At the provincial government office in Ganyang City, Pizhou Governor Chen Fengshi and Ganyang Protectorate Grand Commander Cao Tingjin were entertaining the imperial envoy sent by the court - Minister of War Xia Shijun.
Xia Shijun can be considered as a direct descendant of Yong'an King Chen Su.
He once followed Yong'an King Chen Su and pacified the bandits in Zibo and Yizhou in the 373rd year of the Daliang calendar.
Later, in the 378th year of the Daliang calendar, Xia Shijun followed Chen Su, the King of Yong'an, to quell the rebellion of the chieftains in the southwest. In the 383rd year of the Daliang calendar, he followed Chen Su, the King of Yong'an, to defeat the 800,000-strong northern expedition army of the Northern Jin Kingdom.
Recommended by Yong'an King Chen Su, Xia Shijun, who had made great military achievements, was transferred to the Ministry of War in 385 of the Daliang calendar and served as the Minister of War. Soon after, he was promoted to the Minister of War.
With the cooperation of Xia Shijun, the Ministry of War of Liang State has always been firmly controlled by Yong'an King Chen Su.
"Commander Cao, I believe you already know why I came to Ganyang City.
The current war in the south is extremely detrimental to Daliang, so I am here on behalf of the court and the prince to mobilize the Ganyang Army to the south." Xia Shijun said to Cao Tingjin with a serious expression.
Last year, after King Yong'an Chen Su led six towns of the imperial guards to arrive in the south, he quickly stabilized the precarious war situation in the south and launched a fierce counterattack against the invading Northern Jin army.
However, at the beginning of this year, the Northern Jin Kingdom suddenly and secretly increased its troops, causing the Xingwu Town and Yingwu Town of the Imperial Guard, as well as the five guards withdrawn by Prince Yong'an from the Tiansu Protectorate, to fall into the trap set by the Northern Jin Kingdom's army and were almost wiped out.
After breaking out, there were less than 30,000 people left in the four guards of Xingwu Town, Yingwu Town and Tiansu Army, almost only one in ten survived.
After this battle, the situation in the south of Liang State took a sharp turn for the worse. Yong'an King Chen Su had no choice but to urgently transfer the imperial guards Xiaowu Town that stayed in the capital to the south.
However, according to the estimation of Yong'an King Chen Su, it would still be difficult to reverse the situation in the south relying solely on the support of Xiaowu Town. Therefore, Yong'an King Chen Su asked the court for permission to mobilize part of the border troops from the northern states to support the battlefield in the south.
The ultimate purpose of the Minister of War Xia Shijun's trip out of the capital this time was actually to go to Xizhou on behalf of the court, hoping to persuade the Zhenxi Army to send troops to the south.
Cao Tingjin hurriedly said, "Don't worry, Minister Xia. I have received the prince's letter and will lead the left and right guards of the Ganyang Army to the battlefield in the south as soon as possible."
Hearing Cao Tingjin's willingness to send troops, Xia Shijun finally smiled. "Your Highness is right. With Commander Cao here, the Ganyang Army will always belong to the imperial court."
Chen Fengshi, the governor of Pizhou, then said, "Minister Xia, I will also collect 40,000 Pizhou garrison troops and the food and fodder needed for the main army, and will accompany Commander Cao to the south.
Although the 40,000 Pizhou garrison troops cannot compare to the Ganyang army in terms of combat effectiveness, they have been trained for a long time and have fought against bandits many times. If they go to the battlefield in the south, they should be able to contribute some strength."
Xia Shijun's smile grew even wider, "On behalf of the imperial court, I would like to thank Governor Chen for his support of the southern battlefield.
Including the Southern Guard and the Vanguard led by Fan Cheng, Grand Commander of the Huaide Protectorate, Pizhou has dispatched a total of 120,000 troops this time. The court will certainly not forget the contributions of Pizhou, Ganyang Protectorate, and Huaide Protectorate."
Cao Tingjin then asked, "Minister Xia, besides the Ganyang Army and the Huaide Army, which other troops from the Protectorate have the court mobilized this time?"
Xia Shijun's smile paused, "General Cao, to be honest, apart from the 120,000 troops in Pizhou, only Liang Zixing, the Grand General of the Shaochang Protectorate, will lead the Shaochang Left Guard and 20,000 Huaizhou Wing Army to the southern battlefield.
The protectorates of other northern states all refused the imperial court's call for troops for various reasons."
Upon hearing this, Cao Tingjin and Chen Fengshi looked at each other and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Chen Fengshi hesitated for a moment and asked, "Minister Xia, we in Pizhou have always known very little about the war situation in the south.
I wonder if the addition of 120,000 troops from Pizhou and 40,000 from Huaizhou will be enough to turn the tide of the war in the south?"
Xia Shijun sighed and said, "According to the news from the south, the Northern Jin army still has a million people after suffering about 200,000 casualties in the battle. This is why the prince had to transfer troops from the north.
However, the Xiaowu Town of the Imperial Guards has already rushed to the south, and together with the 160,000 troops from Pizhou and Huaizhou, they can at least maintain the situation on the southern battlefield.
If they wanted to defeat the Northern Jin army and disintegrate the Northern Jin's northern expedition, they could only rely on the next trip to Xizhou.
As long as the Zhenxi Army can rush to the southern battlefield, the million-strong army of the Northern Jin State will be nothing to worry about."
After the Zhenxi Army defeated the 2.7 million troops of the Western Regions, it successively annexed the Puwan, Pilu, Shaye, Kangju and twenty small countries in the Western Regions.
The Zhenxi Protectorate has replaced the Tianwei Protectorate in Fuzhou and has become the true first vassal state of Liang.
Even the Jiang family of Fuzhou, who controlled the Tianwei Protectorate, had to admit that the strength of the Zhenxi Army had surpassed that of the Tianwei Army, which had 200,000 Rouran cavalry and 120,000 Fuzhou wing troops under its command.
Cao Tingjin then said, "Minister Xia, are you sure you can convince Sun Hao this time?
I heard that after a new round of expansion of the Zhenxi Army, the total strength of its nine guards has reached 600,000. In addition, the Zhenxi Protectorate has also formed a Xizhou wing army of 700,000.
If Sun Hao agrees to send troops to the southern battlefield, defeating the million-strong Northern Jin army would indeed be much easier."
Xia Shijun said in a deep voice: "Everything depends on human effort. I will do my best to persuade Commander Sun Hao to send troops.
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