Pengcheng, ten li outside the western gate, the encampment of the Xuzhou western expedition army.
These past few days, Mi Fang had been busy selecting and organizing soldiers from the Xuzhou army.
The western expedition army, as designated by Tao Qian, consisted of 1,000 cavalry, 2,000 infantry, 1,000 archers and crossbowmen, and 1,000 sword-and-shield soldiers, along with four Colonels, three Commandants, and fifteen Company Leaders to accompany the expedition.
It sounded simple, but carrying it out was not easy.
The western expedition alliance was of great importance and concerned the face of an entire province, so Mi Fang naturally could not be careless in selecting personnel.
First, the choice of Lieutenant Generals and Colonels could not be Cao Bao’s direct subordinates from the central army; their backgrounds had to be relatively clean…
Moreover, the accompanying troops had to be strong, powerful, and skilled in combat.
Although Mi Fang had read some military books, this was his first time shouldering such heavy responsibility alone, and he was busy to the point of being utterly exhausted.
Of course, none of this had anything to do with Tao Shang.
For one, Tao Shang did not know how to command troops and had no experience in military command.
For another, his role was that of Army Supervisor.
What did an Army Supervisor do?
Tao Shang, taking the term literally, believed that an Army Supervisor should supervise others doing the work.
People who supervise others doing the work generally do not do the work themselves.
“First Young Master, this is the personnel roster for our expedition.
From the four Colonels and three Commandants above, down to the Squad Leaders, everything is listed here.
Please review it, First Young Master.” Mi Fang was still quite sensible.
Even though Tao Shang did not do the work, Mi Fang still made the proper reports when required.
Tao Shang took it and casually glanced over it before setting it aside.
He did not recognize a single person on it, so looking further would be useless.
At the moment, he was only concerned with three matters.
“Brother Mi, before we set out, there are a few things I want to confirm with you.” Mi Fang said, “What instructions does the First Young Master have?” “I dare not give instructions.
You are the commanding general, and I am the supervisor.
Military command rests with you, not with me…
However, before we march, there are three things I must confirm.
The first is whether the provisions and fodder are sufficient.” Mi Fang chuckled and said, “First Young Master can rest assured on this point.
Yesterday I especially went to the office of Cao Yuan.
The Granary Section has already specially prepared eighty thousand hu of grain for this expedition, to be supplied to the western expedition troops in batches by month.
We do not yet know how long this expedition will last, so I instructed the Granary Section that it must be ample, at least enough to supply us for the short-route march.” Tao Shang nodded upon hearing this.
The finances and grain of Xuzhou were mainly managed by Mi Zhu, and all the various section officials reported directly to him.
Since the main general of this western expedition was his younger brother, Mi Zhu would naturally spare no effort in providing rear support.
“The second matter concerns personnel…” Tao Shang slowly tapped the personnel roster that Mi Fang had just handed him and said, “I don’t recognize any of these people, but Brother Mi also knows that Xuzhou’s military affairs have always been under General Cao Bao’s control.
General Cao is opposed to this alliance, so the people on this list…?” Mi Fang said with a worried frown, “First Young Master, to be honest, for the four Colonels and three Commandants, I have already tried my best to avoid General Cao’s direct subordinates in the army.
The few I selected, after my investigation, should have no connection to him, but I cannot guarantee there are truly none.
After all, matters of personal connections and relationships are not always fully traceable…” Tao Shang shook his head and said, “Having a connection with General Cao or not doesn’t matter.
Even if they are his people, they can still be won over to serve you.
You are the commanding general of the army.
If these people harbor any thoughts during the expedition, it will cause trouble.” Mi Fang seemed somewhat troubled: “First Young Master, these people and I originally did not know each other at all.
How could it be so easy to pull them over from General Cao’s side…” Tao Shang let out a long sigh.
This gourd was truly unopenable; it required splitting the skull open and pounding the brain to make it understand.
Tao Shang patiently guided him: “Brother Mi, human nature has two things that are hardest to control.
One is called fear, and the other is called greed.
As long as you make good use of these two points, winning over these people will take only a single night.” “What?” Mi Fang’s expression was adorably blank, fully revealing his uneducated nature.
Truly playing the lute to a cow.
“Brother Mi, do you have money?” As soon as money was mentioned, Mi Fang’s spine instantly straightened, his chin seeming to lift all the way into the clouds: “I won’t speak of other things, but my Mi family truly has no shortage…
of money, we have plenty!” Black lines began to appear on Tao Shang’s forehead.
Look at that punchable appearance of yours.
“Good.
Then return to your residence and prepare more gold and silk.
Tonight, you and I will host a banquet in the commander’s tent for all the accompanying generals.” Without waiting for Mi Fang to reply, Tao Shang continued: “There is a third matter…
which is our marching route.” Before he finished speaking, Mi Fang’s spirits rose.
“First Young Master, I already thought of this point long ago.
Please follow me!” The two came to the large wooden platform in the center of the commander’s tent.
Spread upon it was a roughly five-foot-square leather map, dotted with annotations of prefectures, counties, city names, mountains, rivers, and waterways.
“First Young Master, in my humble opinion, there are currently four main locations where the various lords are gathering for the alliance: Henei, Suanzao, Yingchuan, and Luyang.
These four are the primary places where the lords are assembling troops.
But the various lords will ultimately choose one place as the alliance site.
In my foolish view, Yuan Shu at Luyang has powerful forces and is close to us.
We might as well go to Luyang first to join him.
On one hand, we can gain the protection of a strong army; on the other, we can build good relations with Yuan Shu.
I wonder what the First Young Master thinks?” Tao Shang decisively shook his head: “We are not going.” “Hmm?” Mi Fang had not expected his proposal to be rejected so quickly by Tao Shang.
He asked weakly, “Why?” Tao Shang raised two fingers: “There are two points.
First, among the lords, the strongest forces belong to Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, one in the north and one in the south, echoing each other from afar.
But as the saying goes, one mountain cannot contain two tigers.
These two brothers will clash sooner or later.
It is not good for us to become overly close to either Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu right now; there is no need.
Second, Yuan Shu’s strength surpasses ours.
If we go to him, we will be at his disposal.
If Yuan Shu treats us as expendable vanguard and orders us to assault strong positions and face difficulties, would we go or not?
When strength is unbalanced, going would only bring humiliation upon ourselves.” Of course, there was a most important third point that Tao Shang could not tell Mi Fang…
It was common knowledge among later generations that during the campaign against Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu had once cut off Sun Jian’s supplies.
His character was simply despicable to the extreme.
Therefore, it was best to do as little as possible in the company of wolves.
Mi Fang’s eyes widened.
Throughout the entire morning, Tao Shang had analyzed the expedition, from provisions and logistics to personnel management to the marching route, with complete clarity.
His sharpness of thought was far beyond his own by who knew how much.
No wonder the last time he visited the Mi residence, his elder brother Mi Zhu had regarded him with new eyes.
Now that he saw it, this young man was truly formidable.
“The First Young Master is indeed wise and farsighted.
I am deeply impressed!” Mi Fang’s attitude had clearly become much more flattering.
Tao Shang lowered his head and carefully examined the leather map.
To be honest, the information on Han dynasty maps was really too sparse, and most place markings were imprecise, with rough routes.
Fortunately, in his previous life as a senior editor, Tao Shang had reviewed provincial atlas volumes, so he had a general impression of the geography in his mind.
Tao Shang’s hand moved back and forth across the map as he pondered…
Present-day Xuzhou belonged to the territory of later-generation Jiangsu Province, while Dong Zhuo was in Luoyang in the western part of Henan Province.
In between lay the entire Henan region.
Cao Cao’s troops were at Suanzao, northeast of Luoyang; Yuan Shao’s troops were at Henei, north of Luoyang; Yuan Shu’s troops were at Luyang, south of Luoyang; Kong Zhou’s troops were at Yingchuan, south of Xuchang…
In terms of distance, it should be the farthest from Dong Zhuo, yet the closest to Xuzhou…
“Go to Yingchuan first and join with Kong Zhou!
Then act according to circumstances!” “Kong Zhou?” Mi Fang said strangely, “I have heard that Kong Zhou is a man who talks grandly but has no military talent.
He has only recently been appointed Inspector of Yuzhou and has few troops and weak generals.
His strength is even less than ours.
Going to find him…
would bring us no real benefit.” Tao Shang smiled and shook his head: “It is precisely because he is weaker than us that when we go, it will make him feel that we value him.
In this way, Kong Zhou will also value us.
Once he values us, we will have the opportunity to gain benefits from him.”