Chapter 224: The New Wave Arrives
The perspective shifts to Yongzhou and Xingzhou. Since Zhao Cheng has always been a minister, politically he has always been doing subtraction.
Although Zhao Cheng has led large armies in conquests south and north in the interior, his advisors and military generals under his command have greatly expanded; but for some guys he identified as incompetent, Zhao Cheng couldn’t assign them tasks. If he did, it would ruin major affairs.
But these people are restless, and after finding no opportunities under Zhao Cheng, these eliminated talents immediately jumped to the opposing side. After all, Zhao Cheng’s title also comes from Hao State, so speculating by jumping to Zhao Cheng’s opposing side to gain a title, wouldn’t that be great?
In Tian You Calendar year 3, before Zhao Cheng was appointed Great General, he had already discovered this; thus he had to accelerate his steps toward disloyalty, rush into the palace to seize King Hao’s seal, and place his own people around him.
But those people previously enfeoffed by King Hao had already been settled in Yongzhou lands, and couldn’t be dismissed.
Thus, Zhao Cheng had to assign this batch of “wanting shortcuts but lacking ability” guys to Yongzhou and Xingzhou. Out of sight, out of mind. (In Zhao Cheng’s memory, his ancestor from his previous life, who had overwhelming merits, was dealt with in this way.)
Thus, the last few “loyal and righteous” men among Haotian Dragon Descendants were trapped in Xingzhou.
But their abilities were too poor; over these years, not only did they fail to develop this place into a rear base, but they also drove away batch after batch of aspiring people.
The Yongzhou and Xingzhou frontlines became the easiest places to attack in the territories controlled by Zhao Cheng.
On the Zhenzhou side, the staff officers of the General Staff, after confirming on the sand table that defenses in other directions are sufficiently stable, began deploying troops toward Yongzhou.
On the Yongzhou side, Su Ming strictly followed the defensive war strategy; he relied on the Tuntian strategy to confront Hao State for many yearss, using people’s livelihood advantage to make the few people in Yongzhou and Xingzhou continuously flee south.
It is worth mentioning that, in the current situation where local strongmen in various prefectures on Xuan Chong’s territory are turning their elbows outward, the Yongzhou frontline is firmly controlled.
First, strategic materials such as salt, tea, and herbs are controlled. Furthermore, the entire region’s military personnel receive systemic preferential treatment.
Those reclamation soldiers in the Yongzhou area, as long as they reach the “Zan Niao” stratum, their disciples can be admitted to the Officer Academy with lowered thresholds.
Moreover, when soldiers are regularized, others must rotate to the Southern Border for combat, but these trainee non-commissioned officers from Yongzhou, after one round of military
This group of Yongzhou native non-commissioned officers now uses the most classic tactical manual, which is Xuan Chong’s method of “planning robbery” when entering Bo Prefecture; standardize year-round raids for supplies deep into enemy-occupied areas, capturing all cattle and sheep and population. After several years of this, the northernmost cities in Yongzhou are gripped by panic.
Su Ming led his subordinates to continuously comprehend Xuan Chong’s conference spirit, and said in the combat conference: “This time our strategy is to make Zhao Cheng unable to become Hao Minister.”
…Total Mobilization…
In the spring of Tong Zheng Calendar year 5, the seventh year of conquest under heaven. In the eyes of the people under heaven, the Chong Land had overreached itself by launching an attack on the Hao State.
As the supreme commander of southern Zhen State, Xuan Chong looked at the current situation in the five southwestern prefectures. At this time, the labor stations everywhere had all completely finished construction, and after completing farm work, the local soldiers all spontaneously rushed to the labor stations to find work.
And the original corvée labor groups, after undergoing half a year of training, began deploying toward various regions. After the beginning of spring, the total troops on Xuan Chong’s territory reached a massive scale of 200,000.
Xuan Chong was very hegemonic, adopting the “Spring Attack, Autumn Defense” strategy that Zhao Cheng had once mentioned! This is the strategy farming ethnic groups used against the Mongols. Relying on abundant grain, they hurt the enemy by depleting their resources. For Hao State, although Zhao Cheng had conquered a lot of territory in recent years, agriculture had not recovered.
Xuan Chong brings out two hundred thousand troops, and Hao State will inevitably have to deploy two hundred thousand troops to confront them; for Hao State, if the soldier stations everywhere are to maintain the scale of such a large batch of troops, the required food and grass would also be an astronomical amount.
Zhenzhou has accumulated a great deal of grain in these years, and in recent years has accelerated the construction of train lines centered on Zhenzhou; if mobilizing troops in all directions, the cost of transporting food and grass would basically just be coal and jade. There would be no need for the consumption of fodder eaten by packhorses along the way.
Moreover, Xuan Chong obtained intelligence that, aside from Yuhuazhou, the treasuries of all other prefectures under Zhao Cheng were completely empty.
In the great war that is about to happen, if it is really dragged by him to the busy farming season in May, Zhao Cheng’s agricultural soldiers everywhere will have to return home for farm work. So Zhao Cheng’s attack on himself can only be one wave; if this wave fails to take it down, his internal structure will collapse.
But what if he doesn’t attack? Xuan Chong moves the small chess piece forward on the sand table, then steadily takes his two prefectures and stops.
To prove to Under Heaven that although his Zhao Army’s Blade Edge is strong, he Zhao Cheng still cannot pacify himself. And since he cannot pacify himself, he cannot resolve the problems of his empty Treasury and unstable local governance, leading to the loss of popular support. (Fu Jian)
Why eat up two prefectures, instead of more prefectures? Xuan Chong calculated his own grain production, and after occupation, it would just be enough to save the people of two prefectures!
Xuan Chong said to the Staff Department: “This battle will not be decided by mere proclamations, nor accept submissions from local noble families. All means of production will be redistributed!”
The youths in the Staff Department began to operate automatically. Amid this busyness, Xuan Chong extricated himself from a large amount of work and began to review his transmigration journey.
Twenty-four years in the ranks, twenty-four years as a soldier; starting from leading five hundred peasant soldiers to guard the granary in the rear for Wu Hanluan; then to being able to lead the three armies as an offensive general of one front; and now, Xuan Chong has finally achieved his complete form, becoming a commander who can organize hundreds of thousands for national war, where more is always better.——Such a military strategist realm has never existed in the Xi Ren Realm since ancient times; Da Yao’s thousands of years of peace and prosperity could not produce such a conqueror, while the Great Sacrifice Dynasty completely relied on sharp armored soldiers, as well as numerous ancient divine weapons spraying thunder and flames, to crush all directions.
It can be said that when chaotic times reach the end, there will always be a hero who can use the heroes under heaven as chess pieces to play this game.
Now, Xuan Chong sat at the table, while the one who had been focused on the chess game across from him now had to think about how to make the next move.
…Now, a chess game of Chu River and Han Realm unfolded before Xuan Chong…
And on the Staff Department side, Wu Juwang passed down an explanation to Wu Fei on behalf of him: “If we accept the submission, then a large number of locals in that area will starve to death, and land, such an important production material, will be inherited by the local great clans; our country will be unable to implement new policies in the occupied area there. Moreover, even if we accept the submission from the local noble families, who can guarantee they won’t waver? Continue to collude with Hao State? After all, we have only occupied two prefectures. These noble families have already sent their clan’s elite disciples to serve Zhao Cheng, and they won’t let their investment costs sink just because of our ‘small victory’.”
At that time, after they recover several decades later, they will rebel at any moment. After all, we are the power of the “Human Realm,” having seized their position of “governing the country and securing the state.” If we do not rely on them to govern the country, we have taken their position that they believe is “benefiting the country and the people.” The contradiction between us and them is irreconcilable.”
Wu Juwang looked at those officials selected through Southern Border governance selection, enunciating each word: “If the general accepts surrender and incorporates them into our system, they will inevitably become our political enemies! Only by thoroughly annihilating them can our ambitions be realized.”
With Wu Juwang’s integration, a near-modern warlord faction began to emerge in this battle.
Conscripting an army of two hundred thousand is one thing, but collectively transporting this army of two hundred thousand out for combat is another matter entirely. In the feudal era, shipping able-bodied men up there would result in half of them dying.
In the administrative textbooks of Chong Land: Organizing the armed forces of a 200,000-strong army to advance requires constructing multiple “granaries” along the way. Currently, the local soldiers that Wu Fei has conscripted in the five prefectures are still scattered in various places.
The army relies on local city granaries for food; if moving one troop from one city to another, ensure the troops originally stationed here have left.
Wu Juwang led hundreds of people, commanding thousands of officials, and handled all matters big and small in this battle, no matter how trivial.
For example, during enlistment, the local Baojia side can receive subsidies every year. After the soldiers report at the military camp, they can also receive another layer of subsidies from the city’s conscription government office based on vouchers.
If the Baojia replace the soldiers in receiving this layer of subsidy and discover that the subsidy has been deducted, then it is the Baojia’s responsibility to appeal to the “Retirement Department”; of course, the Retirement Department can also verify with the soldiers whether this subsidy has been fully delivered to the soldiers’ hands.
This link is currently designed not to have major issues, but if the bizarre situation of wrangling between the “Retirement Department” and “Baojia” occurs, it will greatly test the political system’s ability to handle grassroots matters.
Wu Juwang: We must quickly investigate this thoroughly and immediately deal with the relevant government office; if the civil administration cannot respond rapidly, it will dampen the army’s enthusiasm. (And such minor incidents will occur frequently during wartime)
Wu Juwang studied under Xuan Chong, and his understanding of “civil administration” is not “upright official passing judgment,” but rather highly professional, requiring extensive calculations, and establishing standardized process steps.
At the Zhenzhou office headquarters, fully two thousand people were busy handling the aftermath for the large army. And as the overall leader, Wu Juwang sat in the office every day, supervising the tasks.
…Yu Prefecture, amid flashes of lightning and peals of thunder…
April’s rain was falling, the roads were muddy, and Zhao Cheng was now looking at his current chess game.
At this moment, it was just like playing Xiangqi, where one square can only hold one chess piece. Moreover, most of the local troops were like pawns, able to move only one step per turn; only the standing elite troops could be considered “chariot, horse, cannon,” capable of long-distance movement. (Xuan Chong’s side was all chariots.)
Zhao Cheng went against the majority opinion and decided to first clear the rear before engaging in a decisive battle for Under Heaven with the alliance forces led by Prince Bo entrenched in the east. But in just one month’s time, after intelligence from various fronts in the west came back, Zhao Cheng lost his appetite.
Military reports from various places all conveyed the recent dangerous movements from South Zhen.
1. The Yongzhou direction has already completed troop deployments, with five thousand elite soldiers expected to be led by Su Ming.
2. On the water front, large numbers of firearm troops have begun training.
3. On the East Jiangzhou and Ji Prefecture fronts, according to intelligence, an army corps with at least fifty ox cart giant cannons is stationed along the Ji Prefecture border.
……
In the large tent, the military advisors under Zhao Cheng reported one by one on the situations of the enemies they were about to campaign against. But South Zhen’s military preparations caught the many advisors on the Yu Prefecture side somewhat off guard. With this momentum, who exactly was campaigning against whom?
“Impossible!” an advisor from the water immediately denied, then added: “This is South Zhen’s bluff!”
Yes, this talented individual who had left South Zhen perceived his homeland as “senile and decrepit.”
Wu Fei, as the lord of South Zhen, waged war externally year after year, did not use talented people, and merchants gathered wealth. Meanwhile, the noble family disciples were either decadent or had fled. Yet in Yu Prefecture here, they could display their talents greatly, presenting a scene of flourishing prosperity and vibrant vitality.
Therefore, these advisors from the water and Zhu Prefecture now did not believe that South Zhen, which was “deficient in virtue,” could withstand Zhao Cheng’s large army. In this campaign against South Zhen, they were firm advocates for war.
Little did they know that their circle belonged to the group that Xuan Chong had long designated as “not promoting the virtuous.”
And the merchants who hoarded wealth were not at all “forgetting righteousness for profit”; with Xuan Chong’s permission, the merchants could also “understand the greater righteousness.”
From the secret letter in his hand, Zhao Cheng learned: Conscripted laborers from various places were being armed into army corps under massive wealth. In the army corps, due to a lack of talent, they began to recruit talent without discrimination, and large numbers of former vagrants who knew how to read were granted access to the library; after they could recite classics from memory, they were promoted!
Zhao Cheng reflected on his own operations, which had taken several years of effort through gathering talent to gradually gain internal support from noble families in Zhenzhou and other places.
As for the other mediocre vassal lord forces Under Heaven, when facing the “sweeping momentum” that Zhao Cheng had now accumulated, their internal situations would absolutely turn into “militarily being crushed like dry weeds and rotting wood” and “in popular sentiment, being swept along by the great trend.”
Half a year ago, the advisors under Zhao Cheng now all believed that once his large army rose, the Wu Family side would fall apart, pondering whether to “submit” or “be swept away.”
But now with Wu Xiao Que’s return, there seemed to be a momentum of “crouching like a tiger in the western border,” which embarrassed the strategists under Zhao City.
“But this is no big deal!” The strategists were very optimistic: “The advantage is still on our side!”
As someone who had also reached the Military Strategist realm of “the more the better” and was even more established, Zhao Cheng could naturally see that South Zhen’s Wu Fei had already broken through in level.
Zhao Cheng gazed at the map, a bitter smile on his lips; because he could tell that Wu Fei’s “the more the better” had many parts learned from him. — Speaking of which, even the son he personally taught could not comprehend it, yet Xuan Chong, sitting across from him, could draw inferences.
This life confidant, perfectly matched opponent.
Zhao Cheng now stared at the northwest direction of half the Map of Mountains and Rivers, clearly Xuan Chong’s offensive intent was at Yongzhou in the north.
Zhao Cheng understood Xuan Chong; this was the strategy of “gold horn, silver edge, grass belly”; Xuan Chong had the confidence for this, as nearly ten years of governance had made his lands flourishing and prosperous, and this was achieved by kicking aside traditional local forces, meaning the reform had been completed!
A state that succeeded in reform, filled with a fresh atmosphere from top to bottom, would not slacken for at least several decades.
Several decades of time was enough to nibble away at Under Heaven step by step from the gold horn and silver edge. Zhao Cheng did not yet know what Wu Lu was like; but because of this silence, he was definitely not a muddled ruler. And inheriting all of Xuan Chong’s achievements, even mediocrity would be a great advantage.
Zhao Cheng murmured: “Now he only has this one chess move left: ‘to defeat me by one piece on the battlefield.'”
Then his gaze focused and became firm: “Then let me see it!”
At this time, top talents Under Heaven had also gathered under Zhao Cheng, and these talents, after his screening and training, could all handle major affairs. He stood up and issued command arrows to his advisors, and the advisors, seeing their lord as firm as thunder, also straightened up one after another, resolving to give the invading Wu Xiao Que a lesson.
…Rolling mortal world, later waves crashing against earlier waves…
In this Military Strategist great war, the Immortal Dao sects, Wu Yun Sect, Linghua Sect, were also watching all this.
The Immortal Dao sect leaders gazed at the two strands of Human Realm auspicious qi suddenly rising Under Heaven, colliding like mountains and seas, and remained silent for a long time.
Probably after two waves of clouds passed in the sky, the Linghua Sect sect leader seemed to liven up the atmosphere: “Those who have the Dao are aided by many, those who have lost the Dao are aided by few.”
Everyone glanced at him; now, who exactly had “many on the side of the Dao”?
Whenever Zhen State fell even slightly behind, everyone would throw “those who have lost the Dao are aided by few” at Zhen State. Because in these years, Wu Yuanchang had been tyrannical, harshly treating the people under his rule, causing large numbers of virtuous and talented to flee Zhen Land.
But now, even with so many virtuous and talented leaving, Zhen State here showed no disadvantage against Zhao Army’s military momentum; and this auspicious qi revealed a kind of “vibrant vitality.”
The Wu Yun Sect sect leader finally responded in a low voice: “In this battle, the Zhao Army may suffer a setback.”
Then the Qinghua Sect sect leader said: “It’s just that (Zhen) auspicious qi is not yet exhausted.” — Qinghua Sect and others still wanted to aid Zhao Cheng with their fellow daoists, to block Wu Xiao Que’s prairie fire Under Heaven. After all, over these many years, Qinghua Sect had completely cleared out the Wu Family’s Lingnan lineage disciples. Equivalent to fully withdrawing investment from Wu Fei’s line.
Qinghua Sect was waiting for Wu Fei to be defeated, but now it seemed Wu Fei could not be defeated, and what if he won? The Qinghua Sect sect leader also knew Wu Xiao Que had a very small heart, and might just set the mountains ablaze.
However, the Wu Yun Sect’s celestial observer, who deeply studied heavenly principles and calculations: “The one whose auspicious qi is not exhausted is Da Yao — Da Yao has lost the deer, but its remaining virtue endures, not something one generation can usurp.”
This one statement of divination negated Qinghua Sect’s plans; because helping Zhao Cheng now would be useless, and on the contrary, if it provoked backlash from the Human Realm, each one would face sect extermination.
