a bad start.
But is the food in the granary next to the canal really not enough? Of course not. Even with twice the number of King Qin's troops, the food supply for these armies can be guaranteed.
So why did Jining Zhizhou reject Wu Shigong's King Qin's army? The main reason is because a large part of the grain in the granary only exists in the granary's ledger, and there is not so much grain in the granary.
Last year, due to the drought in the north, grain prices soared. The officials who managed these granaries colluded and sold a large amount of grain at high prices. They all thought that after the summer and autumn harvests, when grain prices fell sharply, they would then buy grain.
Earn a price difference.
This is not because these officials are arrogant. Just like grain shops earn price differences, it has become an unspoken rule that the officials who manage these grains earn money through this method and then share the profits.
But these officials did not expect that this drought was so severe that during the summer harvest in various places, there was basically no harvest. And because the governments at all levels did not fight the drought as strongly as Wu Shigong's, so even though the weather improved later, during the autumn harvest in various places
Some losses were still caused. This also led to high grain prices last year.
Therefore, since there is no price difference, these officials are not busy purchasing the grain and sending it to the granary. However, although the price of grain is low this year, these officials have not sent all the grain purchases to the granary at this time.
But at this time, the Tatars entered the customs, and a major event occurred for King Qin from various places. In order to supply these King Qin's troops, the food in the granary must be taken out. But there is not enough food in the granary now, so in order to
To ensure the supply of the main Qinwang army, such as the army of Nanzhili, and the local army, such as the army of Shandong, these officials had no choice but to be evil and refuse to supply the army of Wu Shigong's Henan Guide Guard.
Of course Wu Shigong could not imagine the reason for being rejected. But because the army going to the capital this time, the gathering place for King Qin's army was Tongzhou at the end of the canal. Therefore, although the canal has been frozen, no more boats can be sailed. However, marching along the canal, no matter it is
Supplies and marching routes are the most convenient.
But now Wu Shigong has to pass through the northern area of Henan, then cross the Yellow River, and take a detour from Beizhili to Tongzhou. There will definitely be a lot more troubles along the way. In addition, because there is no support and protection from other King Qin's troops nearby
, the march along this road also became much more dangerous.
You know, the Hou Jin Army is now raging in Beizhili. Although it is unlikely that their main army will reach the southern region of Beizhili, there is no guarantee that there will be such a few small Tatar armies coming over.
.
There is no other way but to change direction and march in a sharp turn. It is absolutely unrealistic to retreat to Huidefu City. King Qin's army has already set off, and it would be too much fun to turn back to the starting point.
However, Wu Shigong's army immediately encountered such a big problem: the amount of food and grass they carried was not enough, and it was definitely impossible to continue marching for such a long time.
Therefore, Wu Shigong immediately arranged for people to return to Defu City, report to the Governor of Guide Prefecture and Zhao Ming, and tell them the new situation. He also asked for their help and asked them to collect and transport another batch of grain and grass.
In addition, Wu Shigong also summoned all the officers and informed them of the new situation, asking them and their soldiers to prepare. The army was about to make a sharp turn and go directly north to King Qin.
After all this busy work, Wu Shigong also calmed down. He then thought: "Isn't this an excellent reason to delay the march? Maybe this is a blessing in disguise!"
At this time, Wu Shigong did not understand the situation of the soldiers in the Ming Dynasty and Wu Shigong had no experience in leading troops. These two shortcomings became apparent.
Wu Shigong believed that he had a very reasonable reason for ordering the army to turn, and it was also a very normal order. Besides, order and prohibition are the primary disciplines of every army. Wu Shigong did not understand that the soldiers in the army he was leading now were very large.
None of them can be called a soldier.
In addition, when the officers went back to inform the soldiers that the army had turned to march, some officers explained the reasons very clearly. However, when some officers conveyed the orders, their responses to the soldiers who dared to ask questions were a bit awkward.
It's so simple and crude.
These officers yelled at the soldiers who raised questions like this: "You have to do what the adults ordered. What nonsense are you talking about? The result of disobeying orders is one - beheading in public."
Although such a simple and crude answer temporarily suppressed the doubts in the hearts of the soldiers, the nervousness immediately spread in the hearts of these soldiers.
The sources of soldiers in Wu Shigong's King Qin army are also very complicated. There are soldiers from Wu Shigong's own Qianhu Office, and others from other Qianhu Offices. They are only temporarily following Wu Shigong's orders during this King Qin operation.
Even among the soldiers of Wu Shigong's Qianhu Station, they came from various sources. There were guards brought by Wu Shigong from the capital; there were local Qianhu Station soldiers and young people; and some were recruited by bandits.
The combination of these three reasons caused Wu Shigong's first internal crisis after becoming an army. At this time, Wu Shigong was completely unaware of this dynamic.