Tiger Guards

Chapter 625 Making a feint to the east and attacking in the west
Pingyang, as the mobilized officials and soldiers continued to arrive and return to their posts.

The camps were gradually filled to capacity, and Zhao Ji personally comforted the meritorious officials and soldiers. The troops who had been conscripted began to accept their fate of relocating and reinforcing the seven prefectures of Shuofang.

This migration was actually only temporary. If they made meritorious contributions in the future, they could naturally be transferred from the seven prefectures of Shuofang to more prosperous prefectures.

The work of comforting the meritorious officials and soldiers was initially completed, and Zhao Ji began to shift his daily focus.

While observing the changes in the battle situation in Liangzhou, if things really don't go well, they should completely retreat, lure the restless Qiang people of Hehuang and the Han and Hu chieftains of Xiliang to gather in the Longxi and Tianshui areas for a concentrated solution.

The morale of the army has now stabilized, and most officers and soldiers have accepted the resettlement plan of relocating to the seven prefectures of Shuofang; a small number of officers and soldiers are thinking about themselves and their descendants, and these people have a stronger desire to make contributions and achieve success.

Since there are no problems with the morale and obedience of the troops, they can naturally charge straight at the enemy like tigers descending the mountain.

The resettlement of meritorious officials and soldiers from the seven prefectures of Shuofang required approximately 250,000 households of government tenants... These tenants could come from Hebei, the Central Plains, or Liangzhou.

Like Bingzhou, Liangzhou has had very few registered residents in its county and prefecture statistics in recent decades, and some counties exist in name only.

But land, as a productive resource, is there. Even if you don't cultivate it, you can still maintain a certain population by fishing, hunting, and herding.

Judging from the results of conquering and reconquering the various Hu tribes in Bingzhou, Liangzhou, consisting of only the four commanderies of Hexi, currently has at least 300,000 households of Han and Hu people; if we include the Qiang tribes of Hehuang, the number could easily reach 500,000 households.

Taking half of them to migrate to the seven prefectures of Shuofang as government tenants would not have too much impact on the population reproduction in the western part of Liangzhou.

As a result, Zhao Ji's focus of the war shifted appropriately. It wasn't that he lacked strategic resolve, but rather that, as the biggest tiger at the moment, Zhao Ji didn't need to chase after certain prey to devour them.

The most important thing now is to consume enough people; only by replenishing fresh nutrients can the entire group maintain its vitality.

At this moment, Zhao Ji was no longer a person or an army, but a huge monster composed of too many organizations.

If you can't produce your own energy, you can only draw energy from external sources.

While Zhao Ji was focused on studying the war situation in Liangzhou, Empress Fu, who was in charge of the country, was not waiting quietly either. She was by no means an honest person who would accept her fate.

One of her letters was delivered to Zhao Ji, who found it quite troublesome.

However, feeling unsure about the long-term impact of this order, he could only postpone it for the time being and urgently summoned Jia Xu to the Pingyang camp to fulfill his duties as military advisor.

The main war objective now is Liangzhou, so Jia Xu should leverage the advantages of being a local.

Jia Xu originally stayed in Wuyuan, where he, Xu Huang, and Zhao Yun were responsible for implementing the government orders of the four counties of Shuofang.

After severely damaging and almost completely eliminating the various Hu tribes in northern Yinshan, Xu Huang and Zhao Yun were mainly responsible for the eastern defense line.

Zhao Yun, however, did not want to have contact with Gongsun Zan and intentionally avoided suspicion, so he chose to garrison in Shuofang, serving as the governor of Shuofang and in charge of the western defense line; Xu Huang, on the other hand, was stationed in Dai County and in charge of the eastern defense line.

Jia Xu remained in Wuyuan to coordinate the overall situation.

As the weather turned cold, the various Hu tribes began to drive their herds away from the cold northern mountain pastures and move south to the planned winter pastures.

As October approached, the relocation of each household was completed in succession.

It appears that these households, numbering in the thousands or hundreds, drove the herds of animals from the northern pastures to the relatively warmer southern winter pastures.

However, in the eyes of Zhao Ji and Jia Xu, the humanoid beasts returned together with other beast groups and obediently entered the arranged enclosures.

With cattle and sheep scattered about, herders also have to worry about them getting lost, being stolen, or being killed by other wild animals.

But once the cattle and sheep return to their pens as instructed, the herders, exhausted from a day's work, can relax. They can not only do other things, but also lead the cattle and horses to pull carts and drive them to do other things.

Therefore, after the various Hu tribes that retreated south for the winter entered the circle, they had to undertake military service for winter defense.

After the conscription was assigned, the mobilization standard was 15 riders per hundred households, and the principle of gathering nearby was followed, with the riders gathering in Zhao Yun on the western front, Jia Xu in the central front, and Xu Huang on the eastern front.

These volunteer troops would not gather in one place. Apart from the central cluster, the eastern and western lines were to reinforce the planned defensive strongholds and blockade and monitor key transportation routes. When Zhao Ji's conscription order arrived in Yunzhong, Jia Xu initially had no doubts, because according to the original plan, when the various Hu tribes migrated south for the winter, the most basic mobilization would be carried out, and he would be responsible for leading about eight thousand volunteer troops from the Shuofang Hu tribes south to participate in the war.

Jia Xu meticulously arranged the marching order of the Shuofang Righteous Army southward and began to inquire about the changes in the war situation in the Central Plains from the messengers.

When this messenger traveled north, he also heard the news of General Liu Bei's defeat in the ambush at Xingyang... If it were a negative battle report, the messenger would naturally have instinctively concealed it, but such a victory report should be widely publicized to stabilize the morale of the troops on various defense lines, and also to frighten internal dissidents, so that they would cooperate obediently and not cause trouble.

"The great victory at Xingyang?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu narrowed his eyes in thought, but instead of discussing or explaining his views to the messenger, he asked the messenger, "When the news of the victory at Xingyang reached the main camp, what were His Majesty's thoughts?"

"I don't know."

The messenger cautiously replied, "I dare not guess Your Majesty's thoughts, but Your Majesty, upon hearing the news, ordered a grand feast for the officers and soldiers of each camp in Pingyang, which greatly inspired the entire army."

It was only when news of the great victory at Xingyang arrived that the last bit of resentment among the meritorious officers and soldiers in the army from the relocation to the seven prefectures of Shuofang dissipated.

The veterans' group naturally has its own ideas and will also assess the situation.

With the allegiance and cooperation of Grand Tutor Lü Bu's group, Grand Tutor Zhao no longer lacks men capable of fighting... If you don't fight, plenty of others will!

When they were fighting against the various barbarian tribes, these veterans were meritorious and key figures; but now, when they are fighting against the rebels, there are naturally people vying to become new heroes and meritorious warriors.

The morale of an army is dynamic, and Grand Tutor Zhao never relied on any particular general or army.

For example, the six thousand daredevils who had made outstanding contributions had mostly been transferred to the Tiger Step Army after accumulating enough merits, and nearly half of the officers had also been promoted to county magistrates, county lieutenants, or county assistants due to their merits; the daredevils who had fought against the Qiang and Xianbei cavalry had basically been torn apart and disappeared.

The current 6,000 daredevils were selected from the bravest men captured by various Hu tribes. Apart from a few military officers who were left over from the previous generation of daredevils, there are almost no Han Chinese among the current daredevils.

But when this generation of daredevils has accumulated enough merit, they will be granted a surname and transferred to a different household, becoming new military households.

Jia Xu couldn't get any clear information from the cautious envoy. After arranging the affairs of those left behind, he led eight thousand Shuofang volunteers south along the Qin Straight Road.

There were supply depots along the Qin Straight Road. Jia Xu divided his army into twelve battalions and marched in sequence to prevent the supply depots from becoming overloaded.

While securing stable supplies, they could also camp at supply depots, minimizing losses due to weather conditions and marches.

When he led the vanguard of three battalions to Chiyang, Zhao Jixin's orders arrived.

The person in charge of relaying the order was Han Shu, who also brought the tiger tally, which currently only had symbolic significance.

Jia Xu and Han Shu exchanged tiger tallies. After the two tallies were put together, it meant that the command of the eight thousand righteous soldiers of Wuyuan was officially transferred to Han Shu.

Han Shu dared not be presumptuous. After verifying that the tiger tally was correct, he put the two tiger tallies into a box and handed them over to a senior tiger guard for safekeeping.

The tiger-like warrior stood by, and Han Shu led Jia Xu to sit down, inviting him to take the seat of honor. Only then did he hand over another handwritten letter from Zhao Ji: "Strategist, the Duke said that I came here, and the strategist knows my purpose."

Jia Xu accepted the handwritten letter from Han Shu with both hands, but did not rush to read it. He pretended to ponder, "Could it be that the rebels outside the pass are hesitant to advance, and the war in Guandong is being delayed?"

"Just as the strategist predicted."

Han Shu was also very sparing with his words. The eight thousand cavalry he took over from Jia Xu were one of the main forces in the subsequent military campaign.

In addition, there are two main forces. One is the 6,000 Shuofang volunteers under Zhao Yun's command, who will head south through Xiaoguan after receiving orders.

The other main force, Zhao Ji's own cavalry and daredevils, had already begun to bypass Mengmen and move westward.

By avoiding the main roads of Guanzhong and Sanfu, this nearly 30,000 elite cavalry troops will create a big surprise for the Liangzhou battlefield.

Seeing Han Shu's reaction, Jia Xu could only peruse the letters and immediately exclaimed, "Grand Tutor, you're trying to attract attention from all sides! I understand now."

(End of this chapter)