Chapter 193
Just as Wang Lang expected, there were not many soldiers and horses left in Youzhou, and after they were distributed to Liucheng County, they were indeed stretched to the limit.
But there was one thing Wang Lang didn't know: new cement official roads had been built in all six counties of Youzhou.
The roads in Yichun, Songhua Prefecture, and Huining had already been completed and put into use. During the discussions about the expedition to Jiaozhou, the Yichun City Lord's Mansion, at the suggestion of Yao Chunnuan, also built official roads to Suihua, Houcheng, and Jiachuan. With six new official roads in six counties, the network would provide excellent mobility. Even if only a few hundred thousand troops remained in Youzhou, it would be sufficient to support the situation.
The officials in Suihua, Houcheng and Jiachuan were very happy with this proposal. They had wanted to build the new official road for a long time, but it was put on hold because Youzhou entered the rainy season and it was not suitable for road construction.
It was not difficult to build three new official roads with the efforts of an entire state. It only took them a few days to complete the construction.
As the leading general of the second front, Pan Buyi, upon confirming the imperial court's decision to deploy 300,000 troops to attack Youzhou, summoned all the generals for a meeting. Yao Chunnuan and General Wu were among the invited guests. General Wu was in charge of military supplies, while Yao Chunnuan, under the orders of General Xing Changfeng, was currently the overall commander of Youzhou. Furthermore, Wang Lang, the military advisor commanding the 300,000-man army, was her ex-husband. The two had clashed several times before, so she likely knew him well.
Pan Buyi was in a relatively good mood at the moment. He was still confident about this battle. A few days ago, Lord Yao had given him something and asked him to test it in a secluded place. He had taken his men to test it, and the results were promising. With that secret weapon, the imperial army of 300,000 was no longer a headache.
The only pity was that these secret weapons were a bit scarce. He later learned that it wasn't that Lord Yao didn't want to make more of them, but rather that they required something called saltpeter. Lord Yao's men searched Daliang but couldn't find any saltpeter mines. Finally, they secretly had people raid all the toilets in Youzhou before they managed to get a few of these secret weapons. Now, these secret weapons are stored in the Tianzihao row of warehouses, and as they are used, they become less and less.
The first point of today's discussion is which city or county in Youzhou will Wang Lang's 300,000 troops attack as their breakthrough point?
Now Houcheng and Suihua are both Youzhou's external gateways. Wang Lang's 300,000 troops should attack Suihua or Houcheng, or divide the troops into two groups and attack Suihua and Houcheng respectively.
Many of the generals present thought Wang Lang would divide his forces. After all, a 300,000-man army attacking a small city was too much. Dividing a 300,000-man army into two routes would be the best approach. Remember, when Gan Huacheng led his troops to quell the rebellion, he only had about 100,000 men. Now that the imperial court was intent on pacifying Youzhou, wouldn't a two-front war be faster?
Yao Chunnuan leisurely sipped her tea. After they had discussed enough, she confidently stated, "The enemy won't split up their forces." The imperial court, having benefited from the successful experience of concentrating its forces to defeat the King of Annan, would certainly not split up its forces. Furthermore, the imperial court had suffered enough from the losses of multiple attacks after dividing its forces. Therefore, even if they appeared to be dividing their forces now, in the end, all 300,000 troops would be united and attack one location.
Three hundred thousand troops attacking only one city? The generals present looked at each other in bewilderment. This was truly an overkill. But Lord Yao's judgment was rarely wrong. Never mind. This possibility couldn't be ruled out, so let's just assume it.
"If they don't split up their forces, which city or county will the 300,000-strong army choose to attack? Suihua or Houcheng?"
With so many troops rushing forward at once, whether attacking Suihua or Houcheng, the pressure on the attacked city or county was enormous.
Yao Chunnuan looked at the map hanging on the wall, his eyes falling on Suihua and Houcheng. His mind was brainstorming rapidly, analyzing which place Wang Lang was most likely to attack.
All the generals were also thinking and discussing.
"I think Wang Lang will choose Houcheng."
"Why?"
"Because Ganhuacheng previously massacred Hui'an Town, the people of Suihua are now very hostile to the Nationalist Army. If he chooses to attack Suihua, he will definitely encounter great resistance. He should not seek trouble for himself."
"Not necessarily. The resistance from the people of Suihua wouldn't be a big deal to them, right? They have an army of 300,000."
"That makes sense. Okay, that's not true."
"Also, attacking Suihua is not without its benefits. Ganhua City previously stationed troops in Suihua, and they have a good understanding of Suihua's terrain. This is also a benefit for the imperial army."
"Even if they choose to attack Houcheng, it won't necessarily be an advantage. Houcheng has a port. If they attack, aren't they worried that our Yichun Corps in Jiaozhou will come back to support them?"
"Furthermore, even if Houcheng is taken, there's always the possibility that it could be recaptured. The imperial court's 300,000-strong army doesn't have any navy. Defending Houcheng is much more difficult than defending Suihua."
"Ah, now that you've mentioned it, it's unclear which city Wang Lang will choose to attack. It seems like any one of them is possible."
The generals present looked at each other, it was so difficult. After a wave of analysis, Suihua and Houcheng were both possible, and the probability was still 50-50. How could they guess?
Everyone couldn't help but look at Yao Chunnuan.
Yao Chunnuan had now come back to her senses. A faint light flickered in her eyes, and her voice, low but confident, echoed in the conference room, "Houcheng! Wang Lang will probably choose to attack Houcheng."
"Why?" Pan Yue couldn't help asking.
"This is the result of an analysis based on Wang Lang's personality and other information. Because the imperial court failed once in Suihua, attacking Suihua again would be considered unlucky by anyone with a bit of superstition."
Another reason is that although Wang Lang seems strong inside, he is actually a bit weak inside. Otherwise, he would not be dragged down by his family in this life because of his soft heart.
He is not a completely rational and cold-blooded person. If he were, he would not have gotten involved with Wei Qiuyu in the first place.
Wang Lang was reborn, and he was somewhat superstitious. In order to get a good omen, he would subconsciously choose to attack Houcheng.
However, he must be resisting this choice in his heart. He wants to make a more rational choice instead of being dominated by emotions.
Furthermore, because he had been to Yichun before, and they had fought several times, he had always been suppressed by her, and in the end she had even used a trick to force him out of Yichun, all of this must have left a psychological scar on him. When making his choice, Wang Lang should have taken her into consideration.
Taking all these factors into consideration, Wang Lang has not yet given a clear answer. He is trying to be mysterious about which city his 300,000-strong army will attack, and another reason is to prevent the news from leaking out. Most importantly, he himself should be wavering between Suihua and Houcheng.
But Yao Chunnuan believed that, ultimately, his emotions would prevail over his rationality, and he would be more inclined to choose based on his emotions. This was because rationality would make him uncomfortable. With all the power in his hands, he would certainly be more willing to care for his emotions and indulge himself.
"Lord Yao, do you mean that Wang Lang is rather superstitious about these things?" Pan Buyi said with a frown. He didn't expect that Wang Lang would be superstitious about these things?
Not only Pan Buyi, but others also found it incredible.
"Yes." Yao Chunnuan didn't even blink and accused Wang Lang of being superstitious. After all, he was superstitious, wasn't he? She couldn't explain to them that this was a problem Wang Lang had only developed after his rebirth, could she?
"Now that we suspect Wang Lang will choose to attack Houcheng, we can't just sit there and wait for death."
"Yes, we must prepare seriously for war, but in addition to that, can we set up an ambush along the way? It would be best if we could eliminate some of their manpower along the way. Otherwise, if these 300,000 troops were to rush towards Houcheng all at once, the consequences would be disastrous."
"If they set an ambush midway, we only have one chance to attack, and we have to hit them hard in that one shot."
Everyone present agreed with the decision to set up an ambush halfway. No matter when, it is good to take the initiative and try to keep the initiative in your own hands.
Yao Chunnuan said to Pan Buyi, "General Pan, I'm sorry to trouble you with this matter."
Pan Buyi confirmed, "Then we should focus our ambush on the road between Guangyang and Houcheng?"
"Can."
"So I'm using the things in the Tianzihao row of warehouses?"
Everyone's ears perked up when they heard this, and their hearts began to itch. The military supplies in the Tianzihao warehouse were a mystery. They only knew that the oil came from there. Now, against Wang Lang's 300,000-man army, was the City Lord's Mansion ready to use the supplies inside?
"Okay." Although the secret weapon is precious, Yao Chunnuan will never be stingy when it is needed.
"Okay, I'll take people to set it up."
"Tell the engineers who are out working to be careful. Given Wang Lang's caution, he will definitely send scouts to investigate. Don't let them notice." Yao Chunnuan warned.
"Don't worry."
******
Somewhere in the Taihang Mountains, the Yichun Engineering Corps was working hard and sweating profusely.
"It needs to be an inch deeper here!"
"Okay."
"If you find any water seepage, do you have to deal with it first?"
"know."
The jackets they wore were specially issued by the military uniform factory. They were colorful and called camouflage uniforms. In short, they were hard to detect once they entered the forest, with a woven straw ring on their heads. During their time working, they brought dry food and bread with them. When they were hungry, they ate these, and when they were thirsty, they drank mountain stream water. They never dared to build a fire. But no one complained or had any regrets.
Inside the tent of Jizhou Guangyang commander
A general asked Wang Lang, "Military Advisor, the army is about to set out, but we only know we're going to attack Youzhou. We don't know whether we're going to attack Suihua or Houcheng, or whether we should divide our forces."
Arrangements were being made to divide the troops, with each general leading an army to attack Suihua and Houcheng respectively. However, even though the armies were about to depart, the commanders of the two armies had not yet been determined. This left many people a little confused.
The two people standing next to Wang Lang watched each other intently. Only these absolute confidants knew that there was no such thing as dividing the troops.
Wang Lang: "I'll announce the answer before we leave tomorrow."
Confidant: ...Military Advisor Wang is awesome. Even at this point, he still refuses to announce the answer. Isn’t it just a choice between Suihua and Houcheng?
Little did these confidants know that he was also struggling internally. The good news was that he had sent scouts along both routes, just in case the Youzhou forces set up an ambush along the way. It's always better to be safe than sorry, and facing Yao Chunnuan, Wang Lang felt that no caution was too much. Fortunately, no signs of an ambush were detected. Therefore, choosing to attack Suihua or Houcheng wouldn't be a problem.
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