The news arrived in Boyuan City before Bailiyan attacked Jingyuan, and the Third Army did not have 400,000 people after combat attrition and local occupation, and the extra tens of thousands were mountain bandits and their families, all the way to Jingyuan. After entering Jingyuan, more than 400,000 people suddenly increased to more than 500,000, all of whom were old citizens and mountain bandits who opposed the defense and surrendered to Chengcheng.

Thanks to the in-depth implementation of the "basic mass work" in the previous two years, Bailiyan went deep into the local area through Yuke to find out the situation, disseminated progressive ideas and public opinion related to Xianguo, and sent Sun Guoren who had relatives and old friends in various places, and makeup business travel employees appeared everywhere to speak. At the same time, he made use of the spy organs and commercial channels of Xianguo to carry out comprehensive economic, public, cultural, and ideological infiltration into the old land of Sun Guo.

On the one hand, the local people were benefited by smuggling materials at low prices, and on the other hand, they carried out public opinion sabotage through the entrainment of newspapers and ideological publications, considering that the literacy rate was generally not high, so the publications were more disseminated in the form of illustrations and cartoons, which greatly facilitated the interpretation of ordinary people.

Due to the long-term implementation of a high-pressure policy against the old people of the Sun State, and the feudal lords in various places were not concerned about suppressing bandits, and more relied on the army of King Wei to exterminate the mountain bandits, so there were many political departments in various places, and it was difficult to take unified administrative measures, which opened the door to Xianguo.

Of course, in a sense, it is the various measures taken by Bailiyan that are far beyond the scope of the current world's cognition and coping methods, which makes the defense of the country very unguarded.

The Son of Heaven, who hurried back to the palace, convened hundreds of officials to discuss countermeasures, and then visited Mo Jianzi non-stop to seek advice.

"The Xian army is menacing, and it has passed Kangjun, and the master of the family can have a good strategy to help the widow retreat from the Xian army."

"I'm afraid it's very difficult. I thought that the Xian army would have to fight with the Wei army for a long time before they could cross the river, so they designed to order the Wei Guo to give up Dekang to Zhiguo, and then ambush and kill the Xian army in the territory of the eldest grandson. ”

When the Son of Heaven heard the news, he was puzzled and hurriedly asked:

"What do you mean by that?"

"If it is as expected, three years ago, Xianguo had the power to move westward, and the ambition of swallowing the Central Plains was only hindered by the great cost, so one area accumulated strength to envelop all parties to prevent future troubles, and on the other hand, it reconciled with the defense of the country and connived at its attack on the eldest grandson. Just wait for the time to be ripe, and then send troops to attack and defend, the purpose is to grab the maximum benefit at the lowest cost, this plan is really vicious, but it is by no means a complete solution. Your Majesty, what public opinion can the government and the opposition officials have now? ”

"The Qing family has different opinions, and it is difficult for the widow to make a decision, so he asked the master for a solution. The boss has a good plan, please come quickly. ”

"Your Majesty, don't worry, dare to ask Your Majesty, is there anyone in the court who advocates attacking and defending?"

"Yes, there is, Taiwei advocates attacking and defending, but Da Sima and most of the courtiers are against attacking and defending."

"Oh, why is Da Sima against attacking and defending?"

"Da Sima Yan, the strength of the tiger and wolf of the guard army is irresistible, and our army is invincible. Secondly, the main force of our army is in the north, and the preparations for being transferred to the southeast are extremely hasty, and it is very difficult to transfer the baggage, and it is impossible to go deep into the defense of the country in a short period of time, so it cannot fight an unprepared battle. ”

Because Changsun was too bad, and the traditional threats came from the south, the main army of Liang had always been deployed on the southern flank and in the Gyeonggi area, and after the northern expedition of the Wei army to Changsun, in order to prevent the provocation of the guards, the main force of the Liang army was partly transferred to the north and partly to Gyeonggi.

Therefore, the transshipment stations of grain and grass are also carried out around these two places, and although the southeast direction borders the country, the main force of the defense of the country is in the north and the east, and has not formed a comprehensive encirclement situation, and the main force corps must be mobilized to fight abroad in a short period of time, and the organization and coordination of the entire logistics can be said to be less than a month or two.

Of course, Liang Guoguo is small, and this cycle will be much shorter, but the risk of war is obvious, and generals with a little common sense will not fight a war that is not prepared at all, and the strategic direction is completely opposite.

At this time, Mo Jianzi said:

"If Your Majesty wants to break this difficult situation, only by sending troops to attack and defend the army can there be a chance for a turnaround, which is the best policy."

"But the guards are like tigers, how can our army win the war."

"Your Majesty only saw the strength of the guards, but I didn't know that the life of the guards was still in the hands of our army."

"Oh, what is the fate of the guards in the hands of our army?"

"Baili Yan's westward advance is intended to reach our borders, so as to cut off the way back from the guards to the country, and at the same time cut off the source of supplies for the guards on the western front, so our country's attack and defense will be caused by the anger of the country, but compared to the guards whose food and grass are cut off and the viscera are injured, our army's attack and defense is just a pain of flesh and skin.

At this time, His Majesty only needs to send an envoy to defend the country, lobby King Wei to exchange land for convenience, and promise to provide food and grass to the guards trapped in the territory of Changsun through the territory of our country, and King Wei will definitely agree without prosecuting the previous crimes.

In this way, not only can the guards withdraw from the eldest grandson, but at the same time, His Majesty has hundreds of thousands of guards in his hands, so that he can fight to the death with the Xian army, and this situation can be broken. ”

The Son of Heaven seemed to have realized and nodded in agreement, but he was still not at ease, he said:

"The widow heard that Du Ruixun was defeated by the Xianjun's new sky-shaking fire, which was very powerful, ten times better than the previous sky-shaking fire, how could the guards parry?"

"Well, it's a tricky matter." Mo Qingzi nodded in affirmation, twisted his long beard and thought for a moment before saying: "No matter how powerful the sky-shaking fire is, it is not invincible, it is rumored that the Xian army in the southern border had a geotechnical method to break the Jinxue Di Flying Beast to implement, and this method should also be used for the sky-shaking fire and even other firearms."

In addition, the back of the forest and the mountain is where the death hole of the earth-shaking fire is located, and there are many forests in various parts of the Central Plains, which can also be used. As long as the offensive of the Xian army is delayed, its million-strong army will never be able to hold on for a long time. ”

Don't look at Mo Jianzi as just a dog-headed military advisor with an idea behind his back, but most schools at present pay great attention to practical application and practical activities, so they not only talk about it, but also have a lot of experience in practical theoretical application.

Each school attaches great importance to any practical activity, which is one of the reasons why many schools allow the disciples to serve the princes, and only continuous practice can verify their own ideas, so the major schools have long-term and stable experience to brush. The foolish school and the eloquent argument belong to the typical extreme cases of not being accustomed to the princes' faction and simply standing out on their own.

Although Mo Qingzi has never led troops in a war and has no war experience, he has military books and feedback from foreign experience.

Underground bunker fortifications are not only resistant to trebuchets and eagles, but also have a significant defensive effect against projectile fragments. At the same time, the dense woods have a great impact on the power of the projectile, and it has a greater impact on the early fragmentation bullets and shrapnel shells. The trees block the spread of projectiles, so the trees can effectively counteract the power of early fragmentation and shrapnel shells.

Before the advent of howitzers, artillery could not carry out firepower against anti-slope targets, so it was difficult to play a role. As far as the facts are concerned, what Mo Qingzi said is not wrong.

However, breech guns cannot be used as howitzers, and to a large extent, they are restricted by the residue of black powder, which makes it difficult to clear the breech. The Xian army now uses smokeless gunpowder, and the muzzle of the gun can be completely erected, and indirect shelling is carried out at a large elevation angle. Of course, there is little to be expected for the rate and accuracy of the launch, but at least it is doable.

In addition, mortars can also hit some low-lying anti-slope targets, with much better accuracy than breech guns, and can also kill targets in the woods, but are much worse than bunker fortifications.

On December 11, Jingyuan Xiaocheng was governed

"General Xu Jin, where is the Fifth Town Army of the Second Group Army?"

"Deputy Marshal Qiyu, I just entered the Jingyuan, and I should have arrived in Yinping."

"Send someone to urge again, and speed up the speed to take over the defense area."

"No!"

Due to the rapid advance, and the Second Army's horses were few, the takeover and siege work could not keep up with the speed of advance, in order to avoid a gap in the joint, Bai Liyan had to stay for a while, wait for the Second Army to arrive, and at the same time resettle the war refugees, reorganize and train the rebels and bandits.

Since entering the Jingyuan, the passage to the north leading to the back of the Wei Army, and the two passages leading to the Wei Guo in the south to the old land of Sun Guo are all opened, and the current Jingyuan County can be said to be the crossroads leading to victory, who controls the Jingyuan, who occupies the strategic initiative of the entire Central Plains, so the takeover and stability of the Jingyuan is very important.

After asking Xu Jin, Bai Liyan asked Jiang Jie again:

"Governor Jiang, do you have any news from Ye Xin and Xue Shengbu?"

"Deputy Marshal Qiqi, there is no news yet, but according to the information sent and received before, the guards in the territory of Changsun have already noticed it, and it may be too late to rush south to Rui County. In addition, it was reported today that the guards who went north to Jingyuan stopped at the two counties of Zhonglu and Chunjiang. ”

"How many troops?"

"About 110,000 people, of which about 70,000 are staying in Zhongmo County and 40,000 are in Chungang County. They are all conscripts, and they have not yet found out that they are following the people and the baggage, and they may still be on the way. ”

"Keep sending people to probe."

"No!"

Ruijun is the old land of Sun Guo north of Jingyuan, shielding Jingyuan County, and the northern threat of Gongxiang County in the west, and capturing Rui County means seizing all the counties of Weiguo north of the Central Plains and imprisoning them in the land of Changsun.

The two counties of Chunjiang and Zhongmo are located in the south wing of Jingyuan and Gongshen, and the Yunjiang River passes through them, dividing the north and south of the two counties into two.

When asking Jiang Jie, Zong Botai, who was sitting on the side of the fire, suddenly said:

"Is there any movement from Liang Guo?"

"Mr. Hui Zongbo, the scout has not been in Gongxiang for a long time, and the news has not yet been transmitted. However, since our army has already arrived in the city, it is rare for Liang to send troops at this time. ”

"Not necessarily." Zong Botai denied Jiang Jie's judgment, looked at Bai Liyan and said:

"The deputy marshal should also be concerned that Liang Guo took advantage of the fire to rob and destroy our army's plan."

"Well, sir's concerns are reasonable, the Chengdao faction has sinister intentions, knowing that our army has broken its trap, it will take countermeasures, and it is not impossible to send troops to take advantage of the fire to rob and occupy the land of the country. I wonder what the gentleman has to do? ”

"Hehe, you can't say it, you can't say it......"

Zong Botai kept his mouth shut and didn't mention the method of cracking, and Bai Liyan became more and more curious:

"Sir, you can't say anything now, you have to wait until the Liang army sends troops in the future."

"If you say it at this time, it won't work. When the time comes, we will teach each other in the future. ”

"Oh......"

Bai Liyan no longer asked, he believed that what Zong Botai didn't want to say, there must be reasons and reasons that couldn't be said.