Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 608 Be cautious
A few days later, Gan Ning and Zhang Fei arrived at Ganquan almost at the same time.

When Gan Ning arrived, the hot air balloon had a serious leak and had been repaired after the hot air had been drained.

He could only come to the Nakago Shogunate headquarters and brought with him a volume of war planning plans.

This is no longer the era where one can just make a call from a high place and rush over with men and horses to grab food.

As an important general in charge, Gan Ning can control the three forces of Shang Yao in Hedong, Zhang Sheng in Henei, and Zhang Yan in Heishan.

Even Wei Yue in Taiyuan had to cooperate with Gan Ning.

As for the garrisons and military settlements in these areas, Gan Ning can mobilize 20,000 to 30,000 field troops at any time.

Last year, except for Zhang Yan who arrived at the front line to participate in the war and gain military merit, the others served as follow-up reinforcements and waited to see how the situation changed.

He neither caught up with the Battle of Youji nor launched the Battle of Heluo.

Xiahou Dun’s military garrison is very effective, so Gan Ning will not allow Xiahou Dun to develop and grow stronger.

It doesn't matter how much food is stolen. What is important is to train the army through the military action of stealing food and suppress the morale of Xiahou Dun's troops.

In the side hall of the shogunate, Black Bear was flipping through the war plan revised by Gan Ning, which was just a revised version of last year's plan.

The biggest difference from last year is that I applied for Xu You, hoping to get Xu You's intelligence support.

The two states of Yan and Yu currently nominally belong to the southeast, but are still wavering between Yuan Shang and Cao Cao. In addition, Xu You also bribed and planted spies, so the two states in the Central Plains have gained rare peace and tranquility.

"Let Xiahou Dun go this year, let him build up his energy, and attack again next year."

Black Bear put down the plan and continued, "Zhang Xiu will soon lead his army to conquer the Qiang people in Hehuang. Wudu, Hanzhong, Tianshui, and Longxi counties will all send troops to help, with a few thousand to as many as two thousand. Ma Chao will also lead the Right Volunteers to attack together with the Qiang Volunteers."

Gan Ning was puzzled: "How many Qiang people are there? Is it worth using troops like this?"

"No less than thirty thousand falls."

Black Bear continued, "I am worried that the armies will not be able to transport food and fodder in time. I would like to ask Xingba to supervise the Qinghua Guard to transport food to Yuzhong and take charge of the food and fodder supply for the armies."

There is no need to find a civil official to supervise the grain supply. No matter how the battle is on the front line, as long as the grain supply is stable, the merit will be secured.

Gan Ning looked down on such merits, so he said, "Your Majesty, I have also heard about this matter. Was it originally planned that Mr. Liu from Tianshui would be in charge of grain?"

"He has another appointment and it's difficult for him to take care of both."

Black Bear patiently persuaded: "Qinghua Guard has never experienced war since its establishment. Only by handing them over to Xingba can I feel at ease. This time, the grain will be transported in sequence by each camp of Qinghua Guard. The main purpose is to let them suffer and know that the most important thing for a large army to conquer is food and fodder supply."

"Only when Qinghuawei intervenes fully can I feel at ease."

The cost of transporting grain over 3,000 miles is very high. If the actual amount of grain transported is less and the reported loss is higher, the increase and decrease will result in huge profits.

Black Bear believed in the command abilities of Zhang Xiu and Ma Chao, and also believed in the armies from various counties currently participating in the war.

This in itself is an opportunity for promotion for all counties participating in the war. It is one aspect of selecting talents, and on the other hand, it accelerates their acquisition of military merit so that they can quickly integrate into the shogunate.

The only thing we worry about is food. When the fighting on the front line is at a stalemate, food is the lifeline.

As for Liu Ye, he integrated into Guanlong very quickly, and we cannot expect him to make any surprising choices.

Instead of relying on Liu Ye, it is better to place hope on the uncontaminated Qinghuawei.

By ensuring sufficient food supply at the front line, even if Zhang Xiu and Ma Chao find it difficult to break the situation for a while, they can still drag down the Hehuang Qiang.

The Qiang had invaded Hehuang less than two years ago, and their supplies and animal herds were limited.

When the war was at a stalemate, these people did not dare to evacuate easily; and when the snow fell in early October, it would be a dead end for them to flee.

Gan Ning also fell into deep thought. There were rumors about the expedition against the Sheng Qiang in Hehuang last winter.

He just felt that the number of living Qiang people in Hehuang was relatively small and not worth mobilizing a large army.

So many people are waiting for the war to start, and they have all kinds of thoughts.

If Qinghua Guards were deployed alone to transport grain, they could bear the unexpected losses, but if they angered the Grand Marshal in front of them...

Gan Ning was very clear about the layers of structure within the Grand Marshal's government system, just like bamboo shoots in winter. The Qinghua Guard was the innermost and second to last layer, with the core consisting of personal soldiers.

The centurions and Taoist priests of the Taiping Dao were ranked in the third tier.

If Qinghuawei suffered too great a loss, Black Bear would not accept it and would overturn the table.

Then the labor shortage problem in various places will be quickly alleviated next year, and the Guanlong scholars involved will be slaughtered. Although Guanlong scholars seem to occupy many key positions, there are actually backup candidates.

Black Bear was not in a hurry and let Gan Ning think about it slowly.

To put it bluntly, this time it seemed that Gan Ning was in charge of food and fodder for the front line and to escort Zhang Xiu and Ma Chao; but in fact, Gan Ning was going to protect Qinghua Guard.

When the Qinghua Guards left their base and walked out of the closed environment, there were too many people who wanted to take action against them.

When the Qinghua Guards grow up, they will definitely occupy the ecological niche of the current Guanlong scholars.

It would take at least ten years for ordinary soldiers to be selected through meritorious service and receive enlightenment education, and the number of them was limited, so the threat to the Guanlong scholars was naturally limited.

The Qinghua guards, who are numerous and independent, are the biggest opponents of the Guanlong scholars, and the degree of harm they cause is far greater than that of the enemy.

After Gan Ning accomplished this task, he would naturally be disliked and hated by the Guanlong scholars.

Whether it is credit or not, Gan Ning has no shortage of it.

The sword has remained hidden in its sheath, and Gan Ning's resentment has been pent up until now.

For example, Pei Qian's surrender of the Jiangdong Army had already caused dissatisfaction among the veteran generals.

The vast majority of people did not retaliate against Pei Qian directly because they thought that a military leader like Taishi Wengong would take action, but they did not expect that Taishi Wengong would restrain himself.

Even without this, there is still Gan Ning who has his sword in its sheath.

In order to avoid provoking Gan Ning, Pei Qian has not received any reward so far, and the merit of recruiting 50,000 surrenders is somewhere between being recognized and not being recognized.

Gan Ning thought for a long time and said, "What I am worried about is not the Qiang enemies being captured alive, but three people can become a tiger."

"You worry too much. My goal is to kill the tiger's minions. It's a good thing that they jump out. It's not worth worrying about."

As Black Bear spoke, a bright red magic berry appeared in his palm and he handed it to Gan Ning: "If you and I take Guanzhong quickly, we are destined to face the test today. At this time, you must help me."

"Here."

Gan Ning reached out to catch it, rubbed it with his fingertips, poured the juice into the sweet rice wine, picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

Then Gan Ning said: "While I am stationed in Yuzhong, Hongnong can be managed by Li Yi. I feel at ease with him around."

He had been preparing for two years and had always wanted to defeat Xiahou Dun. He had accumulated a large amount of war equipment, just waiting to be loaded onto ships and shipped to Luoyang to attack the fortified city of Luoyang.

If a fire breaks out accidentally and everything is reduced to ashes, he will lose his defense and cannot help but overturn the table.

"Don't worry, Hongnong is yours, and I don't want to get involved."

Black Bear reached out from the desk drawer and took out a tiger talisman and a stack of orders. He pushed the red lacquered wooden tray in front of Gan Ning and said, "Except for the newly selected battalion of guards from this autumn class, the remaining six battalions will be under the command of Xingba. In addition to Xingba's headquarters, I will also provide two battalions of chariot soldiers."

Qinghuawei is a large camp, the largest of which is the Jiazi Camp, the first camp to be recruited and trained, with 5,000 men; an average of more than 3,000 men in each camp.

They will only be eliminated during the training process and no vacancies will be filled.

Gan Ning did not rush to answer, but instead flipped through the contents of the order.

The Qinghua Guards were deployed to fight outside the city, and although they were responsible for transporting food and fodder, they were all equipped with sufficient vehicles and horses.

First, he was responsible for transporting grain from Tianshui to Yuzhong, and during this period, grain from Guanzhong was transported to Chencang via the Weishui River.

After the Wei River freezes over, the water is transported from Chencang to Tianshui; and sleds are used depending on the snowfall conditions.

All these are backup measures. According to intelligence calculations, Zhang Xiu and Ma Chao can quickly turn the situation around.

All the logistical work is done to prevent the worst-case scenario.

After Gan Ning looked at the number of chariots and horses equipped by each camp, his face changed: "It's like using a butcher knife to kill a chicken."

With this group of armed Sixth Battalion Qinghua Guards, cooperating with two chariot battalions, he did not need to mobilize the North Bank troops. With the addition of the Hongnong headquarters troops, he dared to encircle and attack the reinforcements in the Heluo area and fight an annihilation war.

Black Bear said calmly, "Only this way can I feel at ease. I am driving a heavy vehicle, so I must be careful."

Not to mention the Sheng Qiang, Gan Ning even had the confidence to lead this logistics force responsible for grain transportation to fight against the Hehuang Sheng Qiang, Zhang Xiu and Ma Chao together!

Even if Liangzhou was in full-scale rebellion, he would still dare to fight.

Putting aside other things, with a battalion of Qinghua guards lined up, who would dare to attack head-on?

(End of this chapter)