Han Chao asked: "What will happen next? Can the bandits take advantage of the victory to attack Tongguan?" Wen Daxing shook his head: "Intelligence revealed that the remnants of the army that retreated to Tongguan still had 40,000 soldiers, but they were frightened and did not have much fighting power. Fortunately, With three thousand of our Jingbian Army soldiers at Tongguan, Tongguan is safe and secure. Andit may be that the previous war at Tongguan left them frightened, so they did not march westward to Shaanxi, but instead besieged Kaifeng again. " His face showed unbearable. With a look on his face, he took out a newspaper: "This is the latest information obtained. It is much faster than the one from the imperial capital. The thievesthe thieves broke the river to flood Bian City, and countless people in Kaifeng drowned." "What?" Everyone inside was shocked, and Qin Yi said in a trembling voice: "You mean that Kaifeng was flooded when thieves broke through the river?" Wen Daxing affirmed: "Yes, we don't know how it was flooded. There are rumors that Kaifeng was flooded again. During the siege, the officials in the city wanted to dig dikes to divert water to the thieves. Then, when the intruders found out, they opened dikes and flooded the city. " "It is also said that the thieves have been unable to attack Kaifeng for a long time, and they have accumulated hatred in their hearts for a long time. The plan to flood the city happened to be that there had been heavy rains in recent months, and the Yellow River flooded the city, so Bianliang fell. "The whole story is unknown, but it is a fact that Kaifeng was flooded," Zhong Susu said. Biting her lower lip tightly, as if she was about to bleed, she said bitterly: "Those are hundreds of thousands of people, and thieves can also attack them. They are really beasts!" Zan Painting Qin Yi sighed: "Since the bandit rebellion, There is no way to kill people, and the most violent one is to flood Bianliang! Those who want to achieve great things should focus on winning people. This is what Li Chuang did, but Huang Chao and Red Eyebrows are so vicious and want to achieve great things. , can you get it?" Wen Fangliang gritted his teeth and said: "After all, it's a traitor!" Han Chao sighed: "Fortunately, in recent years, the general has entrusted the Sanjin Commercial Bank to recruit women and children, and many women and children in Kaifeng City have been sent away. This is a great blessing among misfortunes. " Gao Shiyin said in a deep voice: "Do you know the movement of the bandits now? " Wen Daxing said: "Information revealed that when the bandits resumed their siege in Kaifeng, a large number of troops were approaching Guide and Xuzhou, with unknown intentions. After Heguan opened the city, most of them broke out and marched eastward, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses. " Everyone was shocked again. Han Chao looked at the sand table and said decisively: "This is the strategy of the bandit to imitate the encirclement and Kaifeng. De and Xuzhou City also planned to encircle and rescue. He pointed at the location of Xuzhou and said bitterly: "The north and south of Xuzhou are strategic points. If Xuzhou is cut off, the north and south will be cut off, especially the water transportation. The imperial court will definitely not sit back and watch. It seems that the rescue troops will be destroyed here again!" Gao Shiyin said in shock: "It seems that the bandit's ultimate intention is to invade Shandong and then force the capital?" Wen Fangliang looked at Wen Daxing. , said in a deep voice: "Has the Intelligence Department found out the final plan of the bandit?" Wen Daxing glanced at Wang Dou, and Wang Dou nodded. Wen Daxing opened a newspaper and said in a deep voice: "This is one of the top secrets of our intelligence department. In March of this year, our intelligence department discovered that the intruders were discussing their plans with a group of thieves in the Xiangyang Palace. The thieves in the palace were Niu Jinxing and Gu Junen. , Song Xiance and others are arguing about the strategy, and now they have found out the strategy as follows: "The intruder Prime Minister Niu Jinxing said: I ask you to attack Beizhi and Shandong, and then go straight to the capital!" It was a shock. Wen Daxing continued: "This is the policy of Yang Yongyu, the Minister of Lili Government, to seize the capital and cut off water transportation!" Everyone in the hall pondered. Wen Daxing finally said: "The thief is following Gu Junen's plan. He said: No, no, no! He will first occupy the capital and stay in the lower reaches. It will be difficult to solve major problems, and his strategy will fail slowly. Also, go straight to the capital. In case of failure, If there is no way to return, the strategy is too urgent. It is better to take Guanzhong first, make it the homeland of Marshal Sangzi, and establish the country, then attack the three sides, capture Shanxi, and then move towards the capital. Only then can we have a complete strategy! In the opinion of the Ministry, Yang Yongyu¡¯s strategy was rejected, and Gu Junen¡¯s strategy was not feasible. The only strategy now is Niu Jinxing¡¯s. The bandit¡¯s final strategy must be to invade Shandong and go straight to the capital!¡± Wang Dou said lightly: ¡°Minister Wen, this is Is it the final judgment of the Intelligence Department?" Wen Daxing affirmed: "Yes, General!" His tone was decisive and confident. ¡ ¡ Wang Dou waved his hand and everyone sat back in their seats, their eyes shining faintly and their expressions solemn. They knew that everyone would discuss the final strategy of the Jingbian Army and the Protectorate, and every word they said was very important. Zhong Susu touched her face and murmured: "Support is not feasible. The imperial court has accumulated a lot of trouble and it is difficult to return. There are too many constraints. First, King Cao was defeated, and then Sun Chuanting was defeated. Food and money were wasted. If the rescue is thousands of miles away, the food route will be difficult to maintain, and the risk is too great. It¡¯s not feasible either¡¡± Everyone understood what she meant, and everyone looked at each other.?Many people wanted to stand up and speak, but felt uncomfortable speaking. Wen Fangliang said decisively: "Now that we know the strategy of the bandits, it will be easy to handle it. We will wait for them in the capital. There will be no problem of food routes for hundreds of miles." Li Guangheng raised his head suddenly and said, "Are you just going to sit back and watch? If the bandits attack Xuzhou, I don't know how many rescue troops will be destroyed. If the bandits attack Shandong Province, I don't know how many people will suffer. This is what happened to our Jingbian Army." Are you watching?" Wen Fangliang said sternly: "General Hulie, we have to consider the people and the imperial army, but we must also consider our brothers in the Jingbian Army! First, King Cao was defeated, and then Sun Chuanting was destroyed. The danger of this thousand-mile food road Don¡¯t you know? We only have this little possessions, how can we squander it at will?¡± Li Guangheng said nothing with a cold face, and Wen Fangliang continued: ¡°Besides, the imperial court may call us to send troops. The general is hardworking and loyal. His heart can be seen by the whole Ming Dynasty! But who is keeping him in cold storage and who is suspicious of him? Do we have to send troops without orders and continue to put a hot face on others' cold buttocks, and finally get a bigger one? Suspicion and cold storage?" He sneered again and again, with a biting chill in his words. Li Guangheng's face turned pale, and veins popped out on his forehead. He stood up suddenly, and finally sat down decadently, holding his head and saying nothing. Zan Hua Qin Yi stood up slowly at this time. He saluted Wang Dou solemnly and said to everyone in the hall: "The biggest habit of bandits is that they are easy to escape. If you have a way, you will not worry about bandits gathering but only scattering. If you save Xuzhou, Shandong In addition to worrying about the food route, I am also worried about their escape. I have never doubted the combat power of our Jingbian Army. I am only worried that the intruders will see that the situation is not good and leave millions of hungry people behind, and then take tens of thousands with them. The old camp fled all the way to Henan and even Huguang. When will the thieves be eliminated? " He said, "If the thieves attack the capital, but they do what they want, then the time, place and people will be favorable, and I, the Protectorate, can deal with the thieves once and for all. Bandits, don't worry about being led by the thieves just like the defeated officers and soldiers before." He mused: "The capital is strong, how can it last for a year and a half? I want the emperor to be suspicious again, but the capital is in danger. It¡¯s time to summon the general Qin Wang, so that he can send troops to solve these disasters for the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, I agree with General Wen¡¯s strategy. Everyone in the hall was arguing, and Wang Dou sat quietly, no one knew he was there. Thinking about something, he suddenly waved his hand: "Destroy the thieves in the capital!" He said calmly: "Do great good regardless of small evil, I have figured it out." He said: "This is the highest strategy of our Protectorate in the near future. First, roads, food and fodder, baggage, logistics, soldiers, equipment, all departments need to be in an orderly manner and start preparing for this. "" He made a decision and laid out the strategy: "The staff department needs to formulate operational details, and the intelligence department needs to carefully collect intelligence. The Ministry of Military Affairs should train the army and equip the soldiers well, the Ministry of Civil Affairs should prepare the army to go out to provide food, rice, money and silk to the hungry people, and the Ministry of Supervision should do a good job in supervision" Everyone listened in silence, they knew that with the plan of the Governor's Office, It is certain that everything in the future will focus on how to exterminate the bandits, and the mobilization machine of the Protectorate will also be quickly started. Zhang Guimeng stood up and assured Wang Dou: "Don't worry, General. Our Ministry of Civil Affairs will do its best to ensure all supplies for the army." The wasteland has reached two million acres, plus a large number of civilian and commercial villages. At first, there were fields in various places in Xuanfu Town. He said with certainty: "As long as the grain and rice are harvested next year, the accumulated grain of my Duhufu will be used to provide relief to the entire Ming Dynasty." The hungry people in the North and even Henan are no longer a problem!" Wang Dou nodded with satisfaction. After working hard, it was finally time to harvest. The Han Dynasty stood up to report the matter to the Ministry of Military Affairs. The army has completely replaced its flintlock guns. It is estimated that they will be replaced by the twelfth lunar month, and each gun will be equipped with a sharp blunderbuss sword. In terms of artillery, the three artillery factories are all in operation, and can cast 20 light and heavy red barbarian cannons every month. Now there are 330 large and small red barbarian cannons in the army, and 100 heavy mortar cannons. In addition, there are 100 General Fo Lang machine guns and 500 medium and small Fo Lang machine guns. In terms of rockets, because Wang Dou instructed to increase production capacity a few months ago, the existing rocket inventory includes 4,000 light rockets and 200 heavy rockets. Wang Dou muttered: "The production of artillery will be at this level for the time being, and investment in rockets will have to be increased. By March or April next year, I will see at least 10,000 light rockets in stock and a thousand heavy rockets in stock!" Han and North Korea wanted to After thinking for a while, he responded: "Yes, General!" He also reported to Wang Dou that after the autumn harvest, after the autumn harvest, King Shunyi, now the governor's horse officer Ermubu, vigorously controlled the horses, and the fat and strong horses gained a lot. , Now there are more than 50,000 war horses in various horse farms on the grassland. In addition to the original war horses of the Jingbian Army, that is to say,Now all Jingbian Army officers and soldiers can own war horses. Everyone in the hall was smiling, and Wang Dou also laughed. He was very happy and said: "Okay, from now on, the soldiers' military formation training and feather cavalry tactics will be one of the key points." It is the only department of the army that can order mobilization, operations, and the mobilization of the entire army. As a minister, Wen Fangliang naturally had to report to Wang Dou about the total force that the Jingbian Army could mobilize if it sent troops. The Jingbian Army was known as the Zhongyong Camp at this time, but it had five armies under its command: the Suzaku Army in the forward, the Qinglong Army in the left guard, the White Tiger Army in the right guard, the Xuanwu Army in the rear, and Wang Dou's central army. In terms of current military strength, each army has two or three battalions, divided into A-level battalions and B-level battalions. One army has about 7,000 to 10,000 people. There are also two battalions of baggage battalions, one battalion of sentry battalions, one battalion of escort battalions, and two battalions of cavalry battalions. There is also an artillery battalion, plus the Zhongyi Battalion and the New Auxiliary Battalion, the total strength is almost 60,000. But this does not include the young men and women in the forts. As for the current population of Duhufu and Xuanfu Town, on the East Road, as of March of the 14th year of Chongzhen, including the full population, the total population of the entire road was more than 534,000. But now it has exploded to 700,000, especially Bao'an Prefecture's population has exceeded 300,000, and the entire Xuanfu Town population has now reached 1.2 million. In the Anbei Protectorate, by the beginning of August, the number of people who had moved to Anbei from various provinces had exceeded 500,000. Due to the plague, more people were eager to enter Anbei. Wealth, peace, stability, and security are the impressions everyone has of Anbei. "If nothing else, when a plague broke out, tens of thousands of people died in Shanxi, but how many people died in Anbei? The newspapers were shouting loudly, and everyone from the Marquis of Yongning to the Protectorate paid close attention to it. However, according to the final statistics, the death toll did not exceed a thousand. Who wouldn¡¯t yearn for a place like this? So to date, the number of immigrants who have entered Anbei has exceeded 800,000, and many of them are from wealthy families. This is one of the reasons why Guihua City is rapidly prospering. Based on this statistics, the population under Wang Dou's name has reached two million. If there are four or five people per household, there are about four to five million households. ??Conservatively calculated on the basis of one household per person, there are approximately 400,000 to 500,000 young men under Wang Dou's command. Because of the help of mutual aid societies and the large number of horses plowing, more men can be drawn out to fight. With the mobilization efficiency of the Protectorate, a ratio of one out of three men can be achieved. In other words, 100,000 to 150,000 troops can be mobilized to participate in the war, and farming and commerce will not be significantly affected. In fact, according to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there are more young people in Anbei and Xuanfu, because most of the people who can escape are strong men, such as men like Lao Hu. It is conservatively estimated that there will be no less than 600,000 young men under Wang Dou's command. This is also the reason why the Duhufu is trying so hard to recruit women and children. There is a tendency that there are more boys than girls in the area under its jurisdiction, and the yin and yang are not balanced, which is a taboo. After listening to Wen Fangliang¡¯s report, everyone in the hall was smiling happily. After many years, it turns out that our own power has expanded to this extent! Gao Shiyin suddenly stood up and said loudly: "There is no need to mobilize so many people. Fifty thousand garrison troops are enough. In addition, the Jingbian Army's regular soldiers, 100,000 strong, are enough to sweep the world!" Everyone in the hall said yes, They have full confidence in the combat power of the Jingbian Army, and there are millions of thieves, so what's the point? Han Chao suddenly said: "No, the garrison army needs to be mobilized on a scale of 100,000 to 150,000 people." He reminded: "Don't forget the slave thieves in Liaodong. I heard that they have withdrawn from the Japanese soldiers. When the time comes, the traitors will go north. , they may also send troops into the pass and take advantage of the situation. "He said: "It is very likely that our Jingbian army will fight against the bandits and Hulu at the same time, facing millions of enemy invaders!" Everyone was shocked and looked at them fiercely! There is a map hanging on the wall in the direction of Liaodong. This possibility is extremely high and must be guarded against. Wang Dou glanced at Han Chao approvingly and said: "Yes, it is indeed possible. Don't be afraid of 10,000, just be afraid of the worst. No matter whether Dong Nu enters the border or not, we must make no less preparations. Ning Duo If there are no shortage of soldiers and troops, we will mobilize 200,000 troops. " After Wang Dou is determined, the subsequent details will be completed by the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the General Staff Department and other departments. This will be It is a huge and complicated task. After all, there is a huge difference between sending 10,000 troops and 100,000 troops, and 100,000 troops are completely different from 200,000 troops. When a sergeant goes out to fight, of course he has to consume food. People eat and horses chew, and the losses on the road will be staggering. A conservative estimate is that each sergeant consumes about one kilogram of food per day at this time, which is almost one liter at this time. In fact, people at this time ate a lot, eating two kilograms of rice in one meal.There are many people there. Shen Kuo said in Mengxi's written talk that a person's solar eclipse was two liters, and in Wanli's Aid to the Dynasty, someone also said that a solar eclipse was three liters. One hundred liters is equivalent to one stone, and 200,000 people consume 2,000 dan of food per day, especially if there are horses among them. At this time, the food intake of horses compared with humans was almost ten to one, and in later generations it would be reduced to about five to one. In other words, if a person eats one liter, a horse will eat ten liters. Of course, the horse eats forage mixed with grain, mainly hay, beans, etc. There is a certain proportion of grain and grass in this. Generally speaking, because the energy provided by the forage itself is not very high, the horse must eat a large amount. If you want the horse to fight quickly, you need to provide refined feed, mainly grain and bean feed, plus appropriate salt to supplement the horse's physical strength. The current standard for horses in the Jingbian Army is half grain and half grass beans. In other words, hay is not included for the time being. A horse eats five times as much rice and wheat as a human. The 200,000-strong army, in addition to the cavalry and feathered cavalry horses, also has mules and horses pulling carts. It is estimated that there will be 70,000 horses, and the food consumed per day will be 3,500 shi. ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? At this time, the logistics and transportation losses are not small. If there are 100,000 people and the army is ten days away from the logistics supply point, the total logistics consumption will almost catch up with the consumption of the combat troops. This is still a distance of ten days. If the journey is longer, the logistics consumption will be greater. In other words, the amount of food consumed by 200,000 horses in one day is more than 5,500 shi. In this country, it is of course extraordinary. This is also the reason why this era pays great attention to feeding on the enemy. "Sun Tzu's Art of War" said: "Eat the enemy for one minute, and treat me as twenty." This is also the reason why ancient dynasties were often at a disadvantage in battles against nomadic peoples, all over the Central Plains. The urban population, Hu Qi can feed on the enemy. When the Central Plains invaded the grasslands, there was nothing but grass there, and the food and fodder that supplied the army had to be transported thousands of miles from the Central Plains. If the food route is not cut off, the entire army will be wiped out. Wang Dou¡¯s concerns about going to Shandong, Henan and other places are also here. The grain road is too long and the transportation of grain and grass is too difficult. If only the capital was conquered, apart from the short grain road, the losses of all parties would be smaller. After all, he had built many military and grain depots in Xuanfu Town in recent years. Of course "Currently, the Duhufu is building three post roads at the same time. The remaining two can be slowed down, and the road from Guihua City to Xuanfu Town is given the highest priority." "Yes!" The footsteps faded away, and the officials with excited expressions were about to leave the meeting hall. Wang Dou stood in front of the hall, with his hands behind his back, looking at the falling snow outside. His python robe made him extremely majestic. He stood quietly, not knowing where he was. Thinking about something. Wen Daxing stood quietly behind Wang Dou, waiting for him to speak. Wang Dou¡¯s eyes changed. Sometimes his eyes emitted a cold light, and sometimes they turned soft. He stared ahead, as if watching scenes of the past, as well as the people and things that appeared from time to time. Finally, he sighed and said: "Start preparing for the plan of the capital!" Wen Daxing said: "General" "Get ready." Wang Dou waved his hand and murmured: "I promised someone." "Yes!"