After hearing He Xiuwu's answer, Zhang Fu nodded.
The reason he asked about western Liaoning, instead of immediately focusing on the crucial Shanhaiguan Pass like the others did, was because he wanted to inquire about western Liaoning.
It was because he knew that He Xiuwu, the garrison commander of Shanhaiguan, had appeared here.
Shanhaiguan has definitely fallen.
At this point, discussing Shanhaiguan is no longer important.
Because he had already lost control.
At this moment, he took the initiative to ask about the situation in western Liaoning because he had calculated it based on current intelligence.
From the time Li Qin set out from Liaodong to the time he captured Shanhaiguan.
That's incredibly fast.
He was definitely using cavalry; his infantry could not possibly assemble and advance at such a speed.
This means that even if he miraculously captured the important towns of Jinzhou and Ningyuan through a surprise attack, it would be impossible for him to clear out the numerous military fortresses and cities in western Liaoning in such a short time using only cavalry.
He definitely charged straight through, without eliminating the military fortresses and cities one by one.
In other words, there were still many military forts and cities in western Liaoning that were loyal to the imperial court at that time.
Li Qin's cavalry could charge through, but he would have to clear out the military fortresses and cities.
Otherwise, his army was stationed at Shanhaiguan, but Shanhaiguan and western Liaoning simply could not possibly have enough food to support such a large army.
The food his army needed had to be transported from Liaodong.
This practically placed the grain transport route under the threat of those numerous military fortresses and cities.
That would be absolutely fatal.
Therefore, his next step is to eliminate those military fortresses and cities.
This was definitely done by the infantrymen who were besieging the city.
Based on the time Li Qin raised his army, his current troop distribution should be as follows.
As Zhang Fu pondered this, he walked to the huge map and began to lay out Li Qin's current troop distribution.
He then laid out Li Qin's current troop distribution based on the available intelligence.
Zhang Fu made the worst-case scenario preparations for the locations in Jinzhou and Ningyuan.
That is, they all fell under Li Qin's surprise attack.
Due to a lack of intelligence, he was unaware that You Chu was still holding out in Jinzhou.
He placed Li Qin's 30,000 cavalry at Shanhaiguan and his 80,000 infantry in the Liaodong region.
In the Liaoxi area, some small chess pieces representing the imperial court were placed, symbolizing the military fortresses and cities in Liaoxi.
If Li Qin were to see Zhang Fu's predictions about his troop deployment, he would be greatly surprised.
Aside from his lack of intelligence, which led him to overlook You Chu in Jinzhou, his assessment of Li Qin's current situation and troop distribution was almost entirely accurate.
He truly deserves to be called a famous general who followed Emperor Taizong of Wu on his expedition to the northern deserts and fought for more than fifty years.
After sorting out the battle situation based on the current intelligence, Zhang Fu nodded with relief.
Because he is now extremely confident that Li Qin will absolutely not launch a swift attack on the capital.
Based on the timeline, his cavalry, having galloped all the way from Liaodong to Shanhaiguan, were already exhausted.
He had no strength left to continue his advance towards the capital.
Moreover, he only has a little over 30,000 exhausted cavalrymen at his disposal, making it impossible for him to continue his raid on the capital.
If he really brings 30,000 exhausted troops, he's courting death. You have to understand that there are over 200,000 soldiers in the three major battalions in the capital.
It could be said that he could be eliminated without even seeing a trace of the capital.
Moreover, there are tens of thousands of soldiers in Jizhou Town.
Therefore, Li Qin is definitely resting and preparing inside Shanhaiguan, waiting for his army in Liaodong.
After sorting everything out, Zhang Fu immediately pointed to the map he had laid out and addressed Zhu Qizhen, as well as the cabinet ministers and other officials in front of him.
He shared his predictions about the battle situation.
Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that Li Qin's cavalry would not appear in the capital.
Not only for the court, but also for himself, many of his people owned estates and land outside the capital.
If war breaks out, their manors and lands outside the capital will suffer.
After recovering from the shock of the loss of Shanhaiguan, the people present immediately started arguing again about Li Qin's matter.
After everyone experienced the shock of Li Qin's occupation of Shanhaiguan and the fear of his army possibly approaching the capital.
He immediately became enraged with Li Qin.
They all demanded that a large force be dispatched to annihilate Li Qin.
The civil officials, who had been arguing over various issues such as weaponry and provisions, immediately made compromises.
They began to support most of the demands of military officers and nobles.
Because after Li Qin occupied Shanhaiguan and was able to threaten the capital, his threat level rose by more than one level.
That's why a compromise was made so quickly.
Meanwhile, the military officers and nobles cheered with joy.
They seemed to see countless achievements coming their way.
Those who have been granted titles want to elevate their titles to a higher level, while military officers without titles want to obtain titles through military achievements.
Decades of peace may satisfy civil officials, but they will not satisfy military generals.
Without war, there is no shortcut to promotion; they can only accumulate seniority over time.
However, without military merit, one cannot attain a noble title even after a lifetime of experience.
Almost all the nobles and military generals were eager to try.
They wanted to gain more wealth and power during this Li Qin Rebellion.
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