The guard who delivered the order left, leaving a copy of the military order on the table.
He Wu's eyes shone as he looked at the military order and pinched his chin. In his opinion, was this a military order?
No, this is a document to make a fortune.
Since Su Lu took office, he has suppressed bandits twice, and he has recorded how much money he has earned.
Fifteen thousand taels of silver and ten million dollars!
This is more money than I made in the past few decades by sticking my butt out, cheating, and pretending to be powerful.
To suppress bandits, we must continue to suppress bandits.
It's a pity that Erlong Mountain is located in Beizheng, so we can't go there to suppress the bandits ourselves.
"Brother Su, look at us crossing the border to Erlong Mountain to suppress bandits. It's hard for Xuanfu to blame us, right?"
He Wu asked with a smile, his face full of expectation.
Su Lu stood up, put the military order away, and walked out the door.
He Wu grabbed Su Lu and said nervously: "Brother Su, what do you think? How about we go to Erlong Mountain to suppress the bandits?"
"I don't have enough soldiers. I'll go to the princess and see if I can ask Jiedu Mansion to send me some more soldiers. How can a battalion of two hundred people suppress bandits? A guard camp is about the same."
He Wu also nodded repeatedly:
"A guard camp has four to six battalions with thousands of troops. This widens the scope of the bandit suppression. It is necessary to add more troops. When Luo Jian's grandson was in the Nanguan camp, he could control thousands of troops.
We can do it too."
The two arrived at the county captain's house and when they saw Li Qing, County Magistrate Tang was also there.
Magistrate Tang said with a smile: "Sir, there are only more than 200 guardsmen in our county. The military orders of the Xuanfu cannot be carried out. Just ask Captain Su to cooperate with the guards. We will deal with the suppression of bandits."
Aren’t you going to participate anymore?”
Li Qing shook his head: "County Magistrate Tang, our army is at war with Thule, and the attitudes of the two southern countries are unclear. If this stalemate continues, I believe the south will start fighting again, and Magistrate Tang doesn't want to see that either."
He Wu said flatteringly: "Your Excellency, you are right. We must do our part for the prosperity of the Han Dynasty."
"Captain Su Lu and I have already discussed it and ask for your permission. Please ask Jiedu Mansion to send out a few more battalions of troops. We are willing to go to the battlefield in person to fight against the Tule people."
Hearing this, Li Qing looked at He Wu, a look of appreciation flashed in his eyes, but when he looked at Su Lu again, he felt very unhappy.
Look at He Wu, you don't back down at critical moments. It would be nice if you, Su Lu, had half as many people.
"Okay, I will report this matter to Jiedu Mansion, but it is probably impossible to balance the troops."
He Wu's face darkened when he heard this. It was impossible to even out the troops. So what should we do? The bandit suppression in Erlong Mountain might be broken.
Su Luxin said, "I don't expect you and Jiedu Mansion. The war is going on at the front. Suozibaoyang Pingpu front line has been defeated one after another. Li Canjun, who just left yesterday, said that Jiedu Mansion can hardly get enough food to transport to the front."
If you join the team, they will basically never come back.
Now it seems that the grain transport team was not only absorbed by the Beizheng Camp, but also part of it was robbed by the bandits from Erlong Mountain.
"General, if the Xuanfu cannot disperse its troops, it will not be easy to eliminate the bandits within the territory. There are large groups of bandits entrenched in Jiufeng Mountain and Tianmen Mountain. With our current strength, we simply cannot capture them."
Su Lu took out a map and pointed at the bandit strongholds throughout Beiyang.
I have to say that this map is really difficult to use. There is only one place name on it, no distance is mentioned, and the distances between places are completely wrong.
Jiufeng Mountain is close to Eagle Mountain, but it is fifty kilometers away from Tianmen Mountain. From the picture, the three mountains almost merge into one mountain.
Li Qing looked at the map, frowned, and his tone was hesitant.
"Yes, the three mountains are so close and can support each other. This is a big challenge for our guards to capture these two groups of bandits."
"Magistrate Tang, is there anything you can do?"
Li Qing turned to Magistrate Tang who was standing beside him.
Magistrate Tang looked confused. He was sitting next to him, and the pot came from the sky.
If you say there is nothing you can do, and the princess gets angry and puts the blame on herself for not being able to eliminate the bandits, that will be terrible.
Turning his eyes to Su Lu as if asking for help, Magistrate Tang's beard began to tremble.
"Captain Su, I don't know much about military affairs, so I won't laugh at you. Captain Su, I think you are confident, but I think you already have some problems in your mind."
Suddenly, several people's eyes focused on Su Lu.
Su Lu shook his head: "What can I do if I have a way? I neither have the right to recruit troops, nor can I be seconded temporarily, so if there is a way, there is nothing I can do."
Li Qing's eyes lit up and he agreed:
"If you can recruit all the troops by yourself, I will write to Jiedu Mansion and give these soldiers legal status, but you have to deal with the equipment and rations yourself."
"What about military pay?"
Su Lu was a little annoyed. The equipment and rations were not solved yet. Could it be that Xuan Mansion was already in such difficulty?
Li Qing picked up a battle report and handed it to Su Lu.
Su Lu glanced at it and was immediately confused.
This is a battle report that can only be seen by generals and generals. The description of the battle situation is much more detailed. Not only the battles that occurred in various places, but also the intelligence information obtained before the war are listed in detail.
Fighting raged all over the northern border of Xuanfu. The front line of Beizheng Daying was in danger, the front line of Suozibao Yangping was in danger, most of the forts and garrison towers had fallen, there were very few of the ten forts left, and the defense line north of Beizheng was basically broken.
To the south of Beizheng, war smoke was everywhere, and the food routes supplying the Beizheng camp were cut off. Food, soldiers, clothing, and armor were all severely damaged. Jiedu Mansion could not even provide normal supplies to the front line.
Su Lu understood what Li Qing meant. It was okay to expand the army. At this juncture, the Jiedu Mansion would certainly not object, but it would not approve either. The Jiedu Mansion could not supply soldiers, weapons, clothing, or even food and grass.
He Wu was anxious: "Sir, this is not possible. One guard camp requires about a thousand people. We cannot afford the weapons and armor."
Li Qing glanced at Magistrate Tang.
Magistrate Tang immediately started shouting:
"What a pity, sir. All the food and grass in this county have been used to support the Beizheng camp. When the Nanguan camp was transferred, there were not even any arrows or cotton clothes left in the warehouse.
Ah, if the Thule people come to attack, I don’t know how to defend themselves against the enemy.”
Su Lu was worried. If he wanted to block the formation, he would have to increase his troops, but looking at the situation now, it was very difficult.
After suppressing bandits twice, the patrol camp accumulated a lot of food and grass, as well as tens of thousands of taels of silver and copper coins. However, if we wanted to support a thousand people, this was really not enough.
A guard strode in. When he saw Su Lu and Li Qing, he reported them.
"Sir, there is a congestion at the gate of Beicheng. The refugees from Suozibao in Beiyang have arrived. Brigadier Su, who is guarding the city, does not dare to let people in, so he ordered someone to come and ask for your instructions."
"Refugees must not enter the city."
Magistrate Tang suddenly stood up and said, his face full of anxiety, and he looked at Li Qing.
Li Qing looked at Magistrate Tang in embarrassment: "If we don't enter the city, if these refugees go south or become bandits, our sin will be great."
Magistrate Tang gritted his teeth: "The county government can use part of the grain to make porridge. I will call on the big households in the county to donate a lot of money to ensure that the refugees are fed."
"As for the matter of giving up the porridge, I hope Su Duwei will send guards to suppress it to avoid trouble."
Magistrate Tang turned to look at Su Lu and said.
Su Lu's heart moved. He thought that he could take advantage of the opportunity to select a group of young men from the county government office, and with a little training, they would be qualified soldiers.
"Okay, I will send people to maintain, um, princess, the vacancies of the guards who died in Brigade A and Brigade B, I will directly select from these refugees."
