Wei Zhen considered his words and said, "From a broad perspective, your majesty has already separated the Guanxi battlefield by sending me to the general in Chencang."
"The 10,000 cavalrymen that General Cheng and I have are all the reinforcements that the court has given to the general. There will be no more reinforcements."
Cao Zhen didn't seem surprised. After thinking for a few moments, he nodded and said, "It's time to do this. The situation two and a half years ago, when Longyou moved, the central army rushed to help. This shouldn't happen again. Otherwise, wouldn't the past two years for me, the people in the palace, and Generals Zhang, Guo, and Lu be wasted?"
Cao Zhen spoke in a relaxed tone, and Du Xi, Fei Yao and others also smiled along with him.
But there was no smile on Wei Zhen's face.
After a light sigh, Wei Zhen said, "The fourth year of Taihe was indeed an eventful year for the Wei Dynasty. After the war against Shu in the second year, it took more than a year to settle down. When Your Majesty was preparing to attack Liaodong at the beginning of the year, he was very economical in terms of manpower, military strength, and financial resources."
"In terms of manpower, only the civilians from the counties along the way in Youzhou and Jizhou were recruited. No one was recruited in Bingzhou. In terms of military strength, Your Majesty only took 20,000 cavalry from the central army. General Cheng's Yulin Right Army and Generals Qian and Wang's Wuwei Battalion and Xiaowei Battalion were also not recruited. In terms of financial resources, the rewards given to the soldiers and generals almost drained the treasury of Yecheng and the counties in Hebei, and the wealth of the counties in Henan was not used at all."
"It's hard for your majesty." Cao Zhen put down the wine bottle and sighed slightly:
"Your Majesty, apart from the 20,000 central troops, the remaining 20,000 infantry troops were all recruited from Hebei. In order to recruit the Hu people, Your Majesty had to go to Bingzhou in person. It was indeed a bit hard."
Wei Zhen said: "If we count the time, General Man and the Central Army Wenqin Division and Liaodong Army Beiyan Division have a total of more than 20,000 people. They should still be in Anping County and Qinghe County. It will take some time for them to reach Xuchang. Wang Ling's troops should be arriving in Xuchang soon."
"As I just said, if the four counties of Youzhou, Yingzhou, Bingzhou, and Jizhou in Hebei can squeeze out some food and money this year, I'm afraid they can only be used by the states of Henan, and it should be too late to support Guanxi. The general also knows that this year's floods in Sili, Jingzhou, and Yuzhou are quite difficult to support."
Cao Zhen's face was calm, and he said calmly: "It's okay. Since His Majesty has entrusted the affairs of Guanzhong to me, and of course, Gong Zhen. You and I must not let His Majesty and the court worry."
"That's right." Wei Zhen continued, "I hope the general can tell me how strong the armies in Guanxi are now."
Wei Zhen cleverly used the word "combat strength" instead of simply referring to the number of troops. The court naturally knew how many troops were in Guanxi and which general led how many troops in which city. However, the figures in the Privy Council's report did not show the actual level of combat.
Cao Zhen raised his hand towards Du Xi and made a 'please' gesture: "I'll let the Chief Secretary and Gong Zhen discuss it."
Du Xi stood up upon hearing this and bowed slightly to Wei Zhen: "I will introduce the military situation in Guanxi to the guard."
Du Xi and Wei Zhen were old acquaintances. However, they had different positions and identities, and their friendship was not very good, so Du Xi did not address Wei Zhen by his courtesy name, but used the honorific title of his position.
"Thank you, Brother Zixu." Wei Zhen bowed in return.
Du Xi introduced slowly: "At present, the military strength of Guanxi is about 80,000, which is slightly more than that in the second year of Taihe. Liangzhou is far away, and the 7,000 county soldiers there can be used as backup but cannot be relied upon. There are only 73,000 who can be deployed."
"Speaking of the generals, Lu Huqiang of Dazhong leads 10,000 Qiang soldiers. Zhang Zhengxi of Qishan leads 20,000 soldiers, including 5,000 Qiang soldiers. Guo Zhengshu of Hanzhong leads 20,000 soldiers, including 10,000 Qiang soldiers. Qinzhou County has 5,000 soldiers, Yongzhou County has 8,000 soldiers, and General Guanlu of Wuxing has 5,000 soldiers. The rest are the 5,000 soldiers led by the general in Chencang."
"In terms of military strength, the 5,000 soldiers under General Chen Cang and the 15,000 soldiers under Zhang Zhengxi in Qishan are the most useful, which makes a total of 20,000. Although it cannot be compared with the current central army, it is not much different from the central army two years ago."
Wei Zhen nodded thoughtfully: "What about Generals Lu, Guo, and Lu? According to what Brother Zixu said, there are actually 25,000 Qiang soldiers in Guanxi?"
"There are so many." Du Xi explained, "There are more Qiang people in Guanxi than Han people. What else can we do if we don't recruit Qiang people to join the army? The 10,000 Qiang cavalrymen under General Lu of Dazhong were recruited by him from Xiping and Jincheng counties. After being brought under the control of the court, General Lu also eliminated many unusable ones and recruited some from the Qiang people in Liangzhou. After two years of training, their combat effectiveness should be similar to that of the prefecture and county soldiers."
"The Qiang soldiers under General Zhang of Qishan and General Guo of Hanzhong are all infantry, and they were formed after the Qiang people were naturalized. They are inferior to the county soldiers, but they are used for defending the city, so there is no problem."
Wei Zhen said: "The food and salary in the army are better than farming, so the Qiang people are willing to join the army?"
Du Xi nodded and said, "That's right. Food and wages are one thing. The Qiang people are all in the military, and they understand the principle of protecting their hometowns and grain fields for the army, and they don't resist it in their hearts."
"Thank you, Brother Zixu, for telling me. I already know the general situation. But, what is the situation of food and grass in Guanxi?"
Du Xi's expression also looked a little serious: "If the food and grass are tight, there will be no problem in supporting it until next year."
"Next year?" Wei Zhen frowned: "When is next year?"
It was already September. January three months later would be next year, and September a year later would also be next year! These were completely different concepts. Du Xi said, "If there is no war, we should be able to support ourselves until the wheat is ripe in May next year. If there is a war..."
Du Xi glanced at Cao Zhen, then turned back to look at Wei Zhen: "Defend if you can, and try to avoid a major battle."
"Yes, what Zixu said is what I want to say." Cao Zhen took over the conversation: "The use of food is the basis of the army. Without food, there is no way to raise an army."
Wei Zhen was silent for a few moments, then said, "I wonder if Guanxi has collected grain from the common people and nobles?"
"Not yet." Cao Zhen shook his head. "Although the court allowed me to do so before, it is better not to do so unless it is absolutely necessary. There are enemies outside and food is scarce inside. We should be cautious and avoid chaos."
Wei Zhen said firmly: "The general and I have known each other for more than 30 years. I don't know much about military affairs, but the general knows a lot about it."
"Although your majesty has appointed me as the Guanxi Guard, I know in my heart that your majesty sent me to Chencang mainly for the logistics of food and fodder. Given the situation, I ask the general to leave all the logistics of food and fodder in Guanxi to me."
Before Cao Zhen could reply, Wei Zhen stood up from his seat and looked sideways at Cheng Xi: "General Cheng, His Majesty has entrusted me with the command of your 10,000 cavalry. Now that we have arrived at Chencang, I order you to follow the command of the general."
"Go and pay your respects to the general."
Cheng Xi had long guessed why the imperial court gave the Yulin Right Army to the Wei Pushe. Seeing this scene today, Cheng Xi instantly understood the emperor's intention. He did not delay for a moment, and stood up and walked to the hall to bow to Cao Zhen.
"Your subordinate Cheng Xi pays homage to the great general!"
"Shen Bo, please stand up quickly." Cao Zhen stood up and walked quickly to Cheng Xi's side and helped him up. Although he was a general, Cheng Xi was also a general in the central army with 10,000 cavalrymen, so there was no need to act pretentiously in front of him.
"Thank you, General."
"Mr. Shen, please take your seat." Cao Zhen gently pushed Cheng Xi, then turned to look at Wei Zhen and bowed:
"I have entrusted all matters concerning logistics and food supplies in Guanxi to Gong Zhen. Deng will be in charge of this matter, and I will transfer him to Gong Zhen to take orders." After Cao Zhen straightened up, he stretched out his hand to call Deng Ai over and asked Deng Ai to come and pay his respects to Wei Zhen.
Wei Zhen and Cao Zhen were standing about ten feet apart, and they also calmly accepted Deng Ai's salute.
Cao Zhen knew that the key to managing logistics was to collect grain. And collecting grain was never a job that could bring good reputation. If it really came to the time to collect grain by force, Wei Zhen from the court would take on the task, and Cao Zhen would benefit. After Wei Zhen left in the future, Cao Zhen would also avoid the resentment of the people in Guanxi.
After they sat down, they raised their glasses and drank from the same bottle, and then Wei Zhen said:
"In this case, in my opinion, the general should mobilize troops to prepare for the response. Since Sun Quan of Wu is attacking, Zhuge Liang of Shu should also take action, it's just a matter of sooner or later. As for the matter of Chencang, I will take care of it."
Cao Zhen nodded slightly: "That's right. We'll make plans for a day tomorrow, and I can set off the day after tomorrow. Since we don't need to march tomorrow, you and I should drink more tonight."
"Come on, Gong Zhen, raise your voice!" Cao Zhen raised the wine jar and gestured to Wei Zhen.
"Everyone, raise your voice!" Wei Zhen turned around and gestured to everyone in the hall, and then they drank the wine in the jug together.
……
The next day, the 26th, was the third consecutive day that Xu Shu had sent troops out.
However, Xu Shu did not lead the troops in person today. Instead, he ordered Shen Dan's troops to make more flags and pretend that there were more than 10,000 people with 8,000 men. In the morning, they lined up eight miles north of Fancheng, which is near the midpoint between Fancheng and Deng County.
Xu Shu himself and the 10,000 men from Jiangxia under Wendai's command lined up on the east side outside the city, waiting for Qian Zhao's arrival.
"Report!"
A knight galloped over from a distance, dismounted and half-knelt on the ground: "General, we can reach Deng County in two quarters of an hour by traveling west." (End of this chapter)
