Chapter 998: Western Regions Protectorate

"Western Regions Protectorate!" Chen Hu was stunned for a moment.

After Yan Wang conquered Luzon, he established the Southern Protectorate in Luzon.

The generals in the army were also spreading this news, and many envied the navy.

Because this Protectorate was equivalent to armies like the Vermilion Bird and Azure Dragon, responsible for guarding a region.

There were even rumors that as the Great Song army expanded its territory, other Protectorates would be established.

The five armies, including the White Tiger and Azure Dragon, would also transition from merely guarding the Great Song borders to being responsible for a Protectorate, overseeing even more vast areas.

Therefore, when Yan Wang said he would let him independently take charge of the Western Regions Protectorate, he was truly flattered.

This meant he would be like Qin Shan, Guan Tong, and the others, standing on his own.

Chang Wei and Yang Feng heard this, exchanged a glance, and nodded one after another.

They also expressed their approval of Zhao Xu's decision.

It would not be appropriate for the White Tiger Army or the Black Tortoise Army to be in charge of this Western Regions Protectorate.

Because the terrain from the northern Grassland to the Western Regions was extremely vast, yet very desolate.

Sometimes, there was not a soul for a thousand miles.

Compared to the five armies, which were primarily infantry, it was clear that the Gun Cavalry under Chen Hu's command was better suited to govern the entire Grassland, while simultaneously continuing to expand westward to extend Great Song's sphere of influence to the various nations of the Western Regions.

"You heard correctly; it is to let you take charge of the Western Regions Protectorate. After this battle, the Gun Cavalry of each army will return to their respective units. You will then recruit more soldiers to add to your command, bringing your forces to one hundred thousand: eighty thousand cavalry and twenty thousand infantry," Zhao Xu said with a smile.

Just like with the Southern Protectorate, he prepared to adapt to local conditions for the area under the jurisdiction of the Western Regions Protectorate.

Taking advantage of the current winter season, he would let Chen Hu expand his army and train. When spring arrived next year, he would have Chen Hu sweep across the Grassland, and after taking the entire northern Grassland, continue to advance west, extending all the way to the Western Regions of Tianshan.

For this vast region, just like the Nanzhan Continent, he would have the Imperial Court dispatch officials to govern it directly, completely incorporating it into the Great Song.

And further west, it concerned his strategic layout in Zhongtu.

Judging from the intelligence collected by the Four Courts, Ashuer had been fighting a nation called Tusman in the Western Regions for these past years.

And in recent years, he had suffered repeated defeats, losing quite a bit of territory.

It could be said that the entire core region of Zhongtu was now controlled by Tusman, which still had a tendency to continue its aggression.

This was also one of the reasons he was eager to establish the Western Regions Protectorate.

There was another reason, which was that with the arrival of the electric power industry era and breakthroughs in technologies like internal combustion, the Great Song would inevitably have to face the important strategic energy source of petroleum.

The Great Song was a country poor in petroleum. Perhaps now, because the industrial scale was not large, the demand for petroleum was not high, and domestic oil fields could cope.

But as industry continued to flourish, this problem would inevitably have to be solved.

The Great Song needed a stable source of petroleum energy and even needed to establish a secure petroleum import corridor.

Since that was the case, he could not allow such an unstable force to exist in Zhongtu.

As far as he knew, in the current Zhongtu region, most countries were subservient to the Tusman Empire.

The Tusman Empire could be said to be the true hegemon of Zhongtu.

Even its arch-enemy, the Great Yue Kingdom, had to bow to its will.

And this Great Yue Kingdom was a nation in the contemporary Persia region.

"Your Highness, this..." Chen Hu still had some misgivings, worrying that he would not be up to the task, so he declined.

Zhao Xu then explained his strategic purpose for establishing the Western Regions Protectorate to him.

He understood Chen Hu; if he asked him to be a high-ranking regional official, he would be unwilling, but if it meant charging at the front for him, he would definitely be the first to volunteer.

Sure enough, upon learning that the Western Regions Protectorate was so important.

After a long silence, Chen Hu gritted his teeth and said, "Your Highness entrusting such a heavy responsibility to this subordinate is a sign of your trust. To decline further would be ungrateful. Please rest assured, Your Highness, this subordinate will definitely give you a Western Regions where ten thousand nations submit."

"That's the spirit!" Chang Wei gave a thumbs up.

Yang Feng was also stroking his beard, a smile appearing on his face.

He was old, and now he was very willing to promote the younger generation.

After discussing the matter of the Western Regions Protectorate, Zhao Xu changed the subject.

"This battle of the enemy's siege against the Great Song has only ended in the north, but it is still continuing in other directions. Next, it is time to turn our attention to the south."

Chang Wei nodded, "This time, the machine guns performed excellently on the Yongzhou battlefield. We can provide them to the Azure Dragon Army and the Vermilion Bird Army, letting them go on a killing spree, and letting Jiaozhi, Piaoman, and the Westerners behind them taste our power."

"That is natural, but I believe the war in the south is more severe than the war in the north. We should prepare thoroughly before launching an offensive," Zhao Xu said.

If one counted the vassal armies from colonies like Jiaozhi, Piaoman, and Tianzhu, it was clear that the enemy's forces in the south were greater than the Northern Di, and their equipment was better, and the terrain was more complex.

To reduce unnecessary casualties, he believed it was necessary to wait until the machine guns were fully equipped and the quantity of metal bullets was sufficient.

And these two things, due to production capacity issues, could not be satisfied in the short term.

Especially the metal bullets.

This battle in Yongzhou had basically emptied the bullets accumulated by the Armament Department during this period.

So he pondered for a while and said, "Just like in the north, let the soldiers have a peaceful New Year, and at the same time, have each army select a group of machine gunners to come for training."

"This old official thinks so too." Yang Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

He was responsible for logistics and frequently interacted with Wang Ying, so he understood the current situation of the Armament Department.

Chang Wei also nodded.

Although he was eager to eliminate the enemy, he also agreed with Yan Wang's philosophy of minimizing casualties as much as possible.

Suddenly thinking of something, he said: "By the way, Your Highness, the Northern Di and the Western Regions are now handled by the Western Regions Protectorate, but what about the Extreme North occupied by the Ross people?"

"The Black Tortoise Army will be responsible for that," Zhao Xu said.

The Western Regions Protectorate would be responsible for the Grassland and the Western Regions, and the Black Tortoise Army would naturally be responsible for the vast Extreme North Snow Plains.

Usually, the two could also cooperate with each other.

However, these were all his plans; next, it would inevitably take a series of wars to achieve his goals.

After all, the Great Song's enemies would not easily spit out the territory they had occupied, nor would they sit idly by and watch the Great Song expand its sphere of influence.

The four of them chatted for half an hour, and as it grew late, Zhao Xu finally let them return.

At this moment, Yang Feng thought of something, stopped in his tracks, and said, "Your Highness, this old subject wishes to have a word with the Imperial Concubine."

Zhao Xu revealed a strange expression, and seeing that Yang Feng had no intention of explaining, he nodded.

Yang Feng went away for a while, then returned.

The three of them left the Prince's Mansion together.

Returning to the bedchamber, Zhao Xu had just sat down when Yang Susu suddenly walked over with a grin and said, "Your Highness, there is a joyous event at hand."

"What joyous event?" Zhao Xu was baffled.

Yang Susu smiled and said, "Prime Minister Liu is young and has found a good match; does that count as a joyous event?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xu became interested.

Liu Fu had been through thick and thin with him, and over these years, he had truly been his right-hand man, taking on a massive amount of government affairs for him.

He had even been too busy to be interested in marriage, so had his heart finally been stirred?

"The State Duke didn't just come to find you earlier to ask you to act as a matchmaker, did he?" Zhao Xu asked.

Yang Susu nodded, and just as she was about to speak, she suddenly covered her mouth and made a retching motion.

Zhao Xu was startled and hurriedly supported Yang Susu, then he suddenly realized, "Let's put aside Liu Fu's joyous event for now; there is already a joyous event in the Prince's Mansion right now."

Please bookmark "Starting Today I Shall Be a Feudal Prince" for everyone: () The update speed of "Starting Today I Shall Be a Feudal Prince" on the Maiden Student Network is the fastest.