In the autumn of the sixth year of the Tianxian reign of the Daliang Dynasty, Lin Hai, the acting magistrate of Qinghe County, reported that, in accordance with the Ministry of War's directives, loyal and brave men had been selected from the refugees they had taken in and trained. They had now formed an army, the Qinghe Army, with a strength of 10,000 men. Feeling the emperor's overwhelming grace and the impending financial collapse of Qinghe due to the lack of food and clothing for tens of thousands of soldiers, Qinghe County Magistrate Lin Hai decided to launch an attack on Qitian Village in the winter of the sixth year of the Tianxian reign to recapture Xiangyun Province.
"Your county magistrate is planning to lead his 10,000-strong army to attack Qitian Village? And also to recapture Xiangyun Province?" Gao Bin, who was the first to receive the news, looked at Ling Yan, the special envoy from Qinghe County who came to deliver the letter, with an expression of disbelief.
"In reply to the governor, my county magistrate did say so. We are now preparing military rations and supplies, and will be ready to send troops after winter." Ling Yan, one of Lin Hai's twelve disciples, finally got a chance to go out of Qinghe to handle affairs. He has completely put himself in the role of special envoy and answered respectfully.
"I understand that your county magistrate is resentful. After all, it is indeed difficult for a county to support 10,000 soldiers. Even a rich county like Qinghe has many difficulties. But the prefectural government really can't allocate any money and food. All the money and food have been transferred to the central government. Your county magistrate knows this. But he can't let these soldiers who have been trained with great effort die just because he can't support the troops, right?" It is not known whether Gao Bin really cares or is playing tricks, but Ling Yan and Chen Fan, who is standing by and serving, know that as long as the pig iron output of Qinghe County is not delayed, even if the Qinghe army is wiped out in this battle, the prefect will not blink an eye.
"You are worrying too much, Your Excellency the Governor. My master said that although Qitian Village claims to have an army of 100,000, most of them are refugees making up the numbers, and the only ones who can really fight are the Chen Dynasty soldiers who were defeated that year. This group of people has no more than a few thousand people, and they are exhausted and short of equipment. It is considered lucky if each person has a kitchen knife when they are lined up. This was after they robbed a lot of iron ingots from Qinghe. And when our Daliang official army attacks, it often fights one against ten. Even if the Qinghe army is not very good, it can still fight one against three. In this way, we have the real advantage in military strength." Ever since Xiao Cheng came back with his tail between his legs and Wang Liang successfully became the county lieutenant in Qiongdu County, the people from Qinghe no longer had to kneel to answer Gao Bin. Instead, they had a seat in Gao Bin's study and became the party who could sit down and talk things over.
When Wang Liang heard the news for the first time, he was very emotional. He thought about how he had tried his best to bribe that damn steward, but just a few years later, that damn steward lived up to everyone's expectations and died. Gao Bin's iron-clad prefectural office was basically infiltrated to the point of being riddled with holes. Even Yuchi Yangyun and the others had planned to simply impersonate Gao Bin.
But no matter what, Gao Bin still felt Lin Hai's determination, so he could only say: "I, the prefect, will naturally fulfill my promise to your Lin County Magistrate. But he should know that if he returns in defeat this time, even if I have many connections in the court, I am afraid I will not be able to grant him his wish."
...
The mobilization of Qinghe County was not concealed from anyone.
Of course, a mobilization of this scale could not be hidden from anyone.
Except for the Second Regiment stationed in Qiongdu, all the garrisons in Qinghe were mobilized. The main forces from all over the place flowed into the increasingly large Phoenix Mountain military camp like rivers. What finally appeared in Lin Hai's eyes was the Qinghe Army, which had a total of 30,000 people and was divided into three legions.
"Gao Bin is right about one thing. Our soldier-to-civilian ratio is too high. That is, our current deformed economic structure can only temporarily support so many soldiers. Once there is any sign of unfavorable disturbance in the outside world, these 30,000 mouths will eat us up." Lin Hai said, standing at the highest point of the parade ground with his hands behind his back, feeling the cool breeze blowing from afar.
"So that's why you have to act now?" Shi Zhen'er was the only one standing at this height with Lin Hai. Shi Zhen'er knew she was definitely not qualified for this position based on her abilities, but since she was the only one present, Lin Hai must have been speaking to her. She was grateful for Lin Hai's trust, especially after he sent the naturally charming Xue Wuxia to Zhaoyang as stationmaster.
"We need a larger territory and more people to feed our growing armed forces. Then, in the process, our armed forces will take advantage of this opportunity to grow even larger, and they will need more supplies, and so on and so forth, until we can no longer find any new food to feed them, and then they will turn around and eat us." Lin Hai looked back at Shi Zhen'er and said, "Don't stand behind me. Come, stand next to me."
"If you know that, why are you so eager to expand the army? You should know that neither your brothers nor your students support your hasty expansion."
"At least they will eat our enemies before they eat us. Besides, this world will not give us more time." Lin Hai did not give any further explanation, but Shi Zhener knew that Lin Hai had become quite impatient and even a little aggressive recently. It started after he finished talking with Xin Yuetu. But since Lin Hai did not say what he and Xin Yuetu talked about, naturally no one dared to ask.
"Is Brother Nineteen ready too?" Lin Hai watched his army continuously conducting various exercises, and began to ask about the goal of this battle.
"Zhang Jinnan sent a letter, and Brother Nineteen has made quite proper preparations. Our people and those who are inclined towards us have been sent to defend against the Khmer people who took advantage of the situation to rob us. Those who were originally intended to be eliminated have been dispersed and reorganized. They will attack us according to our plan at the specified time and place, using the tactics we specified." Shi Zhen'er found it very interesting when she said it. Lin Hai called this plan the "Three Rules" plan, which was very appropriate.
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