A few days later, the Huainan Army on the Huaishang detachment returned to the town and began to focus on defending the Huaishui line.

This time, the generals are scattered, and it can be said that they have their own gains. Han Huang and other subordinates, who were active in various parts of Yingshang, recruited and received a large number of refugees to Runan.

Mao Bao, who was in charge of Runan, was even too busy to take a break, but just sent someone to report back, and now the number of people gathered in Runan has reached tens of thousands of Dingkou, and the food from all directions is still pouring in. The recruitment of Ding Yong into the army is also going very smoothly, this time the slave soldiers are wreaking havoc in the countryside, there is no shortage of local wealthy clans to migrate in order to avoid trouble, even if nothing else, these people alone are gathered together, it is an extremely huge force.

However, Mao Bao did not forget about this and expanded the army on a large scale, but only collected the brave ones, issued bows and knives, and organized an army of more than 3,000 people. Coupled with the Li Cang Department that rushed to Runan first, there are now more than 7,000 armor soldiers in Runan. Although these soldiers have not yet undergone a complete reorganization and running-in, because of the structure and integration of the clan relatives in the township, they are not a rabble, and they have not weak combat effectiveness.

If you add the Huainan army in Rukou under Mao Bao's department, then the land of Runan already has thousands of troops and is already quite capable of self-preservation. And at the critical moment, it is also a partial teacher who can rely on something.

In the direction of Ru Ying, the biggest achievement is Shen Yun. Although there were not many direct beheadings or captures, they were active between Chenjun and Yingchuan for many days, and established an extremely smooth connection with those local gateways.

It is already the core place of Yuzhou, and there are many hometowns and old homes to defend themselves. With the stereotyped efforts to run, and those people are also thinking about a way out, the two sides hit it off. When Shen Yun and the others returned, there was even a lack of Yuzhou villagers, and the sons and daughters of various sects and sects went down to Shouchun with the army, and there were thousands of people gathered.

These people are not just as simple as coming to visit, if the situation in Shouchun is as good as said, they are very likely to stay here and directly join Shen Zhezi as another way out to protect the family business.

Of course, the most eye-catching victory is the surprise attack on the city father by Shen Mu and other departments. Although the number of people directly involved in this battle was small, after cooperating with the enemy from the flank, covering the in-depth rangers, and cutting off the rear road, the Huainan Army invested more than half of its troops.

Of course, the results are also extremely rich, although the direct beheading is too chaotic to be counted, but at least more than 3,000 slave soldiers were killed, especially after the Vortex Bay was broken, thousands of slave soldiers were killed, and more than half of them were the elite of the Chinese army!

This battle made the Huainan Army realize that the combat effectiveness of the real Karma army was indeed not to be underestimated, and it was far better than those scattered soldiers of the county. The same slave soldiers are not brave enough to be like gods and ghosts, after all, they are still flesh and blood, there is no lack of bravery, dare to fight fiercely, but that's all. The Huainan Army can also do it, and it will definitely do better in the future!

On the way back, Shen Zhezi felt these changes in the soldiers, not arrogant, not self-conscious, daring to look directly at the gap with the opponent, and having the courage to catch up. To be honest, even if this battle ignores other gains, just letting the soldiers realize this, Shen Zhezi feels precious. Especially on the eve of the arrival of most of the slave army in the south, this is really important for the morale of the army!

Of course, the abundance of gains in this battle, no matter who is replaced, cannot be ignored. On the way back, there were nearly 7,000 horses!

What is this concept? Shen Zhezi entered Huainan and swept the countryside, and obtained only more than 2,000 horses, and more than half of them were difficult to use as military horses. In this battle alone, the income is more than three times that of a town in Huainan!

And most of these horses are good horses, in other words, more than half of them don't even need to be raised and trained, and they can be directly integrated into the army!

Moreover, although the army retreated, there were still some fort strongholds left on the vortex line, and villagers led horses to surrender one after another. It can be said that after the first battle, the cattle, horses, and animal power gathered in the southern Henan land to sweep the countryside were looted, and most of them were captured by the Huainan army, and the small half were scattered in the wilderness, and it was extremely difficult to concentrate again.

When a large number of horses were transported across the river in the narrow place of the Huaishui at the mouth of the whirlpool, not only the Huainan army cheered, but even the Xuzhou army stationed there was also surprised and envious when they saw this scene, and their eyes were extremely red. This is the situation in Huaixia, and these towns in Jiangbei are all short of horses. Of course, relatively speaking, the shortage of horses in the Huainan army is particularly serious.

Although Shen Zhezi reluctantly organized the four thousand cavalry of the two armies to send them to Huaibei, he was actually almost exhausted. And because there weren't enough replacement stand-ups, the horsepower loss ratio was heart-wrenching. But in order to compete for time, I can only grit my teeth and bear it.

Although the Xuzhou army is also short of horses, after all, it has accumulated over the past many years, and there has been a lot of gains from attacking each other with slave soldiers, so the situation is still much stronger than that of the Huainan army. But that was before, after this battle, the Huainan Army almost surpassed the accumulation of the Xuzhou Army in the first battle, which was really moving.

Of course, in addition to horsepower, the people also got a lot, nearly a thousand people, all mixed with the horses and rushed out together. These people are not ordinary villagers, most of them are shepherds in various counties in southern Henan. With the addition of these people, these captured horses will not have to worry about being left unattended.

After passing Huai, Shen Zhezi immediately returned to the town, convened the generals to discuss the matter and summarize the results. The generals in the banquet naturally boasted a lot, but not all of them were cheering, and Du He, who was in charge of internal affairs, sighed and frowned.

Duhe really has no reason not to be worried, since the establishment of Huainan Town, the whole has been in a state of continuous rotation. First, they resisted the counterattack of the slave armies of all walks of life in Huaibei, and then they vigorously rectified the countryside. As soon as the local business was put on track, news came that the slave soldiers were about to come south in a big way.

I thought that this time I should tighten the front, rebuild internal governance, and accumulate money and food, but I didn't expect that all parts would be sent out, and the action would be much more violent than before.

Although Jiangdong resources are still being transported in a steady stream, the entire Huainan is like a cracked river that has dried up for a long time, and no matter how much water flows in, it will be absorbed and consumed. Duch used to be in charge of internal affairs, but recently, many people poured into the door every day when he opened his eyes to beg for money and food, as if he owed the whole world in his sleep.

Hearing that the generals boasted about their exploits, Duhe's heart was naturally full of joy. Even if the slave army is about to come south, Huainan, the town of pro-creation, is becoming more and more prominent, and it is not inferior to the long-established military formations such as Guangling and Wuchang.

But this joy is really difficult to dispel his anxiety. Shouchun is overstretched here, waiting for the rice to go to the pot, and Runan has added tens of thousands of dingkou waiting to be fed. The problem of human consumption has not yet been solved, and as a result, thousands of horses have come to consume more than people. This one thing after another weighed heavily on his heart, which really made it difficult for him to smile.

The generals were full of interest in talking, but they didn't notice Du He's abnormality, but Shen Zhezi had already noticed it.

This kind of affairs is too nerve-wracking to be discussed in front of the high-spirited generals. So Shen Zhezi excused himself and left the table, invited Du He into the side room, and asked: "Daohui, you are sad and frosty, and you don't see a smile, could it be that Jiangdong's transportation is overdue?" ”

When Du He heard this, he smiled bitterly: "It's not overdue, but it's true that it doesn't follow." Now there is a single rice grain in the town, and the daily income is 20,000 Hu, and it has accumulated more than 500,000 Hu. But if the horse asks how much grain is stored in the town at the moment, it is not even a hundred hundred! All parties are desperate for food, but now there is a new dilemma in the town...... It's not that I don't like to be a colt, but the current situation in the town is indeed extremely manpowered. At present, the war has not officially begun, and if the war continues for a long time in the future, the situation is really worrying. ”

Shen Zhezi also understood that Du He's worries were justified, and even he himself was a little surprised that Runan had built such a large scale in such a short time. In the long run, this is a good phenomenon, because the Karma slaves are disobedient and devastating to the place.

No matter what the outcome of this war is, it can be said that the land of southern Henan has become a wasteland, which is an extremely favorable situation for the future Japanese royal division to advance into Huaishang. But no matter whether it is beneficial or not, after all, it is necessary to get through the present before we can be qualified to make progress again.

"Daohui doesn't have to worry deeply, the river tide will rise sharply in the next few months, and the town is also dredging repeatedly, and it will be more sufficient to make up for Jiangdong in the future. As for Runan, the current accommodation is close to the limit, and the next step is to move south one after another. ”

Shen Zhezi comforted Du He with a smile, saying that the current scale would not be expanded further: "As for this new horse, it is still mainly defending Huaishui at the moment, and there is no need to reorganize the army immediately. Later, you can go to Xinliang County and ask someone to lead Tuzhong to temporarily raise Tuzhong. ”

Indeed, the acquisition of these horses was both a great gain and a great burden, and it was not immediately useful. First of all, in terms of soldiers, it is already difficult to choose more here in the Huainan Army. So if you want to choose, you still have to choose from those Ding Yong in Runan to form an army. However, Runan has not yet undergone effective reorganization, and it is not suitable to directly entrust it to heavy weapons at present.

Moreover, now is not the time to expand the cavalry. Seeing the elite of the Chinese army of the Qiangnu, Shen Zhezi had almost given up his efforts in the field battle in the coming war. Even if there is a need, the current scale of the cavalry of the Huainan Army is enough.

As for these newly acquired horses, Shen Zhezi did not plan to keep them completely, but only planned to keep half of the preferred horses and choose a thousand to give to Xi Jian. After all, if the military operation in Huaibei was not carried out so smoothly without the full cooperation of the Xuzhou Army, it should be reciprocated. At the same time, it can also ask for a part of the horse material emergency in the direction of Xuzhou by the way, saving Huainan itself the hard work of fundraising.

As for the remaining horses and inferior horses, although they are not enough for the military, they are all excellent animal power, and the price in Jiangdong is extremely high, so they are simply sold directly to various families in Jiangdong to offset part of the grain and at the same time stimulate the hearts of these people to help the army.

To be honest, Shen Zhezi dared to make such a sharp move, not because he was exhaustive or bold. It's because he has Jiangdong's strong backing, which can support him to have a greater appetite, and at the same time, he can digest the results of the battle very efficiently. In this way, the situation of false advance and shallow victory in the course of the Northern Expedition was avoided, and the situation of collapse at the first touch was avoided.

If the entire Jiangdong is a hungry beast, then Shen Zhezi is the sharpest fangs of this beast, which can quickly digest and regurgitate, strengthen itself, and smooth out the gap between the north and the south little by little, and finally reach the south and the north, and wipe out the four yi!

Hearing Shen Zhezi's plans, Du He breathed a sigh of relief. He was worried that Shen Zhezi was young and vigorous, and he was blinded by the momentary victory in front of him, and he would once again launch some plot beyond the scope of his ability.

But at this time, hearing that Shen Zhezi was still rational and organized, then he had nothing to worry about. Although the entire Huainan is currently running at the limit of high speed, there is no serious accumulation of greed. Although he is anxious and busy, he is just tired, as long as he grits his teeth and persists, the situation will not collapse.

After appeasing Du He, Shen Zhezi changed careers again and began to discuss with the generals about rewarding meritorious deeds.

At present, the military crisis has not been lifted, and after Shen Zhezi refused the summons from Taichung and went his own way, the relationship with Taichung has also become estranged to the extreme. So this time, the generals have accumulated merit, and Shen Zhezi does not plan to report to Taichung immediately, but he can't take it as nothing, so that he neglects the morale of the army.

He, the internal history of Huainan, has a quota for his subordinates, and he does not have the power to reward high-ranking official positions, so there is no need to talk about the rewards in the name. However, according to the performance of the generals, some adjustments were made in specific ministries.

In this battle, the performance of several veterans can only be said to be decent, and the most eye-catching is the performance of young people. Therefore, the ministries of the generals have not been adjusted much, they are still Mao Bao Zhen Runan, Guo Yu Zhen Yingkou, Han Huang should respond to the two places, Xu Mao led the water army to patrol Huai, Lu Yong guarded Luojian, and Cao Na and the Xuzhou army were stationed in Matoushu.

Kip Stone City, which was originally defended by Qiao Qiu, was taken over by Shen Yun. Shen Mu retreated to defend Luocheng, the outer city of Shouchun, Xiao Yuandong defended Zhuge City, Yu Manzhi defended Bagong Mountain, and Xie Yi guarded between Shaobi and Weishui. The rest of the generals also led a part of each to guard the acropolis around Shouchun and along the Huaishu Fort.

After such an adjustment, the entire defensive system centered around Shouchun became clearer and clearer, and if there were no more major changes, it would be arranged in such an arrangement to welcome the army of Karma slaves who had already traveled up the Langdang Canal and were about to come south from the Ruying Vortex and other waterways.

In addition, Shen Mu took away the boats of treasures that were recovered from the shit, and Shen Zhezi was not stingy, and took out a part of it to reward the generals. At the same time, he picked some and sent people into the capital to present them to the emperor and the queen mother. Now that the Taifu have been offended, the mother-in-law should be more attentive. Now there is no dominant Taifu in Taiwan, as long as the Queen Mother spares no effort to support him, no matter how unpleasant the Taifu looks at him, they can only endure it.

Next, Shen Zhezi summoned Liu Di and the Xianbei Hu man He Laimiao. Although these two people are new voters, they have made great contributions, and almost half of the war horses were brought back by them.

So when the two entered the hall, Shen Zhezi personally lowered his rank to greet him, took Liu Di's wrist and sent him into the seat, and said with a smile: "Liu Lang has made a great contribution this time, and he has really helped Wang Shi a lot, I really don't know how to thank you." ”

"Shen Hou is really too famous, if it weren't for Wang Shi's brave battle to break the thief, An would have won this victory! The servants just donate their lives, bravely take advantage of the wind, even if they have sacrifices, it is thanks to the advancement of Wang Shi, and thanks to Shen Hou's planning, I really don't dare to take credit......"

Although Liu Di has made great contributions, he still remains humble. As for He Laimiao beside him, he couldn't bear it, he first muttered a few words, and finally couldn't help but whisper: "What Erlang said is right, but it can restrain thousands of horses and jump out, and few are lost, and not ordinary people can do ......it."

Hearing that this Hu man was quite invited, Shen Zhezi couldn't help laughing. To be honest, he has no prejudice against the Hu people themselves, but only hates those villains who are humanoid and tyrannical in China. In fact, I also understand in my heart that the Hu people have been attached for a long time, and they are easy to get used to, and they can't be eradicated.

Forcibly killing them is not the way to end the troubled times, but it must not appease the evil, and it is necessary to selectively absorb and annex them with a strong and tolerant attitude. Therefore, as long as it is not a notorious and blood-rich slave thief and murderer, and there are Hu people under his command to vote, Shen Zhezi also welcomes it.

"What the righteous man said is appropriate, and it is human nature to love this body and this skill, and there is no need to deny it."

Seeing that Liu Di's expression was cramped and turned around to signal He Laimiao to stop, Shen Zhezi smiled and waved his hand to stop him, and then looked at He Laimiao and asked with a smile: "Great merit deserves a reward, I don't know if the righteous man has an estimate of this?" ”

Hearing that this young and somewhat excessive master general actually let himself open his mouth to ask for a price, He Lai Miao's eyes were already bright, and after opening his mouth, he was slightly suspicious: "The servants are mediocre, they don't know the customs of the southern soil, dare to ask, I don't know if what the envoy said can be accurate?" ”

"Brother, don't be rude! Shen Hou is the son-in-law of the first emperor, the son of a famous family in Jiangdong, and the crown is passed down from generation to generation, how can he be a liar! ”

When Liu Di heard this, his face changed suddenly, lest He Laimiao didn't know the severity of the stupid slave Shen Hou, so he hurriedly spoke.

"It's okay, the righteous man has been born in Huaibei for a long time, and he doesn't know much about Jiangdong characters, so it is inevitable that he will be suspicious. But don't worry, I will do what I say, although this is not a small deed, but if you want to be true, you don't have to fake others. ”

Shen Zhezi smiled back and motioned for He Laimiao to continue speaking.

Seeing that the young general's attitude was not lacking in kindness, He Laimiao's panic aroused by Liu Di calmed down a little, and only after a while did he say tentatively: "The servants are mediocre and don't dare to be greedy for a big position, but if the merit is rewarded, the position of the governor should be expected, right?" The servant has no strength to fight, and he can enjoy his job and enjoy it. But my young brother is a rare strong man in the world, and I hope that you will not use it with ordinary strength......"

At present, the military positions in the north and south are chaotic, even the military towns in Jiangbei are different. The position of the governor of the capital mentioned by He Laimiao is equal to that of the Huainan army lord in the north.

This requirement is not too high, of course, Shen Zhezi didn't know that He Laimiao had added another level to the original expectation when he said this, but he just smiled and said: "I don't dare to take the soldier's commander to serve lightly, if I only serve the false position, it will not be enough to pay for this merit." In this way, Liu Lang will first take up a temporary post in my camp as a supervisor. As for this Horai righteous man, I still have one appointment for you here, I wonder if you would like to serve as the supervisor of my town's horse? If you can raise a good horse and help the king, after this battle, I will protect you as the marquis of the country. ”

Hearing that he was going to let himself raise horses again, even if He Laimiao was a little frustrated, this was what he did in the north, but he didn't expect that it would be inevitable after throwing himself to the south, so why was this hard work?

But after hearing the latter sentence, He Laimiao's eyes widened, and he said in a trembling voice: "I, I...... Hu Yong's apprentice can also be crowned a marquis? ”

"Why not? We have made up our minds until the slaves are gone, and then you will come to me with this order. ”

Shen Zhezi waved his pen on the case, and after the ink dried, he was handed to He Laimiao.