Chapter 797: The Prologue to War

Latest website: "Your Highness!"

The Steamship slowly docked at Bai Ma Du Kou, and before long, Zhao Xu stepped down from the Warship.

At this time, the generals had already arrived at the dock from Nanmen.

Seeing Yan Wang disembark, they performed a military salute.

Zhao Xu returned the salute and entered Baima County with the generals.

Arriving at the command room, Zhao Xu gazed at the Sand Table of Jinling and its surrounding areas, and he said, "Have the deployments on the opposite side been investigated clearly?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, they have been investigated clearly," said Chang Wei.

After controlling Jiangbei, he had stationed a Hot Air Balloon Troop in Baima County, specifically responsible for scouting the deployment intelligence of the opposing Shizu Army from the air.

He knew them like the back of his hand.

Picking up a pointer, he pointed to the Sand Table, "The Shizu Army has built two arc-shaped Trench fortifications outside Jinling City, deploying 300,000 troops, while simultaneously using Sandbags to construct fortifications inside Jinling City, garrisoning 100,000 soldiers, for a total of 300,000 troops inside and out."

"400,000 troops? They have truly gone all out." Zhao Xu frowned.

Chang Wei said, "These are mainly the troops of the Han Family, the Xie Family, and the Wang Family. Currently, the Xie Family only has three major cities left: Jinling, Su City, and Song City. They basically have no way to retreat and can only make a desperate gamble to fight us to the death."

Zhao Xu nodded.

This Jinling, Su City, and Song City are the contemporary Nanjing, Suzhou, and Shanghai, respectively.

Although these three cities do not occupy much of Ningzhou's territory, they are the most prosperous and densely populated areas of Ningzhou.

Because of the dense water network and the fact that it is a plain region, it also produces a great deal of grain.

It is precisely because of this that the Xie Family and others have been able to sustain themselves until now by relying on such a small area.

They were even able to expand their remaining 200,000-plus troops to 400,000 after retreating to defend Jinling.

"Also, the Mercenaries from the Western Lands are in Jinling as well." Thinking of this, Chang Wei added another sentence.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu's brows furrowed slightly.

The Jiujiang flows from west to east,

and there is a bend in the Jinling area, forming a triangle.

Jinling is at the apex of this triangle.

Moreover, except for the plain area near Jinling, the places further away along the river are all towering mountains and steep ridges, making it impossible to land.

Therefore, if one wants to go south from the East, one cannot avoid the barrier of Jinling along the river.

Of course, he had thought about going south from Jingzhou to Xiangzhou, but he gave up on it.

Because this would leave the Prince's Personal Army caught between Southern Liang and Wu.

If they penetrated deep into Xiangzhou and their supply lines were cut by them, the Prince's Personal Army would be in trouble.

Although Southern Liang and Wu are currently at odds, he cannot afford not to consider all possibilities.

Furthermore, Xiangzhou in this era truly belongs to the backwoods, and there are extremely many mountains within the region.

If it were occupied, not only would troops have to be dispersed to garrison it, but it would also pose no threat to either Wu or Southern Liang.

This is because Xiangzhou is also mountains to the east and mountains to the west.

Marching south and transporting grain and fodder is also a trouble.

It would be better to go south from the eastern region of Jiujiang.

Although this will certainly be a hard battle, once Jinling is taken, they will have a stable stronghold in Jiangnan.

Then, by advancing layer by layer, they can take all the plain areas of southern Ningzhou and Zhezhou, controlling the most important grain-producing region of Da Song.

The Shizu naturally realized this point, which is why they deployed heavy troops here to fight him for every inch of land.

"They must have made arrangements in other county cities along the river as well," Zhao Xu thought for a moment and said again.

Since the Mercenaries from the Western Lands are here, they will certainly provide the Shizu with the war experience of the Western Lands and consider things more thoroughly.

Chang Wei nodded, "That is indeed the case. Trench fortifications have also been built around the county cities along the river. Wu has supported them with 200,000 troops to guard them together with the Rich Clan of Ningzhou. If these county cities along the river are attacked, the troops in Jinling can support them at any time."

Clearing his throat, he continued, "Most importantly, it seems that in order to prevent us from winning over the common people as we did in Qizhou, they recently issued an order that once we launch an attack, they will make the common people carry their grain into the city."

"In order to resist this Prince, they no longer care about the lives of the common people." Zhao Xu's brows locked even tighter.

Combining this with Liang Kai's order for the coastal people to migrate, he figured out some of the Shizu's current strategies.

It is to increase his burden of grain and fodder, forcing him to maintain supply lines during the process of moving south.

In this way, they can hinder his attack by raiding the supply lines.

It must be said that their current strategy is not problematic.

This method is often used in wars between countries.

Pacing back and forth, Zhao Xu's expression gradually became firm.

Historically, every time Jinling was attacked, there were no clever strategies; it could only be taken by force.

This time it is his turn, and it is the same.

After all, since the county cities have also built fortifications and have troops stationed in them,

and the various cities can support each other at any time,

he might as well just bite the bullet and take Jinling directly.

For one, taking Jinling can severely dampen the arrogance of the Shizu.

For another, the Prince's Personal Army will have a stable bridgehead in Jiangnan, and grain and fodder can be transported to Jinling City.

Then, he can rely on Jinling City to take the nearby cities, and there will be no pressure on the supply lines.

Thinking of this, he said to Chang Wei, "Once the ships for crossing the river are ready, launch an attack on Jinling City. This is a hard battle; you must show this Prince's might, especially to the Mercenaries from the Western Lands—let them have a taste of our power!"

"Yes, Your Highness," Chang Wei said, shouting loudly.

The prologue to the unification war of Da Song is about to begin.