Chapter 569: Pioneer City

Mu Qiu, who had been planning how to escape, was not in a hurry now. He stayed on the mountain for three days. In addition to finding something to eat and drink, he spent the rest of the time observing the situation at the foot of the mountain.

After three days of careful observation, he finally confirmed that there were about 2,000 Yan troops in the field at the foot of the mountain, and there were only 500 Donghu cavalry guarding them. What surprised Mu Qiu was that these Yan prisoners seemed to be very obedient. Even if these Donghu cavalry whipped them at will, these people did not resist.

This made Mu Qiu feel a little incredible. In his opinion, although these 2,000 Yan troops had no weapons, as long as they chose the right time and rose up to resist, it was not impossible to win. But they were willing to be slaves here?

He shook his head. He couldn't understand the things. He went back to report to his superiors. Maybe they knew that the first thing he had to do now was to understand the situation here more clearly, and the second thing was to escape.

On the fourth day, the weather was fine. The weather had been sunny for many days, but it finally changed its face and began to rain. It started with a drizzle before dawn, and in the morning, the rain gradually became heavier. Mu Qiu used branches and grass to weave a raincoat and wrapped himself tightly. He decided to take this opportunity to escape. Judging from the weather, the rain will not stop for a while. In the rain, the speed of the cavalry will slow down, and the vision will be unclear, so it will be difficult to track him. Moreover, since yesterday, the Donghu cavalry who were waiting at the foot of the mountain have disappeared. It seems that they are not patient. In such weather, they may not be able to bear the hardship and still set up an ambush at the foot of the mountain.

In any case, I have to take a risk. However, I don’t have a horse. I am afraid that I will suffer a lot on the way back, and it will take longer. If I walk all the way for more than 200 miles with my two legs, I am afraid it will take several days.

I must go back. There is such a big piece of fat meat here. He had to go back and bring the army with him. After becoming Xu Yuan's personal guard, Mu Qiu heard Xu Yuan talk about how to expand the army many times. There are 2,000 Yan troops here, who have received good military training. If they are brought back, the general's troops will almost double. But the Yan troops here don't seem to have any blood. They are as obedient as sons in front of the Donghu people. It's hard to say whether they can be used after being rescued.

He tightened the belt around his waist and tightened the straw raincoat on his body. Mu Qiu was like a moving haystack. He ran down the mountain.

Pioneer City, the station of the First Pioneer Army of the Northern Field Army of Zhengdong Mansion. Although Xu Yuan has read books and can read, he is not a literary man. The camp he built is still far away from the city. He still named it Pioneer City with a stroke of his pen, because the troops he led were the vanguard of the Northern Army. Since it is his place of stationing, this future city is worthy of the name of Pioneer City.

In Pioneer City. In Xu Yuan's room, the map was hung on the wall. During this period, the many scouts sent out have basically returned.

The terrain within a hundred miles on the other side of the river has no secrets in his eyes. What surprised him was that within a hundred miles on the other side of the river, it was basically in a vacuum state. The Huns who originally lived here have disappeared, leaving only some relics of the old camps that were once stationed. And the Donghu people did not fill this vacancy in time. It seems that the internal problems of the Donghu people are greater than the governor and Jiang Yizheng expected, and Thorpe should not have freed up his hands.

Despite this, Xu Yuan did not immediately raise troops to cross the river and push the actual control area of ​​​​Zhengdong Mansion to this area. The governor and the councilors agreed that with the current strength of the Zhengdong Army, it is not beneficial to cross the river. The Liao River is not a small stream, and it is not easy to cross the river. Once you cross the river, the transportation of logistical materials and the follow-up of the follow-up troops are big problems. Once attacked by the Donghu army, it is very easy to fail.

The Liao River is both a natural barrier and a natural defense line for both armies.

What bothers him is that there is still a scout who has not returned, and the captain of this scout is called Mu Qiu, who is a young officer he values ​​very much. He has not only participated in actual combat, but also is smart and willing to learn. For example, drawing a map is extremely difficult for most soldiers. This guy who has just been transferred to his command for less than half a year has already mastered it very skillfully. You know, the officers leading the scout team this time, except Mu Qiu, are all old men under his command.

This is a young man who deserves to be cultivated well. If he is defeated, it will be a great loss.

Mu Qiu had not returned yet, and Xu Yuan roughly guessed the reason. Mu Qiu was young, willing to learn, smart, and brave. These were his strengths, but his weakness was that he was too young. Being young meant being more impulsive and more eager to make achievements. His detection range must have exceeded the 100 miles he had stipulated.

Perhaps the Donghu people had not yet arrived in this area, and Mu Qiu had gone further, or they had already encountered the Donghu people, and at this time, they had become food in the stomachs of wild beasts.

After sighing for a while, Xu Yuan put this emotion behind him. War always kills people. Since Mu Qiu had made his choice, he had to be prepared to pay the price, and he had more things to do.

The barracks prepared for the Second Army are almost finished, and are roughly the same as my own. I have already done the preliminary work. I will do more improvements after Yan Peng's Second Army arrives. The two camps are about ten miles apart. After they are completed in the future, they will be two cities that support each other. They are not only the forward points for attacking the other side of the Liaohe River, but also the swords to protect the army headquarters to be built on the shore of Dayan Lake.

Dayan Lake will stand in the future. A big city that is not inferior to any state capital in the Central Plains will stand there. It will become the core of Zhengdong Prefecture to control the Hetao Plain.

I heard that Guo Quan, the Minister of Works who is good at building cities, will also bring a large number of craftsmen and civilians to Dayan Lake with Commander Sun Xiao. Counting the days, they are about to reach their destination.

He stood up and decided to go and see the army's farming. The Northern Army arrived at the Hetao Plain not only to control a certain area, but also to develop this area. Xu Yuan took a step ahead. He arrived last winter. He had completed this camp before the New Year. It was obviously not something that could be completed in a short time to turn Huigu into a real city. He was not an expert in this area. It was better to hide his shortcomings than to do things cleverly. It would not be too late to make further plans after the skilled craftsmen came. He still understood this principle.

After the beginning of spring, the army became idle. There was no war to fight, and the soldiers could not be dragged to train every day, which would make the soldiers feel bored. The veterans were not afraid of fighting, but they were afraid of boring training day after day. They had to find something to do, so he had the idea of ​​reclaiming some fields.

Now it seems that the original idea was right. Thousands of acres of land have been opened around the Pioneer City. In addition to sowing grain seeds, a lot of vegetables have been planted. Now the soldiers have fresh vegetables to eat. Before the New Year, such a day was unimaginable. Although some vegetables were transported from the rear, after a long journey to arrive here, the fresh vegetables, which were originally few in number, were almost inedible. Even so, the soldiers still devoured them. Now, at least they are self-sufficient in vegetables, and as time goes by, they will produce more varieties here.

Walking on the fields and looking at the green seedlings on the ground, Xu Yuan couldn't help but feel proud. He squatted down, dug up a ball of soil at random, and pinched it in his hand. The black soil fell in his hand. The land here is really fertile. If he doesn't take such a piece of unowned land, it will be a waste of natural resources.

What a good place! As long as there are enough people, it will turn from a thousand miles of wilderness into a thousand miles of fertile land. No wonder the governor and the councilor, as soon as they have time, the first thing they do is to seize this land.

Damn Donghu people, I will not let you occupy this place. This belongs to our Zhengdong Mansion. Xu Yuan waved his fist at the air.

"General Xu!" An urgent shout came from behind him. Xu Yuan stood up and turned around to see Tao Zongwang riding a horse, running towards him from a distance. He was startled. What happened? He shook the dirt off his hands and strode to meet him.

"What happened?" He asked loudly. Being in this place now, any slight movement can arouse his vigilance.

Tao Zongwang dismounted and ran to him, "General, today we were patrolling along the Liao River as usual and accidentally rescued a soldier of our army. He is your personal guard and one of the scouts sent by you to draw a map of the other side?"

"Mu Qiu?" Xu Yuan raised his eyebrows, "He's back, alone?"

Tao Zongwang nodded, "Yes, alone, with injuries on his body, he swam across the Liao River holding a wooden stake, exhausted, but happened to run into our patrol team. He said he had urgent military information to report to you!"

Urgent military information! Xu Yuan was shocked. Although Mu Qiu was young, he had fought in big battles. A person who could survive a fierce battle like the one in Jishi City naturally knew what urgent military information was.

Could it be that the Donghu people had already reached the other side? Xu Yuan's heart tightened. His leisure time might be coming to an end. If the Donghu people had already arrived, and the two armies were facing each other across the river, even with the Liao River blocking them, it would not be peaceful. Was the war about to begin?

"Let's go back!" He started to run towards the Vanguard City.