Double penetration: This Three Kingdoms has dragon energy

Chapter 152 Ji Qiu's Secret Weapon

Xi Zhong, Guo Jia, and Zhuge Gui arrived soon after, and a high-level military meeting of the Ji Qiu forces was convened.

Ji Qiu first informed the three of the current situation.

Then they asked them how they should deal with Tao Qian's 100,000-strong army.

Xi Zhong and Guo Jia both had a relatively relaxed attitude.

Xi Zhong laughed and said, "My lord, if we only need to deal with Tao Qian's 100,000 strong army, there is absolutely no need to make such a fuss."

Although our army has a total strength of only 100,000 troops, offense and defense are completely different.

Our army has always been on the offensive, which is why our troop strength has been somewhat stretched.

"But if it's just for defense, even if Tao Qian only sent 100,000 elite troops, or even if he sent all 300,000 elite troops he could mobilize, we would have nothing to fear!"

"Indeed, in my opinion, this is a golden opportunity for our army!"
Of the 100,000 strong troops sent by Tao Qian, 30,000 were his own troops from Danyang, and the other 70,000 were private soldiers from powerful families in Xuzhou.

If I am not mistaken, these 30,000 Danyang soldiers should be the same 30,000 Danyang soldiers that Tao Qian used to block the passage from Taishan County to Xuzhou.

The 70,000 private troops of aristocratic families were the private armies of powerful clans in Langya and Donghai counties!

Therefore, if we eliminate these 100,000 strong troops, we can directly eliminate the manpower of Langya and Donghai counties.

This creates a military vacuum in these two counties!

"Then we can not only resolve the crisis, but also occupy two more counties!" Guo Jia said.

Xuzhou's terrain is truly blessed by nature.

The interior is mainly plains, with flat terrain, fertile land, and convenient transportation, making it very convenient for developing both agriculture and commerce.

Externally, the Taishan, Yishan, and Mengshan mountain ranges form a natural barrier in the northwest of Xuzhou to defend against enemies from Yanzhou.

Pengcheng, in particular, is located on the banks of the Sishui River. Although the surrounding area consists of low hills, the mountain pass to the south of the city guards the western entrance to Xuzhou, forming a strategic position that can be defended by a single man.

At the same time, Pengcheng, as a hub for water and land transportation, served as both a defensive core and an offensive springboard.

Historically, Liu Bei used Pengcheng as a center to unite the forces of northern Xuzhou to fight against Yuan Shu.

The Huaiyin-Xuyi line forms the southern defense line of Xuzhou, where the Sishui River flows into the Huai River.

Controlling this area will prevent southern forces from advancing north along the Surabaya River.

It can also be described as a natural barrier.

The only weakness in the entire Xuzhou defense system is the direction of Qingzhou.

The alluvial plain between the Yi River and the Shu River is a vital transportation route connecting Qingzhou and Xuzhou.

Controlling the Yi-Shu River Valley could sever the connection between Qingzhou and Xuzhou, but the area is open and requires man-made defenses.

Therefore, if Xuzhou wants to defend against attacks from Qingzhou, it must send a large army to garrison the border.

This was likely one of Tao Qian's purposes in attacking Xuzhou.

People without thought, he must worry about.

Even if Tao Qian did not intend to expand his power, he still had to guard against Ji Qiu's growing strength and subsequent attack on Xuzhou.

Qing and Xu prefectures are essentially one entity.

Regardless of which side is stronger, they can easily seize the other side's territory.

Therefore, as long as the 100,000 troops sent by Tao Qian are eliminated, the two prefectures of Langya and Donghai will become places with neither troops nor strategic locations to defend, and can be easily captured!

Xi Zhong's eyes lit up and he said, "Fengxiao's words are excellent!"

However, this means we need to carefully consider the deployment of our troops.

After all, our army has now newly occupied Beihai County and Pingyuan County, and both places require a large army to guard them.

If we occupy two more counties, it will be a problem whether our army can handle them.

It's easy to try to do too much at once, but sometimes, it's better to lay a solid foundation first than to expand blindly!

The forces of Ji Qiu are completely different from the other forces in the Dragon Qi Three Kingdoms world.

After conquering a territory, other forces hardly need to maintain it.

Once a partnership is established with the local powerful families, these families will naturally help them maintain local stability and contribute money, grain, and soldiers.

But Ji Qiu was different.

After conquering a new prefecture, he would go to great lengths to relocate the people and completely dismantle the existing organizational structure.

This process was fraught with difficulties.

Therefore, for other forces, conquering a county is considered the end of the story.

For Ji Qiu, this is not the end, but the beginning.

The entire migration required a large army to guard it.

Otherwise, a rebellion could break out at any time!

Therefore, the time it takes to occupy territory during each autumn battle is not long, and the battle can usually be ended in three to five days.

However, the post-war digestion and absorption period will be very long, ranging from several months to a year, before domestic affairs can be sorted out and the next expansion can begin.

However, every loss has its gain.

Ji Qiu spent several times more time and resources, but in return, he achieved extremely strong internal control and stability.

His mobilization capacity is at least three times that of other forces.

And rebellions are almost never seen.

Those who think they can disrupt his rear by colluding with one of his forces will almost never happen.

Moreover, even if his territory were conquered, it would be of almost no use.

Because his territory consisted of desolate lands like Qi County and Le'an County, where the people had been completely relocated and there was no one to be seen for thousands of miles.

Or it could be a place like Taishan County or Beihai County, where the population is extremely large.

The former is almost worthless.

The latter requires a large amount of daily resources to maintain its operation, and apart from Ji Qiu, no one else can provide that many resources!
"I don't think we need to worry about troop strength. In addition to our 100,000 elite troops, we also have 200,000 regular troops. These troops are not without combat capabilities."

Especially after equipping them with technological weapons, their combat effectiveness will not be weaker than half of the number of ninth-grade primary elite troops.

So this is equivalent to a strong army of 100,000.

The private armies of powerful families in Pingyuan County and Beihai County have now been wiped out.

If it's just about assisting with the relocation of civilians, these ordinary soldiers are sufficient.

In that case, we only need to leave 10,000 strong troops in Pingyuan County to guard the border and defend against Yuan Shao.

"Other troops can be deployed to this battle," Guo Jia said.

Jia Xu said, "Not only that, we can also contact the Yellow Turbans of Xuzhou for assistance in the battle. Although the Yellow Turbans of Xuzhou are not as well-developed as the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou before, they are still quite good."

It wouldn't be a problem to muster at least 100,000 Yellow Turban soldiers!
They are very familiar with the situation in Langya Commandery and Donghai Commandery, and are fully capable of helping us occupy those two commanderies!

Since occupying Taishan County in the late autumn of two years ago, they have been heavily supporting the Yellow Turban forces in the four provinces of Yan, Yu, Qing and Xu.

Among the Yellow Turban forces in these four continents, the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans have developed the best.

It is truly terrifying that they were able to control Beihai County without anyone noticing and even raise 300,000 Yellow Turban soldiers!
Following the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou were the Yellow Turbans of Yanzhou and the Yellow Turbans of Yuzhou.

They had each occupied a prefecture in their respective states and were able to muster 200,000 Yellow Turban soldiers!

The Yellow Turbans in Xuzhou were the worst developed, with only 100,000 soldiers, and they were suppressed in a small county town near Tongdao in Taishan County.

The reason he ended up in such a miserable state was mainly because Tao Qian had consolidated the forces in Xuzhou and was relentlessly suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

In fact, the Yellow Turban forces would have had a hard time surviving in any place where the powers of the feudal lords had been consolidated.

Because they are mobilizing the most basic forces, which may be able to shatter the old world, but cannot build a new one.

Any newly established new world would be enough to suppress the local Yellow Turban forces!

Given the current situation in Xuzhou, there is practically no place left for the Yellow Turban forces to survive.

If it weren't for Ji Qiu's unwavering support for the Yellow Turbans in Xuzhou, his massive investment of resources, and his frequent dispatches of troops to harass Zang Ba's forces who were blocking Xuzhou's passages, the Yellow Turbans in Xuzhou would have been wiped out long ago.

Now, barely surviving, it is only clinging to life.

Many people had advised Ji Qiu to give up supporting the Yellow Turbans in Xuzhou, because there was simply no hope in it.

But Ji Qiu persevered.

On the one hand, he didn't care much about the resources he was given to support the Yellow Turbans in Xuzhou.

Backed by a modern world and possessing massive resources, that's how confident we are!
On the other hand, Ji Qiu firmly believes that a single spark can start a prairie fire!

Preserving a spark of hope within Xuzhou will surely be of great use in the future!

Now look, isn't this where it comes in handy?

Ji Qiu chuckled, "Let the Yellow Turbans of Xuzhou cooperate in the battle, that's not bad. We've nurtured them for so long, it's time to let them show their true colors!"

"I believe the Yellow Turbans of Xuzhou will not disappoint our lord!" Jia Xu said.

Zhuge Gui coughed twice and said, "My lord, I think there is another issue that needs to be considered, which is where the battlefield is located."

Tao Qian dispatched 100,000 strong troops to attack Beihai County. So, is the battlefield to be chosen in Beihai County?
Beihai County is currently undergoing a massive construction project. Most of the city walls of the eighteen county towns within the county have been demolished, and new cities are being built on the original sites.

At the same time, people from Pingyuan County and Qi County also began to migrate here.

If Beihai County were to become a battlefield at this time, it would not only delay the construction of the new city, but also subject the newly relocated people to the ravages of war.

This is extremely disadvantageous for us!

Therefore, if possible, I suggest placing the battlefield outside Beihai County, or at least holding the border of Beihai County and preventing the enemy from advancing!

Zhuge Gui's words immediately silenced the atmosphere in the hall.

This is a completely new perspective. Previously, neither Guo Jia, Xi Zhong, nor Jia Xu had considered this aspect when analyzing the battle situation.

Of course, this is not because they lacked wisdom or comprehensive thinking, but because their professional roles did not involve this aspect.

Therefore, some oversights are inevitable.

But Zhuge Gui was different.

He is the Minister of State for the Ji Qiu government, and has full authority over all political affairs within the Ji Qiu government.

Moreover, having firsthand information on the progress of various aspects of construction in Beihai County, he naturally thought of this issue immediately.

This also fails to demonstrate the foresight of Ji Qiu in sending Zhuge Gui, the Minister of State Affairs, to the military conference.

These two lines, military and political, are both independent of each other and complementary.

At the highest level, we still need to communicate with each other!
While Zhuge Gui's request was commendable, it also presented a major challenge for the top strategists.

Xi Zhong frowned and said, "Want to keep the enemy outside the country's borders? That's not an easy task!"

Especially between Qing and Xu provinces, there are no natural defenses, and they can only rely on fixed cities and fortresses as strongholds for attack and defense.

Kong Rong did not establish a stronghold in the direction of Xuzhou outside Beihai. Our army had just acquired Beihai County and did not have time to establish a new stronghold.

How can we keep enemies out of our borders?
We can't just send out a strong army to defend against the enemy with military formations, can we?
That would truly be a head-on collision!
In that case, even if our army wins, it will likely be a pyrrhic victory!

Xi Zhong's original plan was to let the Xuzhou army in, use a fortified city in Beihai County to hold them back, and then launch a defensive counterattack.

But now I realize that the city walls of most of the cities in Beihai County have been demolished, and there is no suitable fortified city to be found.

Zhuge Gui even asked him to defend the country's borders, which really presented him with a big problem.

Guo Jia and Jia Xu were also at a loss.

Seeing the three strategists speechless, Zhuge Gui felt a little disappointed and said helplessly, "If it's really impossible to keep the enemy out of the country, then letting them in is fine too. I can work overtime to restore the walls of several border cities as soon as possible."

When foreign enemies invade, defeating them is the most important thing; everything else must be postponed.

It seems that the only option left is for the common people to suffer even more.

The three strategists all nodded with heavy hearts. Although they did not want this to happen, it seemed to be the only option.

To achieve victory, it is worth making the necessary sacrifices!
However, it was clear that the three advisors and one minister of state had already resigned themselves to their fate.

After pondering for a long time, Ji Qiu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "Perhaps I have a way to solve this problem!"

"Does my lord have a solution? But what is it?" Zhuge Gui asked hastily.

Guo Jia, however, was quicker to think and said directly, "Does our lord intend to use celestial building materials to construct a fortified city?"

Upon hearing this, everyone else in the hall's eyes lit up, all believing that this was the solution Ji Qiu had come up with.

After all, the fact that Ji Qiu has the Heavenly Realm behind him is already common knowledge among the higher-ups of Ji Qiu's forces.

In late autumn, a large amount of modern building materials were also brought in.

The construction of the twelve new cities in Taishan County was made possible by these building materials!
Jia Xu immediately praised, "That's a good idea! My lord's celestial building materials allow for extremely fast city construction, enough to quickly build a fortified city on the Qingxu Pass before the Xuzhou army attacks!"

"However, although the celestial building materials used by the lord can fortify the city very quickly, they are somewhat lacking in strength, and there are no secret techniques for defending the city."

"If we were to use such a fortified city to resist the Xuzhou army, we would probably need to station 50,000 strong troops in the city by now," Xi Zhong said, frowning.

As the Minister of Military Affairs for Ji Qiu, he naturally assessed the military value of the celestial building materials brought by Ji Qiu long ago.

Therefore, it is not believed that a fortified city built with these materials could withstand an army of 100,000.

If Ji Qiu were to build a fortified city using this method, it wouldn't be entirely useless, but it certainly wouldn't be of much use either.

However, Ji Qiu chuckled and said, "No, no, I do not intend to use celestial building materials to build a fortified city!"

(End of this chapter)