Huainan Road.

Yangzhou City.

After Qin Huaiyu left, Cheng Yanjin, Xu Maogong, and Changsun Wuji led the troops to garrison and take over Jiangnan, Huainan, Henan, and all matters.

Cheng Yanjin brought 300,000 troops from Xiliang, and Henan raised another 50,000, and now it is 350,000!

However, there are many soldiers, and the lack of food is also a problem, it is easy to recruit soldiers, but it is difficult to raise soldiers.

Now the garrisons of Jiangnan, Kyoto, and Beimo, as well as the inherent soldiers from all over the country, all the troops add up, no less than one million! With such a large number of troops, how much food does it take to consume in just one day?

If it was before, it would definitely be able to raise it, but now that Jiangnan is lost, it is equivalent to losing the granary, and the grain and grass of the army must not last.

Therefore, there are two paths in front of Cheng Yanjin now, the first is to fight quickly, defeat the Jiangnan rebels, and seize food; The second is to reduce the number of troops in order to be able to fight for a longer period of time.

In the palace, all the generals gathered.

In the main hall, in addition to several huge maps, in the middle of the position, there is also a sand table, the sand table is very huge, the Jiangnan, Huainan, Henan, and the surrounding areas are all summarized, accurate to each city.

Originally, with the wisdom of Xu Maogong and others, there was no need for a sand table for combat, and there was not even a map, and when I thought about it, I knew how to deal with the enemy.

But the battle situation in Jiangnan is too big, and dozens of states and counties have been edited, and if you don't use sand table deduction, you can't control the overall situation at all. In addition, there are now many soldiers and horses, hundreds of thousands, and how to garrison and defend must be carefully calculated.

So, at the suggestion of Cheng Yanjin, the sand table was made.

Looking at the huge sand table in front of them, everyone frowned.

Now, the war situation is too unfavorable for the imperial court, not only Jiangnan is lost, but even Huainan is about to be lost. Aguduo led more than 100,000 troops, attacking from Huaidong upwards, and had occupied more than 30 cities, as long as there were more than 30 more, Huainan would be gone. And with the strength of Aguduo's army, within two months, it will definitely be able to do it.

"Strategist, do you have a strategy to turn defeat into victory?" Cheng Yanjin asked with a frown.

Xu Maogong did not speak.

The eldest grandson Wuji snorted: "I don't believe it, we have an army of 350,000 in our hands, so we can't drive away these Xiliang traitors!" ”

Xu Maogong raised his head and said: "Ah Guduo is not afraid, the terrible thing is the one named Zhuge Can, this person doesn't know where he came from, he is so powerful, looking at him marching soldiers, like a divine help, he is a difficult opponent." ”

"If we want to pacify Huainan and Jiangnan, we must kill him first! Otherwise, it's even harder! ”

"Strategist, what do you pay attention to?"

Cheng Yanjin asked again.

Xu Mao said fairly: "I just said, no matter what, I have to kill Zhuge Can first!" This person must not stay! Even if we pay some price, it doesn't matter. ”

"Without him, the rest of Ah Guduo will be easy to do, just a reckless man, with no experience in commanding and fighting..."

Cheng Yanjin and Eldest Sun Wuji thought about it, and both nodded in agreement. Think about it, since the Xiliang soldiers entered Jiangnan, why were they able to capture Jiangnan so quickly and hit Huainan? It's not because Zhuge Can is making suggestions in the back, otherwise, how can Jiangnan be lost. Even Qin Huaiyu with heavy troops in his hands can wipe it out.

Cheng Biting Jin said: "Then I will give an order, and tomorrow I will start fighting and attack Suzhou!" ”

"Not busy."

Xu Maogong thought for a while and said, "Suzhou is not so easy to attack. ”

"This Zhuge Can, well aware of the way of arranging troops, he set up a large camp in the southeast and southwest of Suzhou, each garrison of 10,000 troops, all of which are Xiliang iron cavalry, and in Suiyang City, 300 miles away, there are 20,000 elites. If our army attacks Suzhou, it will inevitably be besieged by these three armies, or a sneak attack, they are all cavalry, and they move quickly, while our army has few iron cavalry and cannot catch up. Storming Suzhou is a great loss! ”

"Wait..." The eldest grandson Wuji tilted his head and thought for a while, and said: "No, Suzhou and the surrounding cities have a total of only 50,000 troops, and he has 40,000 troops stationed outside, doesn't it mean that there are only 10,000 garrisons in Suzhou City?" ”

"Probably more than that." Cheng Biting Jin said: "How could he be so bold? ”

"Hmph, if he really only has 10,000 garrisons, even if I fight to be attacked by a sneak attack, I will capture Suzhou!" Cheng Yanjin continued.

Xu Maogong smiled, shook his fan, and said: "In my opinion, he is likely to be playing with us in the empty city, although there are more than 10,000 garrisons in Suzhou at this moment, it will never exceed 30,000!" ”

"He sent all the 40,000 troops in the city out of the city, and they were all elite iron cavalry, just to create an illusion for us, so that we felt that his city of Suzhou had more troops, or had strong strength, enough to hold on; But he ignored one point, like such a huge battle, how many soldiers the opponent has in his hands, it is impossible to hide, and it can be obtained through scouts, secret agents, etc. ”

Speaking of this, Cheng Yanjin looked at an official standing in the distance, called the official over, and asked, "Are you Cao Yundu, the envoy of Huainan Province?" In the recent period, some spies have reported that Suzhou has expanded its army? Or bring troops from other states and counties? ”

Cao Yundui came out of the queue and arched his hand: "Yu Junshi, no." ”

"Look, isn't this it, Zhuge Can... You must be playing with us in the empty city! ”

Xu Maogong took a deep breath and said, "Suzhou, we must fight!" You have to capture or kill Zhuge Can! ”

"Do you have a solution?"

"People come up with all the solutions."

Xu Maogong walked to the side of the sand table and said, "We have an army of 350,000, and the enemy army is less than 60,000. If you can't win this, you don't have to fight. ”

Cheng Yanjin and many generals in the hall laughed.

When they think of a strong military force, they are full of confidence.

Xu Mao said fairly: "If we want to fight, we will fight a big one, and solve Huainan, Jiangnan, and Zhuge Can together!" ”

"Huh?" Cheng Yanjin said in disbelief: "Can it work?" ”

"It's a matter of people."

Xu Mao said fairly: "Zhuge Can thinks that if he leaves 40,000 soldiers outside the city, he will be able to contain us and make us attack Suzhou and suffer heavy damage, so we will not fight Suzhou for the time being, and do the opposite!" ”

The eldest grandson Wuji laughed and said, "I understand, you mean, first deal with the 40,000 troops outside the city?!" ”

"Lord Eldest Sun is really agile, that's exactly what I mean!"

Xu Mao said fairly: "If we attack Suzhou, we will be attacked by the three armies outside the city, so if we attack the three armies outside the city, will Suzhou come to the rescue?" I don't think it will be, one is that there is no cavalry in the city, and it is impossible to rescue and evacuate, and the other is that his strength is not good, once the troops are transferred out of Suzhou, what should Suzhou do? Three, hum, Suzhou has hoarded a large amount of grain and grass, does he dare not take it into account? ”[.]