"Just now we just talked about the defense issues of the four gates of Songshan. In addition, there are many things that need to be arranged today! If everyone has no objections, this matter is settled!"

After An Qing had just retreated, Yang Zhen looked around the room and said loudly to the other generals: "The imperial court appointed Yang as the chief training officer of the Songshan Regiment, and ordered me to lead everyone to guard Songshan City. This is by no means a temporary matter."

A stopgap measure! Therefore, everyone here today must have a long-term plan! So, what is a long-term plan?!"

Having said this, Yang Zhen paused and looked at the faces of every general present again. Seeing that everyone had solemn expressions and no one answered his words, he continued:

"In my opinion, we need to scout out from afar, know the right things, train good soldiers, and accumulate them widely! - As long as we can do these twelve words, we can hold on to Songshan City for a long time! One or two years is not a problem.

In three to five years, there is still great hope!

"If we can stay in Songshan City for three to five years, I guarantee that everyone here can become a general soldier!"

Without hesitation, Yang Zhen made an empty promise to the several generals present.

On the one hand, he knew very well that if they could hold on in Songshan City until the 16th year of Chongzhen, the situation in the Ming Dynasty might usher in a turn for the better.

By that time, it is very possible for everyone to be granted the title of Marquis, let alone the commander-in-chief of one party, so Yang Zhen is not afraid that he will not be able to fulfill his promise by then.

The only question is whether they can follow Yang Zhen until that time.

On the other hand, he has nothing now. Apart from making empty promises and making wishes, he really has no other options to think of.

If you simply use your righteousness to control the generals under your command, it is impossible to truly win over the hearts of the people. Doing so will definitely lead to disastrous consequences.

If brotherhood is simply used to drive subordinates to sacrifice their lives, it will only be effective for the original old subordinates and will be of no use to other people in Songshan City.

Apart from this, can Yang Zhen find any other way now in Songshan City?!

In a short period of time, he couldn't find any other better way, so he could only mix and use his righteousness, brotherhood and everyone's desire for promotion and wealth.

However, when Yang Zhen said this, he thought that there would be some big response after it fell into the ears of everyone, but the response he expected did not appear.

Xia Chengde and Lu Pinqi, the original guards of Songshan City, frowned and looked at him with worries on their faces, as if they were looking at a restless young man who always wanted to cause trouble.

The scene was cold for a while, but soon, Zhang Degui asked: "Sir! You are the chief training officer of the Songshan Regiment appointed by the imperial court. How to defend Songshan City in the future, of course we will listen to you!"

"But when you talk about the twelve-character strategy of "Far Outpost Detective, Zhi Zheng Qi, etc.", why do you listen to this humble position? It seems that you don't mean to hold on to the city?!"

Zhang Degui is a veteran of Yang Zhen's advance camp. After he asked, the others no longer hesitated and soon started talking.

Xia Chengde was the first to say: "Look out far and gather widely, Xia knows what it means, but I don't know what your Lord means when you say "knowing the right things", and what does "training elite soldiers" mean? I dare you to ask your Lordship to clear up our doubts!"

In fact, Xia Chengde was not interested in Zhizhengqi either. What he really wanted to ask about was what Yang Zhen called "training elite soldiers."

After Yang Zhen took charge of Songshan City, Xia Chengde's biggest worry was that Yang Zhen would use his status and reputation as the chief training officer of the Songshan regiment to annex his team.

After all, he, the deputy general of Songshan, now owns the largest team in Songshan City. On the contrary, Yang Zhen, the so-called general of Songshan, actually does not have many troops under his command.

At the same time, the imperial court gave Yang Zhenqin the name and banner to reorganize the advance battalion for the Eastern Expedition, giving Yang Zhenqin plenty of excuses to reorganize other garrison troops in Songshan City.

If Yang Zhen insists on reorganizing his Xia Chengde team under this banner, he really can't handle it.

Therefore, when he heard Yang Zhen talk about "training elite soldiers", he immediately became concerned, fearing that Yang Zhen would use this statement to reorganize his troops or streamline his troops.

But Yang Zhen was the new Shangguan after all, and it was hard for him to ask directly, so he mentioned the words "Zhizhengqi" together.

After Zhang Degui and Xia Chengde opened their mouths to ask questions, Lu Pinqi, Zu Keyong, Xu Changyong and others also stopped talking. They all looked at Yang Zhen intently, waiting for his next words.

"You can defend only if you can fight! This twelve-character strategy is what I have thought about in the past few days! I think that in order to defend Songshan City, this twelve-character strategy is our general management idea in the future!

"First of all, the word "far outpost" means exactly what it means! It means that we generals, deputy generals, counselors, soldiers, and guards cannot all guard behind the walls of Songshan City! Instead, we must spread out some troops and teams.

Go to the outskirts of Songshan and serve as the outpost of Songshan City!"

Yang Zhen's words are much more specific than the "Twelve-Character Strategy" he mentioned before.

As soon as these words came out, the people present all raised their ears. Xia Chengde, Lu Pinqi, Zu Keyong, and Xu Changyong all listened attentively and calmly.

"Of course! Our current strength is limited! We say we are sent out far away to spy, but in fact it is impossible to go all the way to the Manchu Tatars!

"What I mean is that there are several important places outside Songshan that require people to camp and patrol - one is Rufenggang in the west, the other is Shahekou in the north, and the third is the Empress Palace in the east!

"Among them, the Shahekou area goes north, crosses the Xiaoling River, and is a flat plain. There is no danger to defend, and the position is particularly important. The men and horses sent need to bear the heavy responsibility of the remote exploration patrol north of Songshan City! Everyone! Who is willing to go?!"

After Yang Zhen expressed his specific ideas, everyone present knew more or less about the three places he proposed. After hearing his last question, no one answered for a while.

Yang Zhen's eyes roamed back and forth on everyone's faces, and finally landed on Zhang Chen's face.

When Zhang Chen saw Yang Zhen looking at him without saying anything, he quickly understood and immediately stood up, clasping his fists at Yang Zhen and saying, "A humble position—Zhang Chen is willing to go!"

"Very good! Zhang Chen! Starting from tomorrow, you will be on guard at Shahekou! Tomorrow you will lead the left wing of the Musketeers and go out of the city to scout the Shahekou area!

"If your troops are willing to set up camp near Shahekou, then set up camp there. It's all up to you! If you don't want to, you can gradually go deeper north until you find the Tatars! If there is any situation in the north, send someone to report at any time!"

"Your humble position is worthy of your order!"

Naturally, Zhang Chen couldn't say anything about Yang Zhen's order.

Moreover, he himself was originally from Liaodong Town, and he was accustomed to leading small groups of troops through enemy lines.

Things that are very dangerous in the eyes of others are just commonplace to him.

The most important thing is that the team he now leads not only has flintlock Rumi muskets with a range far beyond ordinary muskets, but also has wooden-handled iron grenades that can be carried with them.

These new firearms and equipment made him much more courageous than when his only firearms were strong bows and crossbows.

Zhang Chen received the future tasks and orders, and sat down again at Yang Zhen's signal.

Later, Yang Zhen continued: "There are two places where people need to be stationed, Rufenggang and the Empress' Palace! Rufenggang is in the west, not far from the post road between Ning and Jin in the east, and to the west, across Songling Mountain,

It’s not far from the border!

"The Queen's Palace is in the east, separated from the Tatar camp north of the mouth of the Xiaoling River by only a river! Both places are very important to Songshan City!

"But with Zhang Chen on the far post in the north! These two places are no longer dangerous! Who among you is willing to go and garrison?!"

Many of the people here have already been assigned.

For example, Xia Chengde, Yang Zhen had previously asked him to continue guarding the west gate and west wall.

Another example is Lu Pinqi. Yang Zhen had previously agreed to let him continue to guard the south gate and south city wall.

There is also Zhang Degui, who has already been agreed to guard the north gate; others, such as Li Lu, have already stated that he should guard the east gate.

In this way, there are actually not many candidates left. After much calculation, only Zu Keyong, Xu Changyong and Yang Shen are left.

As for Yang Shen, Zu Keyong and Xu Changyong knew very well that Yang Zhen had already decided to send Yang Shen to Xuan Mansion to recruit troops, so in the end, only Zu Keyong and Xu Changyong were left.

Everyone thought about it in their minds, and soon discovered the situation, and gradually turned their attention to Zu Keyong and Xu Changyong.

Xu Changyong turned his head and glanced at Zu Keyong, and saw that Zu Keyong seemed to be about to stand up, so he took the lead and said: "Brother Yang! I, Old Xu, have heard so much from you, I think Rufenggang is very suitable for my Mongolian cavalry!

"

Xu Changyong understood very well the principle of being quick and slow - since he had to leave the city to station, he had to choose a good place first.

Although there are ready-made palaces and temples around the Empress Palace where you can camp and live, the terrain there is flat, and the Xiaoling River freezes in winter, so the war horses full of Tatars can't walk on flat ground again.

Although there are no ready-made camps for living in Rufenggang, after all, it is a mountainous area with rocks, lush forests, and complex terrain. For example, the unobstructed terrain around the Empress Palace is much safer.

Sure enough, after Xu Changyong said this, Zu Keyong frowned and looked at him sideways, then stood up, cupped his fists at Yang Zhen and said:
Chapter completed!