Under my orders, the entire army of Qingyang and Jinzhou quickly became operational and entered the intense pre-war preparation stage. However, the intelligence services brought worrying news that the troops of Yinchuan Province continued to build up in the border area with Guide, and had reached the size of two divisions, and that an unknown number of Sistro [***] troops had entered the border area with Yinchuan Province.

Could it be said that Sun Yuanliang really wanted to brave the world's condemnation and join forces with the Siathrow people to invade Guide Province? If this is the case, things will be a little difficult to handle, because the troops of the Sislo and Yinchuan Mansions are no better than the chaotic army, and their combat effectiveness is incomparable. For the first time, I felt the complexity of my own path forward. In the past, although there were many difficulties, I was able to grasp the initiative and always find the best solution in a complex and changeable situation, but the current situation is somewhat difficult for me to judge correctly.

Once Sun Yuanliang's army enters Guide Province, I believe that in a short period of time, it will be able to defeat the rebellious army and completely control Guide. And if I go out to Guide and Bonan according to the original plan, once Sun Yuanliang and the Sislo suddenly go south to raid Qingyang, I have no confidence in whether the 3rd Garrison Division, which has just been formed, will be able to hold Qingyang. This puts me in a dilemma, and if I sit back and watch, the orders of the imperial court are not carried out, which will inevitably greatly affect the reputation that I have built up with great difficulty, and it is also the many ministers of the court who have already complained about me that have been given the handle to attack me; if I make a bold attack, I may be attacked by the enemy from the north, and once Qingyang is lost, the forces of all sides around me may fall down and everyone will push them down, and take advantage of the fire to loot, and it can be said that the foundation that I have worked so hard to build may be destroyed.

On the one hand, I ordered the intelligence department to continue to make every effort to gather information, and at the same time, I also called Ling Tianfang to the mansion to see what he thought of the current situation.

The atmosphere was a little dull, it seemed that Ling Tianfang didn't expect Sun Yuanliang to do this, he stood in front of the map for a long time and didn't speak.

"My lord, what do you think of the purpose of Sun Yuanliang's army gathering at the junction of the three provinces?"

I felt that his words were quite profound, and after thinking about it for a while, did he have any doubts about the purpose of Sun Yuanliang's troops? What did Sun Yuanliang do with great fanfare about arranging the troops of the two divisions in the distant area over there?

"Tianfang, do you doubt Sun Yuanliang's intentions?" I asked cautiously.

nodded silently, "Sun Yuanliang's actions are indeed suspicious. In the early days of our confrontation with the Luope, he only sent a division of troops there to make a gesture, and now he suddenly sent another division of troops, but he did not enter the territory of Guide, and I suspect that his real purpose was not to march into Guide. ”

"What do you think?" I was also puzzled by Sun Yuanliang's actions.

"I judge that Sun Yuanliang's intention is to take this opportunity to observe our corresponding actions, if we are worried that he will attack Qingyang and dare not rush to send troops, thus delaying the time, he can take this opportunity to march to Guide openly, and it can also be said that it can be said that the people are in fire and water, so that we are passive in public opinion, if he really quells the rebellion of Guide, then he can also create a fait accompli, let the local gentry elect a person of his to serve as the city guard, at that time, with our strength to solve Sun Yuanliang in one fell swoop, I am afraid that we will not be able to do it, only to accept the reality and swallow this bitter fruit, not to mention that attacking Guide again will also arouse the dissatisfaction of the local people。 ”

"Then in your opinion, how should you deal with it?" I am very satisfied with Ling Tianfang's analysis, but I still can't think of a better way to deal with it, after all, Sun Yuanliang's two divisions stationed in the border area have always been a huge threat to Qingyang, and if the threat of Qingyang is not lifted, my army will not be able to boldly attack and return to Germany.

"The Imperial Post has issued an order to the whole country, and I believe that Yinchuan and Taixuan have also received it. At present, the lord has assumed the post of military and political envoy of the northwest, and is in charge of the military and political affairs of the whole county. In order to ensure the safety of Yinchuan, the Yinchuan Prefecture garrison was ordered to return to the city of Shifu to strengthen its defenses. In addition, the lord could also order the Taixuan Mansion to draw a division to move westward in the name of the military and political envoy of the Northwest County to exert pressure on Sun Yuanliang. Ling Tianfang said these words after careful consideration, "Sun Yuanliang has always been cautious, he can be said to be cunning of the old annihilators, he will not be unclear about what the Sithro people are planning, he will consider the pros and cons clearly." ”

Ling Tianfang said it well, although the Siathrow people have a close relationship with Sun Yuanliang for many years, but the two sides actually use each other to use the interdependent relationship, the Sithlos do not want to swallow Yinchuan Mansion all the time, but Yinchuan Mansion is like an iron bucket under Sun Yuanliang's management, and has an elite garrison of three divisions, the Sithlos are also quite scruples, if Sun Yuanliang is forced to hurry, he ruthlessly throws himself back into the arms of the empire, and the Sithlos will lose one foot to step into the heart of the empire, then the gains outweigh the losses, there is no absolute certainty, the Sithlos are not willing to take this risk。

And Sun Yuanliang is also well aware of his current situation, although the empire superficially admits his dominance over Yinchuan Mansion, but in his heart he is trying to regain actual control, in the face of the pressure of the empire, he also has to use the power of the empire's old enemies Siathrow to counter the empire, on the one hand, he also tried his best to make friends with the empire on the surface, not to let the empire find an excuse to make trouble, and at the same time secretly told the empire's top brass that once the empire has other unfavorable actions against Yinchuan, he will consider fully turning to the Sithroes, even if he is a traitor who betrays the country and seeks glory, and does not hesitate to force the empire not to press too hard。 He also skillfully took advantage of the balance between the empire and the Sithroes, so that his own power had not only not collapsed for more than ten years between these two powers, but was also as stable as Mount Tai.

"But His Royal Highness Sixth hasn't arrived yet, and the seal of my Northwest County Military and Political Festival Envoy is still there. "After untying the knot, my mood suddenly relaxed, and the rest was a few minor problems that would be much easier to solve.

"How can a person who has achieved great things be restrained and order the craftsmen on the street to make one, anyway, no one has ever seen the true appearance of this thing now. Ling Tianfang replied with a smile.

After receiving the urgent secret letter sent by the messenger from Qingyang, Sun Yuanliang, the city guard of Yinchuan Prefecture, who had carefully read the letter, had already walked back and forth in the meeting hall of the city guard mansion for more than ten years, and the slightly hunched figure looked a little old under the afterglow of autumn dusk. The officials sitting on both sides of the hall knew that Lord Castle Guard had encountered something tricky, and they all sat silently on the side, silently silent, for fear of interrupting Lord Castle Guard's train of thought.

"Big brother, you walk around like this without opening your mouth, what's the trouble, say it and let everyone help you refer to it. "There are still people who can't help it and finally break the silence.

Sun Yuanliang didn't have to think about it to know that it was his fourth brother Sun Yuanhui who was speaking, and only he felt unscrupulous to interrupt his thinking.

He stopped, silently pondering. Li Wufeng, this kid, actually picked up chicken feathers as an arrow, and the post report appointed over there arrived, and the order here was issued. Is it a real headache to follow his orders? If you ignore it, then your painstaking efforts to deliberately keep a low profile for more than ten years to avoid open conflict with the empire will be in vain, and the big hat of disobeying the orders of the superiors will be buttoned down, although he is not afraid now, but since then the empire has found an excuse, and he can use this excuse to start a war at any time, especially the newly appointed warmonger Li Wufeng, and under the threat of Li Wufeng's army, it is still unknown how sure he is of quickly taking Guide. But I was unwilling to give up such a good opportunity in vain.

Seeing that his eldest brother didn't take care of him, Sun Yuanhui was not angry, he was just this frizzy temper, "Big brother, you are sending a word!"

Sun Yuanliang slowly turned around and glanced at him, Sun Yuanhui saw that his brother was in a bad mood, and he stopped talking about it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I just received a letter from Qingyang, the new military and political envoy of the Northwest County, Li Wufeng, and Lord Li sent a letter and order, saying that there is an abnormal movement among the Sislo people in the north, and in order to ensure the safety of Yinchuan, I have asked the second and third garrison divisions of our government to withdraw from the southeast to garrison the city of Yinchuan Prefecture in case of accidents. What do you think about this matter?" Sun Yuanliang looked like an ancient well, and lightly introduced the content of the letter.

There was an immediate buzz in the hall, and Sun Yuanhui was the first to jump up, "What? Do you want us to withdraw our troops and return to the city? The Sithro people have made another move? The Sithro people have any change in their business? He is obviously afraid of the threat to him from our army, and we must not be fooled." ”

Many people in the hall also echoed Sun Yuanhui's opinion, but many people remained silent, obviously not agreeing with Sun Yuanhui's opinion.

Sun Yuanliang's gaze flowed over the people in the hall again, and finally stopped on a middle-aged man in sackcloth, "Tinggui, what do you think?"

The middle-aged man in Mai is his chief thinker Zhou Tinggui, a middle-aged man who looks inconspicuous. Since Sun Yuanliang launched a coup d'état eighteen years ago, he has been following Sun Yuanliang and giving him advice, and Yinchuan Mansion can stand between the two giants of the Sislo Empire and the Tang River Empire.

"My lord, what do you think of the movement of our northern Sithro army?" Zhou Tinggui did not directly answer Sun Yuanliang's question, but asked him a question instead.

Sun Yuanliang was stunned for a moment, then thought about it, and after a while, he raised his head, as if talking to himself, and as if he was asking everyone in the hall, "We learned that Nuremberg had two more divisions going south three days ago, and they had already arrived at the border area with Taixuan Mansion and our Yinchuan Mansion, plus the Heathrow army that was originally stationed in the border area, there were already close to three and a half divisions of troops, could they have other purposes?"

"I suspect that they are drunkards who don't mean to drink, and the elite troops of three and a half divisions are enough to sweep through the Guide Mansion, but they are slow to move, and they say anything to cooperate with us. If they want to take the Guide Mansion alone, the Siathrow Empire and the Guide Mansion are sandwiched between our Yinchuan Mansion and the Taixuan Mansion, like an enclave, and it is impossible to hold it for a long time. Kidman, while obnoxious, is by no means mediocre, and he would never fail to consider this. In this case, his purpose of stationing such a large number of troops in the border area is a bit suspicious, I don't think he will use such a large number of troops to help us deter Li Wufeng, and the transfer of troops of this scale must be approved by the central government of their empire, so I have reason to suspect that they want to take advantage of our invasion of Yinchuan when we are returning to Germany!" The last sentence was like a loud thunder that struck on the hearts of everyone present.

"But the Heathrow Empire has always been friendly with us, and General Kidman has always had a close relationship with adults, Lord Zhou, are you a little worried?" asked a pot-bellied fellow, he was Yu Deli, the financial officer of Yinchuan Prefecture.

"Hmph, in the face of national interests, it's too naïve to talk about benevolence, morality, and private feelings, Lord Yu. Zhou Tinggui unceremoniously sarcastically mocked Yu Deli, in his opinion, he actually put forward such a ridiculous reason, I really don't know what he has in his head, maybe this guy is thinking about how to collect money all day long, and he can't tolerate anything else.

Sun Yuanliang fell into contemplation again, and after a long time, he slowly rubbed his forehead, "I can't see that Li Wufeng's information is so fast and accurate, it can't be underestimated." Tinggui, what do you think?"

"Just sell a favor to Li Wufeng, withdraw the two divisions, and send a letter to Kidman at the same time, saying that we have changed our plan and are willing to cooperate with them, whether it is to march into Taixuan or Guide, we are willing to fully cooperate, but only to cooperate! This time the conditions are not ripe, if it is forcibly implemented, there will be chaos, and then wait for the opportunity." Sighing softly, how much time is there left? Li Wufeng, a strong neighbor in the south, is growing in his wings, and his ambitions are getting bigger and bigger, and the more he goes on, I am afraid that the situation will be more difficult.

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