Chapter 130 Looking into the long term
At night, in a mud house on a farm near the camp.

There were bonfires everywhere, and only about half of the officers and soldiers could squeeze into the tents. The rest either sat around the fire or put on armor and carried weapons to participate in patrols.

Black Bear had just come out of Lantian County, and Zhao Yun's more than 300 men were guest soldiers, and were accommodated in Lantian City for the night.

The original magistrate of Lantian County seemed to be named Zheng Shou, who was attacked and killed by Liu Xiong.

Also because of Zheng Shou's death, all the chief clerks, Gongcao, and other officials he had recruited were dismissed from their posts and placed under house arrest, and were forced to do physical labor related to logging or carrying.

The black bear is unable to cope with all the situations and lacks people he can trust.

Temporarily, I would like to ask Sun Qian, a staff member of the Left General's office and a disciple of the great Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan, to temporarily serve as the magistrate of Lantian.

Once Liu Ye, Chen Zhen and others arrive in the rear, they can take over.

After confirming this, Black Bear returned to the nascent camp in the north of the city.

When the black bear came back, Zhen Mi had already hung up the mosquito net and splashed lime water in every corner of the house.

A dish of fish oil lamp burned dimly.

We haven't seen each other for half a month and miss each other very much.

Zhen Mi also suddenly discovered that the black bear was as tall as her.

If she wore a tall wig, she would certainly be more than half a foot taller when standing there; but this height was meaningless.

The two people stand face to face, with their eyebrows aligned parallel to each other.

It might be the change in height that caused some changes in Zhen Mi's senses.

I let go of the reserve that came with my old identity as an older sister.

The march on Wuguan Road and the worries about the war on the front line have put Zhen Mi under great mental pressure over the past period of time.

The valve was opened tonight and the pressure was released.

These pressures supported her to come to Guanzhong. Without the pressure, it would be like basketball and football, lying limp and it would be difficult to get up again.

She fell into a deep sleep, and this time she didn't even say much of the private conversations between a sister and a brother as usual.

Black Bear's mind was clear. After clearing away the clutter that interfered with his daily thoughts, he took a quill pen from the desk and started writing quickly while his current state was exceptionally good.

As Ma Chao said, Zhong Yao has a normal brain and he will not give any cavalry when dividing the troops.

These more than 8,000 people were basically the only remaining non-productive population outside of the clans and in-laws of the Guanzhong generals, so they were able to respond to Zhong Yao's conscription before the busy farming season.

There are also relatives of Guanzhong Qunshuai, but the proportion is very low.

Zhong Yao was so poor that he certainly could not equip these 8,000 people with armor, weapons, war horses, etc.; what Zhong Yao could give them was an opportunity to make achievements and enter officialdom, as well as daily food and fodder consumption.

Among them, the knights were good family men and poor warriors who applied for the military service with their own horses; those who did not have horses were semi-good family men who had barely managed to get out of poverty.

Some of them should be the main labor force of the family, but such families have a strong desire to improve themselves. Women, children and the elderly are willing to bear the hardship of busy farming and harvesting, and also support the labor force at home to apply for recruitment.

In other words, if Zhong Yao's 8,000-plus infantry and cavalry are not in chaos, then the registered population controlled under the Guanzhong county system will not be in chaos either.

In terms of influence, five thousand poor infantrymen are definitely not as good as three thousand wealthy knights with their own horses.

In any case, these 5,000 men must be taken to the Lantian camp for closed-camp training; the original structure must be completely broken up, and the current military system of the Qingzhou soldiers must be referred to, with emphasis on training the hundred-man team formations.

When the decisive battle really comes, the Qingzhou soldiers will be the main force holding the line.

These 5,000 Guanzhong infantrymen are responsible for marching in formation and filling in the flanks.

When the busy farming season is over, each county can easily recruit a battalion of auxiliary troops.

During the decisive battle with Yuan Tan, these auxiliary troops were useless, but they were able to capture the elite population of each county, making the counties unable to resist the garrison.

The auxiliary troops were captured and sent to the Lantian camp for training.

In the second round, after the fallout with Ma Teng and Han Sui, the training of these auxiliary troops has been roughly completed, and they can replace the ecological niche of the previous 5,000 Guanzhong soldiers and become the battlefield cheerleaders to fill in the gaps.

Therefore, in the decisive battle of Tongguan, the main force that could participate in the battle was only the Zhonglei Camp and Zhao Yun Camp, with a total of 1,000 soldiers; Qingzhou soldiers had 3,000 soldiers, and Gan Ning's three camps had 2,000 soldiers; the second-line troops that waved flags, filled in, and assisted in the pursuit included Liu Xiong's 1,000-man team and 5,000 Guanzhong soldiers.

A total of 6,000 main troops and 6,000 auxiliary troops.

Ma Chao's estimate of Zhong Yao's military strength on the north bank of the Wei River was accurate, and it should be just over 10,000, mostly cavalry.

The generals in Guanzhong will not easily express their opinions. As long as they do not intervene or interfere, whoever wins will be credited with the credit of restraining the opponent.

For them, not going to war is victory.

As for Yuan Tan, he could at least recruit and gather 5,000 soldiers from Hongnong alone, if we add the soldiers from Hedong County.

The number of these vanguard cannon fodder alone is greater than our own.

The registered population in each county is small, which does not mean that there are young and strong people that can be mobilized by powerful scholars.

Among them, when powerful scholars mobilized their servants and followers, they did so in a way that left no cost behind.

Just like when a gambler throws his chips, he doesn't care about losing completely, but whether he can win back more.

Therefore, this is the basic reason for mobilizing 30,000 young and strong people in Hedong, which has more than 30,000 households.

Like Guanzhong, the population of Hedong is also divided into two parts: the registered population in counties and prefectures, and the hidden population of powerful people.

The registered population was more concerned about the legal status of the county magistrate; therefore, after Cui Yan took office, it was difficult to quickly mobilize the registered population. If he wanted to increase the number of troops quickly, he could only compromise with the powerful and allow them to encroach on the registered population.

But if we leave the powerful alone, the registered population will become more resistant to Cui Yan, and the efficiency of conscription will further decline.

Therefore, in order to theoretically increase the number of troops to 30,000, some special means are needed; for example, the reasonable mobilization of the registered population, the killing of powerful commanders, and the annexation of all the troops and private soldiers.

If the acquired production resources are redistributed and the registered population actively supports it, this 30,000-strong army will emerge.

Even if Cui Yan thought of these methods, he would not implement them.

Therefore, the scale of Hedong's troops this time should be between 7,000 and 10,000.

The combined forces of the two counties are more numerous than his own; but the quality of the soldiers in these two counties is similar to that of his own second-line 6,000 Guanzhong soldiers.

As the party taking the initiative to attack, the troops of these two counties were enthusiastic about attacking because of the wealth they gained from plundering after victory. This enthusiasm came quickly and would completely dissipate if the attack did not go smoothly.

Our second-line troops have the fighting enthusiasm to defend their homeland. As long as the main force does not collapse, these second-line troops can still hold the line.

Black Bear picked up the pen and wrote quickly, writing all kinds of greater than, less than, and approximately equal to signs that only he could understand on the bamboo paper.

Therefore, the real enemy is the Bingzhou soldiers led by Qian Zhao. Bingzhou can mobilize 50,000 soldiers, which is the mobilization scale for defense.

If he went on an expedition, Qian Zhao would lead a maximum of 5,000 men, mostly cavalry, whose main purpose was to suppress the soldiers of the various Hu tribes.

Qian Zhao would not easily send these 5,000 elite troops into the battlefield. They would serve more as supervisors of the battle.

The only enemies he had to worry about were the Hu tribes.

There is also Yuan Tan, a man of personal charm. The elite troops he recruited from Nanpi and Pingyuan were placed in the west city of Liyang, and they are probably still trapped there and unable to move.

With Yuan Tan's influence, Nanpi soldiers, Pingyuan soldiers, and the powerful people on the south bank of the Yellow River would still come to him with their tribes and clans. Yuan Tan's direct line of troops was about 3,000 to 5,000.

Now we don’t know how many tribes will participate in this battle; also, how to communicate with Qian Zhao and Yuan Shang to control the intensity of this war.

There is one thing he is very sure of, Qian Zhao does not like Yuan Tan at all, nor does he trust Yuan Tan.

So don't expect Qian Zhao to lead the Bingzhou soldiers to fight to the death with Yuan Tan.

If Yuan Tan really took over Guanzhong, I'm afraid the situation of the two Yuans fighting each other would occur again.

For Yuan Shang, the greatest significance of attacking Guanzhong was to completely cut off Cao Cao's supply of war horses.

Without replenishment of war horses, horses are consumables during marches and battles.

Even if there is no decisive battle, Cao's army's war horses will continue to be consumed.

Although Cao's army developed infantry counter-cavalry tactics during the stalemate with Lu Bu in the Battle of Yanzhou, the Cao's army back then and the Cao's army of such a large scale today are of completely different qualities.

In Cao's army at that time, those who were able to volunteer to serve were generally good family men who had received basic education in the late Han Dynasty; even someone like Dian Wei was somewhat literate.

As for the current Cao army, do you expect a group of soldiers with miserable faces and full of resentment under the system of wrong service to launch anti-cavalry tactics?

Anti-cavalry tactics are like dancing on the edge of a knife.

How can you succeed if you don't get enough money and your quality is not good enough?

We cannot simply belittle the system of staggered service. If Cao Cao could take over Hebei, the troops currently serving under his command would receive long-term training and become elite troops.

The mental problems caused by the system of forced labor would also be eliminated with the rewards of rich spoils of war.

For Yuan Shang, seizing the salt lake in Hedong would force Yuan Tan into a place where he could not move, and at the same time cut off Cao Cao's war horse channel.

Then this operation on the western front would be a complete success. If Yuan Tan really swallowed up Guanzhong, it would be a defect instead, which would weaken the overall coordination of the Yuan family in the long run.

Yuan Tan was sent to Hongnong to keep an eye on Heluo.

Henan Yin Xiahou Dun's army had just been almost wiped out by Liu Bei and himself. Even if Cao Cao replenished Xiahou Dun's troops after the autumn harvest, it would still be difficult to defend.

If Luoyang was lost from Xiahou Dun, the blow to Cao Cao would be more devastating than the death of ten Xiahou Duns.

Therefore, it was necessary to divide troops to assist Xiahou Dun in defending Luoyang, which further weakened Cao Cao's military strength to attack Hebei.

Yuan Tan was in Hongnong, caught between the attacks of Guanzhong and Heluo.

If Yuan Tan doesn't want to be destroyed, he should either be obedient or surrender to Cao Cao?

Thinking of this, Black Bear picked up his pen and wrote the four words "Yuan Tan surrenders to Cao" so that he could see them first when he read it next time.

After writing, roll up the page of bamboo paper and put it in the box.

Only then did he return to the bed and fell asleep in his arms, hugging the warm Zhen Mi.

On the north bank of the Wei River, Zhong Yao’s camp.

Zhong Yao, who had been suffering from insomnia recently, woke up in the middle of the night and fiddled with the copper brazier in the tent.

It wasn't just Black Bear who was strategizing the battle situation. When Ma Chao was free, he would also quietly look at the map and outline the situation by himself.

Qian Zhao, Yuan Tan, Cui Yan, Linghu Shao, and the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu Huhuquan were also analyzing various aspects and looking for points of interest.

Ma Teng and Han Sui were no exception. The generals they chose to lead the troops, Pang De and Yan Xing, would also conduct various analyses before the battle.

This war involves people from too many aspects and the conflicts of interest are too complicated.

It is normal for them to fight side by side and then turn against each other and stab each other in the back.

Zhong Yao was the most miserable. He only had the righteousness of the court. If there was a meaningful military victory, he could control and digest the 8,000 people.

But unfortunately, he lacked such military victories.

The 5,000 troops were promised to Black Bear, and he could not provoke Black Bear before repelling Yuan Tan's offensive.

The young man's character flaws were too obvious. If he was not restrained in his anger, he might turn around and attack him, causing the hard-earned "Guanzhong Coalition" to fall apart.

Zhong Yao was warming himself by the fire, looking at the orchid-colored, slightly green flame in the copper brazier and frowning.

Ma Chao didn't find out anything when he went to Nan'an today, and Black Bear didn't absorb any talents from the counties of Weinan, so he lacked understanding of Black Bear's core decision-making level.

We have to wait a little longer. When Liu Ye and Chen Zhen arrive in Guanzhong, they will have the opportunity to meet these two military advisors and the chief secretary, and then they will be able to observe Black Bear's general attitude from the side.

Whether it is rising stars like Ma Chao and Hei Xiong, or senior veterans like Ma Teng and Han Sui.

In Zhong Yao's eyes, they were all traitors who disturbed the country; there was no essential difference between them and the Hebei side, except for the difference in strength.

The big ones cannot cooperate, but the small ones can.

But he couldn't give up Guanzhong. He had invested almost everything here. If the situation in Guanzhong collapsed, he would be doomed.

Do you really think Xun Lingjun will lend you a hand?
At that point, even Xun Lingjun would not be able to protect himself.

If a new emperor really emerges in Chang'an right under his nose, he will be infamous in history.

If the situation can be maintained, then maintain it; if it cannot be maintained, then choose the one with the greatest potential and engage in in-depth cooperation.

Anyway, Ma Teng and Han Sui had been fighting for thirty years, and these two people of the same age were too old for Zhong Yao.

On the other hand, Black Bear is seriously lacking a respected elder to provide guidance.

People like Xun Yu and Chen Qun probably also support it.

All the Yingchuan people in Hebei have died, so we should open another line; we cannot be tied to Cao Cao.

The tighter the binding, the more confident Cao Cao becomes and the more he tramples on the bottom line principles.

Naturally, the status of Yingchuan people became lower.

What's more, he didn't even have a son. Even if he died by following the bandits, his fellow villagers in Yingchuan would find a way to adopt a child for him in the future.

Besides, as the Inspector of the Imperial Guards, can't I recruit a fake Tiger Tooth General who was appointed by Hebei without authorization?
As long as this fake general is powerful outside, he will naturally have the confidence to compete with Cao Cao after entering the court.

Really, Yingchuan people cannot lose their influence in Guanzhong.

The old ministers of the Han Dynasty will also help him, which is beneficial to the court.

All parties joined forces to force Cao Cao to open another government office on par with Cao Cao's Sikong Mansion, so that Xun Yu would have more options.

The key point why Cao Cao was called a traitor to the country lies here. There was only one government office in Xudu, and the Secretariat could only review and issue government decrees, and government decrees could only come from the government office.

Cao Cao exploited a loophole in the system. If there was another public office, the Secretariat would have an additional backup option, and scholars all over the world would have another channel to enter the officialdom.

Then Cao Cao would have no chance of dominating the court with just a duke.

Now Cao Cao's hegemonic government model, especially with the complete annihilation of the people of Yingchuan in Hebei, has made veteran heroes such as Zhong Yao feel a strong sense of crisis.

(End of this chapter)