Chapter 1 Preparation Before the Battle

After staying in Yejia Fort for two days, Dai Yun secretly set off with his staff officers to prepare for the battle. Although not weak in combat power, it was their first time fighting with the garrison battalion as the main force. The garrison battalion was not weak, but its tactical command ability was somewhat problematic. Yu Fuzhong, braving his illness, summoned the battalion commanders and explained this matter to everyone, hoping that they could learn from Dai Yun. Dai Shijin and Dai Shikui also became the deputies and logistics commanders of the entire campaign, respectively. In addition, since tribal cavalry was participating in the war, Golan also squeezed in, and this head of the Agricultural Trade Bureau became the third-in-command of the entire campaign. For the Dai family, this battle was very special. No matter what the outcome, the trend was to reduce the number of clan soldiers of all families, including the Dai family. Tan Xiaopei never urged or coerced them. He treated the Dai family and other families with courtesy. Even their clan soldiers could directly order the best equipment, even airships. However, the Dai family themselves, after several discussions, taking into account the current situation, decided to reduce the total number of clan soldiers to around two thousand, and possibly further reduce it in three to five years. Reducing it to one thousand would be the limit. After all, Tianling Fort, as the Dai family's old residence, still had some basic administrative functions to perform. But at that time, the clan soldiers would be more like stewards with security responsibilities than combat troops.

The Dai family was not really worried that Tan Xiaopei would turn his face and demand that they cut their clan soldiers, or put pressure on them in other ways. Rather, it seemed a little redundant to keep clan soldiers now. In the past, the clan soldiers were almost the training corps of the various troops fighting against foreign enemies in Yunzhou. Batches of excellent officers came out of the Dai family's clan soldiers and became the backbone of the fight against the northern tribes. In the event of a critical war situation, the clan soldiers would also have to go to the battlefield as a key force to reverse the situation. And internally, the incomparably elite Dai family clan soldiers were guarding against other families, lest anyone should do anything to damage the interests of Yunzhou or be detrimental to the Dai family under coercion or temptation. But now, these functions were becoming less and less obvious. And the cost of supporting a clan army with strong equipment and training was becoming more and more impossible to ignore. The Dai family was actually richer than before. They had handed over the entire Yunzhou to Dongping, and those industries that were not related to governance were not affected in any way. Even now, although Yunzhou's commerce was developed, the Dai family could easily make money without asking for any special treatment. But no matter where, the Dai family was still special. The Dai family had been in Yunzhou for generations, and the prestige and respect accumulated over hundreds of years were not empty words. And in the officialdom, no one would deliberately set obstacles for the Dai family. Tan Weixin had been helping the Dai family with those money-making businesses, making the current Dai family the fourth largest business group in the country, and they were invincible in many industries. In particular, the Dai family was now the largest horse merchant in the world, and the second-ranked leather goods merchant, with an income that was absolutely enviable. But the more this was the case, the more they felt that the current significance of the clan soldiers was really not great. In terms of security, even in war, Yunzhou, especially near Gondor, was a safe place that made people feel a little bored. As for fighting against foreign enemies, if it weren't for the fact that this time they had to fight on two fronts and rely on the second-line troops to fight a crucial battle, and Dai Yun, who was in charge of the army, felt a little lacking in security, this kind of good thing for fighting would definitely not be the Dai family's turn.

While Dai Yun was gradually unfolding his deployment, allowing the garrison battalions to sneak to their starting positions in stages and batches, and talking to the battalion commanders and some key officers of each battalion one by one to further consolidate his command authority, Ye Tao had already brought his family to Zhongjun Town. After some rectification, the current Zhongjun Town was completely different from when they had first moved in. The entire town was full of a simple and practical style, and all factors that might hinder combat command had been cleared. In order to temporarily accommodate Ye Tao's family, the small courtyard that served as the temporary Jinglue official residence and temporary command post was surrounded by the communications bureau and airship mooring facilities. When Ye Tao left, the Zhongjun camp commander, Shiliu, even cleared a piece of land, as large as two blocks, and then quickly mobilized a large army to level the ground and other work, and then busily built airship mooring facilities and other facilities. In the future, this would probably be the central square of the entire town.

Looking at this large-scale arrangement and Shiliu's super-high efficiency, Ye Tao smiled wryly. Could they really stay in Zhongjun Town all the time? In fact, the length of time they had been staying in Zhongjun Town had already caused different voices in many parts of the army. Everyone was looking forward to advancing to the front line as soon as possible. But Ye Tao didn't want to criticize Shiliu for anything. This was her duty as the Zhongjun camp commander. And no matter how much time she had, she could constantly straighten out every detail of the command system from the inside out in these events. This was the reason why Shiliu, as a woman, had been able to sit firmly in the position of Zhongjun camp commander in the past few years.

Shiliu was originally Dai Yun's maid, and was very familiar with Ye Tao's family. This time, Ye Tao brought his family to "vacation", and although she was very happy to see Ye Tao's children again, who were all unique and incredibly cute, she was also worried about security. After all, they were now in Beiliao. Although a series of measures had been taken, many people had already turned to Dongping, but there were always stubborn elements.

Another thing was a series of different voices from the intelligence department. For example, there were still some people who were quite dissatisfied with Kong Xinhua's handing over the airship parts to Beiliao, and thought that this guy's intentions were probably a little strange. Several documents reminding Ye Tao to pay attention to this matter had already been sent. These people didn't do things like impeaching someone in the court, where there would be a flood of impeachments all at once. In terms of intelligence, each document had to occupy limited communication resources, and it was impossible to use them indefinitely. Several people who spoke out were all heads of various departments. Probably anticipating this situation, the reports written by Kong Xinhua, Chen Su, and Dai Rong had also arrived, detailing Kong Xinhua's motives for doing such a thing. After that, there was a report of an attack on Kong Xinhua.

It was already expected that Kong Xinhua would encounter danger. He had so bluntly become the fuse that divided the atmosphere of the Beiliao court into two, and now there were countless people who hated him. From Ye Tao's point of view, he had originally thought about whether to arrange one or two assassinations or attacks to make Kong Xinhua narrowly escape death and gain the trust of Zhang Ci and others, but Ye Tao never had the habit of using his subordinates as sacrifices. He was just thinking about it, and he had never even told anyone about it. But this time, Kong Xinhua was attacked, which coincided with his thoughts. The one who did it was none other than the Xilu Army.

On the contrary, near Yanjing, Gao Senqi's control over some of the Xilu Army was not so strict. And some of them were quite dissatisfied with Kong Xinhua's attack on the Xilu Army's caravan, and his seizing the goods for his own credit. Several veteran generals secretly wanted to retaliate. Moreover, these veteran soldiers were really unscrupulous in their actions. When Kong Xinhua led two groups of people east to the coast to pick up the goods, they actually mobilized five hundred cavalry to directly attack Kong Xinhua's team. Fortunately, Kong Xinhua had strong combat power around him at the time, and he brought the elite combat power that he had cultivated in Beiliao for many years. Although they were not regular troops, and not as strong as the special operations battalion, they still withstood the first wave of attack. Then Kong Xinhua simply held on to a mountain gully with a water source for a day, until the Donglu Army nearby came to his aid. Gao Senqi was still arranging the next stage of defense at this time, far away from Yanjing, and he didn't know about this matter that caused a great uproar in the court. The Xilu Army and the Donglu Army had more or less torn their faces with other areas of Beiliao. No matter in the eyes of the Beiliao royal court or in the eyes of the officials in the court, this confirmed the evaluation that the Xilu Army was arrogant and lawless. And Gao Gan had no choice but to resign from the position of Minister of War and retire to Yanjing. As for the officers and soldiers who participated in this matter, although they were not dismissed and questioned, they were all sent to the front line of the Xilu Army, and they would be cannon fodder when the war started. The Xilu Army also had different opinions on this matter. Now that the Gao family had not had time to rectify the various different reactions within the army, the spies from Dongping naturally had not had time to summarize a detailed view.

Ye Tao found it funny to look at. Sure enough, the more the country was in turmoil, the more inexplicable things would happen. He was in Zhongjun Town, and he could feel how much such things were tearing apart the Beiliao court. Kong Xinhua was a little frightened, but he survived after all. Now, regarding this matter, he and Chen Su and others were still under close scrutiny by all sectors of Beiliao, and they had not had time to send out the situation. After thinking carefully, Ye Tao asked Shiliu, "General Shi, you helped collect these military intelligence, and you know the key to it. What do you think should be done?"

Shiliu had no less confidence in Ye Tao than Kong Xinhua. After hesitating slightly, she said, "Did Mr. Kong receive the goods he went to pick up? Since there are important things inside, let's give them to Beiliao, to show that Mr. Kong has no resentment towards Beiliao and will never take the opportunity to cause trouble. Also, we should have people in the Beiliao Ministry of Industry, right? It would be a good idea to let Beiliao be able to produce airships, so that Mr. Kong can get some other things. Since the Xilu Army can get it, he can also get it, so that he has a position to speak from. ... Producing airships will cost Beiliao more money than doing anything else."

Ye Tao smiled and said, "It's about the same as what I thought. Since that's the case, let's do this matter in this direction. You are in Zhongjun Town and you have the most military intelligence. I'll leave this matter to you. Report back if you find anything difficult. Everyone is preparing for the war. I won't be in charge. I'm going to take my children out to have fun these days."

Shiliu was stunned for a moment, and then a hint of excitement and gratitude flashed in her eyes.