si-mexico Chapter 411: Strategies towards Qi, Liang, and Qin
Chapter 411: Strategies towards Qi, Liang, and Qin
Tang Xinyi pushed his hand away, blushing and pouting,
"Go ahead and bully me. If you make me angry and run away one day, I'll make you regret it."
"If you dare to run, I will catch you and banish you to the cold palace."
Shen Changgong pulled her up from the chair and sat down himself.
This domineering behavior made Tang Xinyi stomp her feet in anger.
Then, Shen Changgong asked her to sit on his lap, lean on his arms, and said,
"Alright, now you can report government affairs to this king."
"How can you report like this? This is so embarrassing. Get up now."
After all, Tang Xinyi was born into a proper family of ladies. Her personality was completely different from Yan Fuyao, Gongsun Wan'er, and Fairy Mei Yan, but she was similar to her sister-in-law.
Traditional in thinking, easily shy.
Tang Xinyi felt very uncomfortable, but she suppressed her shyness and let the man do what he wanted. Then she picked up a book of memorials and told Shen Changgong about the recent political situation in Dayan.
After Tang Xinyi's report, Shen Changgong had a general understanding of the current situation.
The Queen said,
"Dayan hasn't started collecting taxes this year yet. After all, it's not the autumn harvest yet, so we don't have much food and silver. But it should be enough to sustain one more campaign. But you must win, preferably before the autumn harvest. That way, Qi's fertile land and abundant grain production will be ours.
Qi and Wei are located in the Central Plains, and Chu is in the south of the Yangtze River. These are good places for producing grain, producing more grain than Kun land.
If you can take over Qi before the autumn harvest, you will be able to greatly alleviate the current financial pressure.
If you lose, our Yan State will not be able to support such a large army."
"Lose? Will I lose?"
Shen Changgong smiled confidently.
Are you kidding? With a million-strong army, fully armed and supported by artillery and muskets, Shen Changgong really couldn't find any reason to lose in the face of the Qi army.
Yan Fuyao also smiled slightly.
"So, we still need you, General Shen, to display your might and conquer Qi and Liang as soon as possible, and incorporate these two places into our territory. That's all.
I am waiting for your good news in Shengjing."
Shen Changgong nodded and asked,
"Wan'er, what's the current situation of the war in the south?"
Gongsun Wan'er immediately said,
"The battle was still intense. The coalition forces of Qi and Qin launched a fierce attack on Xingqing Prefecture for half a month.
The Qi army suffered 70,000 to 80,000 casualties, the Qin army also suffered 50,000 to 60,000 casualties, and the Liang State had only a few hundred thousand soldiers left, and they also suffered heavy losses in the siege. Now there are only more than 50,000 soldiers left, and they are still struggling to hold on.
It is said that the food and grass in Xingqing Prefecture have run out.
Liang State was not a major grain-producing country. Although the three counties were given to them before, they were given in winter. Now it is not the autumn harvest yet, and there is no food support for them.
If the cavalry led by Zhao Biao had not been harassing the Qi-Qin coalition forces from the periphery, preventing the coalition forces from attacking the city with all their strength, Xingqing Prefecture would probably have been captured by now.
Then came the battle between the Qi and Liang armies in Xingyang County. The Liang army almost lost contact with the court of Xingqing Prefecture. Due to the lack of food and military supplies, they were defeated even faster. Now there are only more than 60,000 people left. They have completely withdrawn from Xingyang County and are stationed on the border between Anyang County and Xingyang County. The entire Xingyang County fell into the hands of Qi.
Now the Qi army is encircling and suppressing the remaining troops of Liang.
Those Liang soldiers once requested to take refuge in our Southern King's army, but the Southern King refused."
Gongsun Wan'er said a lot in one breath, explaining the current war situation in the south in the most concise way, giving Shen Changgong a clear outline in his mind and simulating the situation in the south.
Shen Changgong hugged Tang Xinyi, patting her thigh with his right hand, thinking about the next strategic deployment in his mind.
"We must send troops as soon as possible and take down Qi as soon as possible."
Shen Changgong covered his forehead and muttered to himself,
"First, we must destroy Qi before the autumn harvest. Qi still has 200,000 central troops, so we can definitely win.
But they still have more than 100,000 people in Xingyang County in the north. Once we declare war, they will immediately retreat into Xingyang Pass.
If we want to enter Qi at that time, we will either have to forcibly capture Xingyang Pass or take a detour through Anyang County."
Yan Fuyao said,
"That's easy, right? We can either go directly to Xingyang Pass without declaring war and block the Qi army's path. They'll have no choice but to take a detour to Anyang County.
Or, after we declare war, we can send the 100,000 Zhennan troops to intercept the 100,000-strong Qi army halfway. I don't believe that their 100,000-strong infantry can defeat our 100,000-strong cavalry charging at full speed."
Shen Changgong nodded and said,
"Your Majesty is right. We can indeed fight this way. We should declare war first, and then the Qi army will naturally return to defend. Then we can stop them."
Yan Fuyao said,
"But there's still a problem. If we declare war early, and the enemy troops besieging Xingqing Prefecture immediately retreat to rescue our country, what should we do then?"
Shen Changgong smiled and said,
"That's easy, isn't it? Lao Guan and his 300,000 men are right at the border of Yuanma Commandery. We can just send them over there and block the Qi army's retreat. We can then engage that Qi army within the Liang territory."
Yan Fuyao shook his head seriously and said,
"But if that happens, Xingqing Prefecture hasn't been taken yet, and the Qi army retreats, can Qin really capture Xingqing Prefecture on its own?"
However, Shen Changgong smiled in an enigmatic manner and said,
"This is the clever part of my plan. You see, Xingqing Prefecture is struggling to hold on. If we wait for them to break through, and we march into Qi under the pretext of revenge for Liang, then Qin will inevitably join us in the fight."
Because they were avenging Liang, Qin was also Liang's enemy.
In this way, Laoguan would have to face the attack and resistance of an army of 600,000.
But if we can share some of the pressure on Xingqing Prefecture, we can attract the Qi army back and keep the Qin army in Xingqing Prefecture.
In this way, the Qin army would need more time to attack Xingqing Prefecture, because their goal was to destroy the Liang State. They could not help the Qi State to fight against our country before the Liang State was destroyed.
They will not give up the vested interests that are about to be obtained and go to fight against our Yan army, an unknown force. It is not their Qin State that has been invaded.
In this way, the main force of our army will enter Qi State, destroy Qi State’s central army and local armies, and quickly destroy Qi State.
Lao Guan and his men went to intercept Qi's Western Expedition Army and engaged in battle with them.
The Qin army continued to attack Xingqing Prefecture.
We only need to face the Qi family.
By the time we destroyed Qi, the Qin army had already taken over Xingqing Prefecture.
If they come to attack us, let Laoguan guard it first and we will go to support them.
If they don't come to fight, then we will wait until we have destroyed the Qi army, then we will detach a portion of our main force and head west to join forces at Laoguan and destroy the Qin army!"