Changshan Mountain on the west side of Changshan Prefecture stretches for hundreds of miles. It has steep terrain and deep forests. It can be used as a defensive focus. Changshan Mountain connects to the Yanyun Mountains in the south and stretches to the Bailong River in the north.
A road crosses the mountains and connects the east and west. Zhuge Xiaosheng plans to choose a suitable location at the mountain pass to build a pass. As long as this pass is guarded, Li Wanjiang's army can be kept out of the pass.
If a city had been established at the mountain pass, it would have been impossible for the Xianbo people to break into Changshan.
"This is the place where we will have a decisive battle with Li Wanjiang in the future." Zhuge Xiaosheng pointed to the map, "Yuntian and I have discussed that this city will be named after your surname, boss. What do you think about calling it Xiao Guan?"
"It doesn't matter what the name is. What's important is that it can stop the enemy. But I see that besides here, there are several other passages on the map. What if Li Wanjiang sends troops to kill from there?" Xiao Chen doesn't know much about military matters. These big loopholes came out.
"These roads are not wide enough. It is difficult for the army and horses to pass through, especially for the baggage. We only need to deploy thousands of soldiers at the intersection to stop him. If he really chooses to use these roads, By making a surprise attack on the road, we can attack from Xiaoguan and cut off his food route, making it difficult for him to see from the beginning to the end." Zhuge Xiaosheng said.
"Will he attack Niu Tau Fort?" Xiao Chen was worried about Li Tanhua's lone army.
"No." Zhuge Xiaosheng replied firmly, "In fact, not only did he not dare to attack the Bullhead Fort, but Li Tanhua could also lead his troops to fight him! What Li Tanhua was best at was this kind of mobile warfare. When he led the troops on the grassland Hundreds of people are moving back and forth, and even the cavalry from the Northern Xinjiang tribe can't do anything to him."
As for why Li Wanjiang did not dare to attack Niutou Fort, one was that Niutou Mountain was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and Li Tanhua was personally in charge, so it would be impossible to attack it without 20,000 or 30,000 people.
And don’t forget that the north of the Bull Head Fort is the territory of the Mojie Kingdom. The Mojie Kingdom’s little prince Wanyan Pingqiu and old prince Wanyan Hong are all heroes of the moment.
If Li Wanjiang attacks Niu Tau Fort, Mo Jie will regard them as a threat to them. In addition, Mo Jie and Xiao Chen are allies, so they will definitely send troops for reinforcements.
Li Tanhua is difficult enough to deal with, plus Mojie's cavalry...
Therefore, once the war begins, the attitude of several tribes in northern Xinjiang will be one of the keys to success or failure.
Another key issue is Shunfeng Port.
If we drive away the Russians and regain Shunfeng Port, we will have to face the attack of the Great Zhou Navy in the future.
If the Russians were here, Li Wanjiang would not attack Shunfeng Port, so that we could deal with the West with all our strength and not be attacked on both sides.
Although the navy of the Great Zhou Dynasty is weak, we don’t have any navy at all now!
Once a large-scale attack occurs, it will be very difficult for us to defend.
If Shunfeng Port is lost, Changshan Prefecture will definitely not be able to hold it. We will be attacked from both sides and will be completely defeated.
So Xiao Chen must make a decision now. Should Shunfeng Port be recovered? Or when will it be recovered?
This is a problem.
"Shunfeng Port must be recovered." Xiao Chen made a decision after thinking for a while.
The reason is simple, the Russians are not friends, but also enemies.
They will make the most beneficial move for them based on the changing situation in Yanyun County.
When Li Wanjiang's army approaches, they are likely to reach some kind of agreement with Li Wanjiang, and then brazenly send out troops to stab Xiao Chen in the back.
As for how to defend after regaining it, it depends on Dugulou.
Let's have a meeting first.
Dugulou's opinion is the same as Xiao Chen's. The Russians are unreliable and cannot be trusted. They will never become our allies like the Northern Xinjiang tribes, so we must treat them as enemies. The sooner we get rid of them, the better!
As for Zhuge Xiaosheng's worries, Dugulou has already considered them.
As long as we regain Tongfeng Port, we can immediately start building large warships. Of course, this will take time.
During this period, if the Zhou navy attacks, we can rely on strong shore-based firepower for defense, plus small gunboats and warships to follow them in the bay.
Now the madmen and the others have begun to develop this kind of artillery with powerful firepower and ultra-long range, and the range is the most critical.
The cannon's range is one mile longer than theirs, and our chance of winning is one mile higher.
"For now, Mr. Dugu, how successful are you at guarding Shunfeng Harbor?" Zhuge Xiaosheng asked.
"Seven points." Dugu Lou said.
"That's enough! That's it!" Zhuge Xiaosheng immediately agreed, and there were no other questions.
In short, Shunfeng Port will be left to your navy in Dugulou. You must also know the importance of Shunfeng Port, so there is no need to say more.
So what they have to do now is to stockpile grain in large quantities, because once they fight Li Wanjiang, the sea transportation route will be cut off, and they will have no source of food and grass.
As long as there is sufficient food and grass and Shunfeng Port can be defended, Zhuge Xiaosheng is 70% sure that he can stop Li Wanjiang's army from Xiao Pass!
This is just preparing for the worst. No matter whether we win or lose this battle, or whether we fight it or not, it is best not to fight it.
Or the later the fight, the better.
This will give Xiao Chen and the others more preparation time.
But time always feels like there’s not enough time.
Zhuge Xiaosheng and Wei Yuntian only stayed for less than ten days before leaving. They had to survey the terrain of Changshan in detail, because building a city is not a trivial matter. Once built, it will be a century-old project.
This Xiaoguan, or Xiaocheng, is too important. It is the key throat of Changshan Prefecture. Zhuge Xiaosheng wants to build it into a steel city, as unbreakable as Yanyunguan.
The reason why he suggested naming this city Xiao City was to let everyone know its importance.
Although it is winter and it is not possible to break ground and start construction, you can still go into the mountains to cut stones, burn lime, and transport wood. Prepare in advance for building the city. When the spring flowers bloom, construction will start immediately!
This requires recruiting at least tens of thousands of civilians and spending countless amounts of money.
Although Chen Jisheng was heartbroken, he also knew the importance of Xiao Guan and this money must be spent no matter what.
But there are so many places to spend money.
Lin Yue's newly recruited 30,000 soldiers cost more than 100,000 taels of silver for their equipment alone. The cost of training equipment plus military pay each month was astronomical.
When Dugulou established the navy, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were gone in an instant, not counting the food and salary for the newly recruited navy soldiers.
The several factories Xiao Chen opened were also very expensive, with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver invested in them.
These two lunatics are experts at burning money. No amount of money given to them would be enough to cause trouble!
Yanyun County currently has almost no taxes, but you have to pay the officials’ salaries, right? This is another huge expense.
Money doesn’t come in vain, okay?
Although mutual trading is a huge profit, it is not enough to make money!
We don’t have any gold or silver...
Even if there was any, it would be completely empty!
