The ministers in the imperial court were clearly a bit bewildered by Lin Tian's words.
Those generals assumed that attacking Lingnan was the same as attacking any other city. They thought that once their army advanced, those people would have no ability to resist.
However, after hearing Lin Tian's words, they felt that this matter seemed not as simple as they had imagined. According to Lin Tian, taking Lingnan would be a very difficult task. Many people found it hard to disagree with such a statement. After all, compared to Great Qin, Lingnan was just a small place. How could Great Qin not conquer such a small area?
But, according to Lin Tian's explanation, they might really not be able to conquer it. After all, they were very unfamiliar with the land of Lingnan. Once they entered, they might become deeply mired there. Therefore, many of them looked at Lin Tian, unsure of what to do for a moment.
"Your Highness, then how should we proceed to conquer this land of Lingnan?"
"Are we to dispatch five hundred thousand troops?"
Five hundred thousand troops was already the limit of what these people could imagine sending. They had not even dispatched such a large army when they attacked the state of Zhao. When Lin Tian campaigned in the Western countries, he only took one hundred and fifty thousand troops to conquer the world. In this context, the number of five hundred thousand troops carried significant weight.
However, in Lin Tian's mind, he still stuck to his previous idea. Conquering Lingnan was not a matter of troop numbers, but a matter of how to deploy them. Therefore, Lin Tian spoke up at this point, stating:
"Taking Lingnan is not that easy. At the very least, adapting to the environment there will be very difficult for our soldiers!"
"Therefore, we should recruit some of the people of Lingnan to become our soldiers!"
"We must know that Lingnan is divided into many tribes, and not every tribe is willing to be an enemy of our Great Qin!"
"Furthermore, if we bestow enough money and food upon them, they will surely fight for us!"
"Therefore, we can entirely use the people of Lingnan as the main force, with our army as support, to launch a full-scale attack on Lingnan!"
When Lin Tian proposed this, many were astonished. They could never have imagined that Lin Tian would have such a brilliant idea. Ye Tian's method, after just a moment's thought, made them unable to refrain from clapping and praising.
"Excellent, this plan is truly brilliant!"
"Using Lingnan people as the main force, letting the Lingnan people attack the Lingnan people themselves!"
"This way, we will not have to worry about poisonous insects or miasma, nor about adapting to the environment!"
"Your Highness's idea is simply ingenious!"
After Lin Tian put forth his idea, countless generals looked at Ye Tian with eyes full of brilliance. Within this brilliance lay endless admiration. They could never have imagined that Lin Tian could come up with such an ingenious plan. This made many of them wish they could become Lin Tian's vanguard and implement his ideas.
Therefore, many generals spoke up at this time.
"Your Majesty, this humble servant believes that His Highness's plan is ingenious. This humble servant is willing to be an implementer and carry out His Highness's idea!"
"Your Majesty, this humble servant understands His Highness's plan more deeply. This matter should be entrusted to this humble servant! I am confident that I will do this job well!"
"You all need not argue. You are still young. This matter is most suitable for me, an old general, to undertake!"
How could they let others snatch away this opportunity to gain military merit and curry favor with Lin Tian? At this moment, they all spoke up, eager to seize this chance. As long as they obtained this opportunity, their path to achieving greatness would be promising. Therefore, they wished they could lead their armies to attack Lingnan right now.
However, although Lin Tian had stated his idea, it was not his entire thought process. The matter of attacking Lingnan was not as simple as that. The methods he had proposed were only a part of the solution. Amidst everyone's gaze, Lin Tian spoke again.
"We have resolved the issue of troop deployment, but there is one problem we have not yet solved!"
"That problem is the issue of military provisions!"
"Military provisions? Can't we just bring military provisions and attack Lingnan directly? What other provisions do we need?"
"Attacking Lingnan will not be accomplished in a single day!"
"The terrain there is mountainous and the forests are dense. To attack them, we must be prepared for a protracted war, and therefore, we will need a large supply of military provisions!"
Lin Tian's words caused many generals to fall silent for a moment. Then, someone among them spoke.
"Since that is the case, then we shall specially dispatch an army to be responsible for the matter of military provisions!"
"Dispatching a large army will not work. Even if our army goes, they will easily get lost! Even if they don't get lost, they are easily intercepted!"
"In the mountains and forests, our soldiers will find it difficult to contend with those Lingnan people!"
"Once our military provisions are plundered by the Lingnan people, then these Lingnan people will truly become rich, and they will be able to live in the deep mountains and old forests for years, without worrying about food and drink!"
If those Lingnan people were to remain in the deep mountains and old forests for years, it would be a disaster for the state of Qin. The Qin army was numerous, and if they were to stay in Lingnan for years without finding or eliminating the enemy, the military provisions and financial resources they would consume would undoubtedly be immense. Simultaneously, their morale would be extremely low. Under such circumstances, their army would inevitably suffer defeat. Therefore, they had to solve the problem of army provisions.
At this moment, Lin Tian proposed a solution for the provisions that no one had expected.
"If we were to transport our military provisions through the mountains and forests, it would indeed be easy for those Lingnan people to intercept and plunder them!"
"But if we transport these military provisions by water, the situation will be different!"
"Once we have a waterway, coupled with our arrows, it will be difficult for those Lingnan people to approach our military provisions, let alone plunder them!"
"Therefore, I intend to build a canal in the Lingnan region. This will not only benefit the Lingnan region but also allow for the transportation of our military provisions and soldiers, enabling our provision soldiers to reach Lingnan in the first instance!"