Within two days, scouts reported back that the imperial court had deployed 40,000 troops in Yanzhou City. Together with the 80,000 troops in Taiyuan, the Feng family army had to face far more enemy forces than itself, and all of them had cities to defend. The battle situation was not favorable for the Feng family army.

Due to successive natural disasters, both large and small, the people in the southeast and southwest regions were devastated. The imperial court was not only unable to collect taxes, but also had to allocate funds for disaster relief. In addition, the wars in Liaoning, Datong and Yunnan had already dragged the imperial court to the brink of death. It was a desperate move to forcibly conscript 300,000 soldiers and impose heavy taxes on Jiangnan, Central Plains and other places to support the troops.

Therefore, when analyzing the war situation, Feng Ye and Yan Sikong both believed that the court was temporarily unable to send reinforcements to the Central Plains, but if Yanzhou was in trouble, Taiyuan would definitely come to the rescue. Therefore, attacking Yanzhou was not only to cut off a food route, but also to lure Taiyuan's troops out of the city and divide them to defeat it. Otherwise, if they wanted to attack the city, they would definitely not be able to take it down.

However, the two had been arguing for a long time about whether to focus on attacking Yanzhou, or to use Yanzhou as bait to lure reinforcements from Taiyuan, or to find another plan.

They had a total of 100,000 soldiers and horses. Excluding the casualties in the attack on Shangfeng Village and the huge number of logistical support, the actual number of soldiers available was only a little over 90,000.

Even if they were to fight the 80,000-strong army of Taiyuan on the plain, there were many variables on the battlefield and no one dared to say who would win, not to mention that the other side had a city. If they used heavy troops to attack Yanzhou, then the Taiyuan army would attack from the outside while they were being held up by Yanzhou. If they used light troops to lure Yanzhou and ambush the Taiyuan army with heavy troops, then the 40,000-strong army of Yanzhou would rush out and they would be attacked from both sides.

Under such circumstances, the safer approach is to let Yuan Nanyu transfer troops from Qingyang to help, and this is also the biggest disagreement between the two.

"Since you and I both agree that the court is unable to send more troops to help at this time, then why are you worried that once Quewang leaves, Qingyang will be taken advantage of?"

"I am not just afraid that Qingyang will be taken advantage of. With Qingyang as the center, the troops can reach Pingliang and Fengxiang in three days. Quewang is waiting for an opportunity to capture the two cities. Although the two cities have no more than 10,000 troops in total, Quewang only has 30,000 soldiers left. If you let him control Yanzhou, how many people will he leave to guard Qingyang? Qingyang is a strategic location for our army and cannot be used for risk."

Feng Ye was in deep thought.

"Besides, I have another concern." Yan Sikong said, "Taiyuan has 80,000 defenders. When we go all out to fight, he only needs to send out a few thousand soldiers to attack our camp. Whether it succeeds or not, we will have to send troops back to rescue. Not only will our efforts be in vain, but our morale may also be severely damaged."

Feng Ye stroked his chin and thought, "I will not leave the camp empty."

Yan Sikong said sternly: "Yanzhou is nothing to be afraid of, but with Taiyuan, there are a total of 120,000 soldiers and horses. If the whole army attacks, it will put Qingyang and our army camp in danger. Therefore, Quewang must not leave Qingyang."

Feng Ye frowned: "In that case, isn't it possible for us to take over Yanzhou?"

"If Quewang doesn't move, at least Pingliang and Fengxiang won't dare to send troops rashly. We won't be attacked from three sides. Yanzhou and Taiyuan are already very difficult to deal with. We must ensure that they are our only opponents. Otherwise, something unexpected will happen and the consequences will be disastrous."

Feng Ye walked half a circle around the sand table: "Que Wang's troops are very important. He can prevent us from being attacked by Taiyuan and Yanzhou."

"Feng Ye." Yan Sikong walked up to Feng Ye and said, "We have known each other for many years. We have conspired more than once since Jingzhou. If you were really sure, you would refute me and make your own argument. But you didn't do that this time. In fact, you are also worried about what I said, right?"

Feng Ye looked at Yan Sikong with a sullen face: "Of course, this battle is the most difficult one I have ever fought, and it is also a crucial one. It determines whether my Northern Expedition will end here. How could I not have thought of your concerns? I just think..." He narrowed his eyes, "no risk or disadvantage."

"You can't always think about winning at the cost of danger." Yan Sikong touched Feng Ye's face and looked up at him. "Taiyuan garrison commander Luo Ruoxin is the son of former general Luo Hong. He is definitely not a mediocre person. You now have hundreds of thousands of troops. The slightest mistake could lead to a big mistake. I beg you to be more cautious. We will definitely be able to come up with a good plan."

Looking at Yan Sikong's clear eyes, Feng Ye calmed down a little. He asked, "Do you have any good ideas?"

Yan Sikong pondered and said, "No matter what, we must ensure the safety of the camp..."

Feng Ye grabbed Yan Si's empty hand and unconsciously rubbed his cheek against the warm palm. He stared at the sand table again and again, and suddenly murmured, "Datong."

"What?"

Feng Ye pulled Yan Sikong around to the other side and said, "Uncle has been recruiting soldiers for me in Datong. Now he should be able to send another 20,000 soldiers to help me. In this way, Que Wang won't have to leave Qingyang."

Yan Sikong looked suspicious: "The troops left in Datong are to guard against Chahar. Those barbarians have no sense of courtesy, righteousness or integrity. Without the army, we are afraid that they will rebel for the sake of advantage."

"I understand. A few days ago, we received a secret report that the imperial court had sent envoys to Chahar secretly. The imperial court was still determined to instigate Nada Khan to rebel. However, they were killed by assassins sent by my uncle. Datong is still very safe at this time, but we have to be careful. I think as long as the Hetao trade is there and my uncle is here, there will be no problem."

Yan Sikong hesitated for a moment and nodded: "The losses in the battle of Qingyang were greater than we thought, and the troops dispatched by the court were more than we thought. Now the troops are indeed insufficient. Why not go to General Xinfeng and see what he thinks? If he thinks it is not a big deal to dispatch another 20,000 troops, then we can give it a try."

"Okay, I'll send someone to deliver the letter right away."

"If General Feng can come to support us with 20,000 troops..." Yan Sikong stared at the map and sighed, "We are back to the same problem as before, which one to attack first?"

"I thought we should feint an attack on Yanzhou, lure the troops from Taiyuan to attack, ambush them, and then attack Yanzhou again."

"I think it's just the opposite. We should pretend to attack Taiyuan, lure Yanzhou to attack our empty camp, and then ambush them."

Feng Ye's sword-like eyebrows furrowed deeply: "Yan Sikong, do you always like to contradict me?"

Yan Sikong pursed his lips and smiled: "No, I'm just brainstorming. Besides, if I talk nonsense, you won't pay attention to me."

Feng Ye pinched his chin and said, "It's good that you know. It's a good idea to lure them to the main camp. I'm just worried... first, I'm worried that they won't fall for it, and second, I'm worried that I'll end up making things worse."

"If they really take the bait, then the plan of sneaking into the camp will probably work. You are right. The key is how to make them believe that we will abandon Yanzhou and attack Taiyuan."

Feng Ye nodded: "Luo Ruoxin is not idle. The strengths and weaknesses of Yanzhou and Taiyuan are obvious to all. Who would give up the easy-to-attack Yanzhou and go to Taiyuan to fight head-on? He must be suspicious. This strategy of luring the enemy must make Luo Ruoxin believe it, and the main camp must also give them an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Yan Sikong smiled slightly: "Luo Ruoxin has some cleverness but not great wisdom, and he is suspicious by nature. He is easily misled by his cleverness. We can go around him."