Chapter 256: The Situation

"What! Jincheng has fallen." Zhao Xu was shocked.

During this period, although Jinzhou was in a state of turmoil, it had remained under control.

It relied on Jincheng, which was guarded by the Imperial Army.

With the cooperation of the Ma Family Army, they had generally been trading blows with Western Liang.

Especially after he provided a batch of Armor to the Ma Family, the Ma Family even achieved a small victory in a field battle, annihilating five thousand Western Liang Foot-Climbing Army.

Therefore, when the Yanzhou rebellion occurred, no major trouble arose in the west of Yanzhou.

Unexpectedly, the situation had now taken a sharp turn for the worse.

"Jincheng has high walls and thick ramparts; how could it be suddenly breached by Western Liang?" Calming down, Zhao Xu suddenly felt something was amiss.

It was not as if Western Liang had never attacked Jincheng before, but they had been repelled by the Imperial Army soldiers several times.

"The Imperial Army soldiers who fled to Feihu Pass said there was a traitor in the Imperial Army; Captain Cui Yan defected to Western Liang and led his subordinates in mutiny. When I was in Western Liang, I felt he was no good," Chang Wei said, gritting his teeth. He hated traitors more than anything in his life.

Zhao Xu's expression turned gloomy.

Once Jincheng was lost, Jinzhou was completely finished.

Previously, the main threat Yanzhou faced was the Northern Di, but now there was also Western Liang.

As far as he knew, the Emperor of Western Liang, Tuoba Hao, was a very ambitious man.

Since ascending the throne, he had set his sights on Jinzhou, claiming it was the ancestral land of Western Liang.

In addition to attacking Western Liang, he adopted a defensive stance against the Northern Di, but struck at Gaochang to expand Western Liang's territory.

He believed that after taking Jinzhou, this Emperor of Western Liang would not stop and would certainly offend Yanzhou.

"How many troops are guarding Feihu Pass?" Zhao Xu asked.

"Five thousand," Chang Wei said with a worried look. "To be safe, I believe it should be expanded to ten thousand, and at the same time, one hundred pieces of Artillery should be transferred there."

Zhao Xu nodded. Now, no one could predict what action Western Liang would take next.

The most prudent course of action was to strengthen the defense of Feihu Pass.

"Send all the Artillery newly manufactured by the Armament Bureau to Feihu Pass," he said.

The production of Artillery at the Armament Bureau had never stopped.

The Artilleryman training grounds outside Yancheng had also been training new Artillerymen continuously.

After a pause, he said to Chang Wei: "The training of new recruits must keep up. The Emperor will not tolerate Western Liang occupying Jinzhou. Once an imperial decree comes down, I am afraid I will have to send troops to Jinzhou together with the Ma Family. We cannot always rely on these thirty thousand veteran soldiers to fight."

"Yes, Your Highness. The thirty thousand new recruits recruited in Shanggu Commandery have been training for over two months, so they are barely usable," Chang Wei thought for a moment and said, feeling quite troubled himself.

He had thought that with the Northern Di suing for peace this time, Yanzhou could have a period of stable days.

He could train his troops in peace, but he did not expect that one wave would subside only for another to rise.

Zhao Xu paced back and forth.

As Yan Wang, he had to consider all the current circumstances.

With Western Liang causing trouble, the Northern Di might not hesitate to tear up their promises and head south again once they saw the opportunity.

After pondering for a while, he said: "Transfer these thirty thousand soldiers to Feihu Pass to continue their training, and send the veteran soldiers to Yanguan to prepare for the unexpected."

Chang Wei understood and nodded heavily.

After discussing this matter, Zhao Xu ordered Chang Wei to go back and make preparations, while he himself returned to the Prince's mansion and wrote a memorial to be sent to Jingshi.

With such a major event happening in Jinzhou, he could not pretend he did not know.

Just as the soldier delivering the letter left, Liu Fu arrived at the Prince's mansion.

"Your Highness, the official in charge of the Border Market at Yanguan sent back news that the first batch of Northern Di merchants has arrived, and the merchants of the powerful clans have also arrived; trade has now begun," Liu Fu said, frowning. "However, according to the official, these Northern Di merchants are unwilling to sell Warhorses to the Yanzhou Trading Firm, but are instead actively selling them to the merchants of the powerful clans."

"The Northern Di hate me to the bone, so it is normal for them not to sell to me, but selling to the merchants of the powerful clans is likely problematic, isn't it?" Just as Jinzhou was in trouble, the Border Market opened; he did not know whether to be happy or unhappy.

"Could it be that while in Jingshi, the powerful clans colluded with the Northern Di? With their nature, it is not impossible," Liu Fu said with a face full of displeasure. He always measured them with the most malicious attitude, just like the Yuan Family back then.

But facts proved that these people were even more evil than he had imagined.

"That is possible. Besides Warhorses, are they restricting the trading firm from buying other things?" Zhao Xu asked again.

"There are also things like ox tendons and ox horns."

Zhao Xu nodded. In general, as long as it was supplies related to war, the Northern Di would not sell them to him.

In this way, he really had no way to deal with it.

After all, if they said they would not sell, they were selling to other powerful clan merchants, which did not violate the agreement of the Border Market.

"Hehe, that is fine then. Just let the trading firm buy cattle, sheep, young livestock, and lard," Zhao Xu said.

During the last Autumn Hunt Battle against the Northern Di, they captured over sixty thousand Warhorses.

These sixty thousand-plus Warhorses were enough to equip thirty thousand Cavalry.

Out of the one hundred and fifty thousand Prince's Personal Army, having thirty thousand Cavalry was, in his opinion, about enough.

When it came down to it, his advantage was firearms.

This required the army to maintain a large proportion of Infantry.

If the proportion of Cavalry was too large, the Infantry would have to be reduced.

His advantage would then also be reduced.

However, if he could buy Warhorses, he should still try to buy some.

Firstly, for backup, and secondly, for the sake of Yanzhou's horse administration.

The Great Song originally had no land for raising horses, and the horse administration had collapsed.

Such an important resource as Warhorses could not always be held at the throat by the Northern Di.

By introducing superior Warhorses for breeding, once there were more horses in the future, it would not only be possible to maintain the Cavalry but also provide the common people with draft animals for transportation.

He still remembered when he was a child, it was an era when cars were not very popular.

Among the common people, there were still teams using horse-drawn carts to transport red bricks.

"Cattle and sheep are fine, but why does Your Highness need lard? Could it be that Your Highness intends to feed it to the soldiers of the Prince's Personal Army?" Liu Fu sighed slightly, "The treasury does not seem to have reached the point of withholding the soldiers' rations..."

Zhao Xu rolled his eyes, "You are overthinking it; just do as I say, this thing will have great use in the future."

Seeing that he had guessed wrong, Liu Fu laughed sheepishly.

However, he felt a surge of excitement at the same time.

Every time Yan Wang said this, it meant something new was about to be brought into the world.

Zhao Xu could not be bothered to pay him any mind, his thoughts still lingering on the matter of Xiliang.

Jincheng.

Tuoba Wuji walked along the streets of Jincheng, which were stained red with blood.

The soles of his feet made a "squelch" sound as he stepped on the bloody water.

Although the battle had ended more than two days ago, the blood of the Great Song Imperial Army on the uneven ground had not yet dried.

"Leader, the city has been searched thoroughly; all the Great Song Imperial Army soldiers we could find have been killed," a Xiliang Main General approached and said.

In the Xiliang military system, the commander leading troops on an expedition is called the Main Leader, with Main Generals set under his command, each Main General leading ten thousand men.

Under the Main General are Acting Generals, each Acting General leading five thousand men, and below them are Assistant Generals.

Tuoba Wuji remained expressionless.

After capturing Jincheng, his first order was to slaughter the surrendered Great Song Imperial Army soldiers.

For every Xiliang Royal Clan member, they are born with a hatred for Great Song.

Especially regarding Jinzhou; from the time they were old enough to understand, they were told that this place belonged to Xiliang.

The Great Song Imperial Army on the land of Jinzhou are robbers, and the Song People living in Xiliang are thieves.

Therefore, in the wars between Jinzhou and Great Song, Xiliang never leaves any Great Song soldiers alive.

Even the captured Great Song commoners are sold as slaves to Xiliang merchants.

"Well done. After more than one hundred and fifty years, Jincheng has finally returned to Xiliang. From now on, we will never lose it again." Tuoba Wuji stretched out his arms and looked up at the sky.

The Main General's face also held an irrepressible excitement.

Jincheng is a holy land in the heart of every Xiliang person.

For the sake of this place, they are willing to sacrifice their own lives.