Chapter 732: Grassland Movements! (Thanks to book friend 58705 for the reward!)

After listening to Huo San’s story, Ye Mingsheng was also somewhat amazed. When he was in Luoan, he thought that this kid would just live a life of eating and waiting to die. But now it seems that everyone has their own opportunities and luck·······························
Cautiously gazing at Ye Mingsheng's expression, Huo San saw that Ye Mingsheng seemed to be in a good mood. He hesitated for a moment and decided to speak:
"Marshal, the Coordination Office has recently discovered some information about General Cui..."

Ye Mingsheng thought about it for a while and asked in confusion:

"General Cui? That General Cui?"

In order to prevent his generals from imitating his own example, Ye Mingsheng, who was promoted to the position as a military officer, has always maintained strict control over the military power of the Fengwu Army!

Not to mention generals, even a commander needs to be appointed and dismissed by him personally!

Ye Mingsheng knew every general in the Fengwu Army, and even some of the commanders. If he remembered correctly, there was only one general in the Fengwu Army with the surname Cui, and that was Cui Desheng, the commander-in-chief of the Third Army. There were two commanders with the surname Cui, both of whom were in the Fourth Division.

But now Cui Desheng died in battle in Dakou Township. How can there be no General Cui in the Fengwu Army?

Facing Ye Mingsheng's inquiry, Huo San whispered:
"Third Army Commander Cui Desheng!"

Ye Mingsheng was extremely surprised when he heard this. According to the battle report of the Third Army, Cui Desheng was hit by enemy artillery fire and his body was completely destroyed. How come Huo San said there was news about him now?

Could it be that his body was found?
Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng asked without thinking too much:
“If you find his body, send him back so that he can return to his roots. This will also be an explanation to the Cui family…”

In response to Ye Mingsheng's instructions, Huo San said;
"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, according to the information from our coordination office, General Cui Desheng is very likely still alive!"

Ye Mingsheng was startled at first when he heard this, and then his expression became serious. He looked at Huo San and said in a deep voice:

"Many soldiers from the Third Army saw Cui Desheng being hit by enemy artillery fire in Dakou Township. The Third Army also sent many soldiers to look for his body! Huo San, you are saying that he is alive now. Do you have any solid evidence?"

Under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Huo San said with certainty:

"General, our secret agent in the Luoan court sent back a secret intelligence yesterday, saying that the enemy captured a senior general of our army in Dakou Township! The intelligence detailed that the captured senior general had a leg injury caused by artillery fire!"

"At the same time, our secret agent in the Yijing Supervisory Department reported that the Supervisory Department is collecting information about General Cui Desheng!"

"From this, our coordination office infers that General Cui Desheng is very likely still alive, but he has most likely fallen into the hands of the enemy!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng's expression turned gloomy. In the past battles of the Fengwu Army, it was a common occurrence that generals were captured by the enemy. However, those who were captured were all low-level generals, such as captains and sentinels, and there were no commanders at the commanding level.

But this time, such a situation occurred. Cui Desheng, as the commander of the Third Army of Fengwu Army, could be said to be one of the top ten senior generals in the Fengwu Army. What’s more, he was the representative of the Cui family in the army. If it was confirmed that he was captured by the enemy, it would inevitably cause no small impact in the Fengwu Army...

Seeing Ye Mingsheng lost in thought, Huo San was also secretly trying to figure out what Ye Mingsheng was thinking. After a moment, he tentatively said to Ye Ming:
"My Lord, I think General Cui has a leg injury. He will not receive good treatment in the enemy camp. Maybe General Cui has died of his injury at this moment!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Ye Mingsheng's attention was immediately drawn to him. Under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Huo San, who thought he understood what Ye Mingsheng was thinking, showed a flattering smile.

As Ye Mingsheng's lackey and henchman, Huo San has been trying to figure out his own thoughts. He knows that Ye Mingsheng has always been wary of collusion between civil and military officials, and the Cui family, whose influence spans both the civil service system and the military, is the one that Ye Mingsheng is particularly wary of.

At the beginning of the Fengwu Army, in order to integrate Liaoyang resources more quickly and implement the strategy of entering the pass, Ye Mingsheng allowed the Cui family to intervene in the army. Now, with the development of the Fengwu Army, Ye Mingsheng has long planned to cut off the Cui family's tentacles in the army.

However, the Cui family made many contributions to the Fengwu Army, and Cui Shao was the backbone of the Fengwu Army's civil service system. In addition, the Cui family had always been low-key and cautious, not giving Ye Mingsheng any excuse to take advantage of it, so Ye Mingsheng did not have the right opportunity to take action.

Now is undoubtedly a good opportunity. Peng Ce will not live for many days, and Cui Desheng was also killed by the enemy. With this God-given opportunity, Ye Mingsheng can legitimately take back the military power. The only flaw now is that Cui Desheng is not only alive, but also captured by the enemy...

The enemy army can completely use Cui Desheng's identity to do something and try to make some impact in the Fengwu Army. Although Cui Desheng alone is unlikely to make too much impact in the Fengwu Army, the Luoan court will definitely enjoy being able to disgust the Fengwu Army and Ye Mingsheng!
Therefore, in order to fulfill the Marshal's idea, Huo San felt that he had an obligation to solve this problem for the Marshal!

Of course, it is not easy for the Marshal to say these words, so as a subordinate you should be more considerate and take the initiative to raise the matter!

Looking deeply at the smile on Huo San's face, Ye Mingsheng felt a little emotional. He really didn't expect Huo San to be so cruel!

To be honest, the idea proposed by Huo San flashed through Ye Mingsheng's mind when he was thinking just now, but in the end he chose to give up this idea.

First of all, from a personal emotional point of view, Cui Desheng is first and foremost his cousin, and he has always been loyal and admiring to him!
As a subordinate, although he did not have any great military achievements, he also worked diligently and did his job well, which is why Ye Mingsheng promoted him to be the commander-in-chief! In general, Ye Mingsheng still admired Cui Desheng very much. Therefore, even though Cui Desheng was captured now, he did not want Cui Desheng to die at the hands of his own people···························

Besides, Cui Shao is not a fool. Peng Ce is now half-dead. If Cui Desheng also died after being captured, he would be able to sense something. Then things would become very deliberate, which does not conform to Ye Mingsheng's idea!
Ye Mingsheng always believed that stability within the Fengwu Army was the most important thing. Although factional divisions were bound to exist as the army grew larger, internal strife and consumption must be reduced.

The most important point is that Ye Mingsheng believed that even if Cui Desheng was rescued, he could also completely eliminate the Cui family’s influence in the military!

Seeing that Ye Mingsheng was just looking at him without saying anything, Huo San thought that Ye Mingsheng had doubts about the ability of their coordination office, so he immediately spoke in a low voice:
"Please rest assured, sir. Our coordination office will handle this matter thoroughly and won't leave any evidence behind!"

Seeing that Huo San had not given up this idea, Ye Mingsheng could only shake his head and said:
"I want a living Cui Desheng!"

Huo San was a little confused when he heard Ye Mingsheng's instructions. Why was this different from what he had imagined?

Looking at Huo San, Ye Mingsheng ordered again:
“If it is confirmed that Cui Desheng has been captured by the enemy, you in the Coordination Office must try your best to rescue him. However, if the situation is impossible, you should not risk everything…”

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Huo San also realized that he had guessed Ye Mingsheng's intentions wrongly. Although he felt a little regretful, he immediately nodded and responded to Ye Mingsheng's instructions:
"I understand, sir! The Coordination Office will go all out to rescue General Cui!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded and asked again:

"Is there anything else?"

Huo San thought for a moment and continued:
"Reporting to the commander, the news that Khudu of the Golden Horde might be dying recently, so the great Khan Arsalan of Luobi is secretly mobilizing troops, trying to take advantage of the instability in the Golden Horde due to Khudu's death to launch a counterattack!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly. Ever since they suffered a bloody blow in Youyan last time, the Robe people have been much quieter, and the two sides have successfully expanded the scale of mutual trade. Seeing that the Golden Horde, which has ambitions to unify the grasslands, is growing stronger, they are ready to make a move against the Robe people and may invade the Ernqin grassland again at any time!
Therefore, in order to prevent the Golden Horde from dominating the grassland, Dadongsheng sold some pig iron to the Robe people with the approval of Ye Mingsheng, and exchanged it for a lot of war horses from them.

As far as the situation on the grassland is concerned, Ye Mingsheng feels that Arsalan did nothing wrong. After all, if Huodu died, no matter who took over his position, in order to establish prestige according to the tradition of the grassland people, they would definitely attack Luobi again! This is almost inevitable...
However, if they passively waited for the new Khan of the Golden Horde to take power and integrated the internal factional resources for an attack, then given the current size gap between the two sides, Robi would most likely lose the Elunqin steppe. Once they lost the Elunqin steppe with its abundant grass and water, Robi would have no hope of competing with the Golden Horde!
Therefore, instead of passively taking a beating, it is better to take the initiative to fight to the death and create a glimmer of hope between life and death!
Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but feel a little respect for this Great Khan Arsalan, whom he had never met before. This Great Khan Robi still has some courage and bloodiness!

Huo San continued to introduce:
"Marshal, the Luobei people sent a special envoy here because of this matter. They want to buy more things from our army!"

Ye Mingsheng said without thinking too much:
"I agree in principle to sell them more pig iron. Let Ye Hongsheng discuss this matter!"

Listening to Ye Mingsheng's words, Huo San shook his head and said:

"Marshal, the Robe people don't really want pig iron this time. They want swords, spears, armor, and even muskets and cannons. For this, they are willing to pay with thousands of war horses..."

Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised when he heard this. Just like the Fengwu Army blocked pig iron from entering the grassland, the Luobi people also understood that war horses were their strategic resources. Therefore, they wanted to prevent the war horses from falling into the hands of the Fengwu Army and let the Fengwu Army form a large-scale cavalry unit to go deep into the grassland to attack them.

Although in past trades, they were tempted by various commodities offered by the Fengwu Army and gradually became willing to sell war horses to the Fengwu Army.

However, the Robe people were also controlling the scale. Selling two or three hundred horses to the Fengwu Army was considered a lot, and there were only one or two times when the number exceeded five hundred. But now the Robe people were willing to sell thousands of war horses to themselves in exchange for the armor and firearms in their hands. This was enough to show the determination of the Robe high-level officials to counterattack the Golden Horde!
Honestly speaking, Ye Mingsheng was somewhat tempted by the conditions of the Luobi people. The Fengwu Army's only cavalry unit of 10,000 people suffered heavy casualties in the Yunbing Campaign, which made Ye Mingsheng, who had devoted all his efforts to forming them, very distressed.

While feeling distressed, Ye Mingsheng was planning to reorganize and regroup, and to achieve this goal, he would need thousands of war horses.
Although the Fengwu Army has its own horse farm, the scale of the farm is not very large. If it only relies on the war horses produced in the farm, it will take about three years to recover at the current speed, which is undoubtedly a bit slow...

If they could obtain these thousands of war horses from the Robe people, it would certainly greatly increase the speed of rebuilding the Third Army's cavalry units, which would also be beneficial to Ye Mingsheng's planned counterattack in Yunbing in the autumn!
Although Ye Mingsheng was somewhat tempted by the conditions offered by Luo Biren, he did not agree immediately. After pondering for a moment, he asked:

"I remember you told me last time that the Robe people had started researching firearms and had even produced firearms. How is their research going now? How many firearms have they produced?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Huo San said without hesitation:
"Reporting to the commander, after the last invasion of Youyan by the Luobi people, these barbarians deeply realized the power of firearms, so Luobi Khan Arsalan personally ordered the research of firearms. For this purpose, the Luobi people pieced together a lot of craftsmen, and used our army's firearms as samples to try to imitate our army's firearms!"

“They spent more than two years imitating and created a musket, but the actual combat effect was not good. Arsalan was very annoyed by this and killed many people because of it. It was for this reason that the Luobi people bought firearms from our army…”

After hearing this, Ye Mingsheng thought for a while and asked Huo San the last question.

"What is your assessment of the prospects of the Robin counterattack?"

(End of this chapter)