Xiaosheng is not a nerd

Chapter 1754 Preparation for the War
No one from the peace faction dared to speak out in rebuttal.

"After the court session, Su Changning, please come to my imperial study. I have something to discuss with you in private."

In the imperial study, Qin Chushang asked directly: "Su Changning, Anxi and Beiting have become two isolated armies. What do you think?"

Su Changning responded, "Generals are not bound by the emperor's orders when they are away from home. After all, the two military governors have commanded troops for many years and rarely worried the emperor. They make decisions on all matters, big or small. Your Majesty doesn't need to worry too much about the emperor's orders."

"I think the two armies now have two options. One is to defend with all their strength and wait for the opportunity. The other is to take the initiative to attack Wei to save Zhao and reduce the pressure on our army."

"The worst thing is to take the third path and surrender to the enemy in order to preserve wealth and glory."

Qin Chushang said calmly: "Even if you want to surrender to the enemy, you have to wait and see. Later, I will send someone to deliver a letter to the two governors, asking them to wait for the opportunity and be ready to cooperate with the three armies of Longxi to defeat the Beidi and Xirong armies."

After Su Changning was surprised, he understood what the Queen meant. First of all, the two isolated armies must be filled with confidence. No one wants to become a slave unless it is absolutely necessary. Secondly, the two isolated armies can also become surprise troops as the war situation changes.

"Your Majesty, our country has just sent food and money to various important cities. The Northern Di and Western Rong chose to start a war at this critical juncture. I believe they are planning to fight to support the war and capture Chang'an in one fell swoop. If we lose Lingzhou, Taiyuan, and Shanzhou, the armies of the two countries will use them as strongholds and have abundant food and grass to supplement their logistics. Chang'an will be in danger."

"I know, so I plan to go there in person to coordinate and supervise it personally."

Su Changning was surprised: "Your Majesty, the country cannot be without a ruler for a day, please think twice."

Qin Chushang said: "Su Changning, I am not in Chang'an, and the state affairs and military logistics are dependent on you and Xiao Zuogui."

At this time, Xiao Zuokui was led in by the eunuch: "Your Majesty, I see you."

"Xiao Zuogui, you will issue an order today, ordering the Xiaoqi Guard, Xiongqu Guard, Baoqi Guard, and Shesheng Guard to mobilize the troops of the whole country to follow me to fight the enemy. Order the Yulin Guard, Cifei Guard, the Left and Right Jianmen Guard, and the Left and Right Qianniu Guard to lead the six guards to guard the capital and the whole country."

After a moment of surprise, Xiao Zuogui immediately accepted the order.

A month later, the empress personally led the Xiaoqi Guard, Xiongqu Guard, Baoqi Guard, and Shesheng Guard to the west to resist the Beidi and Xirong countries.

At this time, the Western Rong and Longyou troops were in Shanzhou, and the Northern Di and the two towns of Shuofang and Hedong had been fully deployed in Lingzhou and Taiyuan for more than a month.

The Longyou Army was still able to deal with the Western Rong army with the strength of one town. Although the Shuofang and Hedong towns controlled the city gates, the Northern Di army was too powerful. In just one month, they lost several city gates.

The situation did not improve until the Queen arrived with her army, and they even took advantage of the initial victory to recapture two city gates.

Two months later, the Western Rong army captured the defense line of Prince Yang's mansion, and used it as a breakthrough point to advance northward, intending to meet up with the Northern Di army.

Prince Zhao led his troops to chase and intercept them, but they never returned.

The other royal palaces did not dare to advance rashly. Moreover, after months of fierce fighting with the Western Rong army, they suffered heavy casualties, so they had to make adjustments before making plans.

After the Western Rong army joined forces with the Northern Di army,
The pressure on the Shuofang Army in Guannei Road increased greatly, and Her Majesty the Queen personally led the army to the front battlefield between Guannei Road and the Beidi Army.

The Hedong Army had to withdraw a large number of troops to march westward to support the Shuofang Army in Guannei Road, and finally resisted the fierce enemy attack.

However, as the Hedong Army withdrew its troops and marched westward, Hedong Road was depleted of manpower and was captured from the north by another Northern Di army in less than half a month.

With the complete loss of Hedong Road, the Northern Di advanced into the heartland of Daguan Kingdom like a sharp knife.

The coalition forces of the Daguan Kingdom in Guannei Road were attacked from the west, north and south and were trapped in the middle. As for the southwest, the Longyou Army and the Xirong Army fought fiercely for several months. Both the Yangwang Mansion and the Zhaowang Mansion were completely wiped out, and the remaining troops also suffered heavy casualties. It was difficult for the Clay Buddha to save itself after crossing the river, let alone support Guannei Road.

The allied forces in Guannei Road became trapped. With the complete fall of Hedong Road, even their logistical supply routes were cut off. They besieged the city without attacking for several months, and were defeated without a fight after their food and grass were eaten up.

Of course, the Daguan Kingdom in Guannei Road could also gather its forces to attack the Beidi army in Hedong Road, but doing so would be tantamount to handing over the strategic passes in Guannei to the enemy.

After losing the city and entering the vast plains, facing the most valiant and warlike cavalry of the Northern Di and Western Rong, this battle became even more unwinnable.

The knife of the Northern Di, which had been sharpened for more than 20 years, was too sharp. It was difficult for the coalition forces inside the pass to defend or retreat.

The situation at the front line was critical, and Su Changning was as anxious as an ant on hot pan.

These days he has been busy collecting food, fodder, clothing and bedding from all over the country to prepare for the winter so that he can fight a protracted war with the Northern Di and Western Rong. If he fails to conquer the Northern Di before the cold winter comes, he will choose to retreat.

Now the necessary food and fodder has been collected, all the elite soldiers have been transferred to the front line to fight, and the remaining troops are guarding the capital and the whole country, but they are in a dilemma of having food but no soldiers.

After discussing with Xiao Zuokui again and again, he decided to take the risk of withdrawing half of the troops and let the Fanyang Jiedushi transfer troops to the west. The two armies would attack the Beidi army in Hedong Road from the west and north and regain Hedong Road.

The military situation was urgent. Xiao Zuokui was responsible for withdrawing half of the troops from the capital, and Su Changning was responsible for contacting Lu Huimi, the governor of Fanyang, and asking Lu Huimi to lead the troops to the west for assistance.

After a series of letters, Lu Huimi asked Su Changning to replenish food and supplies before he was willing to send troops, citing the fact that the weather had turned cold in recent winter.

After seeing Lu Huimi's reply, Su Changning, a scholar, was so angry that he cursed. The court only sent supplies to Fanyang Army this summer, so how could Fanyang Army be short of food and fodder? Besides, Fanyang Army was stationed in Fanyang, and they spent the winter like this in previous years. How could they lack winter clothes? They were not an army stationed in the warm area of ​​Jiangnan.

This is clearly an excuse for not wanting to send troops. The imperial court has spent countless financial and material resources to support the Fanyang Army over the years, but when it comes to the critical moment, they use this trick to cut off the source of funds.

It is understandable from Lu Huimi's perspective. He has been operating in Fanyang for many years and has already built up a strong army. How could he be willing to send this army to die? If the battle on the front line is victorious, it would be easy to add icing on the cake, but it would be useless to provide timely assistance.

Xiao Zuokui was worthy of being the head of the Secretariat. In just half a month, he transferred half of the troops from the various guards stationed in the capital. Only a senior official of the previous dynasty could have such operational capabilities.

Find Su Changning and ask about the progress of the Fanyang army.

Su Changning complained bitterly to Xiao Zuokui, saying that Lu Huimi was arrogant and valued his soldiers and generals, and was finding excuses for not sending troops to the west to provide assistance.

Xiao Zuokui said, "The Fanyang Lu family is a powerful clan group headed by the Luoyang Li family. Even if Her Majesty personally orders this matter, it will be useless. The Luoyang Li family needs to make the final decision."

Su Changning suddenly realized that since Her Majesty ascended the throne, she had carried out drastic reforms, and the conflicts with the major aristocratic families had long been like fire and water. He said indignantly: "The aristocratic families are harming the country."

Then he said, "This Luoyang Li family wouldn't be ignorant of the importance of the matter. Once the country is destroyed and they become slaves of a conquered nation, their Luoyang Li family will no longer exist."

Xiao Zuogui pondered and said, "Perhaps the Luoyang Li family also has its own plans. Perhaps the Luoyang Li family wants to take this opportunity to weaken the power of the Emperor Qin family, or perhaps the Luoyang Li family is confident that they can drive out foreign enemies."

Su Changning exclaimed, "The Northern Di have been sharpening their sword for twenty years. The Third Princess of the Northern Di is a powerful general who has swept across the Western Regions. If they were not sure, how could they dare to invade the East? Now that the enemy is so powerful, we should unite to fight the enemy. Why are we still engaging in internal strife and wasting our time?"

Xiao Zuokui remained silent. The Qin family had been the emperor for 200 years and still couldn't solve the problem of family background. What else could he do?

The two were silent for a long time, and Su Changning said softly: "Master Xiao, what should we do now? If Lu Huimi is unwilling to send troops, the troops you have mobilized alone have no chance of retaking Hedong Road from the Beidi army."

Xiao Zuogui sighed and said, "Give Lu Huimi whatever he wants. Reclaiming Hedong Road is the most important thing. Lu Huimi is taking advantage of the situation and we will settle the score later."

Su Changning had no choice but to send people to deliver food and supplies to Fan Yang, and at the same time wrote a letter asking Lu Huimi to receive the supplies and then rush west to provide assistance.

After waiting for more than half a month, Su Changning received a secret letter from Lu Hui, asking for military supplies from Su Changning on the pretext that good horses and heavy armor were needed to fight the Northern Di army in a vast area. In short, he used various excuses to delay sending troops to Hedong.

After reading the letter, Su Changning slammed the table in anger. Not to mention that he didn't have good horses and heavy armor now, even if he did, he would not let Lu Huimi cheat him out of them.

If we continue to waste time like this, it will almost be winter and we will have missed the opportunity to fight.

He found Xiao Zuokui again and they discussed countermeasures.

The result was that Lu Huimi was unreliable. Even if he was willing to send troops, he would be lazy and unwilling to really contribute. The plan was feasible, but there were no soldiers available. The two racked their brains for a whole day, but could not figure out where to dig out the troops.

The next day, a servant came to report that Suzhou Governor Lu Tao wanted to see him. Su Changning was in a very anxious state right now and was in no mood to meet him. However, Lu Tao was a big boss after all, so he had to meet him.

After a few polite words, Lu Tao got to the point: "The war situation on the front line is urgent. The Shuofang Army, the Hedong Army, and Her Majesty the Queen are trapped in Guannei Road by the coalition forces of the Northern Di and Western Rong countries. As the Minister of the Chancellery, how can Lord Su remain indifferent?"

How could Su Changning not know that the problem was serious? He had thought of a solution, but he had no soldiers to use, so he couldn't implement it. He simply asked, "Master Lu, what good plan do you have?"

Lu Tao did not keep the secret and said bluntly: "Of course, we will send troops to Hedong Road, recapture Hedong Road, and relieve the siege of the coalition forces inside the pass."

Lu Tao had been the governor of Suzhou for more than 20 years, and he was also the head of the Lu family, so it was not surprising that he thought the same thing as him. He simply spoke from the heart, "Lord Lu, to be honest with you, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Lord Xiao, and I have made a battle plan to retake Hedong Road more than a month ago. It's a pity that the Fanyang Jiedushi Lu Huimi has his own troops and is unwilling to help in the face of national crisis..."

Su Changning told the whole story that Xiao Zuokui had withdrawn half of his troops from the important area of ​​the capital to prepare for northern aid, but Lu Huimi had twice made perfunctory replies and even cheated him of food, wages and supplies.

After hearing this, Lu Tao laughed and said, "So Lord Su is worried about having no soldiers to use."

"Exactly."

Su Changning listed all the troops in the world and asked, "Sir Lu, besides the Fanyang Army, what other troops are available?"

Lu Tao laughed and said, "Su Changning forgot that there is another Jiedushi?"

Su Changning was puzzled: "Who?"

"Xie Fu, the governor of Huainan Road."

After hearing this, Su Changning said, "Lord Lu, don't joke with me at this moment. Xie Fu, the governor of Huainan Road, has long gone to Lingnan to be a free and easy prince. Although he has not resigned from the post of governor of Huainan Road, it is just an honorary title."

Lu Tao smiled and said, "It is just as Lord Su said."

Su Changning continued, "Even if Master Xie holds real power now, Jiangnan is no different from other important cities. Where can they draw troops to fight on the front lines? Those government soldiers and local garrisons? These troops can fight against bandits and suppress local riots, but they can't even get enough equipment and horses to go to the front line. They will be chopped down by the Northern Di army."

Lu Tao said calmly: "Before Xie Fu went to Lingnan, he sent troops from Jiangnan East Road and Huainan Road in the name of the Huainan Road Jiedushi, allowing the soldiers to disarm and return to the fields, recuperate, and store grain to enrich the people."

Su Changning was stunned for a moment: "Since there are no soldiers, Lord Lu is not going to let those detectives go to the front line to fight, right?"

Lu Tao smiled calmly: "Although these soldiers work in the fields, they are still serving in the military. All they need to do is to call them up, and they will all be soldiers if they put down their hoes and pick up their knives."

Su Changning was surprised: "Are you serious?"

Lu Tao then told about a series of measures taken by Xie Furang, including allowing soldiers to return to the countryside, allowing those who retained their military service to reclaim wasteland for personal use and exempting them from taxes for three years.

Su Changning is now the Minister of State, and he is concerned about state affairs every day. He immediately understood the cleverness of this move and said in surprise, "This is wonderful. Only a genius can come up with such a brilliant move. First, it will relieve the burden of military taxes and allow soldiers to be self-sufficient. Second, it will reduce the tax burden on farmers, making the people rich and the country strong. Third, it will keep soldiers at all times, so they can be farmers in peacetime and soldiers in wartime."

In fact, the military system that combines soldiers and farmers was not the first one to be thought up by Xie Fu. It was the same as the system of military service that originated in the Northern Wei Dynasty and has been used to this day.

The Fubing system sounds good, with soldiers going out as soldiers and civilians returning home, and soldiers hidden in the army. But in reality it was military service forced on farmers.

Just imagine that they usually work in the fields and suddenly have to go to the battlefield empty-handed. How much combat effectiveness can such a temporarily recruited army have? It is no exaggeration to say that they are just a group of mobs.

Such a ragtag army with incomplete equipment might be useful in suppressing riots and eliminating bandits on weekdays.

When they come to the battlefield between countries, how can they fight against those battle-hardened and well-equipped armies? They are afraid that a ragtag army of tens of thousands of people will encounter an elite division of 5,000 people, and seeing the murderous aura emanating from the enemy, they will not even dare to fight and will flee.

Asking farmers to fight a regular war is a joke.

Of course, not all Zhechoufu soldiers were a motley crowd. Some wealthy and famous families raised soldiers in the name of Fubing, and secretly supported them with food and wages, weapons and equipment. They were real armies composed of soldiers, such as Suzhou Zhechoufu and Changzhou Zhechoufu.

However, such an army has become the private army of the wealthy and powerful, and is used by the wealthy and powerful. It is difficult for the imperial court to recruit them to the battlefield.

The Great East Kingdom nominally has ten guards. Apart from the elite troops guarding the capital, only two or three of them can actually be sent to the battlefield, and these two or three are firmly in the hands of local powerful families.

Although Xie Fu's actions seemed similar to the Fubing system, they were actually completely different.

One is a farmer carrying out military service, while the other is a soldier returning to the fields. They are real soldiers, and once they are recruited, they will be a real army.

Lu Tao said in a deep voice: "Really! I have already recruited an army of 60,000 people! I will obey the orders of the court later."

Su Changning was shocked and cried out, "Sir Lu, are your 60,000-man army fully equipped? How strong is it? You know, this is a tough battle, not a riot."

Lu Tao laughed loudly: "These 60,000 people are well-disciplined soldiers, not the mob that Lord Su thinks." He whispered: "Lord Su, I won't hide it from you. These 60,000 people are the wealth of the local leaders of Jiangnan East Road and Huainan Road."

After Lu Tao said this, Su Changning understood that these soldiers were elite private armies cultivated and trained by local wealthy and powerful families at great expense of financial and material resources. They were only called Zhechoufu soldiers in name.

"Lord Lu, are we short of food and equipment?" How can we fight a war without these two things?

Lu Tao smiled faintly: "There are three major granaries in Jiangnan. The Jinling granary, Suzhou granary, and Hangzhou granary are all full. The people have sufficient grain storage at home, and it can be collected at any time without the court having to worry about it."

Su Changning said happily: "Okay, in terms of equipment, I can raise 3,000 war horses for you, 8,000 sets of leather armor, 3,000 sets of infantry armor, cloth back armor, silk armor, and white cloth armor, a total of 11,000 sets."

Armor is not as expensive as weapons. Lu Tao is so loyal to his country, this is the greatest sincerity Su Changning can show.

Lu Tao smiled slightly: "I'm afraid they won't wear it?"

Su Changning was puzzled: "Why is this?"

Lu Tao smiled faintly and said, "The armors worn by these 60,000 soldiers range from Mingguang armor and Chilian armor to Xilin armor and Shanwen armor. How could they be interested in your leather armor and cloth armor, Lord Su?"

"This……"

Su Changning was so shocked that he was speechless. He was completely terrified. There was a huge difference between having armor and not having armor. Today's battle where the outnumbered defeated the larger force was based on excellent equipment.

Seeing Su Changning's expression, Lu Tao couldn't help but feel a little proud: "Not only that, half of the horses he rode came from Wenren Ranch, half of the weapons he used were forged by the Su family of Jiancheng, and the arrowheads he used were armor-piercing arrows made by the Su family of Jiancheng, which can penetrate ordinary armor and kill enemies."

Su Changning opened his mouth in surprise, unable to even utter the word "ah". It was so ordinary that it was no exaggeration to say that he was a soldier from the human world who had transformed into a heavenly soldier.

Why would such an army fear the mighty Northern Di army? One can imagine a scene where they are standing there in armor, being invulnerable to the enemy's swords and spears.

It took him a long time to recover from his shock: "Where can I find so many warhorse armors?"

Lu Tao said lightly: "This is all because Master Xie spent all his family wealth and used his personal connections to buy from everywhere to build such a fully armored division."

Su Changning sighed: "It's hard to imagine, even if the imperial court put all its efforts into it..."

Lu Tao agreed: "Yes, it's unimaginable and amazing. I thought only gods could do it, but it's actually right in front of us."

"Good! Good! Good!" Su Changning said three good words in a row. As a literati and a civil servant, his blood boiled with the desire to become a general and a soldier.