Next, we will discuss how to control the two mining areas of iron ore and saltpeter, as well as the two counties where Li Lu is stationed.

And in order to control these areas, Wu Shigong's soldiers of course had to build a large battalion here. So naturally, Wu Shigong and his military attachés called the army stationed here the Nanyang Battalion, and they didn't pay attention to it at all, in the current Nanyang Mansion, there is actually a general who set up a large battalion, and the general's battalion is in the imperial court, which is the real Nanyang Battalion (how Li Lu became a garrison in Nanyang Mansion, please see the previous article for details).

As for setting up a large camp and building this large camp into a fortress of Wu Shigong's army in Nanyang Province, this matter was a matter of ease for Wu Shigong and his military attachés. The only thing that needs to be discussed is where to set up the camp?

If you list the possible locations for a large camp, there are four places to choose from:

First of all, it is the county seat where Li Lu garrisoned the yamen and the area around this county seat. But as soon as this location was proposed, it was vetoed by Wu Shigong. Although the geographical location of this county town is very good, and the radiation area can control most of the area, including the two mining areas, for the army, it is harmful to place the army's battalion in the city.

Because in the city, the construction of private houses is mainly based on the residence and convenience of residents, and it is difficult to consider military requirements at all. Therefore, if the army lives in the city, it is difficult to communicate with each other in an emergency, and it is not possible to quickly organize and form combat effectiveness, so the most important function of the army will be lost.

In addition, if the military and the people are mixed, there will definitely be a contradiction between the military and the people. Moreover, it can also be seen from the performance of modern urban soldiers that under the bright lights, the speed of military degeneration will also be quite fast. Therefore, from ancient times to the present, there is no army with combat effectiveness stationed in the city, and except for special circumstances, those soldiers will not enter the city casually.

The second option is Dahuai Village. However, after discussing with his subordinates, Wu Shigong also vetoed the proposal. Taking Dahuai Village as a big camp can indeed completely control these two mining areas, but although Dahuai Village is accessible in all directions in this mountainous area, those passages are all mountain roads, and it is very inconvenient to mobilize soldiers, and it is also inconvenient to support the same reinforcements.

The main reason is that Wu Shigong's Nanyang battalion is subordinate to Li Lu after all, and if the Nanyang battalion is only in charge of these two mining areas and ignores the county seat in Li Lu's defense area, then Li Lu's support for Wu Shigong will also be greatly reduced. This was not conducive to Wu Shigong's idea of uniting with Li Lu, a local military attaché.

And the third and fourth locations divided the military attaches present into two factions. It should be said that these two locations have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it is difficult to choose. And because Wu Shigong stationed 1,500 soldiers in Nanyang Mansion at most, the idea of setting up two large battalions could not be established. Because as long as this division of troops is formed, a defensive situation will be formed everywhere and sparse everywhere.

Listening to the military attachés arguing under his command, Wu Shigong also repeatedly considered the advantages and disadvantages of these two locations, and wanted to choose a location where Haode set up a large camp. But at this moment, Zug said to Wu Shigong: "My lord, the villain has an idea, I don't know if you can say it?" ”

Wu Shigong said with a smile: "They are all their own brothers, and they are for the sake of our Runing Camp, what is there to say?" ”

"My lord, the villain listened to it just now, and realized that all the adults' statements are reasonable. But the villain thought that the purpose of the adult's army to Nanyang Mansion was for these two mining areas, right? ”

"Hmm!" Wu Shigong nodded, facing these family members, Wu Shigong had no need to hide the purpose of his army this time.

"My lord, the villain has an idea now. These two mining areas, to the east are the territory of our Runing camp, and there is no fear of enemy attack. To the northeast is Kaifeng Prefecture, where most of the officers and troops of Henan are located, and it is difficult for the enemy to come from this direction. To the south is Huguang, with the central capital of Fengyang, where there is also an army of the imperial court. If there is an enemy, the direction of the attack is basically west and northwest. ”

"If the enemy comes from the west and northwest, and they are regular troops, then our method of relying on the Nanyang battalion as a fortress and taking the initiative to attack the enemy army will still have some effect. But what if those enemies are bandits and rebels? ”

Wu Shigong's idea of making every effort to expand the army in the past was basically known to the military attachés present, and Wu Shigong's judgment on "three years of great chaos in the world" was even more clear to the military attachés present. And now the closest enemy to Wu Shigong's defense area is the Shaanxi bandits operating in Shaanxi and Shanxi, so when Zug put forward the view that this enemy is bandits and rioters, everyone present is deeply convinced.

"My lord, you also know that the villain is a bandit. Unlike the regular army, the bandits and rebels fought against the army, and they would often bypass some of the fortified cities and attack some of the weaker ones. ”

"And the best way to defend such a large area is to build forts in each of these four areas, and to place a considerable number of troops in these four forts. Also, we need to renovate the roads between the four fortresses to meet our requirements for a quick troop deployment. ”

"Otherwise, as long as a small group of bandits and rebels bypass our defenses and come to these two mining areas to do some sabotage, our purpose of stationing soldiers in Nanyang Mansion will be completely defeated."

"How is that possible?" Zhou Xun immediately retorted, and the surrounding military attachés also made a commotion, "We all understand what you said, but now our Runing Battalion doesn't have so much money and soldiers to achieve your proposal?" ”

Wu Shigong made a gesture to silence the military attachés. Zug's proposal is nothing more than to build another "thousand-mile Great Wall" in Nanyang Mansion, but Wu Shigong understands Zug's shrewdness. And the reason why Zug came up with such an obviously impossible proposal, then Zug must have other solutions. So Wu Shigong then said to Zug: "You go on! ”

"My lord, the little one just thinks, this Nanyang camp is nothing more than a fortress and foothold of our Runing Camp in Nanyang Mansion, and it can be built in a relatively suitable place, and there is no need to make too many arguments. Because this large battalion is not particularly useful in the future defense against bandits and rebels. ”

"And the main role of this battalion is to rely on this battalion to send out an army with strong mobility to crush any attacking enemy forces gathered together, so as to achieve the effect of active defense."

"And how do you envision this highly mobile army?" Wu Shigong then asked.

"It's cavalry, with some infantry created by adults to transport them in carts. As for the number of people, at this stage, the villain thinks that there are about 500 people. ”

Wu Shigong smiled dumbly after hearing this, his idea of building the army was "turtle flow", and after arriving in Henan, he also built fortresses and paid great attention to the training of army defense, so this time the Nanyang battalion was set up, and Wu Shigong also sent out the military attache with the highest defense data under his command - Shumo. But what I didn't expect was that my military attachés were all offensive maniacs, so they thought of taking the initiative to attack and deal a fatal blow to the enemy, especially the military attaches like Zug who were born in cavalry.

Wu Shigong looked at Chu Ge's hopeful eyes again, and knew that Chu Ge was moved by the position of the commander of this mobile army. However, it is normal for Zug to have this idea, if the military attaches who follow him can't get any future, then how can they be loyal to themselves? If you don't have any ambitions, then what will you do?

His subordinates are not afraid of ambition, and the key is to have the ability to control these ambitious military attachés. And now Wu Shigong, how can he not have confidence in his own control ability?

So Wu Shigong smiled and immediately made a decision: "Just do as you say." Zug! Now I will promote you to the commander and become the deputy commander of the Nanyang battalion and the commander of this Nanyang mobile army. This Nanyang mobile army is tentatively set at 500 people. ”

Zug immediately cracked his mouth and laughed. Zug entered Wu Shigong's army relatively late, so when all the military attachés followed Wu Shigong's idea and wanted to build a fortress to defend this area, Zug was able to jump out of this blind spot and put forward the idea of replacing defense with active attack in time. And this view has paid off handsomely for Zug.

Wu Shigong looked at the smirkling Zug, and then said with a smile: "Don't be too happy!" For your Nanyang Mobile Army, this officer will give you 20 officers and 50 horses, and the rest of the soldiers, horses, and carts must be solved by yourself. This officer doesn't care what method you use, but half a year later, when your Nanyang Mobile Army goes to the Runing Battalion Headquarters for training, if it fails to meet the training requirements, do you know what will happen? Wu Shigong said as he looked at He Fei from the corner of his eye.

"It will live up to the expectations of adults!" Zug immediately replied with a chest straightened.

As soon as this problem was solved, the location of the Nanyang Camp was quickly determined. Zuihou identified a place called "Luojia Town". The reason for choosing that place is nothing more than that it is relatively close to Li Lu's county seat, and it is more convenient to recruit people and buy materials when building a large camp, and the construction cost is relatively low. In addition, it is close to Li Lu's county seat, so there is also an explanation for Li Lu, which can increase Li Lu's sense of security.

What Wu Shigong didn't know was that in the original history, when the Shaanxi peasant rebel army entered Henan, the miners they collected in Nanyang Mansion played a huge role in the battles and sieges of these peasant rebel armies in the future.

Wu Shigong's seizure of the mining area this time weakened the strength of the peasant rebel army in the original history. The course of this history finally began to change somewhat after Wu Shigong's strength continued to improve. At this stage, though, the magnitude of this change is negligible.

After the end of the military discussion, before the military attaché dispersed, Wu Shigong confessed to Yang Rusong: "You go outside the camp and talk to those gentry, just say that this official will go to the county seat tomorrow to visit Li Shoubei, so that they don't have to wait outside the camp now." ”

"Also, let the gentry be well prepared. Tomorrow, you people will go to the county seat with the official. The war was also hard, and now it is time to relax. Hearing that Wu Shigong took them to have fun together, the faces of those military attachés burst into laughter.

When those military attaches saw that Wu Shigong had no other arrangements, they saluted one after another and were about to retire. But at this time, Wu Shigong suddenly seemed to think of something, and he then instructed Yang Rusong: "It seems that the official remembers that Chu Jiang has not yet married." After you go back this time, tell your mother and ask her to find a suitable wife for Mr. Chu. ”

"Let Chu get married first, and then come to Nanyang Camp to take office. Only when you get married as soon as possible can you start a business after you get married. ”