Seeing that the 10,000 black-armored cavalry under Sun Hao easily defeated the 20,000 heavy cavalry of Puwan Kingdom at an extremely small cost, Geng Jing, the commander-in-chief of the Left Guard of the Western Region Army, felt a little complicated.
Geng Jing, who was previously only a seventh-rank captain in the Xingwu Town of the Imperial Guard, was sent by Yong'an Prince Chen Su to the Ganyang City Guard as a fifth-rank deputy commander-in-chief, mainly because Geng Jing had once been a guard in the Yong'an Prince's Palace.
Geng Jing was also very clear that Prince Yong'an sent him to Sun Hao's side in order to restrain Sun Hao and avoid the establishment of a new vassal state in Liang State after the establishment of the Western Regions Protectorate.
Although Geng Jing got along very well with Sun Hao, and Sun Hao was very kind to him, making him worth millions of strings of cash in a short period of time and giving him many beautiful women, Geng Jing never forgot the task assigned to him by Prince Yong'an.
However, the sudden appearance of tens of thousands of heavy cavalry and heavy infantry under Sun Hao's command made Geng Jing realize that the situation that Prince Yong'an least wanted to see had already appeared in the newly established Western Regions Protectorate.
Liao Di, the deputy commander of the Left Guard, who was standing next to Geng Jing, suddenly whispered to Geng Jing, "I didn't expect that only a month later, the Grand Commander would have so many elite heavy cavalry and heavy infantry around him.
"Old Geng, who do you think is backing our young Grand Commander?"
Geng Jing shook his head slightly. "I really can't think of any family in Daliang that can afford tens of thousands of Anlu horses."
The war horses produced by the "annual signing system", including the white war horses of the Baima Yicong, were mistakenly believed to be Anlum horses produced in the Western Regions.
Liao Di then said, "It's really hard to believe. Even the Anlu Kingdom would find it difficult to gather 10,000 such top-quality Anlu horses, but the Grand Commander-in-Chief owns tens of thousands of them.
What is even more unbelievable is that the heavy cavalry under the Grand Commander, equipped with top-grade Anlum horses, are comparable in combat effectiveness to the Yulin Cavalry of our Imperial Guards.
You should know that the number of the Imperial Guards' Yulin Cavalry has never exceeded 3,000 over the years, but the Grand Commander-in-Chief has at least 40,000 heavy cavalry comparable to the Yulin Cavalry.
Lao Geng, what are your plans for what you have instructed the prince to do next?
Like Geng Jing, Liao Di, the deputy commander of the Left Guard, was once a guard in the Yong'an Palace.
Geng Jing sighed, "Now we can only take it one step at a time.
I have written down the situation here in detail and sent it to the prince.
Let's see if the prince has any new arrangements. Otherwise, we alone can't even control the Left Guard of the Western Region Army, so how can we restrain General Sun?"
After the 20,000 heavy cavalry of Puwan were defeated, the coalition forces no longer sent cavalry to harass the Western Region Army’s camp.
After the Western Region Army's camp was built, Geng Jing and Liao Di were invited to the commander's tent by Sun Hao.
Geng Jing and Liao Di walked into the general's tent and found that apart from Sun Hao, there were only his aide Guo Chong and a general named Qin Qiong under Sun Hao's command.
"Brother Geng, Brother Liao, there's new news from the Seven Flags Sect.
The countries of Shaye, Yanzi, Shache and Qumo in the Western Regions all sent troops to the Gule Kingdom, totaling 250,000 people.
In other words, the coalition forces we face in Lishui City will likely need to increase their strength by another 250,000 troops."
When Geng Jing and Liao Di heard this, their expressions changed.
After the Liang State's Western Expeditionary Army entered the Gule State, the Seven Banners Gate took the initiative to contact the Western Expeditionary Army and continued to transmit intelligence to it.
The fact that the second coalition army had a total of 700,000 troops was also discovered by the Seven Flags Sect.
Geng Jing asked anxiously, "General, when will the armies of the four Western Regions countries arrive in Lishui City?"
Sun Hao sighed and said, "I understand what Brother Geng means. He hopes to eliminate this coalition force of 700,000 troops before the armies of the four Western Regions countries arrive at Lishui City.
But the problem is, I'm worried that Duke Aisaizi of Wensu State in the coalition forces won't easily engage in a decisive battle with our Western Regions army."
Liao Di then suggested, "Marshal, why not emulate the great victory outside Red Stone City and launch a night attack on the coalition forces?"
At this time, Qin Qiong in the general's tent said, "The scouts we sent out discovered that the coalition forces have dug trenches around the camp and set up a large number of wooden fences and deer forts to prevent night attacks.
I'm afraid it's impossible for us to replicate the night raid outside Red Stone City. Now we can only resort to hard fighting."
Sun Hao then said to Geng Jing and Liao Di, "Brother Geng, Brother Liao, I will challenge the coalition forces to a decisive battle tomorrow. If the coalition forces do not respond, I will send the Left Guard to attack the coalition camp first. Do you have any questions?"
Geng Jing and Liao Di exchanged a glance, and then Geng Jing said loudly, "Don't worry, Marshal. Zuo Wei will definitely not bring shame to the Western Regions Protectorate!"
After Geng Jing and Liao Di left the general's tent, his staff member Guo Chong said to Sun Hao, "My lord, although Geng Jing and Liao Di have received many benefits from us, they are probably still on the side of Prince Yong'an.
If the lord wishes to maintain control of the entire Western Regions Protectorate, these two individuals must be arranged early to avoid future troubles."
After signing the "Tough Guy Converter" and using it to exchange for more than 100,000 "Annual Signing System" generals, something called ambition has taken root in Sun Hao.
For example, the Wang family of Quan'an City, relying on the Huaide Army, which had only 120,000 soldiers at its peak, occupied Suide County in Pizhou for decades.
The strength of the more than 100,000 generals in the "annual signing system" far exceeds that of the Huaide Army with only 120,000 people. This made Sun Hao think of monopolizing the Western Regions Protectorate.
After all, the current Liang State has always made Sun Hao feel shaky. If it were not for the paperhanger Chen Su, the King of Yong'an, perhaps the Liang State would have ceased to exist long ago.
Of course, King Yong'an Chen Su is also the only person Sun Hao fears in Liang State.
Sun Hao hesitated for a moment and said, "Geng Jing, Liao Di and the others are Yong'an Prince's men after all, so we should not touch them for the time being.
Anyway, the Left Guard has been sidelined by our people, so even if we break with the court in the future, they won’t be able to turn the tables.”
Guo Chong did not know that the thousands of people Sun Hao sent to the Left Guard of the Western Regions Army would never betray Sun Hao, but seeing that Sun Hao was very confident in controlling the Left Guard of the Western Regions Army, Guo Chong did not try to persuade him any further.
As an aide, Guo Chong knew very well that if Sun Hao didn't tell him some things, then he didn't need to know.
Just like the hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers who suddenly appeared under Sun Hao's command, Guo Chong never asked Sun Hao about their origins.
Guo Chong continued, "My Lord, Geng Jing and Liao Di can be left alone for now, but I think it's best not to let those officials the court is planning to send to the Western Regions Protectorate cross the Canglong Mountain Grand Canyon alive."
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