Chapter 403: Chapter 213: Deploying Troops for the Northern Expedition
Translator: 549690339
During such a long time, Lu Yuan was waiting to gather troops.
His 100,000-strong army, stationed here every day, saw several tens of thousands of silver tales flow out.
How could he bear such expenses by merely waiting?
What he was waiting for was not time but silver tales.
Unless your court helps me pay for this expenditure, Lu Yuan won’t be willing to suffer this loss.
However, regarding Lu Yuan’s words, Shangguan Ming just smiled: “In military campaigns, prudence must always come first. Consider defeat before considering victory. Now that the troops haven’t arrived yet, how can we move the army rashly?
As for the consumption of food and fodder.
My command of more than 100,000 troops, from Linhai and Yuzhang Prefectures, have never complained about the long-distance supply of food.
Given that Changsha has only 100,000 troops and is within the country, they can be supplied locally. So how can they not be supported?”
For the Da Yue court, after experiencing a series of failures and the death of a substantial number of troops under its command, the loss of cities and territories and shrinking control was significant.
But correspondingly, the original huge financial pressure suddenly vanished.
Especially for Lu Yuan’s 100,000-strong army, since his independent founding of the nation, the finances and army provisions were raised by the state of Changsha.
Without the burden of these 100,000 people, the financial expenditure that the court had to bear consisted of only Shangguan Ming’s and Yang Jing’s 140,000 troops, 50,000 Yangtze Navy soldiers, and Bai Mengyang’s 20,000 Tianmen defenders.
Although these three forces added up to 210,000 soldiers,
For the court controlling Yuzhang and Linhai Prefectures, there was more than enough supply to support these troops’ financial expenses.
By taking out only half of the annual fiscal revenue, it would be sufficient to support these troops.
Under such circumstances, let alone waiting for half a year, even if it took three or ten years, the court would not feel threatened.
Even with darker thoughts.
Actually, by dragging it out like this, it might not be a bad thing for the court.
Because Yuzhang and Linhai Prefectures are wealthy, and the court also controls Guangling and Jianan Prefectures, with the foundation of these four prefectures.
After ten years of recuperation, more than half of their vitality could be restored.
By then, the court could muster another 200,000 or 300,000 troops to fight the world.
At that time, if Lu Yuan’s army was still being dragged down and constantly bleeding and consuming resources, he would have difficulty recovering his vitality.
How would he resist when the court attacked their forces?
Once Lu Yuan is defeated, without his protection, both Southsea and Ninghai nations may surrender without a fight.
By then, perhaps it would not need Shen Qiu’s proposal to spend twenty or thirty years recuperating and reclaiming their lost territories within another two or three decades.
Perhaps in just ten years, the court could regain the past territories and once again prosper.
Therefore, for the court at this time, dragging out the conflict for a longer period was actually a good thing.
However, with Shangguan Ming’s calculations, there was no way that Lu Yuan would genuinely comply with the other’s wishes.
Although his current financial strength could support his army of 100,000 for five or six years.
Even with the initial agreement with Yan Wangqiu and Su Xuange, with their help in sharing the military expenses, the possibility of fighting for ten years was not out of the question.
But if he had so much money, wouldn’t it be better to raise an additional 100,000 troops and use it to develop local infrastructure and strengthen national power?
Why waste it here?
So, after hearing Shangguan Ming’s words, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but sneer, “If the court thinks this way, then don’t blame me for disbanding my troops and refusing to accompany you.
Moreover, if you don’t want to fight, just return Baling City to me.
This place is of great importance to my country, and I can’t have irrelevant people stationed here.”
According to the agreement with the court, Baling City was leased to them until the Zhou people were repelled.
Since the court no longer has any intention of fighting the Zhou people, the conditions for leasing the city naturally become invalid.
By then, Lu Yuan would certainly not tolerate others stationing a hundred thousand troops on his land and would naturally want to drive these people out.
As for whether these people would abandon Tianmen Prefecture City and the Yangtze Defense Line after leaving?
Regarding this, Lu Yuan just wanted to say.
If the court dared to do so, he would dare to have his entire nation surrender.
At worst, he could just submit to the Zhou people and found a fiefdom elsewhere while keeping his kingship. As for the court’s side, that might not be the case.
“You…”
Hearing Lu Yuan’s words, Shangguan Ming stood up in anger as his calculations couldn’t be achieved.
Yang Jing, who was next to him, quickly stepped forward to mediate, “Alright, Brother Shangguan, King of Changsha, don’t quarrel. We are all on the same side, and this display does not befit our status.”
Holding Shangguan Ming back, Yang Jing looked at Lu Yuan and said, “General Lu’s words do make sense. Our hundreds of thousands of troops are stationed here, consuming resources every day without making a move. It is indeed difficult to justify.
How about this?
Let’s lead our troops to Baling City first. Then we can each allocate a portion of our troops to cross the river in advance and assist Wuan Marquis.
Once the situation in the city has been stabilized, we can continue to send troops northward to gradually reclaim the lost territories of Tianmen Prefecture.
In the meantime, we can also wait for reinforcements from Southsea and Ninghai nations.
What does King of Changsha think of this arrangement?”
Hearing these words, Lu Yuan pondered and finally nodded slowly, “If that’s the case, I have no objections.”
Upon receiving the response, Yang Jing looked at Shangguan Ming, who snorted coldly, “So be it.”
As his words fell, the atmosphere in the room instantly eased.
Then both sides resumed discussions on how to deploy troops to Baling City.
Eventually, due to limited trust between the two parties, it was finally decided.
Shangguan Ming’s court soldiers would take the same boat northward, as they had come. Lu Yuan, on the other hand, would travel by land, taking the official road to Baling City.