After some debate, the opinions of the several consuls converged, believing that passive defense under the pressure of the enemy's troops was not on both sides, and that once the enemy broke through the Yangtze River defense line, the Gyeonggi region would face a direct threat, and even if it was only possible, they could not ignore the series of consequences caused by the enemy's entry into Jiangnan.

"Since you are going to fight, how do you think the purpose and goal of this war should be determined?" Zhao Hao asked after glancing at the ministers. Now that it is decided to fight, it is necessary to establish a policy of warfare, but he also understands that if people do not understand what they want to achieve in war and what they want to gain in it, then war cannot be waged, or it should not be waged. The established operational policy will have a bearing on the clear scope of the means to be used and the magnitude of the forces that need to be used, and will also have a bearing on every subtle link of military operations.

"Your Majesty, this Yuxi Timur has been leading the army in the northwest for a long time, and he is very arrogant, if he is not hit hard, he will definitely make frequent offences in the future!" Jiang Xuan said.

"What Governor Jiang said is good, the minister thinks that since he wants to fight, he might as well let go of his hands and feet to fight, so that he will not dare to peep into Jiangnan!" Liu Huang nodded.

"Your Majesty, the purpose of this battle is to counter the enemy's incursion; The second is to contain the enemy's two Huai forces, so that they do not dare to divide troops to reinforce Sichuan and Shu. Therefore, the minister supported the proposal of the two governors to concentrate the forces of the Koto Zhiji to fight the enemy and inflict heavy losses on the enemy. Lu Xiufu said.

"The minister also thinks that this battle is very necessary, but it must be controlled." Ying Jieyan did not object, but still put forward his own opinion, "Although our dynasty has recovered Jiangnan for two years and has accumulated some money and grain, if it is to support the two battlefields in the east and west, it is still not enough, please think twice." ”

"Well, what Governor Liu said is very true." Lu Xiufu nodded thoughtfully after hearing this, "At present, the two battlefields in the east and west are fighting at the same time, and it is indeed difficult to ensure military supplies. In the two battlefields, the minister thought that the western expedition was the most important, and after successfully capturing Chongqing, he also had to rely on the imperial court to supply military supplies for a period of time, and the cost was more onerous. Although the Battle of Gangdong was to ensure the safety of Gyeonggi, it was not suitable to entangle with the enemy, and the enemy would inevitably seek peace again after suffering heavy losses, so the ministers thought that they could fight a quick battle to ease the burden on the imperial court! ”

"Quick fix...... Zhao Hao muttered as he listened. He knew that the time factor that needed to be taken into account in the planning of war was also needed by both belligerents, and the question was which of the two sides, in view of their situation, could expect to derive a special benefit from time first.

If the special circumstances of both sides can cancel each other out, then it is clear that the loser can get this benefit in the first place. This is, of course, not according to the laws of mechanics, but according to the laws of psychology. Envy, suspicion, apprehension, and sometimes righteous indignation are the natural apologists of the unfortunate, bringing sympathy to the 'invaded' on the one hand, and weakening and disintegrating the internal alliances of the 'aggressor' on the other. Therefore, time is not so much in favor of the conqueror as it is in favor of the vanquished.

Secondly, it should be considered that the exploitation of the initial victory, as we have already pointed out elsewhere, requires the exculpation of enormous forces; This kind of power consumption is not consumed once and can be completed, but it continues like maintaining a large family. The power of the State, though sufficient to enable us to occupy the enemy's territory, will not always withstand the great exertion required to continue to occupy the enemy's territory, in which case it will be increasingly difficult for the State to continue to supply its forces, and in the end it may not be able to supply it at all. In this way, time alone can make a drastic change in the situation.

Lu Hidefu's opinion on a quick decision is also based on this, and in an offensive war, it is necessary to achieve a quick decision and accomplish the strategic goal in the shortest possible time. Because the longer it takes, the more difficult it is to conduct military operations and the more difficult it is to provide for them. For defense, a protracted war is beneficial to the defenders, on the one hand, they have ample time to mobilize reinforcements; On the other hand, it can weaken your own national strength.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that if you want to keep the peace in the south of the Yangtze River, you should still seize the two Huai, and use this as a buffer zone to achieve the strategic goal of seizing the Huai River and defending the river!" At this time, Han Zhen interjected.

"Deputy Envoy Han, capturing Lianghuai can indeed ensure the safety of Jiangnan, but the army to be used is not only Jiangdong Zhisi, and the current strength is not enough to support the Lianghuai operation. The large-scale expansion of the army will first affect the recuperation, restore the people's strength, and accumulate money and grain for the great goal of seizing the Central Plains, and will lead to a sharp increase in military spending, and it will be difficult for the country to support it for a long time, so it has to retreat to the south of the Yangtze River again. Liu Huang shook his head and said.

"Well, what Governor Liu said is also reasonable, but I am too radical." After thinking about it for a while, Han Zhen understood that what he proposed exceeded the grand strategic goal established by the emperor at the beginning of the year, and then said, "Our current goal is to severely damage the enemy's Wanhu Mansion in Henan and Shandong, but it is difficult to achieve it just by defending Jiangnan. ”

"Yes, the enemy is attacking and defending, and when he finds out that our army is well defended, he will inevitably give up further actions, so that although the enemy army has losses, it is difficult to inflict heavy losses on them!" Lu Xiufu also immediately realized this problem, and confined the battlefield to Jiangnan still could not accomplish the goal he had just established, and achieved the goal of preventing hostile attacks and disturbances in Jiangnan through this battle.

"Can we play a defensive counterattack?" Seeing that the ministers had already expressed their own opinions and reached a consensus on the strategic goal and the purpose of the war, but they had entered a stalemate in military operations, Zhao Yu spoke out at this moment.

"Defending and counterattacking? Please make it clear to Your Majesty! Several people glanced at each other, but they didn't understand what the emperor meant, Lu Xiufu said.

"I wonder if we can divide this battle into two phases. In the previous stage, the strategy of luring the enemy into the south was adopted to lure the enemy to land in Jiangbei, and then cut off the enemy's retreat and invade the land south of the Yangtze River. In the later stage, he waved his troops to the north of the Yangtze River, attacked the enemy's battleground, forced the enemy to come to the rescue, and then surrounded and annihilated the reinforced enemy by besieging the city and sending reinforcements, so as to achieve the goal of inflicting heavy damage on the enemy in Huaidong, and then achieve the goal of preventing the enemy from attacking and disturbing the south of the Yangtze River. Zhao Yu said his plan in a few words.

Since the absolute goal of military operations is to defeat the enemy in Huaidong, there are three ways, namely: smashing the enemy in Huaidong, occupying important node cities in Huaidong, and striking at the surrounding enemy. In order to achieve the defeat of the enemy's army, there are also two conditions: first, one's own side must have enough troops and be enough to win a decisive victory in the war, so that the enemy will lose the ability to counterattack again; Second, it is enough to deter the enemy, so that they lose the idea of fighting again and move to the negotiation stage.

Zhao Hao thought that he could meet these conditions, and the Jiangdong Division had five armies under its jurisdiction, and there were also 200,000 troops stationed around Gyeonggi with the Imperial Front Protector Army and the First Water Division, which had an advantage in terms of troops, equipment, and combat effectiveness. The enemy's motive for provoking the war is not pure, it is nothing more than envisaging a limited war to alleviate the internal crisis and increase the bargaining chips, so it is not ready to start a full-scale war. Therefore, Zhao Yu is still confident in winning this battle.

"Your Majesty, if you want to lure the enemy, you must show weakness, but there are important towns along the river, and it is very difficult to recapture and annihilate them once they are lost, so you need to be cautious!" Ying Jieyan frowned when he heard this. He believed that the little emperor could understand what he meant, the important town along the river was not only a military location, but also an important economic town, once ceded it would not only cause panic in the government and the opposition, but also cause heavy economic losses, even if the enemy was annihilated, but there was also a suspicion that the gains outweighed the losses, so the pros and cons must be weighed.

"What the gentleman said is very true." Zhao Yu nodded, pointed to Yutu and said, "I am going to lure the enemy into this place, and then gather and annihilate him." ”

"Oh, Your Majesty wants to lure the enemy into the front line of Kunshan, here is mostly barren land, towns are scarce, it is indeed good to use this as the main battlefield, but also because of barrenness, it is difficult to supply, I am afraid that the enemy army will not be defeated!" Han Zhen said suspiciously after seeing it.

"Indeed, this place is as you say, and it is difficult to replenish it. But don't forget that this is the best place to cross the river and land, and there are rich places such as Changshu and Pingjiang in the surrounding area, and you can also go south to Gyeonggi after capturing Pingjiang and threaten Lin'an! Zhao Yu said.

"Hehe, that's good!" Han Zhen was a little embarrassed when he heard this, and said, "At present, the Mengyuan naval army is weak, and it is difficult to compete with our army for control of the Yangtze River and support the operation of crossing the river, while launching a landing operation from Chongming can use the sandbar in the river as a springboard to cross the river. And Ashu also chose this place for the southern invasion back then, and then went south to Pingzhou and approached Gyeonggi. ”

"Meng Yuan is good at cavalry, there are no fortified cities in this area, they don't need to fight for cities, but they can give full play to their strengths, after crossing the river, they can go south quickly, as long as Yuxi Timur is not stupid to land here, it will be the first choice." Zhao Yu nodded and said.

"Your Majesty's clever plan, so that our army can set up an ambush between Baimaodu and Taicang River, and cut off the pontoon bridge with the Israeli army to cut off the enemy's retreat, but they can't advance, and there is no way back, they have become turtles in the urn, and they will be trapped between the two rivers!" Liu Di said with a smile.

"Then where will Your Majesty choose the place to fight back?" Lu Xiufu asked.

"Yangzhou!" Zhao Yu did not hesitate to point to Yangzhou Road on the map. Yangzhou is located at the eastern end of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain, in the middle of Jiangsu Province, and borders Taizhou and Yancheng in the east; It connects to Nanjing in the west and borders Liuhe and Tianchang counties; It is bordered by the Yangtze River in the south, and faces Zhenjiang and Changzhou across the river; It is connected to Huaishui in the north and adjacent to Huai'an and Yancheng City; There is the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal running through the north and south.

"Well, Yangzhou is not only located in Yaojin, but also where Meng Yuan is located in Huainan Road, and it is also the residence of the Salt Transit Division. And our army can carry the armies directly north along the canal with naval warships, which is convenient for reinforcements and supplies! Ying Jieyan nodded again and again after hearing this, and praised it......