Chapter 23: Lu Xiao's Proposal

  "There's something I'd like to discuss with everyone. Currently, the majority of our troops are remnants of the Northern Expedition Army. These soldiers, except for the old veterans from the White Tiger Corps, mostly have their hometowns outside of the Yellow River Basin. Now that the war is over, I'm afraid some soldiers might want to return home. If such a situation arises, I hope everyone won't stop them. What does everyone think?"

  "Tianyi smiled slightly: 'Husband, we've already discussed this matter before. The situation you're talking about isn't non-existent, but it's just a very small number of people. Since husband has a kind heart, we will definitely provide them with the cost of returning home and let them leave safely.'"

  Hao Tian nodded: "That's good, I was just afraid that everyone would have some misgivings about this matter."

  "General, you're worrying too much. We do need soldiers now, but what we need are those with unshakeable determination who can truly charge into battle without any attachments, not these half-baked ones. Even if you didn't mention it, we would still advise you to let this group of people leave the military camp."

  "Your Excellency, we've heard that Yelü Changhai's coalition forces have been formed and will head south in no time. I wonder if this is true?" Dugu Yueming asked with concern. As a military man, he was still most concerned about the impending battle.

  Haotian nodded: "There is such a thing. According to Guan Ying's secret report, Yelu Changhai's army will probably take three more days to reach the Fenglingdu port. However, we have now recovered the entire He Tuo, and without internal response, they cannot rush to cross the river so quickly. So someone estimated that they would need at least five more days before they could start fighting with us."

  Dugu Yueming's face lit up with joy: "Five days? So that means we can also participate in this battle?"

  Tianyi said in a bad temper: "Big brother, you'd better take good care of yourself. If you can't recover later on, don't even think about taking half a step out of here."

  Dugu Yueming's expression suddenly froze, and Bian Chongxiao and Jiang Chen's expressions also stiffened. Although Huang Tian didn't say anything, since the heavens had spoken, Huang Tian would not go against it in principle. It seems that these days are going to be spent cultivating diligently.

  "This battle is just a formality." Blood Kill suddenly interjected.

  Haotian raised an eyebrow: "General, what do you mean? Doesn't Yelü Changhai want to fight us?" Although he was the Heaven's adopted father, Haotian always addressed him as General Blood Kill in public. Fortunately, Blood Kill understood Haotian's difficulties and didn't mind either.

  He nodded: "Now it's close to the cold winter, and the winter in the northern country has always been cold. Generally at this time, the foreign tribes outside the pass will not easily send troops out. Because in such cold weather, not only is the movement of soldiers difficult, but also the transportation of logistical materials is even more difficult. If there is another big snowfall, then except for cavalry, they can't quickly mobilize their troops. And relying solely on cavalry, the foreign tribes outside the pass cannot break through our defensive lines."

  He nodded his head in approval, he had been fighting in the Xuanwu Army for nearly twenty years, most of the time was spent on the front line of the Northeast Long Wall. In a year, the most leisurely is winter, because at that time due to the cold weather, the three countries in the northeast cannot transport sufficient grain and material supplies in time, so except for sending cavalry to harass, there will be no major actions. After all, without enough logistical supplies, their infantry can't fight for a long time. Only cavalry with smaller logistics support, which can burn, kill and loot along the way, can maintain high combat effectiveness in such weather.

  "Your Excellency, please observe that the three northeastern countries have a total of two million troops, including field armies, capital garrison troops, and local garrisons. On the north bank of the Great River, they have concentrated at least 600,000 elite troops, while on the three routes in Hebei, there are approximately 100,000 garrison troops each, and another 100,000 troops are hoarded in their respective capitals. In this way, their elite field armies and capital garrison troops have been largely depleted, leaving behind only local garrisons with inferior combat strength and equipment. As for the Northwestern nomadic tribes, their natural advantage lies in their ability to mobilize all their people as soldiers due to their lifestyle. Take the Iron Eagle tribe, for example - with a population of only 1.5 million, they can quickly assemble an army of at least 400,000 when war breaks out. However, during winter, they need to migrate to areas with abundant water and grass to spend the winter, so their military strength will also be reduced to its lowest point."

  Haotian somewhat understood the meaning of Blood Kill's words, but he didn't interrupt him. Instead, he nodded his head to signal for Blood Kill to continue.

  "Winter troop movements are originally difficult, and transporting logistics materials is even more so. Yelü Chang Hai's decision to head south again was largely because the river is now frozen, and we were both severely damaged by his previous blow. However, thanks to the efforts of General Dugu and General Bian, although our losses were great, we did not suffer any crippling injuries. As for him, in a hurry, he could mobilize at most 150,000 troops, including the Iron Hawks and the Baijing from the surrounding areas, which is not a huge disparity in military strength. Moreover, we have the advantage of timing, location, and human resources, so he doesn't have much chance of winning. Therefore, this battle is largely an attempt to regain some lost face, just a probe."

  "Blood Kill General is right, someone and Mr. Luo also think so." As soon as Blood Kill's voice fell, Xuanji's voice came from outside, while Luo Xiang was smiling and walking behind him. Hu Tian felt a slight curiosity in his heart, before Xuanji and Luo Xiang had no conflicts or contradictions, but the two people had been secretly competing with each other in private, but looking at their current appearance, it is clear that there is no estrangement, what's going on?

  Xuanji walked into the ward, first comforting Du Gu and others who were still lying in bed, before turning to Haotian and saying: "Your Excellency, I just analyzed it with Mr. Luo, and I also tend to agree with the view that Ye Lu Canghai is not going all out this time. Since they don't want to fight to the death, we don't need to risk our lives either. In my opinion, although the river has already frozen over, as long as there are tens of thousands of infantrymen, we can firmly block them on the north bank."

  "Hao Tian thought to himself: 'If we only need infantry, then what will our cavalry do?'"

  "Your Excellency," said Luo Xiang with a smile, "the mobility of the cavalry is their strongest suit. Since they are not needed at present, why not let them go out and drill?"

  "What's the point of training troops?" Haotian said in confusion.

  "Not bad, it's just a drill." Kou Xiang nodded and said: "Although we have reorganized the 80,000 cavalry, half of them are new recruits. If we can't integrate them into the army as soon as possible, they will inevitably drag down our army's progress in the future. So I discussed with the military advisor, and we think that since the three countries in the northeast are currently weak, if we select a few excellent cavalry generals to secretly infiltrate beyond the border while Yelü Changhai's coalition is marching south, it will accelerate their maturation."

  Hao Tian hesitated for a moment, and Luo Xiang's proposal was indeed risky, but it wasn't entirely impossible. If this were before Ye Lu Canghai formed the allied army, it would have been unthinkable. To defend against foreign tribes outside the border, the Qingfeng Empire had built a complete Great Wall defense line along the northern frontier, stretching for thousands of miles. Due to the existence of this defense line, although the empire's national strength had declined in recent years, it still kept the foreign tribes firmly at bay. However, after Shenzong's sudden death, internal conflicts within the empire created an opportunity for the Hu barbarians to take advantage of. After occupying Qingfeng's three routes in Hebei, the three northeastern countries deployed heavy troops to guard each important pass along the Great Wall defense line. Relying on the complete defense line, even if Qingfeng Empire's army recovered the three routes in Hebei, they still couldn't directly threaten the three countries outside the border. But now that Ye Lu Canghai was mobilizing his army for a southern campaign, he would inevitably withdraw troops from the Great Wall defense line due to insufficient military strength, giving Hao Tian an opportunity to take advantage of.

  "If it's really like that, then we must have a commander with both bravery and strategy. As long as we deploy properly, escaping from the pass won't be difficult. The difficulty lies in facing the hundreds of thousands of troops from the three countries after we escape, fighting on foreign soil without any advantage in terms of heaven, earth, or man. At that time, how many of these brothers can we bring back? Moreover, this is the only mobile force in Hexi, and after spring begins, the foreign tribes outside the pass will definitely move south to graze their horses. If we suffer heavy losses or cannot return before spring begins, our situation will be very difficult."

  "Your Excellency, if the army cannot fight, what is its purpose? Marching to the borders may be perilous, but it will undoubtedly shock the foreign tribes and boost the morale of our people. Our cavalry has always been highly mobile, we don't need to carry any logistical supplies, we can replenish them locally along the way, there's no logistical pressure at all. Moreover, the main forces of the three northeastern countries are on the three roads in Hebei, it's not easy for them to intercept our army outside the borders."

  "My lord, I am willing to lead the great army to conquer beyond the borders!" Blood Kill's hot blood was boiling, and he said loudly without hesitation. Du Gu and others had a face full of envy, they were all seriously injured, not to mention going out to battle, even riding a horse was a problem. Thinking about the history of Qingfeng for over 200 years, since the founding of the country by Taizu, only during the reign of Wu Lie Emperor 100 years ago did the empire's army roam freely beyond the borders. If they could now lead an army to kill, burn and plunder beyond the borders, what a wonderful thing that would be! Isn't this what military men strive for?

  Tian Yi hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and said: "Your Excellency, the military advisor's proposal is feasible. Qualified soldiers are all tempered on the battlefield, as long as the commander has a good strategy, there shouldn't be too many problems."

  "Hao Tian waved his hand and said, 'What I'm worried about isn't this issue. Don't forget, the three countries beyond the pass have each captured hundreds of thousands of our strong and healthy citizens. With cavalry expeditions, they will inevitably burn, kill, and plunder along the way to maximize the reduction of their national strength. They can't do anything to our cavalry, but it's hard to say whether they'll vent their anger on these civilians or not? When we rose up in Dingzhou, it was to save the people of the world, but now, aren't we pushing them into a fiery pit?'"

  "Your Excellency, war will inevitably bring casualties. If we fear that they will use the civilians to threaten us, are we not already surrendering to them? Since they have fallen into enemy hands, all we can do is try our best and leave the rest to fate. Why don't we do this: when the cavalry launches a surprise attack on the border, let them pay more attention to these captured civilians. As they are strong and able-bodied, their physical condition should not be too bad. Later, we can have them follow the army and fight together. After all, there is no shortage of horses in the border region, so it won't affect our mobility."

  Hao Tian sank into thought for a moment before nodding: "It can only be this way. Bloodshed!"

  "Come on down!" Blood Kill shouted loudly, his face filled with excitement.

  "I'm now withdrawing all 80,000 cavalrymen from the Blood Legion and putting you in command. Feng Jing and Xin Ke will serve as deputy generals. Make your preparations, I hope you can complete the preparations for the army's march north within a few days!" Hao Tian said with a deep voice.

  "Yes!" Xue Sha's excited reply, while Dugu and others had twisted expressions of jealousy. The great army is going to conquer the western regions, what a glorious thing!

  "You few don't need to be envious." Haotian couldn't help but smile slightly when he saw their expressions: "Your current task is to focus on cultivating, and when the conditions permit in the future, our great army will truly set foot outside the pass. At that time, I won't hope to see any of you not being in the ranks."

  "Also, Mr. Luo, someone has authorized you to take full responsibility for negotiating with the foreign tribes of Saiwai on the issue of prisoner exchange, how is it going?"

  Luo Xiang's face turned gloomy as he said, "Your Excellency, the foreign tribes beyond the border not only rejected our demands, but also beheaded our envoy. Their actions are so heinous that they would make heaven and earth indignant!"

  "Ah?" Haotian's face turned a deep shade of killing intent, his teeth clenched tightly before he spoke: "In that case, the sooner the better. Someone will definitely have to bathe in blood beyond the six tribes of Saiwai, to avenge the shame of our Zhongzhou people. Those prisoners of war will all be demoted to slaves, as for how to deal with them, it's up to you, sir."

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