#518 - Eastern Expedition
As night fell, Du Chang rushed from the Ten Thousand Mountains to Guanghan County.
The Tiangou Army made its debut in the Battle of Niutou Mountain, displaying great power, and he and Yang Liu's contributions were indispensable.
In fact, if they had appeared in other battles, the sensation caused by the Tiangou Army should have been even more intense.
After all, the key to the Battle of Niutou Mountain was undoubtedly the earth-shattering "heavenly thunder" that killed hundreds of thousands of people in one fell swoop, somewhat overshadowing the "glory" of the Tiangou Army.
But no matter what, Du Chang's demonstrated ability was affirmed by Wei Changtian, and the former also secured his position as the main general of the Tiangou Army.
It's just that no matter how awesome this army is, it is still a bit too "shocking to the world".
Even in Shu Prefecture, which has the most peaceful attitude towards the Yao race, even if the people are no longer as afraid of the demon beasts as before, it is still somewhat difficult for them to accept the Tiangou Army being stationed nearby.
"Young Master! Xianping!"
At the beginning of Xu time, Du Chang walked into the Guanghan County Yamen in a hurry and saw Wei Changtian and Chu Xianping, who were discussing something.
"Brother Du."
Wei Changtian greeted him with a smile, and inevitably exchanged some pleasantries first.
After briefly asking about the recent situation of the Tiangou Army and giving a few instructions such as "speeding up the expansion of the army," the three quickly got to the point.
Naturally, it was about Kui Long and the Tiaoyue Sword.
Because Du Chang had lost a bet with Chu Xianping before and had taken the puppet pill, Wei Changtian told him about Kui Long without any psychological burden.
And his reaction was similar to that of Chu Xianping when he first heard about it.
Although surprised, he quickly accepted the existence of such a mysterious organization.
It seems that people who do great things have at least one thing in common—
That is, they remain calm when Mount Tai collapses in front of them and rarely deny themselves due to changes in the external environment.
From Xu time to Zi time.
When the bright moon traveled to the middle of the sky and the clear light covered the blue tiles of the county government, the three people's discussion finally came to an end.
In addition to "colluding confessions" and discussing in advance how to deal with Kui Long's probing, they also determined the next direction of attack for the Shu army.
As mentioned before, the Shu army currently has two offensive directions to choose from: north and east.
Liang Zhen is inclined to attack Anzhou in the north first, and eliminate the 60,000-strong imperial army stationed there in one fell swoop.
Chu Xianping is inclined to attack Yangzhou in the east first, expand the territory of the Shu Kingdom, and consolidate step by step.
Wei Changtian had not been able to make up his mind before, but after he asked Wei Xianzhi for his opinion, and now combined with Du Chang's attitude, he finally made a decision.
Attack the east first and occupy Yangzhou.
This move is mainly based on two considerations.
First, on a tactical level.
No matter what, Anzhou still has 60,000 remnants of the imperial army, plus the local state soldiers in Anzhou, it is not a big problem to gather a small 100,000 people.
Although his side has 100,000 reinforcements from Da Li, the number is definitely superior, and with the Tiangou Army, the combat power is definitely superior.
However, it is difficult to repeat the scene of Niutou Mountain in this kind of real offensive and defensive battle, and even if they win, there will definitely be a lot of losses.
Ning Yongnian now has the population of thirty-five states to support him, and it is definitely more advantageous to fight a war of attrition, so it is best for the Shu Kingdom not to exchange combat power in this way.
Second, on a strategic level.
Choosing to attack Anzhou means that the next strategic choice is likely to be all the way north, fighting to the capital in one breath by fighting to support the war.
Attacking Yangzhou is "horizontal development". In the future, they can continue to move east, taking all the southern states of Da Ning as their own and forming a north-south confrontation with Ning Yongnian.
Although this will not quickly overthrow Ning Yongnian's rule, the advantage is that it is stable.
After all, under the influence of the grain market turmoil and successive wars, Da Ning is now riddled with holes, but everything in Shu Prefecture is thriving.
With this ebb and flow, Wei Changtian felt that it would be more beneficial to drag it on for a longer time.
“. . . ”
"Okay, then it's settled. I'll talk to Uncle Liang tomorrow."
In the council hall, Wei Changtian took a sip of the tea that was already a bit bland: "The remaining 50,000 reinforcements from Da Li will arrive in Guanghan the day after tomorrow, but it is inevitable that they will have to rest for a few days..."
"How about this, leave 30,000 people to garrison Guanghan, to prevent Ning Yongnian from killing a carbine, and the rest of the troops will set up camp and move east in five days to attack Yangzhou!"
"Yes!"
Du Chang and Chu Xianping immediately stood up with serious expressions and clasped their fists, without any objection to this decision.
Wei Changtian thought for a moment and continued:
"Brother Du, Brother Chu, I think you can go to Yangzhou before this and talk to their governor and chief military officer."
"It would be best if they are willing to surrender."
"If they are not willing, we will fight again."
"What do you think?"
"Young Master is right."
Chu Xianping nodded slightly: "Now that Yangzhou has not many state troops left, they also know that they cannot be enemies with our army, and perhaps they will be willing to open the city and ask to surrender."
"If we can subdue the soldiers without fighting, that would be the best."
"That's right."
Du Chang also echoed from the side: "We have just won a great victory at Niutou Mountain, and I think everyone in Anzhou is already in fear. This persuasion should be successful."
"Okay, then you two should go there as soon as possible."
Wei Changtian stood up and walked to the two of them: "Take the Tiangou Army with you. If you can reach an agreement, then take over Yangzhou City immediately."
"If you can't reach an agreement, then it will be just right to serve as the vanguard of the army."
"In addition, tell the officials in Yangzhou that as long as they are willing to surrender, their positions will remain unchanged."
"You two can handle the other conditions as you see fit."
“. . . ”
"Yes! We understand!"
The firelight flickered, and two sonorous and powerful responses echoed in the council hall.
Wei Changtian didn't know whether Du Chang and Chu Xianping could successfully persuade Yangzhou to surrender, but there was no harm in trying.
After all, if they really succeeded, then fewer people would die.
As for the safety of the two... Wei Changtian was not worried about this.
With the IQ of these two people, even if he didn't arrange it, they would definitely make thorough preparations.
What's more, the Tiangou Army is also going with them.
In this way, after "staying" in Guanghan City for three more days, Wei Changtian finally managed to deal with the important matters at hand.
Chu Xianping and Du Chang will soon take the Tiangou Army to Yangzhou to negotiate.
Liang Zhen will stay in Guanghan to liaise with the remaining 50,000 Da Li reinforcements and prepare for the possible Eastern Expedition.
As for Wei Changtian himself...
Of course, he is going back to Shuzhou City to get married.
