Chapter 1103: Far-reaching

The sky was clear and the grass was green, with not a cloud for ten thousand miles.

As time entered June, even Wumu City gradually began to grow hot.

After more than a day, Chang Wei, who was in Wumu City, received news of the battle at Atai Mountain.

Upon learning that the Tusman reinforcements had all been annihilated, he felt satisfied in his heart.

On one hand, he ordered Chen Hu to hand over the second Grand Duke's corpse to a squad of surrendered Tusman soldiers to be sent back; on the other, he sent this news toward Tongguan.

In about a month, the camel caravan and the intelligence arrived at Tongguan one after another.

They then reached Wuji Palace via the telegraph station at Tongguan.

"Excellent. After the Beidi Khan Court, we have now taken Wumu City. The ancestral lands of Great Song have been recovered once again. Next, only Tibet and the snowy plains to the north remain."

In the Imperial Study, Zhao Xu read the telegram, his expression excited.

With the capture of Wumu City, the territory once occupied by the Beidi was effectively fully incorporated into Great Song.

Besides this, there was also Tibet, occupied by Ashuer, and the northeastern snowy plains, occupied by the nation of Ross.

However, after Chang Wei took the Khan Court, the Ross troops previously stationed north of the Heilong River chose to retreat north.

This area was once ceded by the Beidi to the nation of Ross.

Now, it had been voluntarily abandoned by them.

Zhao Xu understood that this was naturally not because the Ross people had developed a kind heart.

They knew very well that after the fall of the Beidi, they had no ability to defend the region north of the Heilong River.

Rather than that, it was better to retreat north and garrison the fortresses they had operated in the snowy plains for many years.

At the same time, they could use their characteristic resistance to extreme cold to oppose the Great Song army.

And after the nation of Ross adopted this strategy, it was equivalent to Great Song taking the entire three northeastern provinces without wasting the slightest bit of effort.

Now, Yang Zhen had already led the Black Tortoise Army to take over these territories, and the Ningjin Railway would further extend toward the northeast.

However, for Yang Zhen, he was clearly both happy and depressed.

What he was happy about was that he hadn't wasted any effort,

and had expanded the jurisdiction of the Black Tortoise Army; what he was depressed about was that the military plan they had originally formulated for the summer had fallen through.

If he wanted to fight the nation of Ross, he would have to continue heading north, which would mean the Black Tortoise Army would have to face an even colder environment.

But even so, this still could not stop his enthusiasm for attacking the snowy plains.

It was just that Zhao Xu called a halt to the Black Tortoise Army's operations after taking the entire northeastern region.

Because they did not want to fight a three-front war simultaneously.

In the direction of Tianzhu, a war of unprecedented scale was about to break out.

In the direction of Zhongtu, Chen Hu's Gun Cavalry and Chang Wei's Central Army needed to continue attacking westward to pin down the entire Tusman Empire's military strength.

Moreover, Chang Wei's ruthless methods this time would very likely cause the Tusman Empire to focus on fighting a long-term war for hegemony in Zhongtu against the armies led by Chang Wei and Chen Hu.

In these two directions, one direction had a large scale of war, and the ammunition consumed would be immense.

The other direction had great difficulties in ammunition supply and would consume more manpower and material resources.

If he were to order Yang Zhen to go deep into the snowy plains to fight the Ross army, this three-front war would be difficult for Great Song's finances to support.

For Zhao Xu, this was precisely what he did not wish to see.

Because if that were the case, reckless and desperate expansion would become a disaster.

He would indeed take vast territories in a short time, but the huge consumption that followed would empty Great Song's treasury and ultimately drag down Great Song's development.

Therefore, he immediately decided to stop the war on the northern front, only letting Yang Zhen station troops at the Heilong River and temporarily adopt a defensive posture.

Once the war in Tianzhu was finished, he would then wait for an opportunity to head north.

"Your Majesty, please do not use troops in these two directions for the time being. Great Song has transitioned from chaos to order, and everyone longs for peace. Frequent warfare will make both soldiers and the common people weary of war. Most importantly, if a large army is stationed abroad for years, it is easy for them to become regional warlords; after all, when a general is in the field, he may not accept the sovereign's orders."

Liu Fu was also in the Imperial Study; he had originally been reporting government affairs to Zhao Xu.

Hearing Zhao Xu mention Tibet and the northeast direction, he could no longer sit still, thinking Zhao Xu was going to use troops again.

"Hahaha... Chief Councilor Liu need not worry, I have no such intention." Zhao Xu shook his head helplessly.

Everything Liu Fu said, he had naturally considered in full.

Therefore, after defeating the Western Lands Allied Forces in the Tianzhu war, he would stop to consolidate the war gains of this period and would no longer blindly expand the war.

As for the direction of Zhongtu, he had originally been bluffing.

Once the Tianzhu war ended, the Central Army would retreat, leaving the main responsibility to Chen Hu's Gun Cavalry.

And regarding dealing with the Tusman, he would not rely entirely on war; he already had an idea to dismantle the Tusman hegemony in Zhongtu.

As for the regionalization of the armies abroad that Liu Fu mentioned, he was naturally also on guard.

After all, he was now the Emperor, and the things he considered had to be more far-reaching.

The Western Regions Protectorate, the Southern Protectorate, as well as the armies of the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and White Tiger all guarded their respective regions; over a long period, it was very easy for them to form interest groups.

And as for the method to deal with this hidden danger, having absorbed the experience of various dynasties, he naturally already had precautions in place.

The first rule: the Great Song army must eat the imperial grain, which meant keeping the army's finances in the hands of the Imperial Court.

The second rule was also one he was about to implement immediately.

Important generals such as Qin Shan, Guan Tong, Chen Hu, and Ma Han would be rotated every three years.

This year Qin Shan would command the Azure Dragon Army, but three years later he might have to go and command the White Tiger Army, thereby preventing the possibility of each army forming small cliques.

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