"Fortunately, the Lord loves to repair roads. Otherwise, this batch of supplies would only arrive a few days later."
Knowing that the first batch of supplies had arrived at the frontline, Feng Zhen and the others hurriedly sent people to receive them. They were busy counting the supplies and checking the accounts.
After confirming that there was no mistake, the crowd heaved a sigh of relief.
His lord was capricious and changed her mind at the last minute. This caused the frontline defense equipment to be insufficient. Once they adopted a defensive formation, they would definitely suffer a great loss.
Feng Zhen and the others had been on tenterhooks for a few days, afraid that the enemy would find out what was going on. They hadn't slept well at all.
Now that their supplies had arrived, they were more confident.
A faint smile appeared on Yang Si's haggard face. He said, "My Lord always says, 'If you want to be rich, you have to build roads first.' Her words are crude, but the truth is not."
Usually, there was no war to fight, and the flat roads were convenient for the people to travel.
Once the war started, the rations would be able to reach the frontlines faster than the soldiers.
This was extremely important to the frontline, which was constantly changing.
After settling the matter of returning the supplies to the warehouse, Fu Wang gathered everyone to discuss countermeasures.
Zhangzhou was Yang Tao's base camp. The waterways here were developed, thus it would be extremely difficult for outsiders, who were not familiar with the terrain, to attack.
Of course, if one wasn't good at water battles, even if one was familiar with the land and waterways, one wouldn't be able to gain the upper hand.
Feng Zhen said, "Our lord is also an expert in preparing for a rainy day. He poached Qi Kuang from Yang Jian long ago. Otherwise, this battle would not have been easy to fight."
During the alliance meeting at Huangshui, Feng Zhen had recommended Qi Kuang to Jiang Pengji.
Since she couldn't directly ask Yang Jian for Qi Kuang, she used the excuse of "borrowing someone to watch the show" to "borrow" Qi Kuang. Until now, she had no intention of returning him. Qi Kuang trained the navy diligently for Jiang Pengji for many years. As a man of action, Qi Kuang only knew how to bury his head in training and never claimed credit. He didn't disappoint the lord's trust in him, so he didn't have much of a presence these past few years.
However, this couldn't erase Qi Kuang's contributions. His efforts over the years were also valuable.
If it wasn't for him, they wouldn't have won the battle against the Northern Borderline so easily, let alone establishing their position as the overlord of the North.
Moreover, they were in Zhangzhou, where the water was developed, so water battles were inevitable.
If a group of landlubbers were to fight in the water, it would be the same as sending their heads to the enemy. What was the point of fighting!
Even if they sharpened their blades just before the battle, the casualties would still be very heavy.
Yang Si smiled and said, "I don't agree with other things, but I have to admit this."
Qi Kuang replied humbly. He didn't think that this could be considered his own contribution. If it wasn't for his lord's trust and support over the years, he wouldn't be where he was today. Most of Jiang Pengji's territory was in the north. There was almost no need for water battles. Training the navy was also a waste of time and energy.
The navy was not easy to train, and the amount of effort and cost was unimaginable to outsiders.
Qi Kuang knew very well that there were people who had long been dissatisfied with the navy, thinking that the useless navy took up too much military resources.
"This is the credit of the Lord and the entire army. How can I be the only one to blame for this?"
Qi Kuang smiled shyly, then he changed the topic and said, "The waterways in Zhangzhou are well-developed. In the past, water bandits ran amok, but Yang Jian led his men to clean them up, so they stopped for a while. After that, the world was in chaos, and the number of pirates only increased. Yang Tao's energy was mainly focused on Nansheng, so he reckoned that he would not be able to put in all his forces to deal with the water bandits in Zhangzhou. I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it's feasible. "
Fu Wang said, "Why don't you share it so that the military advisors can help you analyze it?"
Qi Kuang said, "Although I'm from Zhangzhou and my ancestors have dealt with the water for generations, I'm not as familiar with it as the pirates. If Yang Tao can't completely subdue them, we might as well send some navy to capture some of them and find out the situation in the water from them. "
In some places, the water was deep and the current was rapid. In some places, the water was shallow and it was easy to hit the rocks.
Even though Qi Kuang had grown up by the water, he didn't dare to say that he knew every part of the water in Zhangzhou.
He had experience in water battles. In the past, he had followed Yang Jian in hundreds of water battles, big and small, and he had a set of experience in dealing with the pirates.
If he sent the navy to capture the pirates, it wouldn't take much effort.
Fu Wang and the others agreed to this suggestion.
They had the Great Universal Geographical Map, but the map was extremely simple. The water was also a few rough lines. If they were to really fight with Yang Tao, this kind of map wouldn't be of much use. If they could find some pirates who knew their background, they wouldn't have to worry about not being able to figure out the water route.
Of course …
It would be even better if he could subdue all of the water bandits.
More than half a month before the war broke out, Yang Tao had been praying for Yan Lin's return.
"How's the preparation going?"
Yan Lin had just returned. He didn't even have time to change his clothes. He immediately went to Yang Tao to ask about the situation.
Before he went to Zhongzhao, he prepared a backup "external brain" for Yang Tao. It was a strategist named "Qian Su".
Qian Su and Yan Lin were good friends when they were young. They shared the same interests and had kept in touch all these years. Years ago, Yan Lin helped Yang Tao seize power from the fake Emperor, Prince Changshou. If it wasn't for Qian Su, who secretly supported him and used his family's power to help him, he wouldn't have succeeded.
During Yan Lin's absence, Qian Su assisted Yang Tao in managing the internal affairs of the company. She also made sure that the logistics and war preparations were perfect.
"Everything is ready," Qian Su said. "Shaoyang, do you want to check it out?"
"How can I not trust you?" Yan Lin said. "What's my lord's attitude towards this war?"
Qian Su said, "My lord is enthusiastic about the war, but … those people under him have other intentions."
The structure of Yang Tao's subordinates was complicated. Some of them were old men from Zhangzhou, while others were from Nansheng. Compared to the former, who were loyal, the latter were more like opportunists. They saw that Jiang Pengji was powerful. She sent more than 200,000 elites to the border. They were scared before the war even started. Their fighting spirit was low. Qian Su had been worrying about this for the past few days.
Yan Lin said, "I expected it."
Those people didn't care whether Yang Tao won or lost. They only cared about their own interests.
Qian Su said, "What do you think about the outcome of this war, Shaoyang?"
Yan Lin answered without hesitation, "My army is at a disadvantage, but it won't be easy for Liu Xi to win."
Yang Tao's troops had suffered too many losses on the battlefield in Nansheng. His supplies and rations were almost depleted. Before he could catch his breath, Jiang Pengji had sent troops to suppress him. The situation was very disadvantageous to him. However, Yan Lin didn't think that Yang Tao would lose because of these disadvantages.
Zhangzhou's terrain was special. The water ran through the whole territory. If they wanted to conquer this place, they had to fight in the water.
Qian Su said, "Yes, most of Liu Xi's troops are northerners. They're not good at swimming."
Yan Lin smiled bitterly and said, "That's not necessarily true."
"What do you mean?"
Yan Lin said, "I'm afraid you don't know this. During the alliance meeting at the Huang River, Liu Xi used the excuse of borrowing a centurion from the old lord. The centurion was inconspicuous, but after observing him for a long time, Yan Lin realized that he was quite talented. He could be put in an important position when the time was right. Unexpectedly … "
Unexpectedly, he was borrowed and hasn't been returned.
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