Chapter 507: Chapter 248: Long-term Endeavors_3
Your Majesty, please forgive my presumption, but this is merely wishful thinking.”
With this pretext, Li Xian made a calculation. As the numbers added up, he couldn’t help but become more and more desperate.
To be honest,
The Jinling court has 320,000 troops, which already sounds like a lot.
However, nearby Ning Country, there are only enemy nations. In the four prefectures, there is not a single rear area.
There are simply too many places to defend.
When the nearly 10,000-mile border is spread out, the 320,000 troops are filled in, and they can’t even make a wave of sound. They disappear completely.
This is why Li Xian previously stated that the court cannot start a war now, nor do they have the soldiers to fight it.
Are they really going to rely on the 50,000 forbidden troops and 50,000 naval forces, without an Inborn Grandmaster commanding them, to suppress Lu Yuan who is now a new generation of war god?
It seems impossible, right?
But if they follow his suggestion, and delay for ten years, the court can then deploy 250,000 forbidden troops and 50,000 navy.
Moreover, within ten years, with the foundation of Coastal Aristocratic Family, perhaps they could train another Inborn Grandmaster to fill the vacancy left by the death of Wuan Marquis.
In that case, ten years later, Shen Qiu personally takes command and leads the 300,000 land and sea forces in a massive eastward campaign. Wouldn’t this situation be better than the present?
Wait another ten years, until 20 years later, the number of troops that the court can deploy would be a staggering 500,000. They could even dispatch two or three Inborn Grandmasters.
At that point, their strength would be even greater.
If by that time, Marquis of Wuping, Xie Ning, from Jiuzhen prefecture had not rebelled, and Jiuzhen prefecture was still in the court’s hands, then towards the south, the court could also deploy 100,000 troops and one Inborn Grandmaster.
Xichuan and Hanzhong, the Two Countries, if they remain obedient, could also gather 50,000 to 60,000 troops and two Inborn Grandmasters.
By these calculations, twenty years later, when the court’s strength has recovered,
Under ideal circumstances, for the war of subduing and exterminating Changsha and the Three Nations, the available forces would amount to 700,000, and the number of Inborn Grandmasters that could be mobilized would be five or six.
By then, Nanhai Country’s Yan Wangqiu would have long passed away, the rebel Three Nations will have one less Grandmaster, and the Nanhai Country will be even weaker.
In such a situation, wouldn’t it be easy for the court to invade and annihilate the Three Nations and recover the Five Prefectures?
Time is on the side of the court.
With the foundation of Yuzhang and Linhai, they only need to give these two prefectures some time to catch their breath, and they would truly not be inferior to the rebel Three Nations.
“50,000 forbidden troops, 50,000 naval forces…”
After Shen Qiu heard Li Xian’s count, and the chilling numbers, he couldn’t help but fall silent.
The anger that had risen earlier was extinguished by the cold reality, like a bucket of water being poured over it.
Indeed,
Even if he was furious and resentful, the cold reality was right before him, so what could he do?
Should he really rely on these 100,000 troops, without an Inborn Grandmaster, to fight a war of extermination?
It was as if they weren’t fighting a war, but instead sending the court’s already scant resources to their deaths.
So after weighing the situation in his heart, Shen Qiu couldn’t help but sigh and asked, “As for Changsha Country, is it true that they have more than 200,000 troops?”
As he spoke, this Jianwu Heavenly Son’s tone had already softened.
Seeing that his persuasion was taking effect, Li Xian was overjoyed and hurriedly continued, “Your Majesty, to be precise, including the county soldiers, they have 240,000 soldiers.
Moreover, within Changsha Country, they have implemented the Militia Corps system; during the slack farming season, they also gather village volunteers for training.
Given the current population and territory of Changsha Country, the scale of these militia volunteers should be between 500,000 and 600,000.
So, in the event of a war for the annihilation of a nation, Changsha Country could field up to 800,000 soldiers. Furthermore, they have both the Changsha King and Queen, two Inborn Grandmasters within the nation.
With such strength, there is no way the court could destroy them without having at least more than 500,000 elite soldiers and three or four Inborn Grandmasters.”
Although the specific size of a country’s army is a closely guarded state secret, Changsha Country was too recent a nation for this to be the case.
From the establishment of the country on the Front Yue Hongdao’s 7th year, 6th month, 20th day, to the present day of Jianwu’s 1st year, 12th month, 27th day, it has not even been two and a half years.
Within such a short period, although Lu Yuan has continuously opened Enke, constantly winning over local scholars, and has also constantly expanded his military and recruited martial artists to serve him,
No matter how well he does this, he cannot gather all hearts and minds or make everyone truly loyal.
The name of the legitimate Yue regime still exists, and Ning Country, which succeeded Yue, also possesses legitimacy.
This legitimacy is still very attractive to those scholars and martial artists.
Moreover, although the rise of Changsha Country is impressive currently, it is not as powerful as Ning Country.
There is no problem at present, but once the court recuperates and sends troops, who knows whether they will be able to withstand it?
Therefore, driven by this mentality, many people stepped onto two boats, making preparations on both sides.
While holding official positions in Changsha Country, they also left a way out for themselves in the Jinling court, occasionally reporting information and preparing for the future.
That’s why the details of Lu Yuan’s Changsha Country’s troops were leaked to the Ning court as expected.
Yes, it’s very in line with the nature of these officials.
“800,000 troops…”
After hearing that number, Shen Qiu hesitated again, and the anger in him subsided halfway.
At the same time, he realized a terrifying reality.
The army of Changsha Country had unknowingly grown to such a scale?
What’s even more horrifying is that even without counting the militia, there are still 240,000 regular troops, and Changsha Country can support such a large army.
Bear in mind that the Jinling court, which currently controls the four prefectures of Jiangdong, only has 320,000 soldiers.
Compared to Changsha Country, it is only 80,000 more.
Although this is only a weak state of Jiangdong, the fact that Changsha Country can expand their military strength to three-quarters of that of the court is already quite terrifying.
It was at this point that Shen Qiu truly realized that suppressing the rebellion might not be as simple as he had imagined.
The rebel Three Nations, especially Changsha, are not something that can be eradicated in a short period.
This will be a long-term undertaking.