Chapter 31 The Logistics Plan of the Xueqi Army

Suo Zheng took over the conversation and said, "Mr. Dai, the dietary structure is a term in our Xueqi Army's supply management. It refers to the proportion of grains, meat, fish, and vegetables in the soldiers' meals, and how much alcohol and honey can be provided. If Mr. Dai doesn't mind, please allow me to explain the Xueqi Army's logistics plan."

Dai Shikui smiled and said, "General Suo, please." After a few days of contact with Suo Zheng, who managed the entire complex logistics system of the Xueqi Army with extremely high efficiency at such a young age, Dai Shikui was filled with admiration. Suo Zheng not only managed the logistics of the Xueqi Army in an orderly manner, but also made various arrangements with ease while paying attention to personnel training and decentralization of power, without putting all the pressure on himself.

Suo Zheng gestured to everyone and said, "First, let me continue the previous topic. Originally, the diet of our Xueqi Army was mainly based on grains. Considering the need for on-the-spot supplies during grassland operations and the relatively large consumption during combat, the quartermaster battalion's cooking team has conducted research and determined a new menu based on horse meat, beef, and mutton, supplemented by grains and wild vegetables. From today onwards, this menu will be implemented throughout the camp in parallel with the original menu, to get used to the dietary changes. Considering the possible surprise attacks during grassland operations and the scouts' unfamiliarity with water sources, a large amount of drinking water that is not easily perishable needs to be carried. A large number of malt wines and rice wines, custom-made from the rear, will be used to replace fresh water. The current stock of grain can guarantee the consumption of the entire Xueqi Army for three months, and the subsequent ordered grain will be delivered successively. There are currently 2,700 dan on the way, 3,200 dan of confirmed orders have been placed, and 10,000 dan are intended to be reserved for purchase. In addition, 3,000 packages of edible salt and 1,000 dan of smoked fish ordered from the Seven Seas Trading Company are on the way and will arrive here soon. Within Dongping, after the Xueqi Army enters Yunzhou for combat, the supply transportation will be mainly handled by the Federal Express, while within Yunzhou, the supply will be mainly transported and managed by the quartermaster battalion, and the defense of the supply line will be coordinated by Zou Shuangwen's unit of the new recruit battalion."

"We have established an ordnance repair workshop in Ningyuan City, within Yunzhou, which has the ability to mass-produce simple and effective ordnance such as arrow shafts and crossbow cannons. Under the condition of guaranteed raw materials, simple arrows without arrowheads or sharpened arrow tips can produce 4,000 to 6,000 pieces per day. Due to the excellent quality of the wood used from the north, the quality of the arrows is good. Approximately 100,000 arrows and 26 crossbow cannons have been stockpiled in Ningyuan. At the Dongjiaji camp, 400,000 arrows are ready. Among them, 300,000 are special arrows, which is all the current inventory of special arrows. Due to the limited production of Huoxingdan (Mars Explosive Grenades), our current inventory is about half Huoxingdan and half Huoyoudan (Oil Explosive Grenades), and there are also 20 Meng Huoyou (Flaming Oil) projectors. Old Man Qi said that this is all that can be allocated, and he will send another batch next month. The storage of Meng Huoyou is about 200 vats, which can supply one projector to spray fire 2,000 times. Subsequent goods will arrive successively, and production plans have been negotiated with Ye's Workshop, Gao's Workshop, the Inner Court Ordnance Workshop, and the Crescent Island Workshop of the Seven Seas Trading Company, and capable personnel have been assigned to supervise the matter."

In addition to these main items, Suo Zheng also reported on the reserves of items that may be used in some special occasions, such as smoke agents, Miyan (sleeping gas), special agents for poisoning and detoxifying water sources, clothing and flags used to imitate enemy actions, and so on. Although the Xueqi Army's weapons are sophisticated and sufficient, Suo Zheng still prepared several spare sets of armor and weapons for each type of soldier in the logistics equipment. In addition to those basic materials used for emergencies, such as steel, wood, ropes, beef tendons, linen bags, and iron cables, the Xueqi Army prepared no less than 300 kinds of items in total. And the things that the Xueqi Army soldiers themselves would carry for emergencies were not included. According to the Xueqi Army headquarters, the variety of wound medicines gifted by friendly people from various sects that the officers carried was enough to open a martial arts first aid supplies exhibition. And those self-defense ancestral swords, treasured sabers, short knives, daggers, as well as very impressive and effective mascots and souvenirs, were also quite considerable when piled up. In Ye Tao's view, many of them were cultural relics. The most exaggerated thing was that some people's families, fearing that their children might have some trouble, brought things like the iron certificates granted by the founding monarch of the Tan family with them…

If Dai Qiong and Dai Shikui's personalities were slightly more cartoonish, they would probably be filled with black lines when they knew these situations, but now they were just amazed at the Xueqi Army's thorough preparations in all aspects.

Suo Zheng's explanation of the Xueqi Army's logistics preparation lasted for a full quarter of an hour before coming to an end. Finally, he summarized concisely: "In summary, the Xueqi Army's logistics preparation can guarantee the Xueqi Army's high-intensity combat for three to six months. Moreover, it can at least maintain the Xueqi Army's non-combat battlefield service for about a year. The Xueqi Army has fully prepared for combat in terms of logistics."

Ye Tao frowned after hearing this and said strangely, "Okay, I'm very curious. Since everyone is ready, what are you waiting for? Waiting for which side to start the war first? Since everyone knows that this battle is inevitable, are you really waiting for the other side to strike first?"

Dai Ye explained, "Although Yunzhou is only one state, it is quite vast. Although it cannot be said to be rich, it is at least not poor. This is why our Yunzhou can support hundreds of thousands of troops to protect the territory and the people. And the land of Yunzhou, where the border is, is really vague. Basically, they are customary boundaries, plus a relatively wide buffer zone on both sides of the border. Now, even the Xiling side, which has the most obvious attitude, is only placing the army a little outside the buffer zone, and strengthening patrols within the buffer zone... If we rashly start a war..."

Ye Tao nodded and said, "Okay. I understand Yunzhou's deployment in military strategy. So, in these days, have you defined the highest and lowest goals of the Yunzhou and Dongping coalition forces in this battle?"

Qiu Haohui touched his nose and said, "This... we haven't reached a consensus yet."

Ye Tao grinned, with an expression that said, "How could you be like this?", and said, "Okay, according to the Xueqi Army's procedure, you should have a preliminary battle plan, right? What policy is the plan based on?"

Qiu Haohui respectfully reported, "We have discussed in detail various situations in response to the enemy's invasion. We have several plans, including troop deployment and supply, etc..."

Xu Jingtian smiled and said, "Ye Tao, why don't you talk about it according to your ideas."

Ye Tao nodded and said, "We are preparing for war, but we are not simply fighting a war. At least I think, since the enemies are not closely connected, we have other means to divide the enemies. Among the three enemies, Xiling's need for Yunzhou is the most urgent. Because Xiling, like Dongping, lacks a stable and reliable supply of high-quality warhorses, they need Yunzhou to take Xiling's cavalry to the next level. Otherwise, just based on the current level of Xiling's cavalry, they have already fallen behind Dongping, which is very inconsistent with their ambition to unify the world. And obtaining Yunzhou is not only obtaining a reliable supply of horses, but also forming a semi-encirclement of Dongping. Although they will border Beiliao from then on and have to maintain a longer border, after weighing the pros and cons, Xiling must think that such a price is worth paying. So, the battle with the Xiling army is bound to be irreconcilable and inevitable. As for the Korka tribe and others in the north, I think their so-called area north of the Di River is not of great significance to them, and there may be a further agreement with Xiling. The reason for thinking this way is because from the area currently controlled by the northern tribes to the north of the Di River, it is equivalent to them only advancing the control line 300 li to the south. Compared to the vast grasslands, wilderness, and some of the extreme northern forest belts and tundra further north, what is this 300 li? You also said that the Korka have become increasingly stronger in the north in the past few years, which proves that there is no large-scale climate and soil change that forces the northern tribes to move south. They can continue to move west and harass Beiliao to the east, so why must they move south? What do they want to get?... Finally, there is Beiliao. They have pastures and absolutely stable and high-yield horse farms. In fact, Yunzhou is not of great significance to Beiliao. For Beiliao, even if they obtain Yunzhou, what can they do? Instead, they will face the threat of direct contact with Xiling, and the pressure from the northern tribes still exists. Facing Dongping, they not only failed to obtain greater strategic depth, but even increased the border that is extremely suitable for large-scale troop advances and needs to be protected, which may not be a very cost-effective deal. I judge that Beiliao may want to take advantage of the chaos in a speculative manner and try to correct the current predicament of not having reliable military support points on the Yunzhou front line. Judging from the sand table, there is no suitable place for defense on the Yunzhou side of the buffer zone for either side, but within the buffer zone, there is Dalun Mountain, a relatively dangerous location. So, is it possible that the other party will take Dalun Mountain as a more practical target?"

Ye Tao said, "If possible, perhaps we should use diplomatic means to get Beiliao to give up attacking Yunzhou. And acknowledge our actual occupation of Yunzhou."

Xu Jingtian chuckled and said, "To get Beiliao to give up attacking? What conditions can we offer?"

Ye Tao firmly said, "A non-aggression treaty, acknowledging Beiliao's occupation of Dalun Mountain and the construction of military camps, and normalizing trade between the two countries, including horses, and giving a definite number of horse purchases."

The three conditions proposed by Ye Tao were very appropriate. In recent years, Beiliao has changed from being able to continuously invade Dongping in the past to only being able to endure Dongping's harassment. Although they are also seeking to strengthen the country internally, the effect is far less obvious than that of Dongping. When the situation of Dongping and Xiling competing for the world is already obvious, they will naturally feel a little apprehensive. A non-aggression treaty, although it only gives a treaty guarantee, can also make Beiliao weigh it. Acknowledging Beiliao's occupation of Dalun Mountain is to allow Beiliao to correct the national security situation facing Yunzhou, which is extremely attractive. And by occupying Dalun Mountain, they have the opportunity to push the actual control line and the buffer zone a little closer to the Yunzhou side. As for the normalization of trade between the two countries, including horses, it is a condition that is very beneficial to both parties, but more beneficial to Beiliao. Once Dongping obtains Yunzhou, the demand for smuggling horses from Beiliao will not be so great. In this case, promising to purchase horses through normal trade means has a crucial effect on improving Beiliao's situation of being unable to guarantee stable tax revenue in the horse trade in recent years. Ye Tao's strategy, which combines politics, military affairs, and economy, can be said to be quite targeted.

And Ye Tao's words also made everyone look at him with new eyes. Ye Tao's analysis of the three enemies has already had a tone in everyone's discussion these days, but Ye Tao just arrived here not long ago, and he spoke it out in one word.

Xu Jingtian stroked his beard and said, "Probably heroes see the same thing. The situation on the Beiliao side is about the same as the result of our discussion here. Yesterday, we have summarized everyone's opinions and sent them to Danyang by flying eagle to see how the monarch decides. Ye Tao, do you have any other opinions?"

Ye Tao said, "Yes, why not... Since everyone is ready to fight, since everyone knows that a war is inevitable, why not simply enter Yunzhou and start getting familiar with the terrain? I know that everyone here knows about the agreement between the Dai family of Yunzhou and Dongping, and has a clear idea about the future ownership of Yunzhou, so why not take advantage of the fact that the war has not yet started to find ways to leave Dongping's impressive military power and the impression of not harming the people in the hearts of the people of Yunzhou? Who knows what it will be like after the war starts... Moreover, Dongjiaji is indeed in need of a material transfer center, but you have the time and money to build such a luxurious military camp, wouldn't you move this camp to Gaozi Mountain on the southwest side of Snow Wolf Lake? What's the difference between the terrain of that place and here? Not only is it easier to obtain wood, it is easier to obtain materials such as cowhide, and you can also solve part of the procurement of battlefield supplies for our army locally. I understand that the possible consequences of our army entering Yunzhou are two: one is that the other party is more careful because of Dongping's full intervention, and the other is that the other party takes the lead. However, based on the preparation of several parties, although our Xueqi Army was the last to start preparing for war, it is now undoubtedly the most prepared. So, what's wrong with using our full preparation to deal with the other party's inadequate preparation? You said that you can use your 30,000 people as 100,000 people, and now there are 3,000 more people from Tianwang Village..."