I should marry the traitor

Chapter 43: Clear the countryside and fortify the city to defeat the enemy!
You can always believe in Yuan Shen when he is facing headwinds. Headwinds make Yuan Shen's mind clear.

What Yuan Shao has to face at this moment is the biggest crisis she has ever encountered in her life.

In the south, Dong Baihu is watching with concern; in the north, An Xinlin is colluding with foreign tribes and preparing for war.

But it doesn't matter, she will win!
Jizhou is prosperous, and having not been affected by natural disasters or man-made calamities before, it is one of the three most abundant states in the entire Daqian in terms of both food and population.

In addition, Jizhou is located in the north, with many young and strong people who are tall and strong, and many of them are from good families, so it is naturally the best source of soldiers.

At the same time, Jizhou is also the base camp of the Yuan family. The powerful families here are basically influenced by the Yuan family. Since Yuan Shao started his army, the number of troops has increased at a terrifying speed.

The only thing Yuan Shao lacked was time. From the moment she entered the headwind situation, Yuan Shao had a clear judgment of the battle situation. She had to seize every second!
Ever since An Xinlin left, the entire Jizhou region began to recruit troops crazily. With money, food and population, it was very easy to recruit troops. In just a few days, Yuan Shao's troops expanded to 50,000, and this number will continue to expand in the next few days.

Especially under the Yuan family's propaganda, everyone knew that the Beishuo rebels were about to attack Jizhou. Even if ordinary people were not interested in supporting the country, they still had a high degree of subjective initiative to defend their hometown.

The only problem was that the time was too short. Although the Yuan family immediately summoned all the blacksmiths in the state to work day and night, the armor rate of the soldiers was still very low. At the same time, it was difficult to form effective combat power through short-term training, and an army that had never seen blood would easily collapse on the battlefield.

But at least they can defend the city. A sufficient number of young and strong men can perform extremely well in defending the city. Siege is not a field battle. Even elite soldiers who have fought in hundreds of battles will have limited performance in a siege.

Yuan Shao's plan was also very simple. She divided her troops into three groups. As long as they could hold off the attacks from Beishuo and Beidi, after several rounds of blood and fire, the surviving recruits would become elite veterans, and would become the capital for her to call on the princes and march to Luoyang.

Of course, the premise of all this is that Yuan Shao has to be able to hold on.

"My lord, we currently have about 53,000 registered troops. If this trend continues, our troops should be able to increase to more than 90,000 before Beishuo attacks."

The person reporting to Yuan Shao was a graceful and mature middle-aged beauty named Tian Feng, from Jizhou.

Although Tian Feng was of humble descent, she was gifted since childhood. When she was young, she mourned for her parents. Although the mourning period had passed, she still smiled without showing her teeth. Therefore, she was respected by her neighbors and praised as a loyal and filial person.

Moreover, Tian Feng was knowledgeable and talented, and had a great reputation in Jizhou. He was initially recruited by the Taiwei Mansion and recommended as a talented person. Later, he was selected as a Palace Censor. Because he was angry at the incompetence of Emperor Qianling, he resigned from his post and returned home.

When he heard that Yuan Shao was going to raise an army in Jizhou to fight against the rebels and welcome the emperor, he resolutely accepted Yuan Shao's recruitment and served as Yuan Shao's deputy driver.

After all, Yuan Shao was famous and a role model for the world. He brought generous gifts and asked Tian Feng to come out of retirement with humble words. She really had no reason to refuse. After all, her parents were dead, her husband died of illness, and she had no children. It would be better for her to follow Yuan Shao and work together for the great cause without any worries.

Of course, Tian Feng did not disappoint Yuan Shao. She was indeed very capable. Not only was she quite strategic, but she was also good at planning and coordination.

Yuan Shao looked at the sand table and calculated her own troops over and over again: "Aunt Feng, how many guards do you think are needed at Tianxing Pass?"

"Three thousand is enough."

"Only three thousand?"

"That's enough, lord. Tianxing Pass is backed by the Tianxing Mountains, and the road to Jizhou is narrow and steep. Moreover, Beishuo's main force is cavalry, so there is absolutely no way they would choose to advance here." "What if An Xinlin does the opposite and chooses Tianxing Pass to force his way in?"

"Then she is seeking death!"

Tian Feng waved his sleeves and said confidently: "I have been to Tianxing Pass. The Tianxing Mountains are winding and steep, and Tianxing Pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack. As long as 3,000 young men bring enough food and grass, even if there are tens of thousands of troops, they can hold out for more than half a month."

"It's not the autumn harvest yet, and neither the rebels nor the foreigners have enough food and grass. If tens of thousands of troops really fight at Tianxing Pass for half a month, the enemy will collapse on their own!"

"What if An Xinlin didn't attack Tianxing Pass, but took the mountain path to enter Jizhou?"

"She is courting death. My lord, you can order people to block the way out at any time. At the same time, the three thousand men behind you can easily block the narrow mountain road to the harem. Then the Beishuo army will be like a turtle in a jar, like a dried bone in a grave!"

At this time, Yuan Shao had not yet found the wind in her favor, and had not yet entered the wrong path of being good at planning but indecisive. She immediately took Tian Feng's advice: "Where is Lieutenant General Gao Cuilan?"

"The general is here!"

Gao Cuilan is also a famous general. Together with Zhang Qingge and the two sisters Yan Liang and Wen Chou, they are known as the Four Heroines of Hebei. All four of them are mixed-race with more than 80% of their bloodline. They are all rare talents under Yuan Shao.

"I order you to take three thousand elite soldiers and three months' worth of food and fodder and rush to Tianxing Pass. Can you hold it?"

"If the pass is lost, I will bring my head to you!"

"Good!" Yuan Shao patted the sand table on the table excitedly, and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes: "When you go to Tianxing Pass this time, you must fortify the city and move all the people into the city. If there are those who disobey, no matter if they are from noble families or ordinary people, they can be killed."

"This……"

Gao Cuilan hesitated. As a military general, she was just hesitant, but Guo Tu behind Yuan Shao could not help it.

Guo Tu was an old man from Yingchuan. In his early years, he was a clerk under the Yingchuan prefect. Later, he went north to join the Yuan family and became a retainer of the Yuan family. After Yuan Shao started his rebellion, he became a counselor assisting Yuan Shao.

"My lord, you can't do that!" Guo Tu stroked his goatee and said, "There is still some time before the autumn harvest. If we fortify our defenses and clear the fields at this time, we will inevitably lose a lot of food, and I'm afraid we will lose the support of the people in Jizhou."

Tian Feng watched coldly when he heard this. Guo Tu had joined the Yuan family in his early years, and he had social interactions with various aristocratic families over the years. It was not unreasonable for him to speak up this time.

Food and land are the lifeblood of the wealthy and powerful families. The autumn harvest is approaching, and the policy of clearing the fields and defending the city will probably make many people feel physically uncomfortable, and they will inevitably feel resentment towards Yuan Shao.

"No, we must clear the countryside!" Yuan Shen, who was in a difficult situation, was extremely clear-headed and did not hesitate at all: "If we don't clear the countryside now, when that bastard An Xinlin rebels and attacks, we will only be able to help the enemy. I don't believe that bastard who colluded with foreign races will be so shameless as to rob the people."

"As for the losses of those people..." Yuan Shao pondered for a moment, and finally said decisively: "For the noble families that suffered greater losses, the Yuan family warehouse will give a small amount of compensation to appease them."

(End of this chapter)