Chapter 288: Simulation

After a journey of more than a day, Zhao Xu arrived at Yancheng.

The arrival of the Xie Family's grain solved his final worry.

He only needed to wait for the soldiers of the Nanfang Camp to complete their three months of training.

Once all the flintlocks in the Nanfang District were delivered, he would be able to attack Jinzhou.

For him, this timing could not be delayed for too long either.

The reason was simple: if things continued this way, he would only be able to suffer the exploitation of the Jinzhou Rich Clans and use high-priced coal.

And this was unacceptable, because it severely affected the development of Yanzhou.

"Your Highness, according to your instructions, the Jinzhou sand table is complete," said Chang Wei.

After returning to the Prince's Mansion to rest for an hour, Zhao Xu set off for the North Camp.

Now there was a special courtyard in the North Camp, and the rooms inside were all used to store sand tables.

The plaque hanging in front of the courtyard gate bore the five characters for "War Command Institute."

Following behind Chang Wei were the generals who were about to head to Jinzhou for the campaign.

From the rank of Captain all the way down to the level of Colonel.

Zhao Xu entered the room first.

This room was very spacious, and at this moment, a five-meter-long sand table was placed in the center.

The mountains, rivers, and strategic passes of Jinzhou were visible at a glance on the sand table.

On both sides of the sand table were small red and blue Small Banners, which were used during simulated confrontations.

Zhao Xu walked around the sand table once and finally stood on the east side of it, "Now you are divided into red and blue teams; red represents the Prince's Personal Army, and blue represents the Xiliang Army. Now, conduct a Sand Table Simulation of this campaign."

The Prince's Personal Army had been equipped with Artillery, and now they were also equipped with Flintlocks.

This army was transitioning from a traditional ancient army to a modern army in a short period of time.

But for an army, it cannot just be the Weapon that transitions; the tactics and decision-making systems must also transition.

He had explained many tactics to the generals in the lecture hall.

And the Sand Table Simulation was a way to simulate and train these tactics.

After a pause, he continued, "This Prince will lead the blue team to command the Xiliang Army, and Chang Wei, you will lead the red team to command the Prince's Personal Army."

The other generals exchanged glances, and after a brief discussion, they split into two groups and stood behind the two men respectively.

Chang Wei chuckled twice, "Your Highness, this subordinate will not decline."

He knew very well that if he were to command the Xiliang Army, there would be no need for this simulation to continue.

Yan Wang would defeat him with lightning speed.

At the same time, Yan Wang playing the Xiliang Army could also test their ability to command against a force equipped with firearms.

"Just use your best skills," Zhao Xu laughed, "But let me remind you, the Xiliang Army under this Prince's command will be 'hacking'."

"'Hacking'?" Chang Wei and the generals looked confused, "What is that?"

"Simply put, this Prince has the right to make the Xiliang Army stronger at will, allowing the Xiliang Army to exert its maximum strength, or to fight beyond its maximum strength."

Upon hearing this, Chang Wei immediately became anxious, "Your Highness, isn't that cheating?"

"It is indeed cheating. What this Prince wants is for you to be able to put up a good fight even under cheating conditions. But don't worry, this Prince won't go too far," Zhao Xu raised an eyebrow.

Chang Wei and the generals behind him immediately wore bitter expressions.

However, since Yan Wang's order was given, they could only grit their teeth and endure it.

Meanwhile, the generals behind Zhao Xu were all in high spirits.

They shared the same thought as Zhao Xu: they wanted to crush them.

"Begin." With no other questions, Zhao Xu had one of the generals on his side insert a blue Small Banner outside Feihu Pass.

This was the camp currently set up by Xiliang at Feihu Pass.

To enter Jinzhou, one must first conquer this camp.

Seeing this, Chang Wei began to ponder, while simultaneously having the generals behind him discuss how to take this camp with the minimum cost.

A quarter of an hour later, Chang Wei and the others nodded.

Chang Wei said: "This subordinate will use four thousand spearmen as the vanguard, eight thousand flintlockmen in the center, two thousand Light Cavalry in the rear, and order the artillerymen to establish an artillery position on this hill. The Artillery will bombard the Xiliang camp to cause chaos, then order the vanguard and center to advance and attack. If they collapse, the Cavalry will pursue and kill them."

Zhao Xu nodded slightly; Chang Wei's tactic was quite good.

Hearing Chang Wei's words, the generals behind Zhao Xu began to rack their brains, thinking about how they would respond if they were the Xiliang commander.

Then they began to discuss.

Zhao Xu was also thinking about all the possibilities.

A moment later, the generals told him their summarized thoughts.

"Before your army appeared in front of Feihu Pass, my Xiliang spies had already discovered it and reported it to the main camp. Our army will take advantage of the night to ambush one thousand archers and two thousand shield-bearers in the forests on both sides. Once your army leaves the pass, the camp will send out another one thousand archers to attack your vanguard, and at the same time, two thousand Iron Pagoda will charge out, causing your vanguard to fall into chaos. The flintlockmen will be exposed to the Iron Pagoda, and at this moment, the ambushing troops on both sides will charge out together..." Zhao Xu held a command baton and tapped lightly in front of Feihu Pass.

"Your Highness, the Xiliang Iron Pagoda cannot disrupt the vanguard of the Prince's Personal Army," said Chang Wei.

After saying this, Chang Wei regretted it; no one could be sure about what happens on the battlefield, not to mention that Yan Wang had the right to cheat.

Thus, Chang Wei and the generals discussed again how to avoid encountering such a situation.

"Before leaving the pass, this subordinate will order a thorough search of the forests on both sides, and only move the main army once it is safe. If ambushes are discovered, we will set them on fire. At the same time, we will order the soldiers to carry Caltrops and place them in front of the battle formation. Once the Iron Pagoda is within one hundred meters, the spearmen will kneel, the flintlockmen will perform Three-Stage Shooting, and at the same time, the Artillery will bombard..." Chang Wei said with a furrowed brow, his expression becoming serious.

Zhao Xu laughed softly.

Compared to the roughness of last time, Chang Wei's tactics this time were clearly much more refined.

And this was the benefit of the simulation: gathering everyone's strength to pose difficult problems.

Chang Wei and the others gathered their collective strength to solve them, so that the generals would be able to consider all situations when they went to the battlefield.

Next, Zhao Xu posed many more difficult problems, even adding armor-piercing capabilities to the Xiliang archers.

He also gave the Xiliang soldiers cold weapons like hammers that could deal with Plate Armor.

Although Chang Wei and the others were suffering immensely, each of them acted as if they were truly making decisions on the battlefield.

It was not until evening fell that the room gradually grew dark.

Chang Wei pushed the army to the foot of Jincheng, and Zhao Xu announced that today's confrontation exercise was over.

"How does it feel?" The generals all arrived in the courtyard, and Zhao Xu asked with a smile.

This was the first time the generals had formally conducted a Sand Table Simulation.

Chang Wei's face bore the exhaustion left behind by high-intensity thinking; he said, "I must say, this Sand Table is truly useful. Not only them, but this subordinate has also discovered many of my own shortcomings."

With excitement hidden in his eyes, he said, "From now on, this subordinate will set a rule to have the generals come here regularly to simulate warfare. Only in this way can their command abilities be improved. At the same time, before every battle, this subordinate will also have the participating generals conduct a simulation."

Zhao Xu nodded, "That is the right way. Next, there will be Sand Tables for other prefectures; there will be plenty for you all to practice with."

Upon hearing this, Chang Wei's eyes erupted with a sharp glint.

This Sand Table not only provided them with a place for simulations.

It also allowed them to understand the terrain of Jinzhou more intuitively.

For the generals, this was equally important.