Before the New Year, Guo Kang's family left Dadu and headed for the countryside on the south bank of the Danube.

It stands to reason that these are extraordinary times, and there are still a lot of things to deal with in the capital. Guo's father and son, and even Guo Ponu, have a lot of things to do. But also because of the special situation, I have to go again this time.

Although Guo Kang's decision to go out with the army has not yet been announced, it has been confirmed at present, and he is just waiting for the official announcement. But until now, he still has no official team of his own.

Like other families, the Guo family also recruited a group of young people from military families to serve as family members, living and training with the children of the family master. The entourage around Guo Kang also came like this.

For example, Bu Lei's father is a war leader, and now he is leading the people to reclaim on the northern border; Yang Wenxian's father was a civilian official in the Ministry of Officials, and his grandfather was a hundred households under Guo Di, and now he is still the village chief of their hometown; Chen Xiao's father was a cadre under Maimaitinikus, and later transferred to Dadu as a coach, and now he is a subordinate of the war commander. These people have been nurtured in the military atmosphere since childhood, and their families have merit, so they can be selected by the Guo family from many candidates.

Of course, on the other hand, there are expectations for people to do this. After all, following Guo's will definitely make it easier to get in touch with military knowledge and experience, and it will be easier to obtain military merits. After accumulating some of them, with these qualifications and connections, you can go on your own.

However, these people who followed Guo Kang have not officially fought a war until now. Although he also practiced martial arts and read military books, the biggest battle he participated in so far was to follow Theodora to save people.

On weekdays, Guo Kang didn't talk to them much, but took these people back and forth between the Niangniang Temple and the Holy Light Wish Monastery outside the city every day. And everyone, as an entourage, has nothing to do, so they have to help Guo Kang.

They are all well-educated people, so Guo Kang also made full use of this advantage, and when he was busy, he pulled them every day to sort out the information and write and calculate. I also took the time to teach them various methods of calculation. After a long time, I don't know how much military skills I have learned, but my mathematical level has improved a lot......

Nor is this going to be able to continue. This time, Guo Kang was ready to join the army and set off. Of course, before sending troops, in addition to these people around him, he must be supplemented with more guards and retinues according to the usual practice.

Unlike others, before this, Guo Kang had already pulled a group of soldiers by himself, and now he is asking Guo Ponu to help train, and he is still impressive. However, the current time is obviously far from enough. There is no way to compensate for this problem with morale and enthusiasm.

If you set off in the spring, it is estimated that even if you step up your practice, you will only be able to train in a few basic subjects. It is enough to patrol and train in the territory and maintain the law and order of the camp. If you really want to go to war, it is estimated that it is a little better than other people's cannon fodder soldiers.

Moreover, this matter is not just a military issue. Guo Kang's expedition is also a political signal.

According to the custom, the family should equip him with an entourage regiment with sufficient ability and rank, and when it comes to actual battles, the experienced officers arranged by the family are the ones who really command the battle. Of course, there will be a lot of young people in the entourage, mainly the children of various inferior military nobles and other officials and heroes. These people sometimes bring some of their own retinue to form a sizable group.

Some of these young people have no combat experience, and some have already been on the battlefield, but they have only experienced some minor fights. In order to learn the real war more quickly, they and the titular commander Guo Kang actually followed the apprenticeship.

In the same way, the backbone of this army, the real responsibility for the battle is not these newcomers, but those veteran guards. In fact, the number of veterans that can be recruited is also a reflection of the strength of the family. These soldiers are also part of the "military resource", because excellent soldiers and junior officers can also greatly reduce the difficulty of obtaining military merits and learning command. Without these conditions, others may not be willing to come.

Therefore, the situation of these entourages is also a manifestation of the Guo family's status, influence, and the importance they attach to Guo Kang as a person. If even the heir of the head of the Guo family does not have enough weight and number of people to follow, then there are only two results: either it means that the family has lost enough attractiveness, and everyone who follows them will not get the opportunity to fight and military merits; Or, it means that the Guo family doesn't value this child at all.

Either way, it can lead to serious problems.

If it is the former, it means that there is a huge problem with the political influence of the Guo family. At present, the various pillar nations did not rely on fiefs and private soldiers like the European aristocracy, but relied on their own talent training system and the old ministries all over Rome to maintain their status. Guo was the founding minister of the country, and for three consecutive generations held the highest position in the court, if something went wrong in his family, it would not only be as simple as the decline of the family, but a large number of people concerned would feel that they were in danger, and the situation in the whole country would be turbulent.

And if it's the latter, the same is true. If Guo Kang really went to the battlefield with a group of Slavs, everyone's first reaction would not be the relaxation of the country's policy or the shift of strategic direction, nor would it be that they felt how strong his training ability was, but would first wonder if there was serious infighting in the Guo family.

Whether it is the other branches that are dissatisfied with their branch, or Guo Kang is not trusted as an adopted son, or Guo Ponu follows the Greek women and does not learn well, what conspiracy he has committed...... will affect the prestige of the family and make people wonder if the order within the family can still be maintained. Anyone with a little knowledge of history knows that for this kind of group of people who are at the core of power, once the issue of inheritance is not arranged well, something big will definitely happen.

Guo Kang himself is also relatively uncompetitive. At that time, the actual leader of the Guo family was his uncle, but after his father commanded two battles, almost all the elders in the family did not hesitate to support him to lead the family affairs, and Guo's own sons did not try to compete with the eldest brother for a seat.

But in comparison, before the chaos in Dadu, Guo Kang had no sense of existence. If it weren't for the fact that his father was too good at fighting, and his cousins were all muscular people, I guess everyone would have to ignore him. Even after that, after hearing his deeds, many people are still a little skeptical, because this is not a regular war after all, and it depends on his subsequent performance, what is going on.

Therefore, it is not surprising to get the news of joining the army this time. Usually, they will go to easier places to fight first, such as crossing the sea to Italy, or going north to Lithuania and the Rus' steppe, and first fight a few enemies of a somewhat large size but actually very good to practice their skills.

But this time, the target chosen is already a distant place that has never been to in the entire history of the Purple Horde.

In the eyes of others, Guo Kang probably had confidence, and he didn't have that much time, so he directly chose a big country, at least a big country on the surface, as the object of the expedition across the sea. Although it may seem a bit difficult, it is accompanied by great benefits. Everyone knows how rich Egypt is, and he himself has said that he has a business plan for that side. As long as you can win, you can immediately gain great prestige, and everything in the future should be fine.

However, it is indeed suspicious that such a big plan was carried out in the first big war. After all, you haven't fought before, and everyone doesn't know if you're Caesar or Crassus. With a group of deputies and veterans, it is also possible to overturn.

As for the final result, it depends on Guo Kang's own level.

Guo Kang's cousins Guo Ru, Guo Zhaowen and others also accompanied them. Along the way, the stepfather was chatting with them. Several males of Guo's generation, the three of them are still in the capital, and the others either died young, or died in battle, or like Guo Kangyuan's third uncle in the north, they have no time to come back. Even these two uncles don't see each other much on weekdays. Guo Kang felt that it was understandable that they would talk to each other more.

And the stepmother also goes to deal with other people every day, contacts with others, and asks if there is anything that can help each other. Guo Kang and Guo Ponu also had to follow her and visit back and forth. But fortunately, they don't have too many tasks, and after greetings, there is usually nothing to do.

Of course, they don't have the heart to relax right now. Even when they were in a hurry, the two of them did not miss any free time, and discussed more detailed plans in their carriages.

During the time of leaving, the selection and training of recruits did not stop. Guo Kang handed over all these tasks to Zhu Wenkui to help. But Zhu Wenkui was busy rebuilding the workshop every day, and he didn't have time, so he threw Captain Jeska over and let him take care of it.

Originally, they were in the camp outside the city, not far away, and they went to see it every day to complete the daily management and inspection work, and there was no problem.

Knowing that Guo Kang and the others were going back to their hometown, Theodora originally wanted to follow. But Guo Ponu was very opposed, thinking that she was not the Guo family, so what was she doing to join in the fun. Although Theodora insisted on marrying Guo Kang, there was no formal formalities after all. If you want to participate in this kind of formal occasion, you need to consider the impression of others and even the negative impact of politics, and in the end, she didn't make trouble, so she could only give up temporarily.

Of course, Guo Ponu is not completely based on selfishness and only cares about his own affairs. She has indeed been helping out all this time. When there was still a day before her destination, she was still in the car flipping through the documents and discussing with Guo Kang.

This car is a specially customized product used by Guo Kang for experiments. But after all, there was not much space in the carriage, and there was a lot of papers, books, and stationery supplies, so naturally it couldn't squeeze anyone. Moreover, Guo Kang was afraid that the servants would make a mistake and mess up the documents, so he wouldn't let them in, and there were only two sisters and brothers inside.

The father-in-law and the two cousins always rode in front, while the others had their own positions. Guo Kang also rode with them a few times and politely greeted them a few times. But everyone also knows that he is a character who prefers to use his brain, and he likes to shrink in the house. Therefore, I didn't continue to embarrass him, and soon let him go back and continue to do things, and I also felt that this kid worked too hard, and it is estimated that he will be the same figure as Prime Minister Zhuge in the future, and I hope he can do something big.

It's the same today. After eating in a nearby village in the morning, the group set out on their way. Guo Kang and Guo Ponu routinely greeted their elders, and then returned to the car to look through the information they had compiled earlier.

"I'll be there tomorrow." Guo Kang first said: "According to past experience, do we need to recruit enough people at one time? ”

"No, you don't." Guo Ponu replied: "I estimate that three or five hundred people are enough. Let's pre-select according to 500 people, look back at the statement of the military department, and decide how many to recruit in the end. ”

"Five hundred is too many." Guo Kang was skeptical.

"Not much." Guo Ponu shook his head: "Before, my father brought back the news of the Zhuguo Conference. According to the current plan, it should be prepared to carry out the entire plan with the main force of three corps, plus four or five thousand auxiliary troops. However, not all of these military forces can go to the front line. ”

"According to the estimates of the Ministry of War, at least one of these regiments, and almost all of the auxiliary forces, will be to strengthen the defense of the Syrian region. We should only have two legions to fight on the front line when we really sent them to Egypt, and they are probably not yet formed. Therefore, the quality of the soldier is very important. ”

"There are too few of them." Guo Kang shook his head.

"No way, it's a bit of a special situation over there. Before, we talked to the envoys of the caliphate, the envoys of Hafiz, and some of the leaders on the Syrian side, and I asked them for records. Guo Ponu picked up another document.

"We have always said that Egypt is a big country. This is big, I don't think it's the area, it's not just the population. On the contrary, if you just look at the map, then the area that can live in Egypt is actually very small, and I think that the point on both sides of the Nile River may not be more than most of our Henan land. However, if it marched here, its key geographical location, its abundant material output, and its various cultural and political influences would not only affect Rome itself. ”

"What can be expected is that if we are going to send troops, then other nearby forces will obviously come to mix. The various forces in Europe should not be too worried, but there will definitely be people in the Asian direction who will take advantage of the situation. ”

"The Turkmen tribes under the Black Sheep Dynasty have been harassing Syria on a daily basis. You should be used to it over there, and the locals themselves can block it. Guo Kang said: "As for the main force of the Turkmen, they still have to deal with Shaharu's army - hey, yes, can we find a way to persuade Shaharu to move troops as well." If he could attract the Turkmen on both the two rivers and the Caucasus, it would be much more convenient for us. ”

"I don't think so. I went to ask Stan before. Guo Ponu shook his head: "Shaharu is different from his father, he doesn't like expeditions very much. When they asked about possible military action, Shaharu said that he was going to send people to Nanking to pay tribute, and asked if we would go together. Later, they gave a lot of gifts to the prime minister of Shahru and others, only to learn that they even wanted to give up some controlled areas on the Persian plateau, shrink their forces, and go south to India-after robbing Delhi before, they were addicted. ”

"They cooperate with the Yuan people, maybe it is still possible. With us, there is little hope. ”

(End of chapter)