Yet it was this force of over 200,000 men that rendered the Great Gan Dynasty utterly powerless to resist.

Why is that?

Zhao Bingzhang answered his own question: "This is because the grassland bandits often gather a large force to attack one place!"

Even though my Great Gan Dynasty has a large army, how could a single military town be a match for tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of grassland bandits?

This is precisely why the grassland bandits were so successful!

Whenever war breaks out, they often seize cities and territories, coming and going like the wind!

Dongning City will face the same situation.

May I ask Your Highness, how many grassland bandits can Dongning City withstand?

Five thousand? Eight thousand? Or perhaps ten thousand?

"Right now, I'm still confident I can get ten thousand!"

Li Xin pondered for a moment and replied, "If you give me a year or two, even if thirty to fifty thousand grassland bandits come, I will not be afraid!"

"Um?"

Zhao Bingzhang's pupils contracted slightly, clearly showing some shock.

After calming down, Zhao Bingzhang continued, "Just as Your Highness said, if ten or eight thousand grassland bandits march south, Dongning City can be defended."

If the grassland bandits were to march south with a large force, the situation would likely become very difficult.

Therefore, our current priority is to prevent the large-scale gathering of grassland bandits.

As long as the grassland bandits don't focus their attention on us, Dongning City will be safe!

This is what I mean when I say that those who cannot plan for the whole are not qualified to plan for a part!

We must start with the other provinces of the Great Gan Dynasty and work together to break this deadlock!

"Hmm?"

Li Xin was somewhat surprised and asked with a puzzled look, "May I ask, Mr. Zhao, how do you plan to break this deadlock by focusing on the other provinces?"