"Strategist, Wang Qian, how do you think this battle should be fought?" Liu Fan faced this map, and the scouts had already taken the first step to send the route maps of the marching armies of all walks of life to the big tent. Yan Baihu actually dispatched a total of 600,000 troops to concentrate on the Shouchun line this time, and the 200,000 Yizhou Navy from Yangzhou and the 100,000 land and water armies in Yangzhou were also approaching Huiji.

Liu Fan was now able to draw all the Liliang, only the 150,000 army under his command and the 100,000 army of Wucheng, a total of 200,000 troops against Yan Baihu's 600,000 army. And Huiji only has one division of Zhang Hu and Cai Mao's 50,000 naval army, Yangzhou's 650,000 army, and the strength concentrated on the front line of Jian'an is as high as 300,000, and they have to face Zhang Rang's six legions of Praetorian Guards, a total of 1.8 million, a six-fold gap in strength, and the two-line battle also makes Liu Fan feel unprecedented pressure.

"My lord, if you want to decide Yangzhou in a war, it is no longer possible. Our intelligence shows that after the defeat of the Yangzhou garrison at our hands, Zhang Rang transferred a part of the Praetorian Guard and the infantry corps of Yizhou to supplement the strength of the Yangzhou legion, and we do not need to make a fuss about the improvement of the strength of the Yangzhou garrison. ”

"Lord, now Zhang Rang Chen Bing Jian'an is on the front line, Yan Baihu Chen Bing Shouchun is on the front line, this is not an opportunity for us. A glimmer of light flashed in Guo Jia's eyes, and a trace of the same gaze flashed in Wang Jia's eyes: "Lord, please see, the distance between Shouchun and Yangzhou is at a normal marching speed, at least half a month." Half a month is enough for us to do a lot of things. ”

Liu Fan looked at Guo Jia's finger and walked around the map, this road is all flat, and there is no strategic place to defend at all. Liu Fan looked at Guo Jia and Wang Qian, both of whom were staring at the map tightly, but Liu Fan couldn't see the intention at all: "Fengxiao, what's Jihua?"

"Lord, the richest place in Yangzhou is the two cities of Yangzhou City and Jianye, with the taxes of Yangzhou City and Shouchun are enough to feed the 400,000 army, plus the garrisons of Lujiang and Chaisang, that is to say, Yan Baihu's most troops are at most 800,000 troops. But the number of troops they are now concentrated on the front line of Shouchun has reached 600,000 troops, and there is also an attack on Huiji. Lord, I want to ask my lord, how many troops do Lujiang and Huiji still have, and how many troops can Yangzhou City defend?"

Guo Jia put the problem a little bit, and Liu Fan suddenly had a feeling of empowerment. Yan Baihu's army of 800,000. Divided into two armies, Jin attacked Wucheng and Huiji, so the number of troops staying in Yangzhou, Lujiang and Chaisang would definitely not be very large, and it was not a fighter plane.

"My lord, please see. Our army is now stationed in Xihudian, and if we march a hundred kilometers south, we will meet Yan Baihu's army. And here is the canal, the Huai River, the confluence of the three rivers of the river, Sanhe Town. It is also one of the busiest locations in Yangzhou, and it is also the traffic artery of Yangzhou. If my estimate is correct, Yan Baihu must have taken control of this place now and provided support for the logistics of the front line, but what about us?" Wang Jian pointed to the map and said to Liu Fan, his finger pulled along Sanhe Town, and tapped heavily on the point where Lujiang was located.

"Weishenme is Lujiang?" If Wang Jian had already said this, Liu Fan couldn't see that Liu Fan was a military idiot at all, but Liu Fan never understood that Weishenme Wang Jian and Guo Jia would choose Lujiang in unison. Instead of Yangzhou or Chaisang. These two cities are above the Lujiang River in terms of geographical location and economic development.

"Two points, one, Yan Baihu dared to bring all the troops here, and he must have expected our tactics. However, at most, he calculated that we would attack Yangzhou, and he certainly did not expect that we would directly cross Yangzhou to attack Chaisan and Lujiang, and the defenses of all the two places would certainly not be very tight. ”

"Second, although compared to Chaisang and Yangzhou. The importance of Lujiang is a little worse, but the lord is precisely because of this. Compared with Yangzhou and Chaisang, Lujiang's troops will not be many, and the more important thing is that Lujiang is easy to defend and difficult to attack, in contrast, as long as we can occupy Lujiang, we will be able to hold here to the death, strangle the mouth of the canal, and cut off Yan Baihu's acceptance of support from Yizhou. ”

Liu Fan finally understood what the two meant, and directly copied the back road, the strength of the Yangzhou garrison was closely related to the support of the imperial capital, and now the Jian'an front line was still in the confrontation, and it was obviously impossible to support from Yangzhou by land. The only way for the emperor to support Yangzhou was the navy of Yizhou, and as long as it could strangle the water transportation of the canal, Yangzhou's combat effectiveness would inevitably be weakened. And the occupation of Lujiang is not only for this purpose, a nail was inserted in Lujiang, Yan Baihu is bound to send troops back to rescue for the safety of his own back road, the number of people is small, and Lujiang cannot be defeated, and the deterrent power of the front line is not enough, and Liu Fan can seize the opportunity to break them one by one, and then he can only let Yan Baihu cry on the side.

"Lord, Lujiang is the key to our battle, and whether we can occupy and hold Lujiang is the key to our victory. Guo Jia has directly elevated the status of Lujiang to the position of determining the life and death of the entire battle, which also indicates the importance of Lujiang to the battle in Yangzhou.

"But it is a long way to reach the Lujiang River from here, and there is a water army in Yizhou on the Lujiang Canal, and the army will definitely not be able to smuggle from here to Yangzhou, but the number of people is likely to be small and it will not be able to hold the Lujiang River. In this way, all our efforts will be in vain, not only that, if Yan Baihu takes the opportunity to attack, my troops may not be able to stop Yan Baihu. Liu Fan looked at Guo Jia and Wang Jian with a worried face, and all the generals in the audience are also you look at me, I look at you, frowning and thinking about the strategy.

If you want to reach the Lujiang River, you must pass through Sanhe Town, which has now been occupied by Yan Baihu. It is obviously impossible to smuggle from Shouchun's army to Lujiang under the nose, even if it is possible, occupying Lujiang will also face the counterattack of Yangzhou and Chaisang, and it will be useless if there are fewer troops, and Lujiang as the rear of the war, the Lujiang city defense equipment that has not been fought for many years must not be stored much, how to hold Lujiang and drag Yan Baihu's army is the key.

On the one hand, we want to attack Shouchun with great fanfare to attract the attention of the Shouchun army, and on the other hand, send an elite army to attack Sanhe Town, forcing the defenders of Sanhe Town to shrink their backhands and ask Yan Baihu for help, and then with an elite cavalry team at night, hiding their tracks, rushing to Lujiang, occupying Lujiang, and guarding Lujiang like a nail. Guo Jia's eyes flashed a glimmer of light, his eyes swirled on the bodies of the generals in the tent, and all the generals looked at Guo Jia with an expectant gaze, this battle is a life of nine deaths, but it is also a shortcut to becoming a knight.

Liu Fan nodded, I have to say that this strategy is quite beautiful, bypassing the equally empty Yangzhou to directly attack the Lujiang River of the Zuihou side, strangle Yangzhou's access to foreign aid, Xuzhou's military strength is weak, and it is impossible to support Yangzhou if the town guard general and Zhang Rang are not in harmony, Jiaozhou is newly defeated, and it is impossible to support Yangzhou, all the support in Yangzhou is only Yizhou, and the canal can be said to be the lifeline of Yangzhou, strangle the canal, Yan Baihu will not be able to defend back, and the fighter plane will appear here.

Liu Fan glanced at the generals in the tent, and hesitated a little in his heart, this battle is a life of nine deaths, and only the Liu family's daring army can complete this task. Guo Jia nodded heavily at Liu Fan, and Wang Jian also gave Liu Fan a positive look, and the generals sitting on the side also looked at Liu Fan with a dare to die expression, and Liu Fan finally made up his mind.

"Okay, in that case, I don't know which general is willing to take on this important task?" Liu Fan looked at the generals in the audience, Liu Long sat in the rear, this time only Dugu Butterfly followed Liu Fan on the expedition, the division commander of the Liu family's death army was taken over by Liu Fan himself, and this time the war could only be handed over to the Liu family's death army.

"The last general is willing!" All the generals who sat down with Liu Fan were satisfied, this is an opportunity to fight for their lives, and it is also an opportunity to become famous in a fight, even if they die, these generals who regard honor more than their lives will not frown.

"Well, you're all good. But this time it's all nine deaths, so I'm a direct commander in this battle. Liu Fan shouted heroically, and immediately made all the generals sitting down stand in front of Liu Fan with their chests straight.