Iron Dynasty

Five hundred thousand.

Sitting on the dragon chair, Xiao Ming's heart twitched. The increase of more than 300,000 people will be a huge military expenditure.

It's just that even if Niu Ben didn't talk about it, he also had the idea of ​​expanding his army. When he was still King Qi, he felt that the army of more than 100,000 troops under his hand was already overloaded, but now he suddenly feels that these soldiers are just a drop of water for the Great Yu Kingdom. Falling into a lake.

Because of this, this puts him in a predicament, a kind of embarrassment of having no soldiers available.

I have this intention for a long time, and since this is the case, the Military Machinery Department will start the recruitment.

Xiao Ming said solemnly, in fact, the army did not stop recruiting every year, but the number of recruits was maintained at a certain standard.

This time, he promised not only because of the barbarian invasion, but also the most important one is that under the background of the gradual prosperity of industry, he has the ability and the need to stabilize the surrounding environment, and start to compete with the West for colonies. .

And if he wants the people of Dayu to live as prosperous as the West, he must also go abroad to compete with the West for the dividends of the era of maritime navigation.

Niu Ben breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't dare to mention it in the court just now, because he knew very well that as long as he proposed to expand the army, the civil servants headed by Fiji and Pang Yukun would fight for it.

He knew that now the Great Yu Kingdom had to recuperate, and conscription would make the national treasury more difficult, but in the hearts of the soldiers, defending the territory and opening up the frontier was the duty. Only with a strong military can the Great Yu Kingdom be stable.

After talking about the expansion of the army, Niu Ben continued: Your Majesty, does the old minister have another request?

General Niu, please speak.

I think it's inappropriate to let Luo Quan be idle at home. Now that the Great Yu Kingdom is hiring people, it's time to make the best use of everything. Niu Ben said cautiously.

Xiao Ming nodded lightly, if it wasn't for Niu Ben mentioning him, he would have forgotten the slick war god of the Great Yu Kingdom.

In the past, this veteran refused to join the army to avoid suspicion, but at that time Xiao Ming was unwilling to use him because the army was not stable.

It's just that now that the military reform has been completed, he firmly holds the military power in his own hands, so he doesn't care.

After all, as long as he likes, he can take any general at any time without causing a rebellion in the army.

After thinking for a while, he said, Indeed, it's time to let this veteran come out. During this time, I heard that he often went to the military academy to listen. I must have some different opinions on the current army of the Great Yu Kingdom.

When Niu Ben heard the words, a layer of cold sweat broke out from his back. Xiao Ming's words clearly told him that Luo Quan's every move was under his nose.

He said honestly: Luo Quan is used to leading troops to fight, so he is also very concerned about things in the army. Once he mentioned to the old minister that he wanted to go to the military academy to audit, the old minister agreed at that time.

That's the case, it's okay, he still stays on top of swords and bows. Since that's the case, let's also go to Yizhou this time to see if he is still the god of war. Xiao Ming said.

Yes, Your Majesty.

Niu Ben bowed and said that this time he suggested that Luo Quan should be activated because of his own selfishness.

With the increase in the number of troops and future wars, he is now a little too busy by himself. With Luo Quan as a helper, he can relax a little.

For Xiao Ming, he is also happy to let Luo Quan return to the army, because for him, he does not need Luo Quan and Niu Ben to personally command the soldiers to fight, what he needs is the strategic vision of the two in a war .

After sending Niuben away, Xiao Ming looked in the direction of Yizhou. Now he only hopes that Xiao Zhen and Di Ying can stick to Yizhou for a little longer.

...

Yizhou.

Xiao Zhen and Di Ying stood together on the city wall and looked at the barbarian army under the city. It has been ten days since the barbarians arrived at the Yizhou city.

In the past ten days, the barbarian slave soldiers launched sieges every day, which made the army in the city exhausted, and the most important problem was that the army led by Di Ying consumed a lot of ammunition. slave soldiers.

Damn barbarians, as soon as the reinforcements arrive, they will definitely kill them. Di Ying's eyes were red.

After killing the King of Shu, he and Xiao Zhen took over the thirteen prefectures of Bashu, and after receiving a decree from Qingzhou, the place was officially renamed Yizhou Prefecture.

Just like the original plan, one of the two is responsible for handling government affairs and the other is responsible for governing the army. Bashu is going to be regular this year.

But now the barbarians have disrupted this together, and he is as painful as seeing a child he has raised by the enemy killed.

Xiao Zhen's eyes swept across the musketeers on the city wall, and now he suddenly felt that his loss was not wronged at all. In the past ten days, he has truly seen the power of this musketeer army.

After conquering Songzhou, the barbarians were able to conquer two cities along the route to Yizhou, but their offensive was delayed in Yizhou.

In the ten-day scorching war, Di Ying led 20,000 firearm troops to fight the barbarians to the death, and now there are far more corpses piled up under the city than theirs.

It's a pity, if the 30,000 soldiers in Songzhou were replaced by musketeers, why would the barbarians break the city? Xiao Zhen sighed.

Di Ying's face was gloomy, and he said, Who would have thought that the old department of the King of Shu was so vulnerable.

Mentioning the King of Shu, Xiao Zhen's eyes flashed a trace of guilt. He didn't want to kill the younger brother, but he had to kill him.

After the King of Shu was killed, the old divisions of the King of Shu in various prefectures and counties surrendered to Di Ying. Di Ying appeased the soldiers successively, and re-promoted some generals to control these troops.

Especially in Songzhou, he even sent his junior generals to sit in town, but no one thought that the barbarians would order troops.

It's not that the old tribe of the King of Shu is vulnerable, but the tactics of the barbarians are different from before. Look at the earth pit outside the city of Yizhou. I have never seen this kind of tactics.

What Di Ying said was just angry words. He would definitely be punished this time for losing Songzhou. As Xiao Zhen said, the battle method of the barbarians did surprise him.

Because he found that the barbarians actually learned to use trenches to surround the city, which used to be the way of defending the city in Dayu.

During the 10-day siege, the barbarian slave soldiers dug trenches around Yizhou City while attacking the city. The soldiers used the trenches to avoid bullets, and then climbed through the ladder when they reached the bottom of the city. This siege was greatly weakened.

But in this way, the barbarian cavalry could not enter the city, but Di Ying knew very well that the barbarian's purpose this time was to plunder.

Therefore, the cavalry had no plans to enter the city at all. They were just barbarian slave soldiers who stormed Yizhou City. It was good to be able to break the city.