Chapter 107                                                             

Zhou Mengchen, Yang Jisheng and Xu Wei sat opposite each other. They were all silent like statues.

Xiao Qin's move stumped all three of them.

After hesitating for a while, Yang Jisheng said: "I don't care. The ugly words are ahead. Even if the 20,000 cavalry are all exhausted, the Tartars cannot enter and exit the Datong area at will. Spring plowing is about to be soon. The Datong climate can only plant one season. Although there was some food last year, it was definitely not enough to last until the autumn harvest next year."

"So, no matter what difficulties the cavalry has, spring plowing is the most important thing. No matter how difficult the cavalry is, the horses will die. If spring plowing fails, the people who die next year will definitely not be as simple as 20,000 people."

"Sir." Xu Wei also hesitated for a moment and said, "What Mr. Yang said is the right reason. Now all things in Datong are not as important as spring farming. However, we cannot do nothing now. Can we ask other towns for help and ask him to support some cavalry."

Zhou Mengchen smiled bitterly and said, "It's useless. First of all, the Tartars' offensive this year is not limited to us. There are also some roars in Xuanda, and there are also in Yulin."

Xu Wei hesitated and said, "Sir, something is wrong. I read the recent war report. Our army fought against the Tartars for thirteen battles, and each other suffered losses. A total of 300 people were beheaded. More than a thousand people were killed in our battle. Among them, the highest position was a thousand households."

"I have calculated that the Tartar troops on the opposite side and the Tartars that General Ma met outside the Great Wall, had at least 50,000 cavalry. Now it's spring, and the Tartars' horsepower is not good, and it's even worse than us. It's impossible for them to dispatch the entire army. These 50,000 cavalry are almost the limit, and even if there are other units, the number will not be too large."

Zhou Mengchen said with a wry smile: "I know."

He also calculated what Xu Wei said.

Especially for war horses.

In fact, to be honest, the physical constitution of the war horses in Mongolia is not as good as that of the Ming army's war horses. After all, the Ming army has the ability to supply the fine materials of war horses. Even in winter, they will not feed all the fine materials, but they will still have to feed some beans every now and then so that the war horses will not lose weight.

But where are the Tartars so good?

It can be said that war horses rely on their own to survive in winter. So they are skinny in spring. However, even if the Tartars horses are many, even if they suffer from snow disasters in winter, war horses are still several times that of Datong, or even dozens of times that of Datong.

Even so, Zhou Mengchen estimated that the number of war horses on the Tartars was actually quite large. This is why many people, including Zhou Mengchen, did not expect the Tartars to fight in the beginning of spring.

But now it seems that the Tartars can afford these losses.

This is also the only advantage the Tartars had over the Ming Dynasty.

Zhou Mengchen sighed and said, "I did something last year. I think after leaving the relationship between the Ministry of War, the matter was done, but I didn't want to get rid of Shanxi and Jizhou towns. At the same time, it has a bad reputation, and other military towns may not want to send people to support them."

This is also Zhou Mengchen's neglect.

Zhou Mengchen thought that they were all the troops of the Ming Dynasty, and in Shanxi Town and Jizhou Town, what's the difference? Are they all serving the Ming Dynasty?

But this is the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming army seemed to be a complete whole, called the official army. But you really think that the Ming army was a whole, and you were just making fun of it.

The Datong Army and the Xuanfu Army have a striking difference. In fact, the two military towns are fine. They fight under the command of the Governor of Xuanda for many years, and are also called the Xuanda Army. The relationship with other military towns is more complicated, and they all have their own calculations anyway.

Zhou Mengchen’s behavior last year was extremely hateful in the eyes of many people.

Not only did they kill all the elite soldiers and generals they sent to support, they actually annexed the last little man. And they directly greeted the Ministry of War, without going their way. This was simply a slap in the face.

In addition, Zhou Mengchen's actions in Datong were not the only ones who were the officers of the garrison. Therefore, in this case, the various towns contributed to the fire. Zhou Mengchen was isolated afterwards.

After hearing this, Xu Wei immediately said, "Sir, this is my fault. As an aide, I did not remind you. It really shouldn't be."

Zhou Mengchen shook his head and said, "What are you doing when you say this? Let's look at what's happening in front of you."

Zhou Mengchen also knew that Xu Wei did not understand the worldly ways, but he was a arrogant and arrogant person. When he was in Jiangnan, he was just obscene and letting him do humble things, so it was naturally a bit difficult for others to do. Zhou Mengchen also knew that the root of this lies in himself.

Zhou Mengchen originally wanted to sweep the hereditary officers of the Wei Institute into the historical garbage dump, but he had no intention of pleasing.

This situation is just about sooner or later.

Xu Wei said, "Now we can only weigh the pros and cons." He paused slightly, placed a teacup in the middle of the table, and said, "The most important thing is spring plowing, not war. You can give up anything for this, do you think so?"

Zhou Mengchen was silent for a moment and said, "Yes."

Even if there are only a few thousand cavalry left in the future, it will be difficult to recover. However, if spring plowing fails, the situation will be even more dangerous. The current military system, if it is expected to be funded by Beijing, will not be able to support it.

Xu Wei said: "Secondly, that is, the Datong cavalry, the cavalry is the top priority among all the armies. It can be lost, but it must not be lost so much. Therefore, when necessary, one or two must be preserved. Do you think so?"

Zhou Mengchen said: "Of course."

Xu Wei said: "Then the situation in front of you will be clear at a glance."

"Shrink defense, no longer get entangled in the front line of the Great Wall, place cavalry around Datong, ensure the smooth spring plowing this year, and send orders to the garrisons, so that they can be responsible for defending their territory. Actively and proactively confront the Tartars. Do not easily let the Tartars cross the border wall."

Zhou Mengchen heard Xu Wei's words and said nothing for a moment.

Yang Jisheng sighed and said, "This is a death to many people."

Xu Wei's method is very simple.

It is to allocate who can be sacrificed by importance.

Spring plowing cannot be done, cavalry cannot be done. Then the guards, dominated by infantry, can only be given the heavy responsibility of intercepting the Tatar cavalry.

Indeed, it is difficult to intercept the infantry at the speed of the cavalry. Even once you leave the city, you will fall into a passive state. You must know that the army of the garrison only has the most basic cold weapons, firearms, bows and arrows. I don’t know whether it can be successfully intercepted? But the casualties must be very large.

Even in Xu Wei's way, he had no hope of intercepting them all. The Taurus cavalry around Datong still needed Ma Fang's cavalry to deal with it.

In this plan, ensuring the four words "Spring Plowing" require countless people to water the blood.

Xu Wei said: "This is not a solution."

Zhou Mengchen closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.

At this moment, he knew deeply what it means to be a soldier. Because the generals had never had the best of both worlds on the battlefield, they had only a choice, and they chose to live and who would die. And let that army survive, and let that army die.

More importantly, these people are all their own people. Many people are looking forward to supporting them and solving their problems later.

But there are only a few resources in hand. It is impossible to fully understand everything.

This is the reality on the battlefield. There are not so many strange strategies, but more of a bargaining chip.

Rationally, although this is not a solution, it is also the best method. But emotionally, aren’t these things killed by yourself? How different is it to make people die in the name of greatness and killing people with your own hands?

Moreover, such a choice cannot be made slowly.

Suspicion is the great harm of the three armies. It is better to make the worst decision than not. It is not enough to make a slight soft-heartedness to make yourself feel soft-hearted. The softer you are, the more people will die under your own decisions.

Zhou Mengchen opened his eyes and said softly: "Mr. Xu, come on your own."

Xu Wei said, "Yes. I'll go and write an order now." Then Xu Wei retreated.

Zhou Mengchen wanted to get up, but suddenly felt dizzy. Yang Jisheng immediately supported him and said, "Brother Zhou, how do you feel?"

Zhou Mengchen said, "Brother Yang, what do you think of the people of Datong after I die? What will I give back to their father and brother?" Yang Jisheng just wanted to persuade him, but Zhou Mengchen had already shook his head gently and said, "I know what Master said well? I know that I blame me for it, but it is only the Spring and Autumn Period."
Chapter completed!