Chapter 1361: The Central Plains Must Rebel

Just as he said to Luo Yi, Wang Yan was indeed preparing step by step.

He ordered the whole army to prepare for battle and practice military formations. At the same time, he wrote to the Hub Office, requesting the deployment of military supplies and obtaining command of the Shandong Navy.

His request was naturally all agreed to. As long as he fought well, no one in the court was dragging his feet. In the local area, that was another matter.

At the same time, he also spent more than a month walking through the defense line against Goguryeo, encouraging the soldiers, and chatting with the generals and officers of various troops.

Fighting a war, you have to know yourself and the enemy, and knowing yourself comes first.

This was different from fighting on the grasslands. At that time, most of the people he led were his own people, and they were all cavalry, fighting with rapid maneuverability. Now that he had changed troops, and was fighting in complex terrain environments such as mountains, plains, and hills, the influence was still very large. Although the soldiers respected him very much, they lacked understanding, especially the grasp of the abilities and personalities of some generals and officers.

This also had a great influence when fighting.

The fighting methods in complex terrain were different from those on the open grasslands. Overall, it was a positional war of layer-by-layer advancement, constantly removing the positions occupied by Goguryeo in favorable terrain, and fighting all the way to Goguryeo's royal city.

Wang Yan didn't act secretly, but openly, letting Goguryeo investigate clearly, letting them know that preparations were being made here, large amounts of money, grain, and materials were being transported here, and preparations for a great war were being made.

Thus, Goguryeo also began to move frequently, adjusting troops and sending generals. They even upgraded the scale of the continuous harassment and friction quite arrogantly. From the previous hundred or eighty people, it expanded to small-scale group battles of several hundred people.

And they didn't fight elsewhere, but fought wherever Wang Yan went.

Wang Yan was amused...

After turning a big circle, he returned to Beiping and inspected the troops here again.

On the drill ground, there was a sound of "hey, ha, hey", and the soldiers were arranged neatly in military exercises. The heroes mixed in the team were also following the military exercises listlessly.

Indeed listless. By comparison, their individual combat effectiveness was quite good, and the worst could fight two or three armored soldiers one-on-one. And they were used to being free and loose, mixed in a bunch of big-headed soldiers, naturally feeling very uncomfortable.

If it weren't for Wang Yan's order that they must practice military formations in the army, and they didn't dare to run, they wouldn't do it, and would have quit long ago.

Wang Yan stood with his hands behind his back on the platform, his eyes scanning everywhere, well aware of the state of this bunch of people.

However, he didn't care. After all, if you really talk about it, these people could actually be officers, most of them knew how to read, and also had some heroic spirit of the green forest path. This kind of person could brag, giggle, and could build a good relationship with the soldiers under their command and lead the hearts of the people under them.

But they had no military background, they were just fighting fiercely individually, and they actually didn't know how to fight. So accepting professional military training was a very necessary thing. When the war really started, they wouldn't be killed by others forming formations, and they could exert their own combat effectiveness, kill a few more people, which was cost-effective no matter what.

After they fought for a period of time and died some people, the rest would be useful war generals.

As for whether they held grudges, this was not in Wang Yan's consideration. They didn't fight, and they dared to bare their teeth at Wang Yan and say some complaining words. Once they fought, they would truly see the blue sky, and they would know how terrifying Wang Yan really was.

This terror didn't just refer to the courage as a war general, but also the command ability to be invincible in arranging troops, and the loyalty of the soldiers to fight to the death for him. These combined were the true terror of Wang Yan.

After the military exercise, the team dispersed to train separately, and Wang Yan found a bunch of bandits.

"It's been two months, are you all adapting?" He kindly cared about the military life of this bunch of bandits.

"Good." Cheng Yaojin patted his belly, "I, Old Cheng, eat everything fragrant, it's very comfortable."

"Yes, didn't expect the military food to have meat, especially that big meat soup, oh, it's really fragrant..."

So a bunch of people followed suit, giggling and laughing.

Wang Yan also laughed, waved his hand, and after the crowd quieted down, he said: "Looking at you, you can't wait to go to the battlefield. You have all learned the way of military formation and cooperation in the army, and you don't want to be small soldiers anymore, it's time for you to earn military merit.

Recently, our Great Sui troops have been mobilized frequently, which is known to Goguryeo. Those barbarians don't take the initiative to pay tribute, and actually dare to increase troops to provoke our Great Sui's military power. Wherever I go, they look for me, it's really hateful. Today, good brothers, have a good rest, eat and drink enough. If the barbarians come to challenge tomorrow, brothers, go and kill them.

Ten heads to be a squad leader, fifty heads to be a deputy centurion, a hundred heads to be a centurion... The great war is about to start, and it is the right time for good men to be enfeoffed as marquises. How about it, brothers, dare you go?"

"Go, whoever doesn't go has no seed." The crowd clamored.

Cheng Yaojin, Wang Bodang, Xu Shiji, You Junda, Qi Guoyuan... scanning the faces one by one, these people who didn't belong to the same group gathered together because of the catastrophe in the Central Plains.

Wang Yan nodded with satisfaction: "That's settled. Eat and drink well in a while. Once on the battlefield, life and death are destined. For those who die, I guarantee that the compensation will not be less. For those who live, the merit that should be there will not be bad. Use your life to kill the enemy, and there will be a generous reward.

The kitchen side has already prepared, wine and meat are enough, but pay attention, don't be greedy for the cup, if you drink too much, you will delay things and implicate the brothers. No need for the barbarians to cut you, I will take your heads to sacrifice the flag first."

"How can that be, Duke Wang, brothers all have a count, never drink before fighting."

"I still have military affairs, so I won't accompany you. Go, eat and drink well."

Wang Yan waved his hand, then left with a smile, returning to the commander's tent in the military camp.

The great war was on the verge of breaking out, various materials were basically prepared, and they were still being dispatched continuously, and even the atmosphere of the entire border area felt murderous.

The commoners living here and the merchants doing business could feel that the rhythm of the border area had accelerated, and the messengers delivering news were running densely.

However, people's hearts were not floating, because people knew that Wang Yan had come, and this war with Goguryeo was led by Wang Yan.

Wang Yan's legendary story was known to the world. From being enfeoffed as a marquis, destroying the Turks, until now, he had never fought a losing battle, and all were big victories, all made a lot of money, and everyone from top to bottom ate and drank well.

People here had confidence in Wang Yan, even the local great clans that had been scraped by Wang Yan in the past two months didn't run away with their families. It was because they had confidence in Wang Yan.

Of course, on the other hand, the influence of the great clans in the border area was limited. If they ran away, it would be equivalent to having nothing. The greed of small landlords was there, they certainly wouldn't give up their wealth...

The so-called commander's tent was a large room newly built. Inside were several large tables, hanging maps, and in the center of the room, there was a large sand table, arranged with the explored areas.

People came in and out, went back and forth, busy, letters were sent in and out, and a pile of people in the room were writing with pen and ink, buzzing and very lively.

"General."

Watching Wang Yan walk in, Li Jing greeted him, then poured tea with tea sets.

As Wang Yan's good brother, if there was good news, he would definitely think of Li Jing.

Even during the previous catastrophe in the Central Plains, Wang Yan didn't let Li Jing participate, but sent him to the relatively safe grasslands to guard. This time, it was a great opportunity to earn military merit by fighting Goguryeo, so naturally, he had to bring Li Jing with him.

And Li Jing wasn't dragging his feet, but a help. Wang Yan gave full trust, intending to let Li Jing lead a part of the army to fight alone this time. Currently, Li Jing was working as his deputy here, which was also to let Li Jing have a grasp of the overall situation of this war.

"Everything arranged?" Wang Yan asked while drinking tea.

"Basically arranged, including the navy, our Great Sui will divide into four routes..."

Li Jing summarized the combat objectives of this time, as well as the combat plan formulated by Wang Yan, and the progress of the corresponding various plans.

Wang Yan nodded: "So, we can go to war in half a month."

"That's right."

"You leave tomorrow, go and familiarize yourself with the team, and if anyone doesn't obey orders, cut them directly to sacrifice the flag. After twenty days, no need to report, just launch the attack according to the plan."

"Yes." Li Jing responded, then asked in a low voice, "What about Daxing..."

"Currently, His Majesty and the officials support the war. Our Great Sui has been deeply cultivated for many years, and money and grain are sufficient. According to the current scale, it is enough to support fighting Goguryeo for six or seven years, and it will have no influence on our Great Sui. How many years do you think Goguryeo can last?"

"The General personally commands, it would be considered powerful if Goguryeo can last two years." Li Jing's face was full of sincerity, and his tone was full of respect.

"If we really fight without worries, it is indeed a matter of two years. But it's impossible, Yaoshi."

"Does the General still think the great clans of the Central Plains will rebel?"

"They must rebel." Wang Yan chuckled and said, "Many great clans were destroyed before, and the Zhao County Li, Boling Cui, Qinghe Cui, Fanyang Lu, and Xingyang Zheng families were all beaten to disability. They all understand the principle of lips and teeth. Although the fighting stopped, His Majesty's suppression of them, and the encroachment of the great clans in the south and Guanzhong, have not stopped, but have become more and more intense.

They are lambs waiting to be slaughtered, dishes on the table. If they don't resist, they can only wait for death, it's just a matter of time. If they resist, they can still struggle, maybe there is a chance to turn over. And although the great clans suffered heavy casualties and shook their roots, they still have power. Otherwise, when I came to take office, why was there an encirclement?

Later, they didn't surround and kill me, not because they couldn't gather people, but because they gathered too few people to kill me, so they gave up. And now even Goguryeo knows to fight them, how can the great clans of the Central Plains not know? Taking advantage of the military expedition, having no time to take care of other things, it is the right time to fight for their lives."

Li Jing's eyes flashed: "So this battle will be a tug-of-war?"

"We'll know after fighting. If Goguryeo is not useful, flatten them, and our Great Sui will lose fewer brave soldiers. For those bastards, letting my brothers fight to the death is not worth it."

"The General cares about the soldiers, no wonder the soldiers love the General."

"It's because I dare not forget my humble origins." Wang Yan shook his head with a light sigh, "Life is not easy, and survival is difficult..."

Looking at Li Jing, a child of a noble family, silent, Wang Yan waved his hand, "Alright, pack up and go, pay attention to safety, don't have a life to earn military merit, but no life to enjoy happiness."

Li Jing nodded, drank the tea in the cup, cupped his hands to Wang Yan, and turned to leave.

The great families were all cleaned up by Wang Yan, including the Taiyuan Wang family, which was already cleaned up when Wang Yan suppressed the rebellion before. The only ones among the five surnames and seven families that were not cleaned up were the Longxi Li family where Li Jing's family was located, because they took sides quite accurately, and were far away, so Wang Yan didn't go there.

Of course, it was mainly because Wang Yan didn't go there, otherwise the Longxi Li family wouldn't have been spared, at most giving Li Jing some face and protecting some people...

Famous great clans were so miserable, let alone those who were a step behind, life was very difficult.

Combined with the behavior of daring to raise troops to rebel before, Wang Yan concluded that they would inevitably rebel when attacking Goguryeo. Just as he said, the great clans of the Central Plains had now reached a dead end, they had no choice, and could only go to the end of the road, breaking through this dead end...

Li Jing left, Wang Yan continued to sit in command, sorting out various information and intelligence, making various arrangements, sending out military orders one by one, and the entire army made various movements and adjustments, planning the attack targets for each department.

Of course, the most important thing was to make various logistical arrangements, as well as various deployments of the reinforced troops.

Goguryeo was not white, and also had hundreds of thousands of troops. Otherwise, how could Yang Guang send a million-strong army? Yang Guang wanted to collapse Goguryeo in one battle, but under internal and external causes, he collapsed himself.

In the past two months, some troops were mobilized, and now they have reached a force of 100,000, and with the navy, there are more than 120,000, and reinforcements are still being sent continuously.

Wang Yan naturally attached great importance to it. He also despised and respected Goguryeo at the same time. Or rather, he considered the lives of his own soldiers more.

After all, one of his negligence was the death and injury of thousands of soldiers. Even if fighting a war was as easy as eating and drinking for him, he was very cautious.

This was also one of the reasons why he liked to bury his head in development and form a majestic crushing trend, which was because fewer people could die. Of course, on the other hand, it was mainly easy, no need to spend so much thought, just fight steadily with logistics.

However, the current Great Sui didn't have that condition. Although he reformed the military and got money and grain, the time was still too short, and there were still many deficiencies.

At the same time, he had to guard against rebellion in the Central Plains, so he had to spend more thought.

After such a busy day passed, the next day, Wang Yan arrived at the small city on the front line, stood on the city tower, and watched the two armies fighting below...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who tipped, voted for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and read silently for their strong support!

? (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1362 =====