The Marshal's tent was set up next to the Xingzi Forest. When Xue Poye saw the Marshal's tent, he was really surprised. These foolish guys actually set up the Marshal's tent in a majestic and dignified manner.
As for the onlookers, Yang Yijun and Liu Xiao have already ordered the generals under their command to start rectification, to return to their respective battalions, to strictly enforce military regulations, and to set up sentries.
Xue Poye knows that the city of Rome cannot be built in a day, and the morale of the military regulations that have been slackened for many years cannot be cured by just reprimanding him. According to the rule, it is undoubtedly a fool's dream, and the half of the soldiers who have become habitually loose can only be restrained temporarily by means of coercion.
Commander Xue Poye sat on the commander's seat, and in the spacious commander's tent, more than ten generals stood in front of Xue Poye's case.
As the deputy commander of the army, Song Fei sat on the chair beside the desk with a cold face.
Although the army came from various state capitals this time, good and evil were mixed, but the leading generals at all levels, when the army was dispatched, the Ministry of War and the Privy Council began to negotiate and divide them up.
This Northern Expedition was a matter of extreme caution, and the generals at all levels were carefully selected and researched, and these core generals are now standing in the commanding camp.
"This Commander and Commander Song have followed the Holy Majesty's will. This time, they want to lead the army to quell the imminent rebellion in the Northwest. All the generals are also great generals of Chu. We will rely on your support in the future." Xue Poye said slowly with a serious expression on his face. : "Speaking of which, I, Xue, is the commander-in-chief. That is the great love of the sage. I can only do my best. When it comes to military affairs, Song Shuai is the real elder, so the one who really leads everyone to fight is the accomplished and experienced Song Shuai." Shuai, not Xue, Xue just supported Song Shuai from the side."
Although Xue Poye was a little displeased with Seong Fei's contemptuous attitude, but he also knew that this old boy was capable of fighting, so he really couldn't be too grudges with him, he always had to think about the little emperor, and tried his best He won this battle with all his strength, so he was not called the deputy commander, but changed to "Song Shuai" to show his respect for Seinfeld.
After hearing Xue Poye's words, Song Fei's voice improved a bit, and he even clasped his fists and said, "The commander is too modest, and the general will definitely help him with all his heart."
Xue Poye breathed a sigh of relief. Although Seinfeld has a weird temper, he is not a stubborn guy after all, he just has a good face. If this is the case, he will often raise him in the future, which will surely further ease the relationship.
All the generals below respectfully said in unison: "The last general is all sent by the commander-in-chief Song Shuai, and he will not hesitate to die."
Xue Poye glanced at the crowd before asking: "Have the soldiers and horses from all states assembled?"
Liu Xiao and Yang Yijun looked at each other, stepped forward and bowed and said, "Commander, 260,000 soldiers and horses have been assembled from 23 states, and now 240,000 troops have been assembled, and the 14 southern states have a total of 170,000 troops." Soldiers and horses, 90,000 soldiers and horses from the Kyushu in the north."
Xue Poye frowned and said: "It has been more than 20 days since the Ministry of War issued the transfer order. It took me nearly ten days to come from Kyoto. Why are there still soldiers and horses yet? Where are the soldiers and horses?"
"The commander-in-chief doesn't know, but the cavalry and infantry gathered here. The 20,000 troops who didn't arrive are the siege troops with ladder catapults and other siege weapons, and their movement speed is relatively slow." Sein Fei Suddenly interjected: "It's understandable that they didn't arrive."
Only then did Xue Poye understand, and said with a smile, "So that's the case, I really don't know."
Song Fei glanced at Liu Xiao and asked, "General Liu, the horses for the cavalry are sufficient. You must remember that even if the people starve to death, the horses cannot be damaged at all."
Liu Xiao hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Shuai Song, the Ministry of Households sent the military rations and fodder before we assembled, and they are still being transported here. There is still enough military rations and fodder. And there is a pasture on the west side of Taizhou. The 20,000 cavalry are stationed on the other side of the pasture, and the fodder transported by this household can still be stored up, and when the real fight starts, the horses will be safe."
Xue Poye was surprised: "What did you say? Twenty thousand cavalry?"
Seeing Xue Poye's strange expression, all the generals were a little puzzled. They didn't know why the commander was so shocked. Yang Yijun respectfully said: "Commander, our army does have 20,000 cavalry."
Xue Poye smiled bitterly and said, "That is to say, only 20,000 cavalry can be dispatched by gathering our troops from all states in Chu Chu?"
After all, Sein Fei lived to be more than fifty years old. He quickly understood Xue Poye's thoughts. He obviously felt that there were too few cavalry. In fact, Sein Fei thought that way.
"Marshal!" Sein Fei sighed, and said, "My Dachu is not a place to produce horses. Even though there are many small official horse farms, you also know that one side of the soil and water raises one side of people, and this side of water and soil raises one side of horses." , although our Great Chu has a large land and rich resources, compared with Beihu and Northwest, the horses we raise are still much worse. This military horse has to select a good horse with enough endurance and speed, which is not easy. Even if a good horse is selected As a military horse, but in recent years, there has been no domestic war, and a large number of military horses have been transported to the border and handed over to the Beizhen Army, while all the states left behind are very few cavalry." After a pause, he continued: "I I heard that when the cavalry was mobilized this time, many of the horses in the camp could not meet the requirements of military horses. It is said that the Ministry of War also forcibly recruited many good horses from the people. nothing."
Xue Poye saw that all the generals looked at him with a very strange look. Although he concealed it, the strangeness in the depths of his pupils could not be concealed. He was obviously wondering why a commander in chief of the army, how could he He is so idiotic about the country's military situation.
Xue Poye was very embarrassed.
"Shuai Song, Xue is really unfamiliar with military affairs, I just hope that Shuai Song will teach you from time to time in the future." Xue Poye looked at Song Fei sincerely and said seriously.
Seeing Xue Poye's sincere face, Song Fei's heart immediately felt smooth, and he said respectfully, "You are welcome, Commander."
In Song Fei's eyes, Xue Poye only took the position of commander in chief relying on his relationship with the little emperor, so he has always been very unconvinced. However, he never lacked courtesy to Seinfei, and always respected Seinfei with the attitude of a junior treating an elder. This made Seinfei see it in his eyes, and the resentment in his heart also disappeared a lot.
In today's handsome tent, Xue Poye still respected himself in front of the generals, and also showed an attitude of humbly asking for advice, which made Sein Fei's resentment very much gone.
"Song Shuai, it is said that there are 100,000 cavalry in Yongzhou in the northwest, how come there are so many horses in their small Yongzhou?" Xue Poye asked with a frown.
Of course he knew that Yongzhou had contact with the Beihu people, and Yuan Tiangang, whose alias was Yuan Buyi, traded horses with the Beihu people with iron ore. However, according to Xue Poye's knowledge, the trade between Yuan Tiangang and the Beihu people That is to say, it started about a year ago, and although the quantity of each trade is quite large, it is not very spectacular. Obviously, the Hu people also want to prevent Yongzhou's cavalry from being too strong, so why does Yongzhou have 100,000 cavalry?
Song Fei shook his head and said with a smile: "Commander, this Yongzhou is known as one hundred thousand cavalry, but to be honest, it is impossible to have that number. You also know that when the late emperor was there, Yongzhou did not dare to blatantly expand its army and prepare for war, but secretly grew up. It’s just power. Ever since Yongzhou was assigned to King Mingyue, the late emperor granted him grace, and Yongzhou almost didn’t have to pay taxes to the imperial court. In addition, the northwest is rich in mineral resources. After Mingyue King took charge of Yongzhou, he vigorously developed it and even transferred technology from Lu Gongying in Kyoto. Exquisite technicians have mined those minerals that were once incapable of mining, which has increased the wealth of Yongzhou." Seeing that Xue Poye was listening attentively, the deputy commander was in a better mood: "The Metropolitan Procuratorate once sent spies to lurk in the northwest. Before I set off from Kyoto, I also discovered from the archives of the Metropolitan Procuratorate that many years ago, Mingyue King's subordinates began to purchase a large number of calves from Beihu herdsmen in the form of private transactions, and then transported them back to the northwest to share with them. The local horses in the Northwest are matched with breeds. In this way, because they are not buying adult Huma, the stupid Beihu people let down their vigilance, and they bought a large number of Huma calves. The production of Northwest horses is not much, and Compared with the strong Huma, it is also slightly inferior, but Yongzhou collects a large number of Northwest horses, and when the Huma calves grow up, they start to breed. Over the years, Yongzhou has never stopped domesticating horses, and even specially set aside A large area is dedicated to the domestication of horses, and a large number of young men are specially recruited to specialize in raising and training horses. These young men are now organized into the Yongzhou Cavalry Corps. Have feelings...!" At this point, Sein Fei's expression darkened: "If it is a single-handed battle, it is absolutely no problem for Yongzhou to raise an army and fight three against one. I have always been in Dachu, although there have been minor civil strife, but I have never I haven’t really dispatched cavalry to suppress thieves, and that’s exactly the case, my Great Chu cavalry is extremely weak in combat effectiveness, even if they can ride on horseback, but whether they can be united as one is a big question mark.”
Not only the generals were dumbfounded by Song Fei's remarks, Xue Poye was even more impressed.
It seems that Sein Fei was able to sit in the seat of the former military commander and guard. It seems that this old man has done enough work before fighting this battle. Naturally, he has carefully investigated this information.
Xue Poye exclaimed: "Shuai Shuai, with you here, there is no reason for us to win this battle." Then he asked: "According to Shuai Song's opinion, how many troops should there actually be in the Northwest?"
"The cavalry is only 50,000, but the infantry should be close to 100,000. They claim that they don't have 100,000 cavalry, but the total force is definitely more than 100,000." Sein Fei said with certainty.
"That's 150,000 troops." Xue Poye frowned.
Song Fei said sternly: "Commander, although we are superior to our opponents in terms of military strength, but...!" He glanced at the generals, and said mercilessly: "If my army of 260,000 faces their army of 150,000 Relatively speaking, there may not be a chance of winning. The final general can be sure that according to the current combat effectiveness of our army, it is far weaker than the enemy army."
The generals obviously knew that what Song Fei said was true, and they all lowered their heads.
Song Fei pondered for a moment, then said: "But the commander-in-chief doesn't have to worry. After all, we are the enemy of the whole country. The source of troops can be replenished, and the food and grass can also be replenished. The 150,000 troops in Yongzhou are their entire force. Killing one One less, as long as we have a proper strategy, the chances of winning are still great."
Xue Poye nodded, thought for a while, and said, "Shuai Song, I have an idea, but I don't know if it's feasible."
"The commander-in-chief is the commander-in-chief of an army. What you say, even if it is a military order, the first priority of a soldier is to enforce the order and prohibit it. The commander-in-chief has orders, and we must obey them." Song Fei clasped his fists and said.
Xue Poye waved his hand and said: "Shuai Song, don't say that, I said before, Shuai Song is my teacher on the military path." After a pause, he glanced at the generals in front of him, and then slowly said: "I also saw it today, Our Great Chu army seems to be one, but in fact it is a mess, and the north and the south are hostile to each other, not only is this not the case, even some of the leading generals are very confused."
All the generals headed by Liu Xiao and Yang Yijun bowed their heads.
"Nowadays, a big war may happen at any time. If it continues like this, and an army with constant internal strife is used to deal with the Northwest Iron Army, I think no matter how many people there are and how deep the strategy is, the result may be tragic." Xue Poye rubbed his nose and calmed down. Huan said: "But if you want to resolve the differences between the North and the South in a short time, it's not easy, it's almost impossible."
Sein Fei looked serious, nodded and said: "The situation in our army is indeed serious, and the commander still needs to come up with a proper solution."
This time Lan Wuqing recommended Xue Poye as the commander-in-chief, the reason is that Xue Poye is good at coordinating the interpersonal relationship of his subordinates, and the court also knows that the division between the north and the south in the army is extremely serious, although Xue Poye was recommended to deal with the relationship between subordinates The reason, but it is obvious that Xue Poye should face up to this problem and deal with it properly.
Song Fei and others are naturally waiting for Xue Poye to deal with this matter. Maybe Xue Poye gathered the whole army to give a serious and profound lecture, which will play a momentary role, but this kind of traditional contradiction is by no means rare. It can be solved with just a few words, otherwise, wouldn't it be better to send a well-spoken scholar to solve the problem
Xue Poye said slowly: "This commander wants to divide the camps into the north and the south!"
"North-south division?" Song Fei was taken aback, and the other generals were also taken aback.
"From today onwards, the entire army will be divided into the South Camp and the North Camp. All the soldiers from the South will go to the South Camp, and all the soldiers from the North will go to the North Camp. The North and South Camps will organize their own cavalry regiments." Xue Poye said what he had been thinking about. Thinking slowly: "The northern cavalry regiment and the southern cavalry regiment will directly set up cavalry generals, who will be directly under the command of the commander, and the infantry regiments of the northern and southern battalions must also distinguish between archers, swordsmen, and spearmen, and they can cooperate in battle. But it must not be chaotic and disorderly. Set up a school for every ten people, set up a guard for every hundred people, set up a general for every thousand people, and set up a general for every 10,000 people. It is necessary to set up a reserve general...don't let the general die at that time, and there will be no one to take the top."
All the generals stared wide-eyed, a little surprised.
Today's troops and horses are composed of the generals of each state who manage the armies of each state. If there is a war, there will naturally be many troubles, but such a distribution seems to be much stronger than the previous military system.
"Shuai Song, do you think this is okay?" Xue Poye looked at Song Fei.
Song Fei nodded slightly, but still said: "The coordination and management of the army will be much better, but... won't this make the division between the North and the South more obvious?"
"Everyone, do special things at special times. Now that the war is imminent, what we think about is how to maximize the mobility and flexibility of the army. If the cavalry is restrained by the infantry, it will not be worth the loss. And the current soldiers from the north and the south The antagonism is very serious, and it is as difficult as heaven to resolve it. In this case, I think this 'division' is an excellent way. It will save a lot of trouble in the future, and more importantly... I think Seeing the real war, who is the real man... Southerner? Northerner? No matter how loud you shout, it is useless. Let's see who is brave on the battlefield and who has made the most military exploits "Xue Poye said with a faint smile: "General Yang, General Liu, if you two want to compare who is a hero, there is no need to fight one-on-one. speak up."
Yang Yijun and Liu Xiao's eyes were shining brightly, they clasped their fists together and said: "The words of the commander-in-chief, we will bear in mind!"
Sein Fei thought for a while, nodded and said, "Under the current situation, that's the only way to go."
Seeing that Song Fei agreed, Xue Poye breathed a sigh of relief, and said to the generals seriously: "The prime minister also told me that my Great Chu Army is an army of justice. After all, King Mingyue is also a dignified King of Chu. We must be prepared and not act rashly, but if the other party rebels, our army will immediately march westward to wipe out the rebels. Before that, you should speed up and reorganize the army according to my wishes. In addition, you must send spies to inquire about Lord Sima's movements , and the Northwest Army by the Yi River, don’t be negligent, if you have any military information, report it quickly.”
Song Fei suddenly said: "Commander, Mr. Xue seems to have arranged a residence for him in Taizhou City, or...!"
Xue Poye shook his head and said: "This commander will live in this tent, yes, General Liu, you send someone to set up a few more tents next to my battalion commander, and the Habayashi guards who came with me from Kyoto also all Arrange to live in the tent. Yes, there is another doctor who came with me, well, let’s live in the next tent too.”
When the generals resigned, Xue Poye left Ye Tianxiang and Hu Dutong behind, and said with a smile: "I never imagined that our brothers would be able to do great things together. You two must do your best to serve the court."
Both of them were also a little excited, and respectfully agreed.
Xue Poye patted Ye Tianxiang's shoulder, and said softly, "Tianxiang, are you afraid?"
Ye Tianxiang smiled and said, "Da... Dashuai, follow you, I'm not afraid."
Xue Poye laughed loudly, and said in a low voice: "I have something to say, don't let it out, so as not to cause misunderstanding." He said softly: "Northern men are indeed stronger than southerners when they fight, so you two On the battlefield, you must be better than the northerners, so that the brothers in the north can see that we southerners don't just hug women under the covers."
As soon as he finished speaking, the three of them looked left and right, and laughed at each other.