On the afternoon of October 20, 429 of the Great Jin Dynasty, in a palace in Mengyuan City, the capital of the Lu State, Jiang Sheng, the emperor of the Lu State, said to Liu Mian, the captain of the military department, with a calm face: "The people of the Black Butterfly in the grassland have sent back the news, and Liu Ji, the general of the Jin State, has now led the army under his command to defeat the coalition army of more than 100 nomads on the grassland, and also annexed the grassland where the Rouran, Wuheng and other tribes have lived for generations, and even the Xianbei tribe, one of the three strong clans of the grassland, have ceded a large grassland to the army, that is to say, The army that crisscrossed the Western Regions and the grasslands could come south to Zhezhou and Fuzhou in the Jin Kingdom at any time! ”

Liu Mian, the captain of the Lu National Military Department, shouted with a shocked face: "How is this possible!" Doesn't it mean that among the coalition forces composed of more than 100 nomadic tribes on the grassland, including the three strong clans of the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Khitan and the other six major clans, the number of cavalry gathered is as high as 10 million? How could it be defeated by the Broken Army? ”

At this time, Zhang Xiang, the commander of the Black Butterfly of the Lu State who was in the palace, said in a deep voice: "Although it is incredible, the Broken Army did defeat the coalition army composed of more than a hundred nomads on the grassland, bringing millions of losses to the Grassland Coalition Army, while the Broken Army itself lost only a few hundred thousand, which is simply a miracle." ”

Jiang Sheng, the emperor of the Lu State, immediately said: "This miracle created by the Broken Capture Army is likely to bring very big variables to the war of our Lu State attacking the Jin State, and now our Lu State has invested four main army corps and five ordinary army corps in the territory of the Jin State, as well as more than 1.5 million auxiliary soldiers, but our Lu State army is still limited to Zhejiang and Fuzhou, once the Broken Army arrives in Zhejiang and Fuzhou in the south, our Lu State's plan to annex the southeastern states of the Jin State will be completely useless!" ”

Liu Mian, the captain of the military department, smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, the Southeast Wing Army under the command of Zhang Mingqi, the Southeast Metropolitan Governor of the Jin Kingdom, has completely exceeded our expectations in terms of combat effectiveness and strength, and the Southeast Wing Army occupies the advantage of the terrain, which makes our four main army corps and five ordinary army corps of the Jin State have been trapped in Zhezhou and Fuzhou of the Jin State, according to the current situation, our Lu Army is simply unable to make any major breakthroughs in a short period of time. ”

Jiang Sheng, the emperor of the Lu State, pondered for a moment and asked, "So far, how many troops have our nine legions of the Lu State lost in Zhezhou and Fuzhou in the Jin State?" In addition, how many more southeastern chamber troops of the Jin Kingdom can there be in Zhejiang and Fuzhou? ”

Liu Mian, the captain of the military department, immediately replied: "Your Majesty, the four main army corps and five ordinary army corps of our Lu State into Zhezhou and Fuzhou of the Jin State have suffered more than one million casualties so far, of which the number of dead alone is more than 800,000, and our military department has replenished almost 700,000 recruits to the nine army corps, and the overall combat effectiveness of the nine army corps has not regressed much. ”

Zhang Xiang, the commander of the Black Butterfly, then said: "Your Majesty, according to the information we have in Black Butterfly, the Southeast Xiang Army under the command of Zhang Mingqi, the Governor of the Southeast, has a total of fifty-four guards, of which forty-two guards are gathered in Zhejiang and Fuzhou, and in the war in these months, the losses of the Southeast Xiang Army are at least more than twice the losses of our Lu Army, but the seven southeastern states of the Jin Kingdom have a large population, and the Southeast Xiang Army can easily be replenished by the source of troops, and now the Southeast Xiang Army is gathered in the forty-two guards of Zhezhou and Fuzhou, The strength of each guard is more than 100,000, and according to the establishment of the Southeast Wing Army, each guard has five brigades, and each brigade has five battalions, each battalion has about 5,000 people, and the strength of one guard exceeds 120,000. ”

Jiang Sheng, the emperor of the Lu State, shook his head and said: "The emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, and the Jin State can gather so many troops in the case of internal and external troubles, and it seems that it will be very, very difficult for our Lu State to annex the southeastern states of the Jin State, and even the entire Jin State." ”

Zhang Xiang, the commander of the Black Butterfly, said: "Your Majesty, in Zhezhou and Fuzhou of the Jin Kingdom, in addition to the Southeast Xiang Army, there are also more than 300,000 elite troops of the six guards of the Jin Forbidden Army, so the number of enemies faced by our Lu Army in Zhezhou and Fuzhou of the Jin State is likely to be more than five million. ”

Liu Mian, the captain of the military department, then looked at Emperor Jiang Sheng's gloomy face, hesitated for a moment and suggested: "Your Majesty, now that our Lu State has paid a considerable price for this war to annex the southeastern states of the Jin State, can we consider ending this war?" If we still want to continue fighting, then we must prepare more troops, after all, the broken army of the Jin State may go south at any time, and our Lu State troops in Zhezhou and Fuzhou will be under more pressure! ”

The words of Liu Mian, the captain of the military department, made Emperor Jiang Sheng fall into contemplation, at present, there are a total of twenty-six legions in the entire Lu country, of which ten are the main army corps, and the remaining sixteen are ordinary legions, the strength of the main army of Lu is about 450,000 people, and the strength of the ordinary army is about 300,000.

According to the total strength of the Lu army, it is completely possible to mobilize at least seven or eight more legions to invest in the battlefield of the Jin State, without affecting the defense force of the Lu State against the surrounding countries, but in that case, the pressure on logistics will be doubled.

You must know that the Lu State has just conquered the Jiao State, Xun State, Gu State and Lai State between the Lu and Jin countries, and the territory of these four countries is not peaceful, not to mention that the Lu State invaded the Jin State this time, and did not plan for a long time before, it was entirely because the Suzhou Xiang Army at that time had millions of troops, and the soldiers besieged the capital of the Jin State for more than two months, and the Emperor Jiang Sheng of the Lu State temporarily made up his mind, taking advantage of the opportunity of the Jin State in civil strife, and waved his troops into the territory of the Jin State.

"If you transfer two main army corps and four ordinary army corps to Zhezhou and Fuzhou in the Jin Kingdom, can you completely solve the war in Zhezhou and Fuzhou before the arrival of the Broken Army?" Emperor Jiang Sheng asked Liu Mian, the captain of the military department, with some unwillingness.

Liu Mian, the captain of the military department, shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, our Lu army has four main army corps and five ordinary army corps in Zhezhou and Fuzhou, and there is no shortage of troops, but the southeast wing army of the Jin State does not confront our Lu army head-on, and several soldiers and horses of our Lu army are blocked by the southeast wing army of the Jin State by taking advantage of the strong city and the steep terrain. ”

Emperor Jiang Sheng sighed and said, "Could it be that this time to attack the Jin Kingdom, our Lu State can only return in vain?" I'm really a little unwilling! ”

Liu Mian, the captain of the military department, advised: "Your Majesty, take a step back and open the sky, and wait for our Lu State to completely digest the eight states of Jiao State, Xun State, Gu State and Lai State, and then it is not too late to study and annex the Jin State!" ”

Emperor Jiang Sheng turned to Zhang Xiang, the commander of Black Butterfly, and asked, "What is your opinion on this war to annex the southeastern states of the Jin Kingdom?" ”

Black Butterfly Commander Zhang Xiang lowered his head and pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, our Black Butterfly has sent two of the most elite assassin teams, one is aimed at Zhang Mingqi, the southeastern governor of the Jin Kingdom, and the other is aimed at Liu Ji, the general of the Jin Kingdom. ”

Emperor Jiang Sheng's eyes lit up, "Last time, your Black Butterfly sent more than twenty elite assassins to assassinate Zhang Mingqi, the southeastern governor of the Jin Kingdom, but the whole army was wiped out, can the two assassin teams succeed this time?" ”

Black Butterfly Commander Zhang Xiang immediately said: "Your Majesty, the two assassin teams this time can be said to include the most powerful group of our Black Butterfly, as for whether they can succeed, their subordinates do not dare to guarantee the ticket, after all, Zhang Mingqi and Liu Ji have very strong defense forces around them. ”

Emperor Jiang Sheng nodded slightly, and then said to Liu Mian, the captain of the military department: "Let the various legions in Zhejiang and Fuzhou reduce the intensity of their attacks on the southeast Xiang Army, and at the same time, your military department will send two main legions and four ordinary legions to the eight states of Jiao, Xun, Gu and Lai, as long as one of the two assassin teams of Black Butterfly can succeed, our Lu State can continue this war!" ”

Just when Jiang Sheng, the emperor of the Lu State, learned that the Broken Army had defeated the Grassland Coalition Army, Zhang Mingqi, the southeastern governor of Ningbo City, the capital of Zhejiang, also got this shocking news.

On the evening of October 20, in the governor's mansion in Ningbo City, Zhang Mingqi said in a deep voice to the strategist Tang Yan and his generals Zhao Lianjin and Liu Fengbao: "There is news from the grassland that the Broken Army has now completely defeated the coalition army composed of more than 100 nomads in the grassland, and it is very likely that the imperial court will be transferred to the southeast to participate in the war. ”

The other generals in the Southeast Xiang Army were all in other places in Zhejiang and Fuzhou, leading troops to resist the army of Lu State.

Zhang Mingqi's cousin Liu Fengbao frowned and said: "Lord, the Broken Army has defeated the coalition forces including the Xiongnu, Xianbei and Khitan three grassland powerhouses this time, once the Broken Army comes to the southeast to help us repel the Lu army, maybe the Broken Army will not leave the southeast easily!" ”

Zhang Mingqi sighed and said: "The governor of this capital also has this concern, in case the broken army does not leave in the southeast, then for our southeast Xiang army, it is as serious as the invasion of the Lu army, and the broken army is the army of the Great Jin, and it can also get the support of the people of the seven southeastern states, this time if it is not for the support of the people of the seven southeastern states of our southeast Xiang army, our southeast Xiang army will not be able to block the Lu army in the territory of Zhejiang and Fuzhou." ”

Zhao Lianjin, a confidant under Zhang Mingqi, followed and said: "What the lord said is that the forty-two guards of our southeast chamber army in Zhezhou and Fuzhou have lost a total of about two million people since the invasion of the Lu army, and now our forty-two guards are still almost all full, which is inseparable from the support of the people of the seven southeastern states. ”

Strategist Tang Yan said to Zhang Mingqi at this time: "Lord, the defeat of the Broken Army over the coalition of more than 100 nomads in the grassland may not be a bad thing for our Southeast Xiang Army. ”

Zhang Mingqi frowned and asked, "Could it be that Mr. Tang means that the Broken Army can help our Southeast Xiang Army resist the Lu Army?" ”

Strategist Tang Yan shook his head and said: "Lord, if the Broken Army comes to the southeast, it will definitely do more harm than good to our Southeast Wing Army, but what if the Broken Army does not come?" ”

"What does Mr. Tang mean?"

"Lord, since we have all received the news of the victory of the Broken Capture Army over the Grassland Alliance, presumably the Lu State will also get this news, in the past few months of the invasion of the Lu Army, our Southeast Xiang Army can be said to be on our own, we are born in the territory of Zhejiang and Fuzhou, blocking the footsteps of millions of elite troops of the Lu State, if the Lu State knows that the Broken Army that defeated the Grassland Alliance Army can go south to join this war at any time, then the Lu State still dares to continue to stalemate with our Southeast Xiang Army?"

Zhang Mingqi patted his thigh and said: "Mr. Tang is reasonable, our southeast wing army alone, the Lu army has no way to defeat, plus a broken army, where can the Lu army continue to fight, maybe the emperor of the Lu country is studying retreating at this time!" ”

Zhao Lianjin frowned and said: "I'm worried that Lu Guo knows that the Broken Army will go south at any time, and will send additional troops to Zhezhou and Fuzhou, after all, the Lu State Army has a total of twenty-six legions, and now there are only nine Lu Army Corps entering Zhezhou and Fuzhou, even if Lu State mobilizes nine more legions into Zhezhou and Fuzhou, it will be easy to do, and Lu State's war potential is huge, forcing Lu State to be anxious, and it is not impossible to form a new twenty-six army corps." ”

Strategist Tang Yan smiled slightly, and said very confidently: "General Zhao is too worried, now Lu has sent nine legions into Zhezhou and Fuzhou, in fact, it is already the limit of Lu State, not that Lu State cannot send troops, but the logistics supply restricts the scale of Lu State troops into Zhejiang and Fuzhou, you must know that our southeast Xiang Army has always adopted the tactics of strong walls and clear fields, and millions of Lu troops, food and other materials in Zhejiang and Fuzhou need to be transported from the territory of Lu State, which has another problem, that is, Jiao State that Lu State has just occupied, Xun, Gu and Lai were not very peaceful, which affected the logistics supply of the Lu army to a certain extent. ”

Tang Yan's words made Zhang Mingqi, Zhao Lianjin and Liu Fengbao in the room all nod.

Strategist Tang Yan then continued: "In addition, our Southeast Xiang Army can block millions of elite troops in the territory of Zhejiang and Fuzhou, not because of how strong our Southeast Xiang Army is, but because our Southeast Xiang Army has a geographical advantage, such as Hengmei Mountain south of Ningbo City, even if the Lu Army is several times more, don't think about easily crossing the Hengmei Mountain guarded by our Southeast Xiang Army!" ”

The Southeast Xiang Army deployed almost ten Wei troops in several dangerous peaks of Hengmei Mountain, and the Lu army that attacked these dangerous peaks of the gorge included two main army corps and two ordinary legions, but the Lu army attacked Hengmei Mountain for several months, and did not make any progress, and was still blocked in the plain south of Hengmei Mountain.