Chai Guozhu did not finish his words, but Xiao Ruxun knew exactly what he meant.
Not to mention that he was not a civil official, even if he was a civil official, even if he was the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, he might not be able to defeat the Jin merchants. This interest group was too big and too powerful. If he wanted to cripple them, he might as well just send troops to plunder and kill them all.
They had developed to the point where they had become cancer cells. Like all cancer cells, normal medical treatment would not work. Special methods had to be used. In order to deal with this unbelievably huge interest group that had achieved an invincible golden body, there was no other way other than using violence to destroy their bodies.
But if she really did so, Xiao Ruxun would become the public enemy of the Great Ming Dynasty. From then on, she would no longer have a foothold in the Great Ming Dynasty. If she wanted to live, she could either flee to the north or the west, or simply raise a flag to rebel. But these were not long-term plans, and they were impossible to succeed. So from the beginning, this kind of method was not within Xiao Ruxun's consideration.
Other than that, what else could he do?
"I will remember Commander Chai's words. Let's not talk about these Jin Merchants for now. With these grains, the Northern Barbarians should not be short of food. Why didn't they return to the north? Why did they do such a strange thing?"
Chai Guozhu was confused. You are the Admiral and a famous general. Why are you asking me?
"I really don't understand."
Xiao Ruxun nodded helplessly. She felt that she had made a mistake by not bringing Yuan Huang along. She had thought that it was just a simple battle, but it turned out that there was such a deep inside story involved. The Northern Invaders were starting to get serious. They had robbed the food and still refused to leave. What was their goal?
They lacked a counselor! If he had a trustworthy strategist by his side, he would not have to face such an awkward situation.
After all, Xiao Ruxun did not know much about Shanxi. Li Rusong and Chai Guozhu were not local either. More importantly, even if they knew, they would not help Xiao Ruxun like a qualified counselor.
The power of a single person was too insignificant. Even if he came from the future, even if he could lead an elite army and use weapons from the future, he was still helpless in such a situation. He was so lonely that he could not find a second companion in the entire Divine Land of Huaxia.
For the first time, Xiao Ruxun doubted his beliefs.
After Li Rusong dealt with all the captives, he came to Xiao Ruxun's side. Seeing Xiao Ruxun staring blankly at the rations, he thought about it carefully and understood what was going on with her. Regarding this, he had no way to deal with it. He was arrogant, but he was just using the name of arrogance to gain benefits for himself.
Did he really dare to go against the interest group?
Li Rusong was not stupid.
"Commander, what should we do now? The Northern Barbarians here have been dealt with, but we don't know where the Northern Barbarians are. What should we do? "
Xiao Ruxun took a deep breath, suppressing the depression in his heart.
"Send out the mounted sentries and head west. If they see any survivors along the way, ask them if they saw the direction of the Northern Invaders' army. It's impossible for the Northern Invaders' army of more than thirty thousand to vanish into thin air. They must have left some traces. As long as we know where they went, we'll know what their objective is."
Li Rusong nodded, "Yes!"
Then, Xiao Ruxun gave an order to Chai Guozhu.
"Commander Chai, send people to load the food into the carts separately. We have enough provisions provided by the imperial court, so we don't lack food. Now, use these food as disaster relief rations. If you find any refugees along the way, give them food so that they can get through this winter. This can be considered as wool coming from the sheep!"
Chai Guozhu looked at Xiao Ruxun and nodded in acknowledgment.
This commander was a rare person who cared about the world. It was a pity that he was born at this time. If he was born during the era of Taizu or Chengzu, he would definitely have made greater contributions.
Hsiao Jixin, he was born at the wrong time!
After that, Xiao Ruxun led twenty thousand cavalrymen and ten thousand infantrymen, amassing thirty thousand soldiers and horses. Leaving the remaining soldiers to guard Redbud Pass, she led the main force out of Redbud Pass, marching all the way to the west of Shanxi. When they arrived at the area of Lingqiu, the cavalry received important information.
A large group of Northern Barbarians cavalry had turned south from this area ten days ago. No one knew what they were going to do, but before that, the Northern Barbarians had split up here. The main force headed towards Zijing Pass, while another 10,000 cavalry headed south.
This strange movement made Li Rusong and Chai Guozhu look at each other in dismay. They could not figure out the reason behind it. Xiao Ruxun sank into deep thought.
After the Northern Barbarians broke through Pingxing Pass, they split into two groups. The main force attacked Pingxing Pass, while the 10,000 cavalry headed south. Currently, the information they had was that Wutai had fallen. A few days later, over 30,000 Northern Barbarians cavalry left during the night and headed south. The direction they headed south was undoubtedly in the direction of Wutai. What was south of Wutai?
That was Taiyuan.
That was where the commander-in-chief of the entire campaign, Wang Shiyang, was. Taiyuan also gathered the main force of Shanxi and Yulin Town. There were over 100,000 people. It was the main camp of the Ming Army. The military strength was strong and the defense was strong. What were these Northern Barbarians planning? Did they really dare to go head to head with the main force of the Ming Army that numbered over 100,000?
It was not as easy for cavalry to fight infantry. As long as the infantry formed a neat phalanx and had courage, then the cavalry would have a headache. The reason why people thought that cavalry naturally restrained infantry was mainly because of the Song Dynasty, especially the battles between the Jin and the Mongols at the end of the Song Dynasty.
Disregarding the Mongols, when dealing with the Jin, the Song Army did not have any fighting spirit at all. Furthermore, they lacked training. The Song Army was large in numbers because they recruited refugees into the army. However, without training, the quality of such an army could be imagined. They were a motley crew that would collapse at the slightest touch.
With fighting spirit, courage, and training, no horse would dare to directly charge into the formation. Horses were also animals and would be afraid of fire and sharp objects. The infantry phalanx was like a big hedgehog. The cavalry actually did not have a good way to attack the infantry phalanx. However, the infantry phalanx could not counterattack or pursue.
The Ming Army border army was not as cowardly as the Song Imperial Army and Prefectural Army. The Northern Barbarians were more or less afraid. How could the Northern Barbarians dare to directly challenge the 100,000 troops?
Wang Shiyang was not someone who was afraid of trouble. Li Rusong described Wang Shiyang as someone who had courage but was not very smart. It was unlikely that such a person would run away at the last minute. As long as Wang Shiyang did not waver as the commander-in-chief, he would still have the courage to gather more than 100,000 people together.
How could 40,000 Northern Barbarians dare to directly challenge the 100,000 Ming Army?
What was their goal?
Xiao Ruxun did not have time to think too much because Taiyuan was too important. It was better to be safe than sorry. If Taiyuan suffered a disaster, then the entire Shanxi would not be safe. This was a matter of great importance and did not allow for too much thinking.
Xiao Ruxun immediately ordered Chai Guozhu to take 5,000 infantry and five Hongyi cannons to recover Pingxing Pass and block the Northern Barbarians' escape route to the north. He also ordered Nurhachi to take 5,000 Liaodong cavalry to reinforce Yanmen Pass to encourage the defenders there.
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