To be honest, they really didn't have much confidence in Fort Willtown fighting the Tartars alone. Not only do they not have faith, but other military households are afraid that they don't have much confidence. After all, the ferocity of the Tartars is too terrifying. It's almost an innate fear. Under normal circumstances, one Tartar can beat a group of Ming troops. Once the number of Tartars exceeds a certain number, there is no chance of resistance.

Xu Xingxia frowned, he didn't expect that among the six general flags, there was actually one who bluntly showed that there was no confidence in resistance. It can be seen that the military households below are afraid of the Tartars, to what extent. This obviously does not bode well. If the commander-in-chief of the self-appointed flags has no confidence, let alone other military households.

In order to cheer up the general flags, Xu Xingxia said confidently: "Even if the Tartars come, there is nothing remarkable, the soldiers will block, the water will cover the earth, and last time it was only our people from Weizhenbao?" Didn't you also drive the Tartars away? In the end, we killed their little prince! Their eldest prince led his troops to take revenge, and was he not repulsed like us? ”

Lei Hongguo said with a little hesitation: "Last time...... The number of Tartars last time was very small, only a few dozen. However, Lord Vice-Chito's actions seem to indicate that the number of Tartars who have gone south this time may be a lot. What if a few hundred Tartars arrive? And what if the number of Tartars is more than a thousand? We're all going to die! ”

Xu Xingxia said indifferently: "Now we have a lot of white-clothed troops. ”

Lei Hongguo wanted to speak and stopped. He didn't deliberately fight Xu Xingxia in the ring, or he was too afraid of the number of Tartars. This fear began to accept prenatal education when the mother was in the womb. Over time, he developed a surname that smells the color of the tartars. In normal times, it may be possible to suppress one or two, but once it reaches the critical moment, this fear will get out of control. His last sentence was uttered almost out of control.

Xu Xingxia said with a cold face: "That's it, if you are willing to stay and fight against the Tartars with me, I am supremely welcome." If you don't want to stay, you can temporarily move to Pingyu City. Let's vote first, to see whether there are more people willing to stay, or more people willing to transfer? If you are willing to stay in Fort Weizhen and fight the Tartars with me, please raise your hand. ”

Chen Denglong was the first to raise his hand, Liu Guangliang was second, and the other three general flags, after a little hesitation, raised their hands one after another. However, Lei Hongguo never raised his hand. His face turned blue and white, obviously feeling the pressure from everyone around him. However, even with this pressure, he did not raise his hand. This fully shows that the fear of the Tartar completely occupies his inner world. I really don't know how he was chosen as the general flag in the first place.

Xu Xingxia nodded and said calmly: "Okay!" Six out of seven people are in favor of resistance, so we must go all out to do a good job of resistance! Again, we don't want to be tied back, we must resist! If the Tartar wants to eat us, let's break his teeth! Lei Hongguo, since you don't want to stay in Weizhen Fort, then, please! ”

Lei Hongguo's face turned red, gritted his teeth, and turned to leave.

Xu Xingxia continued to say coldly: "Fighting a war is nothing more than money, food, weapons and personnel. People, we have it. All the strong men of Fort Weizhen were mobilized, and it was estimated that there were about a thousand people. Weapons, we can produce them ourselves. A good weapon may not be available to everyone, but there are still ordinary weapons. However, food reserves are seriously insufficient. It is estimated that once the Tatar cavalry besieges Weizhen Fort, our food will last for five or six days at most. ”

Speaking of this, Xu Xingxia looked at Chen Denglong and said expectantly: "Chen Zongqi, can you find a way to buy about five hundred stones of grain in three days?" ”

The grain of 500 stone is about 100,000 catties. There are about 3,000 men and women in Weizhenbao, and each person consumes one and a half catties of grain every day, which is about 5,000 catties a day. Coupled with the consumption of war horses and various livestock, the daily consumption of grain in Weizhenbao is at least 6,000 catties. Five hundred stone of grain will last for fifteen days. Combined with the five or six days of food preparation for each family, it can support twenty days.

Xu Xingxia judged that as long as Weizhen Fort could survive twenty days, the Tartar cavalry should retreat. He estimated that no matter how bold the governor Li Maohui and the chief military officer Li Guozhen were, they would not dare to let the Tartar cavalry stay on the ground in Ningxia Town for more than 20 days, otherwise, they would wait for the black yarn to be taken off and imprisoned for their crimes! The Tartars have been raging in Ningxia Town for twenty days, and the emperor in the Forbidden City in Beijing is estimated to be going crazy.

Chen Denglong thought about it carefully, and said slowly: "My subordinates know many grain merchants in Ningxia City, as long as they have enough money, there should be no problem. ”

Xu Xingxia nodded and said, "Okay, then you can contact them immediately in a while and buy five hundred stones of grain." I will pay the money for the food in full. You tell them that they have to move quickly, and that the food must be delivered to Fort Wytown within three days. ”

Chen Denglong nodded and said, "There should be no problem." ”

Xu Xingxia said to Lin Hainiu again: "How is the progress of repairing the city wall?" ”

Lin Hainiu said a little embarrassed: "I haven't started work yet, and now I am still mobilizing labor in various households." So far, a total of 60 or 70 people have been recruited. However, if you want to fix it as soon as possible, you need at least three or four hundred people to work together. ”

Xu Xingxia frowned, and said awe-inspiringly: "Hurry up and start work!" In a few moments, the whole city will be mobilized, and it is necessary to strive to repair the city walls within ten days! Without the cover of the city wall, the Tartars will directly enter the city, what are the people below thinking? ”

Lin Hainiu said a little helplessly: "Everyone is busy with their own affairs, and the affairs of the public family are naturally delayed." If the news of the upcoming arrival of Tartar spreads, it is estimated that everyone's reaction should be much more positive. However, please note that some military households may want to take refuge in Pingyu Castle. ”

Xu Xingxia said coldly: "It's going to rain, my mother is going to get married, what others think is someone else's business, we don't need to care." However, the military households who stayed in Fort Weizhen must find a way to tide over the difficulties together. The basic principle is that there is still money to contribute and to contribute. The main task of the other general banners in the past few days is also to organize manpower and repair the city wall. ”

Chen Denglong and others agreed.

Xu Xingxia said to Liu Guangliang again: "During this time, the craftsman workshop must start work at night to produce a large number of weapons and equipment in order to distribute them to all the strong men. In addition, the production of wild goose arrows should be increased. A bow should be accompanied by at least five bowstrings and 100 arrows. In addition, it is necessary to collect a large number of raw materials for various types of gunpowder. By the way, how many pounds of gunpowder do we have now? Prepared in proportion. ”

Liu Guangliang said cautiously: "Not much, only more than five hundred catties." ”

Xu Xingxia frowned and said, "Why is there only so much?" The number is too small. No, if you want the craftsmen to work harder, it must be increased to at least more than 5,000 catties. ”

Liu Guangliang said a little embarrassed: "It is not difficult to prepare gunpowder, but the raw materials are not enough. We have our own charcoal, but saltpeter and sulfur have to be mined in Helan Mountain......"

Xu Xingxia said undoubtedly: "Then immediately send someone to Helan Mountain to mine!" Whoever you send, you must bring saltpeter and brimstone back. You tell everyone that if you want to live, you will desperately dig up the sulfur and saltpeter! ”

Liu Guangliang hurriedly agreed.

Xu Xingxia glanced at each general flag, and said, "What else do you have to say?" If not, then the meeting will be dismissed, and we will prepare separately, and I will check and implement them one by one. If there is, then bring it up quickly, and we will solve it on the spot. ”

Zhang Yun said loudly: "My lord, do you want to withdraw all the herdsmen outside?" ”

Xu Xingxia thought for a while, and said with a deep face: "Weizhen Fort is outside, how many livestock are there?" ”

Zhang Yunda said: "The number of war horses is estimated to be about five hundred. There were about three hundred and thirty cows. There are about six or seven hundred sheep. ”

Xu Xingxia thought for a while and said, "What about your suggestion?" ”

Zhang Yunda said: "If all of them are withdrawn, so many livestock will definitely fill Weizhen Fort." The amount of forage that livestock needs to consume is also very large, and we can't afford it. However, there is an advantage to the withdrawal of the livestock, in case there is not enough food, we can kill the livestock and eat beef and mutton. ”

Xu Xingxia thought about it, shook his head and said, "Forget it, let them all hide in Helan Mountain, try to hide as far away as possible." There are already a lot of cattle and sheep in our Weizhen Fort, and if you want to eat meat, you can slaughter them on the spot, and there is no need to pull them back. ”

Zhang Yunda nodded and said, "Then there will be no problem." ”

Deng Linyong continued: "My lord, the sweet potatoes and potatoes planted last autumn are ready to be harvested in a few days......

Xu Xingxia said decisively: "Take back as much as you can collect." If you can't collect it, you will all splash it with feces and urine, so that the Tartars dare not approach. In addition, it is better to put some four-cornered nails in the ground to pierce the war horse of the tartar. ”

Deng Linyong said with some doubts: "What four-corner nails?" ”

Xu Xingxia said to Liu Guangliang: "These are some small things made by the craftsman's workshop, which can cause some trouble to the Tartars. When the time comes, the craftsman's workshop will be handed over to you. I'll explain the details to the craftsman's workshop. ”

The so-called four-cornered nails are actually very insidious weapons, thrown out casually, landing on three sides, one side up, and stepping on one foot, the consequences can be imagined. Of course, the war horses of the Tartars all have horse hooves, and the effect of the four-corner nails should not be very good. However, there is a characteristic in the fields around Weizhenbao, that is, the soil is relatively soft, and the four corners of the nails are thrown in it, and the horse's hooves may step on it deeply. Perhaps from some angles, the four-cornered nails can cause a certain degree of damage to the Tartars' war horses.

(To be continued)