Chapter 528 Can You Kill Them All?
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, urgent news has come from the Tianjin garrison: a large number of military warships and merchant ships have appeared on the coast, claiming that they have encountered a storm and need to seek shelter ashore. The Tianjin garrison is powerless to stop them, and the enemy has already set up camp on the barren beach north of the Haihe River estuary!"
"...Is there a storm at sea?"
"No, but the officer on duty for that large military fleet said... a storm is about to break out."
"How many of them are there? Do they have cavalry? Do they intend to advance westward?"
Qin Mu's face was gloomy. As the Grand Commander of the Central Army, he knew the strength of the Tianjin garrison well. If the Da Yuan army had cavalry, they would have no chance of escaping. Although he believed that Qin Mo was mostly using force to intimidate, if he went crazy, the less than 10,000 Tianjin garrison would not be enough to fill the Da Yuan army's teeth.
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, the army of Da Yuan has not made any further moves after landing and setting up camp. They do not have a large cavalry force, only infantry, artillery, and a small number of scout cavalry. However... they have a lot of cannons, and they have been unloading them from the ships all day and still haven't finished!"
"Send a message to the Tianjin garrison: if the main force does not make any move to advance on the capital, do not engage them in battle, and await further orders!" Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Since Qin Mo's main force did not immediately march on the capital, there was still room for maneuver.
Qin Mu wasn't a civil official like Xiao Xinyan, who could suppress people with morality and etiquette. In a soldier's eyes, strength was everything. Since Qin Mo had already come up with a terrible excuse, there was no point in arguing; what remained was a contest of strength.
"Send a letter to Prince Heng, I will pay him a visit this afternoon!"
"Your subordinate... will go immediately!"
In the old Hengguo Duke's mansion on Yinque Street, Qin Mo looked at the visiting card in his hand with a very smug and proud look in his eyes.
"Qin Mo, you've finally been officially recognized as a prince! This is an invitation from the Prince of Yan!" Qin Yumu was filled with envy. To be formally invited to an audience by the top military official of the Great Xia Dynasty—what a symbol of status!
"Hmph! If I don't show off a little muscle, people will really think I'm a child!"
In the powerful families of the Great Xia Dynasty, visits between patriarchs were extremely formal. They would send invitations and schedule appointments before actually visiting each other to discuss matters. This time, the Prince of Yan's formal visit indicated that he regarded Qin Mo as a regional lord, not as someone coming to reprimand his nephews.
The Prince of Yan arrived right on time. Just as the sun was pointing to noon, Qin Mo and Qin Mu appeared at the gate of the old Duke of Heng.
The two exchanged formal greetings across the threshold, then entered the mansion hand in hand. This scene confirmed to the many nobles and officials who were waiting at the gate that Prince Heng's influence was no longer limited to overseas, but had truly entered the central government of the Great Xia.
"Qin Mo, your army landed in Tianjin to avoid the storm. Do you have any other intentions?" Qin Mu asked Qin Mo directly after entering the room, without any pretense of pleasantries.
"If I said I had no other intentions, would you believe me, sir?" Qin Mo replied with a smile, casually offering Qin Mu some tea, her expression calm and her tone unhurried.
"Our Great Xia has not experienced internal strife for many years. The last time was hundreds of years ago. Prince Bi was exceptionally talented and held immense power, but in the end, he met a tragic end with his death and the extermination of his clan!"
"Holding immense power over the court? I don't have the ability of Prince Bi. I only want to help the late emperor's orphan ascend the throne!"
"Qin Mo, the late emperor did not treat you well... so why are you so persistent?" Qin Mu took a sip of tea and said coldly, his tone implying, "I would never believe you are a loyal subject."
"The late emperor was indeed very harsh on me, but the empress treated me kindly!" Qin Mo answered straightforwardly. Everyone knew about his relationship with Wang Yushi, so there was no need for pretense.
Qin Mu put down his teacup and looked at Qin Mu very seriously, saying, "Do you know that no matter how many excuses you have, treason is treason? Once you have massacred the soldiers of the Great Xia, it will be a fight to the death!"
Qin Mo sat up straight and said indifferently, "A fight to the death? Prince Yan, you overestimate your Imperial Guards. How many are willing to die for you? Two hundred thousand? Or three hundred thousand?"
"The Great Xia has two million soldiers. Can your army kill them all?"
"You're just trying to scare me! Two million? Do you think the noble private armies will fight me? Can you even muster the Great Xia border troops? The Imperial Guard... can you even mobilize them? I'd only respect you if you could muster 300,000 men!"
Qin Mo had done his homework well in advance. The number of imperial guards and private troops that the Prince of Yan's faction could mobilize would not exceed 300,000. Otherwise, Qin Mo would not have only sent three infantry regiments. The Da Yuan Army still had more than a dozen regular infantry regiments hidden in the South China Sea that had not been used!
As for who would win between 30,000 and 300,000, Qin Mo didn't even consider it.
Whether in the era of cold weapons or hot weapons, an army that can maintain its fighting spirit even after suffering more than 30% casualties is a strong army, and an army that does not collapse even after suffering 50% casualties is a top-notch iron army.
In the Great Xia Dynasty, only the Imperial Guard could barely be called an iron army; the rest couldn't even be considered strong. Such an army, encountering the army of a powerful general who had already begun employing "infantry-artillery coordination," was bound to suffer a complete collapse of morale.
"Qin Mo, I may not be able to mobilize 300,000 men, but I can certainly kill all the generals in your army!"
"Your Highness, Prince Yan, you have a large and prosperous family with many descendants. You wouldn't do something so taboo, would you? You don't think that just because I can't ask Allen for help, I can let you bully me?"
Qin Mu suddenly unleashed a terrifying aura. He had just threatened Qin Mo that he would personally deal with the large army, but Qin Mo immediately turned around and threatened to kill his family. Qin Mu had never encountered such a threat before, so how could he tolerate it? He absolutely could not tolerate it!
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