Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 194 The Situation is Serious

On the second day, Liu He got up at daybreak and practiced martial arts in the courtyard of the Duwei Mansion. Cui Jun and others also got up one after another.

A servant suddenly ran over and said, "Master, the governor has sent someone to report that he has set off for the north gate of the tower. Please go there as soon as possible."

Liu He stopped practicing martial arts and let out a long breath.

"Got it. My brothers and I will put on our military uniforms and go there right away."

Several people put on armor, rode on horses, and soon arrived at the north gate of Yinguan City.

"Your Highness, I greet you!"

Ye Wang's face flushed and he quickly helped Liu He up.

"Haha, Captain Liu, there's no need to be so polite. This is the county magistrate of this county. His surname is Jing, his given name is Xin, and his courtesy name is Mugong. I have known him for more than ten years, and we can be considered close friends."

The County Magistrate Jing was also about 40 years old, well-mannered and stepped forward to bow.

"I have heard of Captain Liu's great name for a long time, but I never thought I would have the opportunity to work with him now. It is truly a great honor."

"You are too polite, Lord County Magistrate. He has just arrived in Yanmen, so I hope you can take good care of him."

Governor Ye stopped them from exchanging pleasantries.

"Well, we are all family, so there is no need to say any more lies. I know that Captain Liu must have many questions in his mind right now, right?"

Liu He nodded and said, "That's right. Yanmen County is the richest among the five northern counties of Bingzhou. It has many rivers, fertile land, high mountains and dangerous passes. It is not as flat as the other four counties. I think it must have a large population and a strong military force. But I don't know the details. I hope you two adults can tell me the details so that I can deploy future battle plans."

Ye Wang looked at Jing Xin: "Brother Mu Gong, please speak."

"Here."

Jing Xin took the order and took out a sheepskin map.

"In Yanmen County, the southernmost city is Yuanping County, the northernmost city is Qiangyin County, and the seat of government is Yinguan City. Yinguan, Yuanping, Guangwu, Wangtao and other cities are all crossed by large rivers, and there is a lake called Yanze in the northwest of Qiangyin County, which is rich in aquatic products and produces salt, so it is very rich."

Liu He nodded. This salt lake was called Daihai in his previous life. It was a saltwater lake surrounded by dense rivers and lush vegetation.

"More than ten years ago, this county had a registered population of nearly 400,000. In recent years, the Xianbei have repeatedly invaded from the south. Now, the entire county has only about 200,000 people. Last year, Qiangyin and Pingcheng counties were lost, and the Yanze area has become a place for Xianbei to graze horses. Next, the Xianbei army will move south, and our Yinguan City will become the front line against the barbarians. The villages originally north of Yanmen Pass have been moved back to the south of Yanmen Pass by the governor. This autumn and winter, the heavy responsibility of fighting the Xianbei army will fall on the shoulders of Commander Liu!"

Ye Wang and Jing Xin both looked at Liu He eagerly.

"I wonder how many troops the county has now?"

When this question came out, both of them looked a little embarrassed.

Jing Xin sighed and said, "Alas, I'm not afraid of being laughed at by Commander Liu. The county originally had nearly 60,000 registered soldiers, but about 20,000 of them were from inside and outside the county, including the family children of the three dukes and nine ministers in Luoyang who were here to register and eat empty salaries. The actual available troops were less than 40,000."

"Forty thousand? That's pretty good. We have thirty-five thousand soldiers and my second brother has six or seven thousand. He is still recruiting soldiers in Fenyang County. It shouldn't be a problem for him to bring an army of ten thousand. In this way, we can gather a total of eighty-five thousand people!"

Zhang Yong did some calculations and was shocked by the result.

"I never thought that our Anmin Army, which only had a few thousand men half a year ago, could command an army of 80,000 so soon. I'm excited just thinking about it! What are the Xiongnu and Xianbei? We have nothing to fear! Haha!"

Zhu Ye not only did not show any fear, but he was rubbing his hands with excitement, as if he could not wait to lead such a large army to have a good fight with the foreign cavalry.

Unexpectedly, Ye Wang and Jing Xin looked at each other and then smiled bitterly.

"If that's the case, we don't have to wait so long for Captain Liu's arrival." "Oh? Is there any hidden story?" Liu He asked.

"That's right. The reason why the governor didn't tell me during the banquet last night was that he was indeed worried. At the beginning, in addition to the imperial army, the 60,000 soldiers also included a group of slaves and retainers recruited from local tyrants, totaling more than 20,000 people. After the defeat at the end of last year and the death of the former commander Zhang, these tyrants saw that the Xianbei were too powerful to resist, so they retreated and took back the 20,000 people. Not only that, they also used a large sum of money to lure some soldiers who originally belonged to the imperial army to become their own guards, so..."

Ye Wang sighed and continued, "So, in fact, there are only about 10,000 soldiers available in this county now, and most of them have been concentrated in Yinguan City."

"what!"

Liu He and others were very surprised!

"These powerful people are also Han people. It would be fine if they didn't serve the country, but now they are using Han soldiers as their own private soldiers. This is such a serious crime, is there no one to take care of it?"

Ye Wang shook his head and said helplessly, "Alas, if it was a few years ago, they would not dare to be so blatant, but now, the court pays less and less attention to border armaments, and even food and wages are often in arrears. These powerful people only need to send some gold and silver to the families of some ministers in the court to establish a relationship. I am afraid that the current emperor will not have the opportunity to know about such trivial matters. The emperor does not know, and the ministers are in collusion with them. Who will hold them accountable?"

"How ridiculous! They are just a bunch of parasites!" Cheng Liang had the worst temper and couldn't help but slap the city wall and shout angrily.

Liu He frowned. The crisis in the court now was actually much more serious than that faced by the Xiongnu and Xianbei, and more serious than he had expected.

"Even if General Yunchang returns, with a total of 50,000 soldiers and horses, it would be extremely difficult to resist the tens of thousands of Xianbei cavalry."

Cui Jun said worriedly.

Jing Xin said: "The generals are so brave that even General Huangfu admires them very much. Could it be that they are really no match for these barbarians?"

Liu He said: "Marching and fighting cannot rely on individual bravery. Fighting in the wilderness, a large group of cavalry charging and killing is far more powerful than ordinary infantry. I have heard for a long time that the Western Xianbei have 150,000 cavalry. Even if it is an exaggeration, as long as there are 100,000 cavalry, and half of them are used to deal with us, even if He is the reincarnation of the Overlord, he will lose more than he wins."

When Ye Wang and Jing Xin heard this, the brilliance in their eyes completely dimmed.

"But... it's not all hopeless..."

Liu He's words rekindled the two of them.

"Captain Liu, please tell me, as long as we can stop the barbarians and protect the territory of our Han Dynasty, no matter how difficult it is, I will do everything I can to do it!"

Liu He looked at Ye Wang with a determined expression and made a decision in his heart.

"Well, since the governor is so determined, there is hope!"

Liu He pointed to the map and said, "To the north of Yanmen Pass, there are still many cities such as Yinguan, Mayi, Wangtao, and Juyang. If you want to defend the land, you must first lose it!"

The two were completely confused and didn't understand what was said. Not to mention them, even Cheng Liang and Zhu Ye were confused. Only Cui Jun and Zhang Yong seemed to have some sudden enlightenment.

"In autumn and winter, the grass and trees wither. Nomadic people like the Xianbei live by following the water and grass. In this season, if they don't go south to plunder, they will have difficulty surviving the winter. So they go south again and again, not because they covet our Han territory, but to plunder the food, salt, cloth and other supplies they need to survive the winter, and to capture our Han people as slaves."

Everyone nodded frequently, it was indeed the case.

"So our goal is to protect the people and these supplies, not to kill the enemy. As long as we let them go south without gaining anything, even if we don't kill or injure any of them, our army will have won a great victory."

Ye Wang and Jing Xin's eyes lit up!
"Yes, it's such a simple truth, why haven't we thought of it before?"

"However, the Xianbei are so brutal, how can we protect the supplies and the people?"

Liu He smiled and said, "There is no barrier to the north of Yanmen Pass. If we fight the Xianbei in such a wilderness, our army will surely be defeated. Therefore, we must move all the people and food in these cities to the south of Yanmen Pass, fortify the walls and clear the fields. The Xianbei army cannot grab anything and can only attack Yanmen Pass. Yanmen Pass is known as the best pass in the world. It is majestic and steep, with narrow terrain. They have a large number of cavalry and are not good at attacking cities. As the saying goes, the first attack will weaken the second and the third will be exhausted. When they fail to capture the city and their morale is weak, our army will go out of the city to fight bloody battles, and only then will we have a chance to win!"

Zhu Ye clapped his hands and cheered: "Brother, this is a great move! This will force the enemy to abandon their strengths in field warfare and engage in siege warfare, which they are not good at. In this way, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. We will hold the dangerous pass and starve them to death. Even if we can't starve them to death, they will starve under the city, and we will eat and drink to our heart's content on the city wall every day, which will piss them off to death, haha!"

I have a social event tonight, so this chapter is posted late, please forgive me
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(End of this chapter)