Chapter 1066 Return
When the Shang Ji army came, there were only 300,000 troops at first, and later a batch of reinforcements were added, and the total number of expeditionary troops reached 400,000.
On the return journey, the total strength of the Shangji Army approached the 800,000 mark.
In the battle of Dong Min, nearly one million Xiliang iron cavalry were captured, and in the surprise attack on Luoyang City, Shang Ji captured more than two million demon soldiers. million.
However, most of the prisoners of war were sold to Diao Chan. For example, ordinary demon soldiers, Shang Ji did not keep any of them, and sold them all to Diao Chan.
A large part of the Xiliang cavalry was also sold, and only about 500,000 prisoners of war were brought back in the end.
After several fierce battles, the original 400,000 merchant army was reduced by nearly half, leaving only more than 200,000, and the two added up to about 700,000 cavalry.
These prisoners of war have already undergone preliminary reorganization. Although their morale is still low and their loyalty needs to be improved, they can't fight any tough battles yet, but they don't look weak at all!
Those left behind by Shang Ji are all elites, and nearly 800,000 warrior cavalry went south, scaring many people to death.
Of course, in addition to the army, Shang Ji also carried a lot of supplies.
Captured armor and weapons, precious building materials from the dismantling of special buildings, a large amount of high-grade casting raw materials, high-grade medicinal materials, etc.
There are tens of thousands of vehicles loaded with various materials, so it is no wonder that the princes are jealous, and even Shang Ji himself is excited when he sees it.
In addition to supplies, there are people!
As the imperial capital, Luoyang has gathered 60% of the world's top talents.
Some of them died unfortunately during the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, another part escaped and lost to the people, and the remaining part was divided between Shang Ji and Diao Chan.
There are tens of thousands of such talents in the Shangji team, forging, smelting, carving, water conservancy, farming, textiles, etc., covering all walks of life, and the minimum is expert-level talents. It can be said that these talents are the biggest gains of Shangji's trip!
If this group of people can successfully arrive in Xiangping, Shangji will immediately rank among the top in the world in terms of productive talent pool.
In order to protect the trophies and talents, Shang Ji also worked hard.
The whole crew of Feifeng Huocai took off into the air, conducting 24-hour non-stop investigation. Zhao Yun led 100,000 cavalry as the vanguard to eliminate all threats, while Huang Zhong led 100,000 elite soldiers to guard against pursuit and harassment.
Tai Shici and Liu Meng each led 100,000 troops to guard the two wings.
Shang Ji led the main force to walk in the middle.
Just to put it bluntly, although Shang Ji is in charge of commanding and dispatching the army in name, Xu Rong is actually in command!
Xu Rong is indeed worthy of his abnormal commander value of 99. There are more than 700,000 troops, tens of thousands of vehicles of supplies, and nearly 200,000 civilians (including the families of those talents). All aspects need to be coordinated, and Xu Rong Rong made everything in order, which made Shang Ji full of praise.
Along the way, there are a lot of envious merchants and supplies, but the real princes are still arguing in Luoyang. Even if there are a few fools who are dazzled by wealth and want to take advantage of the opportunity to rob, they have not even passed Zhao Yun. , was easily defeated.
There was no danger along the way, and it took Shang Ji half a month to return to Quanzhou!
Guo Biao, who was staying in Quanzhou, led his army to greet him early, and Shang Ji didn't waste any time. He only rested for one night, and the next day he boarded a navy warship, giving priority to sending the spoils and talents back to Pingzhou.
On the other side of Pingzhou, Deng Yan had already heard the news, and arranged for manpower to respond in Tajin early on, properly handling the materials and talents transported over.
Watching the last junk ship loaded with supplies set sail under the escort of the Navy's warships, Shang Ji also heaved a long sigh of relief.
Transporting so many things, running all the way from Luoyang to Quanzhou, the places they passed were basically semi-hostile forces. Shang Ji was so nervous that he was dying all the way, and he was worried all day for fear of any accidents.
After completing all the transportation of materials and personnel, it is the transportation of the army.
There is no need for Shang Ji to worry about this aspect. Naturally, Liu Yi and others will help to handle it. It was at this time that Shang Ji had time to talk to Guo Biao: "Huchen, how do you feel in Quanjin recently?"
"Thank you for your concern, my lord. Everything is fine. It's just that I don't see you for ten months. I miss you very much."
Guo Biao smiled honestly and said.
Shang Ji also smiled, the two chatted for half an hour, Shang Ji finally turned the topic to serious matters: "Huchen, I'm afraid you have to stay in Quanjin for a while."
Guo Biao was stunned for a moment, but he quickly realized that he stood up and cupped his fists and said, "Everything is under the master's arrangement!"
"Quanjin is a strategically important place. If Quanjin is completely controlled, the navy will have a strategic support point. If you go south, you can attack Jizhou, and if you go north, you can attack Youzhou. This key position must be in our hands."
Business opportunities have long taken a fancy to the location advantage of Quanjin (in fact, near modern Tianjin). Before, they took advantage of the opportunity to occupy Quanjin under the pretext of asking Dong to transport grain and fodder. The Pingzhou navy set off from Tajin and went straight to Quanjin. Compared with the land route, the distance was shortened to one-third of the original, and the time was directly shortened to one-fifth. It was of extremely important strategic significance to the Shangji army. Ji did not intend to return Quanjin again.
"The subordinate understands! However, the troops in the subordinate's hands are too weak, and they may not be able to complete the task entrusted by the lord. I implore the lord to send more troops."
Guo Biao followed Shang Ji's order without hesitation, but then he also raised the objective reality of insufficient troops.
Restricted by the agreement of the coalition forces before, although Shang Ji can temporarily borrow Quanjin, the number of troops stationed in Quanjin cannot exceed 10,000. Once Shang Ji really plays a rogue and refuses to return the spring, the ten thousand people will not be able to hold the spring.
"Don't worry, the general knows it well. I will immediately order the expansion of Quanjin, and then send 30,000 black-armored black knights and 80,000 scale-armored sailors to station in Quanjin. The navy will also send a permanent fleet to Quanjin to assist you in defending."
After listening to Shang Ji's promise, Guo Biao roughly calculated the possible military threats, and then raised his chest and said loudly: "Don't worry, my lord, I will definitely guard Quanjin for my lord in the end, and ensure that Quanjin is firmly under control. In our hands!"
Seeing Guo Biao's full confidence, Shang Ji nodded with a smile: "Huchen will be at ease in handling affairs, and will quietly reveal a secret to you. You won't be able to stay in Quanjin for long, half a year in the short term, or a year in the long term. You will be freed from the spring!"
Guo Biao's eyes flashed brightly when he heard the words, suppressing his excitement, Guo Biao pointed to the north, and said in a low voice, "My lord is talking about that old thief Gongsun?"
"good!"
A cold light flashed in Shang Ji's eyes, and he said in a cold tone.
Gongsun Zan immediately abandoned Sishui Pass after Dong Zhuo's defeat at Hulao Pass, and then frantically retreated to Youzhou's lair. In order to curb the increasingly fierce Shang Ji, the princes voluntarily gave up pursuing Gongsun Zan's betrayal, and even secretly provided convenience for Gongsun Zan to return to Youzhou.
These petty actions of the princes could not be concealed from Shang Ji's eyes, he had already developed the intention of killing Gongsun Zan. Just like what he said just now, Shang Ji will send troops to Youzhou to destroy Gongsun Zan in as short as half a year or as long as a year!
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