Chapter 950 Royal Decree

"My lord."

Liang Cheng entered the command tent. Zheng Fan was sitting on the commander's seat, shirtless, with many silver needles piercing his neck and chest.

Si Niang was beside him, wiping other parts of his body with a handkerchief.

Zheng Fan said, "Sit for a while. I'll be done soon."

"Yes, my lord."

Last year, Zheng Fan had tried to break through to the Third Rank, but he failed.

The consequence of failure was reverse flow of qi and blood; if not for the demon kings being skilled healers, his body might have exploded.

Even so, the side effects of the last failure had not been completely eliminated. Every once in a while, Si Niang had to personally regulate his meridians.

Failing to break through was not surprising. The Third Rank was not so easy to attain. Both Zheng Fan and the demon kings could face it calmly.

Si Niang removed the silver needles and helped Zheng Fan put on his python robe. Zheng Fan rubbed the spot where the needles had been inserted and smiled.

"It's not so numb anymore."

Si Niang smiled and said, "The meridians have recovered almost completely, but unless it's absolutely necessary, my lord, you should still avoid charging into battle personally. The newly recovered meridians are still very tender and can't withstand the impact of qi and blood."

"I know, I know."

Zheng Fan nodded as he stood up. In the center of the tent was a large map.

"A'Cheng, shall we go over the strategy we discussed earlier again?"

"The clearly defined strategic objectives can be adjusted according to changes in the battle situation, but we haven't really made contact yet, and the battlefield hasn't been pushed forward. Why is my lord so anxious to worry about this?"

"Originally, I wasn't worried. This strategy was proposed by me, and the battle plan was also made by me, but you haven't changed a single word and accepted it entirely. I'm always a little uneasy."

"Because this subordinate thinks that my lord's strategy is very good. It not only takes into account the first, second, and third waves of investment that Jin Dong and the imperial court can provide, but also considers the next stage of strategic layout. This subordinate really has nothing to modify."

"Not flattering me?" Zheng Fan asked.

"Please have some confidence in yourself, my lord."

"Oh?"

"Back then, the thousand-mile raid on Xue Hai Pass was your idea, my lord. During the Yan-Chu war, although you entered Chu and advanced into the Wei River under the command of Prince Jingnan, it was still you, my lord, who made the decision to strike directly at the capital of Chu."

"But after all, you were by my side both times."

"Then what about the battle to break through Qian Shang Jing? This subordinate was not by your side. That battle was also promoted by you, my lord, against all odds, and achieved amazing results."

"Just lucky."

Zheng Fan wasn't really being modest. At that time, he was really messed up in Liang Zhao and the rear supply had a very serious problem. It was a bit like a gambler pushing all the chips in his hand to seek a comeback.

In fact, if not for the eight thousand iron cavalry dying for him, he, Zheng Fan, might have already been finished in Qian.

"My lord, famous generals have been rare since ancient times, and earth-shattering victories worthy of being written about in history books are even rarer. This subordinate can say without exaggeration that when those military gods who are touted by later generations make a certain strategic gamble, the trepidation in their hearts should be no different from yours, my lord.

"A famous general, winning two major battles, and they have to be the kind of victories with exaggerated casualty ratios, is actually not that different from tossing a coin. Heads is a military god, tails is Zhao Kuo.

"My lord, you've already won so many times, and in terms of the big picture and even premonitions, you may be even better than this subordinate, because sometimes this subordinate may be too experienced, and his thoughts are not so easy to open up."

Si Niang smiled and said,

"Oh my, I only just realized that after advancing, a zombie's mouth can be smeared with honey."

Zheng Fan also laughed.

Liang Cheng didn't laugh, but just slightly tugged at the corner of his mouth, showing what he meant.

Zheng Fan walked to the map and said:

"Actually, from the names my brother-in-law gave to the three counties bordering the Wei River, you can see his strategic intentions. At the same time, we can follow his train of thought."

There were a total of three counties bordering the Wei River.

Mo Ya County in the southeast, Wen Qiu County in the southwest, and San Suo County in the west.

These three counties had their names changed by the Chu court in recent years.

Since its establishment, no, to be precise, since the founding of the Chu state by the first Marquis of Chu, it has integrated the culture of the Shan Yue, coupled with the development and inheritance of its own ancient Wu culture, giving birth to many stories and legends that originated from the culture of the Xia but have their own independent characteristics.

Mo Ya, Wen Qiu, and San Suo were the three Wu gods in the Chu myths who descended and helped the first Marquis of Chu subdue the Fire Phoenix and destroy the Shan Yue totem.

The Chu Emperor changed the names of these three counties with the intention of letting these three "Wu gods" block the threat of northern hooves for the Chu state.

It can be said that this is the Chu version of the three border defenses.

In addition, after losing Zhennan Pass, the Chu people suffered too many losses in the wars against the Yan iron cavalry going south, even their capital was burned.

Therefore, in recent years, the Chu state has begun to actively carry out strategic contraction.

Relying on Da Ze (Great Swamp) as the core, they established new defense systems to protect Ying Du, which is to protect the heartland of the Chu state.

This is also the reason why Gou Moli in Fan City has been able to live so comfortably in recent years. The strategic shift of the Chu people clearly and unmistakably began a comprehensive defensive posture, so Gou Moli can naturally have more fun.

"In fact, San Suo County is not one of the three border defenses. The main ones are Mo Ya County and Shang Yang County south of Wen Qiu County. These three counties are the real barrier that the Chu people have built to hinder our army's southward advance.

"San Suo County and Liu Sha County to its west are adjacent to the mountains, located between my Zhennan Pass and Fan City. Operating here is easy to fall into a situation of being attacked from both sides."

These two counties are narrow and long, bordering the mountains to the north and the river to the south, like a fish exposing its belly.

Back then, Zheng Fan went through these two counties when he went out of Zhennan Pass to rescue Fan City. It can be said that as long as Gou Moli attacks from west to east, and his side attacks from east to west, these two counties are completely at his fingertips.

But the problem is that these two counties cannot be eaten in a hurry.

The most important reason why Jin Dong can develop is that it has mastered three key points. It is precisely because it has mastered these three places that Jin Dong can become the "Jiangnan beyond the Great Wall" in the "land of four battles."

The first is Xue Hai Pass, with one pass in hand, directly isolating the Snow Plains.

The second is Zhennan Pass, with one pass in hand, making the Chu people have no temper.

The other is Fan City, which can be regarded as a small dagger inserted into the abdomen of the Chu state, short and powerful, but twisting it will also cause the Chu state to have stomach cramps.

Controlling strategic locations at the lowest cost and mastering the strategic initiative, this is what allows Jin Dong to extract a lot of manpower, material resources, and energy to achieve self-development. Otherwise, Jin Dong is just a large fortress, a large military camp, just like when Zhennan Pass was not taken back, Prince Jingnan had to personally guard Fengxin City. And where was the prosperity of Fengxin City at that time? It was completely an empty city with only soldiers and no people.

By the same logic,

If you first covet military exploits and the joy of expanding territory, and take down those two counties, then you will face all kinds of detailed entanglements with the Chu army on a long contact surface.

You must know that even Shang Gu County, which is actually under the control of Jin Dong, has not been developed in any way. The people there have long been transferred to the north of Zhennan Pass. Taking two more places is equivalent to opening two constantly bleeding mouths for yourself, which is too stupid.

Zheng Fan nodded and said,

"So, the strategy of this national war is divided into three goals.

"The first goal is to take Mo Ya, Wen Qiu, and Shang Yang counties, and push the front line directly to the front of the Chu capital, making the core area of the Chu capital the border of the next stage.

"The second goal is to have Gou Moli in Fan City cooperate to further open up the influence of Fan City, forming a mutually reinforcing situation between the east and the west. I want the fish belly land of San Suo County and Liu Sha County to surrender without a fight, be pacified with a single message, and even continue to the south, touching the area along Da Ze (Great Swamp), and carve out a piece of territory that can be defended and consolidated.

"The third goal,

"And also the most important goal,

"The Chu royal forbidden army is the real direct line pillar of the Chu court. This time, we have to swallow at least half of them. The Chu people don't have many teeth left. This time, we have to break their front teeth!"

Liang Cheng said, "If there are no surprises, the Chu people will use attrition tactics to form a stalemate with us."

"Then let them wear themselves out!"

Zheng Fan stomped his foot,

"In the past, we couldn't afford to wear ourselves out. Every time, we were forced to take risks and gamble. This time, the first wave of offensive can be dealt with by the soldiers and accumulation of our Jin Dong. Blind One has calculated that the storage of my Jin Dong can barely support the second wave of offensive.

"Further on,

"There are also the Yan troops from all over the country, and Ji Lao Liu (Ji Old Sixth), that big milch cow. It's been five years. God knows how much milk he has accumulated!

"A'Cheng,

"To tell you the truth,

"I'm tired of fighting battles where I have to run away after winning.

"I still like coloring the squares on the map, it makes me feel accomplished."

Liang Cheng bowed and said, "My lord is right."

"Do you know why I declared war so openly yesterday?

"One is because there is no secret between Yan and Chu at all. Our troop and food movements cannot be hidden at all, and the other side must know it too.

"Declaring war or not will not achieve any unexpected results at all.

"And I,

"Is to tell the world, especially the Chu people, that this time, I will not leave after fighting and robbing. I want to stay here, I want to occupy that place. The Chu people are not a monolith. Your feet must be firmly planted, and only when you don't move will you have lackeys attached to you."

"Conduct a righteous conquest and achieve a bright and upright unification. It's also telling them that those who want to lie flat can lie to the end."

"Ha, yes, that's what I mean, Tian Tian!"

Tian Tian outside the tent walked in:

"This subordinate is here!"

"I will give you a warrant and order you to hand it over to Qu Pei Luo, and let him complete my deployment as described in my warrant."

"Yes!"

Liang Cheng looked at Zheng Fan in confusion and asked:

"What military order is this, my lord?"

"Just another righteousness, just add a stroke at will."

At this time, Si Niang put a cloak on Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan stretched out his hand and pulled at the cloak, then shook his body,

Looked up,

And said to Liang Cheng;

"The main force of our army can leave the pass."

...

Xia Wei County;

Originally adjacent to the Wei River, with good water conservancy, it should have been a fertile land with patches of farmland.

Even during the Si Tu family period, the friction between the Si Tu family and the Chu state was limited to the Zhennan Pass line, or at most, a back-and-forth fight in Shang Gu County.

Si Tu Lei's battle of fame back then, in which he defeated the Chu army in Zhennan Pass, did not really fight out of Shang Gu County. In the end, when facing the Chu army's assembled army, he still had to retreat.

Therefore, Shang Gu County has always been dilapidated due to wars, but the nearby counties, bathed in the blessings of the Wei River, are considered good land.

But now,

Half of the farmland in Xia Wei County has been abandoned, and the population is no longer dense.

Logically speaking,

Even if it was the Yan-Chu war back then, plus the Prince of Jin Dong once led his troops to trample through here, but so many years have passed, especially in the past five years, the two sides have been limited to small-scale skirmishes. Logically speaking, Xia Wei County should have recovered its vitality.

But the problem lies here.

It is true that Jin Dong no longer sends large armies to Chu, but the story of "dumplings with fillings" has begun to spread widely.

This kind of propaganda and instigation became more effective when the former young master of the Qu family began to form the Chu character battalion in Shang Gu County.

The Chu people in the border area actually had extremely "contradictory" feelings about the Prince of Jin Dong;

On the one hand, that one was a Yan demon king who killed people like hemp, massacred prisoners, dug up people's ancestral graves, and committed all kinds of evil, arousing the anger of both humans and gods.

But on the other hand, he governed his territory well. Under his rule, there were Yan people, Jin people, Man people, savage people, etc., and they all lived very well.

Although they had never seen it with their own eyes, many people said so, and they said it with great detail, especially in winter, when many people would come to distribute dumplings with fillings on their backs, saying that they in Jin Dong only ate this as a snack when they were too busy or too lazy to cook.

Gradually,

Xia Wei County, which was close to the Wei River and adjacent to Shang Gu County, became one of the directions that refugees had to pass through.

In recent years, many Chu refugees have passed through here every year, and then smuggled across the Wei River to Jin Dong to pursue a happier and better life.

In fact, some of the locals had already left first;

Those who stayed behind saw other refugees passing by their doors every year, and could not resist the constant temptation, so they left in another batch.

In order to intercept the refugees, the Chu army set up a fortress here, and the yamen runners in the county town would also send people out as much as possible to set up checkpoints to catch people. The effect was still there, and they could catch a lot of them, but some people still wanted to try their luck here.

Inside a small military fortress nearby, Liu Jian, a squad leader, was drinking with Cui Guang, the constable of Xia Wei County.

The soldiers and constables were either gambling or simply lying there, killing time.

In fact, Cui Guang was responsible for catching people. He didn't know who the county magistrate received a secret letter from, saying that a refugee team would pass through Xia Wei County to defect to the enemy. The county magistrate immediately sent Cui Guang out to intercept them;

"I don't know if that Du Gu is out of his mind. It's already like this, and he still sent me and my brothers out to intercept them, and even ordered me to kill them without mercy.

"Damn it,

"Doesn't he know that refugees smuggling across the border now carry knives and bows?

"In case we encounter a bigger group, a hundred or so refugees, I only have a dozen or so brothers under my command. Who is going to kill whom without mercy?"

"Hehe." Liu Jian helped Cui Guang refill his wine and smiled, "Isn't he out of his mind? Although the Du Gu family lost a Pillar of the State in battle, but no matter what, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Since he is named Du Gu but was sent here to be the magistrate of this godforsaken place, he must be a small outsider in the Du Gu family."

Liu Jian's outsider here refers to direct descendants eating and drinking inside, while collateral descendants are stuck outside with their necks craned, only able to watch.

"That's right, hehe, come on, let's have another one."

In recent years, the Chu army's strategic contraction has been obvious;

Chen Xianba has been able to lead his troops across the Wei River from time to time to show off his power, and this is one of the reasons.

The Chu army began to build a new defense system. The Wei River defense line was no longer spread out, but began to gather in several large water villages and castles, using points for defense.

Especially in the past few months, after learning about Jin Dong's actions and sensing that a storm was coming, the Chu army's contraction has become even more thorough. Even the Chu royal forbidden army cavalry, which would come to the border to patrol from time to time, has not appeared for a while.

"Report, someone is coming."

A guard on the fortress lookout tower reported.

Outside, two woodcutters came, but the woodcutters had red ropes tied on their heads.

Liu Jian and Cui Guang took the initiative to walk to the edge of the fortress wall. The two woodcutters waved to the top and threw up a package, then left.

The two opened the package and found that it was full of red ropes.

Cui Guang asked in confusion, "What does the other side mean?"

Obviously, Cui Guang and Liu Jian were clear about the identities of the woodcutters.

Liu Jian smacked his lips,

Picked up the glass on the table again and drank it all in one gulp,

And said:

"A big wave is coming."

Cui Guang sighed,

Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something and asked:

"Is your Black Dragon Flag embroidered yet?"

"There are still a few stitches left. Isn't my wife pregnant again recently, so it's been delayed."

"It can't be delayed, embroider it overnight!"

At noon the next day,

A team of cavalry appeared from the east. They were wearing black armor, with red ropes tied around their arms, and carrying a Black Dragon Flag, passing by the fortress below in a dignified manner.

At this time,

The gate of the fortress was opened,

Liu Jian and Cui Guang, with red ropes tied on their heads and faces full of "excitement" and "joy," stood at the gate of the fortress.

At the same time,

The Black Dragon Flag was raised above the fortress. Although it was a bit broken and the embroidery was a bit distorted, but... the meaning was there.

However, this group of Yan soldiers, "Yan soldiers" with Chu accents, did not stop here. Only one knight rode out and shouted to the two;

"Now that you have surrendered, notify the villages."

"Slave..."

Liu Jian immediately poked Cui Guang in the waist,

And corrected him:

"Yes!"

"Yes, yes!"

"Inform... what?"

"By order of the Prince, the Prince will personally lead the Jin Dong heavenly army here in three days, and this place will become Yan land.

"The Prince is benevolent,

"And cannot bear to see innocent people suffer,

"Therefore, he sent us to first convey the Prince's oral decree:

"Local people who are unwilling to become Prince's subjects should move away from here immediately, otherwise, they will be killed without mercy!"

...

Not far away, Qu Pei Luo, who was sitting on horseback and had grown a beard, looked much more stable and mature, stroked his beard and sighed:

"Before occupying this place, he first informs the local people to let them prepare to escape, so that everyone can appreciate the Prince's benevolence. The Prince is really compassionate."

"Hiss..."

Qu Pei Luo accidentally tore off two of his whiskers,

Then he shook his head to himself,

And scolded with a smile:

"As expected of him, he is still so shameless."

Qu Pei Luo tidied up his clothes,

Seemed to have thought of someone,

And a gentle and loving expression appeared on his face:

"Fortunately, Lan Xin is pure and lovely, not like him."