The only troops that Prince Yong'an can lead to suppress the bandits are the three towns of the imperial guards. But even if all the imperial guards from those three towns are brought along, there are only 240,000 troops.

In Zibo and Yizhou, where the bandit problem was most serious, the number of bandits exceeded one million. With only 240,000 imperial guards, it was probably difficult to sustain the troops.

Looking across Daliang, only our Zhenxi Army can mobilize sufficient forces to cooperate with the Imperial Army to eliminate the bandits in the northern states."

Sun Hao said with some hesitation: "If I wasn't worried that the four Khanates of the grassland would take advantage of the chaos to invade the northern states, I really wouldn't want to get involved in this mess.

Let’s go, let’s go back to the Protectorate!

I finally had some free time to go out for a stroll, but now I have to go back before I even have dinner. It’s such a bummer.”

After a pause, Sun Hao suddenly asked Pang Tong, "Brother Pang, if I follow the Ministry of War's request and lead 200,000 Zhenxi troops into the pass, will those countries in the Western Regions take the opportunity to attack the Zhenxi Protectorate again?"

"My lord, I actually hope that the countries in the Western Regions will once again form a coalition army against our Zhenxi Protectorate.

That way, our Zhenxi Protectorate will have an excuse to continue expanding its territory."

Just as Sun Hao learned that the Liang State's Ministry of War was going to dispatch 200,000 Zhenxi troops to enter the pass to suppress the bandits, Xizhou Mu Dong Zixiao also learned the news.

"Brother Cao, do you think that if Sun Hao leaves with the 200,000 Zhenxi Army, do we have a chance to seize some of the military power of the wing troops?" Xizhou Mu Dong Zixiao asked Cao Hui, the deputy driver.

In the past two years, Xizhou Mu Dong Zixiao had been trying to seize the military power of the Xiang Army. Unfortunately, since Xizhou had jurisdiction over 12 counties and 72 counties in the Xiang Army, its officers were all centurion generals under the "annual contract system".

As a result, no matter how Xizhou Mu Dong Zixiao tried to win over these Xiang Army officers, no one was willing to join him. Xizhou Mu Dong Zixiao was so angry that he wanted to try to replace a group of Xiang Army officers.

Of course, Sun Hao would not agree to the request of Xizhou Mu Dong Zixiao.

Although the wing troops in various parts of the Zhenxi Protectorate had a considerable gap in combat effectiveness compared to the nine guards of the Zhenxi Army.

But Sun Hao would not hand over the military power of the Xiang Army to others.

It is for this reason that the Zhenxi Protectorate was considered a new vassal state by the imperial court.

Beijia Cao Hui shook his head and said, "Brother Dong, I think it's better not to try again.

We have done enough in the past, but we still haven't been able to win over any general or captain of the Xiang army. This shows that Sun Hao has already managed the Xiang army in various parts of Xizhou into an iron plate.

If we want to deal with the Zhenxi Army and Sun Hao, we can only rely on Prince Yong'an to take action personally."

Upon hearing this, Xizhou Governor Dong Zixiao said sadly, "I truly regret the trust placed in me by Prince Yong'an and the imperial court. Xizhou has been established for so long, yet it's been unable to impose even a little bit of control on Sun Hao and the Zhenxi Army."

Deputy Governor Cao Hui said, "Brother Dong, if the Zhenxi Army really sends 200,000 troops into the interior to suppress the bandits, our provincial government, as well as the county and prefecture governments, will need to make some preparations in advance."

"Brother Cao, are you saying that the countries in the Western Regions might take this opportunity to launch a counterattack against the Zhenxi Army?"

Deputy Governor Cao Hui nodded and said, "It's very possible. Especially since Puwan State, which is adjacent to Xizhou, has been preparing for war for the past two years and will not miss this opportunity."

Fearing the invasion of the Zhenxi Army, the Puwan State has now formed a regular army of up to 800,000 soldiers.

You should know that because a large number of Liang people in Puwan State moved to Zhenxi Protectorate to settle down, the population of Puwan State has dropped from about 14 million to more than 9 million, of which only about 1 million Liang people are left.

In other words, Puwan relied on more than 8 million white people to form an army of 800,000. This means that for every ten white people, one young and strong white man joined the Puwan army.

Such an astonishing proportion has made Puwan Kingdom a warmongerer. If the army continues to maintain a size of 800,000, Puwan's finances will collapse sooner or later.

Therefore, among all the countries in the Western Regions, Puwan was the country that most hoped to drive the Zhenxi Army out of the Western Regions as soon as possible.

Xizhou Mu Dong Zixiao frowned, "Brother Cao, do you think Sun Hao will ignore the order from the Ministry of War and not send troops in and out of the pass?"

Beijia Cao Hui shrugged and said, "Brother Dong, we'd better pray that this situation doesn't happen, otherwise you and I will be faced with a difficult choice next."

In a city called Blue Moon City in Puwan State, Duke Aisezi of the former Wensu State was entertaining General Dagati of Puwan State.

Blue Moon City is a city temporarily loaned by the Puwan Kingdom to Duke Aisezi. Now Duke Aisezi has assembled an army of 50,000 from the Wensu Kingdom in Blue Moon City.

And after more than two years of training, the combat effectiveness of these 50,000 Wensu troops is comparable to the most elite troops of the original Wensu Kingdom.

"Duke Aisaizi, I came here this time because I have good news to tell you." Dagati, the general of Puwan Kingdom, said excitedly.

Duke Aisaizi's expression became excited upon hearing this. "Could it be that the Western Regions are planning to form another coalition to attack Liang's Western Guard Army?"

“Although it’s not news that the Western Regions are forming a coalition, we in Puwan have received reliable intelligence.

Because the bandits in the northern region of Liang State were rampant and had even spread to the entire northern region of Liang State, the court of Liang State decided to dispatch 200,000 Zhenxi troops to eliminate the bandits.

In other words, the Zhenxi Army will soon have 200,000 troops leaving the Western Regions.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!