Chapter 118 Meeting

The welcoming ceremony was grand and solemn, but in any case, Jiamen Town was still on the front line of the two armies, and everyone was still somewhat restrained. Ye Tao gathered with everyone in the main hall of the Jiamen Town government office, said some polite words, and then the crowd dispersed. Only the highest-ranking leaders who could represent the entire tribal coalition army stayed behind. Otherwise, with Ye Tao's understanding of all the remote tribes, their enthusiasm for guests from afar was almost the same. If they were allowed to welcome and celebrate in the tribal way, three or four days of commotion would be considered a small matter.

Now, after the welcoming ceremony, Ye Tao only rested for an hour before reconvening everyone in the main hall of the government office for a military meeting. Ye Tao's understanding of this battlefield came almost entirely from paper reports and military briefings, as well as letters from Tan Weiran, Chi Lei, and others. This kind of understanding could not be considered very deep. Although Ye Tao had no intention of interfering with Tan Weiran and Chi Lei's absolute command, he might not even need to listen to a detailed military report, but the first item on the agenda of the military council was this. Chi Lei gave a detailed introduction to the entire course of the Northeast Front to date, as well as the current situation. On the one hand, Tan Weiran and Chi Lei believed that Ye Tao, as the supreme commander of the entire war against Liao, and at a critical moment to adjust the operational strategy, needed to understand more of the situation. In addition, they also had the intention of showing the tribal leaders. They were completely in charge of the tribal coalition army, completely in charge of life and death in the entire battle, and the tribes all worshiped them. But such people, in front of Ye Tao, still had to be respectful and completely subordinate. That was sending a clear signal to the tribal leaders: wanting to rely on one or two authoritative figures to stand on their own with troops was something they shouldn't even think about in Dongping.

And since there was such a meaning in the military conference, after introducing the military situation, Ye Tao very cooperatively casually asked about the construction of people's livelihood. The topic naturally led to the development of the Dongping occupied area. After experiencing a winter and a whole process from sowing to summer harvest, Dongping's rule was quite stable. The large-scale construction of basic farmland water conservancy, the repair of roads and bridges, and so on, could make these tribal leaders, who could also be said to be living in luxury, extremely envious… In their view, these things were the symbols of advanced civilization. And Ye Tao would naturally seize the opportunity to promise that once the war came to an end, these tribes would also be able to enjoy the fruits of construction.

Currently, the tribal coalition army and the Northern Liao army formed a confrontation over a wide area. Both sides lacked sufficient troops to form a clear front line, completely preventing the enemy's infiltration and attacks outside the front line. After the large-scale advance in the Yunzhou direction, Northern Liao had to draw more than 30,000 elite troops from here to supplement the needs of the main battlefield, but Tan Weiran and Chi Lei always controlled the scale of operations. On the way near the coast, considering the safety of port supplies, Chi Lei basically led a huge amount of absolutely elite troops, especially the directly affiliated troops of Dongping, to fight. The Northern Liao side once invested more than 50,000 people and launched a fierce offensive, but they returned without success. Now, the defense on the coast, although gradually reduced to only more than 6,000 people divided into three towns, has remained as stable as Mount Tai because of airships in the air and gunboats on the sea. The Northern Liao side probably doesn't even have the courage to try again.

The middle road was the most intense battlefield between the two sides. The construction of Tianmeng City itself involved too large a defensive range and troops. On one side, the tribal coalition army was constantly carrying out active and flexible operations around the fortress, using the gradually forming fortress as a backing. On the other side, the Northern Liao army was trying to organize large and small-scale offensives, wanting to erode the tribal coalition army's strength and force the coalition army to abandon the construction of Tianmeng City. The Northern Liao side also knew that the pure tribal coalition army was not terrible. Even if they could achieve temporary victories, they would eventually have to retreat to the places where their tribes were located due to environmental, climatic, and lifestyle problems. But if the tribal coalition army successfully built Tianmeng City and echoed the already considerable scale of the seaport, then they would have gained a firm foothold here, and the pressure of environment, climate, and so on could be transformed by the various facilities of this city. Even though for most of the tribal coalition army's soldiers, it would take a process of adaptation and learning to jump from tribal life to town life all at once, this process would obviously not be painful.

On the other side of the coalition army, there was not much defensive force, but due to the airship patrols, Northern Liao had no way to take advantage of it. Although there were occasional mutual probing attacks by the troops of both sides on this road, the scale and intensity were not large. However, recently, the Northern Liao side, due to the inability to open up the situation on the other two roads, has begun to think about this side, preparing to detour around this wing with a large army, directly insert into the rear side of Tianmeng City, and force the tribal coalition army to engage in a decisive battle, wanting to use their troop advantage to determine the victory or defeat of this road of operations. Although the tribal coalition army was still at a disadvantage in terms of troop strength and overall combat strength, they had after all fought all the way to the present and knew how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. Although the Northern Liao side had deployed such a plan, the execution of the plan was not at the same level as Dongping. The same operational plan, the Northern Liao's offensive plan has been in place for more than a month now, and the troop deployment and logistical preparations have not been completed. It will take at least ten days or half a month to launch the offensive. What about the tribal coalition army? After learning about the Northern Liao's plan, within three days, there was a plan to retreat step by step, to find opportunities for a decisive battle while constantly weakening and harassing. Within less than ten days, the military orders and detailed operational deployments had been transmitted to every troop, and the tactical seminars for middle-level and above officers had been conducted three or four times. The collection of various materials had already been completed, and even the new batch of telescopes to be transferred from Yicheng were almost ready to be transported. Different efficiency and different attitudes will undoubtedly produce results that are completely different from the Northern Liao's plan.

Ye Tao only listened to the introduction of these situations. Subsequently, Jin Ze came to introduce the new operational deployment to everyone. Jin Ze is still the camp commander of Ye Tao's personal guard camp. It is somewhat unfamiliar to do the work of such a staff officer, and his identity is actually not very suitable. But everyone present obviously didn't care too much about this issue. The new operational strategy was still very simple. Now, what Ye Tao needed was just an attitude from the tribal coalition army: if they thought it was feasible, then a detailed plan would soon be released. If they felt it was difficult, then there were other ways to choose. Ye Tao would never forcibly impose any of his ideas on others, forcing others to accept them, especially this time. Once the new operational strategy was implemented, the tribal coalition army had to be psychologically prepared to pay considerable losses.

"I think everyone understands, right?" Ye Tao asked. After Jin Ze finished speaking, the tribal leaders were a little confused. They whispered to each other for a while, and then the hall became quiet again. Ye Tao looked at everyone and felt that the reactions of these tribal leaders were really strange.

"I wonder what the Grand Commander is planning for us to do?" An old leader, wearing a suit of armor produced in Yunzhou and looking majestic, represented everyone in asking the first question.

"The Jinglue Manor and below probably understand what I mean. After all, I have been in control for many years. Everyone present probably doesn't understand. Yunzhou has always put the difficulties first when doing things. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't… There is absolutely no such thing as making solemn promises verbally and then pursuing responsibility afterwards. I don't think it is easy for the tribal coalition army to become the initiator in this operation, to gather a strong army to confront Northern Liao head-on. Therefore, I hope to hear your opinions, whether this is feasible." Ye Tao smiled and said, "That's all."

Tan Weiran leaned close to Ye Tao and reminded, "This old man is called Li Yang. He is the highest-ranking elder in the tribal coalition army."

Ye Tao nodded and asked, "Elder Li Yang, what do you think?"

Li Yang stood up, bowed deeply, and said, "Actually, I understand what the Grand Commander means. The tribal coalition army is different from the Dongping army… We can also feel it. When it comes to fighting, we originally thought that we, with so many tribal warriors, only lacked good swords, good armor. Now it seems that it is not the case at all. We are far behind in fighting. Usually, there is more training and less fighting. If there is any trouble, the two generals still prefer to take their own troops out to fight. This… we see it in our eyes. The generals are not looking down on us, but are considerate of us, not wanting us to suffer too heavy casualties… Indeed, it is not easy for the tribal coalition army to gather tens of thousands of people. For many small tribes, gathering thirty or fifty soldiers to participate in the army means that there are almost no young and middle-aged men in the tribe. But everyone still came. Being able to fight against Northern Liao, completely annihilate the enemy of the era, and wash away the shame is the common wish of all the tribes living in the old forest. At all costs. Grand Commander, I know… you are also worried that the casualties will be too heavy, that we have a small population and it is not easy to recover… However, what you don't know, sir, is that if the Dongping army had not come, plus the constant transportation of grain and medicine from the port, the lives of the tribes would have been almost unsustainable. Northern Liao took from us whatever they wanted, and we had almost nothing… Although this year, because of the war, various tribes have had some war deaths, surprisingly, this year, almost all tribes have had a population increase… At least they have maintained the same as before, and it is not at all difficult. Our soldiers do not freeze to death or starve to death, they do not take wooden sticks and stone hammers to senselessly die in the hands of the Liao people, they do not die because small illnesses are not treated. Now, it is the best life that we have had in many years… The war against Liao, being able to take us as the vanguard, is our glory. We have an unshirkable responsibility."

After Li Yang said this, Ye Tao understood. If he talked about the size of the losses again, I am afraid these tribal leaders would be unhappy. Ye Tao was also a little dazed. These tribes have great differences in living habits from the tribes on the Benlang Plain, but their bones are simple and strong blood. How others treat them, they will give the same feedback. Ye Tao never regarded these tribes as barbarians, as objects that can be arbitrarily bullied and used, but as partners, as a kind of power that can be taken into account under his command, which in itself is a great kindness.

"Okay, starting tomorrow, in addition to the troops that have already been organized, the tribal coalition army will concentrate on organizing 30,000 more troops. Four battalions of light infantry, two battalions of heavy infantry, and four battalions of cavalry. Let's follow this ratio. I will let Yicheng replenish the equipment at the fastest speed." Ye Tao pondered for a moment and finally made a decision.

"Thirty thousand people…" Another leader jumped out and said, "Grand Commander, that's too few. We can still gather six or seventy thousand people."

Li Yang glared at that person, and this leader retreated submissively. Li Yang felt a little embarrassed. But Ye Tao didn't take it seriously. He explained amiably, "I can't fight battles with too many people. Don't worry, 30,000 people is enough."

With such a decision, the meeting naturally ended in a very good atmosphere. And the tribal leaders were also greatly impressed by Ye Tao's demeanor. The deployment and reorganization of the troops was naturally still a matter for the tribal leaders. Although Ye Tao intentionally or unintentionally reminded Li Yang that after the end of the war against Liao, Dongping would also bring the land occupied by the tribes under its rule, and that further discussion would be needed on how to manage it here, in any case, the matter of tribal power being higher than political power was absolutely impossible to happen. Whether Li Yang fully understood or not was not what Ye Tao needed to worry about most now.

"Come, let's go to the courtyard behind the government office. I'll show you something good." After the tribal leaders left one after another, Ye Tao pulled Tan Weiran and Chi Lei to the backyard, looking at a row of large wooden boxes that had not been unpacked. Looking at the surrounding posture of a group of guards on strict alert, he also knew that Ye Tao must have brought some earth-shattering good things again.