Three Kingdoms: Ancestors of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 215 Preparations before the war
After dealing with the seizure of Li Yan's military power, and confirming the exact time of Cao Wei's invasion, Ji Han's military machine began to run crazily.

The Hanzhong Dudufu constantly dispatched spies to go deep into Weidi to find out the latest information.

Chengdu's requirements for corvée collection, and documents for the collection of grain and grass were continuously issued to counties and counties in various places.

After Zhuge Liang in Chengdu received Liu Chan's letter, he became very busy.

There are currently 20,000 troops in Northern Xinjiang, 40,000 people in Hanzhong, and [-] people in Longyou.It seems that there are a lot of troops, but they are actually distributed to various pass counties and counties, very few.

The 20,000 people in Hanzhong are distributed in the three counties of Wudu, Hanzhong, and Ankang under its jurisdiction. There are 5000 people in Ankang County, 3000 people in Wudu County, and 10,000 taels in Hanzhong County. There are not enough troops to defend the Qinling Mountains.

The same is true for the 40,000 people in Longyou. It is connected to the Guanzhong in the east, and there are many main roads to and fro. Thousands of soldiers are stationed at each pass, and nearly 20,000 people go here.It borders Liangzhou in the north and Qiang people in the west. Wei Yan, the captain of the Qiang guard, went to another 5000 people.In addition to the garrisons in various counties, 40,000 people can only be said to be barely enough.

This time, the Han Dynasty has dispatched [-] soldiers from Jiangzhou to the north, and then it will need to send [-] troops from the Chinese army to the north.

It seems that there are 120,000 soldiers and horses on the surface, but after excluding the soldiers stationed in various places and soldiers transporting food, it is very good to have about [-] soldiers and horses to fight.

So this time to defend against Cao Wei's attack, the food and grass required are extremely huge, and [-] Chinese troops will be dispatched from the whole country to help defend Qinzhou.

After all, a year ago, Ji Han had just come out to capture Longyou; a year later, the whole country would go out again to resist Cao Wei's attack.This is a very big test for Ji Han's logistics.

Therefore, the first thing Zhuge Liang did was to find Chang Shi Zhang Yi, Jiang Wan who joined the army, Si Yan Xiaowei Cen Shu, Si Zhi Pan Jun and others.

"Jun Si (Character Zhang Yi), how are you preparing for the food and grass needed for the 120,000 army?" Zhuge Liang asked after sitting on the case.

Zhang Yi was agile in management, and was praised by Xu Jing as being comparable to Cao Wei Zhongyou.

During Zhuge Liang's Southern Expedition to South Central and Northern Expedition to Longyou, Zhang Yi was the head of the residence, responsible for the government affairs of Chengdu and raising food and grass for the military.

Zhang Yi is also conscientious, not daring to live up to Zhuge Liang's kindness, and solve Zhuge Liang's worries for the future.

But what is interesting is that Zhang Yi, the second in command of the inner government, is from Chengdu, Shu County, not a scholar from Jingzhou as everyone thinks.

"I would like to report to the Prime Minister that as far as Hanzhong's [-] troops are concerned, there is no need to worry about food and grass for the time being. At present, Hanzhong's military rations can still supply the [-] troops for more than four months."

"It's just that there is not much rations left in Longyou, only two months left. Because Longyou has not been restored for a long time, the local supply is difficult. The food and grass are supplied by Ba and Shu, and they are transported to Longyou by the white waterway..." Zhang Yi told the basic situation.

"Then is there enough food and grass for the Chinese army at present?" Zhuge Liang frowned slightly and asked the key point.

"Zu Ye, I have distributed documents to various places for the food and grass needed by the Chinese army to march out, so that counties and granaries in various places can provide it along the way." Zhang Yi replied respectfully.

"That's enough. The remaining food and grass after the deployment of the Chinese army needs to be transported to Longyou and Hanzhong as soon as possible to solve the urgent need. The army's morale should not be shaken by the military food." Zhuge Liang stroked his beard and said.

"No! The Nanzhong military rations mobilized by the Laijiang Dudufu from the Nanzhong counties are already on the way. Please rest assured, the Prime Minister, there will be no shortage of military rations." Zhang Yi assured.

Zhuge Liang saw his eyes fall on Cen Shu again, and asked, "Yuan Jian, how is the delivery of grain and grass going?"

Cen Shu took out a scarf from his bosom, presented it to Zhuge Liang, and said respectfully: "I have reported to the prime minister that the route for transporting grain and the number of corvees issued by various places have been prepared. The grain and grass purchased from Soochow have also been along the Yangba Road. Go north, transport large quantities to Hanzhong, and hoard grain and grass."

When the war horses and Shu brocades of the Han Dynasty were sold to Soochow, they were basically exchanged for grain and grass and transported back to Yizhou as Yongan or Hanzhong military rations.

Hearing this, Zhuge Liang nodded, his expression slightly relaxed, his biggest worry was relieved, and he could resist Cao Wei with peace of mind.

The supply of military rations this time was a little easier than during the Northern Expedition to Longyou.After all, when fighting in the territory, the escort task is relatively simple, and the transportation distance is relatively short.

Although Longyou Cong has just recovered, the farming work has not been delayed, and a small number of sergeants can still provide food and grass.In addition, there are soldiers stationed in the area to garrison fields, and the military rations produced in the garrison fields can also supply some soldiers.Adding the two together, the pressure on Yizhou to supply Longyou is relatively small, not as great as before.

Zhuge Liang exhorted: "Yuan Jian, Jun Si, you two still need to work together to handle this matter together, and don't manage politics because of personal likes and dislikes."

Obviously, Liu Chan's words of persuasion in the court did not ease the relationship between the two.

"No!" Cen Shu and Zhang Yi responded in unison.

"Bochu (Pu Yuan character), how is the progress of cavalry vests? How many pairs of vests can be used by cavalry before the war?" Zhuge Liang looked at Pu Yuan and asked.

Puyuan, whose character is Bochu, is also from Qionglai.The talent of forging was appreciated by Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang.

"Pu" and "Pu" are also similar. Pu Yuan was a descendant of Pu in the pre-Qin Dynasty. He lived in Qionglai for generations, and his family was engaged in iron smelting.

In the first year of Zhangwu, Lao Liu once ordered Pu Yuan to mine iron in Jinniu Mountain, and made [-] knives. He took refined iron to forge eight swords and distributed them to his three sons and senior ministers.

"I will report to the Prime Minister that I will go to Longyou many times this summer to try out vests with Ma Shiling (Ma Dai). After making a sample armor, I will send it to Muyuan. Ma Shiling is full of praise, and chooses a fine horse in Muyuan. After trying it out, with double stirrups, stirrups and horseshoes, both men and horses wear armor, and the impact is astonishing. After many times of tailoring the sample armor, it was finalized and built, and currently there are thirteen sets of armor." Pu Yuan was a little flustered, but still kept his mind, Respectfully replied.

After a pause, Pu Yuan said: "If the prime minister rushes to make, within three months, Chengdu can make ten sets, Tianshui can make eight sets, and you can get eighteen sets, plus the previous thirteen sets, a total of 31 sets." Heavy armor."

Qiang cavalry is good at using spears to charge in battle. Ma Dai combined double stirrups, stirrups and horseshoes, thinking that both men and horses can wear armor.Zhuge Liang knew that armor and riding gear were very useful, so he asked Pu Yuan to cooperate with Ma Dai in making armor.

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while, and asked, "What is the current progress of the three thousand Han swords made in Hanzhong?"

Pu Yuan frowned slightly, and said: "The Han water is blunt and weak, and it is not allowed to be quenched. After the prime minister was informed, [-] Han knives were handed over to Qionglai and other places for casting, and they were quenched with the water of the Shu River. The water of the Shu River is refreshing. It is said that the essence of great gold is not comparable to Hanshui. At present, there are still five hundred Han swords that have not been made."

"Suspend the manufacture of vests in Chengdu and Tianshui. The vests are difficult to make, so we postpone this matter. At present, we are going all out to make armors, weapons, and spears. There is no rush for vests."

"No!" Pu Yuan replied.

Zhuge Liang also had some calculations in his mind, this time it was a defensive battle, the Qinling Mountains and Longshan Mountains are both mountainous areas, it is difficult for cavalry, it is a place for infantry to use their weapons.

It is difficult for heavy armored cavalry to show their skills, so it is better to delay and use this heavy cavalry when we attack Cao Wei again.

(End of this chapter)