"Yes, yes, Xiaoqing has indeed lived up to my expectations. He has an extremely accurate grasp of the fighter opportunities. With the advantage I gained in Jiangxia, I have successfully captured the first palace of Xiangyang County in Ningguo."
After reading Jiangbei's battle report, Lu Yuan couldn't help but nodded with satisfaction: "At this point, the situation in Jiangbei is settled."
Nowadays, don't count those civilian men who were recruited temporarily and didn't have much fighting power.
The Chu State's military strength in Xiangyang County in the north of the Yangtze River was already twice that of the Ning State.
At this time, the reason why Ning Guo was still able to support itself in the two Jiangbei mansions was because of Yang Jing and another innate master.
Relying on the innate master who was stationed in the city, unable to retreat, and supplemented by elite soldiers and a large number of civilians, Ningguo was able to defend the two prefectures of Xiangyang County.
But this situation cannot be maintained forever.
As time goes by, when the Chu State slowly accumulates strength and makes breakthroughs in various battlefields, it is only a matter of time before it can devote more energy to wiping out the two Jiangbei prefectures.
"In the past few days, Chu Wei has made great progress in condensing the outer body of martial arts under my guidance.
Even after these few battles, with the help of the great victory, the mind has been refined, and the speed of soul transformation has accelerated a lot.
According to this situation, inviting him to join the battle this time not only did not slow down his breakthrough speed, but actually accelerated it a lot.
It seems that in a month or two, when winter fades away in January or February next year, he will be able to successfully break through the innateness. "
Lu Yuan recalled this period of time, when he was giving instructions to Chu Wei, he saw the disciple's improvement speed. He couldn't help but touch his chin and fell into deep thought.
It won't be long before there will be another innate master among his disciples.
And with the addition of Chu Wei, a new innate combat power, no matter whether he is sent to Hengyang or Luyang, he will be prepared for possible sneak attacks by Ning Guo's main force in the spring of next year.
Or he could be sent to Jiangbei to help Zhou Qing wipe out the last two strongholds of the Ning people in Xiangyang County, Jiangbei as soon as possible, which would be extremely useful.
As originally expected, once this battle begins, as time goes by, the balance of victory will continue to tip towards Chu.
At this time, the Ning State changed from the overwhelming power to the current frustration and difficulty, and could only stalemate with the Chu State, which is a clear proof.
You know, from the beginning of the war in October to now into December, the war that swept through the five countries in the south of the Yangtze River only lasted less than two months.
In just two months, Chu State reversed its decline and turned the war situation into a turning point.
If we wait longer, this advantage will continue to increase, and eventually converge into an unstoppable trend, crushing Ning Guo and Xiaoxiao in one fell swoop.
"In this war, Shen Qiu did not use all his strength and went all-in on a decisive battle with me. This was definitely his biggest mistake.
Now I have survived the initial hardship and blocked Ning Guo's most powerful offensive.
And with the arrival of the cold wave, the ice cannot be frozen throughout the winter. With this little half-year buffer, the Chu State is already in an invincible position. "
Lu Yuan couldn't help but smile when he thought about what happened this month.
In fact, there are many risks for Chu State in this war with Ning State.
For example, in addition to the main battlefield of Jiangxia, the three prefectures of Changsha, Hengyang, and Luyang in the south are the biggest flaws of Chu State.
If Ning Guo can seize the opportunity, the troops will be divided into three groups, each sending an innate master to lead the army to attack these three mansions.
So with the strength of the Chu State, trapped by the insufficiency of the innate master, it will definitely be overwhelmed and full of leaks.
In the end, Ning Guo may take the opportunity to break through and lead his troops into the hinterland of Chu State's Dongting.
If a group of Ning soldiers and horses were allowed to wreak havoc in Dongting, not only would the capital Baling be threatened, but Lu Yuan's main force on the Jiangxia front line would also be in danger of being attacked from both sides.
Even the other two armies in Lingnan and Zhou Qing's army in Jiangbei are threatened with being cut off from their retreat.
When this situation comes true, then the state of Chu will be in a really bad situation in this war, and there is a risk of a huge defeat.
But fortunately, Emperor Ning Shen Qiu was born into a noble family and had a smooth life. He easily controlled the affairs of the country, and in the end even easily accepted the abdication and created a dynasty.
Although due to his status as a son of aristocratic family and his experience over the years, his ability and strength have indeed been honed well and he can be said to be the best in the world.
But none of the above can cover up his biggest flaw.
That is, as a person who inherited everything, no matter how powerful Shen Qiu is, he lacks the fighting spirit compared to someone with a rough background like Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan, feeling the risk of the entire Chu State being destroyed, made a huge bet with Ning State.
But everything Shen Qiu had was based on Ning Guo and his status as a family with six surnames and seven clans.
It is the above that gave him his current achievements.
Therefore, if Ning Guo and the thousands-year-old foundation of the six surnames and seven clans were to bet against Lu Yuan, a humble pariah in Shen Qiu's eyes, he would not have the courage to do so.
Therefore, even if the main army led by Shen Qiu had 400,000 troops and six innates, it could be said to be half the strength of the Ning Kingdom.
But precisely because he was half the strength of the Ning Kingdom, Shen Qiu was timid when commanding these soldiers and horses, and he did not even dare to gather all the soldiers and horses for a decisive battle with Lu Yuan.
Not only that, even when he dispatched troops and horses to raid Dongting County of Chu State, he showed a small-minded attitude.
Only one group of soldiers and horses were assigned to attack Changsha, and they did not dare to send out all the soldiers and horses.
In the end, a reserve team of 100,000 people was left, and maybe one or two innate masters, just in case something unexpected happened, these 100,000 people could still be used as a fallback.
Or if the battle ahead is not going well, we can urgently mobilize support.
It cannot be said that this strategy is completely wrong.
If one's own side can always maintain the advantage, then following this strategy is indeed superior and can ensure that one's side remains invincible.
But the question is, does Ning State really have an absolute advantage over Chu State?
Just looking at the Dongting County side of the main battlefield, the Chu army has 210,000 troops and the Ning army has 400,000.
However, the Chu army was on the backhand side and could recruit civilians. Due to the favorable location of the city, the gap with the Ning army was actually not that big.
Zoom in a little and look at the comparison of power between Chu and the Four Kingdoms.
In this battle, Chu State had four battlefields, and a total of ten Xiantian and 700,000 main troops were mobilized on the front line. Behind the vassal state in the southwest and Hanzhong County in the northwest, there are two Xiantian in total, about 100,000 vassal troops, 100,000 forbidden troops, and a total of 200,000 soldiers and horses on standby at any time.
With a total of 12 innates and 900,000 soldiers and horses, the Chu State could be said to have spent everything they had on this battle.
But what about the Four-Nation Alliance?
Ning, Su, Song, and Nanhai combined had only twelve Xiantian Grandmasters, and the combined forces of the coalition only had about 850,000 troops, even less than the Chu State.
Judging from the data on paper alone, the Chu side is actually better than the coalition forces.
The reason why the Chu State was clearly at a disadvantage was because Lu Yuan had diverted too much power to the other three battlefields, causing the main battlefield to be a bit weak, which gave the world such an illusion.
But now.
As Lu Yuan made a huge gamble, and Shen Qiu did not dare to invest all his strength because of too many worries, the two countries reached the current stalemate on the main battlefield.
Ning Guo also missed the only opportunity to defeat Chu State.
As time went by, when the Chu State's secrets accumulated and slowly exploded, the defeat of the coalition forces was doomed.
Born in the Shenqiu family, his character and wrong choices had already led him to defeat.
“However, although the balance of victory is now on Chu’s side.
But if Shen Qiu suddenly wakes up, gets enlightened, desperately mobilizes troops from home, and carries out the plan to raid Dongting again, he may still be able to overturn the situation.
This point has to be considered. "
Lu Yuan touched his chin, but he thought about Shen Qiu, the hundred thousand troops left in Dongting County, one or two innates.
There is also Ningguo who stays in the territory to defend against Liangguo in the north of the Yangtze River and at the same time suppress the 200,000 troops in the country and the four innate masters.
The combined strength of these two forces cannot be underestimated.
If Shen Qiu is really desperate, or takes some risks, Ning Guo can still muster an army of 200,000 and three or four innate masters to attack Chu.
If this huge force is divided by him, they can attack Luyang and Hengyang respectively, or attack Changsha with another part.
So under the attack from three sides, Lu Yuan would really be in a hurry and find it difficult to support himself.
"Although with Shen Qiu's character, there is a high probability that he will not implement this more crazy and adventurous plan, but there is a possibility in everything. What if?"
Lu Yuan guessed Shen Qiu's character and shook his head with slight contempt.
But for the sake of caution, he still made up his mind: "When Chu Wei breaks through, let's send him to Luyang Mansion. With such an innate garrison, even if Ningguo makes a surprise attack, he can still keep the city intact and block it at the border." , Do not allow your troops to break into the country.
There is also a spirit girl who can be ordered to go to Hengyang Mansion and take over the local defense.
In this way, the three border prefectures such as Changsha, Hengyang, and Luyang will all have an innate master in charge. Together with the recruitment of civilians, they can almost gather 100,000 troops.
This kind of strength, if not offensive, is actually defensive, which is more than enough. "
Lu Yuan decided to play it safe.
After all, time is on his side, and there is no need to continue taking risks like before.
As for the transfer of Ling Nu and Chu Wei, will there be any problems on the main battlefield?
It's not just Lu Yuan's boasting. He relies on the strong city of Jiangxia, the more than 100,000 land and water troops here, and himself, the world's best master.
Not to mention the mere hundreds of thousands of Ning troops outside the city, even if Shen Qiu gathered the one hundred thousand troops from Yuzhang County and the five remaining Xiantians in his hands to capture Jiangxia City that he was guarding, that would be a fool's errand.
Don't break your teeth in the end, then the other party will be considered lucky.
"It's decided. On the main battlefield of Dongting County, the four border prefectures are all on the defensive, with an innate master and more than 100,000 troops stationed at each location to resist the Ning army.
In the other three remote battlefields, offensives were adopted to achieve breakthroughs as soon as possible.
At the same time, apart from Chu Wei, Li Liang and the others are left. These four disciples should all have their innate breakthroughs after spring and summer next year.
At that time, the four extra innates can be dispatched to three battlefields respectively to have the final say.
Follow this strategy.
Perhaps if things go well, we may be able to win this decisive battle by this time next year.
Then it would take one, two, or three years to attack and destroy each country one by one, and Yangzhou would be unified. "
After Lu Yuan analyzed the current battlefield situation, he slightly adjusted his strategy and made a new decision.
After reviewing the overall situation and confirming that there were no omissions, he couldn't help but nodded with satisfaction and a smile on his face.
…
Facts have proved that Lu Yuan's strategy of sticking to the main battlefield was extremely correct.
During the battle on the remote battlefield in Xiangyang County, Jiangbei, due to the influence of the main battlefield, Zhou Qing seized the opportunity and achieved a breakthrough.
The other two Lingnan battlefields, which already had great advantages, did not need the support of Lu Yuan's main battlefield, and they had a huge advantage at the beginning.
On September 27, the 10th year of Shenwu, Qingyunzi led 160,000 Chu troops southward to attack the Nanhai Kingdom in the south of Lingnan.
Because the Nanhai Kingdom took the position of guarding the capital, other prefectures except where the capital was located were quickly captured by the Chu army without much effort due to the extreme emptiness due to the withdrawal of a large number of elite soldiers.
In just half a month, the Chu army was rushing on the road while receiving orders from various cities along the way.
When Qingyunzi led the army to Nanhai City, six prefectures to the north and west of Nanhai City had changed their flags and returned to Chu State.
But at this time, the supporting army sent by Ning State also came south from Yuzhang and came from the east. At about the same time as the Chu army, they arrived at the gate of Nanhai City.
Then Qingyunzi led his army and took the initiative to find Ningguo's reinforcements to fight. Several battles broke out outside Nanhai City.
The Nanhai Navy, who had always been accustomed to shrinking, followed their old tradition and just hid in the city and watched the battle between the Chu army and the Ning army.
In the end, unable to deal with the Ning army's demands and threats, they reluctantly sent an army of 50,000 civilians out of the city to assist the Ning army against the Chu army.
But it was a good thing that the reinforcements from the South Navy did not come. Once they came, the Ningguo army, which could still compete with the Chu army, was instantly unlucky.
The civilians who had been summoned in a hurry were not familiar with swords and guns, and they didn't understand any other military knowledge such as lining up for battle, identifying flags, etc.
This kind of army, which is almost a mob, just stays at the city head to defend the city, throws stones, pours out excrement and water, and may be barely useful.
But sending them out to fight against the Chu army, which had conquered the world with almost no defeats, would be a complete achievement for the Chu army.
Therefore, after the Nanhai Navy joined the battlefield, the Ning army, which was fighting with the Chu army regardless of the outcome, suddenly had a huge flaw, and this flaw was keenly caught by Qingyunzi.
Immediately, Li Xiong was ordered to lead a select group of elite soldiers to attack the Nanhai Navy's camp. In just a moment, the ragtag Nanhai Navy was defeated and fled on the battlefield.
After that, things became simple. They just drove away the defeated troops and attacked the Ning army's camp.
Taking advantage of the enemy's defeat and low morale, Li Xiong led his troops and defeated several Ning people's military formations in a row. He even attacked the opponent's camp in one go, captured several Ning army camps and captured more than 10,000 Ning soldiers and horses. .
Qingyunzi was also on the main battlefield, taking advantage of the Ning army's flanks to collapse and the people's hearts to float, to lead the attack.
In the end, Ning Ren couldn't hold on anymore and fled in defeat. The Chu army took advantage of the situation to cover up the enemy and made countless gains and surrenders.
Even one of Ning Ren's innate masters was seriously injured by Qingyunzi when he took the opportunity, and almost died on the battlefield.
However, even if you escape with your life, you will only lose most of your combat power. You won't be able to play much of a role until you recover from your injuries.
In this great victory, the Chu army not only defeated the 50,000 miscellaneous soldiers of the Nanhai Kingdom, but also beheaded more than 10,000 Ning soldiers, surrendered more than 20,000 people, wiped out the main force of more than 30,000 Ning soldiers in one go, and also severely damaged the opponent. An innate master.
If the gains from the previous battles are included, the 100,000 troops and horses sent by the Ning people to Nanhai Kingdom have lost more than 50,000. It can be said that the main force is lost.
The remaining more than 40,000 remnant soldiers could no longer contend with the Chu army. They had retreated to the foot of Nanhai City and set up camp again. They relied on each other with the Nanhai Navy in the city and huddled in the camp, unable to defend.
Qingyunzi took the opportunity to attack the city and the camp. After finding that he couldn't get any benefits, he led the main force to station outside the city and surrounded and restrained the two countries' coalition forces in Nanhai City.
Then he asked Li Xiong to lead a partial army and march eastward to attack the other three prefectures east of Ningguo.
When he led his army back, only Nanhai City, one county and ten prefectures in Nanhai Kingdom, was left, standing alone to resist the Chu army.
Defying the world with one corner will naturally not last long.
There are more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in Nanhai City and a population of hundreds of thousands. Every day, people eat horses and chew, and the food consumed is astronomical.
Even if the opponent wants to defend the city, they won't be able to defend it for long.
The fall of Nanhai City and the destruction of Nanhai Kingdom are already a certainty. It is only a matter of time.
The Chu army on Lingnan East Road has gained absolute advantage on the battlefield.
Not only the progress on Qingyunzi's side is going smoothly, but also on Lan Cai'er's side, the progress is equally gratifying.
After receiving the mission assigned by Lu Yuan, the queen immediately went south with Han Hu and rushed to Lingling Mansion. She led the 70,000 soldiers and horses gathered there to block the coalition forces at Yuecheng Pass.
After several battles, relying on Xiongguan and Jiancheng, just like Lu Yuan in Jiangxia, taste severely dampened the vigor of Su Xuange and others, and blocked the two coalition forces under Guancheng.
In addition to guarding the pass, Lan Cai'er also ordered Shi Hanliang, the defense commander of central Guizhou, and Li Chuan, the general of Chili State, to jointly send 140,000 troops to attack Tonghai County of Su State from the rear.
The Su State had only a few soldiers, leaving only 10,000 county soldiers in Tonghai County to suppress the area. Even if the civilians were recruited, the local population of only 1 or 200,000 could not muster 20,000 to 30,000 people.
In the end, in less than half a month, the entire Tonghai County was captured by the Chu army on the way.
Then the two innate masters and an army of 140,000 troops entered Yulin County. The empty Su State behind them was unable to resist. In a short period of time, most of the counties had fallen.
Su Xuange, who received the news on the battlefield ahead, was so frightened that he led his troops to retreat overnight and fled all the way back to Yulin City.
As for Xie Ning's 70,000 Song army, they were completely sold.
In the end, the Chu army was attacked from two sides and was defeated. Even Xie Ning himself, you escaped under the joint attack of several innate masters.
At this point, all 70,000 Song troops were wiped out, and only the monarch escaped alone and rode away alone.
The Soviet-Song coalition has become a complete joke.
Xie Ning, who even narrowly escaped because of Su Xuange's betrayal, directly killed Su Xuange's son who was sent to the Song Dynasty as a hostage after returning to the country to vent his hatred.
The two countries became enemies and could no longer join forces.
Lan Cai'er, who had achieved a great victory, also collected the prisoners, led an army of more than 200,000, and marched into Yulin County in a mighty manner, and surrounded Yulin City, the capital of the Su Kingdom.
In the city, there was only Su Xuange himself and the 40,000 remaining soldiers he had pieced together.
Under the siege of the four innate masters of the Chu army and more than 200,000 troops, the fall of Yulin City and the demise of Nanhai Kingdom were also only a matter of time.
The two Lingnan armies, under Lu Yuan's deliberate resource tilt, finally bore fruit and received sweet rewards.
In this decisive battle in the south of the Yangtze River, the overall situation of Chu State has been decided.
