Chapter 819: Peace of Mind

The surroundings were noisy. Qiu Hu took a step forward. Only the He family and his son could hear the voice: "The enemy is afraid that they will besiege the city. Should I lead people to sneak out of the city through the west gate first to facilitate internal and external coordination?"

He Lingchuan's first thought was, what a suggestion!

Leaving a capable team outside can spy on the enemy's situation, coordinate internally and externally, and have high mobility.

But before he answered, He Chunhua waved his hand: "No, there is a way to get out."

"Dad..."

"Just trust me." He Chunhua asserted, "I will send someone to make some preparations."

He has always been thoughtful in his actions, and he doesn't believe what he says. If he says he has a solution, it's probably true. So He Lingchuan made a gesture to Qiu Hu, asking him to calm down.

Qiu Hu nodded and went about his business.

He Chunhua looked at his back and said to He Lingchuan: "The guard sent to you by the Rongshan Sect is very effective. I think he is a talented general."

How could ordinary soldiers respond so quickly when they hear the enemy is attacking?

Does the Rongshan Sect assign such talents to the eldest son as guards?

How much do you think highly of him?

He Lingchuan chuckled.

Of course, this thought only passed by in a flash. The war restrained He Chunhua's entire energy, and he began to calculate the balance of power inside and outside the city.

He brought a regiment of 100 soldiers, the newly assembled Heishui city defense army had 780 people, and the eldest son brought 15 Rongshan people, so the combat strength was about 900.

"Nine hundred, that's not enough." He pressed his temples, "When I left Blackwater City the year before last, there were clearly 2,200 people in the city defense army. Why are there only 780 left now!"

Zhao Qinghe immediately said: "I asked. Last year, Governor Hu declared to reduce the military defense due to heavy expenses. Wang Ting also approved, so the city defense army was reduced to 1,500 people. Later, the northwest front line was tight, and they were transferred from here. Seven hundred people left."

"Nonsense!" He Chunhua stroked his forehead, "This is a border fortress!" The person named Hu really died unjustly!

But He Lingchuan understood that Blackwater City had been at peace for a long time, and there was a wild sand season every year, which was equivalent to being unable to fight for four to five months a year, so Governor Hu became careless. The Blackwater City Army was established by former county governor He Chunhua, and private hoarding was not allowed. It was a regular frontier army supported by the local government. The local finance was tight, and it was really miserable to support so many soldiers.

Originally, there was Yuan Ting's subsidy for military expenditures, but in recent years, Yuan's domestic consumption has continued, and it has long been unable to come up with this money. Sheriff Hu didn't have He Chunhua's ability to increase revenue, so he could only think of ways to reduce expenditures, which didn't seem to be a big mistake.

Over and over again, it fell into this predicament.

These nine hundred men were barely enough to defend the city; but if they wanted to repel the Anton people, they were not enough.

After all, the quality of soldiers...

"Nine hundred people are indeed not enough, we can only recruit troops from the city." He Lingchuan touched his chin, "I have been back for a few days, and I always see strong men wandering around the city, and there are many practitioners."

"Practitioner?" He Chunhua understood immediately, "He is also here for the Panlong Desert."

"Isn't this a ready-made help? It's useless if you don't use it."

He Chunhua thought for a while and smiled rarely: "That's a good idea."

Then, he rushed to the market entrance of Heishui City.

The accompanying soldiers beat gongs all the way to attract the city residents.

Facing the city's elders, He Chunhua began to impromptu appeasement speech to mobilize the soldiers.

He only said three points:

First of all, Blackwater City has high gates, deep walls, strong walls, and powerful artillery. It is difficult for foreign enemies to invade, otherwise there would be no need to trick the city gates into opening;

Secondly, the Anton people were defeated by him, He Chunhua, twenty years ago. He could defeat the Antonians three times, and he could defeat them a fourth time;

Finally, Blackwater City has sufficient food and weapons, so there is no need for the elders to worry. Now we are recruiting strong men to protect our homes and cities, and we will all pay them generously and generously!

The soul-catching mirror asked He Lingchuan: "Is there enough food here?"

"Who knows?" Based on He Lingchuan's understanding of the administrative capabilities of local officials in Yuan Kingdom, this sentence was probably He Chunhua's nonsense. "Otherwise, what would he say? There is not enough food, the weapons are rusty, and the armor is not fully issued?"

If you tell the truth, half of the people here will run away.

He Chunhua had been an official in Blackwater City for more than ten years, and his administration was always close to the people. Most of the city residents did not recognize Governor Hu, but they all trusted He Chunhua.

Governor Hu was killed, the city gate was besieged, and internal and external troubles arose. Everyone was afraid of the wind and rain, but suddenly the former governor came to the city and commanded...

He Lingchuan stepped forward to help him at the right time, and shouted with great strength: "Master He defeated the Xunzhou rebels in the north. He is already the general manager of Yazhou, and was awarded the title of Marquis of Wuwei and General of Changning. A month ago, he quelled the rebellion in the south. There are only enemies outside Heishui City. It’s not worth mentioning! There are crouching tigers and hidden dragons in this city. Only with the help of experts can we defeat the enemy and reopen the city gate as soon as possible!”

The last words were spoken to the other forces lurking in Blackwater City. Of course the civilians didn't understand, but hearing that He Chunhua had made many military achievements and thinking that such a kind and strong man was in charge of the overall situation made him feel at ease.

The subsequent recruitment in Blackwater City went smoothly, with more than 300 people recruited in two hours.

The young men who join the army have a short period of time to learn and practice killing the enemy.

He Chunhua took time out of his busy schedule to ask Zhao Qinghe: "Have any practitioners taken the initiative to join?"

Zhao Qinghe shook his head.

Ha, as expected. He Chunhua smiled coldly: "Then invite them to join voluntarily."

He Lingchuan said from the side: "There's no rush."

"Not urgent?"

"They don't want to end yet. Dad, if you force them, it might be counterproductive."

Don't push people to the Andong side.

Unconsciously, He Chunhua asked his eldest son very smoothly: "Then when should we wait?"

"Wait until they think we have a chance of winning." He Lingchuan smiled, "It's better to wait until they are impatient... I think, it's almost time."

He Chunhua nodded slowly.

He Lingchuan saw deep thought in his eyes.

It is not known whether he was thinking about He Lingchuan's words or He Lingchuan himself.

When He Lingchuan returned to his residence to rest for a while, the mirror asked him again:

"Is this situation also part of your plan?"

Although it did not find these contents when He Lingchuan made the plan. But the master often does things with deep meaning, and it always finds out when things are about to happen.

"Nonsense." He Lingchuan washed his face and lay on his back on the bed with his eyes closed. "The sudden attack of the Anton people on the city was an accident. I didn't ask them to come."

Don't imagine that the plan can be fully implemented and the development of the situation can be under control. After experiencing the battle of Xushan, he understood:

Accidents are the norm in life.

"Really an accident?" The mirror was still skeptical.

"It's not surprising that the people of Anton attacked Blackwater City." He Lingchuan said, "Just as my father said, a weak country is in danger when it has a strong neighbor. Moreover, with the disappearance of Kuangshaji, Blackwater City has lost a natural barrier, so the foreign enemy is not afraid of a protracted war. But they really timed this too well, and completely disrupted my original plan."