"His Majesty!"
As soon as Zhou Han finished speaking, Cao Zheng, the Minister of War, immediately seconded his opinion: "I think what the Second Highness said is true. It takes tens of thousands of elite soldiers to conquer Hedong."
"It's difficult for people who haven't been in battle to coordinate, so how can we talk about fighting?"
"Once there is a mistake, the consequences will be disastrous!"
Among the warriors, there were many who supported the proposal.
As far as the public is concerned, it is very difficult to fight with a large army. Except for meteorites falling from the sky, there is almost no chance of luck.
In private, among the martial arts group, most of them preferred the second prince Zhou Han.
I knew you would fight... A cunning look flashed in Zhou Che's eyes, and he was about to speak when someone suddenly jumped in first.
"Father."
The eldest prince Zhou Yuan once again spoke uprightly and said: "The sixth emperor's younger brother was responsible for defeating thieves, so he was the first to raise this issue."
"If you treat him lightly, I'm afraid the hero's heart will be snubbed."
Zhou Che stared in shock, a little confused: Is the boss so kind?
The emperor nodded slightly: "What do you want?"
"It's better to divide the troops into two groups."
The emperor pondered for a long time: "Come here, get the map!"
"yes!"
Both sides of the map were pierced with wooden poles, supported by two eunuchs, and unfolded like a scroll——
The imperial capital Luojing belonged to Henan County; the Guo thieves occupied Hedong County; there was another connected county on the right side of Hedong and the northeast corner of Henan, which was Hanoi County.
Surrounded by three counties, it is also known as the land of three rivers.
At the emperor's instruction, Cao Zheng, the Minister of War, went out and explained to everyone: "If you want to send troops to the east of the river, there are only two ways to go.
The first is the ferry that the Guo thieves took to attack Mang Mountain last night - although this road is blocked by a large river, the terrain on both sides is open and suitable for large armies to march;
The second step is to march to Hanoi, and then enter Hedong from Jiguan on the west side of Hanoi. Behind Jiguan is Jishan. The terrain is narrow, the mountain roads are blocked, and there are many bandits hiding on both sides.
If we follow His Highness's instructions and divide the troops into two groups, we can only let the army go to the north crossing of Mangshan Mountain and the partial division to go to Jiguan. "
As soon as Cao Zheng finished speaking, Zhou Han immediately said: "I will lead the army and go to the North Ferry!"
Everyone nodded in agreement: "His Royal Highness knows how to fight for a long time, so he can be the commander of the three armies. That's right."
The emperor looked at Zhou Che: "Lao Liu, do you have any objections?"
"Yes." Zhou Che nodded and spoke loudly: "If I let you lead the army to the north ferry, I will never avoid fighting and will definitely march actively to wipe out the Guo thieves."
Zhou Han snorted coldly: "Am I going to avoid fighting?"
"The imperial court has sent troops several times, and you have been there frequently. Have the Guo thieves been pacified?" Zhou Che glanced at him, full of provocation: "Since there are no thieves in peace, why not avoid war?"
Then he turned to the emperor and cupped his hands: "Father, the Guo thieves must not be indulged. They must be eliminated as soon as possible. Although some people have used soldiers, they are as timid as rats. What can they do if they are sent to lead a large army? It will only waste the country's money and food."
"Lao Liu!" Zhou Han was furious when he heard this and pointed at him: "You dare to despise me?!"
"So what?"
Zhou Che took off the head from his waist and threw it at his feet: "I've heard people say how good the second prince is in fighting, but he only heard the false reputation and saw no achievements. Shouldn't we despise him?"
Zhou Han was furious and said with anger: "Boy! After you have done some meritorious service, you become arrogant. Come out of the palace! Let us have a fight!"
"You want to use force in front of me?" The emperor glanced at him coldly.
Zhou Han was excited and hurriedly bent down: "Father! My son will never avoid fighting. He will definitely take the initiative to attack and kill the Hedong bandits!"
Hearing this, Cao Zheng, the Minister of War, frowned: "When our troops advance to the east of Hedong, we will first lose the advantage of the territory and it will be difficult to win."
"If we don't enter Hedong, how can we suppress the thieves?" Zhou Che shook his head and raised his hands to the emperor: "Father, since they dare not take the initiative to attack, let me leave it to you."
"Who says I don't dare?!" Zhou Han naturally refused.
Finally, because Zhou Han also promised to take the initiative, he was selected to supervise the general offensive of the army; while Zhou Che was responsible for leading the partial division to Jiguan.
"Practice."
"The second prince will lead the second battalion to protect the river in addition to the cavalry camp, plus the five schools and Henan County soldiers. They will raise 30,000 combat troops and 30,000 auxiliary troops, and cross from Mang Mountain to the north to attack the bandits east of the river."
"The Sixth Prince will lead the river guard cavalry camp, and then detach two thousand elite infantry, united with 10,000 soldiers, auxiliaries, and civilians, and go to Jiguan, Hanoi County to threaten the Hedong bandits from the east as a auxiliary attack."
"yes!"
The two handed over their hands at the same time, and Zhou Han, who looked proud, took the opportunity to say: "Father, the main task of attacking Hedong is important. I would like to nominate someone to be my deputy general."
"Tell me."
"Huangfu Longting."
Huangfu Longting entered Luo. Naturally, this kind of thing could not be hidden from the emperor who had eyes and ears all over the world.
He glanced at Zhou Che and finally nodded: "The northwest general of Huangfu Longting is indeed qualified for a big job, for sure."
"Thank you, Father!" Zhou Han became more and more proud.
Later, Lu Huang and Cao Zheng each selected one person to serve as the central supervisor of the two armies.
"allow!"
The emperor waved his sleeves and turned around: "If you have nothing else to do, just retreat!"
The court meeting dispersed, and the ministers discussed it one after another.
"Seize the army and destroy the thieves, throw your head in front of the king... tsk tsk tsk! The Sixth Prince is really different from the past!"
"Indeed, it seems that the rumors are true. He deliberately hid his humbleness to protect himself because his mother and concubine died early, but he is actually very talented!"
"Can he really soar into the sky and suppress all the brothers?"
"Hush! Can we say this outside? Besides, you and I have seen what happened today. It was the sixth prince who made the meritorious service, but the main task was intercepted by the second prince - he started too late and his foundation was too good. Qian, this loss cannot be made up for in a short time!"
"That's true!"
This statement was approved by everyone, and a wise person stroked his beard and said: "Hedong is a trouble for the imperial court. If anyone can really pacify Hedong... In terms of merit alone, he will be the first among all the princes!"
Because of the open prince competition system in Daxia, the officials did not have too many taboos about discussing this matter.
"If that's the case, then it all depends on whether the second prince will win or not." A military attaché said with a smile.
"Why are you so sure?!" Some people seemed to be dissatisfied: "The Sixth Prince has done many amazing things recently, so it may not be impossible for him to perform extraordinary feats again!"
"Miracles? Miracles also have conditions!"
The other party shook his head and analyzed carefully: "In the battle last night, the Sixth Prince used two thousand warriors to attack five thousand thieves. It is possible to win."
"But now he can only fight and assist ten thousand people, and only four to five thousand people can fight in battle. How can he shake the entire Hedong?"
"Have you ever been to Jiguan? Behind Jiguan is the continuous Jishan Mountain. It is difficult for a large army to pass. Four to five thousand people, not to mention shaking Hedong, can't even pass through Jishan Mountain!"
"Jiguan is only a day away from Luojing. If you don't believe it, you can go and see for yourself."
"The key to this campaign in Hedong lies with the second prince. As for the sixth prince..." He shook his head and said, "Don't be the boss. If you really want to send troops into Jishan, unspeakable things will happen!"
When everyone heard this, they all looked horrified.
