Chapter 528: Sacrifice

The welcoming ceremony was grand and grand, but in any case, Jiamen Town was still on the front line of the confrontation between the two armies, Ye Tao and everyone gathered in the yamen hall of Jiamen Town, and after telling everyone some words, the gathered crowd dispersed. Only the leaders with the highest status, who could represent the entire tribal alliance, stayed together. Otherwise, with Ye Tao's understanding of all the tribes in remote areas, their enthusiasm for the guests who came from afar was almost the same, and if they greeted and celebrated in a tribal way, it would be a trivial matter to make trouble for three or four days.

And now, after the welcoming ceremony, Ye Tao only rested for an hour, and then reconvened everyone in the yamen hall for a military intelligence meeting. Ye Tao's understanding of this battlefield came almost entirely from intelligence and military intelligence reports on paper, as well as letters from Tan Weiran, Chi Lei and others. This kind of understanding is not very deep in any case, although Ye Tao has no intention of interfering with the absolute command of Tan Weiran and Chi Lei, in fact, he may not need to listen to a detailed military intelligence report, but the first item on the agenda of the military conference is this. Chi Lei gave a detailed introduction to the development of the entire Northeast Front so far, as well as the current situation. On the one hand, Tan Weiran and Chi Lei thought that Ye Tao, as the supreme commander of the entire war against Liao, was at the critical moment of adjusting the combat strategy, and it was necessary to know more about the situation, and in addition, they also had the intention of acting to show those tribal leaders. They are in the tribal alliance, and in the whole battle, they are completely one and the same, and they are in charge of life and death, and the tribes all bow down. But people like them, in front of Ye Tao, still have to do things respectfully and completely as subordinates, that is, they are sending a clear signal to the tribal leaders: If you want to rely on one or two authoritative figures to support your own army, you can't even think about it in Dongping.

And since there is such a meaning in the military discussion, after introducing the military situation, Ye Tao casually asked about the construction of people's livelihood very cooperatively, and the topic naturally brought to the development of the Dongping occupied area. After a winter, and a whole process from sowing to summer harvest, Dongping's rule was quite stable. The large-scale construction of basic farmland and water conservancy, the repair of roads and bridges, etc., can make the eyes of these tribal leaders who can also be said to be rich and rich...... In their view, these things are the hallmarks of an advanced civilization. And Ye Tao will naturally lose no time in agreeing that once the war is over, these tribes can also enjoy the fruits of construction.

At present, the tribal alliance and the Northern Liao army are facing each other in a wide area, and both sides lack sufficient troops to form a clear battle line, completely blocking the enemy's infiltration and attacks from the battle line. After the large-scale march in the direction of Yunzhou began, Northern Liao had to transfer more than 30,000 elite troops from this side to supplement the needs of the frontal battlefield, but Tan Weiran and Chi Lei always controlled the scale of the operation. On the way to the coast, considering the safety of the port supply, it is basically Chi Lei with a huge amount of absolute elite troops, especially the troops directly under Dongping, and you have invested more than 50,000 people in the Northern Liao side, and launched a fierce offensive, but there is no way back. At present, although the defense of the coast has been reduced to only 6,000 men and three towns, it has always been as stable as a mountain because of the airships in the air and the gunboats on the sea. I'm afraid the Northern Liao side doesn't even have the courage to try again.

The middle lane is the battlefield where the two sides are fighting the most. On the one hand, the tribal alliance army around the fortress, backed by the gradually forming fortress, continued to carry out active and flexible operations, and on the other hand, the Northern Liao army tried to organize large, small and large-scale offensives, wanting to encroach on the strength of the tribal alliance and force the coalition army to abandon the construction of Tianmeng City. The Northern Liao side also knew that a simple tribal alliance was not terrible, and even if it could achieve temporary results, it would eventually be forced to retreat to the place where their tribe was located due to the problems of environment, climate, and living habits. But if the tribal alliance succeeds in building Tianmeng City, echoing the already large-scale seaport, then they can gain a firm foothold here, and the pressure of the environment, climate, etc., can be transferred to the various facilities of this city to dissolve. Even though for most of the warriors of the tribal coalition, it will take a process of adaptation and learning to move from tribal life to town life all at once, but the process will obviously not be painful.

On the other side of the coalition army, there is not much defensive force, but due to the patrol of the airship, the Northern Liao has no way to take advantage of it, although there will occasionally be troops on both sides to test each other along the way, but the scale and intensity are not large. However, recently, due to the inability to open the situation on the other two roads, the Northern Liao side has begun to use its brains here, preparing a large army to bypass this wing and penetrate directly into the back of Tianmeng City, forcing the tribal alliance to conduct a battle, hoping to use their superiority in strength to decide the outcome of the battle on this road. Although the tribal coalition forces are still at a disadvantage in terms of strength and overall combat strength, they have fought all the way to the present and know how to pursue advantages and avoid disadvantages. Although the Northern Liao side arranged such a plan, in terms of the execution of the plan, the Northern Liao and Dongping were not at the same level at all. It has been more than a month since the offensive plan for Northern Liao was promulgated, and the deployment of troops and logistical preparations have not been completed, and it will be at least ten days and half a month before the offensive is launched. What about the tribal coalition side? After learning of the Northern Liao's plan, within three days there was a plan to retreat step by step and to find fighters for a decisive battle in the midst of constant weakening and harassment; in less than 10 days, military orders and detailed operational arrangements had been communicated to every unit, and tactical seminars for officers at and above the middle level had been held three or four times. The mobilization of all kinds of materials has already been completed, and even the new batch of telescopes to be transferred from Yicheng has almost arrived. Different efficiency and different attitudes will undoubtedly produce results that are completely different from those of the Northern Liao.

Ye Tao's introduction to these situations was just a little listening. Subsequently, it was Kanazawa who introduced the new operational deployment. Jin Ze is still the battalion leader of Ye Tao's personal guard battalion, and it is a little rusty to do this kind of staff officer's thing, and his identity is actually not suitable. But everyone present obviously doesn't care too much about this issue. The new combat strategy is still very simple to say, and what Ye Tao needs now is just an attitude of the tribal alliance: if they think it is feasible, then the detailed plan will be issued soon, and if they feel that it is difficult, it is not that there is no other way to choose. Ye Tao would never forcibly impose any of his own ideas on others, forcing others to accept them, especially this time, once the new combat strategy is implemented, the tribal alliance will have to be mentally prepared to pay considerable losses.

"I guess everyone understands, right?" Ye Tao asked. After Kanazawa finished speaking, the clan leaders were a little confused, and they talked to each other for a while, and then the hall was quiet again. Ye Tao looked at everyone and felt that the reactions of these clan leaders were really a little strange.

"I wonder what the marshal is going to let us do?" A majestic old leader wearing a suit of armor made in Yunzhou asked questions on behalf of everyone.

"Below the Jingluo Mansion, you probably understand what I mean, after all, it has been under my rule for many years. I'm afraid you don't know yet. When doing things in Yunzhou, it has always been difficult to say in front, just do it, and if it doesn't work, you can't do it...... There is no such thing as verbally swearing and then recovering responsibility. I don't think it's easy for the tribal alliance to become the initiator of this battle, and to gather a strong army to shake the Northern Liao head-on. So, I'd like to hear from you on whether it's feasible. Ye Tao smiled and said, "That's all." ”

Tan Weiran leaned over to Ye Tao and prompted: "This old man is called Liyang, and he is the highest-ranking great elder in the tribal alliance. ”

Ye Tao nodded and asked, "Elder Liyang, what do you think?" ”

Liyang stood up, bowed deeply, and said, "Actually, I understand what Dashuai means." The tribal alliance is different from the Dongping army...... We can feel it too. When it comes to fighting, we originally thought that all we lacked in so many tribal warriors was good swords and good armor, but now it seems that this is not the case at all. We're far from fighting. In normal times, there is more training, less fighting, and if there is any trouble, the two generals still like to take their headquarters out to fight. This one...... We see it. The general did not look down on us, but sympathized with us and did not want us to suffer too many casualties...... Indeed, it is not easy for the tribal alliance to raise tens of thousands. Many small tribes gathered thirty or fifty soldiers to join the army, and there were almost no young and strong men in the tribe. But everybody's still coming. To be able to fight against Northern Liao, completely annihilate the great enemy of the times, and be ashamed of it, this is the common wish of all the tribes living in the old forest. At all costs. Dashuai, I know...... You are also worried that the casualties are too heavy, our population is already small, and it is not easy to recover...... However, my lord, you don't know, if it weren't for the arrival of the Dongping army and the continuous transportation of food and medicinal materials from the port, the life of the tribe would have been almost unsustainable. The Northern Liao took us and took us, and we had almost nothing...... Although some tribes have been killed in battles this year because of the war, this year, the population of almost all tribes has increased...... At least it's the same as before, and it's not reluctant at all. Our soldiers did not freeze to death and starve to death, did not die in the hands of the Liao people with wooden sticks and stone hammers for no reason, did not die because the little sick could not be treated, and now it is the best life for us people for many years...... In the battle of Liao, it is our glory to be able to take us as the vanguard. It is incumbent upon us to do so. ”

As soon as Li Yang said this, Ye Tao also understood, if he talked about the size of the loss, I am afraid that these clan leaders would be unhappy. Ye Tao was also a little surprised, these tribes, and the tribes on the Benwolf Plain, have a huge difference in living habits, but they are all simple and strong blood in their bones. They will give the same in return for how others treat them. Ye Tao has always regarded these tribes as barbarians, as objects that can be bullied and used at will, but as partners and as a force under his command that can be taken into account, which in itself is a great kindness.

"Well, starting tomorrow, in addition to the troops that have been trained now, the tribal coalition army will concentrate on training 30,000 troops. Four battalions of light infantry, two battalions of heavy infantry, and four battalions of cavalry, let's follow this ratio. I'll let the Yicheng side complete the equipment as quickly as possible. Ye Tao pondered for a moment and finally made a decision.

"Thirty thousand people...... Another leader jumped out and said: "Dashuai, this is too little, sixty or seventy thousand, we still make up it." ”

Liyang glared at the man, and the leader retreated. Liyang felt a little embarrassed. But Ye Tao didn't care. He kindly explained, "There are too many people to fight, and I can't fight it." Rest assured, 30,000 people are enough. ”

With such a decision, the meeting naturally ended in a very good atmosphere. And the clan leaders were also very upset about Ye Tao's demeanor. Although Ye Tao intentionally or unintentionally reminded Liyang, when the battle of Liao is over, Dongping will also take the land occupied by the tribe under his rule, and it will be necessary to discuss how to manage it here, but in any case, it is absolutely impossible for the clan power to be higher than the political power. Whether Li Yang fully understands it or not, that is not the thing that Ye Tao needs to worry about the most now.

"Come, go to the courtyard behind the yamen. I'll show you something good. When the clan leaders left, Ye Tao pulled Tan Weiran and Chi Lei to the backyard and looked at a row of huge wooden boxes that had not yet been opened. Looking at the vigilant posture of a bunch of guards around him, he also knew that Ye Tao should have brought something earth-shattering and good.