There are 100,000 troops in Huaixi, and the withdrawn Changhuai Army accounts for nearly half. The military pressure on Guoyang is not great at the moment. They want to go west to encircle and suppress the remnants of Chen Hansan, and join forces with Liang Cheng to attack Luo Xiancheng. It is natural that Tao Chun should be the commander of the Western Front.
Tao Chun himself thought the same way. Hearing that Dong Yuan wanted to deal with the threat on the Western Front first, he took the initiative to ask for help.
Dong Yuan put his hands behind his back, looked at the mountains on the other side, and said: "It is good for General Tao to take the initiative to ask for a battle, but after Chen Zhihu enters Henan, the Western Front can only plan for it slowly. To avoid alerting the enemy, the only option for now is to encircle and suppress Chen Zhihu."
In the name of the Three Kingdoms, we will send more troops to Xinyang. After Liang Chengchong has established a foothold in Nanyang, he can then go to Tuluo to offer his services..."
Nanyang is located in the Nanyang Basin at the western foot of Huaishan Mountain and Tongbai Mountain. It is a place where ships from the south and horses from the north exchange. Going south along the river, you can connect to the Han River. You can reach Henan by taking the Fangcheng Road. It blocks Jingxiang in the south and Ruluo in the north.
Traffic tunnel.
Nanyang was occupied by Luo Xiancheng, but when Chen Zhihu was serving as the envoy of Henan, the military front was very sharp, and Luo Xiancheng was afraid of it, so he voluntarily abandoned Nanyang and retreated to Xiangfan south of Nanyang to distance himself from Chen Zhihu's tribe. Later, Luo Xiancheng intended to advance southward.
In order to support the She family, they put pressure on Luzhou and Jiangxi, but they never returned to occupy Nanyang.
In recent years, Luo Xiancheng has been hesitant between recruiting peace and security, and has no intention of expanding his power to Nanyang. However, the land in Nanyang has been plundered by Luo Xiancheng, and every county has been depleted.
Liang Chengchong led his troops into Nanyang a few years ago. In fact, they only occupied a piece of residual land. They had to rely on Hezhong Prefecture in the north and Huaixi in the east to gain a foothold in Nanyang, but it was by no means easy.
Before Liang Chengchong could gain a foothold in Nanyang, Huaixi went to attack Luo Xiancheng aggressively, not afraid of ten thousand, but afraid of the worst. He was afraid that Luo Xiancheng would risk everything, send troops to attack Nanyang, and then surrender to Chen Zhihu. The situation in the north and south of Huaishan would be bad.
The top priority is that Huaixi should first develop Xinyang.
Xinyang is the western line of Huaixi and the northern foothills of the junction of Huaishan Mountain and Tongbai Mountain. It is also called Yiyang. It is adjacent to Nanyang and is an important place in southern Henan. However, it was also devastated by disasters and became a ruined land.
At noon, just when the farmers were lighting fires and burning stoves, standing on Xia Shi Mountain and looking north and south, almost no smoke could be seen rising from the countryside, which was full of devastation. Liu Tingzhou felt something in his heart, and his eyes were full of tears. He didn't know this mountain and river.
It will take a long time to ravage it before it can be cleaned up and the people can live and work in peace and contentment.
Tao Chun had other thoughts in mind. Seeing that Dong Yuan had no intention of letting him go to guard Xinyang, he couldn't help but think about his future options——
After parting ways with Lu Jingyan in Jinan, he followed Yue Lengqiu all the way to where he is today. Under Yue Lengqiu's wings, Tao Chun did benefit a lot. From being a subordinate general before, he is now a general with tens of thousands of powerful troops.
I thought that with the withdrawal of the Changhuai Army, I would be able to get the job of guarding Huaixi. Who would have expected that Yue Lengqiu would be implicated by Liu Yefei and Chen Hansan's defection to the enemy, and was forced to resign. Now he was demoted to Jiangzhou to supervise the war, and the imperial court appointed him
Dong Yuan guarded Huaixi.
At this time, whether it was the situation or the imperial decree, Tao Chun had to be restrained by Dong Yuan first.
In the Eastern Fujian Army, Tao Chun had dealt with Dong Yuan for many years, and he was somewhat unable to figure out his thoughts. Among the armies in Huaixi, although the Changhuai Army had the largest number of troops and horses, it had been running around here and there over the years.
, fighting in the south and in the north, there was always no place to settle down. He intended to defend Xinyang, and also wanted to learn from Huaidong and practice garrison warfare in Xinyang. No matter how the court fought in the future, he would always have a place.
But in front of Dong Yuan, Tao Chun was somewhat lacking in confidence.
Others didn't care about Tao Chun's heart at this time. After Chu Wang Yuan Hancheng moved to Shouzhou, he didn't think the conditions in Shouzhou were difficult. For more than a month, he didn't care about the renovation of the palace. He followed Dong Yuan and Liu Tingzhou and waited.
He inspected the military and political affairs, observed the people's sentiments, and even took out tens of thousands of taels of silver from his own pocket to help the refugees. He was praised as a wise king for a while.
"Since the end of the Han Dynasty, Liu Fu and Cao Cao have built forts on Xiashi Mountain to defend the Huaihe River. They have also recruited refugees at the foot of the Xiashi Mountain to camp in the fields and accumulate military supplies as the foundation for defending the Huaihe River." Yuan Hancheng stood on the Xiashi Mountain and
Seeing the intention of pointing out the country, he asked Dong Yuan angrily, "Master Dong, what do you think of what I said?"
Xiashi Mountain is divided into two mountains, the north and the south. The south mountain is on the south bank of the Huaihe River, and the north mountain is on the north bank. The two mountains stand between the Huaishan Mountain. The situation is majestic and dangerous, and it is the key point of Shouzhou's defense. In the early years of Huaisi Liuwo, Shouzhou City was destroyed
, there are only remnants of the former military fortress on Xiashi Mountain, and only the mighty Huaihe River flows between the cliffs, unchanged forever.
"The prince is very wise, Dong Yuan is not as good as him." Dong Yuan said with cupped hands, but he was also worried in his heart.
What Yuan Hancheng said is a general statement. Dong Yuan set up his headquarters in Shouzhou and tried every possible means to write letters and suggestions to the King of Chu to move the vassal state to Shouzhou, so he had the intention of running Shouzhou.
The so-called management has been the most effective in the past dynasties, and it is nothing more than the recruitment of refugees, Guangying and farming. The reason why Huaidong can rise is also closely related to this. However, operating Shouzhou requires investing a lot of resources, and Dong Yuan cannot conjure it up empty-handed.
How can we talk about business when we have gold, silver and grain but empty hands?
As for the money and food allocated by Jiangning, it amounts to two million taels of silver per year. Under Jiangning's current stretched regime, it is not a small amount. However, for Huaixi's 100,000 soldiers and horses, an additional amount of money and food must be provided to Liangchengchong of Nanyang every year.
, we also need to repair and consolidate the cities from Guoyang to Xinyang to Shouzhou, but there is not much left.
From Dongyang Prefecture to the north, there is almost no intact city in Huaixi. To consolidate the Huaixi defense line, these cities must be repaired. For example, on Xiashi Mountain, fortifications must be built immediately, and ferries must also be built.
, we also need to build a water camp to connect the north and south of the Huaihe River, and we don’t need to spend money on any place.
Not talking about recruiting refugees and other matters, just to straighten out the military affairs in Huaixi, Dong Yuan would feel tight if he had twice as much money. How could he find the extra money and food to recruit refugees, and buy cattle, iron tools, and seeds from other places?
Hoarding land?
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After returning from Xiashi Mountain to see the terrain, Dong Yuan returned to his dilapidated but tidy cabin and asked Tao Chun to be invited.
"Chen Zhihu has entered Henan and is currently sharpening his sword. He wants to use troops against Liang Chengyi in Hezhong Prefecture. However, the pressure in Guoyang is indeed not small. I am worried about using Xiao Kui'an to guard Guoyang. I can only put the heavy burden on your shoulders.
, I hope you can understand my difficulty." Dong Yuan said to Tao Chun heartily.
After returning from Xiashi Mountain, Tao Chun knew that this would be the outcome, but hearing Dong Yuan say this made him feel better.
Tao Chun licked his lips and said: "Xiao Kui'an has never fought a tough battle, and Chen Zhihu is in the north. If you want to use Xiao Kui'an, the general is still a little worried."
"It's easy to make meritorious deeds and get a wife and son, but first of all, you have to be loyal to the court. Haven't everything you and I have been given by the court?" Dong Yuan said earnestly, "I can rest assured that you will guard Guoyang.
, I really want Xiao Kui'an to guard Xinyang, let him fight with Chen Hansan, sharpen him, and then he can be reused in the future Northern Expedition to regain his homeland... Speaking of the Northern Expedition, if Huaixi is not managed, it will not work. If Huaixi is not managed well,
The Northern Expedition has no stamina, just like a punched fist. It is useless to hit hard with the first punch. The key is to hit hard with the punch. At this time, the court is in trouble everywhere, and now it has allocated two million taels of silver to Huaixi.
We have reached our limit. If we use this money to raise troops and build cities, we are just barely able to do it. We have to tighten our belts to get by, so how can we run Huaixi?"
"This general is on the battlefield, fighting with the enemy with his head on his waist, and still deducting food and salary. Wouldn't it be too embarrassing?" Tao Chun said with a dark face, thinking that Dong Yuan wanted to deduct food and money from the Huai army.
If there is a fire in your heart, you will get angry.
"You have misunderstood me," Dong Yuan asked Tao Chun to calm down and said, "The Changhuai Army has fifty thousand generals, two hundred and fifty thousand stones of rice and three hundred and fifty thousand grains of food every year.
I won’t short-change you, and I will give you everything else that should be given to you...but this is still not enough!"
In addition to military food and wages, the generals' clothing, shoes, socks, weapons, arrows, and tents and fortresses all cost a lot of money and food. Everyone is licking blood at the edge of their swords. If they win, they will naturally be rewarded with silver, and there will also be casualties.
Pension silver. But Jiangning had allocated a total of two million taels of silver to Huaixi. Tao Chun also knew in his heart that Dong Yuan said it was not enough for him, so he was embarrassed to ask for more.
"Hmm..." Tao Chun snorted softly, suppressing the unknown anger just now, and listened patiently to Dong Yuan's words.
"You have been leading the army for more than ten years. I will not repeat to you the principle of 'soldiers are more valuable than more soldiers.' I will allocate you two hundred and fifty thousand stone grains and three hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver every year. You
Raising 50,000 soldiers and horses is for raising, and raising 30,000 elites is also for raising," Dong Yuan said. "My idea is that the Changhuai Army will lay off some of the old and weak, move them to Shouzhou as garrison soldiers, and only retain some troops in the direction of Guoyang.
What do you think of the elite combat strength of 20,000 to 30,000?"
Tao Chun thought to himself: If he has enough money and food, he can retain 30,000 elite soldiers in Guoyang and remove 20,000 soldiers as auxiliary troops. He can also stay in Guoyang to form a stronghold and farm, so there is no need to hand over 20,000 soldiers to Shouzhou.
Being a garrison soldier? Dong Yuan said it sounds nice, and the food and salary are not short, but in fact, cutting off 20,000 soldiers and horses, ordnance, arrows, and the cost of setting up camp will save a lot. This deal can be exchanged for anyone.
It can be done! Besides, weeding out 20,000 old and weak people and handing them over to Dong Yuan as garrison soldiers is also the manpower to run Shouzhou. Dong Yuan really made a good plan.
Tao Chun remained silent, and Dong Yuan said: "This is also what Mr. Liu meant. The court is so difficult, and we in Huaixi cannot unite as one, do not target the weak and retain the strong, and do not concentrate the elite to build a small but elite army.
Soldiers, if we don't eliminate the old and weak to farm and run Shouzhou, even if we can barely maintain a hundred thousand soldiers and horses, we will only become more and more tired after fighting - we won't ask for Huaidong's head in the future!"
The veins on Tao Chun's forehead jumped when he mentioned Huaidong.
The separation of Jinan was an eternal pain in Tao Chun's heart. He also knew that Lin Fu and others were very worried about this matter. Although Chang Huai finally got out of trouble during the Huaixi war, Huaidong's thoughts were also bent on weakening Chang Huai's army.
.
Thinking that Dong Yuan was almost expelled from Hangzhou, in this regard, he really had to stand on the same front as Dong Yuan to avoid being looked down upon and bullied by Huaidong again.
Tao Chun hesitated for a long time with a gloomy face, and finally felt that his arms could not twist his thighs, so he responded in a deep voice: "Then just follow what you said, I will remove the old and weak when I return to Guoyang and move them to Shouzhou as garrison troops.