Chapter 144                               Search West

Zhou Mengchen seemed to be in chaos in Shanxi.

He originally wanted to make some rectifications in Shanxi Town, so that at least the soldiers in front of him would look like them. But when he saw Governor Bai coming, he suddenly felt awakened.

In fact, the various styles of Datong Town that he rectified were aliens in the officialdom. The situation in Shanxi was a common phenomenon in the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, Zhou Mengchen could only rely on these pig teammates. After all, Zhou Mengchen was only the governor of Datong, not the governor of Shanxi. If there was no governor of Shanxi, Zhou Mengchen might have relied on his civil servants and his rank was higher than that of Shanxi General, and he could point fingers at the situation in Shanxi Town. But now the governor of Shanxi has arrived. There may be differences between the two, but overall, no one can control each other.

If Zhou Mengchen crossed the governor of Shanxi and directly took charge of Shanxi affairs, it would be too incompatible with the rules of the officialdom.

Moreover, the Shanxi Governor is here, and the Shanxi General runs to Shuozhou for help, which may not be the Shanxi General's general alone. Perhaps it is the meaning of this Lord Bai.

I can’t ask about the opinion of the Shanxi Governor.

It is estimated that the Shanxi governor was devoted to protecting his official position and the Shanxi general. He did not focus on fighting the war at all, or they had no idea how to fight the war.

No matter what I said to them, they were talking to each other. They were not on the same channel at all. Zhou Mengchen had no intention of talking nonsense to them.

Zhou Mengchen said: "Immediately prepare the army's food and grass, prepare the silver to reward the army, and also familiarize yourself with all the terrain guides along the Yellow River south of Panguan Naipianguan."

When the army is outside, it usually requires local food and grass to supply. But the problem is that the Ming army system collapsed, the martial arts are cheap and the culture is expensive, so many large armies cannot obtain food and grass locally. Zhou Mengchen brought enough food and grass. However, following the customs, this time, the mobilization of the army to go south almost to the bottom of the Datong treasury. The bumper harvest of food and grass last year, and even the silver he accumulated, supported the spring war and the Battle with Tumaochuan. After these two major battles, they had already consumed a lot of food and grass.

I really can't stand this battle again. Naturally, I want to subsidize one or two from Shanxi.

Bai Xixiu immediately said, "It's ready. There are 100,000 stones of food and grass, and 100,000 taels of silver. As for the guide, I'll be ready today." Bai Xixiu didn't know how to fight, but she knew how to be an official. She agreed to all the requests of Zhou Mengchen, and even a little redundant.

Zhou Mengchen thought to himself: "With such a sum of money, the situation in Datong will be a little more abundant."

Zhou Mengchen said, "Then you rest for one night today and set off tomorrow."

The military situation is like fire. Zhou Mengchen never opposed the march, but did not want to enter the war zone in a dark way. It was obviously in his own territory, making it seem like he was in an enemy country. It was really annoying. But many things, no matter how annoyed you, you still have to clean up this mess.

Moreover, depending on the average quality of Shanxi officials, Zhou Mengchen may not have a better result if he continues to stay in Ningwu Pass.

Since it is useless, why not take a look at the situation first.

Zhou Mengchen said it was the second day to set off. In fact, on that night, Zhou Mengchen and Ma Fang came over and sent dozens of teams to stop at night. He came to the fan and searched west.

Shortly after the second army drove west, Zhou Mengchen received the first news.

This news is not good news. Ye Busu, who set out last night, was shot and fell on the horse. He was carried back by a war horse. When he came back, he was in a coma and was overblown. As for Ye Busu, who was in the same group as him, he did not come back.

This proves at least one thing, that is, there are a large number of Tartar raids appearing around the army.

This is not good news.

Zhou Mengchen was even more in a state of blind riding a blind horse. Everything was so calm in front of him. However, there was murderous intent in peace.

Zhou Mengchen became more and more nervous. The troops he had at hand had two years of hard work. If he was ruined here, Datong would not be able to recover his vitality for at least one or two years, especially for Datong's already pitiful population base, it would be even worse.

Although Zhou Mengchen also ordered Ma Fang to send more troops to explore the horse, he knew it in his heart.

In this regard, the Ming Dynasty could not defeat the Tartars.

Scout war is actually a small-scale cavalry battle. The Ming army's combat effectiveness of the night-defunct military is still above the Mongolian cavalry, but there are many Mongolian cavalry, while all the Datong cavalry are only 20,000. It is impossible to send all 20,000 cavalry to be sent out that night without collecting. In addition, the training of the night-defunct military is very strict. Not every Ming cavalry can be competent for the night-defunct military. The number of all the night-defunct military is quite limited.

In this regard, the Datong cavalry is in the high-quality model. The Tartars are in the volume. They cannot say who is better or worse, but if the number varies too much, will the elite soldiers play any role?

Zhou Mengchen just moved west with great caution.

One day later, camp at Wuzhai Fort.

Wuzhai Fort is also a military fort of the Ming army. It was just something that Zhou Mengchen came to see, and he saw a terrible scene.

The gates of Wuzhai Fort were wide open and empty. After the army entered, they did not listen to the sound of chickens and dogs, as if they were a dead city. Or it was simply a dead city. Large pieces of corpses were violently opened on the streets, in the houses, and all the houses were rummaged to rummage boxes and cabinets. There was no complete table. There were still many places, and traces left by fireworks.

Among all these corpses, there were a considerable number of women's naked corpses, and the situation was even more unbearable.

It is obvious that people were killed and set fire. After the Tartars killed people, they thought about setting fire.

Zhou Mengchen looked at it for a long time without saying a word.

Ma Fang walked over and said, "Sir, it seems that most of the Tartars had retreated from here two days ago. I looked at the traces and at noon today, there was a team of Tartars here. We left here before we got close to here. We should not have gone far."

Zhou Mengchen said, "I understand."

Ma Fang said, "Sir, do you want me to chase me?"

Zhou Mengchen shook his head and said, "What are you chasing? You don't know what the Tartars are best. You are likely to be surrounded by the Tartars all at once. I only have a little cavalry in Datong, and then I will be crippled all at once. What should I do?"

Ma Fang pondered for a while and said, "Sir, I actually have a saying that I have always wanted to say to you. I think even if there are 20,000 cavalrymen, even if the enemy has more than 100,000, I can still defeat it."

Zhou Mengchen turned his head to look at Ma Fang. If it wasn't Ma Fang who said this sentence, Zhou Mengchen didn't look at it directly. Twenty thousand and ten thousand were over, thinking he was Li Shimin or Zhang Liao?

However, since it was Ma Fang, Zhou Mengchen would treat him differently.

Zhou Mengchen said, "Are you really sure?"

Ma Fang said: "I dare not say that I am 100% sure, but I am still 50% sure."

Zhou Mengchen looked around and had already cleared the main hall of Wuzhai Fort. Zhou Mengchen said, "This is not a place to speak, let's go inside and talk in detail."

Then Zhou Mengchen and Ma Fang sat down in the main hall. Someone from left and right brought a bowl of water.

Zhou Mengchen glanced at the eyes and found a bloodstain on the wall, which was very eye-catching. He immediately restored the previous scene from this angle. It seemed that there was a person in his position who was stabbed by a knife and blood sprayed onto the wall.

Zhou Mengchen's nose opened slightly and said in his heart: "I will not provoke a military force because of anger." Then he suppressed his inner emotions.

Seeing the tragic situation of Wuzhai Fort, it was not that Zhou Mengchen was cold-blooded. It was that Zhou Mengchen knew what he should do. Any venting of emotional words was not only useless to the status quo, but also harmful.

Zhou Mengchen picked up a bowl of clear water and drank it all, and said, "Tell me. What kind of tactic do you want to use?"

Ma Fang said: "Actually, I have been thinking about it for a long time. In the Battle of Baideng, the Yunzhong Cavalry and the Tatar cavalry were so powerful that it was so powerful. After that, I have been training this tactic. After a year, almost all the Datong cavalry have learned to line up and charge. As long as the Tatars dare to fight me, I will definitely make the Tatars suffer a loss."

Zhou Mengchen thought for a moment, shook his head slightly and said, "If this is the case, it is far from enough."
Chapter completed!