Chapter 580: Digging for Meat

When they saw the Pioneer City for the first time, not only Yan Peng, but also Sun Xiao, were shocked. The Pioneer City was completely different from what they imagined.

In Sun Xiao's imagination, the current Pioneer City should be the same as when he built the Niulanshan Camp. First, a simple barracks with great development potential was built, and then it was improved step by step. In a few years, it was transformed into a strong city. In fact, the Niulanshan Camp was indeed like this. Of course, now he no longer called the Niulanshan Camp, but renamed it Tonghu City, which is the base camp of Helan Xiong of the Eastern Field Army.

The current Pioneer City is naturally not comparable to Tonghu City, but its progress shocked Sun Xiao. It is about to become a behemoth. The one in the middle should be the first camp to be built, but the walls formed by the thick wooden fences and earth and stone have now been covered with blue bricks. On the left and right sides, two camps of comparable size have been built. Sun Xiao is an expert in this area and naturally knows that if the two camps on the left and right sides are connected with the Pioneer City in the middle, the first real big city will appear on the Hetao Plain.

Looking around, a brick cellar in the distance is emitting wisps of blue smoke, and outside, piles of blue bricks are being pulled here by carriages. At this speed, it will not take long for the entire exterior of the Pioneer City to be covered with blue bricks. The strength of the wall covered with bricks is naturally not the same as that of the wooden and earth structure.

"Why are there so many people?" Sun Xiao was shocked just by taking a look at the soldiers working and training within his sight.

Xu Yuan seemed very proud, "Commander, I divided my troops into three groups, one group is building the city, one group is training, and one group is taking turns to rest, and they are replaced every three days. This ensures the speed of building the city and the training for preparing for combat, and also ensures that the soldiers have sufficient physical strength."

"I'm asking you. Where did so many people come from? Your troops are only three or four thousand, but I see... wait a minute, you just said that you divided the people into three groups, but now there are more than three thousand people busy building the city. You actually got tens of thousands of troops, where did you get them from?"

Sun Xiao opened his eyes wide and looked at Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan laughed proudly, "Commander, please enter the city first, and we'll talk in detail after entering the city."

Yan Peng, who was as puzzled as Sun Gong, was also puzzled. He thought that after the arrival of the 4,000 people of the Second Army under his command, they would undoubtedly become the backbone of the Hetao Plain, but now it seems that this is not the case. Xu Yuan actually has tens of thousands of troops under his command, one army, two divisions, and one division, three regiments. A division has 12,000 combat personnel, plus other miscellaneous personnel, which is 15,000 or 20,000, which is reasonable. The establishment of an army will definitely exceed 30,000 people, if it is really as Sun Xiao estimated. Then Xu Yuan now has at least one division that can be fully equipped. Thinking about his own subordinates, it is much more shabby, and can only guarantee the strength of a regiment.

The gap in strength between the two sides is huge.

Then I will become a supporting role in the Hetao Plain in the future.

The wall of the Pioneer City is still undergoing the final brick wrapping work. And inside, it looks more shabby. Obviously, Xu Yuan attaches more importance to the external defense. A new brick-and-wood structure is built. It is Xu Yuan's military headquarters. When you walk into the house, you can still smell a strong earthy smell. After several people sit down and the guards serve hot tea, Xu Yuan begins to talk about the rapid development of the First Army during this period of time.

Gongsun Yi and Luo Lei, with their cavalry, under the guidance of Chen Bin, swept through several Donghu settlements around Tengri, and rescued more than 10,000 Yan army prisoners of war who were settled in these places. Now these people have become Xu Yuan's subordinates. Except for a small number of them who no longer want to be soldiers and have changed their careers to become farmers and specialize in farming here, the rest have joined Xu Yuan's First Army. Now the First Army has more than 15,000 soldiers. It is indeed a fully equipped division. After being divided into two divisions, each division can also fully equipped two regiments. Such a gratifying achievement made Xu Yuan very proud and smiling.

Sun Xiao and Yan Peng looked at each other in bewilderment. Xu Yuan's luck was too good. The Governor's Office originally estimated that the Donghu would send a large number of troops to the Hetao Plain to compete with the Eastern Expedition Army for this area. Now it seems that this is not the case at all. The Donghu did send people, but most of them were prisoners of war, and they were just farming. It seems that the Donghu people did not take the Eastern Expedition Army seriously, as if they had determined that the Eastern Expedition Army would not dare to provoke them casually. Xu Yuan took advantage of this opportunity and succeeded in one fell swoop. But this is also a one-time deal. If Xu Yuan succeeds, there will be no chance for later comers to do the same thing. The Donghu people suffered this loss, so why shouldn't other farming sites be strictly guarded?

"Why didn't you continue the sweep?" Sun Xiaoming asked knowingly, "Yan Jun's prisoners of war in Donghu numbered over 50,000."

"After a few successes at first, it became difficult. Donghu people began to mobilize a large number of troops here. Scouts reported that the Donghu general in charge of the Hetao Plain was named Yuwen Ke, who was not easy to deal with. After several attacks, the losses were not small, the gains were not great, and the income was not enough to cover the expenses. So I gave up and returned to Xi'an to focus on building the city." Xu Yuan looked relaxed, as if he had taken enough advantage and was satisfied.

Sun Xiao touched his chin and pondered for a while, then extended two fingers to Xu Yuan, and Xu Yuan immediately showed a look of pain on his face.

Two fingers naturally meant that Sun Xiao would transfer 2,000 people from Xu Yuan to the army headquarters. Seeing Xu Yuan's reluctance, Sun Xiao smiled and said, "There is no room for bargaining, not one less."

"Okay, 2,000 is 2,000, and you can take them away when the commander leaves here."

"I want the strongest ones." Sun Xiao added worriedly, "Don't play tricks on me, otherwise you will be in trouble."

"How dare I play tricks in front of the commander!" Xu Yuan said bitterly, "I guarantee it's the best."

"That's about right." Sun Xiao stretched his legs contentedly, "I've been walking for more than a month, and I'm really tired. Xu Yuan, make some delicious food today, all The governor asked me to bring you a few jars of good wine to reward you for your hard work during this period of time, and also to compensate you for not being in Jishi City for many years. Today is a good time to have a good drink. "

Xu Yuan jumped up immediately, "I have plenty of wine here, but keep the wine sent by the governor, I can't bear to drink it."

Sun Xiao laughed, "You kid is lying in front of me. The little wine in your hand can't compare with the wine specially given to you by the governor. You want to hide the good wine for one person, no way. Naturally, everyone will share the benefits, General Yan, don't you think so?"

Yan Peng nodded repeatedly immediately. "Of course, we are all brothers, and brothers naturally share the benefits. It's better to share happiness with others than to enjoy it alone."

Xu Yuan's face lengthened again, looking at Sun Xiao, and then at Yan Peng, "This is not the way to beg for money!" He naturally understood what Sun Xiao meant. This was not a matter of wine, but there were other meanings hidden inside.

Sun Xiao smiled slightly. Xu Yuan was a smart man, so he naturally understood what he said. He also knew that Xu Yuan would definitely be dissatisfied if he had to make such a sacrifice, but there was nothing he could do about it. The First Army and the Second Army were both under his command. If the difference in strength between the two sides was too great, many things would not be settled in the future, and the Second Army would become a subsidiary of the First Army.

"Everything for the governor, everything for the Eastern Expedition Army, everything for defeating the Donghu!" He said three everythings, then stared at Xu Yuan and stopped talking.

Xu Yuan was silent for a moment, "Okay, I will assign another 2,000 people to the Second Army."

"General Xu is so righteous!" Yan Peng was overjoyed and gave Xu Yuan a thumbs up, "The Second Army, thank you for your support, brothers from the First Army."

Xu Yuan had a smile on his face, but his heart was bleeding. He shouted loudly: "Come on, tell the kitchen to prepare the best side dishes. I want to have a few drinks with the commander and General Yan today. Hua Zong, go and inform the officers below to prepare a few drinks to the commander and General Yan in the evening."

Sun Xiao and Yan Peng looked at each other, both with a bitter smile in their eyes. Xu Yuan cut the meat, and they were ready to go out sideways tonight. Looking at Xu Yuan's posture, he would never stop until he got them drunk.

But considering the two thousand people in hand, even if they got drunk, it didn't matter!

Just as the Pioneer City was full of jubilation and Xu Yuan held a banquet to welcome Sun Xiao and Yan Peng, in Tengri, a Donghu general stood on the scorched earth and gave an impassioned speech.

He was Yuwen Ke, the patriarch of the Yuwen tribe, and now he was the newly-minted general of the left wing of the Donghu Dynasty.

Thorpe's work of unifying the Donghu tribes and establishing a centralized dynasty finally came to an end. With the remaining prestige of defeating the 100,000-strong army of the Yan State and the bloody butcher's knife, Thorpe's unification was carried out much faster than expected. When the old king was alive, he cleaned up a group of them, and when the Yan army attacked, he weakened another group. The only one who truly belonged to Thorpe was the Tieling tribe of Alundai. However, after the three tribes of Keller were added to Tieling, the strength of the Tieling tribe was restored to the pre-war era.

Yuwen Ke originally belonged to a neutral tribe when the two kings fought for the throne, but he changed his mind very quickly. As soon as the old king made a move, Yuwen Ke keenly judged who was behind the scenes, and immediately joined Thorpe's side. This was also a major reason why he was rewarded for his merits and promoted to the general of the left army after Thorpe became king.

And now, Thorpe has handed the command of the Hetao Plain to him, which is also a recognition of his ability.

The Hetao Plain must not fall into the hands of the Eastern Expedition Army. This is Thorpe's bottom line, that is, it is not feasible for Yuwen Ke to defend the east bank, he must attack.