Chapter 920: Three people make a tiger, and people’s words are scary!

In the central camp of the Fengwu Army outside Weiguan City, Yuan Song convened a group of Fengwu Army generals for a meeting to summarize the experience of attacking Weiguan today····························

Because the terrain of Wei Pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack, which is not conducive to the deployment of the attacking force, Yuan Song's strategy before the war was that the four divisions of the Fengwu Army here would each be responsible for one day's siege, and the deployment would be rotated every day.

Today, the Ninth Division was in charge of the siege, so Yuan Song was the first to ask Ye Dong:

"What are the casualties of your Ninth Division today?"

Facing Yuan Song's question, Ye Dong said solemnly:
"Reporting to Commander Yuan, our Ninth Division suffered approximately 1,300 casualties today, including approximately 500 killed, over 800 injured, 200 of whom were seriously injured!"

Upon hearing this news, Yuan Song nodded slightly. The casualties of the Ninth Division were slightly more than he expected, but not too much and still within an acceptable range. He then asked again:

"Ye Dong, your Ninth Division is responsible for attacking the city today. What are your thoughts and ideas?"

As soon as these words came out, all the generals in the tent looked at Ye Dong. Facing everyone's gaze, Ye Dong pondered for a while and said:
"The terrain of Weiguan is indeed not conducive to the deployment of our troops, and the enemy army seems to be fully prepared. It is indeed difficult for our army to attack head-on!"

"Our army needs more heavy artillery to cover our siege and suppress the enemy's counterattack!"

Listening to Ye Dong's words, all the generals were thoughtful. Yuan Song spoke again:
“Thank you for the hard work of your Ninth Division today. Next, Ye Dong, you must properly handle the wounded of your Ninth Division and let them receive as much treatment as possible…”

"Yes!"

After asking Ye Dong, Yuan Song looked at the lieutenant general Du Chong standing at the end and asked:
"How many shells were fired today?"

In order to concentrate firepower and ensure that the Fengwu Army's artillery advantage could be maximized before the siege, Yuan Song gathered all the artillery under the Second, Ninth, Tenth and Fourth Divisions and handed them over to Brigadier General Du Chong for unified use to cover the Fengwu Army's siege.

At this time, under Yuan Song's gaze, Du Chong also stood up and preached with full energy:

"Reporting to the commander, today our army fired a total of 581 shells at Weiguan, 500 of which were solid shells. Currently, our army has more than 3,000 shells left, most of which are solid shells used for siege!"

Upon hearing this news, Yuan Song nodded slightly, and then instructed Du Chong:
"Take good care of these shells and make sure no accidents happen!"

"Yes!"

After asking the two main persons in charge of today's siege, Yuan Song allowed the generals to speak freely, and anyone who had any ideas could stand up and put forward them.

As Yuan Song finished speaking, Shen Quan, the general of the Fourth Division who was in charge of the siege tomorrow, took the initiative to stand up and said:

"Commander-in-chief, I think the enemy is in a dominant position and it will be difficult for our army to attack Wei Pass head-on. So I think our army can adopt the method of earth attack..."

Hearing Shen Quan's thoughts, General Chen Chuanwu of the Tenth Division seemed to have realized something and said:

"General Shen, do you want to dig a tunnel? But this method has been used by people hundreds of years ago. So now there are many wells in Wei Guanzhong. There are pottery basins on these wells. The enemy will guard these pottery basins. If we dig a tunnel, they will easily hear us!"

Shen Quan explained upon hearing this;
"I don't want to dig a tunnel, but I want to dig trenches and earth towards Weiguan. The earth dug out will be piled up to protect our army from the enemy's arrows and firearms!"

"Also, I've noticed that although Weiguan is strategically located, it's actually made of mud walls. When facing our army's bombardment today, many of the walls of Weiguan were smashed. I don't think Weiguan is as solid as our army thought!"

"I think if our army can aim all of its artillery at one wall, we may be able to bring it down!"

Shen Quan's idea immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the tent, and everyone began to think about the feasibility of Shen Quan's method.

Yuan Song hesitated for a moment, and looked at his artillery expert, Lieutenant General Du Chong. Du Chong thought for a moment and replied:

“I think General Shen’s plan is worth a try. It is not without the possibility of success, but I cannot guarantee that it will be able to bring down the wall of Wei Pass…”

After getting the opinions of professionals, Yuan Song immediately made the decision:

"Shen Quan's Ninth Division will be in charge of the siege tomorrow. You can try your idea! Du Chong, you must cooperate with Shen Quan!"

"Thank you, sir!"

After making this decision, Yuan Song discussed some details with everyone, then announced the end of the meeting and asked everyone to return to their respective bases.

However, at this time, Zheng Chuang, the lieutenant general who had always been highly valued by Yuan Song, stayed in the tent and came to Yuan Song's side and said something mysterious:

"Sir Yuan, I have a fellow villager who works as an official in the Imperial Household Department. He wrote to me yesterday and told me some important news!"

Hearing Zheng Chuang say this, Yuan Song was also a little confused, not knowing what Zheng Chuang wanted to say. At this time, Zheng Chuang continued:
"Sir, Su Nan, deputy director of the Yijing Political Affairs Bureau, reported to the Marshal that most of the Fengwu Army is in your hands, Sir Yuan, and the General Staff will send two divisions of troops to support, so for the sake of safety, he suggested that the Marshal send Xiang Yunbing to supervise the army!" "Su Nan's heart is really vicious. Everyone in the army knows that Sir Yuan is loyal to the Marshal. Fortunately, the Marshal did not listen to his slander. Not only did he angrily rebuke Su Nan's report, he also ordered him to reflect on himself behind closed doors for a month!"

“In addition, the Marshal will reward you with a large mansion with three entrances. It is said that this mansion is located on Sanhua Avenue in Yijing and covers an area of ​​more than ten acres. I also heard that the Marshal wants to marry the granddaughter of Ye Yanghui, the elder of the Ye family, to your son Yuan Jie…”

"This is enough to show that the Marshal has absolute trust in you, Master Yuan. I congratulate you in advance!"

After he finished speaking, Zheng Chuang, who was feeling proud, saluted towards Yuan Song with an envious look on his face. He was the first general to approach Yuan Song after he was transferred to the Second Army, and he was also highly valued under Yuan Song. Therefore, if Yuan Song could be deeply trusted by the Marshal now, it would be a very good thing for him.

Compared to the joy written on Zheng Chuang's face, Yuan Song seemed more calm and asked Zheng Chuang:

"Have you told anyone about these things?"

Zheng Chuang shook his head without hesitation and said:
"No, I got the news yesterday and only told you today!"

Hearing this, Yuan Song hesitated for a moment and said:
"Forget about this once you leave this tent and don't tell anyone!"

Zheng Chuang was stunned when he heard this, and he didn't understand why Yuan Song said that. At this time, Yuan Song patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Remember my words, I'm doing this for your own good!"

Although he was very confused, seeing Yuan Song's serious look, Zheng Chuang nodded subconsciously, but suddenly he seemed to think of something and said:
“My lord, I should not be the only one who knows about this. Look at this…”

Yuan Song ordered in a deep voice:
"Don't worry about others, just take care of yourself!"

Feeling the seriousness of Yuan Song's expression, Zheng Chuang took a deep breath and assured Yuan Song:
"I understand, and I promise to forget this matter!"

Yuan Song nodded upon hearing this and said:
"Go down and do your work!"

"Yes!"

After Zheng Chuang left, Yuan Song, who was alone in the tent, let down his guard and leaned back in his chair tiredly.

Although he was born a warrior, as his official position rose, Yuan Song also became well versed in the ways of being an official. He particularly liked a saying by Zengzi: "I examine myself three times a day: Am I unfaithful when I work for others? Am I untrustworthy when I make friends? Am I not practicing what I have learned?"
It was precisely because of his constant self-reflection that Yuan Song became more cautious and tried his best to avoid the suspicion of being too successful and threatening his master.

It was with this idea in mind that when Yuan Song received a call from Ye Mingsheng asking him to be transferred to the position of Chief of the General Staff, he did not make any arrangements in his old unit, the First Army. He only brought a few dozen guards and immediately came to Yijing to take up his post.

It was this attitude of no hesitation and no delay that made him always gain Ye Mingsheng’s trust. Not long after he took the position of Chief of Staff, he was sent out again to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Fengwu Army Yunbing and concurrently the commander of the Second Army, with full responsibility for the war between the Fengwu Army and the Luoan court...
However, because he was fully devoted to the fierce battle with the imperial guards during this period, Yuan Song was slack in self-reflection. He didn't feel anything before.

But Zheng Chuang’s words just now reminded him!

Yes! How many soldiers does the Fengwu Army have in total?

Now, except for the First Army, the Fourth Army, the Sixth Division, and some local garrisons, almost all the troops of the Fengwu Army are in his hands, and two divisions of troops will be sent from the rear soon!

In this way, Yuan controls nearly 70% of the Fengwu Army's troops. Although he has a clear conscience and no ulterior motives!
But what do others think?

As the saying goes, three people make a tiger, and people's words are scary. Even though the Marshal trusts me very much now and is not affected by these suspicious voices, I still have to take action!

Thinking of this, Yuan Song took out a piece of letter paper and began to write a memorial to Ye Mingsheng!

Previously, because the Second Division was the unit where Lin Huaiwu started his career, and there had never been a good choice for the position of general of the Second Division, Lin Huaiwu previously served as the general of the Second Division while serving as the commander of the Second Army.

Therefore, when Yuan Song replaced Lin Huaiwu as the commander of the Second Army, he actually also served as the general of the Second Division...
The first thing Yuan Song had to do now was to write to Ye Mingsheng, saying that he was the commander-in-chief of Yunbing and the commander of the Second Army at the same time, and that he was too exhausted to take care of the duties of the Second Division at the same time, so he asked Ye Mingsheng to appoint a new general of the Second Division.

In this regard, Yuan Song recommended Ye Dong to be transferred to the Second Division, and praised Ye Dong's performance in leading the Ninth Division on the Yunbing battlefield. He believed that Ye Dong was qualified and capable of serving as the general of the Second Division!
At the same time, Yuan Song also stated in the letter that he was born in a poor family, and his greatest hope in life was to become a local rich man, so he asked Ye Mingsheng to reward him with more gold, silver, treasures, land and manors!
Yuan Song was still not particularly satisfied after writing this, and was preparing to continue expressing in his heart that he hoped Ye Yanghui's granddaughter could marry into their Yuan family with more dowry.

Among what Zheng Chuang just said, Yuan Song was most satisfied with this marriage. Due to his special status, he has always been very troubled by his son Yuan Jie's marriage.

He was the leading general, so in order to avoid suspicion, his son should not marry the daughters of important officials of the Fengwu Army, otherwise there would be suspicion of forming a faction.

Yuan Song was unwilling to let his son Yuan Jie marry those girls from small families. He felt that with his merits, he would become a duke sooner or later, and his son would also be a duke in the future. How could a duke marry those girls from small families?···································
Therefore, Yuan Song was very conflicted and didn't know what to do, which also led to his son Yuan Jie not getting married at the age of 21.

And if he could marry Ye Yanghui's granddaughter, that would be the best choice, although Ye Yanghui did not hold any position in the Fengwu Army.

However, as an elder of the Ye clan, he is highly respected in the Ye clan. Even the Marshal respects this uncle very much. During the holidays, he will arrange people to visit and comfort Ye Yanghui with gifts!
Therefore, if his son could marry his granddaughter, it would be very beneficial for the deeper ties between the Yuan family and the Ye family, making the relationship between the two sides closer and ensuring mutual trust between the two sides. At the same time, it would also be beneficial to the future development of his son Yuan Jie in the Fengwu Army. It could be said to kill two birds with one stone!
Therefore, Yuan Song was very satisfied with this marriage, and even looked forward to it happening sooner!
But on second thought, there was only news of the marriage, and the Marshal had not officially announced it yet. It would not be good to ask for it directly, so after careful consideration, Yuan Song still did not put anything into writing!
After putting the letter in an envelope, Yuan Song asked his men to send the letter back to Luoan and hand it to the Marshal as soon as possible. Looking at his men leaving quickly, Yuan Song’s heart finally settled down. He believed that after Ye Mingsheng saw this letter, he would understand his feelings...

(All the necessary foreshadowing has been done. The next few chapters will speed up the resolution of the Luoan court. Welcome to leave a message!)
(End of this chapter)