Those who agreed to send troops believed that if the three kingdoms joined forces again, they could resist the powerful enemy in this attack on the vassal state by the Northern Dynasty.
If the foreign kingdoms were saved, the Jin dynasty would be spared from invasion. In their view, the Northern Dynasty would not let the Jin dynasty go.
Those who opposed sending troops believed that the Northern Dynasty's northward march was entirely aimed at foreign states.
Historically, the Great Northern Dynasty has never invaded other countries. This attack on the foreign country is entirely to avenge the past, with the aim of making the foreign country submit to the Great Northern Dynasty and preventing the foreign country from provoking trouble again in the future.
Just as the ministers were arguing fiercely, an envoy from the foreign country arrived, requesting that the Jin Dynasty send troops to help the foreign country resist the invasion of the Northern Dynasty.
What to do? Whether to send troops or not? A decision must be made as soon as possible.
At this moment, a man walked out from below the hall. This man was a military general named Corden. Back then, Corden followed Someron in leading an army of 100,000 to invade the Central Plains. In the Panzhou area, he encountered Li Guang. After several battles, Someron was defeated and was eventually captured alive by the Panzhou Lake navy.
Someron had several generals under his command, who were either killed in battle or captured in the fight against Li Guang.
Only Corden's troops followed Li Guang's advice and withdrew from Shitai City, returning directly to the Jin Kingdom. This ensured that the Jin Kingdom's southward expedition was not completely annihilated, and at least 10,000 people returned home safely.
This southward invasion by the Jin army ended in a disastrous defeat, with many famous generals dying on the battlefield, greatly weakening the Jin state. However, the situation was somewhat better than that of the Luo state, whose army was basically wiped out.
At this time, Koden was already a general in the Jin Dynasty. Given the Jin Dynasty's shortage of soldiers and generals, his words still carried considerable weight.
"General Ke, the foreign country has asked us to send troops to help them. What do you think?"
"Your Majesty, I oppose sending troops. At present, the Jin Kingdom has less than 100,000 troops. This is its entire strength, and it must be protected."
At that time, the 100,000 Jin soldiers and 1,000 good generals entered the Panzhou region as if it were an empty land.
Before encountering Li Guang, the 50,000-strong navy of the Great Northern Dynasty, along with the 20,000 rattan armor troops reinforcing from the ancient fortress, were utterly no match for our soldiers.
Later, Li Guang led an army to Panzhou with only 10,000 men and defeated our multiple armies. Li Guang was a brilliant strategist, and he also had a grenade-throwing team that even a god would find difficult to defeat.
The reason I was able to lead more than 10,000 people back safely that time was mainly because Li Guang wanted to protect the ancient city of Shitai and did not want it to be damaged, so he gave up fighting against our army.
After our army left, Li Guang's army did not pursue us. This was mainly because we had not damaged the ancient city, and the historical sites in the city were well preserved. Li Guang had a certain goodwill towards our army.
This was my only encounter with Li Guang. He possessed a refined and scholarly air, and was a prince of the Great Northern Dynasty, destined to become its emperor. We could only befriend him; we must never make him our enemy.
The emperor nodded and said:
"General Ke is right. Tell the envoys of the foreign country that the Jin Kingdom is weak and unable to resist the Great Northern Dynasty. They are truly powerless and should send their envoys back."
Immediately afterwards, the Jin emperor wrote a personal letter to Marshal Han, informing him that the Jin state would not send troops to reinforce the foreign country.
After learning of the Jin Kingdom's attitude, the Luo Kingdom did not dare to send troops to reinforce the foreign kingdom and remained neutral.
After receiving the replies from both countries, Yelü Wu was furious and cursed them for breaking their promises. He had no other recourse.
The war a year ago caused the loss of many good generals in the Fan Kingdom. Fortunately, the Fan Kingdom is a country that relies on horseback and does not lack generals who are good at fighting.
After careful consideration, the emperor decided to appoint General Jin Laoli as commander-in-chief, leading an army of 100,000 to Baxian Town to intercept the army of the Northern Dynasty.
Seven or eight large armies remained, all stationed in Yanjing to protect the capital.
Baxian Town was an important town in the Fan Kingdom and a necessary route to Yanjing. Jin Laoli chose to set up camp here mainly because of its strategic location, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
If we can hold out here for seven or eight months, winter will come, and this place will turn into a frozen wasteland.
The southern army is not adapted to fighting in such a cold climate and will likely choose to retreat.
Once the Northern Dynasty withdraws its troops, the war will essentially be over, and Yanjing will be saved.
Yelü Wu knew that the country's 100,000-plus troops were no match for the 300,000-strong army of the Northern Dynasty, and that a large-scale conscription was necessary to replenish the shortage of troops.
While the foreign country was busy with its own affairs, Li Guang's army of 100,000 had already arrived at the border.
Li Guang was overjoyed to see Marshal Han again and introduced Zhao Xian to him.
Zhao Xian was a remarkable man in the Great Northern Dynasty. Marshal Han finally met Zhao Xian and was surprised to find that Zhao Xian was so young.
Next, everyone went to the council hall, where Marshal Han told them what he had learned.
The current situation is highly advantageous for Li Guang and his team's mission to penetrate deep into the heart of the foreign kingdom and search for Yelü Khan, the second prince of the kingdom.
The vassal state is currently focused on preparing for war and resisting the invasion of the Northern Dynasty's army, and has no time to attend to other domestic affairs.
At this time, Yelü Wu never dreamed that the people of the Northern Dynasty would infiltrate, search for Yelü Khan, and depose him.
After discussion, Li Guang stationed his 100,000-strong army at a location 50 li away from Blackwater City. This location was within the territory of the Fan Kingdom and was also 50 li away from Marshal Han's camp.
Li Guang knew that the garrison in Heishui City numbered over 10,000. By stationing his army there, Li Guang exerted a strong psychological deterrent on the barbarian soldiers in Heishui City.
From the perspective of the barbarian soldiers, the army of the Great Northern Dynasty could attack Blackwater City at any time.
The barbarian soldiers guarding the city had already sent the news to Yanjing. One can imagine that the current state of the barbarian kingdom is in a state of panic.
According to the message that Marshal Han had sent out, the army would attack Yanjing in two months, and now a month had passed.
At this moment, Yelü Wu should be calculating the time; in one month, the army of the Northern Dynasty will begin the war.
This means that Yelü Wu was given only one month to prepare.
At this moment, in the court of the foreign kingdom, Yelü Wu was at a loss. He looked at the dejected ministers below and was at a loss for what to do.
At this moment, Yelü Wu saw Xiao Yi and said, "Minister Xiao, now that things have come to this, do you have any good ideas?"
Xiao Yi had not expected that the foreign kingdoms would suddenly face such a situation. At this critical moment, the Jin and Luo kingdoms suddenly changed their minds and remained neutral.
Needless to say, the Jin and Luo kingdoms must have been threatened by the Great Northern Dynasty, forcing them to suddenly change their minds. It seems they have no choice but to rely on themselves.
The current situation is that the 100,000 elite troops of the Great Northern Dynasty have entered the country and are stationed 50 miles away from Blackwater City. Another 200,000 troops will follow. It seems that the Great Northern Dynasty is serious this time, and the foreign country is in imminent danger.
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