The nine squadrons of the Chasseurs are 2,700 troops. With them joining the battlefield, the number of troops that the lion cavalry can deploy suddenly increased by more than thirty percent. The pressure on Gao Yigong's shoulders was immediately relieved. It's just that the chairman of the committee is here to inspect, and as soon as he arrives at Jiayuguan, he has to pull all the chairman's guards up to fight, which is indeed a bit ...... He scratched the back of his head and said embarrassedly, "Let the chairman of the committee worry." ”

Xu Xingxia waved his hand and said eloquently: "Right now, other troops are concentrating on training and replenishing troops, and our use of troops is a little nervous for the time being." However, by next month, individual units should be able to complete their training. When the time comes, more troops will be transferred here. You don't need to worry about troops. Our troops are enough! ”

Gao Yigong suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and said with relief: "That's great." Those Tatar bunnies have also learned to be obedient now, and they don't have any direct contact with us at all, and they always play hide and seek with us sporadically. We have too few troops to control only a few points, and it is a bit difficult to completely eliminate them. Of course, if there are enough troops, it is different. If our troops in Hamiwei can be more than doubled, the Tatars will not even have room to move. When they meet us, they are dead. ”

Xu Xingxia smiled disdainfully, and said with great ambition: "Compete with us in terms of strength?" These tartars, stupid enough. Is their population one percent of that of our Han Chinese? 3 out of 1,000 is good! Not to mention doubling the number of troops, even tripling, there is no problem. Now, let them bounce a little bit for now. ”

Gao Yigong said with relief: "The Tatar cavalry of Hamiwei is all combined, that is, about 30,000 people. If it had been a head-on battle, I would have cleaned them up a long time ago. Depressed, they always avoid us. By the way, my lord, can you mobilize some stragglers to Hamiwei? It feels like skirmishers are most effective against sporadic Tartar cavalry. ”

Xu Xingxia nodded and said calmly: "The Falcon Cavalry is training. They need a little time. If the training goes well, it will be transferred in May. Now, you ask the staff officer to report the situation in detail. ”

Gao Yigong nodded and asked the staff officer of the Lion Cavalry to start reporting.

According to the staff officer's account, the troops of the white-clothed army concentrated near Jiayuguan are the lion cavalry army with a total strength of more than 8,000 people. In addition, there is the Tianxiang Army, that is, that mountain army. However, the mountain troops did not fall under the jurisdiction of Gao Yigong, so they were not included in the calculation of troops. Due to the fierce fighting in Hamiwei, all the forces of the Lion Cavalry have entered Hamiwei.

The biggest problem that the White Army is now encountering is that the Tatars have learned badly, and they no longer fight the powerful White Army head-on, but adopt the method of fighting and harassing. If the lion cavalry was outnumbered, they immediately scattered and fled in all directions, so that the white-clad army would not catch them. If the white-clothed army has few people, they will immediately pounce on it, try to surround the white-clothed army with superior forces, and eat it in one go.

After all, Hamiwei is the land of the Tatars, who have lived here for hundreds of years and are very familiar with the situation here. And the white-clothed army is a newcomer, unfamiliar with the situation, and it is inevitable that there will be some losses. So far, the white-coat army has killed and wounded Tatar cavalry, about 5,000 people. However, the Lion Cavalry themselves also paid more than 500 casualties.

So far, the cavalry of the White Army can only control a few points of Hamiwei, and then use this point as a basis to encroach on the area around the points step by step. The strategic policy of the Lion Cavalry is very clear, that is, to constantly consume the living force of the Tatars in battle. In layman's terms, the number of Tartars is limited, killing one is one less, and killing two is one less pair. When the killing was almost done, the Tartar could not bear it anymore, and he collapsed.

Such a method is definitely the most fatal for nomads. There is no way to reverse their demographic disadvantage. Population resources are the biggest advantage of the Han people. Xu Xingxia, who came from later generations, actually didn't have much interest in defeating the strong with the weak. He is more interested in relying on the strong to bully the weak, to fight more and less, and it is better to beat you up one out of ten. Of course, if it's a hundred beating each other one, that's even better.

Aren't you arrogant? I'm more arrogant than you! Don't you have 100,000 cavalry? I have 200,000! 300,000! Or even a million! Moreover, the equipment is better than yours, the training is stronger than yours, the quality of personnel is higher than yours, and the combat effectiveness is better than yours! The current white-clothed army is developing steadily step by step in this direction.

More than half of the wealth seized from Lin Dan Khan was not hesitated to be invested in the expansion of armaments. This time the leopard cavalry attacked Guihua City, and the benefits were simply countless. With so much wealth and so many war horses, it would be a pity if they were not used to expand the army. It's a tyrannical thing! Therefore, Xu Xingxia did not hesitate to carry out a large-scale military expansion. The number of almost every unit has increased dramatically. If the new round of expansion is over, the total strength of the cavalry of the White Army will exceed 150,000.

However, due to the relatively large scope of this military expansion, many units have expanded from the original two brigades to five brigades at once. The total number of troops has suddenly increased from about 3,000 to more than 8,000, and the number of recruits who need to be replenished is very large. Obviously, under the influence of so many recruits, the overall combat effectiveness level of the white-clothed army will definitely be reduced. It is necessary to go through a period of training and actual combat before returning to the original level.

For the sake of safety, Xu Xingxia is not ready to launch a particularly large-scale war this year, nor is he ready to launch a high-intensity battle. The basic strategy of the white-clothed army in the forty-sixth year of Wanli was the defense of the strategic surname. He needs a little time for all the units of the White Army to grow steadily. Therefore, in the forty-sixth year of Wanli in the future, the opponents of the white-clothed army should be able to take a breath for a while and do not need to be unable to sleep.

Of course, Xu Xingxia arranged it this way. As for his opponent, whether he knows it or not, it is not clear. Xu Xingxia had no obligation to tell them. If they still can't eat or sleep, it's their own business, and it has nothing to do with Xu Xingxia. For example, in Luoyang and other places, the trend of fleeing is getting stronger and stronger, and it is said that even King Fu is about to be unable to sit still. This is obviously self-inflicted, and has nothing to do with the White Army.

"What about those Han Chinese slaves?" Xu Xingxia asked slowly.

With the combat effectiveness of the White Army, there was no problem at all in driving the Tatars away from the Hamiwei region. No amount of Tatars is an opponent of the White Army. However, it is a bit difficult to really control and use this area. The Lion Cavalry is a field army, which needs to be mobilized at any time, and it is impossible to be stationed in Hamiwei for a long time.

The matter of controlling Hamiwei and using Hamiwei must be handed over to the local Han people. For the time being, apart from the Han Chinese, the white-clothed army cannot rely on other ethnic groups. Even those ethnic minorities are quite friendly with the Han Chinese. If the number of Han Chinese is not enough, it will be a troublesome thing to say. However, the Han people in the Hamiwei area turned out to be slaves of the Tartars. Their current liberation will be crucial for the future Hamiwei region.

Gao Yigong said with some regret: "I'm sorry, chairman, we have done our best." However, there were still some Han slaves who were killed by the Tartars. So far, according to the statistics of Huang Kezhang and Zhu Xieyuan, we have rescued more than 80,000 Han Chinese. The number of Han Chinese slaves killed by the Tartars may have been about 13,000. According to the meaning of the two of them, these Han people were arranged in larger towns. ”

Xu Xingxia frowned and said slowly: "What about the surrounding area?" ”

Gao Yigong said helplessly: "The surrounding area is not safe, and there are scattered Tatar cavalry activities. These Han Chinese were unarmed and not good at horse archery, and were no match for the Tartar cavalry. And our lion warriors can't guard them all the time. They had to be temporarily gathered together and placed in the stronghold. ”

He further explained that the areas controlled by the white-clothed army in Hamiwei were actually four places: Shazhou, Guazhou, Dunhuang, Hami, and so on. Among them, the two most important places are Dunhuang and Hami. Of the more than 80,000 Han Chinese, it is estimated that more than 50,000 live in these two large towns. The remaining more than 20,000 are scattered in Shazhou and Guazhou. In other areas, there are no Han Chinese for the time being. Of course, after the cavalry of the White Army has wiped out all the Tatars, that will be another matter.

Dunhuang, the name is very quaint, carrying thousands of years of history. The grottoes and murals here are the most famous in later generations. It is the core hinterland of Hamiwei. By controlling Dunhuang, the white-clothed army can control the entire Hamiwei. Moreover, Dunhuang has a certain foundation of city walls, which is conducive to the defense of the white-clothed army. In addition, Dunhuang is also the transportation artery of the ancient Silk Road. In order to reopen the Silk Road, the White Army must control Dunhuang.

Under the attack of the white-clothed army, the Handong Zuowei Mongols stationed in Dunhuang did not dare to defend the city at all. When they heard that the large army of the white-clothed army had arrived, they themselves broke up. As a result, the lion cavalry easily occupied Dunhuang. At present, Dunhuang has set up a management committee, elected members and standing committee members, and accepted the jurisdiction of the White Clothes Army. The members of this management committee, of course, are all Han Chinese. The Governing Council also issued a number of decrees to help the White Coats exterminate the Tatars.

(To be continued)