What made Hu Guang a little unexpected was that although he successfully obtained the materials in Fugu County, in the final settlement, he found that the number of prisoners was too large, and after removing the expenses required to dismiss those ordinary thieves, Ming reinforcements, and Ming troops who were unwilling to join the Heavenly Army, the remaining food was not enough to support the team of tens of thousands of people to return to the grassland.

However, there is also an unexpected joy, that is, a large amount of wrought iron was found in Fugu County, which is enough to call the craftsman battalion of the Heavenly Army to start work for a while.

On the second day of occupying Fugu County, after all these data were sorted out, Hu Guang was worried.

Of the more than 6,000 ordinary thieves, that is, about 2,000 of the victims, were elderly, weak, women and children. However, relatively speaking, the physical fitness is not bad. This may also be the result of the cruel survival of the fittest during the Wang Jiayin period.

The Ming army surrendered and was willing to join about 2,500 people, who either did not have a small family, or there were other labor forces at home to support them, so they could basically be regarded as having no worries.

These people have a certain amount of military experience, but for the Heavenly Army, they still have to be trained before they can be used.

In order to save materials, especially food, Hu Guang prepared an evacuation plan, that is, to gradually transfer all the manpower to the Qingshui camp and concentrate on it, and finally leave the grassland together. After all, there is not enough security in the steppe, and it must be escorted by two field regiments.

The ordinary rogues have gone through the initial grouping, but they are not yet perfect. In order to ensure that there were no forks on the road, the Heavenly Army was asked to further organize the troops at the same time while publicizing their own policies, so that they would get used to obeying the command of the new organization.

The reconnaissance company was the most tiring, and as soon as the battle was over, the other troops could rest for a few days, but they were sent out again, and they had to be monitored in all directions to ensure the safety of Fugu County.

As soon as there is an early warning. The main force of the cavalry stationed in Fugu County had enough time to react, and at the same time provided a safe guarantee for the transfer of personnel.

Beginning on the third day, more than 2,000 old and weak women and children left with some supplies and moved to the Qingshui camp. Five days later, there were only more than 2,500 Ming prisoners and the strongest 2,000 ordinary thieves left in Fugu County.

At the meeting that night, the leaders finally breathed a sigh of relief. Hu Hansan stretched his waist and said: "I didn't expect to enter the customs this time, I am tired from fighting, and I am even more tired if I don't fight, but now it is almost the same, I can take a breath!" ”

Liu Daneng also nodded, and said in deep agreement: "Organize so many people and gradually transfer them out." Before this kind of thing had to be changed, others told me that I was tired, and I didn't believe it! ”

"This is because we told the heavenly armies to treat them as human beings. Otherwise, with the habits of the Ming army and thieves, it won't be troublesome, and it can be easily completed in one go! Hu Guang heard them and analyzed them with a smile.

Tens of thousands of people, all of whom have been newly captured, and there will be no big things for the Heavenly Army to suppress, but small things are constant. If the Heavenly Army is asked to solve the problem simply and rudely, first, it is inconsistent with the policy propagated by itself. Second, it is not conducive to the integration of these people into the heavenly army in the future.

It is also for the Heavenly Army to have patience and implement well what he has said. It is reflected in practice. Later, these captives were full of expectations for the future, and their relationship with the Heavenly Army was obviously much closer.

This result is what Hu Guang hopes to see the most, and while he is relieved, he is still sad and said: "We entered the customs this time, but we didn't expect to come in and fight." That's how many people there are. Originally, I thought of doing more activities and promoting our reputation as the Heavenly Army. I am afraid that it is impossible at the moment, and after two days, after all the personnel have been transferred to the Qingshui camp, they will set off to return to the base area. ”

"Chief. In fact, there is nothing wrong with it, we are cavalry troops anyway, and we can go to a few more places to make appearances, and we can still let others know the existence of our Heavenly Army. Hu Hansan said with a smile.

When Hu Guang heard this, he smiled and asked him: "Indeed, I don't worry about you running around and losing the battle, but if there are more prisoners, if you want to follow us and call the heavenly army, then do you accept it or not?" ”

"According to our policy of calling the Heavenly Army, since others want to take refuge in us and call it the Heavenly Army, they must accept it. But do we have so much food? When Hu Guang said this, he was a little worried and said, "With so many people going back to the grassland together, the food problem is already a headache." I'm afraid that when the time comes, we will ask half of the Heavenly Army to go to farming, and we don't know if it will be enough to support next year's new grain harvest. ”

Hu Guang tapped his fingers on the table and analyzed to his two closest comrades-in-arms: "After we return to the grassland this time, we must control the Hetao Plain, so that we can have enough land for farming. And to achieve this goal, it is necessary to sweep away the remnants of the King of Shunyi, and also have the ability to defend it, so that the Ming army does not dare to go out and harass ......"

Historically, the Ming army has not always been passively guarding the Great Wall. They would occasionally send troops out to harass the herders of the steppes. If the Heavenly Army was asked to start large-scale cultivation in the Hetao Plain, and the Ming Army suddenly came to harass it once and burned the farmland, it would really vomit blood.

Seeing that the two subordinates were listening attentively to their own speech, Hu Guang continued: "There is also Lin Dan Khan of Naturalization City, which also has to be solved. But it is easy to defeat him, what will happen to so many people from the Chahar tribe, we will have to call the heavenly army to feed him. ”

Speaking of this, he shook his head and sighed: "Fighting, in fact, fighting is money and food. At present, this Xiaoice period, oh, is the perennial temperature is lower than ever, and accompanied by drought years, crop yields are bound to be low, which is the most worrying! ”

Hu Hansan and Liu Daneng were just ordinary military households before, and at most they worried about food for their families. After following Hu Guang, he only cared about the war, and never cared about the food problem.

This time, after Hu Guang talked about the food issue several times, they all understood. Hearing Hu Guang talk about food again, he couldn't help but be silent.

At present, it is indeed the Xiaoice River period mentioned by the chief, all the way, in Fugu County alone, the farmland has been dry into pieces, and it is impossible to cultivate at all. If there was no shortage of food, there would not be so many people starving, and there would not be so many thieves.

Suddenly, Hu Hansan looked up at Hu Guang and suggested: "Otherwise, if we build a bigger city, we will definitely be able to seize a lot of grain." ”

When Hu Guang heard this, he shook his head and said: "I have thought about this a long time ago, the nearby larger city, Yulin is an important border army town, and there is not enough food self-sufficiency, so it is impossible to fight; Baode Prefecture on the other side of the Yellow River is okay, and it is estimated that there is a lot of grain. But it is a state city, different from Fugu County, with our little people, it is not easy to capture the state city. I don't want to lose too many soldiers. ”

In the end, Hu Guang decided that according to the plan, he would first transfer the current men and horses back to the base area.

He didn't expect that the next development of the situation forced him to change his plan again. (To be continued......)