As soon as these words came out, the whole room was shocked, and Yin Chan opened his eyes wide: "Zhennan, you, are you kidding me? In the situation like ours in Jiangzhou, how can we possibly draw the army to fight another big battle?" As for the battle, even food and grass are far from enough."
Deng Qianzhi said in a deep voice: "Yes, what Yin Canjun said is absolutely true. Jiangzhou currently has only more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, and only 300,000 shi of food and grass. It can only maintain the usual consumption of the garrison. If you want to expedition to Lingnan, and don't It is said that the demon thief’s military strength is superior to mine, and even this food and grass cannot support it.”
He Wuji had no expression on his face, looked at the military attachés standing on his right, and said, "By the way, you are the veteran of the Old Beifu. Tell me, can we fight this battle?"
Wei Shunzhi was already the governor of Yiyang in Jiangzhou at this time, and the most senior general here except He Wuji. He said confidently: "Good question from Zhennan, I am a military general regarding this matter of food and grass. I don’t know too much about the military. We in Jiangzhou now have 15,000 elite soldiers. They are all old troops from Zhennan for many years. They are old Beifu soldiers who have experienced hundreds of battles. In terms of combat effectiveness, we only rely on our current troops. Our military strength is enough to defeat the demon thief! Chao Shi, you learned your art of war from the commander, do you think I am bragging?"
Zhu Chaoshi was dressed in bright silver armor and looked heroic. This time, the Zhu brothers were also on different sides. His elder brother Zhu Lingshi followed Liu Yu in the northern expedition to Nanyan and came to Guanggu. However, his younger brother Zhu Chaoshi joined the army as He Wuji and left Zhenjiang Prefecture. One task is that as a local wealthy family in Jingzhou, you can contact Jingzhou for support at any time. Hearing these words, he smiled slightly and said: "Brother Shunzhi is very reasonable. Soldiers are more valuable than finesse. Our Jiangzhou soldiers and horses were originally used to defeat monsters and thieves. This is what we have been waiting for every day for the past two years. At that moment, if the Xianbei thieves from Nanyan had not taken the initiative to rebel and attack our Jin Dynasty, I am afraid that the first one to make great achievements and invade the enemy's lair would not be the commander-in-chief, but Zhennan."
Wei Shunzhi laughed: "If you say that, then there must be no problem."
Zhu Chaoshi curled up his lips and said, "It's just that now we also have our own problems. Although Zhennan is ambitious, but I'll forgive my subordinates, we can't attack Guangzhou so quickly."
A trace of displeasure flashed across He Wuji's face and he said: "Chao Shi, this is a joint meeting of the military and government. If you have anything to say, it's okay to say it. For us, this is equivalent to a calculation. We would rather consider the difficulties fully. a little."
Zhu Chaoshi said sternly: "Because although we have elite soldiers, we still have two major shortcomings. First, as Deng Changshi said, there is not enough food and grass. No matter how strong a soldier is, he cannot fight on an empty stomach. Three hundred thousand shi of military rations to defend Jiangzhou We have more than enough, but if we want to attack Lingnan, there are still some shortcomings."
He Wuji nodded: "Go on, what is the second difficulty?"
Zhu Chaoshi sighed: "The second difficulty is that our army's strength is still scattered. There are 15,000 troops and horses. Now there are about 5,000 troops here in Yuzhang. 3,000 troops are guarding Xunyang. Brother Shunzhi's Three thousand elite troops are in Yiyang, while Nankang County has 2,000 troops and horses. The other troops and horses are scattered in the counties below. If you want to go to Guangzhou, you must leave at least 5,000 troops and horses for defense. The other troops to attack are not There are more than 10,000. If the demon thieves guard the front line of the Five Ridges and block our army, in the summer, the epidemic will spread. I am afraid that the epidemic that Brother Ashou encountered when he conquered Shu will happen again."
These words made all the military generals look solemn, while the civil servants nodded repeatedly. Wang Hong said with a smile: "They all say that Zhu Canjun is familiar with the art of war and has a lot of experience with Marshal Liu. When I saw him today, he really lived up to his reputation. Zhennan, we We all hope to follow you to make great achievements, put down the demon thieves, and personally avenge these old thieves who caused chaos and massacred the children of my family. This has always been our wish. It can be said that we are willing to follow you because we want revenge. , if given the chance, we would all like to charge today and charge to the top of Guangzhou tomorrow. However, we really do not have the strength now."
Zhang Shao nodded: "Yes, and it is now May, and the flood season has not yet arrived. The Yangtze River is in the dry season, and it is impossible to transport grain and grass by land and water to fight in Lingnan. Even if the army can set off, it can only go overland, passing through Ba Ling, Yueyang, Yingtan and other places to reach Wuling. The journey is far away, thousands of miles. I am afraid that the monsters and thieves will have been prepared for a long time. The possibility of our army making a surprise attack no longer exists. In addition, due to the lack of food and grass, Once the enemy is allowed to defend Wuling, the chances of winning are really slim. Zhennan, please think twice."
He Wuji looked around, scanning the faces: "Do you all think that there is little chance of winning this battle?"
Almost all the civil servants and most of the military attachés saluted and said, "Zhennan, please think twice."
He Wuji sighed softly: "What Chao Shi said just now, how could I not know that the reason why I dare to let everyone come to discuss the matter is that we have sufficient solutions to these difficulties. Please listen to me. , it’s not too late to make a judgment.”
Everyone respectfully said: "I am attentive to Zhennan's opinion."
He Wuji said calmly: "Now that our Jin Dynasty is very empty in the east, both Jinnu and Xile are going to the north, taking away most of the food, grass and elite soldiers. We are counting on the possibility of receiving assistance from the rear, almost in the future. Not within half a year, and within a month, the news of Xi Le’s troops will spread all over the place, and even the monster thieves will know about it. I have been dividing my troops in various places before, just to confuse the monster thieves and make him think that our troops are scattered and we can’t accomplish anything.”
Wei Shunzhi laughed: "I knew that Zhennan must have some tricks up his sleeve. Please continue."
He Wuji stroked his beard with satisfaction: "Actually, I had already planned to send troops in June and invade Guangzhou in July. I would take them by surprise and eliminate the monsters and thieves in one fell swoop. This letter from Xi Le can be said to be a blessing to me." Also, it adds a layer of insurance to my plan!"
Yin Chan opened his mouth wide: "What does this mean in Zhennan? Isn't it the time to harvest summer grain in June and July? At this time, all the soldiers have to go home to farm, so how can they fight? Also, in this hot summer season , when the miasma is at its most severe, sending troops to Guangzhou will easily lead to large-scale epidemics."
He Wuji sneered: "If we fight step-by-step, how about taking the enemy by surprise and attacking him unprepared? Is there a suddenness in the war? It's precisely because the demon thieves also think this way, thinking that there will be miasma in July and it is also a time to harvest grain. During the season, our troops are dispersed and will not attack, so they will relax their vigilance and let their soldiers collect grain. As long as we can overcome the miasma at this time and concentrate our elite troops for a surprise attack, they will be caught off guard and will not even have the chance to defend Wuling. will not have!"
