Not long after Tang Yin returned to the border town, Qiu Zhen, Bai Yong, Juno and other core military personnel also came after hearing the news. Only Shangguan Yuanji was left in charge of Hengcheng.
Obviously, everyone was very excited about the victory of this battle. After seeing Tang Yin, they all came forward with joy and asked about the details of the battle. However, Tang Yin was not in such a good mood as them, and his face was a little solemn.
Seeing this, everyone was at a loss. They didn't understand why he didn't look happy at all after he had clearly defeated the invading barbarians. You must know that defeating the barbarians on the frontal battlefield is a great thing!
Seeing everyone's thoughts, Tang Yin raised his eyebrows and asked: "Should we celebrate now?"
"Of course!" Juno was straight-tempered and blurted out without even thinking: "Our army has not won against barbarians for a long time. This victory is very exciting!"
"Yes!" Others also echoed.
Tang Yin shook his head and said: "As far as I know, the barbarian soldiers have always had a strong revenge mentality. This time they suffered a big loss in Yuanwang Town. It will not take long for them to counterattack with more troops. Have you ever thought about what we will do then?
Resist?"
"This..." As soon as these words came out, Juno was speechless, and the excitement on his face was wiped away, replaced by a solemn expression. He is the commander of the third corps of Pingyuan County, so naturally he has no control over the barbarian soldiers.
Habit knew it very well, and of course he knew that Tang Yin's speculation was not alarmist. Once the barbarians really attacked in large numbers, it would be very difficult to resist with our current manpower.
Everyone else also gasped in unison, lowered their heads, and fell silent in thought.
After a long time, Qiu Zhen asked: "If the barbarian soldiers really come back to retaliate, how many troops will there be?"
Before Tang Yin could speak, Zhang Zhou and Bai Yong both replied: "Since the barbarian soldiers have suffered a loss, there will definitely be more troops to attack again!" "It should be at least 50,000!"
"So many people!" Qiu Zhen secretly gasped. Although Pingyuan County has added two new corps and has a total of five corps, the manpower is far from fifty thousand, and more than half of the army are inexperienced recruits with very low combat effectiveness.
Low, coupled with the large number of defensive areas and towns and the scattered troops, it is almost impossible to resist 50,000 barbarians.
Bai Yong said seriously: "Sir, the target of the barbarian revenge will most likely be the border town. I suggest that two additional corps be immediately deployed to the border town, and the remaining two corps will guard Hengcheng. As long as these two places are not lost,
, the barbarian soldiers can’t hurt our vitality!”
"Yes! What General Bai said makes sense!" Everyone nodded in agreement.
Tang Yin pondered for a moment and asked: "General Bai, which two regiments do you think should be transferred to the border town?"
"The fourth and fifth corps!" Bai Yong didn't even think about it.
"New corps?" Qiu Zhen frowned. Fourth, the fifth corps is a new corps that has just been established. It is a new corps through and through. Deploying these two corps to the most dangerous border town is not to let more than 10,000 soldiers
Are you here to die? He asked suspiciously: "Isn't there something wrong with doing this?"
Bai Yong sighed and said: "Mr. Qiu, this is a last resort! Although the target of the barbarian soldiers is likely to be the border town, we have to guard against the other party bypassing the border town to sneak attack Hengcheng. Hengcheng is the county seat and the important thing is
The most important thing is that there is no room for any loss. It is safer to leave two veteran regiments with rich combat experience. Furthermore, although the fourth and fifth regiments are new regiments, they will always participate in the battle, otherwise they will always be there.
The new corps will not be put to great use. This is also a rare opportunity to train troops!" After a pause, he hurriedly added: "Of course, I have no intention of being cowardly. If you think that the second corps should be placed in the border town,
It’s relatively safe, and I don’t have anything to say about it!”
He was the commander of the Second Corps and proposed that his regiment should stay in Hengcheng. He was also afraid that others, especially his colleagues in the Fourth and Fifth Corps, would misunderstand.
Qiu Zhen thought about his words carefully, and although he felt that what Bai Yong said was reasonable, it was a bit of a rush to let the two new regiments resist the enemy's heavy troops. I'm afraid it would be difficult to achieve results and would instead increase our own casualties.
It is too difficult for Hui soldiers in Pingyuan County. The troops are very precious to our own side. How can we sacrifice them in vain?
He shook his head and said to Tang Yin: "Sir, it is not appropriate to transfer the Fourth and Fifth Corps to the border town!"
At this time, Tang Yin was also in a dilemma. Bai Yong was right, Hengcheng was the top priority. If Hengcheng was defeated, his county guard would be completely defeated, but if two new regiments were transferred to the border town
, when the barbarian soldiers counterattacked, I don’t know how many casualties there were. This was really a difficult choice.
Tang Yin used to be a straightforward and decisive person. When things came up, he would never hesitate and make a decision immediately. But it is different now. He is no longer alone. One of his decisions now will affect tens of thousands of people in Pingyuan County.
The life and death of the defenders, and even the life and death of hundreds of thousands of people in Pingyuan County.
He bit his lip and didn't speak for a long time.
At this moment, a guard came from outside, knelt down on one knee in front of Tang Yin, and said, "Report, sir, the people of Yuanwang Town have arrived outside the city, waiting for resettlement!"
After hearing this, Tang Yin came to his senses and said to the guard: "Let the lord of the border city arrange this matter!"
"This..." The guard looked confused.
Zhang Zhou then said: "Sir, there is no lord in the border town!"
"Oh?" Tang Yin was stunned. If Zhang Zhou hadn't pointed it out, he would have almost forgotten that he had never seen the city lord of the border town after arriving in the border town for so long. He asked, "What's going on?"
Zhang Zhou smiled bitterly and said: "The border city has been attacked by barbarians many times, and the city lord has been killed several times in succession. Later, there were no common people in the border city, so the city lord was no longer needed. Now the border city is no different from a military fortress.
!”
"So what!" Tang Yin hissed quietly. The huge Feng Kingdom and the huge Pingyuan County were bullied by the barbarian country into such a predicament. Whose responsibility should this be?
He slowly clenched his fists, and seemed to be talking to the people around him or mumbling to himself, and said in a deep voice word for word: "I don't care what Pingyuan County was like before, but when I was the county magistrate of Pingyuan County,
We will never allow any city in Pingyuan County to be captured by the enemy!"
He turned to Zhang Zhou and said, "General Zhang, please send your troops to settle the people who are coming!"
"Yes! Sir!" Zhang Zhou stood up and turned around to walk out.
Tang Yin suddenly remembered something, stretched out his hand to stop him, and said: "By the way, there is a captain named Xiao Muqing among the defenders of the original Wangzhen Formation. Bring him to see me now!"
"Xiao Muqing?" Zhang Zhou was stunned for a moment. It was obvious that Tang Yin didn't look well, so he didn't dare to ask more questions. He answered and walked out quickly.
He was not unfamiliar with the name Xiao Muqing, because this person had a longer military service than him. Unfortunately, he only had hard work but no merit, and had never been given the chance to be promoted.
I don’t know why Tang Yin wanted to find Xiao Muqing, but he honestly followed Tang Yin’s instructions to find Xiao Muqing and led him forward. At the same time, he arranged for several of his captains to organize officers and soldiers to settle the people of Yuanwang Town who came to seek refuge.
them.
Since the border town has almost become a ghost town with many uninhabited houses, it is easy to accommodate the thousands of people in Yuanwang Town.
Let's talk about Zhang Zhou, who led Xiao Muqing to see Tang Yin.
The old men of Pingyuan County garrison like Zhang Zhou, Bai Yong and Juno all disapproved of Xiao Muqing, thinking that he was cunning and timid, but Tang Yin was very polite to him. When he saw Xiao Muqing coming, he bowed slightly and smiled.
, waved his hand and said: "Captain Xiao, please sit down!"
"Thank you, sir!" Xiao Muqing really didn't expect that Tang Yin would come to her, and she was a little flattered. In addition, everyone in the hall was either the regiment commander or the deputy regiment commander, and he was just a small captain, who was incompatible with everyone's status, sitting on a chair.
I felt like I was sitting on pins and needles, so I was careful.
Tang Yin looked at Xiao Muqing again. The latter's appearance could not be said to be handsome. He was pretty at best, with a medium build, neither fat nor thin. He could be said to be plain and unremarkable, except for a pair of eyes that showed a bright brilliance from time to time.
He smiled and asked: "Captain Xiao, do you think the barbarian soldiers suffered a loss in Yuanwang Town this time and will definitely come back to take revenge?"
"Yes! Sir!" Xiao Muqing straightened her body and replied in a low voice with utmost respect.
"The target is a border town?"
“Border towns are the most likely!”
"Then tell me, if the barbarians really come to attack the border town, how many defenders do you think should be left here?"
Don't understand why Tang Yin asked Xiao Muqing such an important question, everyone's eyes fell on Xiao Muqing.
After hearing Tang Yin's question, Xiao Muqing's spirit was shocked. He was surprised and immediately realized that his opportunity to perform had come. He rolled his eyes and whispered: "Twenty thousand people are enough!"
"What?"
The expressions of everyone in the hall changed. Juno leaned forward and shouted in a deep voice: "Xiao Muqing, what are you talking about? This is not the place for you to talk nonsense..."
Tang Yin waved his hand to stop Juno, and with a smile on his face, he asked Xiao Muqing softly: "Tell me, why only 20,000 people are enough?"
Xiao Muqing said: "Based on my guess, the number of barbarian soldiers who will attack again will not exceed 60,000. But even so, the number of troops is still much larger than ours. If our side guards the city, even if we can barely resist the enemy in the end, the losses will definitely be small."
Xiao, instead of being passively beaten, it’s better to take the initiative!”
"To take the initiative to attack the barbarians with a force of 20,000 is to seek death, isn't it?" Bai Yong asked calmly.
Xiao Muqing smiled and said: "If we have a head-to-head confrontation, of course we will not have the upper hand, but if we send an ambush in advance near the border city, and wait for the barbarians to attack the city, they will suddenly rush out, cooperate with the brothers in the city, and attack from both inside and outside, so as to catch them by surprise and attack them unprepared.
, enough to disrupt the barbarian camp and defeat them!"
"It's just a joke!" Juno curled his lips and said angrily: "Beyond the border city, there is a vast plain, and only the mountains and forests to the east can hide ambushes. But the barbarian army has always been cunning, and they will not fail to guard against it, nor will they not check it. How can we hide the ambush troops?"