When Wang Yan drove to Liang County, he saw a tense atmosphere of war everywhere.

In the middle of the village, the silver spear sergeants who had finished their rest left their homes in twos and threes.

The father silently pushed the stone mill, put away the "white flour" mixed with a lot of bran, and glanced at his son who was ready to go from time to time.

The mother absentmindedly picked the herbs, and stopped talking.

The wife stuffed the prepared dry food into the package and said softly: "The Hu cake is soaked in vinegar according to the method in the army, and it is carefully put away." In case of food shortage, it can last for a few days. The steamed cakes are freshly made, and they are eaten in these two days. This is salt tempeh, which is better than the pickles in the army. The husband fought hard, and when he was tired, he ate it with bread, so don't save. ”

"What do you do with so much food?" The sergeant had a gentle smile on his face, but his mouth reproached: "I'll just take two vinegar cakes on the road." The army has its own bread and rice, and it is not hungry. This year, the wheat field was poor, and the family was not rich, so I didn't bring steamed cakes. ”

After that, he stuffed a few steamed cakes that were still warm into his wife's hands, and said, "When I return from Jingzhou, I will bring back a few silks for Qing to make a new set of clothes." ”

The wife's face was a little red, and she quietly glanced at the mother-in-law who was working, and looked at her husband with disgusted eyes.

The husband understood, turned around again, and said, "Grandpa, Auntie, the army is in a hurry, so I'll leave." ”

"Go ahead." The father replied in a muffled voice: "In the past, your brother was pulling fiber on the river, and he fell ill, and he went away at a young age, and he had no wife or son. You are stronger than him, you became Chen Hou's soldier, you received so much money and food a year, and the life of your family is getting better and better day by day. With me at home, there is no need to worry. Your third and fourth brothers have also grown up, and they can work in the fields, and nothing is wrong. Go for it, fight well. ”

"On top of the battle array, don't be reckless." The mother wiped a handful of tears and said, "Zhang Ba in the west of the village, it's not enough to kill one thief, I want to kill two or three, and in the end I was killed by an arrow somehow, you have to be careful." A-Niang pickled a fish and waited for you to come back for the New Year to eat. ”

"The more afraid you are of dying, the easier it is to die." The father muttered under his breath.

The sergeant nodded, took the burden from his wife's hand, waved his hand to a son and a daughter, and strode away.

Outside the stone bridge, the soldiers talked and laughed loudly, and led the horses out of the village.

The government soldiers are generally known as the "Long Sword Army".

But now, it's just a bugle.

There are still the most people who use heavy swords and crossbow machines, but there are also many people who use other weapons of various colors.

Even, some people practiced cavalry for several years and began to develop in the direction of melee cavalry.

They have 150 acres of fine fields, they have a crew to help them work, they usually eat well, they have a lot of time to hone their skills, and many of them are generalists.

Shao Xun has not specially formed a cavalry unit because the expenses are really huge.

Some of the government soldiers practiced cavalry warfare, which was also the result of his special guidance. To put it bluntly, it is just to move the cost of training down and let the soldiers bear it themselves.

Correspondingly, the soldiers who are familiar with cavalry warfare will be grouped together separately as a melee assault force. There will be more rewards, better treatment when you go out.

Of course, there are also poorer soldiers.

Some people lost two horses in a row after going on an expedition, and they also lost more than others in two consecutive years of catastrophes, and they could not afford to spend money on new horses.

They are now infantrymen.

A military system, after a long time, it will be like this.

The stone bridge was built for only a few years. If it is a long-term development for decades or even more than 100 years, the government soldiers will slowly diverge.

Some people have bright armor and ride tall horses, which is majestic.

Some people have lost the battle, lost their iron armor, and have no money to buy a new one, so they can only serve as a light infantry to accompany the army.

The things of the world are nothing more than that.

In this expedition, Shiqiao and Lijia's second defenses, which were among the three defenses in Liang County, were mobilized, and 300 people were dispatched.

The Lushan defense of the Luyang Second Defense dispatched 150 people.

Ruyang and Nanshan two defenses each sent out 100 people.

Yangzhai, Yangcheng......

Except for the soldiers of the two defenses in Yangxia County, which were not mobilized, the remaining ten defenses requisitioned a total of 1,000 people as a trapped army.

Frequent wars are not a good thing for the soldiers, as they consume their wealth. But as of now, everything seems to be fine, and the reward for the expedition is slightly left after the expenses are met.

But if they suffer a crushing defeat at the level of total annihilation, it will be difficult for them to recover for a while.

The newcomers have not yet been trained, their combat effectiveness is not as good as that of the elderly, and they may not have the money to buy suitable armor and sophisticated weapons.

Such government soldiers are only as strong as the peasants who were temporarily pulled up in the field - they have received more military education since childhood, and may have mastered limited basic martial arts.

In addition to the government soldiers and the silver spear army, a large number of auxiliary soldiers were also mobilized, mainly from Guang Chengze's captive Tunding.

This year's locust plague, the life of the tunding is not easy, there are only 29,000 people left, organized into six.

On this expedition, 3,000 people with relatively good performance were selected from it and transferred to the Luyang Tuntian Army.

It is a great thing to be free from the sea of suffering.

The Tunding would rather go into battle and risk being injured or even killed in battle than continue to endure heavy and dangerous labor day after day in Guangchengze as humanoid livestock.

In recent months, a large number of displaced people have moved south in the direction of Luoyang.

To be honest, Shao Xun can't afford it.

He is not a god and can't conjure up so much food.

In the first year of the drought and the second year of the locust plague, even though winter wheat avoided most of the risks, the yield was inevitable.

Today, there is not much grain in stock, and he does not dare to collect people on a large scale.

In the end, they picked and chosen, and got 3,000 families. The other homeless people gave them a few meals of porridge, and each of them gave them two hu cakes, and then sent them away.

These 3,000 families were also incorporated into the Luyang Tuntian Army.

So far, there are 11,000 households and more than 20,000 men, women, and children.

The auxiliaries were assembled even before the soldiers.

Peng Ling, a homeless man from Hanoi, silently looked at a set of leather armor, a spear, and a ring-headed knife at his feet.

I was confused as an auxiliary soldier, and I actually got these things.

Everyone else looked at him with envy.

Swords and guns are nothing, leather armor is still very useful, and you may rely on this to save your life at a critical moment.

Peng Ling looked at these people with a disregard for life in his eyes.

The grandmother died, his wife died, and his son was trampled to death outside the Great Xia Gate, and he had nothing to lose.

He lived only on instinct.

Instinctively wandering, instinctively eating, instinctively being incorporated into the Luyang Tuntian Army, instinctively ready to go to the battlefield to die......

The autumn breeze is blowing and the chill is gusting.

Peng Ling still had the same expression on his face: indifferent.

He seemed to have lost his joys and sorrows, forgot his pain, forgot his laughter, became the walking dead, became a beast.

There is only one thing that sustains him down: hatred buried deep in his heart.

He remembered the day he was incorporated into the army.

The famous Chen Hou, surrounded by his own soldiers, inspected their troops.

He glanced at Chen Hou.

That glance lasted for a long time, and he couldn't remember what it was.

Later, Chen Hou's personal general, Tang Jian, came over and promoted him to be the chief of the auxiliary soldiers, taking charge of the other nine people.

Among these people, most of them are homeless, but there are also two Tunding who farm in Guangchengze.

Tunding is a subordinate of Ji Sang and Wang Mi.

Peng Ling had heard of Wang Mi, but he hadn't heard of Ji Sang's name, but it didn't matter, anyway, they were Chen Hou's defeated men.

The Tunding people know more, and they mysteriously mentioned that this time they went south to beat a thief named Wang Ru.

If the king occupies the city, it will be difficult to attack the city at that time, and the dead will be lost.

Peng Ling didn't really care.

What if you die? What he cares more about is whether he can kill a few more dog officials before he dies.

It's a pity that Wang Ru is also a rebel, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to get his wish.

A sizable convoy drove by, attracting the attention of the auxiliaries who were resting on the side of the road.

Peng Ling looked over.

Wang Yan just opened the curtain of the ox cart and glanced at Peng Ling, and immediately frowned.

This person has the will to die, and his eyes are still full of anger, which is really strange.

Moreover, when he saw himself, his eyes that had been indifferent actually had a little brilliance, as if he was staring at a prey.

It's ridiculous!

Wang Yan lowered the curtain and stopped looking at this person.

After traveling for half a day, the convoy soon arrived at Green Willow Park.

Outside the park stood a large group of sergeants, murderous.

The Rushui River was full of boats, full of food and military supplies.

When the convoy stopped, someone soon approached and unloaded the cargo.

Luoyang can't get any food, but the craftsmen hurriedly made all kinds of ordnance, which are also very valuable. In particular, consumables such as bow tips, bowstrings, and arrows are not something that Chen Hou can replenish in the short term. And this seems to be one of the few things that the imperial court can bargain with.

Shao Xun was practicing martial arts in the courtyard, and when he saw Wang Yan, he immediately smiled and said, "I'm going to go on the expedition soon, why should the Taiwei come to urge me personally, don't you worry about me?" ”

Wang Yan also smiled when he heard this, and said: "I came to see the prince kindly, but I got a ridiculous word, this is not the way of hospitality." ”

"Captain is here, or has something to teach me?" Shao Xun asked as he inserted the long sword back into the instrument rack.

Wang Yan nodded and said, "The Xiongnu may be going south, so I have come to tell you." ”

"Why do you need the captain to come to this kind of thing? Just send a messenger with a message. Shao Xun said.

Wang Yan looked at the heroic and upright soldier in front of him, sighed, and said: "I haven't seen the prince for a long time, and at this critical time of survival, I don't know why, so I want to come and have a look." ”

"It's as if I've gone and never returned." Shao Xun was not taboo at all, and joked: "Wang Ru, Hou Tuo, Yan Wei and others may be more difficult to beat than Jisang and Wang Mi, but so what? Over the years, I don't know how many bandits have been suppressed, but they were all beaten together. ”

"The prince is so arrogant, it's hard for the old man to say anything." Wang Yan said: "I was worried that the prince would not send troops for a long time, and I traveled all the way, but when I saw the gathering of the army, it seems that I will set off soon. ”

"There's no need to tempt the captain, I'll leave tomorrow." Shao Xun said: "Countless people fight for territory and power, but there are always exceptions. Regardless of whether Taiwei believes it or not, even if no one comes to urge, I also want to go out as soon as possible, calm the chaos, and relieve Li Minyu from hanging upside down. ”

These words made Wang Yan a little silent.

Shao Xun is a person, sometimes he is calculating, he doesn't scatter eagles when he doesn't see rabbits, and he desperately reaps benefits. Sometimes he is very "naïve", for the sake of the lowly Qianshou people, he draws his sword and fights, and his feet do not spin his heels, even if he pokes out the big basket.

Such a contradictory person is really amazing.

"It is inevitable that the Xiongnu will go south to Luoyang, and the prince may make a decision?" After cleaning up his mood, Wang Yan asked.

"I only have one word."

"But it doesn't hurt to talk about it."

"Deep ditches and high bases, don't fight in waves." Shao Xun said: "At most, set up camp outside the gates, echo with the defenders inside the gates, and stick to resist the enemy. ”

"That's all?"

"That's all." Shao Xun nodded, and said, "Don't chase no matter what." There were many Hun cavalry, and they left the city in a hurry, fearing that they would fall into their treacherous schemes. The Huns won in the cavalry, the forbidden army won in the infantry army, and the back was against the big city, as long as they did not make a mistake, they would rely on Shi Le, Wang Mi, Zhao Gu and others, and they would not be able to defeat Luoyang even if the soldiers died. ”

"Xun Taijian suggested going to the outer gates to guard the palace, and the Son of Heaven agreed." Wang Yan said again: "The old man remembers that in the past, Wang Mikou Luoyang, the prince advocated meeting the enemy at the three passes of Luonan......"

"This time and that time." Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "Two years ago, Wang Mi, although there were many soldiers, there were many rabble, and there were not many cavalry. Defending the enemy outside the eight levels can reduce the losses of the people of Luoyang. Today's Wang Mi is no longer comparable to two years ago. The Huns and many of the army, the combat power is not bad, if far away to resist the enemy, I am afraid that the thief army will intercept the back road, panicked, the end is mostly not good. ”

"Then lean on the city and fight?"

"Fight against the city."

Wang Yan bowed slightly.

Regarding the strategy of resisting the enemy, there was a lot of discussion between the DPRK and China.

Wang Yan advocated that the whole army shrink, rely on the newly transported grain this year, and wait for the Xiongnu to retreat, but was opposed by many people.

The Son of Heaven did not agree very much, believing that the Xiongnu would divide their troops and plunder the surrounding counties and counties, making the situation even more erosive.

Wang Yan doesn't know much about military affairs, and when they said this, his heart was a little shaken, and he secretly wondered if it was a little too conservative to defend Luoyang? When the Huns ran out of food and retreated, they didn't even dare to pursue, was it too cowardly?

Listening to Shao Xun today, he strengthened his thoughts again.

In the war, he only believed in Shao Xun.