The Zhao family is of course also one of the six surnames of the Liaodong Army.
However, although Zhao Fu is a famous general, his talents are mediocre. If Huangfu Yunzhao and Tang Kaijia were present today, it would not be his turn to sit at the top.
Even if Dou Xiong and Song Shixiang were present, his seat would have to be moved down.
There are no tigers in the mountains, but monkeys are kings.
The Liaodong Army is not what it used to be, and under the leadership of Wang Xingchao, corruption in the army is getting worse year by year. Most of the generals only know how to make money and do not pay attention to uniting and training troops. Therefore, the army can
There are not many generals who can act alone.
Those generals who still had some strength in the army, starting from Chun Yubu, the guard general of Yuguan, to Tu Moting, who was defeated this time, were all consumed by Long Rui's army.
People such as Huangfu Yunzhao, Tang Kaijia, Dou Xiong and Song Shixiang were either killed in battle or surrendered. This made it difficult for the generals of the Liaodong Army to pick out unique figures.
When Zhao Fu heard that Wang Xingchao asked him to sit on the general's chair, he was really out of his mind. He knelt on the ground. Although it was cold in the hall, his whole body was already sweating.
"General Fei, why don't you come?" Wang Xingchao looked at the other person.
When Wang Xingchao looked at him, the man's expression changed. When Wang Xingchao finished speaking, he was already kneeling on the ground, his forehead pressed to the ground, and said in a trembling voice: "General, your subordinates can't even control yourself.
How can I sit on the general's chair? My subordinates would never dare to have such an idea."
"General Hu Lang, General Zhou Lang, what about you?" Wang Xingchao said in a calm voice, "The current situation is difficult. Are you willing to step forward and lead the brothers out of a way?"
"Plop, plop!"
two generals
They all knelt down.
"General, look at the whole army, who can take on such an important task?" Suddenly someone stood up and said with awe-inspiring justice: "Except the general, no one can stabilize the current situation. Although defeated, with the general
It has nothing to do with it. It’s just that the generals leading the troops are incompetent and Long Ruijun is too cunning. I just hope that the general will strategize and lead everyone through the difficulties."
Everyone else also knelt on the ground at the same time and said in unison: "Please give me some advice, General!"
Wang Xingchao pondered for a moment before sighing: "Do you really think that no one can step forward?"
"Please give me some advice from the general!"
Everyone said again in unison.
Wang Xingchao shook his head and said: "Everyone, please get up. Since everyone insists, it would be pretentious for me to refuse." He raised his hand and said: "Sit down and talk."
When everyone sat down, Wang Xingchao was not in a hurry to take his seat. He just said: "But if you want me to continue to command the Liaodong Army, I have several conditions. Please discuss them. If you can't agree, please discuss new candidates. I am
I will never continue to sit in this chair."
"If the general has any orders, just give them." Zhao Fu said immediately: "In this situation, the Liaodong Army must work together to overcome the difficulties under the leadership of the general."
Wang Xingchao walked down slowly with his hands behind his back and said: "Our army has been defeated in consecutive battles. Although the rebels are too cunning, it is also due to their own huge problems. Today, some words are not hidden.
"After a pause, he said: "In recent years, everyone has had enough to eat and drink, and has lived a luxurious life. Everyone only knows how to amass wealth by running around and amassing wealth. How many people really do it?
Are you thinking of strengthening the army? I am not bringing up old things. Many years ago, I said that the Liaodong Navy must strengthen its strength, build more warships, and train more sailors. However, you are all opposed to it, and no one supports the expansion of the Navy.
If the naval force had been expanded earlier, how could we have been defeated by the rebels? How could the sea roads have been completely controlled by Long Rui's army?"
All the generals present bowed their heads and did not dare to speak.
"The past is over, and I don't blame you." Wang Xingchao sighed: "But if you continue to hold on to the idea of cleaning up the troubles, then wait for Qin Xiao to lead his troops to Liaoyang City and kill us one by one.
Let’s hang his head on the top of the city.”
"General, what you said makes sense." General Na Fei said hurriedly: "If the enemy is in disarray, the consequences will be disastrous. General, we will definitely comply with whatever you want us to do."
Wang Xingchao said: "Qin Xiao used this epidemic in Modong to win people's hearts, and Long Ruijun's energy was devoted to dealing with the epidemic. Moreover, it is late winter, and they should not act rashly before spring." He paused.
After a pause, he said: "But now the troops in Liaodong are still without fighting spirit, so don't stay in the warm room smelled of sandalwood. Go back to your barracks, rectify the troops and horses, intensify training, and don't let up. Our soldiers
They are all brave and good warriors. As long as we clean up the military discipline, share the joys and sorrows with them, and practice day and night, their combat effectiveness will soon be restored."
Everyone nodded.
"Qin Xiao is ambitious. He has won several battles and his troops must be in high morale. If nothing else happens, they will definitely send troops to attack after the spring begins.
." Wang Xingchao looked stern and said coldly: "So we must make good use of these few months before spring." His eyes fell on the two generals and asked: "General Hu Lang, General Zhou, what did I do half a year ago?
I have asked you to recruit brave soldiers, and I have specially allocated money to you, and even asked you to build a new recruit training camp. How many people have been recruited to the new recruit camp now?"
The two generals looked at each other and both stood up.
"General, he delayed for various reasons, and even made trouble with the people. At present, he has recruited less than 6,000 people!"
Wang Xingchao said calmly: "I remember that I asked you to recruit at least 15,000 people before the Spring Festival. New Year's Eve is only ten days away. Can you still recruit 9,000 people in these ten days?"
Hu Langjiang knelt on the ground and said: "This subordinate has neglected his duty!"
"If every military order is issued with a discount, there will be no need to fight this battle." Wang Xingchao sneered: "You will be the leader in recruiting brave soldiers, and Zhou Lang will be the deputy. If you are given more than ten days, you will definitely not be able to complete it.
This is the task assigned by this general, so you are mainly responsible for the crime of dereliction of duty." He said in a deep voice: "Here comes someone!"
Hu Langjiang suddenly changed his expression, but saw four soldiers walking in from outside.
"Don't worry about your family." Wang Xingchao waved his hand and said, "Drag it down and chop it down!"
"General!" General Hu Lang obviously did not expect that Wang Xingchao actually wanted to kill him, and he was a little confused. When four soldiers escorted him and dragged him out of the hall, General Hu Lang came to his senses and hissed: "Big general!"
General, please spare my life, subordinate.
This subordinate’s crime does not deserve death!”
Zhou Lang's legs softened and he fell to his knees, trembling all over.
The other generals here also had cold sweat on their backs.
In fact, over the years, Wang Xingchao has been quite generous to his generals. Even if he made mistakes, he would be dealt with lightly.
In the past, for things like recruiting soldiers and brave men, even if the task was completed, Wang Xingchao would only be fined with a salary at most. What's more serious was that he could not be slapped with a military stick, and he would never actually order execution.
But today the general is obviously cruel.
Everyone also understood in their hearts that there was no Long Rui Army at the beginning, and the four northeastern counties were all under the control of the Liaodong Army. The surrounding forces did not dare to be enemies of the Liaodong Army.
Turning a blind eye to some things, and if someone does make a mistake, they will be dealt with lightly.
But now the Liaodong Army is in an extremely difficult situation. Long Rui's army will definitely continue to fight eastward. Under this situation, if military discipline continues to be loose, it will indeed have a fatal impact on the combat effectiveness of the Liaodong Army.
Wang Xingchao started with strict military discipline and naturally wanted to prepare for war and fight Long Rui's army to the death.
General Hu Lang was dragged down to be executed, while General Zhou Lang was naturally stunned and knelt on the ground trembling.
"You are the deputy in charge of recruiting brave soldiers. I will spare your life, but before March next year, we must recruit at least 20,000 young brave soldiers." Wang Xingchao said: "If you cannot complete it as scheduled, you don't have to come to see me, just commit suicide and apologize.
"
General Zhou Lang heard this and knew that he could save his life for the time being. He thought that since there were still a few months left, even if he tied people from door to door to the barracks, he should be able to recruit 20,000 young men by force. He kept knocking
First: "I will go all out to complete the task on time." Thinking of something, he still bit the bullet and said: "General, recruiting 20,000 soldiers will cost a lot of money and food, subordinate!"
"You get up first." Wang Xingchao raised his hand to signal General Zhou Lang to get up. Then he glanced at the generals and said: "In addition to strict military discipline and recruiting brave soldiers, the next thing is the matter of money and food. As you all know, Qin Xiao cut off
On both trade routes, the trade at Fucheng Trade Ground is also declining rapidly. I heard that in the past two months, the trade volume has been less than 20% of the previous one. If this continues, after the New Year, Fucheng Trade Ground will be completely abandoned.
. Obtaining military supplies from trade is no longer realistic. The Liaodong Army's warehouses cannot last for three months with silver, and can only last for half a year with food and grass. If 20,000 new soldiers are recruited into the camp, then the food, grass and salary can support it.
The time will be shorter.”
As soon as Wang Xingchao said this, everyone present was not a fool and immediately understood what Wang Xingchao meant.
The generals of the Liaodong Army were staking out land, and large areas of fertile land in the four northeastern counties fell into the hands of these people, with Liaodong County being the most serious.
Because of horse racing and land encirclement, countless people became sharecroppers and their blood was sucked by this group of people.
The people were in poverty, but the generals of the Liaodong Army and their clansmen were all very rich. Each family built warehouses one after another, with mountains of grain piled up and warehouses full of money.
After Long Rui's army came out of the border, the Liaodong army continued to expropriate the people under various names.
Everyone knows that if we continue to impose forced conscription on the people under this situation, there will probably be a flood of refugees without Long Rui's army coming to fight.
Like all over Liaodong, if there is civil unrest, the Liaodong Army will soon be finished.
So now Wang Xingchao naturally asked the Liaodong generals to open their warehouses and take out money and grain.
The meeting hall was silent for a while. No one spoke. They all lowered their heads and glanced at other people from the corner of their eyes to see if anyone was really willing to come forward for a blood transfusion.