#449 - On the eve of the war
Four days later.
Shu Prefecture, Guanghan County.
Guanghan County is located in the northernmost part of Shu, bordered by the Shiwan Mountains to the east, Yang Prefecture to the west, and An Prefecture to the north.
According to the battle plan submitted by Han Zhao to Ning Yongnian, the 300,000-strong rebel army would enter Shu territory from An Prefecture.
This was the shortest route from Yuan Prefecture and the fastest way to reach Shu Prefecture City.
Although Liang Zhen had already led troops to Guanghan in advance, Ning Yongnian did not change his battle strategy.
On the one hand, based on the movements of the rebel army, anyone with a little military common sense could judge that Han Zhao was preparing to launch an attack from Guanghan County, so it was far from enough to cause suspicion of "leaking military secrets".
On the other hand, if they chose to attack from other directions, the rebel army would have to detour through Yang Prefecture, which would delay them for at least another ten days.
Moreover, once the army changed its direction of attack, Liang Zhen could also change his deployment position.
The deployment of 60,000 people was always easier and faster than that of 300,000, so Ning Yongnian had no need to do anything superfluous.
In any case, whether they fought here or there, it was 300,000 against 60,000. Once the war started, no one believed that the Shu army could resist for long.
Reach Shu Prefecture City within ten days, and break through the city within a month.
These were the two time limits that Ning Yongnian set for Han Zhao.
Han Zhao also signed a military order for this, guaranteeing with his own head that he would break into the Weiyang Palace within a month.
Both of them were full of confidence. At least, that's how they appeared.
It goes without saying why Han Zhao was so "confident".
But for Ning Yongnian, he didn't really think he was foolproof.
Because the intelligence that had been continuously transmitted back from Shu Prefecture recently confirmed that a Shu army of 10,000 people had suddenly disappeared.
They did not follow Liang Zhen to Guanghan for defense, nor were they deployed elsewhere.
Although 10,000 people were not many, they might become an uncertain factor on the future battlefield.
More importantly, Da Li seemed to be a little restless as well.
As the ruler of a country, even though Ning Yongnian had now lost the "eyes and ears" of the Xuanyi Division, he still had a certain intelligence network.
Therefore, many of the things that happened in Shu Prefecture and Da Li could not escape his eyes.
He not only knew that Da Li would probably send troops to reinforce Shu Prefecture, but also knew that the reinforcements were about 100,000 strong and would arrive on the battlefield in about half a month.
In this way, the number of people on the Shu army's side would change from 60,000 to 160,000. Although it was still nearly half less than the rebel army, it was still a trouble after all.
Under normal circumstances, Da Ning should have ordered the rebel army to speed up its march and try to end the war quickly at all costs, striving to end the war before the Da Li army arrived in Shu Prefecture.
Or, they could have transferred more troops from the surrounding prefectures and counties in advance to prepare for a protracted war.
Strangely, however, Ning Yongnian had not made any extra deployments for the time being.
He only told Han Zhao the news that Da Li might participate in the war, and then let the latter continue to execute the previous plan, without needing to adjust the tactics.
Knowing that the enemy had strong reinforcements about to enter the field, but not making corresponding preparations.
The reason for this was either because Ning Yongnian's attention was currently focused on the Fengyuan battle and he had no time to estimate too much on the Shu Prefecture side.
Or, this Da Ning Emperor had a deeper plan.
Just like the previous "Yuan Prefecture City Massacre", he was trying to get more.
Of course, Bai Youheng's "city slaughter" ability only happened once every sixty years, so Shu Prefecture would not repeat the same mistakes as Yuan Prefecture City.
But what Ning Yongnian wanted to do, no one except himself knew at the moment.
It can only be said that Wei Changtian's first direct confrontation with Ning Yongnian would probably not be as easy as the two sides had planned.
"Hurry up! Move faster!"
"Transport all these rammed earth to the north of the city!"
"Colonel Zhang, why did your scout camp return so late today?!"
"Take inventory of the military equipment! Distribute it to each squad and battalion early tomorrow morning!"
"Report! 500,000 arrows transported from Shu Prefecture City have arrived outside the city!"
"..."
Chaotic horses' hooves, hurried footsteps, rising dust, Qingjia soldiers running in formation...
Compared with the still peaceful and serene Shu Prefecture City, this small Guanghan County City was now full of tension before the arrival of the war.
Two days ago, after Liang Zhen led the Shu army to arrive here, he immediately took over all the authority from the county government, and the entire county city entered a state of war.
There were few figures of common people on the streets, and all that came and went were groups of Shu soldiers and carriages loaded with a large amount of military supplies.
The originally not-so-tall city walls were being heightened and widened at a speed visible to the naked eye, and several barbicans rose from the ground, tightly protecting the four gates in the east, south, west, and north.
The young and strong men in each household were conscripted as laborers. Although they did not have to go to the front line to fight, they were each assigned tasks to ensure the logistical supply for the war.
Although it was 60,000 against 300,000, the military and civilians in Guanghan City were very active in preparing for the war, without the pessimistic emotions of giving up.
Everyone was doing their own thing according to the orders passed down level by level, just to give their side a better chance of winning after the war started.
At the same time, the three people on the Shu Kingdom's side who bore the most direct responsibility for the victory or defeat of this war were conducting the final pre-war tactical deduction in the council hall.
Guanghan County defense map, surrounding area combat map.
Organization of the 300,000 rebel army, detailed information on the generals of each army.
The battle plan from the imperial court that Ning Yongnian nodded and agreed to...
Various maps and secret texts were piled up beside the huge sand table, and in the sand table were small flags of different colors, roughly estimated to be nearly a hundred.
Red flags were divided into three types, representing the front, middle, and rear parts of the imperial army.
Blue flags represented the 60,000 Shu troops.
Black flags represented the 10,000 Tiangou troops.
Yellow flags represented the 100,000 demon beasts that were hiding in the Shiwan Mountains and that Qingxian promised could be mobilized at any time.
Purple flags represented the 1,000 "tactical squads" composed of masters from the Tianluo Sect and the Freemasons.
Green flags represented the 100,000 "Green Forest Heroes" who were currently gathering on the border of Da Li.
Leaving aside the last force that could not be put into the battlefield for the time being, the real combat power currently in the hands of the Shu Kingdom was about 200,000 "people", and the gap in combat power was far from the exaggerated "one to five" that the outside world thought.
If you add the huge advantage that the enemy's main general was one of their own, it was no wonder that Wei Changtian had always been very confident in winning this war.
"Shua, shua, shua"
Flags of various colors were raised and lowered, Liang Zhen and Chu Xianping frowned tightly, and they were conducting a military exercise back and forth.
Wei Changtian was watching attentively from the side.
Then, at a certain moment, he suddenly raised his hand and waved.
"Wait!"
