"Great idea!"

Upon hearing his subordinate's suggestion, the commander-in-chief's eyes lit up.

Subsequently, the commander gathered all his men together and began to discuss the matter of raiding enemy territory.

Finally, after some arrangements, 20,000 troops were left to garrison the city, while the remaining 80,000 troops were divided into dozens of small teams to raid the territory under the Second Prince's command.

Because the raiding parties sent by the eldest prince were all operating under the banner of the second prince, this commander naturally set his sights on the second prince's territory as his target for retaliation.

These soldiers, sent to the Second Prince's territory, like the previous enemy troops, focused primarily on looting and destroying only villages and towns.

In an instant, these soldiers, filled with vengeful rage, poured into the second prince's territory and began a rampage of burning, killing, and looting. The able-bodied were captured and enslaved, the old and weak were killed, and houses and fields were burned to the ground.

Wherever they went, corpses littered the ground and devastation was everywhere!

Xishan Pass.

Inside a mansion, Xi Zhicai sat behind a desk, examining a secret letter sent by Jia Xu.

The letter contained only a few words, but this secret message of less than thirty characters allowed Xi Zhicai to see countless skeletons within it.

It turns out that in his letter, Jia Xu informed Xi Zhicai of his deeper plans to sabotage the Kushan Empire.

The eldest prince sending troops to plunder the third prince's territory, and the third prince's troops plundering the second prince's territory, were all just part of Jia Xu's plan.

Its purpose was to escalate the conflict between the three forces from military struggle to mutual plunder and destruction of people's livelihoods, thereby completely destroying the foundation of the Kushan Empire.

The most terrifying aspect of a three-way war is the destruction of people's livelihoods during the conflict.

During wartime, people are unable to cultivate the land, leading to a sharp decline in food supplies, a halt in newborn births, and the starvation of countless people.

However, Jia Xu's approach of directly disrupting the enemy's rear by deploying troops is undoubtedly far more devastating than the destruction caused by a major battle.

It should be understood that just over a hundred people are enough to wipe out an entire village and destroy thousands or tens of thousands of acres of fertile land.

Imagine the terrifying scene of tens of thousands of enemy troops, divided into countless small teams, wreaking havoc in the rear of their homeland.

Moreover, if you send a large army to besiege them, the enemy will scatter in all directions; if you divide your forces to pursue them, the enemy will regroup and launch a counterattack.

Most importantly, with the army in a state of constant combat, the consumption of food and supplies was also a major problem.

The only result they could do was to raid the other side's territory to reduce their own losses.

It's like this: if you steal a vegetable from my garden, I'll cut down a tree from your garden; if you steal a tile from my garden, I'll dismantle a beam from your garden.

In the long run, not only will both sides gain nothing, but they will also be completely destroyed by the other side.

According to Jia Xu's plan, if the three forces continue to plunder each other in this way, within three years, the Kushan Empire's original population of over 20 million will be reduced to less than 5 million.

"This Jia Wenhe, is he really not afraid of divine retribution?!"

After reading the secret letter, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but sigh.

He seemed to have already imagined a scene of bones scattered throughout the Kushan Empire, where not a rooster crowed for miles.

"Knock knock knock!"

Just then, a knock on the door interrupted Xi Zhicai's thoughts.

After carefully putting away the secret letter, Xi Zhicai got up and opened the door. Standing outside was one of Damoti's personal guards.

"Sir, the King requests your presence!"

"good!"

Xi Zhicai nodded and then followed behind the other party, heading towards the palace where Damoti was located.

Inside the palace, Damoti sat behind his desk with a gloomy expression, constantly flipping through the letters of appeal for help sent from various cities in the north.

Because Damoti was preparing to march west and annex the territory of the eldest prince, most of the troops stationed in the various cities within his territory were transferred to Xishan Pass, ready to be deployed as soon as the Han army's equipment arrived.

Unexpectedly, the undefended cities in various places provided the Third Prince's army with an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Now, a month has passed since the Third Prince's army entered the territory and wreaked havoc. Hundreds of villages and towns around more than a dozen cities in the north have been completely destroyed, and nearly 400,000 people have been killed or captured.

At this rate, it won't be long before my territory is riddled with holes.

One's own foundation is the weakest link. If one cannot stop the enemy's sabotage as soon as possible, then it will not be long before one's own army is unable to maintain its strength and collapses without a fight.

Damothi wanted to go to the rescue, but he was unwilling to give up the attack on the eldest prince.

Now is the time when the eldest prince is at his weakest. If I cannot take this opportunity to annex him, I fear I will never have another chance.

Just as Damoti was caught in a dilemma, Xi Zhicai followed his personal guards in.

Before Xi Zhicai could even bow, Damoti quickly stepped forward to help him up and pulled him to sit down beside him.

"Sir, please help me make a decision. What should Xiao Wang do?"

As he spoke, Damot told Xi Zhicai about the letters of appeal from various places and his own concerns.

Xi Zhicai pondered for a moment: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, the reason why the Third Prince sent troops into your territory to plunder is mainly because the First Prince sent people to carry out sabotage in the other's territory under your name."

If we want to repel the enemy, we either need to send someone to negotiate with the Third Prince, or we need to send troops into the First Prince's territory to retaliate and recover our losses!

However, in my opinion, given your previous alliance with the Xianbei and Xiongnu to plunder the Third Prince's territory, the enmity between the two sides runs deep. Peace talks are unlikely; the only option now is to send troops to plunder the First Prince's territory!

Damot said in a deep voice, "Why not launch a full-scale attack? That way we can wipe out our leader, take over his territory, and our losses will be negligible!"

Xi Zhicai shook his head: "Your Majesty is unaware that the weapons the eldest prince purchased from the Han army recently have arrived. If we intend to launch a large-scale attack, I'm afraid we won't be able to defeat them!"

Upon hearing this, Damoti became furious and said, "What's wrong with the Han army? Our order was placed a long time ago, so why haven't the weapons we need arrived yet?"

Xi Zhicai: "I received news the day before yesterday that the Han army said they would send the equipment whenever the money, provisions, and women were delivered!"

Damotti slammed his fist on the table and stood up: "This is taking advantage of our misfortune! Where am I going to get so much money, food, and women now?"

Xi Zhicai said slowly, "Therefore, Your Majesty can only send people to plunder the eldest prince's territory first. After seizing enough money and women and buying weapons, you can then lead your troops eastward!"

"Sigh, at this point, this is the only way!"

After hearing Xi Zhicai's words, Damoti had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Subsequently, Damoti ordered that of the 150,000 troops stationed at Xishan Pass, 20,000 should remain to guard the pass, while the remaining 130,000 should infiltrate the Crown Prince's territory in batches to plunder.

Thus, under Jia Xu's scheme, the three Kushan forces were completely plunged into a deeper level of mutual destruction.