Chapter 1,235: Removing the Fuel From the Bottom of the Pot

"Alas," after a moment of silence, Gongsun Fan let out a long sigh; "I would also like to thank the general for sending troops last time. If the general had not sent troops together with us, it would not have been so easy for my elder brother to withdraw from Hebei."

"You don't have to be polite, Lord Prefect. You and I are allies, and we should help each other. This time Huang Xu came on the order of the king to ask the Lord Prefect if there is anything we can do to help?"

Although Huang Xu did not directly point out the reason, Gongsun Fan understood that this war had caused the Yan State to lose the large county of Zhuojun. Now it only has two cities, Zhuoxian and Liangxiang. Fortunately, in the past few years, Over time, the three counties of Guangyang, Zhuojun and Yuyang have moved a large number of people to the three counties of Youbeiping, Liaoxi and Lulong, causing the population of Zhuojun to drop by almost half, from the initial nearly half a million to the current More than three hundred thousand. Today, the combined population of Zhuoxian and Liangxiang is less than 100,000.

Gongsun Zan, who returned to Jicheng, mobilized elites from various counties to add to the Guards, forming 90,000 elites under his direct control. The purpose was to control the most elite combat power of Yan State in his own hands. But one consequence of his doing this was that almost all the soldiers and horses in local counties were weak.

Like Gongsun Fan, although he was a captain of the Yan State, he could actually only command the troops and horses of You Beiping. After the deployment, Youbeiping only had 15,000 troops, but it needed to defend four cities and a Great Wall pass. There are only 2,000 county soldiers in each of the four cities and one pass. In addition to Gongsun Fan's 5,000 soldiers, there are only 1,000 white horse cavalry.

The majestic captain of a country can only command fifteen thousand soldiers of the country, and all the elites among these soldiers were selected to go to Jicheng. It cannot but be said to be a great irony. What worries Gongsun Fan even more is that among his fifteen thousand soldiers and horses, there are not many weapons and equipment above the intermediate level, let alone high-level equipment.

Even Gongsun Fan is like this, not to mention Shan Jing, the prefect of Liaoxi, and Wang Men, the prefect of Lulong, are even worse. Only Gongsun Yue, the prefect of Yuyang, is slightly better, because Yuyang has more than 400,000 people in nine cities, so He actually had nearly 40,000 people in his hands. The reason for this was that compared to Gongsun Fan, Gongsun Yue was better at point formation than military strategy, so Gongsun Zan felt more at ease with him.

Even so, the soldiers and horses in Gongsun Yue's hands were almost the same as those of Gongsun Fan in terms of combat power and equipment.

Seeing Gongsun Fan hesitate to speak, Huang Xu got straight to the point and said: "Your Majesty knows that there are some deficiencies in the ordnance of the Grand Administrator's army, especially mid-to-high-level weapons and equipment, so Your Majesty sent me to ask your Majesty what kind of weapons and equipment are needed. We can provide some of the weapons and equipment first. Of course, these equipment can only be given to you on credit, but the money can be paid later. "

The reason why Huang Xu said this is because while Gongsun Zan mobilized elite soldiers, he also transported all the high-end weapons and equipment and most of the money and food from each county to Jicheng. Now even if Gongsun Fan wants to buy it from outside, it is impossible. .

After hearing Huang Xu's words, Gongsun Fan was overjoyed: "That's great. I'm still worried about what to do with mid-to-high-end weapons and equipment. My brother's previous expedition to Hebei, 50,000 infantry were almost wiped out in one battle. Almost all the mid-to-high-end weapons and equipment were thrown away in Hebei. When the troops were mobilized this time, almost all of the mid-to-high-end weapons and equipment in my hand were used to form the Guards. "

"How much do you need, Lord Prefect?" Huang Xu asked;

"Not much, let's get three thousand sets first." Gongsun Fan originally wanted five to six thousand sets, but suddenly he thought that he only had fifteen thousand troops in total, and the number of soldiers who have reached the level of combat soldiers is only about two thousand. There is no need to buy so much high-end equipment.

"Is three thousand enough? I can't even form a school of combat soldiers. Let's do this. I'll send five thousand sets to the prefect first. As for the types, I will use spearmen, sword and shield soldiers according to the strength of our Tang army. Let’s match the ratio of archers to two to one!” Huang Xu thought for a while and said;

"That's very good!" Gongsun Fan wanted to refuse, but

After thinking about it later, two or three thousand soldiers really didn't have much effect, so I agreed.

When Huang Xu was about to leave, he suddenly found that Gongsun Fan was hesitant to speak, so he said: "If you have anything else to do, Lord Taishou, you might as well make it clear that the Taishou and the king of my family have known each other for many years. If there are any difficulties, we will definitely help you with all our strength."

"Hmm..." Gongsun Fan hesitated for a moment, then said what he said: "I wonder if King Tang can lend a batch of high-end weapons and equipment to other counties first?"

Huang Xu had a look of embarrassment on his face, but his heart was filled with joy. After thinking for a while, he said: "When I came here this time, the king once told me that if the prefect requested anything, he would do his best to help. The prefect should also know that the reason why the king was willing to give a batch of weapons and equipment in advance is also apparently Because we have known each other for many years, King Yan seems to be somewhat alienated from me now. If too much equipment is given to the prefects of other counties, if King Yan finds out, it seems..."

Gongsun Fan thought about it, and it was indeed the case, so he said: "So..."

"However, the king originally planned to support the prefect with 10,000 sets of equipment. Now that the prefect does not plan to use so many, why not I send people to deliver these 10,000 sets of equipment to the prefect, and then the prefect will transfer them to the other counties. , This will prevent King Yan from having any other ideas." Before Gongsun Fan could say anything, Huang Xu said again;

In fact, the reason why Gongsun Fan was so eager to get advanced equipment was also out of public interest. He thought that although his eldest brother had tens of thousands of guards, if the other governors did not have a certain number of elite soldiers, if something happened in Jicheng, they would not be able to support Jicheng with only thousands of ordinary guards.

That was why he did not expect that Gongsun Zan transferred all the elite soldiers to Jicheng. In addition to really strengthening the combat effectiveness of Jicheng’s troops, there was another reason because he had already developed a little suspicion and fear of Gongsun Fan and other governors.

Gongsun Fan did not see it, but Guo Jia, who was known as a "natural genius", and Pang Tong, who was known as a "Phoenix Child", saw a little clue. The reason why Huang Xu appeared in Youbeiping was a strategy discussed by Guo Jia and others. Now everyone in the Tang army has seen that Gongsun Zan is no longer supportable. In this case, they decided to cut off the firewood from the bottom of the pot, which led to Huang Xu's trip to Youbeiping.