Start Being a Vassal King Today - Chapter 784

[Chapter 784 Prelude to War]

“Your Highness!” The

steamship slowly docked at Baima Ferry, and after a while, Zhao Xu got off the battleship.

At this time, the generals had already arrived at the ferry from the south gate.

Seeing King Yan get off the boat, they gave a military salute.

Zhao Xu returned a military salute, and entered Baima County with the generals.

Coming to the command room, Zhao Xu looked at the sand table in Jinling and the surrounding area, and said, “Have you checked out the deployment on the other side?”

“Go back to Your Highness, and checked out,” Chang Wei said.

After taking control of Jiangbei, he placed a team of hot air balloon soldiers in Baima County, which was responsible for detecting the deployment information of the opposing tribe’s army from the air.

Know them like the back of your hand.

Picking up the teaching stick, he pointed to the sand table, “The Shizu army built two arc-shaped trenches outside Jinling City and deployed 300,000 troops. At the same time, they used sandbags to build fortifications inside Jinling City and stationed 100,000 soldiers. A total of 300,000 troops inside and outside.”

“400,000 troops? They really spent their money.” Zhao Xu frowned.

Chang Wei said: “These are mainly the troops of the Xie family, the Han family and the Wang family. Now the Xie family only has three big cities, Jinling, Sucheng, and Songcheng. There is basically no way to retreat. They have to put all their eggs in one basket and fight us to the end. .”

Zhao Xu nodded.

The Jinling, Sioux City and Songcheng are the contemporary Nanjing, Suzhou and Shanghai respectively.

Although these three cities do not occupy much territory in Ningzhou, they are the richest and most densely populated areas in Ningzhou.

Because the water network is densely covered, and it is a plain area, the grain production is also very large.

Because of this, the Xie family and others have been able to maintain it until now with such a small area.

Even after retreating to Jinling, the original remaining more than 200,000 troops could be expanded to 400,000.

“Also, the mercenaries from Xitu are also in Jinling.” Thinking of this, Chang Wei added.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu frowned slightly.

The Jiujiang River flows from west to east, and there is a twist in the area of Jinling, which is triangular.

Jinling is at the apex of this triangle.

And except for the area near Jinling, which is a plain, the farther places along the river are full of mountains and mountains, making it impossible to land.

Therefore, if you want to go south from the east, you cannot avoid the riverside barrier of Jinling.

Of course, he also thought about going south from Jingzhou to Xiangzhou, but he gave up.

Because this would put the royal army between Nanliang and Wu.

Going deep into Xiangzhou, if they cut off the food road, the royal family’s army will be in trouble.

Although Nan Liang and Wu Guo were at odds now, he had to consider all the circumstances.

Furthermore, Xiangzhou is really a remote area in this era, and there are many mountains in the area.

If it is occupied, not only will it have to disperse its troops to garrison, but it will not pose any threat to Wu or Nanliang.

This is because Xiangzhou has mountains to the east and mountains to the west.

Marching south, transporting grain and grass is also a trouble.

It’s better to go south from the eastern part of Jiujiang.

Although, this must be a tough battle, but by winning Jinling, they will have a solid foothold in the south of the Yangtze River.

Further advancing layer by layer, the southern part of Ningzhou and the plains of Zhejiang Province can all be taken down, and the most important grain-producing area of Dasong can be controlled.

The power clans are naturally aware of this, so they will deploy heavy troops here to fight for every inch of land with him.

“Other Yanjiang counties, they must have made arrangements.” Zhao Xu thought for a while, and then said.

Since the mercenaries of Xitu are here, they will definitely provide them with the war experience of Xitu and consider it in more detail.

Chang Wei nodded, “That’s true. Trench fortifications were also built around the county towns along the river. The state of Wu supported 200,000 soldiers and horses and guarded them together with the nobles in Ningzhou. If these county towns along the river are attacked, Jinling’s soldiers and horses may be ready at any time.” Support.”

Clearing his throat, he continued, “The most important thing is, it seems that in order to prevent us from wooing the people like we did in Qizhou, recently, they issued an order that once we launch an attack, the people will bring food into the city.”

“In order to resist this king, they have already disregarded the life and death of the common people.” Zhao Xu’s brows furrowed even deeper.

Combined with Liang Kai’s order to relocate the people along the coast, he figured out some current strategies of the powerful clans.

It is to increase the burden of food and grass for him. In the process of going south, he has to maintain the food road.

In this way, they can hinder his attack by attacking the grain road.

It has to be said that there is no problem with their current strategy.

This method is often used in state-to-state wars.

Pacing back and forth, Zhao Xu’s expression gradually became firm.

Every time Jinling was attacked in history, there was no clever strategy, but a hard attack.

This time it was his turn, too.

After all, since the county seat has also built fortifications, there are troops stationed there.

Each city can support each other at any time.

He might as well eat Jinling directly.

For one thing, taking Jinling can severely dampen the arrogance of powerful clans.

Secondly, the royal family’s army has a solid bridgehead in the south of the Yangtze River, and they can transport food and grass to Jinling City.

Then they can rely on Jinling City to win the nearby cities, and there will be no pressure on the grain road.

Thinking of this, he said to Chang Wei: “The boats crossing the river are ready, so we will launch an attack on Jinling City. This is a tough battle. You must give this king a great reputation, especially the mercenaries from the Western Lands. Let them have a try.” We are amazing!”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Chang Wei shouted after hearing this.

The prelude to the great unification war is about to begin.

(end of this chapter)