Many years later, Fielding, who was already one of the most loyal ministers around His Majesty the Emperor, still saw the scene at this moment as clearly as if it had just happened. He wrote in his secret diary: "You cannot understand when you The feeling of being recognized again when you have been completely abandoned by everyone and about to fall into the abyss, that feeling will be unforgettable for the rest of your life." This diary was not released to the public decades after Fielding's death. .
Looking in admiration at Wu Feng's actions, Ling Tianfang felt that he had nothing to say. The smiling and lazy boss in front of him had a magnanimity that could not be matched by anyone else. He could only raise his eyebrows. The thumb simply repeated one sentence: "High, really high!"
Wu Feng already knew about Fielding's ability. If he wanted to truly win his loyalty, now was the best time. He boldly handed over the fallen city defense position to Fielding and let him continue to shoulder the responsibility. This important position undoubtedly regarded him as a confidant who could be entrusted with important tasks. Such a beautiful and generous hand not only won Fielding's undying loyalty, but also convinced everyone present, including Ling Tian. The generals admired their master's magnanimity with admiration.
The actions of the Kaman people were as expected by Wu Feng. After learning that the northwest army was stationed in Taixuan Mansion in large numbers, the Kaman army that had already marched to Taixuan Mansion City retreated instead of advancing under the leadership of Duke Maili. Slowly retreated to the border between Jerok Principality and Taixuan Palace, and also sent some troops back to join the battlefield in the Jiama area, which greatly increased the pressure on Jerok and the imperial coalition fighting on the Jiama front, and the crisis in Taixuan Palace It looks like it has been lifted.
At the same time, among the nearly 150,000 Kaman troops that had assembled in Jiayuguan, Viscount Dominici, commander of the 7th Corps, led his corps to escort more than 50,000 prisoners (including 20,000 reservists) and set off back north, and Liaison personnel were also sent to contact the Imperial Central Committee and Li Wufeng respectively, hoping to negotiate on the prisoners. The tens of thousands of people who originally lived in the Jiayuguan Fortress were ordered to leave the fortress within a week, and the thirty miles outside the fortress were designated as a restricted area. Ordinary people were strictly prohibited from living and engaging in agricultural and animal husbandry activities.
Claudia, who had been appointed as the commander of the front army stationed in Jiayuguan, led the Sixth Corps, which entered from the north, with a total of more than 100,000 troops, and began to conduct large-scale military exercises outside Jiayuguan, pretending to be ready to go south at any time. , the implication is not self-aware.
Wufeng also responded quickly after inspecting the entire defense system of Taixuan Palace. At the same time, he ordered the city walls of Taixuanfu City to be re-reinforced, and a lot of arrow holes and bunkers were added on the original basis. At the same time, he ordered the widening project of the moat to be carried out immediately, and asked the Northwest County War Preparedness Department to urgently transport a batch of passing troops from Qingyang. The improved multi-bow repeater (Note 1) and the giant trebuchet, which have greatly improved performance and quality, were brought to Taixuan to strengthen the active defense capabilities of city defense. Ling Tianfang was appointed to defend the entire Taixuan Mansion area. The commander-in-chief of the army, Taixuanfu City Guard Fielding is the deputy commander-in-chief, fully responsible for the security defense of the Taixuanfu area, the 2nd and 4th Divisions of the Northwest Army, the 1st Independent Cavalry Division of the Northwest, the former Taixuanfu Division The Second Guard Division, a total of four divisions, is affiliated to the Taixuan Mansion defensive theater.
After inspecting the city defense system of Taixuan Mansion, Wu Feng non-stop inspected various important market towns in Taixuan Mansion, focusing on Xuanwu Town in the southwest corner. As early as half a year ago, while Wu Feng was learning about the development of the Bashanfu gold mine, he secretly learned from the detection department under the General Administration of Industry and Mines that there was likely to be a mixed mineral vein in the southwest of Taixuan Mansion. It and Lulong The iron ore belt in the southern part of the mansion belongs to the same large-scale and diverse mineral vein belt, but there are faults in the middle, which extend intermittently to the southwest of Taixuan Palace. There are likely to be rich copper resources in the southwest of Taixuan Palace. This is also One of the reasons why Wu Feng was unwilling to give up Tai Xuan Palace.
If the detection by the General Administration of Industry and Mines is true and this copper vein belt can be developed, it will bring great help to the economic development of the entire northwest, including Northern Luzon. You must know that copper mines are indispensable to the national economy and people's livelihood. It is also a necessary mineral used by countries in mainland China to mint coins. The annual consumption in this area alone is astonishing. The existing mines discovered are far from enough, so all countries attach great importance to the detection and mining of copper mines.
Wu Feng has always been very annoyed by the lack of mineral resources in his territory. The six northwest prefectures and Northern Luzon are such a vast and fertile land. Except for Yinchuan Prefecture, which has coal, iron and silver mineral resources, no mineral resources have been found in other places. And Yinchuan Prefecture is just outside its control. Even the iron smelting industry of Qingyang Prefecture must import coal mines and iron ore from Yinchuan Prefecture. Although the distance is not too far, it is enough to consume a lot of transportation capacity, and it is also Being controlled by others, how could Wu Feng sleep peacefully
Fortunately, good news has come from Shuangdui Mansion in Northern Luzon. The news of the discovery of an iron ore belt in the northern area adjacent to Wusun Kingdom has been confirmed, and preliminary work has begun. Lu Man's vision and His sense of smell is extraordinary. He knows better than anyone how much the development of a large-scale iron ore mine will affect the economy of Shuangdui Prefecture, especially the backward areas in the north of Shuangdui. When Wu Feng and Xiao Tang's instructions arrived, this guy had already started Organize people to start developing and building a simple road leading there from Shuangdui, and prepare to transform the simple road into a standard road within two years.
Now if we can develop the copper mine in Taixuan Mansion, we will have the two major ore resources of copper and iron in our territory, and we will not have to worry too much about being controlled by others in the event of a big war. However, the location of these two places is not very good. , are all in the border zone with external forces. The Shuangdui Mansion is slightly better. Wusun does not have the strength to threaten itself, but the Taixuan Mansion is different. The Lulong Mansion and Jerok Principality next to it are both stuck. Under the threat of the Man people, if it is developed, the Kaman people will inevitably not be voyeuristic.
But I can’t take care of much now. I can’t stop eating because of choking. I’m afraid that the Kaman people will not even carry out normal construction. Wu Feng specifically explained this to Fielding and asked him to do the preliminary work as soon as possible. Once the copper mine is implemented, it will be completed immediately. It is necessary to start the work, and we must not shrink from fear of the threat of war, especially the preliminary road transportation and other necessary work must be done ahead.
Just when everything was going according to plan, the Kaman people's negotiating envoy also came to Taixuanfu City. The resettlement of the tens of thousands of people expelled from Jiayuguan Fortress has spent most of Taixuanfu's funds. Now about the prisoners of war Wu Feng was also embarrassed by the problem. If he really wanted to redeem these more than 50,000 prisoners of war, the funds required would be an astronomical figure. At present, Wu Feng did not have such a large amount of funds in his hands, but the amount of money needed to redeem these prisoners of war was The benefits are also considerable. First of all, more than 30,000 of these prisoners of war are elite soldiers of the original Taixuan Mansion First and Third Guard Divisions. Their combat effectiveness is much stronger than the newly formed guard units. They are not because of fighting. They were captured due to defeat, but fell to this point because of internal betrayal, so as long as they are reorganized and their fighting spirit is aroused, they can become a wolf-tiger division. It is undoubtedly a big help.
Therefore, after the arrival of the Kaman envoy, Wu Fengbian decided to bring these soldiers under his control no matter what method he adopted. As for the specific funds needed, Wu Feng didn't want to worry too much and left it to Xiao Tang and Su Qin to figure it out on their own. Of course, it would be best if they could scrape some money from the central government of the empire, but Wu Feng didn't hold out much hope.
"what should we do? "Whose fault?" ”, “The Empire Encountered an Existential Crisis”, “The Bleeding Empire” and other headlines filled the major media outlets in the empire. The fall of Jiayuguan was unacceptable to almost all the people in the empire, from common people to aristocrats, from wealthy businessmen to urban poor. , there was an uproar in the countryside, and the matter was discussed in all public places in teahouses and hotels. Almost all the fingers were pointed at the General Administration of Military Affairs, which had a great responsibility for this matter.
And some well-informed people revealed through various channels that the traitor was actually someone who was recommended by a certain royal nobleman. The news media, which has always been open, were chasing after him and digging into the details. Soon the traitor and a certain person were involved. The news of the prince's close relationship spread widely, and for a time the imperial capital was in a turmoil, with undercurrents surging.
After receiving the news of the fall of Jiayuguan, Emperor Situ Mingyue immediately stopped his vacation, set off westward overnight, and held an emergency state meeting on his boat, which made emergency arrangements for the urgent situation at hand. At the suggestion of Minister of Military Affairs He Zhiqiu and Minister of Interior Lu Wenfu, the Imperial Council of State passed several emergency orders.
First, the Second Division of the City Guards stationed in the imperial capital was ordered to immediately move westward to stabilize the situation in Jerok Principality and Beiyuan County and prevent the chain reaction caused by the fall of Jiayuguan from affecting the Jerok battle. At the same time, the other three divisions of the City Guard Corps stationed in Wuhu were ordered to immediately return to the imperial capital, and the defense was handed over to other local garrisons. In addition, the third, fourth and fifth divisions of the Fourth Army have also begun to return to their original headquarters in Kansai County one after another to ensure that the situation in Kansai is stable.
At the same time, the meeting also decided to allow the Imperial Foreign Affairs Office to conditionally accept the peace negotiation proposal of the Machi Khans, in order to achieve the purpose of reducing the pressure on the garrison in Wuhu County.
"Lu Aiqing, is the situation you said really that serious?" Situ Mingyue's face was full of exhaustion. The news of the fall of Jiayuguan had completely filled his heart with frustration and anger, and the news brought by Lu Wenfu was even more... It made him sit on pins and needles.
Looking at His Majesty the Emperor's suspicious eyes, Lu Wenfu sighed secretly in his heart. Even now, he has spent a lot of effort and still cannot fully understand the depth of the Taiping Sect, but time no longer allows him to delay it any longer. The growing power of the opponent and the large-scale invasion of the Kaman people made him feel frightened every day, and he was deeply afraid that when he woke up, he would already be in trouble. After finally receiving the information about the fall of Jiayuguan, he no longer dared to delay any longer. He had to report this serious situation to His Majesty the Emperor, even if taking action in advance would alert the enemy or trigger a preemptive strike.
Such a blow to the head made Situ Mingyue, who was already in a bad mood, unable to accept it. His suspicious eyes made several important ministers present feel chills.
Note (1): The framed multi-bow repeating crossbow is improved from the repeating crossbow and fixed on a specially customized bracket. It can set up multiple repeating crossbows at the same time and adjust the shooting angle and direction. Its quality stability, operability and The shooting accuracy is greatly improved compared to ordinary repeating crossbows. It is a product of the cooperation between the Science and Technology Department of the Northwest County Economic Development Agency and the War Readiness Administration.