Autumn had arrived in the north and south of the great river. Cicadas in autumn were hanging on the trees, making their final screeches. Their noise was truly annoying.
Spring was high on the branches, autumn was low on the branches. The word 'worry' rose and fell, and filled one's heart.
In the late autumn of the first year of Xiangfu, the smoke of war once again rose in the Central Plains, causing many old people who had experienced the war of the Spring and Autumn Period to tremble with fear. Especially the Guangling Road, whose territory was second only to the southern border, the flames of war continued without any signs of extinguishing.
In the history of Liyang officials, Da Chu became West Chu, Divine Phoenix City was renamed Dingding City, and now those historians had even thought of a new wording, West Chu was changed to Later Chu. Even if the Liyang imperial court, which had become the rightful ruler of the world, did not start the war unsuccessfully, they still did not think that this group of ghosts, who should have gone with the wind along with the Spring and Autumn Period, could really achieve great things. In fact, as long as the second pillar after Xu Xiao, Gu Jiantang did not change his position and did not withdraw from the northern border to the south, it meant that the situation was still in the hands of the imperial court.
The woman whose real name was Jiang Si did not leave the city with her uncle. She was currently sitting quietly in this enormous' home '. Across the stone table was the Grand Preceptor, Sun Xiji, who was reporting the situation of the eastern front to her. She was not absent-minded like when she first entered White Deer Cave. Instead, she seriously listened to every word, but she did not make a sound. She did not even think of using her status to criticize the military affairs of the country. Cao Changqing personally came to the Guangling River and oversaw the navy flagship. Together with the young general Kou Jianghuai, one on the water and one on the land, the spearhead was directed at the Spring Snow Building of the Prince of Guangling, Zhao Yi. Jiang Si was already used to listening to reports of victory. First, it was the fledgling Pei Sui who joined hands with Xie Xi. Not only did they defend the important town, they also took advantage of the situation and nailed the forty thousand old soldiers of Ji Nan, led by Yang Shenxing, who had underestimated the enemy, firmly in Qingyang Basin. This was only the first round of the strategy to lure the enemy. Xie Xi very quickly fought a tough battle. Yan Zhenchun's thirty thousand elite cavalry of the Yan Family were completely annihilated. At the same time, Kou Jianghuai took advantage of the situation and headed east. His military achievements were only slightly inferior to Xie Xi's. He led Zhao Yi's troops by the nose as if he was taking a stroll on the street. One was moving, one was still. The changes in movement and stillness, the combination of strange and normal, were completely out of Li Yang's expectations. According to what the Old Grand Tutor had just said, Kou Jianghuai's method of dividing the troops was like an extension of his arm. He had already beaten Zhao Yi's western defensive line like a sieve. The three armies had a total of 60,000 soldiers, and they were separately holed up in Zhaozhuang County, Starport City, and Fire Date Mountain. In addition, the Da Chu navy had greatly intimidated the main force of Zhao Yi's rear, so they did not dare to rashly enter the western front to fill in the holes. The initiative was completely grasped in the hands of Kou Jianghuai. What was left was to see which place this young general would attack first. In the eyes of outsiders, Kou Jianghuai was rather self-respecting with his troops. He had never reported his intentions to the Imperial Palace and rarely even consulted with Cao Changqing, who was close by.
Regarding this matter, Da Chu's three provinces and six ministries were not without criticism. There were already people who suggested that Xie Xibian, who was more steady in using troops, should be transferred to the eastern front, and then the unruly and difficult to tame Kou Jianghuai should be transferred to the western front. In Da Chu's imperial court, the Duke of Huainan Zhao Ying, the King of Jing An, Zhao Xun, and the other Vassal Kings of Liyang, added together, regardless of whether it was numbers or battle prowess, they could not compare to Zhao Yi, who dared to contend with Beiliang for the number one army in the world. For this reason, the old man of the Kou family, trembling with fear, took the initiative to come to the Imperial Palace two days ago to present a bramble and ask for punishment. Jiang Ni had no choice but to placate him with kind words. She clearly remembered that Old Imperial Tutor Sun was clearly an old friend of the Kou family, yet he still fiercely beat the nearly eighty-year-old old man of the Kou family to the side. At that time, Jiang Ni watched the back of the old man kneeling on the ground after he stood up and turned around, soaked in sweat. She then thought of the imperial court, where even she could see that some of the officials of the three provinces and six ministries were already beginning to struggle for power. Without her uncle by her side to act as her backbone, she immediately felt a strong sense of powerlessness.
The Old Grand Preceptor, who seemed to be in good spirits, drank a mouthful of tea to quench his thirst. After he put down the cup, he smiled and said, "This old official knows a little about military affairs, so I don't dare to recklessly guess Kou Jianghuai's next move. However, this old official thinks that as long as we can defeat any one of the three prefectures in Zhuangzhuang County, Zhao Yi's lucky general, Song Li, will definitely be hard-pressed from the very beginning."
Sun Xiji thought for a moment, dipped his finger into the tea, and tapped three points on the stone table. "At the beginning of summer, Old Kou brought Kou Jianghuai to visit us and listened to this young man's opinions. They were all things that had never been mentioned or written in the ancient books. He said that in the future, wars would gradually be inclined to be fought in the wild, and the share of sieges and strongholds would gradually decrease. In short, war is about slowly expanding the overall situation of a country, and nothing more than the essence of the three words," point, line, and surface. "Kou Jianghuai said that he valued the 'line' more than anyone else, and that his troops and horses would definitely be the best at rapid transfer and long-distance raids. In this way, even if the overall strength of his side was inferior to the enemy's, at certain critical moments, he would be able to bully the enemy with numbers. He would not fight for meaningless victories, but only seek to defeat the enemy's single large number of elite troops and horses."
The Old Grand Preceptor was in a good mood. He said, "At first, this old official thought that Kou Jianghuai, who had made a name for himself in the Shangyin Academy, was bullying this old official and showing off his knowledge on paper. Now that I think about it carefully, I think that Kou Jianghuai is indeed confident."
Sun Xiji smiled and said, "I heard that the Spring Snow Building has already issued a death order to Liu Louya at the Fire Date Mountain of the Wushou Fortress. Once the Fire Date is lost, all the generals above the rank of Commandant will have to obediently bring their heads to Zhao Yi even if they manage to escape alive."
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