Do you have to go to the front? There is nothing to think about this question anymore. Ganliang Road must be saved, where it has its own property and its own woman.

King Qi must also be saved, he is a key node in his huge plan. Without this sixth prince, no matter how perfectly the plan is executed, it will not be a success.

Whether or not a strong army can be trained within three months is not a question that needs to be considered. In fact, there is no need to practice, this army has always existed, but it is not known.

Where are they? Hidden in three places. The first is Jeju Island, which is the easiest to guess, and yes, the total number of Jiang Erlang's navy and Xiao Wuna's marines is about 3,000.

Less than half of the members of the new army were originally members of the new army, and they were trained as a formation for six or seven years, and all of them were equipped with breech-loading rifled guns and rear-loading artillery, and their combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of the new army.

The second is the armed personnel in the system of dart offices, post offices, and inspectorates, with a total of more than 2,000. These people have always been trained according to the standards of special forces and the new army, and are equally familiar with the performance of muskets, but most of them have not been baptized in regular combat, and they are poor in combat experience.

The source of the final soldiers is relatively difficult to guess, I am afraid that no one can think of it, but they have the largest number of people. It is only necessary to publish a recruitment notice in Fuzhou Daily and Pravda, summoning the new army and engineering troops of the Northern Expedition in the name of the country and King Liang, and it is estimated that there are not 10,000 but 8,000 followers.

Age? There is no essential difference between the New Army in their twenties and the New Army in their 40s in Hong Tao's eyes. It is enough to have the physical strength to march, to be able to hold a pulley crossbow and a soul chaser gun, and to have the strength to dig trenches.

The new army's selection items are not fighting skills, but the tactical literacy and ability to understand and execute tactics cultivated over many years, which cannot be refined overnight.

If you do the math, within three months there will be 10,000 new troops available, half of them pure musketeers, and the other half can only use pulleys and crossbows first.

With 10,000 new troops against 50,000 or even 100,000 enemy troops, Hong Tao was still a little sure. In the initial stage, the location of the operation was in the country, and the goal was to defend rather than attack, and whether the enemy had steel crossbows or not, it was enough to delay the pace of their attack.

The nomads' way of fighting is a bit like the blitzkrieg used by the Germans in World War II, with fast starts, fast movements, and special skills in mobile warfare interspersed with encirclement, but lacking sustained strength and the ability to attack fortifications.

Their war cycle is often within half a year, and they have to take a break regardless of whether they win or lose. As long as the enemy can stop and don't break down the defense system of the Northern Song Dynasty within half a year, this war will not be lost at least.

Now Hong Tao needs to consider not whether he can fight, but how to deal with himself after fighting! I am afraid that this problem is more difficult than retreating from the enemy, and once there is a mistake, it will really fall into a situation from which there is no return.

Zhao Hao can be fooled by himself once, and it is impossible to be fooled a second time. When he found a tiger lurking beside him, he didn't need to ask, Hong Tao could personally experience that feeling.

Three months to make up a strong army that can compete with the Tanguts, this is his original sin.

No one will say anything when using this army to fight abroad, but once the war is over, someone will definitely stand up and ask: Do you plan to raise a strong army with the power to destroy the country all the time and privately?

I definitely can't say that I pinched my fingers, there will be a national disaster in the Great Song Dynasty at such and such time, and this king endures humiliation and pays out of his own pocket just to share the country's worries at a critical moment. Even if you say that, who will believe it? Everyone else believes it, but it is in vain if the emperor does not believe it, in the eyes of the emperor, this is rebellion!

Therefore, Hong Tao has to think not only about how to deal with the war, but also has to stare at his back with the other eye, which is the most uncomfortable.

But then again, since the start of Huangzhou and all the way to the Daimyo's Mansion, almost every time he led the troops to the expedition, he got used to it after many times, and it was not very comfortable for no one to stare at him. In later parlance, this is called masochism!

Not long after Cai Jing and Su Shi's boat left the dock, a fast horse also got out of the Yangtze River College and ran in different directions along the main road path. At the same time, several small boats left, some going north along the canal, and some going east along the Yangtze River.

With the departure of these men, the promotion society system will soon be like a clock on a bell tower, with the hour hand pointing to the hour, and all the machinery will be set in motion, ready to ring the bell with the accumulated strength. Whether it's the signal to charge or the end of the enemy, or anyone's death knell, I'm afraid there are all of them.

When Hong Tao returned home, he had already finished dinner, and in addition to giving orders to the heads of the promotion societies everywhere this afternoon, he also had to take several high-level students from the Department of Geography to come back and forth around the sand table to plan the march route and calculate the assembly time.

Not only the new army must be counted, but also the state capitals along the way may be besieged by the forbidden army. There are too many clues, and it is very energy-consuming to have so many professionals to help.

Students can not think about whether they will be suspicious, they have done similar topics many times, and it is a great honor to be taught by the principal in person, and they will not think too much, which is also called habit.

In fact, even if Hong Tao told them his plan, it didn't matter. The Department of Geography said that it was for the purpose of depicting maps of mountains and rivers, exploring mineral veins, and cultivating talents, but in fact, all the courses taught were marching and combat.

To put it bluntly, this is a small-scale military school, and the knowledge related to marching and fighting is put into the classroom under an unobtrusive name for systematic explanation.

Other departments are selected by examination, but the Department of Geography adopts the recommendation system, and all students are recommended by the person in charge of the promotion society, and no outsiders are accepted.

Fortunately, no one is interested in this kind of unpopular craft, and even many students who graduated from Yangtze University do not know or know that there is such a department in their alma mater.

Entering the Liangwang Mansion with a tired body and a mind full of unsolved problems, Hong Tao didn't go to the study to continue to burn his brain, he is not a general or a specific person in charge, and there are some things that he doesn't have to do by himself. Just point out the general direction, then listen carefully to the reports of your subordinates, and finally make a decision, it is not beautiful to point fingers at everything.

The eldest princess has already fallen asleep, and with so many children, even with the help of Taira Nanami, it is enough to be tired. According to the usual practice, if the husband doesn't come back so late, he basically sleeps in the courtyard of the study, and there is no need to leave the door.

"Qianyu, I'm afraid that my husband will leave home for a while. Today, Su Xianggong and Cai Xiang went to the academy and told them that the Western Xia Kingdom had invaded the south again, and the official family planned to let Weifu lead the troops to the battle. ”

But today is an exception, Hong Tao didn't go anywhere and went straight back to the main room, and stopped Ping Nanami, who was puzzled and ready to get up to serve his master to wash and sleep, tiptoed to the eldest princess's bed, and explained in a whisper while undressing.

"Can the accommodation of the two fathers-in-law be arranged?" The eldest princess was not asleep either, and when she felt movement around her, she knew that her husband was back, and although she also had ten thousand questions in her heart, she still got up first to help her husband change his clothes.

"There is no need to arrange it, they will take a boat back to Beijing at noon, and there are some things that cannot be done by the lord and have to be agreed by the officials." Hong Tao didn't lie down, leaning on the head of the bed with the eldest princess in his arms, some things must be clarified with his daughter-in-law, and he still can't hide after hiding for so many years.

"I'm afraid my husband's winter clothes are not enough, so let's let Sister Liu make a few more tomorrow. The fur is troublesome to make, and then let people bring it over when it is done. ”

As soon as she heard that her husband was going to go on an expedition again, the eldest princess's tone was obviously a little gloomy. It's not that she doesn't want her husband to share the worries of the country, but the things in the court are too complicated, and her husband is a hard temper who doesn't know how to interact with people.

Last time, it made me feel uneasy at home and outside, and I finally came to Yangzhou to settle down, and if I came again, I am afraid that the result would be even worse. But she strictly abides by her wife's duties, don't talk too much about business, and care about her husband's well-being and hunger is her job.

"That's not in the way, as long as the soldiers have food and clothing, they can't go hungry. It's just that this time the matter is a little troublesome, and the official family is afraid that they are unwilling to let the husband form a new army, but the front line is tight, and if there is no new army for the husband, he will be sent to death in vain. ”

The more the eldest princess shushed and asked Nuan Hongtao like this, the more difficult it was to open her mouth, but no matter how difficult it was, she had to say that her system was going to be launched with all her strength after tonight, and her attitude and staying were also part of it, which had a great impact.