Chapter 374 The butt determines the head! (Thanks to the book friend Liu Yang for the reward!)
three days later

A team of Fengzhou troops, without raising any flags but with strict alert, quietly drove into the city of Lelang Prefecture.

Yuan Song, who had been waiting for a long time in military uniform, immediately went forward with his subordinates to greet the newcomer when he saw him appear.

"I, Yuan Song, respectfully welcome the arrival of the General!" Yuan Song knelt on one knee and bowed:

Looking at Yuan Song, who was extremely respectful, Ye Mingsheng smiled slightly, helped Yuan Song up from the ground with both hands and said:
"General, you are in armor, please stand up quickly!"

"Thank you, sir!"

Although the two directors of the Coordination Office strongly disapproved of Ye Mingsheng's inspection of the front line this time because of the last assassination attempt by the Supervisory Department and the Black Dragon Society, Ye Mingsheng still decided to inspect the front line despite everyone's opposition in order to see the situation on the front line with his own eyes and understand the combat readiness of the grassroots soldiers...

In addition to wanting to understand the situation on the front line, Ye Mingsheng came to the front line also to take this opportunity to communicate with generals such as Yuan Song and Lin Huaiwu on the front line and listen to their opinions on the next plan of the Fengzhou Army.

After meeting Ye Mingsheng, Yuan Song introduced the generals behind him to Ye Mingsheng one by one.

"Sir, this is Commander Tang Kai. In the previous battle in Yutai County, he was the first to seize the county town and block the attack of the Zhenwu Army. He is a fierce general of our army!"

"This is Commander Liu Kenan. During the conflict with the Zhenwu Army some time ago, it was he who repelled the provocation of the Zhenwu Army and killed more than 50 enemies!"

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"This is Commander Zhang Meng. When our army was stationed in Xinfa County, we once encountered Khitan cavalry looting the village. It was Commander Zhang who led his troops to annihilate them all and cut off their heads to make a Jingguan. This severely deterred the Khitan tribes and gave a satisfactory explanation to the looted people in Xinfa County."

"This time in the battle between Yutai County and the Zhenwu Army, Commander Zhang Meng also led the way, using grenades, bludgeoning guns and other firearms to greatly injure the Zhenwu Army's cavalry, and made great contributions to our army's victory in this battle!"

Ye Mingsheng was not unfamiliar with the names Yuan Song mentioned. After all, he must have known these people and approved them personally to become leaders. During Yuan Song’s introduction, Ye Mingsheng greeted everyone with a smile, fully demonstrating his amiability as a top leader, making everyone present feel the warmth of spring breeze...

After hearing Zhang Meng's name, Ye Mingsheng immediately looked with interest at this sturdy man who was like an iron tower in front of him.

This man was about six feet tall, with a leopard head, round eyes, a swallow chin and tiger beard, dark skin and a solid body. He looked like the fierce Zhang Fei in the world. Standing in the crowd, he stood out like a crane among chickens, very conspicuous!
After looking the man up and down, Ye Mingsheng patted his shoulder and asked with a smile:
"You are Zhang Meng? As the name suggests, you are very powerful!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's praise, Zhang Meng was also very happy. He grinned on his rough face and said with a cupped hand:

"Thank you for the compliment, General!"

"I have heard about your deeds in Fengzhou. It is said that whenever you are in charge of guarding a town, the Khitans will retreat and not attack."

Upon hearing that Ye Mingsheng had heard of his deeds, Zhang Meng became very excited and said with some pride:

“To reply to your Lord General, I am not bragging, but those Khitan bastards will get out of here as far away as possible from where I am! Otherwise, I will kill one if they come one by one, and I will kill a pair if they come two by two…”

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng clapped his hands and praised: "Very good, you are truly an unrivaled warrior!"

After saying this, Ye Mingsheng took off his sword, handed it to Zhang Meng and continued:

"This is a good knife, made specifically for me by the craftsmen in the Artisan Camp. It can cut through iron like mud and is invincible. I don't need it when I'm commanding from behind, so I really don't need it. I'll give it to you now! You can chop off a few more rebel heads for me on the front line!"

When the generals heard what Ye Mingsheng said, they were all shocked. Yuan Song, Zhang Meng's superior, also tried to dissuade him:

"Your Excellency, you must not do that. This sword is too valuable. You should keep it..."

Yuan Song reacted quickly, but before he could finish his words, Ye Mingsheng reached out to stop him. He continued to look at Zhang Meng, who was very interested but a little hesitant, and said with a smile:

"A real man is a man of many talents. If you want it, just take it! Don't be so fussy!"

Seeing what Ye Mingsheng said, Zhang Meng gritted his teeth and took the saber from Ye Mingsheng with both hands under the envious gazes of the generals. Then he bowed deeply to Ye Mingsheng and said sincerely:

"Thank you for the sword, sir. I will never disgrace this sword and will use it to chop off the rebel's head!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded with satisfaction after hearing this. Although this was the first time he saw Zhang Meng under his command, he had already heard of him for a long time. Ever since they repelled Yelu Yan's invasion, the Khitans had not launched any large-scale invasions so far, but they had continued to carry out small-scale harassment and looting.

When Ye Mingsheng was stationed in Fengzhou, he had been receiving war reports from Xinfa County, and he was already overwhelmed by the harassment from the Khitans...
And this Zhang Meng was indeed a fierce general. Although he looked big and strong and seemed to be brave but not wise, Ye Mingsheng clearly remembered that Yuan Song wrote in the battle report he gave him that when he was stationed in several towns close to the Khitans in the east of Xinfa County, he used various strategies such as luring the enemy deep into their territory, night attacks and fire attacks, and completely annihilated the three small Khitan cavalry groups that had harassed them within two months.

What’s most exaggerated is that Zhang Meng did not let go of these Khitans even after they died. He cut off all their heads, made them into a memorial statue and placed it on the border, which dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the Khitans at that time.

At that time, the Khitan envoys who were negotiating with the Fengzhou Army were also very angry with Zhang Meng. They once claimed that if the Fengzhou Army did not transfer Zhang Meng back, the negotiations between the Fengzhou Army and the Khitan would be completely terminated. Regarding the threats and intimidation of the Khitans, Ye Mingsheng could only say that they had found the wrong person. He, Ye Mingsheng, was not Song Huizong, who could make such a decision to destroy the Great Wall and make his relatives sad and his enemies happy. He directly told the Khitan envoys that if they could talk, then talk, if they couldn't talk, then get out! There was no way for him to transfer Zhang Meng back!
Seeing that their threats and blackmail had no effect on Ye Mingsheng, these Khitans who bullied the weak and feared the strong could only let the matter go in the end...
After meeting and exchanging a few words with Yuan Song and these generals, Ye Mingsheng, accompanied by Yuan Song, went deep into the military camp to inspect the frontline officers and soldiers.

According to the overall strategy of clearing the countryside, the Fengzhou Army has already drawn a number of troops from the 25,000 new recruits who have just completed training to come to Lelang Prefecture. Now Yuan Song has seven battalions of more than 20,000 troops under his command, which can be said to be a strong force.

It took Ye Mingsheng about two or three hours to check the situation of the soldiers in the barracks and listen to the opinions of the soldiers who participated in the battle of Yutai County on the combat effectiveness of the Zhenwu Army.

After excluding a few boastful cases, the soldiers generally believed that the Zhenwu Army's combat effectiveness was still very strong and the generals' command was well-founded. In terms of strength, it was far superior to the Posuofu bandits they had encountered before...

After knowing what was going on, Ye Mingsheng gathered all the soldiers to give a public speech. In addition, because more than 90% of the soldiers of Fengzhou Army were from Liaoyang, in order to better boost morale, Ye Mingsheng also emphasized the local sentiments.

Seeing that the war was approaching, the general personally arrived at the front line. The soldiers were very excited and kept cheering for Ye Mingsheng. When the emotions were at their highest, Ye Mingsheng also began to respond to the issues that everyone was most concerned about.

Under everyone's expectant gaze, Ye Mingsheng began to paint a rosy picture for everyone, promising all kinds of benefits, such as promotion and wealth, allotment of land for building houses, exemption from corvée labor, and even the promise of a new daughter-in-law.

Anyway, because of frequent wars and rampant banditry in Liaoyang, there are many widows. In order to meet the urgent needs of the people, Ye Mingsheng doesn't mind the government under his leadership to help guide the connection between the needs and resources of both sides.

After finishing all this, Ye Mingsheng ordered his subordinates to provide the soldiers with an extra meal tonight, and to kill pigs and chickens to make some meat dishes to improve everyone's food.

It was already three quarters past midnight when all this was done. Ye Mingsheng himself was very tired, but he still couldn't rest. With his exhausted body, he found Yuan Song and went into the house to listen to the general's report on the war preparedness in Lelang Prefecture.

"Your Excellency, we have a total of more than 21,300 soldiers in Lelang Prefecture, and the daily food consumption is about 150 dan. We have a total of more than 15,000 dan of food in Lelang Prefecture, which can last us for three months!"

"In addition to these grains, our army has more than 1,500 Weiyuan guns, more than 500 Po Lu guns, more than 100 boxes of grenades, and 3,000 kilograms of gunpowder in Lelang Prefecture. The current stockpiled supplies can fully meet our army's combat needs for one month..."

"We are also actively purchasing and preparing knife wound medicine, hemostatic medicine, gauze and the like in the rear. Our army is now fully prepared to fight the Zhenwu Army. Even if the main force of the Zhenwu Army attacks with all its might, with our current preparations, we will be able to handle it easily in a short period of time and there won't be any problems!" Yuan Song said to Ye Mingsheng very confidently:
After hearing Yuan Song's story, Ye Mingsheng, who was leaning on the armchair, nodded slightly. Judging from the data listed by Yuan Song, Lelang Prefecture's war preparedness was quite sufficient and he didn't need to worry too much.

After a pause, Ye Mingsheng looked at Yuan Song and asked:

"The Zhenwu Army intends to take over Guangning Prefecture. General Yuan, what do you think of this?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Yuan Song was stunned at first, and then asked back with some surprise:

"My Lord, where did you get this news?"

"According to the information obtained by our scouts, Zhu Chengjie's army of more than 30,000 people in Sanyuan County, Dongning Prefecture, across from us, is now preparing for war! Recently, they have also sent a lot of scouts here to find out the details of our Lelang Prefecture!"

Ye Mingsheng was not surprised to hear this and explained:

"The Coordination Office has received information from the Zhenwu Army. The Zhenwu Army has not made a final decision on this plan and is still in the process of discussion!"

"Based on the current situation, nothing has happened yet. I just want to hear your opinion on this matter!"

After Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, perhaps because the news was too sudden, Yuan Song was caught off guard, so he fell into deep thought and did not give Ye Mingsheng an immediate reply.

Ye Mingsheng was not in a hurry about this and gave Yuan Song enough time to think. One of the reasons why he came to Lelang to inspect the front line was partly because of the message sent to him by Huo San.

According to the news sent back by Huo San, the suggestion of abandoning Dongning Prefecture and taking over Dongning Prefecture was indeed discussed at the core meeting of the Zhenwu Army, and the person who came up with this plan was Wang Muzhi.

The former military officers of the imperial guards, represented by Wang Muzhi, were very supportive of this plan, while the former military officers of the Liaoyang Army who surrendered, represented by Gongsun Heng, were strongly opposed to it. The differences of opinion between the two sides were very serious.

The reason why the situation that is almost incompatible with each other is mainly because the butt determines the head, and the two sides have different interests!
For these former military officers of the Imperial Guards headed by Wang Muzhi, they were parachuted to Liaoyang and came to take up their posts alone. Most of their family members were in Guanzhong and Luoan. They had no concerns in Liaoyang, so they could think about the current war from a purely military perspective...
However, the Liaoyang local faction represented by Gongsun Heng is different. Their families are mainly concentrated in Dongning Prefecture and Changqing Prefecture. The Zhenwu Army’s manpower is limited. If they follow Wang Muzhi’s plan and concentrate their forces to attack Guangning Prefecture, then Dongning Prefecture and Changqing Prefecture will inevitably be left with empty manpower.

Therefore, as long as Ye Mingsheng is not kicked in the head by a donkey, he will definitely take this opportunity to attack, and it will be difficult for Dongning Prefecture and Changqing Prefecture to stop the blade of the Fengzhou army.

What will be the consequences of this?

The wives, children, elderly, land and property of the Liaoyang local faction in the Zhenwu Army were all under Ye Mingsheng's control!

Therefore, it would be strange for the Liaoyang local faction in the Zhenwu Army to agree to this plan. No one could tolerate their family and property falling into the hands of their enemies.

According to the information from the Coordination Office, Wang Muzhi is actively lobbying the Liaoyang local faction within the Zhenwu Army, trying to make them believe that as long as the main force of the Zhenwu Army enters Guangning Prefecture, the Cui family will collapse at the touch of a button, and then after they rob the Cui family of their money and food, they will quickly return to support and repel the invading Fengzhou Army...
However, the Liaoyang local faction was definitely unwilling to take their wives, children, and family property with Wang Muzhi to make such a gamble, so no matter what Wang Muzhi said, they would firmly disagree!

(End of this chapter)