Chapter 773 War

Fengxin City is the largest city in eastern Jin, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is the center of politics, economy, culture, and other aspects of the entire eastern Jin.

Every day, many things happen here.

But recently, two things have truly affected the lives of the people in Fengxin City.

One thing:

The Marquis ordered the construction of a temple in the west of Fengxin City.

This is definitely unprecedented. Over the years, with the rise of Marquis Pingxi, it has long attracted many outsiders who have come to seek refuge.

In the early days, these people were dismissed.

After that, these people were packaged away.

They were packaged off to the snowy plains to preach.

Now, the Marquis has ordered the construction of a temple, which, to a certain extent, also meets the spiritual needs of the people in Fengxin City. Although there are not many who truly believe in Buddhism, there are definitely many who are willing to worship during festivals.

This is a small matter.

The second thing is a major event, the aftermath of which even spread from Fengxin City as a starting point, shaking the entire eastern Jin.

The Marquis's mansion ordered a census of registered households.

The New Year is over, and we're still taking a census. Everyone has vaguely guessed what the purpose is.

Blindman once said that whether it was the former Shengle City, the later Xuehai Pass, or the current Fengxin City, what changed was the territory, what changed was the title of their master, but what remained unchanged was this military-civilian integrated military group disguised with various appearances but with a consistent essence.

The Pingxi Marquis's mansion is a war tribe that appears to be a vassal state under the Zhuxia system.

The Marquis's mansion's shops, workshops, schools, medical clinics, and various industries, in short, when the Marquis's mansion controls everything, it also means that the people are also controlled together, and this control is mutual.

The people who have experienced the troubled times will use their bright eyes to see clearly and use their feet to vote firmly when faced with this kind of life.

For a new and thriving military group, external expansion and plunder are an instinct that has not yet been extinguished.

A very simple and unadorned year has passed, and everyone is actually looking forward to it, thinking about it, and even anxiously anticipating it.

Now, it's finally here.

The mobilization for war has actually begun. After a year of hardship and a year of accumulation, it is impossible to fight a national war, but to fight a controlled local war, the reserves in various warehouses are definitely sufficient.

The Marquis's mansion is either fighting a war or preparing for the next one, and in the meantime, it allows the people under its rule to live a stable life that other places envy.

And the root of war is still people.

People who are not registered households began to inquire about news, asking about the conscription of laborers, volunteering, in order to obtain some military merit and be able to bring their families to become registered households.

In the homes of registered households, the men began to ask the squad leaders and team leaders, asking layer by layer, until finally they alarmed the general level.

It looks like a war is coming?

Which troops will be used? Which route will be deployed?

We can't let others eat meat while we don't even get soup, right?

This kind of bottom-up eagerness for war forced the generals under the Marquis's mansion to come out, and even Gong Wang and Gongsun Zhi used the excuse of paying New Year's greetings to invite Tiaoli from the garrison to the Marquis's mansion in Fengxin City.

Everyone wants to fight, everyone is looking forward to fighting, and everyone is counting on fighting to share the credit and actual benefits.

Everyone understands the principle that war will kill people, but compared with the expected benefits, it is worth risking their lives to gamble.

As for the problem of losing the war...

Hey,

No one has ever thought about this, at least, for those who really need to go to the battlefield to fight and their families, they have never thought about this possibility.

Tian Wujing once taught Zheng Fan that the foundation of a general is not to love soldiers like sons and live together, but to have the qualifications, ability, and confidence to lead them to win battles.

This is also the reason why King Jingnan, even though he had a very bad reputation in the court and among the people for exterminating his family, had extremely high prestige in the army. Giving favors to subordinates and using high pressure to control them are things that the court and street talent traders are keen to do, but the soldiers in the barracks only recognize one thing.

Therefore,

Fengxin City became lively again, as if it was celebrating a second New Year because of this incident.

Even Marquis Pingxi, who usually did not ask about foreign affairs after returning home, had to come forward to meet several groups of generals to appease the people.

…

"A Cheng, tell me about it."

After meeting the generals, Marquis Zheng walked into the signing room of the Marquis's mansion. There was a large sand table in the room, not made by San'er. San'er is now awake, but has not recovered. However, San'er has trained many skilled craftsmen in recent years, and if they are given accurate surveys, they can make it.

At this time, there were not many people in the signing room.

After Marquis Zheng came in and sat in the first seat,

Liang Cheng by the sand table held a putter,

Blindman and Gou Moli stood on the left and right.

Chen Daole and He Chunlai acted as scribes, listening in.

There are few people, but not too many people are needed to formulate a general strategy and combat plan. Too many people will cause mistakes.

Moreover, with a Liang Cheng and a Wild Man King, happiness is already overflowing.

"Master, I think that this time, the main purpose of sending troops should be to train soldiers."

This directly sets a tone.

Marquis Zheng nodded, and as a leader, added a line of nonsense: "But we must also make full preparations."

"Master is wise."

"Okay, let's get straight to the point."

"Yes, Master once personally went to Shanggu County to check it out. It is a vast plain. After my Marquis's iron cavalry leaves Zhennan Pass, they can go all the way south. The obstacle after that is the Wei River.

But the Wei River is vast. In fact, the Chu people's Wei River defense line can play a very crucial role in large-scale battles, dividing and containing our army. However, when facing small-scale single-point raids, let alone a river, even a large river will never be a so-called true natural barrier.

Wangjiang is like this, and so is the Wei River."

Gou Moli opened his mouth and said, "I heard that the Master went to the Wei River a while ago, scaring the Chu people. The Chu people's government officials by the Wei River mobilized the people under their rule to start breaking the ice on the frozen river surface after winter."

Everyone laughed when they heard this.

This is a true story.

The yamen of many counties along the Wei River south of the river have arranged a new corvée, which is to mobilize the people to smash the ice surface to prevent the Yan army from going south directly when the river is frozen in winter.

Marquis Zheng took a sip of tea and said, "This is indeed Nian Yao's style."

Corvée is an obligation of the people to the government, and it is also a burden on the people. If it is repairing canals, roads, palaces, and fighting wars, that's fine, at least, you can get something practical;

But what is the meaning of smashing ice?

There is certainly military significance, but how much criticism must be borne for this?

Nowadays, storytellers in teahouses like to talk about two major categories, which are also the two categories that listeners love to hear the most. One category is the martial world, and the other is the ups and downs of war horses.

Marquis Zheng has been repeatedly pushed onto the stage by Old Tian, and has made many raids thousands of miles away, so he was named the number one in the world who is good at using surprise soldiers;

And General Nian has the nickname "King Eight Nian".

"My plan is to first use a force of troops to quickly cross the Wei River and enter the land of Chu, as far south as possible, not seeking military merit, not seeking beheadings, not seeking to capture territory, only seeking to get as close as possible to the Chu people's new Yingdu, to serve as a way to flush out the enemy.

Then, use another force of troops to go out of the Wei River from another direction, follow the Wei River to the west, still not seeking military merit, not seeking beheadings, not seeking to capture territory, only seeking to be able to contact Qu Peiluo's forces, and finally, contact the Fan family, and open up this line.

Finally, with the third force of troops..."

Gou Moli suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Three forces of troops?"

This is a meeting in the signing room, so if there are any questions, you can directly raise them without hiding them.

"Yes, this time, I plan to use three forces of troops. The first force will be led by me personally, with 20,000 cavalry."

This is the most dangerous route. After going deep into the hinterland of the Chu State to the south, as long as one step is wrong, it may be surrounded and swallowed by several times or even ten times the number of Chu troops.

"The second route to the north is also 20,000 cavalry. I suggest that Jin Shuke lead the troops."

"That's 40,000 cavalry going out." Gou Moli counted his fingers.

"Yes, but these two routes will mobilize most of the Chu army's cavalry," Liang Cheng said.

"And then, how many troops do you plan to put in front of Zhennan Pass? Although Nian Yao is called a king eight, I don't think that Nian Yao will willingly be beaten in the head, knowing that it is not a national war and knowing that Great Yan has not made overall war mobilization.

King eights also have tempers, and it hurts when they bite."

Marquis Zheng opened his mouth and said:

"Gou Moli, what do you think Nian Yao will do?"

"Master, if I were Nian Yao, I would send out a part of my troops to make a show, chase after them, block them, and it doesn't matter if I can't block them or catch up with them. General Nian really won't care about the shock of the capital or the Regent's face, after all, he has already had one experience.

The most important thing is that the reason why Yingdu was broken and burned last time was because the main force of the Chu Imperial Guard was at Zhennan Pass, because King Jingnan personally led 100,000 iron cavalry to the south, because the Chu people had no anticipation or experience.

But what about doing it again?

It's not to say that the Chu people will have a perfect plan, but it's impossible for you to steal the capital again, right?

So,

I will take advantage of the situation to cross the river and push all the way to the heart of Shanggu County, which is the former location of Shanggu County, and then, not attack Zhennan Pass, but continue to do my old job, build cities and fortresses, and build my own king eight shell!

Since my Marquis's mansion took the lead in tearing up the treaty and sending troops, he himself has no pressure. Afterwards, he can report to the emperor in the name of recovering lost territory.

During the national war, hundreds of thousands of iron cavalry went south, but in the end, they failed to destroy the Chu State. How could a mere 40,000 cavalry do it?

And if Nian Yao can recover the former Shanggu County city and advance the Chu State's defense line against my Marquis's mansion from the Wei River to here, then the situation will be completely different.

The Wei River is indeed an excellent defense line to block cavalry, but the river is too long, and a lot of troops need to be stationed, so the effect, in fact, as General Liang said earlier, will not be very good.

Big ones can't be stopped, and small ones can't be stopped.

And if the defense line is pushed up, then the Chu people will not have to conscript civilians to smash ice, and they can also put down the burden of this continuous river, and divide Shanggu County into two from the waist, build city walls, and build fortresses.

The width of this defense will be greatly shortened, and the strength of the defense will also be greatly enhanced.

Even, if you count the national strength of the entire Chu State and the newly recovered and developed eastern Jin land of my Marquis's mansion, if you use the power to overwhelm people, it will no longer be my Marquis's mansion relying on Zhennan Pass to suppress the Great Chu State, but the Chu State using its power to suppress my Marquis's mansion from south to north.

That Regent of the Chu State is not a person without vision. On the contrary, he once dared to use the sword of my Great Yan to cut the flesh of the Great Chu nobles. Now, he dares to use that so-called mere face to exchange for a shift in the offensive and defensive position, at least, it is equal."

Liang Cheng looked at Gou Moli,

and said:

"Don't forget, not only Yan State has not made war mobilization, nor has it made preparations for a national war, but neither has his Chu State.

Therefore, the troops that both sides can mobilize are limited, and it is impossible for the situation of both sides lining up millions of troops against each other as in the past.

Therefore,

If Nian Yao dares to cross the river and go north to Shanggu County, my Marquis's iron cavalry will dare to have a head-on blood battle with him on the plains of Shanggu County!"

Gou Moli stretched out his finger and pointed to the center of Shanggu County on the sand table,

and said:

"Although the Marquis's mansion is known as 100,000 iron cavalry, the real elite is only your 30,000 troops and the one town under Jin Shuke's command at Zhennan Pass. Tell me, you have already sent 40,000 elite to Chu State to run horses.

What troops are you going to use to confront his Chu State army in this Shanggu County?"

Liang Cheng asked back:

"Who said that we should send elite troops deep into enemy territory?"

"........." Gou Moli.

Gou Moli immediately pointed to the Chu State's territory south of the Wei River and said, "Not send elite troops deep into enemy territory?"

Liang Cheng smiled and said:

"You all said that Nian Yao would not take it seriously and just make a show, so why should I send elite troops?

We don't lack war horses, nor do we lack cavalrymen. Auxiliary soldiers, wild men soldiers, get some armor and flags to decorate the facade and increase the number."

"You didn't say that you want to train soldiers? What kind of soldiers are you training?"

"40,000 miscellaneous servants and soldiers, going deep into the enemy's rear, taking a stroll in the territory of Chu, even if they are 40,000 pigs, they will no longer be the pigs they used to be."

"Ha………hehe…………hehehehehe!"

Gou Moli laughed loudly,

simply jumped onto the sand table,

and slapped the position of Shanggu County with one palm,

and said:

"So, if Nian Yao takes advantage of the situation to go north, in this Shanggu County, he will face..."

Liang Cheng nodded,

and said:

"Will face the most elite iron cavalry under my Pingxi Marquis's command, led by the Master himself!"

Gou Moli took a deep breath,

and said:

"There will be risks. Jin Shuke's route to the west has Qu Peiluo's support and the Fan family's support. He only needs to run with his head down, and there won't be a big problem. The route you lead is likely to have problems."

"Only wild men servants and some miscellaneous servants will die. Conscript a batch from the snowy plains and another batch from your town. It doesn't matter if they all die. Instead, we can take this opportunity to consume a wave of the wild men population on the snowy plains."

Gou Moli licked his lips. He was not angry, and even agreed with it.

and said:

"Tsk tsk tsk, hehe, I see that Nian Yao would never have dreamed that a King Jingnan left, but in this eastern Jin, there is actually more than one King Jingnan."

What is said here is obviously not Marquis Pingxi.

After sighing, Gou Moli realized that he seemed to have said something wrong, but Marquis Zheng did not show the slightest displeasure.

"What about the required conscription?" Zheng Fan asked.

"The two outgoing troops will be fed by the enemy. The rest of the food and supplies are already being transported to Zhennan Pass. It is expected that the war will not last long, so there should be no problem with logistics."

Blindman said.

Zheng Fan nodded and said, "Accidents can happen on the battlefield. Blindman, go write a memorial to the imperial court later, add the Marquis's urgent letter, secretly present it to Little Sixth, and inform Little Sixth to let him be mentally prepared.

Also,

also inform Li Fusheng and other troops stationed in Jin to let them also make some preparations.

Xu Wenzu of Yingdu must also be informed.

Our plan is to fight a short, effective, and controllable battle, but we must also be prepared to be pushed onto the stage if things get out of control.

If it really gets out of control, let's start another national war. It is another matter whether Yan State can afford it or not, but at least we can't admit defeat in this battle."

Blindman laughed and said, "Little Sixth will probably stomp his feet in anger after seeing the secret memorial, saying that he was supposed to have two or three years to recuperate?"

"Hehehe, that's up to him. Besides, this is also inheriting the good traditions of the previous generation. There is no completely safe battle waiting for you to prepare everything before starting. The tradition under this Black Dragon Flag is that if I think I can fight, then I will fight."

Marquis Zheng put the teacup in his hand heavily on the coffee table,

"Damn it, I didn't see any real battles in the snowy plains last time. These days, I've been busy taking care of my wife, children, and warm bed. It's time to really go out and run the horses."

…

Marquis Zheng, who had just expressed his disdain for the "wife, children, and warm bed" views in the signing room,

lay down on the Princess's bed after leaving the signing room.

After adding a greenhouse, it is actually equivalent to having underfloor heating, and it is very warm inside.

The Princess lay on her side, watching Zheng Fan reach out and stroke her lower abdomen.

"Husband, you seem to be in good spirits today."

"Yes."

"Husband, I received a letter from my family. The Empress Dowager has prepared some expenses for me. It is different now that my imperial brother has become the Emperor, but the Empress Dowager still cares about her daughter."

"Yes."

In this regard, the Chu State royal family has never been stingy. Of course, this is also based on the fact that the Pingxi Marquis's mansion is willing to do horse business with the Chu people.

Marquis Zheng reached out and gently tapped the Princess's belly,

and said:

"Good, did you hear that? Your grandmother and your uncle have prepared a lot of delicious food for you. Come, let's thank grandma, thank you uncle."

"Husband, the child hasn't been born yet, how can he speak?"

"Oh, yes, it doesn't matter, there are adults here."

"Yes, I will write a letter later to say thank you."

"No need, I'll do it."

The Princess looked at Zheng Fan with a smile and asked curiously:

"Is Husband going to write a letter to the Emperor yourself?"

Zheng Fan shook his head and said:

"Writing letters is too troublesome, and it is too disrespectful to my brother-in-law. Think about it, my brother-in-law is working hard every day, where does he have the leisure to sit down and read letters?"

"Then how to..."

"In a while, I will directly attack Chu."

"........." Princess.