Chapter 73: Qi Zhou Strategy

Moreover, the mountains west of Qi Prefecture are rugged and densely packed; it only takes setting up a stronghold at each strategic point to make one man able to hold off ten thousand.

Each stronghold can repel an enemy force ten times its own size.

Therefore, my lord, our Qingzhou army will attack from the west of Qi Prefecture, but it will serve only as a diversion, not the main thrust.

Li Jing examined the various strategic points among the mountains of Qi Prefecture and analyzed them.

Although our Qingzhou army now boasts strong troops and sturdy horses, with war gods gathered.

But if we launch a frontal assault on the mountains of Qi Prefecture, we will surely suffer heavy losses, not worth the gain.

But the mountains of Qi Prefecture stretch continuously, covering a vast area, and the strongholds cannot support each other.

After Li Jing finished explaining the difficulty of conquering the Qi Prefecture mountains, his tone suddenly shifted.

The boss is here to hear how you solve the problem, not to listen to your nonsense.

What's with the excessive difficulty? Is that something the lord himself should be worrying about?

That is something Li Jing, as the army commander, should consider.

Therefore, my lord only needs to lead our Qingzhou army to deploy formations among the mountains, and the Qi Prefecture forces will inevitably need to reinforce their strongholds.

As the attacking side, my lord will not know which stronghold holds few troops and which holds many; the Qi Prefecture forces remain unaware.

Thus, behind the Qi Prefecture mountains, the Qi forces will inevitably need to keep a reserve army ready to reinforce any stronghold at a moment's notice.

Li Jing glanced at Su Ye above him and slowly revealed his plan for this assault on the Qi Prefecture mountains.

Therefore, our Qingzhou army now presses the border, and my lord leads the troops to the gates of Qi Prefecture.

Even if my lord does nothing in the mountains, it will still tie down most of the Qi Prefecture's forces.

Thus, the earlier plan of a northern and southern pincer attack proposed by my lord and the strategist can now be carried out.

As he spoke, Li Jing began to calculate the upcoming front-line issues.

Therefore, my lord only needs to dispatch a detachment, borrowing a route through Yunzhou, entering Qi from Yunzhou to attack its southern part.

This way, whether the detachment exploits the southern vacancy of Qi Prefecture to capture cities and land, disrupts its supply lines, or ambushes its reinforcements en route, it will greatly weaken Qi Prefecture's combat strength.

However, sending this detachment deep into enemy territory to wreak havoc inside Qi Prefecture makes logistical support extremely difficult.

Moreover, this detachment will become a major menace to Qi Prefecture, certain to be seen by the Qi king as a thorn in his flesh, prompting him to mobilize elite troops to encircle and annihilate it.

Therefore, only elite troops and strong commanders can lead this detachment!

After finishing his remarks about the detachment, Li Jing clasped his fists toward Su Ye and retreated back into the crowd.

Next, who will lead this detachment, and which warriors will accompany him?

This is a matter for my lord and his fellow officials; Li Jing finds it inconvenient to speak.

Let me think about this!

Seeing the earnest gazes of his subordinates, Su Ye rubbed his forehead; his head ached a little.

The importance of this detachment goes without saying; if used well, it could even directly alter the course of this campaign against Qi Prefecture.

But the bigger the waves, the more valuable the fish.

With such great rewards, the danger of this detachment is naturally self-evident.

Therefore, the commander of this detachment must be a general possessing both courage and wisdom.

But do we still have any such individuals left under my command?

The original Azure Dragon certainly qualifies, and even far exceeds the requirements.

But he is currently entangled in love and conflict within the Yellow Turban army and the Great Qian.

Li Jing could also serve, although his bravery is somewhat lacking; however, the war gods under Su Ye's Qingzhou command are now abundant enough to compensate.

But the Qingzhou army of several hundred thousand still needs Li Jing to oversee the overall situation, so he cannot go lead a detachment.

Finally, the original Qin Qiong also qualifies; his base command of 98 is sufficient to lead this important detachment, except that Qin Qiong was sent ahead to the vanguard army.

They have already advanced first into Qi Prefecture's territory.

So, all of a sudden now.

Where should I go to find a suitable high commander?

System, how many summon cards do I have left?

Frowning in thought for a while, Su Ye slapped his head and realized he could only turn to the system.

Su Ye remembered that upon completing the main quest—'Control a Prefecture'—he was rewarded with a card of unlimited random summons.

Ding! The host's backpack still contains 1200 summon points, one faction summon card, five random summon cards, one holy-grade political summon card, one supreme random summon card, and one martial arts combination quartet summon card.

Upon hearing Su Ye's question, the system's mechanical voice echoed in his ears.

System, use that unlimited random summon card!

Looking at the remaining items in his pack, Su Ye's gaze was drawn solely to that unlimited random summon card.

He hoped the system would come through this time, producing a top-tier commander who meets all requirements of both wisdom and valor.

Ding! While using the unlimited random summon card, the system will provide a list of five figures; please discard two, and the system will randomly summon one from the remaining three.

Summoning in progress, host please wait.

Ding! First candidate of the unlimited random summon: Zhao Kuangyin in the Yellow Robe, Command 99, Martial 104, Intelligence 96, Politics 99.

Damn, Zhao Da?

Su Ye looked at the first person who appeared, his hand trembling.

Zhao Kuangyin, a military leader, politician, and strategist from the Five Dynasties to early Northern Song period.

Of course, these titles pale in comparison to being the founding emperor of the Great Song Dynasty!

And his heaven-defying accomplishment—being draped in the yellow robe!

This led to later emperors, each and every one, tightening their guard against generals.

It made later generals feel insecure and on edge.

Zhao Kuangyin, during the Later Han, sought refuge with Chief Minister Guo Wei, enlisted, and during the reign of Later Zhou Emperor Shizong Chai Rong, he accompanied campaigns against Northern Han and Southern Tang, achieving outstanding military merit.

Soon after, in the Chenqiao Mutiny, he was draped in the yellow robe and proclaimed emperor, then returned to the capital to force the Later Zhou's Emperor Gong to abdicate.

That same year, Zhao Kuangyin ascended the throne, adopted the era name Jianlong, and established the state name "Song", historically known as the Song Dynasty or Northern Song.

During Zhao Kuangyin's reign, following Chancellor Zhao Pu's strategy of "first the south, then the north; first the easy, then the hard," he successively conquered Jingnan, Wuping, Later Shu, Southern Han, and Southern Tang—the southern separatist regimes—achieving unification of most of the country.

Of course, because Zhao Da himself, as a military commander, had a dirty rear end.

Therefore, after he ascended, he launched a purge against the original military officers.

To address the problem of regional military governors commanding troops independently since the mid-Tang, he twice used the "wine to release military power" maneuver, stripping the commands of the imperial army leaders and regional fiefdoms, adjusting civil-military relations, and while conducting the unification wars, he reformed the official system, strengthening central authority.

Consequently, the gradually formed policy of favoring civil over military and emphasizing internal defense, which began with him, had an influence on the formation of the later Song Dynasty's situation of poverty and weakness.

This led to the later Song Dynasty where literati held power and commanded the troops, the outcome of which is easy to imagine.

Amateurs commanding experts!

One can only say that the later Great Song being called "Great Coward" is not without reason.

It is the bitter fruit sown since the founding of the dynasty.

(End of chapter)