Xiao Yu's brows were still tightly locked, and he said in a deep voice: "Wang Shichong, we don't have to beat around the bush, but before we talk, you make one thing clear, and then I will consider whether to cooperate with you." ”

Wang Shichong smiled slightly: "Brother Xiao, do you want to ask, will my cooperation with you this time damage the society of the Great Sui?" ”

Xiao Yu nodded: "Yes, Xiao and his sister also said in advance, if it is harmful to the Great Sui, Xiao will never do it." Although my sister still thinks that she is a member of the Great Liang Kingdom, the Great Liang has been dead for almost thirty years, and the founding time of the People's Republic of China is less than ten years, so how can I talk about recovering the country? The Great Sui not only does not kill the clan of our Liang country, but also is glorious and rich, and has everything, which can be described as benevolence and righteousness, if it is a grace and revenge, even if it gets the world, it is a loss to the gods, and it will not last long! ”

Wang Shichong smiled and shook his head: "Brother Xiao, time is pressing, you should tell your sister this big truth, this time the Supreme released your sister from the cold palace, it was because the people around him were not credible, last time because Yu Wenshu reported that rumor, and at that time, your Xiao clan was really in the limelight, and it had to make people worry, so the Supreme took this kind of means against your Xiao family." But now, if he calls out your sister and asks her to sit in on me, he should be suspicious of Yu Wenshu. ”

Wang Shichong carefully controlled his speech, trying not to call Yang Guang's real name as he did to Yang Xuangan and Pei Shiju, but to take a supreme mouth, so as to shorten the psychological distance between him and Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu's eyes lit up: "How can you see it?" ”

Wang Shichong said with a straight face: "This expedition to Goguryeo, Yu Wenshu has already been designated as the commander, judging by his performance against Tuyuhun last time. If it's a must-win battle. will definitely find ways to make credit for his family. Especially the important task of being the vanguard of the whole army, he will do everything possible to grab his brave and warlike grandson Yuwen Chengdu, so as to accumulate enough credit and release Yu Wenhua and Yu Wenzhihe, who are still slaves. ”

Xiao Yu nodded: "Yes, after the last battle of Tuyuhun, Yuwenshu had secretly expressed this meaning, but the Supreme has not eliminated the anger of these two guys smuggling pig iron and deceiving the Supreme." So he only rewarded Yuwenshu with a lot of money, and gave Yuwenshu Chengdu a promotion to the general of Tianbao, but did not mention Yuwenshu's two sons, so this time there is a chance to conquer Goguryeo, Yuwenshu should grab the merit, he doesn't rob it, he must be lacking in confidence, and he doesn't want to offend the official after the defeat! ”

Wang Shichong said with a smile: "I didn't expect that Brother Xiao is a civil official, and he is also very good at military affairs." A hint of smugness flashed on Xiao Yu's face, and it disappeared. While stroking his beard, he said, "As an official of the imperial court." Naturally, we have to make a snack on state affairs, and this battle array must first be calculated by the temple, and the general will win, how can it be on the battlefield? ”

Wang Shichong found that this Xiao Yu has the common problem of almost all literati, that is, he is high, loves vanity, and in front of the son of a businessman like himself, he always has to intentionally or unintentionally put on the superiority of the children of the family, even if he is not good at military affairs, it is also the same, he decided to continue to follow Xiao Yu's intentions, let him further behave, anyway, this is also the main purpose of his own visit tonight, take this opportunity to see how much military this person knows, if he really has a strategic vision, it will also save him a lot of effort to teach.

So Wang Shichong nodded very attentively and said, "Then it sounds like Brother Xiao is not optimistic about this expedition, tell me your reasons." ”

Xiao Yu sighed: "After listening to the results of several court discussions, both the Supreme and the generals of the main battle underestimated the strength of Goguryeo, thinking that they were no more than the territory of a large state in the Great Sui, and the soldiers were only 200,000, and they had to set aside enough troops to guard Baekje, Silla and Pyongyang Castle in the south. Our army of millions should be able to destroy and decay, and break it in one fell swoop. ”

Wang Shichong nodded: "On the books, it is true, what objection does Brother Xiao have?" ”

Xiao Yu shook his head: "The strength of Goguryeo is not what it used to be, they now have a population of nearly one million households, and almost all the whole country implements a government soldier system similar to that of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, although there are only 200,000 soldiers in battle, but it is only equivalent to the standing army of my Great Sui, if there is a large-scale invasion of foreign enemies, they can quickly storm the army, according to my estimate, according to their strength, as well as the ordnance and war equipment in the treasury of Goguryeo, in three or four months, it will not be a problem to storm to four or five hundred thousand troops." ”

He paused and continued: "What's more, Goguryeo can also enslave and drive the barbarian cavalry such as the Khitan, Xi, Tongluo and Beji to help in the war, and these nomadic servant tribes can dispatch at least 100,000 iron cavalry, which greatly makes up for the shortcomings of the Goguryeo army's cavalry!" ”

Wang Shichong nodded: "But our army is not acting alone, Baekje and Silla, as the subject countries of my Great Sui, will definitely send troops to help in the war, Goguryeo must leave at least 200,000 people to defend the southern border and the capital of Pyongyang, and the number of troops fighting with our army in the Liaodong area will not exceed 400,000, our army still has an absolute numerical advantage, even if it is two strikes or three strikes, there is no reason to fail." ”

Xiao Yu shook his head and said: "I'm not so optimistic, Goguryeo's advantage, in addition to the fact that the army is not weak enough to fight with our army, also lies in two points, one is the geographical advantage." That Goguryeo built the Great Wall thousands of miles long along the Liao River, and destroyed the passage from Yingzhou, the front base of our army, to the Liao River, from Yingzhou to the Liao River is nearly a thousand miles away, and all the way is full of muddy swamps. It is extremely difficult to pass, but I am afraid that our army will become a tired division as soon as it reaches the Liao River, let alone the battle after crossing the river. ”

"This second, that is, the Goguryeo people are very good at defending the city, thousands of miles east of Liaodong, they have densely built dozens of cities, from the Liao River to the Yalu River, all on the main transportation routes, if our army can not clear these cities, the grain route and supplies will be blocked, and it will not be able to move forward."

"Each of their cities only needs to set up thousands of defenders, and the walls are clear, which is enough for our army to fortify the city, if it is stormed, it will suffer heavy losses, and it may not be able to be taken quickly, if the city is not to go, it will threaten the food route, if it is divided into troops to besiege, each city must at least set aside more than three times the number of troops to ensure that the defenders cannot go out of the city to harass."

"In this way, when the advance of our army reaches the city of Liaodong, I am afraid that the number of troops is less than 200,000, and the main force assembled in the rear of Goguryeo at this time will not be less than this number, at this time, the field battle under the city of Liaodong will become the winner or loser of this war, if our army is unfortunately defeated, the army of millions will be in danger of collapse!" (To be continued......)