Chapter 146 Secret Planning
When the military meeting ended, Wei Ji was the first to resign and leave.

After the man representing the Sili Xiaowei Office left, Chen Zhen asked, "General, how do we appease the Hebei soldiers in the camp?"

"First select twenty people, if there are people from Hedong or Bingzhou, they are also welcome. I want them to deliver letters for Yuan Shang and Qian Zhao. After I receive their replies, I will select more people to deliver letters until all those who are loyal to Hebei are dispatched."

Black Bear made arrangements after a little consideration. There was no point in forcibly detaining these people.

Liu Bei was with these people day and night but he couldn't keep them, so how could he keep himself?

If they are detained and forced to do manual labor, there is no shortage of the hundred or so men at the moment; if they continue to serve as backbones of the army, they will be asking for trouble.

So give a clear signal and divide these people into batches as one-time messengers.

In this way, I can help Chen Zhen train the new recruits before setting off.

After all of them were dispatched, the battalion of soldiers under Chen Zhen's name was barely formed.

Chen Zhen approved of Black Bear's approach, which was enough to appease the Hebei people in the camp.

Seeing that his problem was solved and Liu Ye was still sitting there quietly, he felt that Liu Ye had more important things to discuss.

After all, compared with each other, Liu Ye is more like a hero.

Chen Zhen tactfully left, and Liu Ye came to the map covered with black and white chess pieces.

Black Bear had already made a strategic plan, but Liu Ye felt that something was wrong and did not propose it in public. Now he pointed to Ma Teng in the north of Huaili, Chiyang Ma Wan, and said, "The general's plan is to take the east first to isolate Hedong, and then gradually advance westward until he meets Han Sui."

"That's right, Military Advisor, is there anything you think needs to be corrected or supplemented?"

"Don't dare."

Liu Ye pursed his lips and looked at the map with lowered eyebrows: "General, if the army advances smoothly and defeats Li Kan and Liang Xing as scheduled, and then returns to the east to attack Hou Xuan, then Ma Wan in Chiyang in the west will flee to the west. Isn't it possible for Gaoling's detachment to stop him?"

There must always be a detachment of troops stationed in Gaoling. In the early stage, its purpose was to delay Liang Xing who was blocking Huangbai City. After defeating Liang Xing, the garrison in Gaoling City would keep an eye on Ma Wan in Chiyang in the west.

Ma Wan ran westward. The Gaoling garrison in the east, which lacked cavalry and field combat experience, was slow to react. If they quickened their pace in pursuit, they would only become more fatigued. The harder they chased, the easier it would be for Ma Wan to turn around and ambush them.

Liu Ye did not elaborate on his concerns. Objectively speaking, the Gaoling garrison was unable to stop Ma Wan from escaping westward.

It is not necessary to fight to the death and destroy the enemy. What you want is the enemy's troops and the fertile land they control.

If Ma Wan escapes, it will not be conducive to the complete takeover of Ma Wan's territory.

Seeing Liu Ye's serious expression, Black Bear took out three black pieces from the chess box and placed them in a Chinese character "品" (a symbol of a character for a symbol) at Maoling, south of Chiyang. "These are Pang De's three thousand men. Half are infantry and half are cavalry. I will give Pang De a chance, and I hope he can seize it."

Not counting auxiliary troops, corvée labor, and county garrisons, the scale of the field troops involved in this Weibei expedition was extremely large.

The Black Bear headquarters consists of the Central Camp, the Eagle Strike Camp, and the Three Thousand Camp, which together total five thousand people, including one thousand cavalry.

Three Thousand Battalions is the abbreviation of Three Thousand Qingzhou Soldiers. When the time is right, this unit of Qingzhou Soldiers will be re-numbered.

The other detachment included 5,000 Guanzhong infantrymen led by military advisor Liu Ye, who were only responsible for defending the city and were not allowed to take the initiative to attack. Their sole purpose was to blockade and restrict the activities of Liang Xing and Ma Wan.

Zhong Yao's two thousand men would also cross the Weishui River to participate in the defense.

The battalion led by Chen Zhen will be stationed in Huaili and join forces with Ma Teng's Guanzhong troops to defend the area, and will not participate in the battle in Weibei.

Finally, there are Pang De's 3,000 men. With Ma Teng's size, by gathering the elite and veteran soldiers and roughly reorganizing them, he can at least get 3,000 elite troops, half of which are infantry and half are cavalry.

These three thousand people came so suddenly that they could have a miraculous effect.

It would be good if they could move into Maoling and Ma Wan of Chiyang in the north could hold his ground. If he dared to abandon the city and flee, Pang De would be able to take Ma Wan away in one go if he seized the opportunity.

So Black Bear calmly took out the three black pieces and placed them behind Maoling, then picked up the three black pieces and put them into the chess box, and said to Liu Ye with a smile: "Military Advisor, only you and I know about this matter now."

"I didn't expect the general to have a plan in place. I was reckless."

"The military advisor can help me fill in the gaps, so I am only happy. How can I blame the military advisor?"

Black Bear looked down at the chessboard and said, "I'm afraid someone has leaked the secret to Ma Wan. He won't easily believe that Ma Teng will abandon his people. Pang De is young and his name is unknown to the world. This time he leads the troops to ambush, maybe it will have a miraculous effect."

Before Han Sui's forces intervened, the four great generals in Weibei were severely damaged and defeated. Even if the remaining small generals attached themselves to Han Sui, they would be of little use.

Then Black Bear took a cloth to cover the map, and Liu Ye stood up and said goodbye.

After Black Bear sent Liu Ye out, he turned around and went back to his own cabin.

When he came back, Zhen Mi was checking the small warm room next to the hut, which had a kang (a bed that was like a large bunk bed) built in it.

A thick layer of wheat straw was laid on the kang, piled up into a nest, and eight nests of goose eggs were hatching.

When the black bear passed by, he came in to check on the hatching status, but he was no longer worried about it.

Now I want to get some ducks of good breeds, clean the duck eggs and hatch them into a controllable flock that can reproduce quickly and grow.

Ducks are very useful for weeding, pest control and suppressing locust plagues.

As long as the ducks are controlled so that they do not eat the seedlings, or even ducks are bred to not eat the seedlings, there will be many benefits to having large flocks of ducks in the fields.

There is drought and locust plague in Hebei this year. If the locusts hatch in the spring of next year and cover the sky and move towards Guanzhong, the ducks will be able to perform their duties at that time.

As long as there is water, they can control the ducks to migrate along the river to the military camp and serve as the last reserve of food for the field troops.

When geese and ducks are raised together, the geese can play a protective role.

In addition to the geese, a group of dogs must be specially trained to drive away small hunters such as weasels, foxes, and civet cats from the periphery.

There are also a group of recently hatched goslings in the greenhouse. They have not yet molted. Each one is a little bigger than a fist, and the whole thing is a ball of fine golden fur.

When the black bear came in, Zhen Mi was holding one and playing with it in her hand.

Under the moonlight, Zhen Mi released the nervous and calling gosling. Only then did the other nervous geese stop their attacking posture and protect the fleeing goslings under their bodies.

Zhen Mi walked out of the warm room and closed the door.

Following Black Bear to the dormitory: "When will my husband come for the appointment?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be the 16th."

The black bear looked up at the Mid-Autumn moon which was about to become full. The starry sky was vast, but just a casual glance made him feel infinitely small.

Whether from the perspective of space or time, from the perspective of the universe, my existence is meaningless. Looking at the starry sky, an indescribable ultimate fear arises spontaneously.

Feeling a little unsatisfied, he raised his eyebrows and looked at the brilliant starry sky again: "In the first battle, we will attack Linjin Li Kan. You will also accompany the army and be responsible for assisting in rescuing the wounded."

During this period, Zhen Mi had already organized a female guard team of 100 people.

He also received military training, but the main content of his daily learning was cooking medicine and caring for the wounded.

The wounded who had been taken in by Nanxiang have also returned to the team one after another. There are more than 500 wounded, and the total death toll is less than 100.

All the surviving wounded soldiers followed the fleet to Guanzhong. These soldiers had been divided up by Xuan Liang and Chen Yang and became their backbone.

After entering the house, Zhen Mi hung up the mosquito net, while Black Bear lit a few oil lamps and covered them with gauze lampshades.

As usual, he summoned some mint or something and sprinkled it in the corners of the house to repel insects.

After they finished their work, Zhen Mi took off his leather armor and finally couldn't help asking, "I heard that Ma Teng wants to send his daughter here. How will you arrange it?"

"I'll just keep it to myself."

Black Bear said without hesitation: "I don't have time to accompany her, and she doesn't lack servants and guards. You should spend more time with her in your spare time. If she behaves inappropriately, you should punish her. Your 100 female soldiers will have 1.8 dou of grain per month, and they will eat the same as the soldiers, no worse than the Ma family's daughters."

"After we pacify Weibei, we will move to Linjin this winter. I will keep an eye on Hedong so that we can spend the New Year in peace."

Zhen Mi listened silently, and finally couldn't help herself: "My dear, when can we settle down together?"

Feeling that her tone was somewhat resentful, Zhen Mi immediately changed her words and explained, "There are so many things to do, I just want to spend more time with you, my lord."

"This winter, I can sweep across Guanzhong. My only concern now is the Qiang and Hu people in the north."

Black Bear sat beside the couch and said, "After I have conquered the Qiang and Hu tribes in the north, I will send someone to manage Chencang. This way, Guanzhong will be stable and I can stay out of the trouble. How about this? When the war in Weibei is over, you and I will go to the Wangchuan River Valley and choose a mountain forest to build a summer resort for leisure."

Comforting Zhen Mi, she probably missed her family.

Black Bear was a little uninterested tonight, his mind full of the war sand table simulation in Weibei.

After meeting his basic needs, only the war, which is full of uncertainties, can haunt him and make him never forget it.

He hugged Zhen Mi and fell asleep. Soon after he closed his eyes, the black bear fell into a deep sleep.

His breathing had a strong rhythm, and it seemed to have a hypnotic effect. Zhen Mi fell asleep after listening to it for a while.

In Black Bear's dream, he seemed to have a global vision. He watched Liu Ye and his men open the city gates, and Ma Chao led the heavily armed cavalry into the city to set fire and flush.

It was a mess and I was forced to hide.

Everything was so powerless that I even forgot to summon the Taoist soldiers.

When he was blocked in the pavilion by Ma Chao, he could not bear the humiliation and started to set fire.

At about the second watch, Black Bear calmly opened his eyes and woke up from his sleep.

He pulled the person in his arms closer, looked at the frosty moonlight shining through the white gauze window, and adjusted his breathing.

Subconsciously, I still don't trust Liu Ye.

It's not just Liu Ye. Anyone who carries great influence is not trustworthy.

Including Zhong Yao, Wang Can, Du Ji, Wei Ji and others, even Xuan Liang and Chen Yang, deep down in their hearts, it was difficult for them to believe in each other's loyalty and words and deeds.

It was a cold night, and the thin silk quilt they were covering themselves with was a little light, so Zhen Mi also squeezed in.

The black bear looked at the silvery-white frost-stained screen window, wondering how he could have real light at night.

If I could refine a beam of light, even if it consumed a thousand white mana, even if it could only illuminate a dormitory at night, that would be acceptable.

He tried to refine the flame, but failed.

Staring at the silver-white window screen, his thoughts were agitated, and he felt more and more that he had to stop after occupying Guanzhong.

Otherwise, the larger the area occupied, the more dependent one will be on the existing official system.

It’s not that the existing team of officials is bad, but that these people are deeply bound to the ideas of scholars. What they pursue is scholars governing the country and hereditary aristocracy. Deep down, they don’t like the changes of other paths.

In order to collect taxes and mobilize manpower and material resources, they will have to be deeply tied to these old officials and scholars.

If I merge more, I'm afraid I won't be myself anymore.

Therefore, he stopped and implemented the classic Huang-Lao recuperation policy, reducing corvée and taxes, reducing the number of officials, and fully resting the people's strength.

At the same time, relying on Taipingdao, we promote simplified Chinese characters.

For cultural promotion, if the promoted group has extremely high enthusiasm, the promotion speed and efficiency should be extremely fast.

The Taoist inscriptions of Tianshi Dao are complicated, so our own inscriptions will be simplified.

In the future, if you, a Taoist priest, want to be registered in Tiancao, you must first master the astronomy commonly used in Tiancao... simplified Chinese characters!
While fighting outside, they rested and trained a team of officials from the army.

Once the team of officials is built, whether you can become king or not depends on your own will.

There is no need to worry about the opinions of the current scholars. With or without them, he can manage the people and maintain order.

This is no longer the era when heroes were fighting against Dong Zhuo, after experiencing the ideological shock of Yuan Shu's declaration of emperorship.

If I secede from Guanzhong and declare myself a king, who would be so bored as to attack me?
No, you have to grasp the opportunity to become king.

This was the only political event that could force Cao Cao to attack him.

Therefore, we can prepare for war in advance and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.

Even without Ma Chao, he would have to fight the Battle of Tongguan and bleed Cao Cao badly.

Only after completing this bloodletting can we focus on conquering the various Hu tribes.

Once we have the Hu volunteers' troops, it will be much easier to do some things.

(End of this chapter)