When Qin Zheng annexed Liu Bang, Liu Bang also secretly sent lobbyists to ask Yuan Shao for relief. Cui Hao, Yuan Xi and other advisers even used this to persuade Yuan Shao.
However, Yuan Shaoxin was defeated, and even the generals Gao Gao, Yan Liang, and Wen Chou were all involved. And Yuan Shao fully believed that Liu Bang could sustain it for a while longer, so he delayed this matter again and again.
So much so that it dragged Liu Bang to self-immolation. Seeing that Qin Zheng could unify the entire Youzhou soon, Yuan Shao regretted it at this time. After all, some problems in Yuan Shao's character are constantly being exposed.
And during this period, the news that the four princes Zhao Kuangyin, Zhu Yuanzhang, Cao Cao, and Chi You jointly attacked Yuan Shu was also widely circulated. Even Li Xiang symbolically issued an order to punish the thief, ordering Li Mu to camp in Nanyang. Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses went to put on a show.
Next, what kind of corners Li Xiang can dig out of Yuan Shu mainly depends on Li Mi's ability.
The four princes Zhao Kuangyin, Zhu Yuanzhang, Cao Cao, and Chi You jointly attacked. At this time, not only the people of the world were shocked, but Yuan Shu himself was also shocked and shocked by the news. Finally, he could not continue to enjoy himself and sent his main Civil and military officials convened to discuss countermeasures.
But Li Xiang smiled coldly at this. Many princes joined forces, and Yuan Shu's defeat was determined. Next, Zhu Yuanzhang should compete with Liu Che and not go too deep into the Central Plains.
After that, it should be Cao and Chi against Zhao Kuangyin. The South and Central Plains will definitely be engulfed in war, and this is why Zhang Liang, Liu Ji and others suggested that Li Xiang take advantage of the situation.
Cao Cao, Chi You, and Zhao Kuangyin all aimed to unify the three states of the Central Plains before they could be qualified to go to the world, just like Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Che were about to compete in the south.
If Zhao Kuangyin becomes stronger, will Cao Cao and Chi You be happy? Once Zhao Kuangyin became powerful and began to unify the three states of the Central Plains, how would Cao and Chi deal with each other? After a new defeat, Cao and Chi could not compete with Zhao Kuangyin. In fact, Chi You's geographical location determined that he could not take advantage of Yuan Shu.
Therefore, once Yuan Shu is destroyed, Zhao Kuangyin will surely become stronger with Yuan Shu's blood. As soon as Zhao Kuangyin becomes stronger, Cao Cao and Chi You should find a way to target Zhao Kuangyin! To put it mildly, it is a struggle of interests between these three people. To put it seriously, it is a struggle of life and death and a struggle for the road between these three people.
If any one of these three people wants to unify the Central Plains, the remaining two will be destroyed. This is a deadlock that cannot be broken out!
But one wave after another broke out, and the princes Liu Bei and Dou Jiande of Qingzhou, Zhu Yuanzhang of Yangzhou, and finally Li Xiang all sent large-scale troops to Xuzhou. Mainly because Zhao Kuangyin's territory was located in the middle of several princes' forces, therefore, it was decided to gather in his Xuzhou.
After the news of Li Xiang and several other princes joining forces reached the ears of other princes in the world, they all began to take the initiative to care about this matter and wanted to find out why these few princes started to play together again!
If these people really unite to attack the other princes in the world, then it will definitely be a disaster for the other princes in the world!
Of course, these princes could not care about what the other princes thought for the time being. After such a long period of preparation, the conquest of Japan was finally put on the agenda.
Regarding this matter, despite the fact that when Li Xiang sent people to negotiate with these princes, they had some wrangling with each other over some exchange of interests, the princes still attached great importance to this matter.
Judging from the fact that the Jin army was so grand this time and insisted on crusading against Japan, it is impossible that there would not be huge benefits in this. And if those so-called gold and silver mines can really be obtained, then these princes will definitely make a lot of money by sending troops this time.
Among the five princes, Li Xiang, as the initiator, must have sent the most troops, with a total of 100,000 troops. Among them, there were 20,000 naval troops and 80,000 infantry and cavalry troops. Those 20,000 naval troops alone caused Han Shizhong's entire Yellow River Navy to be dispatched.
However, Han Shizhong did not set off from the Yellow River. Instead, he left a general to follow Li Xiang's order to re-recruit the 10,000 naval vacancies that Qi Jiguang had taken away, and he led the existing two Wan Shui Division went to Jingzhou and prepared to set off from the Yangtze River.
If we set out from the Yellow River, we will inevitably have to argue with Yuan Shao and even Cao Cao, which will only cause trouble for ourselves.
As for Qi Jiguang, it has nothing to do with him this time. His next main task is to vigorously build the Yangtze River Navy. With the current combat power of the Yangtze River Navy, it is not suitable to hand over the important task of conquering Japan to them.
The share given by Li Xiang to Qi Jiguang was 80,000. In other words, if the Yangtze River Navy is formally established, it will include 80,000 troops, which is nearly three times the number of the previous Yellow River Navy. As of now, the work is still far from being completely completed, and Qi Jiguang cannot be distracted by other things.
In addition to the large-scale expansion of the navy, the army also needs to carry out large-scale expansion. As the first step, Li Xiang estimates that the pre-war garrison of 100,000 in each state, plus the Guangcheng and Lantian battalions of 50,000 troops each, will be fully replenished.
The garrisons in other states naturally supplemented the number of 100,000 troops, but Jingzhou was an exception. In addition to Qi Jiguang's 80,000 navy troops in Jingzhou, Li Xiang expected to form a garrison of 200,000 troops here.
On the one hand, there is no majestic pass like Hulao Pass or Hu Pass here, and with such an important geographical location in northern Jingzhou, once encountering princes, a large-scale garrison is necessary to ensure peace.
Secondly, if you want to deal with Liu Che next, there are two routes to send troops to Yizhou in Jingbei alone, which will definitely be a top priority in the future. From this point of view, large-scale troops are also needed.
After all, Li Xiang has been controlling half of Jingzhou now. After a great war, it will definitely be difficult to supply 280,000 troops on land and water with this half of Jingzhou. He may also need support from other states. .
This is only the first step. When the goal of expanding the army is completed, the next step is the beginning of Li Xiang's crazy rampage.
Li Xiang predicts that after this plan is completed, his second round of military expansion will directly expand the army to a full 500,000 troops. In other words, the number of his troops in this second round of expansion can even be said to be more than half of his total strength after the completion of the first round of military expansion.
Yizhou is a difficult bone to crack. If he wants to crack this bone, Li Xiang must be prepared for bleeding, and he must be prepared for heavy bleeding. To put it bluntly, if you want to conquer this place, you must face the various levels covered with bones.
With the dangerous mountains and rivers in Yizhou, coupled with Liu Che's strength and the war potential brought by the huge population, it would be impossible to conquer this place if we don't make sacrifices in advance.
Of course, if we really want to expand a part of our army on such a large scale, it will definitely cause panic among the princes all over the world.
Among the princes in the world except Li Xiang, perhaps only Liu Che could take out half a million troops and horses with gritted teeth. Among the other princes, even Zhu Yuanzhang did not have this ability. But this is not all of Li Xiang's troops, just the troops that Li Xiang wants to expand.
Thanks to the large number of people implanted in the system every year, the population in the world has increased dramatically. Otherwise, it would be impossible to do this. Not to mention Li Xiang's current territory, without these population implants, he would not have so many troops after unifying the entire Han Dynasty!
However, after Li Xiang occupied half of the country, the function of population implantation would no longer be available. In other words, after Li Xiang gets Yizhou, the system will not add more people every year.
And once the news of his crazy expansion of troops spreads, there will be no need for Li Xiang to attack Yizhou. The panicked princes will probably unite and work together to attack him.
Therefore, this second round of military expansion plan must not be forced. It must be implemented slowly and secretly in a subtle and silent way.
