The atmosphere in the study became extremely solemn, and the huge pressure made the three of them deeply feel the feeling of shrinking from a bad move. Wu Feng, in particular, felt a little heavy. In the past year or so, the northwest power has expanded rapidly, regardless of Whether it is the expansion of influence among the countries in the Western Region, the infiltration of Nanjie Locke's influence, and the great victory in India some time ago, all of this can be said to be easy to grasp, not to mention the generals under his command, even himself. Feeling a little complacent, Su Qin's trip to the south of the Yangtze River left him with one less person who could clearly see the changes in the surrounding situation. I am afraid that what he did had long been noticed by the Luobi and Sisluo people. In his heart, he had to admit that the enemy's endurance was good. He finally waited for the opportunity, and while he was looking away with all his strength, he used a move from behind to drain the fire. Even Wu Feng himself had to admit that the opponent's move was indeed a good one. pretty. Although this made his current situation extremely embarrassing, Wu Feng still admired the enemy's poisonous move.
The two were speechless for a moment. Although Wu Feng's face was gloomy, he was quite calm. There was no strange color in his tiger eyes. After a while, he said: "That's not all. I just received an urgent report that the Lin family successfully bribed Feng Qi." , the Hanzhong Taiping Sect garrison surrendered to Lin Guowei. It is estimated that the defense handover of Hanzhong Fucheng has been completed. Two divisions of the Lin family have taken over the Taiping Army to take over Hanzhong Fucheng, and another division is stationed outside Hanzhong City. Lang The family has probably made up their mind to settle things with the Lin family in Hanzhong. According to the latest information, the Lang family has sent two more divisions from Tiannan County to Bashan. I judge that this is to increase troops to Hanzhong. "
After a pause, Wu Feng, who looked a little depressed, said again: "In view of the changes in the situation here, I have ordered the Guards Division and the Independent Third Division to return to Qingyang immediately, and only retain the necessary troops to garrison Hanzhong West, The passes on the north side.”
Xiaotang and Su Qin exchanged surprised looks. Su Qin couldn't help but ask: "Don't you want to gain a foothold in Hanzhong?"
"Right now, the city of Hanzhong has been occupied by the Beilin family. The Lin family has actually gained an absolute advantage. The Lang family is aggressively sending more troops to Hanzhong. I estimate that the war in Hanzhong will not end in three to five months. I don't want to trap my troops. There, not to mention that the situation has changed, and all needs have changed with time." Shaking his head, Wu Feng sneered lightly and said firmly: "I was a little careless in the early stage. I didn't expect Besang, a Luobi man, to conquer the east. The general really has some tricks. He was able to join forces with the Sisluans to overthrow the power of the Motte people. It seems that I underestimated the heroes of the world, but it seems that God is not on their side, at least Gu'er Sufu’s escape proves this!”
"My lord, what are your plans now?" Xiao Tang has already sensed Wu Feng's implication from Wu Feng's resolute eyes. He has been following Wu Feng for quite some time. Whenever Wu Feng shows this look, Xiao Tang knows that it is his master's fault. Representation of major decisions.
"Since the Luobi people are unkind, don't blame us for being unjust. Since the Sisluo people want to get involved, if we don't cooperate with them, they will feel that they are not friends enough!" Wu Feng almost said this. It was a word, and even Xiao Tang and Su Qin could clearly feel the murderous intent revealed in the gap between his teeth. It seemed that this matter was quite irritating to his master. Although he didn't show it on the surface, he was probably thinking deep down. What a crazy revenge.
"My lord, what should I do to the east?" Su Qin asked directly without pausing. This is an unavoidable question and the core question. If once the focus is turned to the west, if there are major changes in the situation within the empire, Then Northwest may not be able to interfere.
After a moment of silence, Wu Feng spoke: "This is the purpose of why you two are here. I originally planned to do a thorough calculation before discussing with you, but now time waits for no one, I can't help it anymore, and I must do it immediately. make a decision."
Wu Feng seemed to be considering his words. He thought for a while, until Xiao and Su's eyes had passed over his face several times before he said slowly: "I have decided to reorganize our northwest army."
Although the words were not loud, the words were well-proportioned. In fact, Xiao Tang had long known that such a day would come. Since the large sum of money from India came into his account, all military officials, including his boss, had Xiao Tang knew better than anyone what he was planning. Fortunately, he had made considerable preparations in advance, so he was not surprised when Wu Feng brought up the matter. Su Qin also estimated this. Faced with such a bad situation in the northwest, being on the defensive will only make the situation in the northwest more embarrassing. The economy in the northwest is weak and the finances cannot support such a large army. The only way out is to support war with war. , on the one hand, they annexed the surrounding wealthy areas and relied on the wealth of these areas for maintenance. On the other hand, they could also use these wars to train their own troops. The conquest of the Pancha people was already a pretty good start, and from the Pancha people The huge wealth gained has also laid the financial foundation for the current military expansion. It should be said that the time for military expansion is ripe.
Seeing both of them nodding in unison, Wu Feng was a little surprised. Su Qin had never supported the expansion of the army, but his attitude was not firm, but Xiao Tang, the northwest general manager, was a firm opponent of the expansion of the army. Why did he not support the expansion of the army today? There was not a word of objection, but he actively nodded in agreement, which is an anomaly.
Seeing his boss's strange gaze lingering on his face, Xiao Tang took the initiative to speak: "Sir, do you think Xiao Tang's stance today is a little different from the past?"
"Haha, yes, I feel that your attitude today is very different from before. Unfortunately, the words I prepared to persuade you and the two of you turned out to be unnecessary, which made me very disappointed." Wu Feng His face looked much better. After all, he was able to get the unanimous consent of the two giants from the government without any effort. He felt quite comfortable. Although he had made a lot of preparations, Wu Feng was sure to convince the two of them. This ending made him even more satisfied. People are satisfied.
"Sir, Xiao Tang and Su Qin are not ignorant people. In the past, when their subordinates opposed the casual expansion of the army, they considered the overall situation of the entire northwest. They did not view the problem from a narrow personal perspective, as some people said. , now the financial situation in Northwest and Northern Luzon has improved greatly, and Lulong, Longdong, and Xikang have been brought under your rule. I have asked Lord Mi Fengmi and Mr. Zhong Wenjing to temporarily assume the responsibility according to your intention. As for the administrative work of Lulong and Xikang Prefectures, I also asked Liang Chongxin to temporarily impose military control on the Longdong side according to your request, and asked them to follow the northwest policy to regulate the economic and commercial activities in these three prefectures. Since these three prefectures The economic foundation of China is much better than that of our northwest, especially Lulong and Longdong. Now our foundation is much better than the year before and last year. Although it is not rich, it has also laid a certain foundation for military expansion; In addition, the economic income from the outsiders can greatly make up for the existing shortcomings. Although this is not a long-term solution, at least it has eliminated our financial hole for now, which is enough to support our military expansion; and the current situation is changing drastically, if there is no strong Without the military as a guarantee, everything we have worked so hard to build will be under great threat. Therefore, my subordinates believe that the time has come to expand the army, and we firmly support the expansion of the army!" Xiao Tang calmly answered his boss's question.
"Yes, sir, my subordinates have the same view as Brother Xiao. Now is indeed a good time to expand the army. Brother Xiao has previously informed Sir Rao to make certain preparations in advance. However, due to time constraints, it may not be able to fully meet your needs. Now it depends on the size and plan of your army to expand." Su Qin also joined the conversation.
What he said was true. As soon as Xiao Tang got the gold and jewelry that he was hiding from others, the first step was to arrange for the War Preparedness Department to purchase horses from various nomadic groups on the Tengger Grassland, not only the Motes and Luobi, but also The quartermaster also went deep into the territories of the Gur and Tubu people to make purchases. Rao even entrusted transit merchants to purchase at high prices from the Chidi people in the West Tengger Grassland; at the same time, he also made purchases from Yinchuan, Qingyang, Jinzhou, Vito Suppliers of various weapons, armors, vehicles, medicinal materials and other logistics supplies placed large orders and directly delivered a considerable amount of deposits in advance. This unprecedented move directly stimulated the sensitive nerves of businessmen and workshop owners. Many people took advantage of this The deposits were made one after another to expand the scale of production and recruit workers, which also led to the upgrading and expansion of a series of industries involving the military. On the other hand, Xiao Tang also recognized the urgency of time and decided on his own without waiting for Wu Feng's consent to lend a considerable sum of money to the Shuangdui Autonomous Government to expand the development of the iron mines in the north of Shuangdui and the development of the Shuangdui Autonomous Government. Lu Man was overjoyed with the new iron smelting plant, but he still couldn't understand why his boss, who always spent money and money, was so kind.
Appreciative eyes turned around the faces of the two people. Wu Feng could finally tell the truth about his army expansion plan with confidence and boldness. This was also a plan that he had been thinking about for a long time but had not been able to make a final decision, but at this time he still made a decision resolutely. , maybe this plan is too big, but instead of taking it half a step, it is better to get it right in one step. The long-term pain is not as good as the short-term pain. This will be more conducive to the development of our own army in the future. Fortunately, we can get the funds from the hands of others. It was quite abundant, enough to support himself for a while, otherwise Wu Feng would not have dared to have such a crazy idea.
Although they had been prepared in their hearts, Xiao Tang and Su Qin were still shocked by their boss's huge expansion of the army. In their original thinking, the boss would merge several independent divisions to form the Second Northwest Army. In addition, based on the previous Wu Feng The idea was to mobilize elite cavalry from various ministries to form a heavy cavalry division with a status similar to that of the Guards Division, directly controlled by Wu Feng himself. Such consumption is already considerable, and it can also form combat effectiveness in a relatively short period of time. , with two legions, it is enough to fight a head-on battle with the Luobi people.