Chapter 327 Pre-war deduction!

After shocking his subordinates with Liu Peng's death, Zhen Sanshan got down to business and asked his men:
"Where are Ji Qiwei's troops?"

Hearing Zhen Sanshan's question, Lu Zhan'ao, the chief envoy of the mountain, was the first to stand up and answer respectfully:

"In reply to Third Master, Ji Qiwei's troops are now in Posa City!"

"What? He is still in Posuo City?" Zhen Sanshan asked in surprise and delight:
"Yes, his 30,000 troops have been stationed in Posa City and have been stagnant. Our people have been keeping a close eye on him and will report back as soon as there is any news!" Lu Zhan'ao explained in detail:

"Hahaha········"

Upon hearing this news, Zhen Sanshan finally couldn't help but burst into laughter, and while laughing he said disdainfully:

"Song Wenhui's brain is really broken. He sent Ji Qiwei, a brave but foolish guy, here. Instead of rushing to the foot of White Tiger Mountain while the military is of the essence, he dawdles in Posa City. He is courting death!"

"Pass my order down. Tell all the guys from the thirty-six mountains and seventy-two villages to come to White Tiger Mountain. I will cover all their losses of money and food. Tell them that I am going to do something big this time!"

"Since Song Wenhui dared to plot against me, I will make sure his 30,000 troops never return! Teach our Governor a lesson!"

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In the next seven days, the situation in Posa Prefecture was just as Gu Sansi had expected. Without Jiang Chong as his backup, Ji Qiwei spent three full days in Posa City before finally arriving at the foot of White Tiger Mountain. At this time, under the appeal of Zhen Sanshan, White Tiger Mountain had already gathered more than 30,000 bandits...

Not only that, there are at least several gangs of bandits, some are heading towards Baihu Mountain, while others are eyeing Ji Qiwei's food supply route under the instruction of Zhen Sanshan.

Under such circumstances, Ji Qiwei tried to attack the mountain several times. Although he achieved some results and killed and wounded thousands of bandits, it was generally futile.

At the same time in Fengzhou, Ye Mingsheng convened another meeting in his general's mansion. Compared with the previous meeting, the number of people attending this meeting was much smaller, but all the important officials under Ye Mingsheng were present.

In addition to He Jingyun, Gu Sansi, Lin Huaiwu and others, there was also a new face appearing for the first time at this meeting, that is, the director of the Fengzhou Coordination Office - Huo San!
Although Ye Mingsheng did not deliberately conceal Huo San's existence in the past, making him an open secret, it was obvious that Huo San's identity at the time was naturally not something he could show in public.

With the establishment of Fengzhou Military Statistics and Investigation Office, Huo San gradually stepped out from behind the scenes and appeared at the highest military meeting in Fengzhou...
After asking the maids in the mansion to serve tea to the generals, Ye Mingsheng instructed Huo San, who was sitting at the back:
"Huo San, tell me about the current situation in Posuo Mansion!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, Huo San stood up respectfully and walked to the middle of the room, where a simple sand table stood.

As a time traveler, Ye Mingsheng was naturally very clear about the role of the sand table. He had been committed to making the sand table, but due to some technical reasons, he had never been able to do so until now, the talents of the Artisan Camp made the sand table.

Compared with the sand tables of later generations, Ye Mingsheng's current sand table is undoubtedly much simpler, but it still records the main mountain and river trends in Liaoyang.

Compared with traditional maps, this sand table undoubtedly presents the terrain, topography, and enemy troop deployment in a more vivid and three-dimensional way to the eyes of the generals.

All the generals present were veterans of the battlefield. When they saw the sand table for the first time, they were all delighted and realized the valuable role of this thing...

Walking to the side of the sand table, Huo San picked up the wooden pole and introduced it to everyone:
"At present, Ji Qiwei has been fighting in Baihu Mountain for three days. According to the information collected by my coordination office, Ji Qiwei once captured five hilltops outside Baihu Mountain during these three days of attack, but in the end they were all taken back by the people of Zhensanshan regardless of casualties."

"Although Zhen Sanshan relies on the natural barrier of Baihu Mountain, his subordinates' combat effectiveness is far inferior to Ji Qiwei's. As a result, the casualties of both sides are similar, about 3,000 to 4,000 people."

"But there is a very important point, that is, Baihu Mountain is the old nest of Zhen Sanshan for decades. The money and food stored there are enough for the bandits on the mountain to use for a year or so. Ji Qiwei's food and grass need to be transported from Posuo City, which is 300 miles away from Baihu Mountain."

“Although Ji Qiwei has arranged 5,000 people to protect the grain route, under the call of Zhen Sanshan, there are still several gangs of bandits harassing Ji Qiwei’s grain transportation team...”

"From the current news, Ji Qiwei's grain route is still safe, but because of the harassment of bandits, the grain transport team is moving very slowly, probably only 20 to 30 miles a day!"

"At the current speed, it will take Ji Qiwei's grain team at least five to seven days to reach White Tiger Mountain, and the current grain reserves in Ji Qiwei's camp can only support four days at most. The latest news now indicates that Ji Qiwei's offensive has been significantly weakened compared to the initial situation."

"Based on these two situations, we at the Coordination Office have reason to believe that Ji Qiwei will withdraw his troops in the next two to three days!"

After introducing these situations, Huo San put down the wooden pole in his hand and bowed to Ye Mingsheng. Ye Mingsheng nodded and said lightly:
"Not bad!"

Although Ye Mingsheng's reaction was not very strong, this "not bad" also gave Huo San a great comfort in his heart.

Ever since Shen Jianzhong uncovered half of his spy, Huo San, who had already felt Ye Mingsheng's dissatisfaction and disappointment, was feeling extremely terrified at this stage. He worked extra hard at the coordination office in order to win back Ye Mingsheng's trust and appreciation...
This time, after realizing that Ye Mingsheng was interested in Posha Mansion, Huo San mobilized all his connections and information channels, and tried his best to collect information, just to make a comeback in front of Ye Mingsheng.

Now hearing Ye Mingsheng's "not bad", Huo San really felt that all his efforts were worth it. "Everyone, what do you think of the current situation in Posuo Mansion?" Looking around at everyone present, Ye Mingsheng said lightly:
After Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, the generals present looked at each other, but no one spoke. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng's face darkened as he continued:
"Don't worry, everyone, just speak freely!"

After hearing this, Lin Huaiwu mustered up the courage to stand up from his chair, bowed to Ye Mingsheng and said:
"I have come down to see that Ji Qiwei is doomed to fail. Since he cannot defeat the enemy, he will definitely want to withdraw his troops. Now it depends on whether Zhen Sanshan will let him go."

“Judging from the cruel methods this old man used in the past, I estimate that he will definitely not let Ji Qiwei’s 30,000 troops withdraw easily. However, considering the strength of the bandits under Zhen Sanshan, without the natural barrier of Baihu Mountain, it may not be a wise move to go out of the mountain to pursue Ji Qiwei…”

Seeing Lin Huaiwu step forward first, Xun Ke, the commander of the Fifth Battalion, also stood up and said to Ye Mingsheng:
"Although Zhen Sanshan is a vindictive man, he has been able to stand firm in the green forest for decades. He is also very calm and cautious."

“Although the people under Zhen Sanshan are not ordinary bandits, they are still far behind the government troops.”

"What's more, the two thousand cavalry that Zhen Sanshan spent countless efforts on were taken to Yanjiang County by the defecting Jiang Chong. Without these two thousand cavalry, Zhen Sanshan is like a tiger without its sharpest teeth."

"He initially abandoned the outskirts of Posuo Prefecture and retreated back to Baihu Mountain instead of going all out to fight Ji Qiwei. I think Zhen Sanshan knew very well that they could not defeat Ji Qiwei's 30,000 troops."

“So I think once Ji Qiwei retreats, Zhen Sanshan will definitely chase him. At least he has to pretend to be scared so that those people in the outlaws won’t think he’s scared. But I don’t think he will chase too hard!”

Seeing that Lin Huaiwu and Xun Ke had similar opinions, Ye Mingsheng shifted his attention to He Jingyun and Gu Sansi. To be honest, he could also imagine what Lin Huaiwu and Xun Ke said. He wanted to hear some different opinions from his first strategist and his chief of staff.

Feeling Ye Mingsheng's gaze, He Jingyun raised his head slightly. Compared to usual times, as the second most important figure in Fengzhou Army after Ye Mingsheng, he seemed a little silent. On the one hand, it was because he felt a little complicated when he saw the appearance of his former subordinate Xun Ke. On the other hand, he was keenly aware of what Ye Mingsheng wanted to do...

But now that Ye Mingsheng's eyes were on him, He Jingyun decided to stand up and say something. He immediately stood up and said to Ye Mingsheng:
"Sir, what Commander Lin and Commander Xun said makes sense, but I think we need to remind everyone that Zhen Sanshan has been operating in Posuo Prefecture for many years and has a great influence in the entire Liaoyang Green Forest. I think his current manpower is not just the 30,000 people on White Tiger Mountain and the stragglers who harassed Ji Qiwei's food route!"

At this point, He Jingyun looked at Huo San who was sitting at the back and asked;
"Director Huo, I wonder if you have received any information about how many bandits Zhen Sanshan has mobilized to come to the aid of Baihushan?"

Huo San was a little surprised that He Jingyun suddenly asked him this. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded and said:

“Zhen Sanshan, as the chief leader, issued an order to the entire Green Forest, calling on all Green Foresters in Liaoyang to go to Baihu Mountain for support. Now he has almost gathered more than 20,000 people. Combined with his original manpower, Zhen Sanshan’s total force should be around 37,000 to 38,000, less than 40,000…”

"If Zhen Sanshan is given some more time, I believe he can call on more people to come to Baihu Mountain for support, but at least for now, he only has these current manpower to use."

After getting the answer from Huo San, He Jingyun continued to ask:
"If Zhen Sanshan is given seven more days, how many people can he gather?"

Huo San thought about it for a while, then smiled bitterly, shook his head and said:

"I have never thought about Lord He's question, but I roughly calculated that Zhen Sanshan should be able to gather at least 10,000 people, and at most 30,000 people. As for the exact number, I really don't know, so I hope Lord He will forgive me!"

Hearing Huo San's answer, He Jingyun nodded slightly, then walked to the front of the sand table, picked up the wooden pole and said in a deep voice:

"I agree with Commander Lin and Commander Xun's ideas. Once Ji Qiwei withdraws his troops, Zhen Sanshan will not pursue him too aggressively in the beginning to avoid a head-on battle with Ji Qiwei!"

"But I think Zhen Sanshan will try every possible means to stick to Ji Qiwei and prevent him from retreating too quickly, so as to buy time. Song Wenhui's main force is now being pinned down by the Zhenwu Army in Changqing Prefecture, so it is difficult for Ji Qiwei to get reinforcements!"

"But Zhen Sanshan is different. The longer the time drags on, the more reinforcements he will get. He doesn't need to rush to eat Ji Qiwei. What he needs to do is to avoid a decisive battle with Ji Qiwei in the short term as much as possible, and then use the reinforcements that come to completely block Ji Qiwei's food supply!"

"What Zhen Sanshan needs to do next is to constantly harass Ji Qiwei, making Ji Qiwei's 30,000 troops exhausted, and then wait for the opportunity when Ji Qiwei is at his weakest to give Ji Qiwei a fatal blow!"

When He Jingyun said this, Lin Huaiwu seemed to have a different opinion. He stood up and said:
"I would like to ask Lord He, how can Zhen Sanshan stick to Ji Qiwei?"

Hearing the dissatisfaction in Lin Huaiwu's words, He Jingyun did not get angry. He just pointed at the bumps in the sand table that represented the hills and said:
"It's true that the bandits in Zhensan Mountain can't beat Ji Qiwei's army, but there is one thing I believe they can do as well as the army, and may even do better than the army, that is their running speed. Most of the terrain around Baihu Mountain is hilly."

"As long as we find out that Ji Qiwei is coming, Zhen Sanshan can take his men and run into the nearby old forest. Zhen Sanshan is a local tyrant, and his understanding of the surrounding terrain must be a hundred times better than that of the government troops!"

Under such complex terrain conditions, it would be very difficult for Ji Qiwei to exert his military advantage. Once Ji Qiwei's pursuit is over, Zhen Sanshan can bring his men to continue harassing Ji Qiwei..."

After listening to He Jingyun's explanation, Lin Huaiwu thought about it carefully and felt that it made sense, but he still said stubbornly:
"The bandits in Zhen Sanshan are just a bunch of rabble. How could they have such insight?"

(End of this chapter)