After Wu Xiao finished speaking, all the generals present were silent. “

You are the emperor's appointed envoy to move north, and now in this situation, do you have any good way?" Marshal Zheng Gu said

"For today's plan, the last general thinks that the treasury will be opened, knives and guns will be distributed, and all the people will be soldiers, and at the same time all military households will be ordered to step up the construction of camps and forts" Wu Xiao looked at Zheng Gu and said

"The cavalry battalion led by the last general is willing to form a number of rangers, interspersed with east and west, and come and go for rescue, first, to contain the enemy, and second, to preserve the strength of the main army."

Zheng Gu looked around at the crowd: "Other generals have a better way"

You look at me, I look at you, but after all, no one speaks

"That's it, the weapons will be collected from the Changzhou battalion, and I will pull out 2,000 cavalry to mix with you, although you were brave a few days ago, it was also a surprise, if the order is to fight a hard battle, don't be careless" Zheng Gu said

"The last general understands," Wu Xiao said in a deep voice

The generals talked about some other things, and then they dispersed, but everyone was much less hostile to Wu Xiao.

When Wu Xiao returned to the city, he brought 2,000 old cavalry, and he reorganized the cavalry battalion overnight, organized these 2,000 people into the black cavalry battalion and the brave cavalry battalion, and promoted some people who were really experienced to generals, 500 people as a team, a total of 14 rangers.

Wu Xiao asked the marching master to take a dozen men with him, and drew and copied the methods of making rammer bricks, the methods and layouts of fortresses and camps, and other fast and effective methods of making fortifications, traps, and equipment.

These drawings, along with notices and maps, were given to the Rangers to distribute and post on their behalf.

Fourteen game corps fought against the Turkic cavalry in a vast area south of the Changzhou defense line and north of Yanmen Pass.

Grain, grass, weapons, and then also transported to this area, Mobei suddenly sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and a semi-civilian, semi-military fortress and camp appeared.

The young men of the military household were originally the professional soldiers of the court, almost all the men knew martial arts, and at this time they were supplied with weapons and grain and grass, and immediately all the people were soldiers, and the family came here for thousands of miles, and it was impossible to go back, and even the veterans who had been retired for many years took up arms.

In the entire theater of operations, the rangers suffered heavy casualties at the beginning, and the Turks grew up on horseback for many years, and they were all strong and strong, good at shooting and fighting, and the cavalry of the Tang Army lost a lot in strength.

Except for the black cavalry battalion, which was able to avoid being able to fight one enemy and one enemy, the other ranger battalions were almost half injured and killed after a month, but as the camp fort was gradually built, the Tang army could be supplied and rested nearby, while the raiding and supply of the Turkic army became increasingly difficult.

They slowly felt as if they had gotten into a space full of iron pillars, running into walls everywhere, unable to advance if they wanted to, and not knowing where to retreat if they wanted to retreat, and the cavalry and scattered warriors who could emerge at any time continued to eat away at their soldiers.

This area was becoming a cemetery for the Turks, Zheng Gu found that this method was effective, and sent 4,000 cavalry to join, and two months later, the military headquarters counted the results of the battle, eliminated more than 20,000 Turkic cavalry, captured 5,000 horses, and captured thousands of prisoners.

And the new army also paid a terrible price, fourteen rangers more than 7,000 people counted, lost 5,000 people, only the black cavalry battalion barely preserved the formation, the other rangers were almost killed in formation, but the people who were still alive have grown up and become an elite cavalry that has experienced the baptism of blood and fire.

More than 10,000 military households in the north also died, and all the adult males in many families died, and the whole family lost their support.

Women who do not have adult males are given food supplies for two years if they seek someone to remarry on the spot, and girls who are still married to the court can be given food for another year when they leave the court on the spot, and women are allowed to take their children to the military camps in various cities and cities for blind dates.

Under the double pressure of survival and young children, the vast majority of women responded to this policy, and the soldiers who had been stationed in Mobei for many years were unusually welcome, which made Wu Xiao's reputation unexpectedly increase a lot among the soldiers in Mobei.

And those women who insisted on not remarrying, after taking an oath of lifelong service, were conscripted into the military industrial camp and distributed food on a monthly basis.

At this point, the rear was cleared, and Wu Xiao's plan for moving north was gradually perfected and effective, and the number of troops of the Turkic and Tang armies was dramatically equal to each other, but in terms of positional combat strength, the Turkic army still had an absolute advantage.

The Turkic army was stuck in the city of Changzhou for more than two months, and King Tukutai Khan was very annoyed, and he sent a messenger to whip Gechila of the commander of the army, Ulica, with ten lashes, but at the same time sent reinforcements from 30,000 infantry troops and large siege equipment.

The soldiers and horses of the other Jiedu envoys on the Tang army's side have not arrived for a long time, and the Mobei army, plus more than 300,000 or 400,000 military households, consumes a huge amount of grain every day, and the grain trucks from Guannai to Mobei are endless every day, which is a huge burden for the court.

In the Xuanzheng Hall of Daming Palace in Chang'an City, the emperor was furious.

"This bald man of Lin, 30,000 horses, travels less than ten miles a day, and asks the government for money and food, where is the intention, where is the intention!"

None of the officials below dared to speak up.

"How about Jiannan Road?" the emperor asked with a breath

Wang Xuan, the secretary of the military department, immediately stepped forward and said: "Jiannan Road has dispatched 20,000 infantry, and it has now reached Hanzhou."

"Still in Hanzhou, I have been walking for more than half a month, and I haven't left the boundary of his Jiannan Road, Yang Fengyin is violated" The emperor roared again, and under the holy authority, the dust on the beams of the Xuanzheng Hall seemed to fall down.

He seemed to be tired, sat down on the dragon chair, and said softly, "What else is there to play?"

Wang Xuan said: "Marshal Zheng Gu, the commander-in-chief of the Mobei War, sent a battle report, the Turks have increased their troops by 30,000, the situation is critical, and the battle between the two armies is about to break out, and I hope that the court will send reinforcements as soon as possible."

"Didn't the battle report a few days ago say that the situation was deadlocked, and our army won great victories one after another, but also said that he and which Ximing killed more than 40,000 enemies. The emperor became nervous again

Wang Xuan also said: "General Xi also has a battle report, saying that the military households moving north have begun to take shape, and the momentum of defense has begun to take shape, but the population is large, the grain is in short supply, and the new season of wheat will not be harvested until five months later, and I hope that the court will continue to send grain and grass as a backup."

"The household department is stepping up fundraising, and it can still hold on in a short period of time, but I am afraid that it will ...... after a long time" The household department Shangshu did not say the following words, but the emperor was very clear about the situation of the treasury.

"This Zheng Gu is more than calm, but not enough to change, and in some respects he is not as good as a doll general in his early twenties," the emperor sighed

"Let's urge the reinforcements from all over the four directions" The emperor was a little tired, and after finishing speaking, he went straight through the side door, leaving the ministers in the hall looking at each other.

In the military tent in the camp of Guandi City, the marching master Bo is reporting the situation of grain and grass: "I have ordered the soldiers to cut the grass nearby to solve the problem of horses, and there is some storage on the beans to meet the needs of wartime, the problem is not big, but the food for people is too tight, and the military households can only give one nest head per person every day, and the rest can only drink porridge."

"What about the soldiers?" Wu Xiao asked

"The soldiers are now stepping up their training, and the rations are twice as high as those of the military households," replied the main officer

"The horse meat collected from the battlefield has also been dried and salted and distributed during the war, and some military households will also find some wild food nearby to satisfy their hunger, but there are many people who vomit because they are not digested, and the medical officer is also preparing decoction," said the main officer

"How is the storage of Changzhou Daying?" Wu Xiao asked

"This subordinate doesn't know, there should be some reserves, but it should be emergency military rations, and it should not be used unless it is absolutely necessary."

"The guards of the military grain warehouses in various places have been doubled, the grain from the court is scattered and stored, and the ration distribution will be implemented according to the existing first" Wu Xiao said, and the lord Bo took the order.

Yan Nu sent rice, a bowl of rice, two side dishes, and a bowl of roe deer meat, Wu Xiao was also hungry, picked up the bowl and was about to eat, looked up and saw Yan Nu still standing here and asked, "Have you eaten it?"

Yan Nu nodded, and Wu Xiao pointed to the roe deer/said, "You beat this roe deer?"

"No, it was Zhaohu who beat it," Yan Nu whispered

Wu Xiao pushed the roe deer meat in front of her and said, "You can eat this meat, I have this bowl of rice."

Yan Nu took two steps back and shook her head, Wu Xiao looked at her and shouted, "Do you eat or not?"

Yan Nu stepped forward and slowly ate the bowl of meat, she looked at Wu Xiao while eating, and Wu Xiao looked at the map on the table.

She is a girl in the barracks who is very inconvenient everywhere, and her private affairs are handled in Wu Xiao's back tent, and she also serves as Wu Xiao's secret guard, and she usually lurks in the Chinese army's big tent at night, guarding Wu Xiao, and when Wu Xiao gets up after dawn, she sleeps on Wu Xiao's bed for a while.

Zhaohu has the responsibility of commanding the army, training the army in the camp with nine salt gang brothers all day long, more than 2,000 cavalry who have experienced the test of blood and fire, and Wu Xiao has been incorporated into the black cavalry battalion, led by nine brothers, and Zhaohu is more responsible for the training of infantry.

Wu Xiao will regularly inspect the training, armament, and city defense work of various military commanders, and will even personally demonstrate and guide.

During this period, Wu Xiao went to Changzhou City twice, and met Chen Chong, the general of Hexi who guarded the big city in the west of Changzhou, the two hit it off at first sight, Chen Chong was actually not very old, in his thirties, Wu Xiao was commensurate with his eldest brother, Chen Chong was also very casual, and he conveyed Yu Jintang's concern.

and told Wu Xiao that if the matter was urgent, he could go to Hexi for temporary refuge, Wu Xiao understood what he meant, but neither of them said it.

Zheng Gu had a high opinion of Wu Xiao, once he saw the cross knife on Wu Xiao's waist, and even talked to Wu Xiao about his experience of fighting with Mrs. Anguo's deceased husband before.

also sighed that his own talent was limited, not as good as the former general, Wu Xiao didn't know what to say, so he had to be relieved from the side, and said that the way to stick to it was the safest, and the Mobei war could not afford to take a big risk now.

The attitude of other generals towards Wu Xiao has also improved, it may be that Wu Xiao took more or less care of the relatives of the generals when he made arrangements for moving the military household north, which is also human nature.

The Turkic army has been much quieter lately, and not many people have come to curse, and the enemy camp under the Tianxing Mountain in the distance is gradually expanding, and from time to time there are horse teams around the camp, probably patrolling, and several watchtowers have also been built in a few days.

However, in the eyes of the Tang army, this is a normal military operation, compared to the daily raids in the past few days, the Turks are much quieter these days, but the generals know in their hearts that this may be the calm before the storm.