Chapter 201: Preparing for War

Guilin Prefecture.

"The pseudo-dynasty's Guangxi field army intends to attack Guangzhou?"

Looking at the intelligence sent by the sect members who risked their lives, Shi Rongxuan fell into deep thought.

The imperial army was not playing by the rules; how could they go to recapture the territory of their neighbor before their own jurisdiction had been recaptured?

The newly appointed Guangdong Provincial Governor hadn't even left the capital yet; even if they took the initiative to help, others wouldn't necessarily appreciate it.

If they really wanted to sell a favor, that would be after people arrived at the frontline.

"Holy Emperor, we have verified the news.

The pseudo-dynasty officials in Guangxi have had a fierce argument over whether to send troops to Guangdong, and neither faction has been able to convince the other.

No one can guarantee whether they will send troops to Guangdong next."

Wu Zekai explained.

The unknown was often what made people feel troubled.

If it were certain that the Guangxi imperial army would send troops to Guangdong, then they could directly strengthen the defense of the Guangdong coast.

What was feared was the enemy making a big fuss, and then after they finished mobilizing troops and generals, the enemy suddenly changed their attack target.

Judging from the areas controlled by both sides, the Guangxi imperial army had three attack directions.

Either march west into Yunnan, march north to conquer Guilin, or march east to conquer Guangdong.

Compared to the first two choices, the Guangdong eastern expedition had too many attack points to choose from.

Whether it was attacking Wuzhou from the Xunzhou direction, attacking Gaozhou Prefecture or Guanghai Guard from the land route, or attacking the many coastal prefectures from the sea, all were possible.

With so many places needing defense, they simply couldn't take care of everything.

If they really had enough troops to take care of all regions, they might as well organize another Guangxi battle.

"Clarify the imperial army's true target as soon as possible. I don't believe that bunch of muddled officials in Great Dayu have changed so quickly!"

Shi Rongxuan ordered with a frown.

The White Lotus Holy Kingdom was able to advance triumphantly in the early stages largely because they had mastered the imperial army's movements in advance and made targeted layouts.

One of the most important reasons for the repeated defeats on the Guangxi battlefield was that the intelligence advantage had failed.

Before launching a major battle, Li Mu never brought out specific operational plans for discussion.

Even if the attack target was determined in advance, it would often change when the major battle broke out.

Sect members risked their heads to collect a pile of useless intelligence, which to a certain extent even misled the frontline generals.

This time, the enemy went a step further, and intelligence full of uncertainty appeared directly before the White Lotus Holy Emperor.

At such a time, any strategic misjudgment would bring about catastrophic consequences.

Wuchang Prefecture.

On the choice of attack direction, the Guangxi side couldn't reach a result, and in the end, the ball was kicked to Xu Wenyue.

Whether to prioritize attacking Guilin or taking Guangzhou first directly made him feel troubled.

Both strategic cities possessed very important strategic significance.

No matter which city was recaptured, it had extraordinary significance for the great cause of suppressing the rebellion.

"Grand Secretary, the Guangxi side is arguing endlessly, which I fear will affect subsequent operations.

We cannot let them keep making a scene."

Lu Jingxuan advised tactfully.

These were all experiences of being an official.

Usually, when both sides are arguing endlessly, the side that is at a disadvantage will try every possible way to make the other side fail.

Only if the other side fails can they prove their own point is correct.

From the local level to the central government, the officialdom struggles of the entire Great Dayu Empire were all like this.

Doing this in peaceful years wouldn't cause any major problems.

The two factions supervising and stabbing each other in the back could, to a certain extent, avoid excessive concentration of power and be conducive to safeguarding the status of imperial power.

But now it was wartime, and dragging one's feet could very likely lead to a major defeat on the frontline.

Such a consequence was undoubtedly something Xu Wenyue could not tolerate.

He had placed high hopes on the Guangxi field army and absolutely would not allow anyone to cause destruction.

"Hmm!"

"Pass on my order: tell those officials in Guangxi to attend to their own duties and not think about interfering in everything.

Send someone to warn Guangxi Provincial Governor Zhang Sihan, and tell him that if he can't manage the people under him well, he should take off his official hat early and go home to farm!"

Xu Wenyue ordered coldly.

A Provincial Governor not being able to manage the people below was truly too common.

Great Dayu practiced the mutual checks and balances of the Provincial Governor, Provincial Administration Commissioner, and Provincial Surveillance Commissioner; usually, local civil officials would divide into multiple factions revolving around these three.

Each was in charge of their own affairs, and no one could dominate alone.

It was just that Provincial Administration Commissioner Jia Bo was Grand Secretary Xu's confidant, and Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Zhou Zhenbang had just arrived, so he probably hadn't even figured out the specific situation.

When the board was hit, it was Zhang Sihan's bad luck.

As a demoted official, any of his mistakes would be artificially magnified.

"Grand Secretary, you should still make a decision on where the Guangxi field army should fight!

Otherwise, that bunch of guys below will continue to make a scene.

Provincial Governor Zhang's prestige is not enough; it is very likely he won't be able to suppress the officials!"

Yang Yan proposed.

As the Fujian Military Defense Circuit, he needed to be responsible for the situation in Fujian.

Once the Guangxi field army killed its way into Guangdong, the Fujian field army, which was suppressed by the rebels, would have a place to be useful.

If the two families joined forces to attack, it was very likely they could restore the entire Guangdong.

With such a great merit falling down, as the Fujian Military Defense Circuit, he could also share a portion of it.

With this resume, his future official career would become bright.

"Let them discuss and handle it; if they don't know how to choose, ask the military generals for their opinions more.

Commander Li and Regional Commander Jing have a family tradition of learning and are both rare military talents in our dynasty; they know how to grasp the opportunities of war!"

Xu Wenyue said irritably.

As a civil official, he naturally didn't want military generals to occupy the leading position.

But the people below were not capable; if they didn't delegate power to the military generals, they would lose battles.

Forced by reality, he could only tacitly allow the military generals to command.

However, he couldn't directly issue an order for such things and could only let his subordinates understand by hint.

Judging from the situation on various battlefields, it was basically certain that civil officials in all provinces had delegated power to the military generals.

The difference was only limited to the size of the authority delegated.

Truth and falsehood, falsehood and truth.

By the time Grand Secretary Xu's order was passed back, it was already the end of the first year of Yongning.

The news about sending troops to recapture Guangdong was spreading everywhere.

As the proposer of the strategic plan, Li Mu still hadn't brought out a specific operational plan, as if he were turning a deaf ear to the voices from the outside.

"Commander, news has come from Guangdong that the rebel army has reinforced Guangzhou City with five thousand troops.

Other coastal prefectures have also received a small number of reinforcements."

Hearing the news brought by Xiang Xinghan, Li Mu smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth.

The plan to release fake news to mobilize the rebel army was undoubtedly successful.

It seemed the rebel army hadn't reinforced many troops, but calculating military accounts wasn't just about looking at the number of troops.

The rebel army choosing to reinforce troops at this time was undoubtedly because the high command couldn't withstand the pressure and took contingency measures.

For every bit of resources invested in the Guangdong direction, the resources the rebel army invested in other regions would decrease by a bit.

The most critical point was that by relying on a series of news tricks, the rebel army actually didn't organize a great army to counterattack Guangxi at the first opportunity.

With a buffer of more than two months, the situation in Guangxi was already very different.

On the basis of the original six guards, Li Mu had added the establishment of three more guards.

It was already very close to the establishment of ten guards and twenty-two battalions during the peak period.

The direct troops in his hands had already expanded to over fifty thousand people.

Although the troops supplemented later hadn't completed military training and their combat effectiveness was worrying, quantitative change would eventually lead to qualitative change.

Adding the ten thousand recruited troops in Jing Yifeng's hands, the number of troops in the Guangxi region leaped past the sixty thousand mark.

Possessing so many troops, the most direct benefit was that the newly recaptured lost territory was quickly stabilized.

Many lurking White Lotus Sect believers were also dug out one after another.

In the hearts of the people, the Great Dayu of the past had returned.

After the hearts of the people were stabilized, the manpower and material resources invested in maintaining public order were greatly reduced.

Reaching this step, the White Lotus Holy Kingdom had already lost the best opportunity for a counterattack.

If they wanted to fight back later, the manpower, material resources, and financial resources needed would be a several-fold increase.

Advantages naturally had disadvantages.

With the rapid expansion of the army, the confidants in Li Mu's hands were becoming insufficient.

Not only had the group of retainers following him become grassroots military officers one by one.

Even the retainers of the generals under his command had become officers of the guards in various places.

Even so, there were still not enough people.

Stopping the launch of an attack on the rebel army was actually a last resort.

Expanding the army so rapidly, affecting combat effectiveness was inevitable.

When fighting a smooth battle, one wouldn't feel anything.

Once a strong enemy was encountered, the shortcoming of insufficient veteran soldiers would be exposed.

Against this background, the best choice was to disrupt the enemy's judgment and buy time for the army's training.

To fool the rebel army, he could only deceive his own people as well.

"Have the Annan people made any moves recently?"

Li Mu asked with concern.

In a game like rebellion, once a strategic judgment was wrong, there would be no second chance.

The White Lotus Holy Kingdom left him time to reorganize the army and appease the hearts of the people, which buried the bitter fruit for their defeat.

By the time the next major battle broke out, the troops that the Guangxi side could mobilize would not be twenty thousand, but a doubling increase.

Once the rebel army was wiped out, the biggest enemy would become the Annan people.

Although the enemy hadn't attacked yet, since the Annan King dared to secretly support the rebel army, they couldn't be left alone.

"The Annan people are sharpening their weapons; just at the beginning of this month, the Annan King proposed expanding the army by one hundred and fifty thousand at the court meeting.

Once the expansion plan is completed, the total strength of the Annan Kingdom will be as high as four hundred and fifty thousand.

Currently, the plan is still under discussion; the civil officials are opposing it very fiercely, and even a censor made a blood remonstrance at court, only to be stopped by the guards."

Xiang Xinghan's answer didn't make Li Mu feel surprised.

The Annan Kingdom was deeply influenced by Great Dayu culture, and those habits in officialdom were naturally learned as well.

Entering the mid-to-late dynasty, if a monarch wanted to expand the army and prepare for war, they would inevitably be boycotted by the civil official group.

The Annan Kingdom could be invincible in the Zhongnan Peninsula not because they were too strong, but because the enemy was too weak.

Many regions further south still remained in the tribal era.

The few regimes born were also mostly tribal alliances.

Whether it was productivity or military strength, they couldn't be compared with the Annan Kingdom.

In terms of war intensity, it couldn't even catch up with Great Dayu's suppression war.

Of course, after a series of victories, the Annan people's military strength had still achieved significant growth.

Constantly bullying the weak could also allow new soldiers to complete the transformation into veteran soldiers.

After winning a few more times, the morale of the army went up all at once.

If they didn't have some foundation, the Annan King wouldn't dare to have designs on Great Dayu.

"Continue to strengthen infiltration, especially the Annan government in the border regions; we must have our people there.

The status doesn't necessarily have to be too high; sometimes the small officials below can also play an important role at critical moments."

Li Mu ordered immediately.

Deep down, he had already made up his mind to arrange for people to advocate the Annan threat theory.

He didn't expect the imperial court to make up its mind to launch an expedition, but at the very least, he had to scare the civil officials in the Guangxi region.

Only when there was a foreign enemy on the side would they not desperately suppress the military generals.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 202 =====