Seeing that Bai Yi'an's last strategy to protect Chu was coming out, and the ministers in the hall were vaguely approving of it, Shen Qiu finally couldn't sit still and stood up to speak.
"Marquis Wu'an's strategy is indeed a sound one for the country."
Shen Qiu first affirmed the practicality and correctness of Bai Yi'an's last strategy, and then changed the topic and said: "It's just that if you just shrink back and cannot escape, it will really destroy your own ambition and give the Chu people's prestige.
If this spreads out and everyone in the world knows about it, wouldn’t they all think that Ning Guo is afraid of the Chu thieves?
Therefore, it is not possible to retreat at all costs.
Although we want to withdraw, we cannot withdraw like this. We must be strategic. "
At this point, Shen Qiu paused, and then looked at the ministers looking down below. His eyes focused on Bai Yi'an for a pause, and then he continued: "The Marquis of Wu'an has just put forward two strategies to protect Chu. In my opinion, Both of these strategies actually have merit, but they are both a bit too paranoid and extreme.
Either risk everything in a decisive battle, or give up all conservatism and fight extremely defensively, which violates the golden mean.
But if the two strategies are combined, taking advantage of their strengths and discarding their weaknesses, it will be a feasible and good strategy.
I think that Marquis Wu'an's first policy is actually not bad.
Our country, Daning, has deep national strength, but the forces mobilized on the battlefield are far from being at full strength, so that the Chu thieves were able to carry out their evil deeds.
If the troops from the rear are mobilized, they may not be unable to compete with the Chu thieves.
At the Pengli camp in Yuzhang, our army still has 100,000 soldiers and horses, as well as two Wuhou. This kind of strength is enough to open one or two more battlefields.
I want to divide the soldiers in the camp into two armies, each led by another Wuhou, to attack Hengyang and Luyang respectively.
These two prefectures are similar to Changsha. Although they are said to have a hundred thousand people, most of them are just civilians recruited. The main force of Chu thieves left behind is actually not many, only 20,000 forbidden troops or county soldiers.
Nowadays, the innate masters who can still be mobilized in the Chu Kingdom rushed to Changsha with Sun Siwen, the country's left prime minister, to support him, but there is no spare power left.
At most, I heard that a Fan concubine recently taken into the palace by the Lu pirates seemed to be some kind of cult spirit girl from the Xueyuan Fan people, and she seemed to be a person at the level of an innate master.
But that's just one person.
Even if the Lu bandits are sent out, they can only save one palace at most. In Luyang and Hengyang, there is still one palace that lacks an innate master to guard it.
Therefore, if two Wuhou lead troops to attack these two prefectures, with the power of Wuhou and the strength of our Daning elite troops, it is very possible to attack the two prefectures without a grandmaster.
As long as one of the two groups of soldiers and horses can succeed, they can enter the hinterland of Chu State.
In this way, a troop of soldiers and horses entered Dongting. Zhongnan could not directly defeat the Chu thieves by then, but it could also force it to dispatch troops and horses from the front line and return to the country for rescue.
At that time, I will personally lead the army here on the Jiangxia front line to watch. The land thieves will not dare to lead the army back because they have no skills.
Otherwise, if I take advantage of the situation to cover up the attack and lose the city of Jiangxia, I can march up with troops and directly surround Baling, the capital of the country.
Therefore, the Chu thieves will not dare to move the Jiangxia army.
If he wanted to save the country, he would have to send troops back from Jiangbei or Lingnan.
At that time, no matter where the troops in Jiangbei or Lingnan are transferred back, the pressure on our coalition forces on the battlefield there will be alleviated.
When the army from the north of the Yangtze River returns to support, Marquis Wu Xuan can take advantage of the situation to take back the Anlu Mansion. I will allocate some troops there to stabilize Xiangyang County.
If the Lingnan army returns to support, Nanhai or the Soviet Union may be able to take the opportunity to regain their lost territory.
At that time, we can regroup and set up a thorn in the south of Lingnan to restrain the energy of the Chu thieves, preventing them from going all the way eastward to attack our country of Ning.
Therefore, if this strategy is successful, it will not be possible to do what Marquis Wu An said and use thunder to sweep the acupoints, attack the Chu thieves in one fell swoop, and restore the land south of the Yangtze River.
But it can also stabilize the now declining battle situation and continue to stalemate with the Chu thieves.
As long as it can be sustained, it can be delayed for a few years until the Zhou Dynasty in the north has dealt with the invasion of the Tibetan and Wei people and has enough energy to intervene in the affairs of the southern Xinjiang.
Or send people to the southwest to connect with the two Yi kingdoms of Dali and Nanzhao, so that they can cause chaos behind the Chu rebels.
No matter where there is any abnormal movement in the two places, it will definitely cause the Chu State's rear to be on fire. It will be difficult to respond to the front and rear, and a large number of troops and horses will have to be expended to deal with it.
In this way, the troops and horses that the Chu thieves can use on the front line will also be greatly reduced. They can no longer maintain their invincible offensive and have to turn to defense.
At that time, relying on Daning's strong national strength, we may be able to take advantage of the war, when the Chu State is busy with the rear and unable to take care of the front line.
Through the means of war assistance, they annexed the South China Sea, Su, Song and other countries one by one.
If we can take over the three Lingnan countries, we, Daning, can take over the land of four more counties and six to seven million people.
Counting the original land of Daning in this way, the territory can be as wide as nine counties. The number of Li Shu under the rule can be increased to more than 23 million, and the people in the territory are twice as many as those of Chu.
With this foundation, even if you rely solely on consumption, your life will be time-consuming and miserable. "
Shen Qiu was full of confidence and told the ministers his first improved strategy for Yu Chu.
It has to be said that according to his vision, and the future prospects after the vision is successful, it is indeed extremely attractive.
At the very least, on the surface, the success rate of this strategy is quite high.
Moreover, compared with Bai Yi'an's original version of the risky strategy, after Shen Qiu's improvement, it only mobilized Peng Li's 100,000 troops and horses that were originally intended to be sent to the battlefield, which was much more reliable than before.
But as Shen Qiu said, it is more moderate and stable.
"Your Majesty is wise enough to come up with such a wonderful plan."
"If this plan is successful, the Chu thieves will be destroyed soon."
"The attack and destruction of the Chu State in the future is all due to your Majesty's strategy today."
In the hall, some courtiers who tended to be conservative or who were Shen Qiu's confidants began to sing praises and brag about this strategy.
Hiding among some unaffiliated ministers, Bai Yi'an couldn't help but feel even more disappointed when he saw this scene.
As a veteran who had followed his grandfather and had a military career of more than ten years, he was deeply influenced by his grandfather's hearing and seeing. How could he not see that the moderate strategy mentioned by His Majesty was too taken for granted.
It's like talking on paper.
Various plans seem feasible. If everything can be executed smoothly as stated, then the defeat of the Chu thieves is indeed certain.
But the question is, can this really be the case?
In other words, would the Chu thief really be so stupid to do what Shen Qiu imagined?
The first step in Shenqiu's deduction was to send two Wuhou to lead the army to attack the second mansion of Luyang and Hengyang in Chu State.
Let’s not talk about whether a Wuhou leading 50,000 soldiers and horses can capture a big city with 100,000 people defending it?
They say they can defeat them, but when the Chu thieves are in danger, won't they send reinforcements?
Here in Dongting, the Chu thieves really only have one Fan concubine to mobilize.
But in the land of Lingnan, especially in the land of Su, the Chu bandits gathered more than 200,000 soldiers and horses, enough to have four innate masters.
Correspondingly, the main ones were the tens of thousands of remnant soldiers led by Su Xuange in the city, and the number of soldiers and horses of Su State led by Xie Ning, who fled back to the country in a hurry, with only about 100,000 soldiers.
The combined strength of these two countries is already inferior to that of the local Chu army.
Therefore, the Chu thieves have enough spare power to withdraw a troop of troops and one or two innate masters from the battlefield there to support the Dongting battle.
As long as this part of the power is brought back, everything Shen Qiu said will be just a joke.
The two Wuhou who divided their forces to attack Luyang and Hengyang, let alone conquered these two mansions.
Thank God if the Chu thieves don't take advantage of this opportunity and turn around to surround and annihilate them.
As for the so-called stalemate for several years, waiting for the Zhou Dynasty and the southwestern Yi people to change, the idea of placing the hope of victory on others is extremely ridiculous.
The Zhou people were attacked by the Wei and Fan people for years, and their behavior was worse than that of the Ning Kingdom. Maybe in two years, news of the Zhou Kingdom's destruction would come, and Bai Yi'an would not be surprised at all.
You have too much time to take care of yourself, and you still expect Zhou people to come and save you?
The southwestern Yi people are just a group of bereaved dogs whose ridges were broken by Chu thieves.
Everyone's expression changed when they heard Chu, hoping that they would jump out. Even if they did, Bai Yian didn't think they could make much noise.
So, if you can't save yourself, you still expect others to save you. Do you really think that everyone is a good person?
In other words, can everyone who comes to rescue be able to help?
The so-called golden mean is nothing more than a joke.
Therefore, from the beginning, Bai Yi'an never thought of relying on others to defeat Chu.
Even if it is necessary to rely on the help of others, it will only be a slight use, and there will never be any real high hopes.
It is really incomprehensible for people like Shen Qiu to place everything on illusory others.
'Oh, I think of the time when our ancestors crossed the Yangtze River and settled in Jinling as their capital. They fought through thorns and thorns along the way and spent thousands of years to develop the grand scene of Yangzhou today.
But in my generation, the current emperor of Jinling, facing a powerful enemy, did not think about how to work hard and defeat thieves.
But instead, he began to think about these crooked ways, and all the officials in the court agreed with them and took them as good suggestions.
Have all the children of my Linhai family fallen to this level?
Will the inheritance of our ancestors be destroyed in the hands of my generation? '
Bai Yi'an couldn't help but feel very sad when he had these many thoughts. Looking at these flattering and complacent words, he felt even more disgusting.
However, although he was dissatisfied and grieved, he did not voice these thoughts out loud and tried to prevent himself from refuting Shen Qiu's so-called "moderate strategy".
Because he knew that when the entire aristocratic family group chose to degenerate and escape from reality.
If I stand up to oppose at this time and expose this ironic power and peace, it will not be of any use except to attract the hostility and embarrassment of everyone.
Instead of letting the war faction he represents and these degenerate peace factions engage in civil strife and weaken themselves when the time comes.
It's better to let them do what they want first.
After the final collision, his head was bleeding and all illusions were shattered.
Maybe these degenerate lords and conservatives will recognize the reality and know that there must be no luck in fighting against the Chu thieves.
When he is in danger and receives the order, he may be able to unite the power of the whole country, concentrate all his strength, and fight against the Chu State with all his strength.
At that time, in the face of the Chu State, which was definitely becoming stronger, maybe their Linhai family, with six surnames and seven clans, could still maintain their Jiangdong foundation and not cut off the ancestral temple and the country.
As long as Jiangdong's foundation can be preserved, then perhaps, as His Majesty said, things will turn around after a period of delay.
Of course, this time is not one or two years later, when Zhou people or Yi people will have something strange happen.
But a hundred years later, the great catastrophe of heaven and earth will come and sweep across the four extremes of Kyushu.
At that time, faced with this disaster that affected all living beings in the world, Chu State naturally could not care about Ning State. It was impossible for Chu State to fight for a piece of wasteland that was destined to be lost in the face of this disaster.
The only way for Chu and Ning to survive is to break through to the north and seize Zhongzhou, where the Liang Kingdom is located, in order to survive.
At that time, maybe Chu and Ning can turn their hostility into friendship and work together to make the Northern Expedition together.
In this way, it can be considered that the ancestral temple design of the six surnames and seven clans has been preserved after this great catastrophe.
The above are still based on the current various actions, Bai Yi'an believes in the real way to break the situation, the only way out for the six surnames and seven clans.
That's why he proposed the same extreme conservative strategy after his previous desperate strategy was rejected.
The purpose is to preserve Jiangdong's foundation and survive until the great disaster comes a hundred years later.
However, with such a clear understanding, looking at the attitudes of many court ministers and even the emperor and the emperor in the hall, one knew that these people would not be able to accept it.
At least they won't accept it until their heads are bruised and they recognize the reality.
Therefore, Bai Yi'an didn't bother to tell these people before, and just watched each one perform by himself.
And when Shen Qiu and the ministers saw his attitude, they became even more proud.
I feel that the Marquis of Wu'an recognized this golden mean, and even felt ashamed of himself because of the huge gap between the two sides, so he was sensible and did not show off his shame.
So proud, Shen Qiu waved his hand to stop the flattery of the important ministers, and turned to look at the accompanying important ministers, Han Quanhui, who was the Minister of the Ministry of War in the Central Dynasty, and said: "Han Qing, you are the chief officer of the Ministry of War. We are recruiting soldiers and horses in the country. The Ministry of War is responsible for the allocation of materials and personnel training.
Previously, I made Marquis Wu'an's first policy a moderate one.
The second strategy, to recruit soldiers and horses domestically, can also be implemented moderately.
With the national strength that Daning has cultivated for more than ten years, it is indeed possible to recruit an army of one million people.
But after raising an army of millions, with the current savings in the treasury, it can only last for a few decades at most, which is unlikely to last long at all.
Therefore, the number of millions is too much. I think we can reduce it and adopt a compromise method, reducing the number from one million to five hundred thousand.
With 500,000 new troops, plus the old troops now, we in Daning will have 1.3 million troops.
In this way, even if the first strategy of Zhongyong failed, it would be defeated by the Chu thieves, and the army would be lost again.
But the remaining remnant soldiers returned to the country and joined the heroic army in the country. No matter what, there were still a million soldiers and horses left, which was just at the scale that Daning's finances could sustain for a long time.
With millions of people guarding the territory, it is enough to protect Jiangdong's foundation. "
Shen Qiu made a moderate reform in response to Bai Yi'an's second strategy.
Directly reduce the original expansion of one million troops to only half of half a million.
As he said, this is a supplement to the first policy of the mean.
If the implementation of the first strategy fails, then after losing troops and defeating generals, leading the remaining troops back to the country, Ningguo can still maintain millions of strong troops.
With this huge force and dedicated defense, it seems that Jiangdong can indeed be kept intact.
Didn't the Zhou Kingdom, which is not visible to the north, rely on about 1.2 million soldiers and horses to endure the siege by the Tibetan, Wei, and Liang forces and survive until now?
As for Ning State, their conditions are much better than those of Zhou State.
Now that the catastrophe of heaven and earth is about to come, Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, which does not belong to the land of Zhongzhou, has no attraction for the Liang Kingdom in the north of the Yangtze River.
It is impossible to covet the Henan and Nanyang counties of Zhou State, because this place belongs to the Central Plains, and they constantly send troops to harass and want to win the battle.
Therefore, with the natural danger of the Yangtze River, Ning State only needed to dedicate tens of thousands of naval forces to isolate the threat from Liang State in the north of the Yangtze River.
All the remaining troops and horses can naturally be used to deal with Chu's attack with all their strength.
With an army of millions to defend a country, no matter how you look at it, there is no risk of Jiangdong being lost.
However, in Bai Yi'an's view, this strategy seems to be safe, but in fact it also has hidden dangers.
That is the newly recruited army of 500,000 people. The army was formed in a hurry. With insufficient training, it can only be used as civilians.
In less than a year or two, after experiencing several bloody battles, he was tempered by the flames of war and was no longer useful.
So Shen Qiu said he had an army of one million, but in fact it was only half a million soldiers and horses, plus another half a million called combat soldiers, who were actually just civilian soldiers.
This kind of combination and real combat power is naturally worrying.
And if the Chu thieves could really unite Lingnan and Jiangbei, they would be able to mobilize millions of troops and launch an Eastern Expedition after a year or two of integration.
When the time comes to face the Chu thieves who have just defeated a powerful enemy and are in great glory, can they really stop the enemy with these soldiers and horses?
Bai Yi'an is not optimistic about it anyway.
That's why he proposed to expand the army by one million, which seemed to be an extremely conservative strategy.
This is not because Bai Yi'an was frightened, but the optimal strategy calculated based on the actual situation.
Just like the Chu people guarding Jiangxia, a group of new soldiers only lasted for a month and lost nearly 10%.
If the new soldiers recruited by Ning Guo are trained well, even if they rely on defending the city, the casualties will not be small.
Considering the long border between Ning and Chu, the many fortresses and fortresses above cannot all be as strong as Jiangxia City, and their defensive capabilities will definitely be greatly lacking.
Coupled with the recruits trained by the Ning Army, considering the long-standing peace situation in Jiangdong, the quality of the soldiers is definitely not as good as that of the Chu State, which fights every year, and the training time may not be as sufficient as the Chu State's new recruits.
Adding up the above, this batch of hastily recruited new soldiers must have worse combat power than the Chu army in Jiangxia City.
The defensive city is not as strong and dangerous as Jiangxia, and the defenders are weaker than the Chu army in Jiangxia. If they are to defend the countless city fortresses on the border, the casualties will definitely be more than the Chu army in Jiangxia city.
When the Chu army attacked the city, Bai Yi'an didn't find it strange that the Ning army would engage in a one-to-three, one-to-two, or even one-to-one exchange ratio.
Even if we include the unavoidable battle between Chu and Ning during the battle, the losses would be even greater.
It is very possible to recruit one million soldiers and horses, and in the end, half a million will die, leaving half a million elite soldiers.
Coupled with the casualties of those veterans during the battle, the remaining elite soldiers plus the original veterans are actually still in the millions, just at the level that Ningguo's finances can support.
It seems that what Bai Yi'an said was to let Ning Guo train an army of two million.
But in fact, fully half of his two million troops were intended to be used as cannon fodder to consume Chu's soldiers and horses and buy him time to train elite soldiers.
But now Shen Qiu is following the golden mean.
Not only will there be holes in the defense on Chu Ning's border.
In the end, the number of elite soldiers that can be trained will definitely be less than one million, which cannot completely guarantee the stability of Ningguo.
It can be said.
Shen Qiu's self-satisfied golden mean once again ruined Bai Yi'an's future plans.
But everyone in the hall was completely unaware of it. They all shouted in admiration for His Majesty's method of moderation, and once again there was a chorus of flattery.
Bai Yi'an, who saw this scene, almost had his back teeth broken.
'This damned mediocrity, this damned sycophant. '
Cursing in his heart, Bai Yi'an also knew that this matter still could not be changed, so he could only lament: "That's all, at worst, when there is a war in the future, I will write to your Majesty to request another expansion of the army. It is not too late to train while fighting."
As long as I am here, the Chu thieves will not be able to seize Jiangdong. '
The Marquis of Wu'an secretly swore an oath, full of determination in his heart.
