"I?"
Zhao Cheng glanced at Bi Fansheng and the others, and said, "Father, when we first started the uprising, there was no one else available, so I was forced into this position. Now that all of you experienced uncles are here, how can I be qualified to be the commander-in-chief?"
"You," Bi Fansheng said with a smile. "I have no objection."
“I have no objection either,” Song Cheng added.
Park Gun said, "I have even less objection!"
Zhao Cheng looked at Lian Zhongyi.
Lian Zhongyi said, "Don't look at me, I'm not going even if I go."
Zhao Cheng: "..."
Zhao Huan said, "Alright, this is a military order."
Zhao Cheng began to ponder.
Yuan Yun and Yang Cai'e are both pregnant and will give birth this year. There are plenty of generals available in the court, so my father wants me to take command at this time. It is clear that he wants me to establish my prestige in the Dongjing Army.
"Your son obeys," Zhao Cheng replied.
Zhao Yanli said, "Father, let me go and be the vanguard for my eldest brother!"
Zhao Cheng exclaimed with delight, "Great! The third brother is a grandmaster now. With him by my side, I guarantee Wang Ren will be beaten to a pulp!"
"Good my ass!"
Zhao Huan glared at Zhao Cheng and said, "He and Huan Yun just got married; having children is more important than fighting wars."
Zhao Cheng: "..."
Zhao Yan: "..."
Zhao Huan added, "This time, the third and fourth brothers will stay in Changsui. I have my own arrangements."
Zhao Cheng said, "The Xijing Army in Pingyou and Guliang has more troops than us. Should we transfer people from Feng Jing's side?"
"We'll discuss this further."
Zhao Huan then turned to the map and said, "Come here, everyone, let's discuss how to fight."
...
Several days later.
The Xijing Army Camp in Guliang County.
Wang Ren sat behind the desk, with Zhang Dalian, Wang Yuluan, Du Yucheng, Zhang Cheng, and more than a dozen other generals standing on either side below him.
"Have all the people who came from Pingyou arrived?"
"Reporting to the General, everyone has arrived and everything is arranged," Zhang Cheng stepped forward to reply, indicating that this matter had been entrusted to him.
Although Zhang Cheng suffered a defeat in the battle in Suidong, he was brave and daring, and he also had a relationship with Zhang Dalian, so Wang Ren valued him quite a bit.
"What's the situation in Dongjing?" Wang Ren asked again.
Zhang Dalian stepped forward and said, "It has been confirmed that Zhao Cheng is in charge, and he has brought nearly 80,000 men from Changsui. We have not found any Dragon Spear Guards."
Wang Yuluan said, "He wouldn't have hidden himself again, would he?"
Wang Ren said, "The Dragon Spear Guards are Zhao Huan's treasures, so it's normal that he wouldn't give them to Zhao Cheng."
Du Yucheng sneered, "They don't even have 100,000 people. Adding Xiao Luofeng's 50,000, it's less than 150,000. That's less than half of our numbers. It seems their focus is still on Yun Jing County."
Wen Tai and his nephew had a strong sense of strategy. Even before Yuan Li ascended the throne, they began conscripting soldiers while occupying the four western commanderies. In particular, Wang Ren had considerable prestige in the three northern commanderies, where there were many former Yedan people. The conscription conditions were good, and they recruited 50,000 men from just this one commandery.
Just after the Spring Festival, Wang Ren had 300,000 troops under his command, not counting those stationed in Pingyou County and Yongliang City.
Wang Ren's expression was not as relaxed as Du Yucheng's. He snorted coldly and said, "Have you forgotten the pain already? When we were in Suidong, we still had more people than them. What happened then?"
Du Yucheng said, "General, don't diminish your own prestige!"
Better safe than sorry!
Wang Ren frowned and said, "I understand now. The reason why Zhao Huan has been able to remain undefeated is that he is neither arrogant nor impatient, nor greedy for credit, and he adheres to the principle of caution and prudence."
Du Yucheng said smugly, "This time it's hard to say. They have no idea that the three counties of Xinbei are a treasure trove. They have men and horses. If time weren't so tight, we could have learned from the Yedan people and created a wolf cavalry!"
Only then did Wang Ren reveal a faint smile.
What Du Yu Chengdu said was true. They only discovered this when they were recruiting soldiers. Although the three counties of Xinbei had been rebuilt by Wang Ren, the population base was too large. Many people who had fled to the northwest snow mountain with the Yedan royal family had returned, probably because the climate there was too harsh for them to endure.
The three counties in New Taipei City are newly built, and there is not enough space to live, let alone jobs. They can't even take care of the existing people, let alone receive the continuous influx of people returning. In less than a year, the three counties in New Taipei City almost experienced another riot due to population resettlement issues.
The Xijing Army's conscription provided these people with a source of talent.
Furthermore, the vast grasslands of the three counties of New Taipei City are practically natural horse ranches.
This is Wang Ren's current confidence, and also Wen Tai's unexpected joy.
"We still can't be careless."
Recalling last year's battle, Wang Ren still felt lingering fear, saying, "Zhao Huan is used to playing it safe, but Zhao Cheng is good at using unconventional tactics."
Du Yucheng clasped his hands and said, "General, I have fought Zhao Cheng many times and have analyzed his fighting style repeatedly over the past six months. I can say that I have a complete understanding of his methods. I am willing to be the vanguard and capture Zhao Cheng alive!"
No rush.
Wang Ren waved his hand, got up, and walked to the sand table in the center of the command tent to look at it seriously.
“There are several small towns in the eastern part of Guliang County, which together form a market town called Chengqi. Zhao Cheng’s main camp is located behind Chengqi market town. If we advance at the same time, we will meet in the central part of Guliang County, and Zhao Cheng’s troops will inevitably have to pass through Chengqi market town. This presents a problem.”
"What's the problem?" someone asked.
“We and Zhao Huan both want to incorporate Guliang County into our territory. In order to win the hearts of the people, Zhao Cheng will definitely not dare to disturb the people and will not take a shortcut through the town, but will choose to go around it.”
"So what...?"
Wang Ren gestured with his fingers on the sand table, explaining, "First of all, our forces are more than twice that of Zhao Cheng's. Even if we split into two groups, each group will still have more men than Zhao Cheng."
Wang Yuluan's eyes lit up, and he said, "I understand!"
"oh?"
Wang Ren was somewhat surprised and clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Then tell me."
Wang Yuluan drew a circle on the sand table around the town and said, "The general just said that Zhao Cheng won't disturb the people and will choose to detour outside the town. So let's split into two groups and attack from the north and south sides of the town respectively. The group that encounters Zhao Cheng's troops will fight to the death, while the other group can advance unimpeded towards Zhao Cheng's main camp!"
Wang Yuluan pressed his finger down on Zhao Cheng's command post.
Wang Ren showed a satisfied expression and said, "Not bad, Luan'er, you've made progress."
Zhang Dalian patted Wang Yuluan on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile.
Du Yucheng glanced at Wang Yuluan with displeasure.
"What if Zhao Cheng also splits his troops into two groups?" Du Yucheng asked.
"That's because he's stupid!"
Wang Ren chuckled and said, "To win with fewer troops, you must gather all your forces into the most cohesive force, seize the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to the opponent. If they still disperse their forces at this time, then they will only be picked off one by one by us."
"Of course, based on our understanding of Zhao Cheng, he is not that kind of stupid person."
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