Chapter 853: The Great War Is About to Begin

"Come here. From today on, seal the city gates. Without my orders, no one is to leave Changcheng." After pondering for a while, Xie An furrowed his brows and issued the order.

Afterwards, he looked toward the direction of Ba City, hoping only that reinforcements would arrive soon.

Currently, a six-hundred-thousand-strong army was stationed in Changcheng, while the other cities of Jiangzhou were essentially empty.

With the capabilities of the Yan King Army, taking these cities would be as easy as reaching into a bag to retrieve an object.

It was feared that in less than half a month, the entirety of northern Jiangzhou would fall, and its military spearhead would point directly at Changcheng.

Furthermore, the grain and fodder for the Changcheng army also posed a major problem.

Although they had levied heavy taxes on the people of Jiangzhou after the summer harvest, the collected grain was only enough to satisfy a million-strong army for half a year.

After all, the populations of Jiangzhou, Xiangzhou, Yuezhou, and Guizhou were not large to begin with, and there was not much fertile land for cultivation either.

Supporting a million-strong army was truly difficult.

Moreover, this time, to prevent the grain and fodder from being plundered by Yan Wang again.

Most of the grain had been transported to Bazhou, leaving only two months' worth of grain inside Changcheng.

Only when the grain supply became critical would it be transported over from Bazhou.

"If Jiangzhou, Xiangzhou, and the others are lost again, defeat and destruction will be a certainty." Thinking of the grain problem, Xie An felt as if he had been dealt a heavy blow.

It was feared that this was the reason his eldest son, Xie Bi, had wavered in his resolve.

Originally, they relied on the prefectures they participated in to collect half a year's worth of grain, but by waiting for the autumn harvest, they could collect another half year's worth; repeating this cycle, they could sustain themselves.

But once Yan Wang conquered all the prefectures on the outskirts of Bazhou, even if they had a million-strong army, it would be of no use.

Although Southern Liang had promised to sell them grain.

But even though Yizhou was a grain-producing land, it was feared that supplying both the Wu army and the Southern Liang army would not be so easy.

Moreover, Yan Wang's Qin Army was currently outside Jiameng Pass.

Once they captured Jiameng Pass and brought the flames of war to Yizhou, the farming in Yizhou would be affected, and at that time, the grain problem would become even more acute.

"Yan Wang is truly forcing us onto a dead end." Xie An smashed his fist hard against the table.

But even though the current situation was extremely unfavorable for the powerful clans, he still had no thoughts of betrayal.

Like his elder brother Xie Duan, he was unwilling to lose to the Zhao Clan royal family just like this.

Especially to lose to Yan Wang, this anomaly.

Ba City.

The news of the Yan Wang Army arriving at Anqing reached here one day later than it reached Changcheng.

The arrival of this news cast the entire Ba City under a dark cloud.

The first time the Yan Wang Army moved west, it was to cover their operation of rescuing the people.

This time, however, it was a genuine westward advance.

At the same time, along with this news, information from Jiameng Pass also arrived.

Yan Wang's Qin Army was arrayed beneath Jiameng Pass and could launch an attack at any moment.

The territory controlled by their powerful clans was being attacked by the Yan Wang Army on two fronts.

"Leave Yizhou to Ashuer and Southern Liang; we will focus all our efforts on dealing with the Prince's Personal Army. Immediately order the six-hundred-thousand-strong army in Xiangzhou to march toward Anqing.

If the Yan Wang Army attacks Changcheng, we will launch a pincer attack from both sides and strive to annihilate them!"

In the study of the temporary palace, Luse raised his fist fiercely.

Brook also nodded.

Without a doubt, after Yan Wang successfully made the people return to the three southeastern prefectures, their strategy of "strengthening the walls and clearing the fields" had failed.

Right now, the three southeastern prefectures had instead become a grain supply base for the Yan Wang Army.

Having resolved his worries in the rear, Yan Wang had launched a total offensive against them this time.

Now, they were forced into a desperate situation and could only fight with all their might.

Otherwise, they would be defeated one by one and lose even more miserably.

Liang Kai's face was so gloomy that a layer of frost could be scraped off it.

Luse, Brook, and he all hoped to continue dragging things out with Yan Wang, waiting for the deployment of new-style muskets and for the nations of the Western Lands to dispatch fleets and armies from their homelands.

But Yan Wang was clearly impatient to eliminate them.

"Brother Liang, the only plan now is to fight with our backs to the river. If we lose, the powerful clans are destroyed; if we win, the world will return to us. I, Han Zheng, am willing to serve as the vanguard, to climb mountains of blades and descend into seas of fire." Han Zheng spoke up.

Wang Zi'an said, "If I cannot return to Yuzhou, I, Wang Zi'an, would rather die on the battlefield."

"And me, Xie Duan. Aside from that traitor, the Ma Family, let us seven powerful clans bind ourselves together into one rope this time and fight to the death." Xie Duan said loudly.

Liang Kai nodded heavily. In fact, before the summer harvest, he had already sensed that Yan Wang would attack them after the summer harvest.

Now, it had indeed come to pass.

Slowly rising, he said, "Good. This time, let us kill them until not a single piece of armor remains."

Having said that, he immediately sent men to Yunzhou to request military support from Fan Xinglun, and at the same time ordered the Xiangzhou army to set out for Jiangzhou.

Next, he ordered Han Zheng, Wang Zi'an, and Xie Duan to head to Changcheng.

Among the current six-hundred-thousand-strong army in Changcheng, only two hundred thousand were his Wu state troops; the rest were all troops from their three families.

With their Heads of the Family going in person, it would surely boost the morale of the powerful clans' generals and soldiers.

Afterwards, he ordered the Crown Prince Liang Feng to strengthen defenses and step up the training of the Wu State Imperial Guard equipped with British Muskets and Artillery.

If the Yan Wang Army attacked Ba City, he would definitely make the Yan Wang Army suffer a setback.

Having decided on these matters, everyone departed.

Anqing City.

The Prince's Personal Army arrived here and rested for two days.

On the third day, the one hundred thousand soldiers of the Prince's Personal Army left eighty thousand behind to garrison Anqing, while twenty thousand soldiers were divided into two routes to advance south along both banks of Chang Hu.

"The six counties along the banks of Chang Hu have sparse garrisons; the largest, De County, only has five thousand soldiers stationed there. With the capabilities of the Prince's Personal Army, five hundred men are enough to take it. Therefore, this subordinate dares to guarantee that in just six days, all the counties of Jiangzhou outside of Changcheng can be captured." At the Nanmen of Anqing City, Zhao Xu and Chang Wei watched the soldiers depart, Chang Wei's face full of confidence.

Zhao Xu nodded; he was currently very confident in the Prince's Personal Army, which had been equipped with the Qin-style Rifle.

The current gap between the Shizu Army and them is just like when the Westerners first stepped onto the New Continent hundreds of years ago, facing the Indians with Flintlocks in their hands.

During the Opium War, under a massive Weapon generation gap, the Qing Dynasty suffered over twenty thousand casualties, while the opposing side had fewer than five hundred.

Facing the Shizu Army, he believes the Prince's Personal Army can also achieve massive battle results with minimal casualties.

Because besides the gap in firearms, the morale of the Shizu is also at an all-time low.

The people from the Four Courts even sent him such a comical piece of intelligence.

When a member of the Four Courts was gathering information, he was discovered by Xie An's eldest son, Xie Bi.

Instead of arresting this member of the Four Courts, Xie Bi actually used this member of the Four Courts to negotiate terms with him.

It is evident that those within the Shizu who are not steadfast have already begun to panic.

After all, even ants cling to life, let alone humans.

Regarding this, he did not refuse; dividing the enemy is also a means of warfare.

He promised Xie Bi that as long as he could persuade Xie An to lead his troops to surrender, he could preserve the lives of both father and son.

As for whether Xie Bi could accomplish this, he had expectations, but they were not high.

At the same time, he would not delay the rhythm of his own offensive because of this.

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