Xu Yuan, the newly appointed commander of the First Military Region of the Han Kingdom, secretly came to Huining.

Once the most popular candidate for the commander of the First Military Region, He Lanxiong unexpectedly took the initiative to ask to go to the Third Military Region, far away from the center of the Han Dynasty and the core of power, and afterwards many people thought that He Lanxiong's initiative to give up was more out of political considerations, because his sister was the princess of the Han Dynasty, and his nephew was the second heir to the Han Dynasty, and he himself was regarded as the flag bearer by the Huns. It has also been appreciated by many people.

As for Xu Yuan, more people think that he is stained with the light that He Lanxiong took the initiative to seek, so that he can successfully become the commander of the First Military Region, this kind of rumor not only makes Xu Yuan extremely unhappy. As the former commander of the Northern Group Army, Xu Yuan thinks that he is not inferior to Helanxiong in the battle of military exploits, and his northern army is the main force in the battle of quelling Donghu, while Helanxiong's Eastern Army is just a side battlefield.

However, rumors and other people's opinions will not change because of Xu Yuan's grievances, so after Xu Yuan took office, he decided to use a big victory to prove that he deserved his name as the commander of the First Military Region.

The opponent he chose was Xizhao Shanggu County.

At the beginning of his tenure, Xu Yuan ordered the Military Intelligence Bureau branch under the First Military Region to concentrate all its efforts on collecting military and economic intelligence on Western Zhao, especially Li Mingjun's department in Shanggu County, if Shanggu could be taken, then the Han army or the Eastern Zhao army could face Jinyang County, the current ruling core of Western Zhao, and Jinyang County was threatened. The Qin people will inevitably not be able to sit still, and they will be able to contain more of the Qin army's forces. However, Xu Yuan's ability to mobilize troops was limited, because a large-scale mobilization of troops and horses would inevitably attract the attention of the Western Zhao and Qin armies, and if the suddenness was lost, the battle would lose its meaning.

Because a protracted war is likely to trigger a large-scale frontal confrontation between Han and Qin, but this is not what the Han court wants.

The current Han is also eventful, and Xu Yuan is naturally very clear.

Hundreds of thousands of guards were dismantled, Yatou was cast, and the arrest was fast. This is a complicated and difficult job, because this matter will inevitably smash many people's rice bowls, and many of them have been accustomed to eating this bowl of rice since Qianyan, and there will definitely be discordant notes. The establishment of the central bank and the issuance of currency are now the top priorities of the Han court. The commander of the military region is really incompetent.

Therefore, in this battle, he can use the troops and horses to the limit, and the speed of the attack must be fast, and he must act with lightning speed and then end the battle. Before the people of the Qin State had time to react, the dust had already settled.

That's why he came to Huining.

Huining's garrison was not a Han army, but an Eastern Zhao army that came to assist in the defense, led by Zhou Changshou's nephew Zhou Zilong.

For Zhou Changshou's identity, in Dahan at present. It's still a top secret, not many people know about it, Zhou Changshou is now the first assistant of Dongzhao. In fact, he is the actual controller of Dong Zhao, as for Zhao Wuji, the king of Zhao, the only thing now is to be drunk and dreaming of death, and his footprints are not enough for the palace. And Zhou Changshou's real identity is a councilor of the Han Dynasty, which Gao Yuan personally promised to him, in order to reward him for his great contributions in the change of the Zhao State, when the Zhao State was justifiably included in the territory of the Han Dynasty, it was also the time when Zhou Changshou officially took office.

The reason why the Eastern Zhao is not included in the territory of the Han Dynasty is that it will not cause a strong domestic backlash in the Zhao State, and the second is also a strategic buffer with the Qin State. Second, if Eastern Zhao was included in the territory of the Han State, it would inevitably implement the national policy of the Han State in a unified manner, and the current situation of the Zhao State was likely to cause a large-scale revolt by the Zhao gentry, and the result was likely to outweigh the losses, requiring the Han State to spend a lot of energy, manpower, and material resources to quell these disputes.

Let Dong Zhao exist, and use Zao Wouji as a puppet. Let Zhou Changshou actually rule, little by little, slowly implement the national policy of the Han State, and let the Zhao people do these things, compared to the Han people to do it, the effect is much better, and the resistance will be much weaker.

Sure enough, under the leadership of Zhou Changshou, Zhao began to comprehensively reform from the political, military, and economic top, Zhou Changshou's slogan is to make the weak Zhao State strong again, and to re-become strong, it is natural to implement reforms, and the powerful Han State is on his side, it is a ready-made example, Zhou Changshou almost copied all the policies of the Han State, and the rebellion will be bloodily suppressed, due to the existence of Zhao Wouji, the domestic resistance has never formed a climate, and it has been divided by Zhou Changshou, co-opted, and broken, Now, more than a year has passed, and Zhou Changshou has achieved a lot of success.

The first reform is the army, the army adopted the Han State's establishment method, like Zhou Zilong's 5,000-strong army, it was transformed into a division, with Zhou Zilong as the division commander, under the regiment, battalion, company and platoon, and this army is also the most powerful force in Eastern Zhao, all the weapons and equipment are from the Han State, if it is not for their banner is still the Zhao State, at a glance, this is a living Zhao army. The reason why this Eastern Zhao army came to Huining to assist in the defense was actually because the Eastern Group Army suffered heavy losses in a battle with Li Xin, although it had been replenished, but faced with a long border line from Shannan County to Dai County, and the troops were seriously insufficient, Gao Yuan issued an order and asked Zhou Changshou to send an army to Huining to assist in the defense. Zhou Changshou did not dare to slack off, and immediately sent the most powerful force under his command.

In Xu Yuan's heart, Dongzhao's army was the army of the Han State, and of course, it was also under his command, and this time Xu Yuan's plan planned this army into it.

Standing on the tall review platform in the barracks, watching the drill of this army, Xu Yuan nodded slightly, this army is really as Zhou Changshou said, it is a strong force, at least on the drill field, their performance on the drill field is no worse than the Han army. I just don't know what it's like to go to the battlefield?

"Commander, can you still see what you do?" Zhou Zilong, who was standing beside Xu Yuan, looked at Xu Yuandao with some smugness.

Xu Yuan nodded slightly: "It's not bad, at least it can be called a good thing, as for whether it can fight, it has to be tested on the battlefield to know." ”

Zhou Zilong stiffened slightly, and the smile on his face suddenly froze.

"You don't feel uncomfortable." Xu Yuan turned his head to look at him and said, "A soldier who looks powerful on the training ground may not be able to win a battle, if you talk about the state of your troops during training, I dare to say." Even the King's Young Guards Legion can't compare, and Yang Dasha's model division usually looks very lazy, but when it comes to fighting, it is the most powerful. A real desperate Saburo. Only when you have seen blood, there is a group of veterans who crawled out of the pile of death, and the grassroots officers make the skeleton, then it is called an elite soldier. ”

"The commander is right, but many of this army came back from Wei, and they also fought old battles with the Qin army back then. Now it has been reorganized according to the army of the Great Han. It is truly like an arm and a finger, and you can do whatever you want. ”

Xu Yuan smiled, "I hope so, I will give you a chance to prove yourself." But you're a pretty good soldier. It is the essence of my Han army. ”

Zhou Zilong said with a smile: "My subordinates studied at Jishi City Military University for half a year, and it was an order issued by the king himself. ”

"Oh, you've been at Jishi City Military University, so you also use my Han's infantry drill code for military training, right?" Xu Yuan's demeanor suddenly became much more affectionate.

"Yes." Zhou Zilong nodded.

"Then it's no wonder. This army, after a few more wars, will definitely become a hundred refined soldiers. He looked Zhou Zilong up and down. said with a smile: "General Zhou Changshou's sons are not very angry, you are one of the outstanding, no wonder he vigorously supports you." ”

"In the future, I have to ask the commander to promote more." Zhou Zilong said.

Xu Yuan laughed, "As long as you make more military achievements, are you still afraid that there will be no future, okay, let your troops disband, go back to the camp, it's freezing this day, let them have a good rest, and we'll go back and talk again." ”

Back to Zhou Zilong's big tent, to Xu Yuan's surprise, there was not even a brazier in Zhou Zilong's big tent, and the temperature in the house was not much different from the outside.

"Why don't you even have a fire?" Xu Yuan frowned slightly, "Is it a shortage of military supplies?" That can't be a loss to you, the main general. ”

"No, it's the last general who didn't let them send fire to this tent, other soldiers' tents are all there, my uncle used to say that I was too angry, so the last general also wanted to hone and hone himself, this cold weather can make the last general's head more sober, and he didn't dare to slack off in the slightest, but I didn't expect the commander to come over today, I immediately asked them to send the brazier." Zhou Zilong hurriedly explained.

Xu Yuan laughed, "You are quite interesting, forget the brazier, I think when I was in Hetao Pioneer City, the temperature was much lower than here, it was really dripping into ice, to tell a joke, you pee outside the tent, all you hear is the sound of clanging landing, because the urine has not yet landed, it has been condensed into ice." ”

"Is it really that cold?" Zhou Zilong said.

"Have you ever experienced that many of our brothers did not die on the battlefield, but were frozen to death in the wilderness, and when they fell asleep, they never woke up." Xu Yuan was a little sad. "Forget it, let's get down to business."

Xu Yuan rubbed his hands, "I'm going to fight, the starting point is here, the target is Li Mingjun of Shanggu County, in the spring of next year, I will completely defeat Li Mingjun and take Shanggu County." ”

Zhou Zilong's mouth suddenly opened into an O-shape, and he looked at Xu Yuan blankly: "Commander, from us?" How many soldiers do I have here? Are you ready to mobilize an army? ”

Zhou Zilong was a little puzzled, because the news he got from his uncle was that the Han Dynasty had no intention of starting a war in the near future, but wanted to concentrate on handling several major domestic affairs first.

"There will be no large-scale mobilization of troops, Li Mingjun is not a fool, Lu Chao is even more cunning than a fox, large-scale mobilization of troops, but it will be a surprise, besides, now I basically have no troops to adjust, the country is undergoing a large-scale reorganization of the army, and everything has not yet returned to the right track."

"How?" Zhou Zilong swallowed a mouthful of saliva, could it be that he could still rely on his own soldiers? Or transfer troops from Zhao again, isn't that the same thing?

"Isn't there your 5,000 soldiers here!" Xu Yuan smiled and looked at Zhou Zilong's somewhat pale face, "Didn't you say just now that you wanted to make a contribution, why is your face white now, sweating down, it's hot?" ”

Zhou Zilong smiled bitterly: "The commander is really joking, I'm not afraid of death, but I only have 5,000 people here, and Li Mingjun on the opposite side has 50,000 people, even if I can fight again, I can't kill the other party!" ”

"Of course, it's not just your troops, taking advantage of this winter, I have secretly ordered Gu Li's Xiongnu independent cavalry division to arrive at you in phases and batches, the first batch should be led by General Gu Li to arrive tomorrow night, your task is to hide them in your barracks, until the attack is launched after the beginning of spring, they will act as the vanguard of the attack, and your five thousand troops will follow them to occupy the city, this task is not difficult, right?"

Zhou Zilong took a long breath: "It's not difficult to hide them in the camp, but what about the logistics materials, the Xiongnu Independent Cavalry Division is an army of 5,000 people, people eat horses and chew, and the daily consumption is extremely amazing, and it can't be hidden from those who have a heart." ”

"So don't you take advantage of the Chinese New Year to transfer them over!" Xu Yuan nodded, "You can think of this problem, it's very good, taking advantage of the excuse of the New Year, you first gather a large amount of grain, and pull it in in the name of the New Year's Festival materials, you also know the fancy here, I don't need to say more, after the New Year, Huining's county commander Sun Xiang will organize people to send a batch of materials in the name of the labor army, and it will be almost the same." In addition to the Xiongnu Independent Cavalry Division, the Donghu Independent Cavalry Division will also be put into the battlefield at the corresponding time, the main force of this war is these two cavalry divisions, and your task is to hold the fruits of their victory steadily. ”

"The Admiral understands."

"This plan, no more than ten people know about it at the moment, you are one of them, you can't mention this plan to anyone, including your uncle, when the war officially starts, I will inform your uncle." Xu Yuan said: "It's not that I don't believe your uncle, but because your uncle is the target of everyone, I don't know how many people are staring at him, you understand?" ”

"The last will understand."

Xu Yuan stood up and patted Zhou Zilong on the shoulder, "I hope you can justifiably become a member of my Han army as soon as possible." (To be continued......)