After autumn arrived, Li Xin came to Yuguan City.

In autumn, the surrounding scenery of Yuguan City is bleak, and the trees are gradually withering. Looking around, the surrounding wilderness is filled with a desolate scene.

However, unlike the desolate scene in the wilderness, the city of Yuguan was full of vitality at this moment.

At this very moment, at the Yuguan City camp.

All the armies gathered here.

What pleased everyone most was that the Divine Valiant Army, Divine Resolute Army, Divine Blessed Army, Divine Strategy Army, and Divine Machine Army were all expanded.

After receiving a large number of militia reinforcements, the strength of these armies reached 20,000 to 30,000 men each.

In total, the main force alone numbered over 100,000!

In addition, there were militia forces and 60,000 to 70,000 new recruits from various places, bringing the total number of people gathered on the front line of Yuguan City to nearly 200,000!

Such a large force gave He Chaojun and his men a great deal of confidence!

In particular, the equipment of the main force was completely replaced with new equipment such as flintlock muskets, grenades, and artillery made in Dongning.

Looking around, the entire army was armed with steel armor, looking incredibly imposing!

This time, along with Li Xin, who came to Yuguan City, were more than 10,000 Tiger Warriors and hundreds of thousands of shi of grain transported from Liaodong, Jinzhou and other places.

This grain was also prepared in advance for the army's next move.

This is only part of the story. After all, it's already autumn, and once the sea routes freeze over, the grain won't be able to be transported.

Therefore, Li Xin has instructed Dongning City to continue transporting grain.

In the main camp.

All the generals gathered together, including He Chaojun, the commander-in-chief of Yuguan City, Wang Zhong, the commander of the Shenyong Army, Zhao Chun, the commander of the Shenyi Army, Li Qiu, the commander of the Shenyou Army, Zhou Liang, the commander of the Shence Army, Liu Deming, the commander of the Shenji Army, and others.

Before long, Prince Xin, Li Xin, Councilor Zhao Bingzhang, Tiger Army Commander Wei Dahai, and others stepped in.

Upon seeing Li Xin and his entourage enter, He Chaojun and the others immediately stood up, saluted, and said, "This humble general greets Your Highness!"

Li Xin nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

After taking his seat, Li Xin waved his hand, signaling everyone else to sit down as well.

After everyone sat down, He Chaojun asked with a smile, "Your Highness, hundreds of thousands of shi of grain have recently been transported to the front lines at Yuguan City, and the ammunition reserves of all units are also very sufficient. Shall we begin the next phase of our plan?"

"Old He, is there even a need to ask?"

Wang Zhong smiled and said, "Your Highness and the others have just returned from Silla, and the war there has ended. Moreover, I heard that Lao Liu and his men have already crossed the sea to launch an expedition to Daiyue Province. In that case, it would be time for us to launch an attack. Your Highness, don't you think I'm right?"

Everyone turned their attention to Li Xin's face.

Li Xin smiled, pointed at Wang Zhong, and said, "You, you're quite accurate in your calculations!"

Li Xin's words confirmed Wang Zhong's guess.

In an instant, smiles appeared on the faces of all the generals.

It has been almost a year since we launched a surprise attack on Yuguan City last winter and captured it.

For the past year, everyone had been stuck in Yuguan City defending and fighting, and they were all feeling incredibly stifled.

Now that His Highness has said that we are going to enter the pass to fight, everyone's heart is filled with bright smiles.

"Your Highness,"

He Chaojun said with a smile, "Winter is just around the corner, and the ground will freeze, which will be disadvantageous for battle. Your Highness, shouldn't we make this a swift and decisive campaign as soon as possible to reach the capital?"

"Here's the plan!"

Li Xin nodded and said, "However, there have been some new changes in the capital recently."

"New changes?"

He Chaojun frowned, somewhat puzzled.

“Xie Yuchen knows this best.”

Li Xin introduced a young man beside him, saying, "He is our Dongning intelligence chief in the capital and various inland provinces, Xie Yuchen. Why don't you tell everyone about him?"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Xie Yuchen stood up and said respectfully, "Generals, I just received this news from the mainland. According to the information we've gathered, Li Ming in Beijing is completely panicked lately. In particular, the activities of our special forces in Changli and other places have made Li Ming extremely anxious."

During this period, our special forces have infiltrated Jizhou, Tongzhou, Jinghai and other places.

This area was also a vital supply route for the capital's provisions. After our army harassed this region, the capital's supply lines became extremely precarious. In particular, Zhang Fuchen's army at the front line of Yuguan City began to experience shortages of provisions.

In addition, the recent expedition of the Shenwu Army across the sea to Mount Dai, and its landing in the Dengzhou and Laizhou areas, has also aroused the vigilance of Li Ming in the capital.

Therefore, during this period, Li Ming was already planning to have Zhang Fuchen's troops withdraw from the front line at Yuguan City back to the capital, to join the various loyalist armies in defending the capital. There were approximately 100,000 loyalist troops stationed around the capital.

That's basically the situation!

"retreat?"

He Chaojun frowned slightly, clearly frightened by the news.

He never expected that Zhang Fuchen's troops would actually retreat.

Not only He Chaojun, but also Wang Zhong, Zhao Chun, Li Qiu, Zhou Liang, Liu Deming and others did not expect this.

After all, they had been fighting on the front lines for so long and had not seen any signs of Zhang Fuchen's troops retreating.

However, the food shortage situation of Zhang Fuchen's troops was quite clear. After all, their recent campaigns outside the city had yielded excellent results each time!

"Your Highness,"

He Chaojun thought for a moment and said, "We can't let Zhang Fuchen's troops retreat to the capital!"

"Your Highness,"

He Chaojun explained, "Zhang Fuchen's troops still number nearly 200,000. Although their supplies are running low, they are still a formidable force. If we allow Zhang Fuchen's troops to retreat to the capital and join forces with the loyalist armies around the capital, they will number another 300,000. In addition, the walls of the capital are strong, making it very difficult for us to take the capital!"

Therefore, I suggest that we intercept Zhang Fuchen's forces at the Yuguan front and annihilate them there, if possible. At the very least, we should severely damage their strength!

Only in this way can we avoid slowing down the progress in subsequent battles!

He Chaojun's words surprised Li Xin.

He hadn't expected He Chaojun to think so far ahead.

"He Chaojun, you spoke very well!"

Li Xin nodded in satisfaction and said, "The fact that you can think this way is enough to prove that you are capable of being a commander-in-chief who can stand alone!"

Just as you said, we have that idea!