Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Li Hong has one particular characteristic: once he makes a decision, no matter how difficult the conditions are, even if the world ends the next day, he will still do it today.

In order to deal with Shen Lang, reclaim the Southern Zhili region, and ensure the stability of the empire's tax revenue, he continuously dispatched dozens of sentries to various tribes outside the Great Wall to notify the cavalry lords of each tribe.

For now, he can only temporarily abandon the campaign against Haizhou and focus all his efforts on dealing with the situation in the southern Zhili region.

Li Hong's plan was to first defeat Shen Lang, then send troops south to join forces with local garrisons and launch a full-scale siege of Haizhou with superior numbers.

In order to win this war, Li Hong did not hesitate to summon famous generals from all over the court.

Led by General Fu Heng, the army was joined by experienced generals such as Lou Shide, Huli Guang, Ming Rui, Ao Rui, Zhao Feng, Sun Qing, Yan Aia, and Quan Xiancheng, who worked together to launch the attack.

He then designated the elite Jianrui Battalion, the most elite unit in the military camp, as the supervisory force and placed it under the command of his trusted confidant, Fu Long.

Li Hong's decree was delivered to the various outer vassal states in mid-December.

Upon hearing that the battle would take place within the Great Wall, the various vassal states were filled with excitement and eagerness.

This means that when they return to the interior after the war, they can take the opportunity to capture slaves from the people inside the Great Wall, thus increasing their "extra income."

Within the Wu Zhao Kingdom, apart from the royal family, only those riding horses are considered human; as for ordinary people, they are slaves who can be abducted at any time.

The response from the outer tribes this time was very swift, and their reaction was unusually fast compared to the past.

In late December, 20,000 cavalrymen, each with two horses, gathered in the interior of the pass.

Meanwhile, military officers and soldiers from various regions within the Great Wall were also drawn from different places, and a total of 23,000 available soldiers were dispatched.

As a result, Li Hong was able to mobilize several thousand more elite troops than expected.

Such an army would make any neighboring country cry out in terror if they were confident in their ability to defeat it.

But Li Hong only glanced at the military memorial before frowning again.

There are still too few people.

"I intend to achieve a decisive victory in one battle, directly subjugate the Chu army in one fight, and then transfer two cavalry units from outside the pass."

"Furthermore, another 50% of the military officers and soldiers stationed in the Northwest will be transferred to participate in the battle against Southern Zhili."

After this order was issued, He Yong was completely dumbfounded.

In the past two weeks, he racked his brains to raise funds and supplies for the army, using every method at his disposal, and finally managed to raise enough funds for more than 70,000 soldiers.

But now, according to Li Hong's plan, increasing the troop strength to 100,000 is basically a done deal.

He hasn't even finished the task of recruiting laborers yet, and now he has to raise the military pay for the extra 30,000 people. He's starting to feel overwhelmed.

He still needs to find a way to solve the pay shortfall for 30,000 soldiers.

By the beginning of the second year, the cavalry from outside the Great Wall had gradually arrived outside the capital and assembled with the local military camps to begin training.

In the past few days, Li Hong has been inspecting the military camp almost every day to ensure that these troops, which are crucial to the foundation of his rule, are always in the best condition.

After inspecting the military camp, Li Hong suddenly asked Zhang Gui, "By the way, Zhang Gui, you said the Chu army's firearms are very powerful?"

Zhang Gui: "Your Majesty, if I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have had the thought of negotiating peace."

Li Hong thought for a moment and then asked, "Were those Chu soldiers who used firearms ordinary soldiers?"

Zhang Gui nodded: "Yes, at least this servant cannot sense a trace of martial arts aura from them."

Li Hong: "In that case, distribute those stockpiled firearms and hand them over to the garrisons in various places for rigorous training."

Zhang Gui immediately cupped his hands in greeting: "Your Majesty is wise. With firearms, the garrisons in those areas will have the strength to fight."

Li Hong remained silent, not expecting to turn the tide of the battle with matchlock guns and muzzle-loading solid shot cannons.

Ultimately, they would have to rely on the cavalry offensives of the military camps and the various outer vassal tribes.

Given the current situation, we have no choice but to try anything, even if it seems hopeless.

This was Li Hong's largest military campaign against foreign enemies in the forty-eight years since he ascended the throne, and it was also a huge gamble.

If he loses the gamble, the foundation of his rule will be shaken.

In this war against the Chu army, victory is all that is needed; defeat is not an option.

No one can afford the consequences of failure.

By early February, the Wu Zhao Army, with 64,000 elite troops and 40,000 local officers and soldiers, totaling over 100,000 men, was stationed outside Shengjing City and began pre-battle training exercises.

Meanwhile, Shen Lang's arrangements in Jiankang City had already been completed.

He used the money and grain in the Southern Zhili Prefecture treasury to recruit a large number of people in Jiankang City, and in the past few months, he built more than a dozen earthen and wooden fortresses of various sizes on Zijin Mountain.

These people had no objection whatsoever to helping the Chu army build defensive fortifications.

Because the Chu army paid on a daily basis, they would pay whatever amount was agreed upon and received it on the spot.

Moreover, the excellent military discipline of the Chu army during their stay in Jiankang City left a deep impression on everyone.

In addition, Lü Meng's occasional use of appeasement has successfully made them realize that life doesn't have to be so difficult.

Therefore, even if Shen Lang paid them to work for free, they would still be willing to do their voluntary labor.

As for the attitude towards Wu Zhao, with the fall of the inner city, the people of Jiankang could now express their emotions without restraint.

Having been oppressed for hundreds of years, Shen Lang simply recounted what they had done, instantly arousing collective indignation and resonating with the people.

Soon, thanks to the concerted efforts of the people of Jiankang, the fortress chain was completed half a month ahead of schedule.

Standing atop Zijin Mountain, Lu Meng surveyed the various outposts and couldn't help but sigh, "Back then, the Commander used this very method of earthwork to reduce Luchuan to a state of utter desolation."

Now it's being used against the Wu Zhao Kingdom again, and seeing it again still evokes a lot of emotions.

Shen Lang, who happened to be passing by, overheard this and patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, enough with the sentimentality. I've received news that Shengjing has mobilized all the mobile forces that can be mobilized nationwide and is attacking us."

Lü Meng: "Commander, please rest assured, I will make sure they never return."

Shen Lang: "Since we're going to fight, let's make them suffer a lot. The harder we hit them, the more we can gain at the negotiating table. They..."

As he spoke, he pointed to the emaciated people: "They can also escape the oppressive control of Wu Zhao."

Upon hearing this, Lü Meng sighed, "Wu Zhao is truly the most devastated city I have ever seen. Even the Song, Wu, and Jin kingdoms have not been in such a state."

"Wu Zhao is clearly so powerful, so why do the common people live such a miserable and burdensome life?"

Shen Lang: "What happiness can you expect from the citizens of a country that places its main ethnic group in opposition to the ruler and needs to be strictly guarded against?"

Focus on preparing for battle. Only by utterly crippling them can we have a chance to end this tragedy.

Lu Meng nodded vigorously.