Upon seeing Li Qin emerge, the young officer who had just reported the military situation to him immediately approached him.
Li Qin recognized the young general who was walking towards him immediately based on the original owner's memories.
This young general is named Qi Duchen. He is one of his confidants and has been raised in the Li family since he was a child.
You could say he was the most trusted of his confidants, the most trusted of his innermost confidants.
So after taking over his father's position, he immediately appointed him as his personal guard captain.
Don't underestimate the significance of the title "Captain of Personal Guards," because he has eight thousand personal guards.
Those were all servants left to him by the original owner's father, whom he trained.
Those were absolutely the elite of the elite, their combat strength was top-notch, and any one of them could serve as an officer.
When mounted, they are elite cavalry; when dismounted, they are elite infantry, and they are extremely loyal.
It can be said to be the core of his core, and the source of his family's confidence in dominating Liaodong.
The original owner's father had devoted decades of his life to this.
Li Qin looked at Qi Duchen beside him and asked:
"How many mobile forces do we currently have in Ningyuan?"
Upon hearing Li Qin's words, Qi Duchen immediately replied to him:
"Back to the top, in this battle we launched a surprise attack and captured Ningyuan, with relatively few casualties."
We still have 20,000 cavalry, and our 8,000 personal guards.
Li Qin looked at Ningyuan City in the distance, recalling the original owner's memories.
Because this battle was a surprise attack, he mainly led 30,000 cavalry and his own 8,000 personal guards.
His 80,000 infantrymen, led by his younger brother Li Wenqi, gathered here in batches.
After all, there are so many cities, military settlements, and fortresses of all sizes in Liaodong, and most of these 80,000 are scattered across the land of Liaodong.
Getting them to gather together, preparing food and drink for these 80,000 people, and setting off are all tasks.
Therefore, these things must be done step by step; you can't rush them, or you'll definitely run into trouble.
After all, with the current level of productivity, every time the army goes on an expedition, it needs to be well prepared.
From preparing food supplies to assembling soldiers, planning routes, and recruiting laborers to transport the food, there were many things to worry about.
It is obvious that the original owner suddenly raised an army without any preparation.
Most of his soldiers were scattered across Liaodong and had not yet regrouped.
He then set off with his 30,000 cavalrymen and 8,000 personal guards.
It was quite sudden, but fortunately the results were also very fruitful.
That is, they besieged Jinzhou, where You Chu was located, and captured Ningyuan, a fortified city in western Liaoning.
From Ningyuan to Shanhaiguan, there were no more fortified cities left, so they couldn't stop him at all. His current advantage was time and speed.
His troops were all cavalry, and their speed was extremely fast, but he believed that the Wu court had not yet reacted.
Therefore, the defenses at Shanhaiguan must not be strong enough. I must take Shanhaiguan before the Wu court reacts and sends reinforcements.
We must completely seize the initiative on the battlefield, otherwise, once Wu reinforces its troops at Shanhaiguan, we will have to fight a decisive battle with Wu in this narrow corridor in Liaoxi.
He didn't have much confidence in using Liaodong alone to contend with the Wu Kingdom.
When the time comes, Wu will block Shanhaiguan Pass and keep him outside. With the state machinery in motion, Wu will mobilize the manpower and resources of the entire country and wear him down.
It should be noted that there is currently no major peasant uprising in the Wu Kingdom that is bleeding the country dry.
At that time, Wu could lose eight or ten times with its overwhelming national strength, but Li Qin couldn't afford to lose even once.
Therefore, he must take Shanhaiguan as soon as possible to open up the situation.
Finally, he tried every means to take over the capital, because only by taking over the capital could he control the imperial city, and only by controlling the imperial city could he control the court.
Only by controlling the imperial court could he find a way to take over the entire country.
After all, he had read some history books in his previous life, though not many, but he knew a little bit about them.
Those who were truly loyal local gentry and court officials were a minority.
He wouldn't care much about changing emperors, as long as it doesn't affect their quality of life.
After all, the emperor was just a changing county magistrate, while the local landlords and gentry were the permanent masters.
Once I take control of the capital, all the officials in the court will be under my control, and all that's left is to deceive people.
In reality, very few officials in the court were truly loyal to the emperor; most were simply representatives of various local powers.
Once I've got them on my side and reached an agreement, everything will be much easier.
After all, truly loyal ministers are a minority, and all I need to do next is get rid of them.
As for the methods, they can be despicable, but it doesn't matter.
Anyway, when the time comes, great scholars will come to debate with him.
After making this decision and determining the direction to follow, Li Qin looked at Qi Duchen beside him and said:
"Go and inform all the soldiers that we cannot stay in Ningyuan at all."
Gather everyone immediately, and head to Shanhaiguan.
"Oh, and cut off the head of that Ningyuan garrison commander, and keep it safe."
Upon hearing Li Qin's order, Qi Duchen was immediately taken aback, and then promptly sent someone to notify all the generals.
Li Qin immediately ordered all the officers of the 20,000 cavalrymen with ranks of chiliarch or above to be summoned.
Liu Chenghui, Zhou Wentong, Peng Jiahu, and Wei Xiaokuan were among their family's retainers.
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