A few days later.
Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin personally led an army of 350,000 from Longcheng on a southern expedition, with his troops pointing directly at the walls of Mozhou.
Wu Sanjia, the Grand General and Commander-in-Chief of the Daxin Dynasty stationed in Mozhou City, led 250,000 Daxin Tiger Warriors in a state of high alert.
Both sides amassed an army of over 600,000 men both inside and outside Mozhou City.
A major battle is about to break out.
That day.
Inside the central command tent of the Longcheng army camp.
The generals were divided on whether to launch a full-scale attack on Mozhou City.
Some suggested a direct assault, while others proposed encirclement without attack, aiming to subdue the enemy without fighting.
The main attacking faction consisted mostly of generals who came from the Longcheng Polu Army.
The main faction consisted mostly of generals who had "changed course" from the imperial Tiger Army and joined Prince Chen Huai'an's army.
General Pang Xianchu spoke first: “My lord, I believe that the morale of the Longcheng army is currently high. We should launch a strong attack on Mozhou City in one fell swoop, rather than besieging it without attacking, which would only boost the enemy’s morale!”
Seeing this, Liu Ziyu, who was formerly the Tiger-Ben Army Commander of the Daxin Dynasty and the Wuzhou Garrison Commander, and is now the Deputy General of the Longcheng Southern Expeditionary Army, also stepped forward.
Liu Ziyu said, "General Pang, I believe that the walls of Mozhou City are high and strong, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack."
"If the army launches a direct assault on Mozhou City, it will certainly suffer heavy casualties."
"Moreover, according to information gathered by scouts, enemy general Wu Sanjia, in order to defend Mozhou City to the death, has transferred 100,000 of the 150,000 Tiger Warriors originally stationed in Yingzhou to Mozhou."
After a pause, Liu Ziyu continued, "In other words, there are currently 250,000 Tiger Warriors in Mozhou City!"
"In terms of troop strength and terrain advantages, our army is not in a superior position. A direct assault on Mozhou City would be a poor strategy!"
"This general suggests that we should petition His Highness Prince Jin to postpone the attack on the city and besiege it for a year or two to deplete the enemy's food supplies and morale in Mozhou City!"
snort!
Liu Ziyu's words immediately drew disdain from the pro-war generals of the Longcheng Polu Army.
Among them, Fan Wuji, the commander of the Ironclad Cavalry of Longcheng, acted the most excessively.
Fan Wuji sneered, "General Liu, you've besieged the city for half a year, why don't you say it's been three years?"
"Since His Highness Prince Jin raised an army in Longcheng to quell the rebellion, he first decisively defeated the imperial army, then launched a northern expedition to destroy the Turkic Khaganate; subsequently, he campaigned westward into the Western Regions, first defeating the Tibetan barbarians, and then quelling the rebellion of the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions."
"In fact, it has only been less than a year, and they have already conquered half of the Great Xin Dynasty's territory."
"A mere martial arts master of the third rank, a mere Mozhou City, and you actually propose to besiege the city for six months first!"
snort!
Fan Wuji continued with a cold laugh, "Could it be that you, General Liu, and your soldiers are cowards who fear death?"
"That's alright. Let the veterans of our Dragon City Breaking Army handle the attack on Mozhou City. General Liu and all the soldiers from the fourteen prefectures of Youyun, just cheer us on and beat the drums to encourage us!"
"Fan Wuji!"
What do you mean by that?
Fan Wuji's words immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of Liu Ziyu and a group of former Tiger Legion generals who had surrendered.
One of the generals immediately retorted sharply, "General Fan, you can slander me, but you cannot slander the soldiers under my command."
"We must not doubt our resolve to be loyal to His Highness Prince Jin!"
"Your Longcheng Polu Army is attacking the city, and you expect us, the veterans who have been stationed in various prefectures of Youyun for many years, to wave flags, shout, and beat drums to cheer you on? Who do you think you are?"
"Anyone who clings to life and fears death will be looked down upon by Fan Wuji!"
"Fan Wuji, you—"
"Hey, you surnamed Fan, who's afraid of dying? Explain yourself!"
"I'm talking to you! What, you want to fight me one-on-one?"
Fan Wuji also has a powder keg personality; he's easily triggered.
He debated with a group of experts and held his own in no way.
"Fan Wuji, if I don't bleed you dry today, I, Wang Yucheng, will write my name backwards!"
"Come on, who's afraid of who!"
As they were talking, Fan Wuji rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight Wang Yucheng, the former garrison commander of Yingzhou and a third-rank military officer of the Tiger Army.
"His Highness Prince Jin has arrived!"
Just then, the sound of a messenger's announcement rang out outside the central command tent.
brush!
The next moment, Fan Wuji and Wang Yucheng, who had been arguing heatedly and on the verge of exchanging blows, immediately stopped.
The other indignant generals also turned their gazes toward the curtain outside the central command tent.
Soon, Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin, clad in golden armor and with the Seven-Star Dragon Abyss Sword at his waist, strode in.
Upon entering the central command tent, Chen Huai'an promptly sat down in the main seat in the center of the tent.
Seeing the slightly awkward and somewhat strange atmosphere inside the tent, Chen Huai'an said with a smile, "Fan Wuji, Wang Yucheng, I could hear your argument from a great distance."
"Look at you two, sleeves rolled up, are you planning a fight?"
"Your Highness, this humble general would not dare!"
"This humble general wouldn't dare!"
Fan Wuji and Wang Yucheng both spoke, their necks stiff.
Ha ha!
Chen Huai'an laughed loudly, seeing through their clumsy acting at a glance.
He chuckled and said, "Tell me, what is it about?"
Wang Yucheng said, "Your Highness, General Fan Wu looks down on people, saying that we former Tiger Warriors who surrendered to Prince Jin are cowards and afraid of death."
"They also said that when we attack Mozhou City, our former Tiger Legion soldiers should be on the sidelines, waving flags, shouting slogans, and beating drums to cheer them on."
"Your Highness, isn't General Fan a shabby man?"
Wang Yucheng said with a wronged expression, "Your Highness, ever since the day our soldiers of the fourteen prefectures of Youyun decided to join Prince Jin and the Longcheng Jingnan army..."
"They already consider themselves part of the Dragon City Pacification Army, and are determined to pursue Prince Jin to the death!"
"Our loyalty to His Highness Prince Jin is as clear as heaven and earth, and we hope His Highness will see it clearly!"
"I beseech Your Highness to investigate this matter thoroughly!"
Upon hearing this, all the former generals of the Imperial Tiger Army knelt on one knee, clasped their hands, and expressed their loyalty to Prince Chen Huai'an, who was sitting in the center of the tent.
Chen Huai'an glanced at the kneeling Tiger Legion generals, then at Fan Wuji whose face was filled with dissatisfaction and resentment, and at the brave and valiant General Pang Xianchu and other Po Lu Army generals with complicated expressions, and immediately understood.
On the surface, this matter is a dispute between Fan Wuji and Wang Yucheng over whether to launch a strong attack on Mozhou City.
In fact, it was the increasingly sharp factional conflict between the Polu Army faction and the original court's Tiger Army faction among the Longcheng generals who led the southern expedition that erupted.
Chen Huai'an was well aware that as more and more imperial troops joined the Jingnan Army in Longcheng, conflicts like today's would certainly be frequent and unavoidable in the future.
How to balance the contradictions between the Longcheng Polu Army that rose with him and the various imperial troops that later joined him will test Chen Huai'an's ability to manage people.
The conflict between Fan Wuji and Wang Yucheng today is just the beginning.
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