Chapter 119 Comprehensive preparation for war

To be honest, they did not have any confidence in fighting the Tartars alone. Not only did they have no confidence, but other military households were afraid that they would not have much confidence. After all, the cruelty of the Tartars was too scary. This was almost an innate fear. Under normal circumstances, a Tartar could beat up a group of Ming troops. Once the number of Tartars exceeded a certain value, there was no chance of resistance.

Xu Xingxia frowned, not expecting that among the six general flags, there was a blunt statement that there was no confidence in resistance. It can be seen that the military households below had reached a level of fear of the Tartars. This was obviously not a good sign. If the general flags appointed by him had no confidence, let alone other military households.

In order to encourage the general flag, Xu Xingxia said confidently: "Even if the Tartars arrive, there is nothing great. The soldiers come to block the generals and the water comes to cover the soil. Last time, the only people from our Weizhen Fortress were driven away? Didn't we also kill the Tartars? In the end, we killed their little prince! Their big prince brought troops to revenge, but were they defeated by us?"

Lei Hongguo said hesitantly: "Last time...the number of Tartars last time was very small, only a few dozen people. But the actions of the Deputy Qianhu Lord seemed to indicate that the number of Tartars going south this time might be a large number. What if hundreds of Tartars arrive? If the number of Tartars exceeds one thousand people, what should we do? We will all die!"

Xu Xingxia said calmly: "Now our white-clothed army is also quite large."

Lei Hongguo wanted to speak but stopped. He either deliberately fought with Xu Xingxia or was too afraid of the number of Tartars. This fear began to be educated when he was pregnant. Over time, he developed a character of changing his temper. In normal times, he might be able to suppress one or two, but once the critical moment, this fear will be out of control. His last sentence was said when he was almost out of control.

Xu Xingxia said with a cold expression: "Let's do this, I am the most welcome to those who are willing to stay and fight the Tartars with me. Those who are unwilling to stay can temporarily move to Pinglu City. Let's vote first. Is there many people who are willing to stay or many people who are willing to transfer? Those who are willing to stay in Weizhen Fort and fight the Tartars with me, please raise your hand."

Chen Denglong raised his hand first, Liu Guangliang was the second, and the other three general flags, after hesitating a little, he raised his hand one after another. However, Lei Hongguo never raised his hand. His face turned blue and white, and he obviously felt the pressure from everyone around him. However, even with this pressure, he still did not raise his hand. This fully shows that his fear of the Tartars completely occupied his inner world. I really don’t know how he was chosen as general flag.

Xu Xingxia nodded and said calmly: "Okay! Among the seven people, six of them agree to resist, so we must do our best to resist! The same thing is, we don't want to wait for death, we must resist! If the Tartars want to eat us, we will collapse his big teeth! Lei Hongguo, since you don't want to stay in Weizhen Fort, please!"

Lei Hongguo's face turned red, he gritted his teeth, and turned around and left.

Xu Xingxia continued to say coldly: "War is nothing more than money, grain, weapons, personnel. We have all the strong men in Weizhen Fort mobilized, and there are probably about 1,000 people. We can also produce weapons ourselves. We may not be able to have one, but there are still ordinary weapons. However, the food reserves are seriously insufficient. It is estimated that once the Tatar cavalry besieged Weizhen Fort, our food will last for up to five or six days."

Speaking of this, Xu Xingxia looked at Chen Denglong and said expectantly: "Master Chen Qi, can you find a way to buy about 500 stones of grain within three days?"

The grain of five hundred stones is about 100,000 kilograms. There are a total of 3,000 men and women in Weizhenbao, and each person consumes one and a half kilograms of grain every day, which is about 5,000 kilograms a day. In addition to the consumption of war horses and various livestock, the grain consumed by Weizhenbao every day is at least 6,000 kilograms. Five hundred stones of grain can last for fifteen days. In addition, the five or six days of grain preparation for each family can support twenty days.

Xu Xingxia judged that as long as Weizhen Fort could last for twenty days, the Taurus cavalry should retreat. He estimated that no matter how brave the governor Li Maohui and general Li Guozhen were, they would not dare to let the Taurus cavalry stay on the ground of Ningxia Town for more than twenty days. Otherwise, they would wait for the black sage to be taken away and be imprisoned! The Tartars were rampant in Ningxia Town for twenty days, and the emperors in the Forbidden City in the capital would probably be furious.

Chen Denglong thought carefully and said slowly: "After knowing many grain merchants in Ningxia City, there should be no problem as long as they have enough money."

Xu Xingxia nodded and said, "Okay, then you will contact them immediately and buy 500 stones of grain. I will pay the full amount of money for buying grain. You tell them that the action must be fast and the grain must be transported to Weizhen Fort within three days."

Chen Denglong nodded and said, "There should be no problem."

Xu Xingxia said to Lin Hainiu again: "How is the progress of repairing the city wall?"

Lin Hainiu said in a little embarrassed manner: "The work has not started yet, and the labor force is still being mobilized from each household. At present, a total of 60 or 70 people have been recruited. However, if you want to repair it as soon as possible, at least three or four hundred people need to do it together."

Xu Xingxia frowned and said sternly: "Save the time to start construction! The whole city will start mobilizing in a while. We must strive to repair the city wall within ten days! Without the cover of the city wall, the Tartars will directly enter. What are the people below thinking?"

Lin Hainiu said helplessly: "Everyone is busy with their own affairs, and the public affairs will naturally be delayed. If the news of the Tartars is coming out, everyone's reactions will probably be much more positive. However, please pay attention to it. Some military households may have to hide in Pinglu City."

Xu Xingxia said coldly: "It will rain and mother wants to get married. What others think is their business, and we don't need to worry about it. However, the military households who stay in Weizhen Fort must find ways to overcome difficulties together. The basic principle is to have money and work hard. The other general flags, the main task of the past few days is to organize manpower and repair the city walls."

Chen Denglong and others agreed.

Xu Xingxia said to Liu Guangliang again: "During this period, the craftsman workshop must start construction day and night to rush to produce large batches of weapons and equipment to be distributed to all the strong men. In addition, the production of geese-ling arrows must be increased. A bow must be equipped with at least five bowstrings and one hundred geese-ling arrows. In addition, a large number of raw materials for various types of gunpowder must be collected. By the way, how many kilograms of gunpowder do we have now? It is prepared according to the proportion."

Liu Guangliang said cautiously: "Not much, only more than five hundred kilograms."

Xu Xingxia frowned and said, "Why is it only so small? The number is too small. No, we must make the craftsmen work harder, at least increase to more than 5,000 kilograms."

Liu Guangliang said in a bit embarrassingly: "It is not difficult to prepare gunpowder, but the raw materials are not enough. We have charcoal ourselves, but saltpeter and sulfur must be mined in Helan Mountain..."

Xu Xingxia said without any doubt: "Then send someone to Helan Mountain to mine immediately! No matter who you send, you must return saltpeter and sulfur. Tell everyone that if you want to survive, try your best to dig the sulfur and saltpeter back!"

Liu Guangliang hurriedly agreed.

Xu Xingxia glanced at each general flag and said, "What else do you have to say? If not, then we will part with each other and prepare separately. I will conduct inspections one by one. If there is, then we will quickly propose it and we will solve it on the spot."

Zhang Yun said in a loud voice: "Sir, should all the herdsmen outside withdraw?"

Xu Xingxia thought for a while and said with a deep expression: "How many livestock are there outside Weizhen Fort?"

Zhang Yunda said: "There are estimated to be about 500 horses, and there are about 330 cattle and about 6700 sheep."

Xu Xingxia thought for a while and said, "What about your suggestions?"

Zhang Yunda said: "If all of them are withdrawn, so many livestock will definitely fill Weizhen Fort. The fodder that livestock needs to consume is also very large and we can't afford it. However, if all livestock are withdrawn, there is one advantage. If there is not enough food, we can kill livestock and eat beef and mutton to live."

Xu Xingxia thought for a while, shook her head and said, "Forget it, let them all hide in the Helan Mountains and try to hide as far as possible. There are already a lot of cattle and sheep in our Weizhen Fort. If you want to eat meat, you can slaughter it on the spot. There is no need to bring it back."

Zhang Yun nodded and said, "Then there is no problem."

Deng Linyong continued: "Sir, the sweet potatoes and potatoes planted last fall are still a few days away, and you can harvest them..."

Xu Xingxia said decisively: "Try to collect what you can. If you can't collect, you will throw all the shit and urine, so that the Tartars dare not get close. In addition, it is best to put some four-corner nails on the ground to kill the Tartars' war horses."

Deng Linyong said in some confusion: "What four-corner nails?"

Xu Xingxia said to Liu Guangliang: "This is some small things created by the craftsman workshop, which can cause some trouble for the Tartars. At that time, the craftsman workshop will be handed over to you. I will explain the specific situation to the craftsman workshop."
Chapter completed!