The Six Arts of the Gentleman in the Bright Moon of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 904: Slow Progress [Subscription*Monthly Ticket Request]

"Zilong has kept the secret from us for so long!" Liang Che smiled and patted Fusu's shoulder. Then he realized belatedly that his behavior was a little inappropriate.

"Thank you for your care, old master." Fusu didn't care and held Liang Che's shoulder with a smile.

"Report the results of the battle to the central army." said the captain of the Feng army.

After the war, their reserve battalion finally regained their glory and washed away the shame.

What's more, they have Prince Fusu in their reserve camp. Even if they have been humiliated, the Imperial Guards and the Central Army Headquarters will not be too harsh on them.

The army returned triumphantly to the reserve camp.

The heads of Maodun's own troops also became trophies and sacrifices to comfort all the soldiers of the reserve camp and the flag-guarding camp who died in battle.

However, Fusu still followed Bai Feng back to the central army headquarters under the protection of a column of the reserve camp.

The task of escorting was naturally given to the Ninth Column.

The reserve camp was also well aware that if one person succeeded, the whole family would benefit. The Ninth Column would most likely disappear from the reserve camp and become Fusu's exclusive guard.

But it doesn’t matter. At least, in the future their reserve camp will have a backer and someone in the court!

"Greetings to the eldest son!"

In the central army camp, Meng Tian and others had received a message in advance and knew that Fusu's identity had been exposed and that they would return to the central army camp together, so they were ready to welcome him.

"Generals, please stand up!" Fusu was not arrogant and humbly helped Meng Tian up.

Meng Tian looked at Fusu and smiled slightly. At least he acknowledged Fusu's experience in the military.

Although he made some mistakes, even if he were in Fusu's position, he would make the same choice as Fusu under the circumstances at that time.

No one expected that Maodun would be so good at fighting and so bold as to risk everything.

All we can say is that Fusu’s mistakes were the optimal solutions obtained through hindsight and cannot be considered Fusu’s fault.

After returning to the central army tent, Fusu did not take over and sit in the main seat of the central army.

"Your Majesty has not given Fusu any other appointment, so Fusu can just sit on the side and listen!" Fusu took the initiative to sit in the last seat.

Meng Tian hesitated for a moment, but did not hesitate. He nodded and looked at the generals around him.

"Zhao Zilong, the supervisor of the 9th column of the Shanzi Division of the Red Flame Cavalry Reserve Battalion, come forward and listen to the order!"

"Zhao Zilong is here!" Fusu didn't expect that Meng Tian would call him again just after he finished speaking.

"Wipe out Maodun's headquarters, capture Maodun's head, report the merit according to the law, and promote him to deputy general of the Jiazi Division of the Red Flame Cavalry Vanguard Army!" Meng Tian continued.

The person who captured Maodun's head would be promoted two levels. This was already decided and was not a preferential treatment given to Fusu because of his status.

He was promoted from the column supervisor to the deputy general of the corps, skipping the column commander Wubaizu and being promoted to the deputy general of the corps.

The only preferential treatment was that he was transferred from the reserve battalion to the vanguard army which had more military merits and stronger strength.

"Thank you, General!" Fusu hurriedly saluted and took the new identity token.

"The entire ninth column of the Mountain Division and the second column of the Fire Division of the Red Flame Cavalry Reserve Camp will be promoted one level and will be arranged separately by the Central Army Shogunate." Meng Tian continued.

"Thank you, General!" The 500 commanders of the 9th and 2nd columns who came to receive the reward all stepped forward to express their gratitude.

After the reward was given, Meng Tian didn’t do much else and began his daily strategic meetings and deployments.

Compared with the big battlefield, Maodun's isolated army was really nothing, and was not worth the central army's special targeting. If Maodun had not killed Meng Fang, the chief general of the reserve camp, it would not even have attracted the attention of the central army.

Fusu also sat quietly in the last seat, listening to the discussions and strategies of the military commanders and shogunate counselors.

It was not until after the meeting that Meng Tian spoke to Fusu in private.

"What do you think of the military training over the past six months?" Meng Tian asked with a smile.

"Weapons are dangerous tools. The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. We cannot underestimate any enemy!" Fusu said with deep understanding.

Meng Tian nodded. Bingzhou was not afraid of failure, but was afraid of not knowing how to summarize.

"anything else?"

Fusu hesitated, he knew that Meng Tian was testing him.

"The army's advance seems to be a bit slow!" Fusu thought for a while and said in a low voice, which seemed to be blaming Meng Tian.

After all, all the previous battles in Bingzhou were invasions and all the wars would end within half a year, unlike now, where it took nearly half a year to advance into half of the Donghu's territory.

"The best strategy is to destroy the enemy's plans, the next best is to destroy their alliances. Although the Red Flame Cavalry is extremely brave and can directly defeat the Donghu, too many people will die!" Meng Tian sighed and said slowly, "Winter is coming, and heavy snow is coming too!"

Fusu was shocked and looked at Meng Tian in a daze.

He finally understood why Meng Tian and the Red Flame Cavalry were advancing so slowly.

The Red Flame Cavalry can be as aggressive as fire, and can even directly flatten the Donghu royal court, but the result is that the Red Flame Cavalry and the army will not have enough time to gather the Donghu tribes. When winter comes, the Donghu tribes dare not appear in their original wintering places, and they have no winter reserve food and fodder.

By the time winter is over, the number of people who have frozen to death or starved to death in the entire Donghu will probably exceed more than half of the total population of Donghu, with only one in ten left!

"War is only a means, not an end!" Meng Tian once again taught Fusu a profound lesson.

"What Wangcheng wants is the rich Donghu, the Donghu population and the abundant water and grass pastures, not the thousand-mile ghost den."

"If you can't even understand the purpose of the Royal City, even if you win this battle, when it comes time to commend the army, the Imperial Household, the Prime Minister's Office, the Censorate and His Majesty will not give too much credit to the entire army!"

When an army goes out to war, it not only wants to win a great victory, but also win beautifully.

It's the same victory, but when it comes to commending merits after the war, the specific amount of merit you get is actually decided by the decision makers in the royal city. Although they won't suppress you deliberately, they can only give you the minimum guaranteed military merit, and you won't receive commendations from the three armed forces.

It’s like in a war to annihilate a country, everyone is promoted three levels, which is the minimum guarantee of military merit, but are these three levels skipping the three levels of deputy positions or the three levels of full-time positions?
For example, the promotion of titles, after becoming a doctor, is not only based on the number of people counted, but also requires military merit. As for the size of the military merit, it depends on the above meaning.

Fusu grew up in the royal city and served as regent for a short period of time. Naturally, he knew the ins and outs of it, but he just didn't know the specific operations.

Now that Meng Tian explained it to him, Fusu was able to wake up quickly.

Bingzhou does not need to rush to destroy Donghu. What Wangcheng needs is to advance steadily, continuously erode Donghu, and ensure the maximum population of Donghu.

It was precisely because of this that Meng Tian chose to advance slowly and conquer as much territory and population of the Donghu as possible.

Wang Cheng had the same idea, so after the vanguard army captured the city and defeated Zuo Xianwang's troops, he first established Changshan County instead of waiting until after the war to establish a county governance.

(End of this chapter)