Chapter 695: Enemy and Our Plans! (Thanks to the book friends who care more than a little bit for the reward!)

Looking at the contents of the letter, Xu Zhaojie was silent for more than ten seconds, then he turned to Liu Zhaohu beside him and asked:

“Is there any news about Zhao Daqi’s 30,000 people now?”

Listening to Xu Zhaojie's question, Liu Chaohu thought quickly and said:
"Reporting to the Lord, Zhao Daqi's 30,000 men sent a message yesterday, saying that they were about to enter Anqing. They should be in Anqing territory now, and they are probably not far from Anqing City!"

After hearing what Liu Chaohu said, Xu Zhaojie felt relieved. It was a foregone conclusion that Zhang Meng's troops in Qi and Lu would launch an attack on Anqing. It was also within his expectations. For this reason, he ordered his general Zhao Daqi ten days ago to transfer 30,000 troops from Huainan to Anqing to assist Wang Songhe in resisting the Fengwu Army.

However, according to Xu Zhaojie's estimation, Zhang Meng's troops would need some time to complete the reorganization of the original Qi army troops before launching an attack on Anqing. This process would take at least ten days to half a month, which was enough time for Zhao Daqi to lead his troops from Huainan to provide support!
However, Zhang Meng's actions told Xu Zhaojie that he had underestimated the Fengwu Army's infiltration strength and reorganization speed of the Qi Army, which caught Xu Zhaojie off guard.

However, I believe that with Zhao Daqi's 30,000 troops, Wang Songhe should be able to defend Anqing without any unexpected problems!

Xu Zhaojie calmed down and shifted his gaze to the sand table again, his expression full of caution. According to intelligence, he has currently assembled the main force of the enemy's First Army, about 30,000 people, and according to intelligence, the Fengwu Army is mobilizing in the rear of Hebei and Henan. In the next month, the Fengwu Army may add 10,000 to 20,000 new forces...
In addition, there is the 9th Division still stationed in Yijing. Xu Zhaojie is arranging intelligence personnel to closely monitor the movements of this force. This force is regarded as Ye Mingsheng's last reserve. As far as the current situation is concerned, Xu Zhaojie guessed that Ye Mingsheng might want to send the 9th Division to Hebei and Henan, but was worried that the Fengwu Army would not be able to hold on to the Yunbing battlefield, so he did not make a move easily.

After all, if the Fengwu Army really couldn't hold out on the Yunbing battlefield, the Ninth Division with a full complement of 18,000 soldiers would become the reassurance for the Fengwu Army to stabilize the Yunbing battlefield. If it were easily sent to Hebei and Henan, once the Yunbing battlefield could no longer hold out and Ye Mingsheng had no troops to deploy, the Fengwu Army would be at risk of a total collapse.

Thinking of the Yunbing battlefield, Xu Zhaojie couldn't help but frowned. Although he was in Hebei and Henan at this time, he was also paying attention to the Yunbing battlefield. According to the information he received, the Luoan Imperial Guards under Shangguan Hongyuan were attacking fiercely in Yunbing. Shangguan Hongyuan himself was stationed in Jinyang, and the 170,000 troops were sent out in three directions, and they seemed to be ready to swallow Jinzhong in one fell swoop.

However, although the offensive was fierce, the effect was not very good. Up to now, the 170,000-strong army has not even seen the gate of Jinzhong, and is still struggling with several small counties outside the city of Jinzhong. At this rate, let's not talk about whether Shangguan Hongyuan can take Jinzhong. Even if Shangguan Hongyuan can take Jinzhong, how long will it take?

Xu Zhaojie also knew a little about the financial situation of the Luoan court. He felt that the financial situation of the Luoan court was not enough to support Shangguan Hongyuan's 200,000 troops for three months...

In Xu Zhaojie's plan, with him tying down part of Ye Mingsheng's troops, Shangguan Hongyuan should have made rapid progress on the Yunbing battlefield. Although he would not be able to capture Jinzhong City immediately, he should be able to wipe out the outer county towns and surround Jinzhong.

In this way, Shangguan Hongyuan put great pressure on Ye Mingsheng in the Yunbing battlefield. Although Ye Mingsheng was unwilling, he had no choice but to invest his troops in Yunbing. After all, once the Luoan Imperial Army took Jinzhong, the Luoan Imperial Army could directly threaten Yijing, the power core of the Fengwu Army regime. Jiyu was obviously not as important as Yijing, so Xu could erode Jiyu step by step.

However, the progress of the Luoan Imperial Army in the Yunbing battlefield is really disappointing. It can't give the Fengwu Army the strong pressure it expected. If it continues to develop in this way, Xu Zhaojie guessed that the 9th Division of the Fengwu Army will soon pounce on Hebei and Henan, and then the pressure he will face will be even greater.

How long can the defense lines he had set up in Shenzhou and Shangzhou hold out in the face of the Fengwu Army's powerful artillery fire and superior forces?
Ten days?

Half a month?
Or a month?

Even though Xu Zhaojie was very confident in himself, he didn't dare to believe that he could hold on for more than a month. After all, he had seen the fighting power of the Fengwu Army and how the Fengwu Army would frantically bombard the enemy with dozens of cannons without caring about the wear and tear of their shells if there was a disagreement...
The only thing Xu Zhaojie can hope for now is that Shangguan Hongyuan can make a breakthrough in Yunbing within this month, exert more pressure on the Fengwu Army, and force Ye Mingsheng to transfer his troops back to Yunbing.

Otherwise, even if the city has not been lost after a month, he must retreat to Anqing. Otherwise, if he continues to stay in Hebei and Henan, he will be at risk of being wiped out!

After seeing how hard the Luoan Imperial Guards were struggling on the Yunbing battlefield, Xu Zhaojie no longer had much hope that they would be able to capture Jinzhong within a month. Xu Zhaojie now only hoped that Shangguan Hongyuan could wipe out the outer counties of Jinzhong within a month and surround Jinzhong City. This way, there would still be hope of winning the war.

Otherwise, he would be forced to retreat in Hebei and Henan a month later, and Ye Mingsheng would be able to free up his hands to deal with Shangguan Hongyuan. Moreover, by that time, Shangguan Hongyuan's internal financial and supply problems would become more and more serious. Shangguan Hongyuan might not be able to get Jinzhong, but his own Jinyang would be lost instead.

If Ye Mingsheng is not defeated in this battle, it can be said that Ye Mingsheng's fate is sealed, and from then on, he and Shangguan Hongyuan will only be able to passively take the beating!

Thinking of this, Xu Zhaojie couldn't help but sigh silently, and prayed to God in his heart, don't let Ye Mingsheng's good luck continue!
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While Xu Zhaojie was feeling angry, Ye Mingsheng in the Governor-General's Mansion in Yijing also had a serious look on his face as he looked at the battle report from the front line.

Although he knew that the battle on the Yunbing battlefield was very fierce under the fierce attack of the Luoan Imperial Guards and the casualties were very heavy, there was no specific casualty figure after all, so Ye Mingsheng did not have a very clear idea of ​​the casualties on the Yunbing battlefield. However, just an hour ago, the battle report written by He Jingyun himself was delivered to Ye Mingsheng from Jinzhong.

Because the war was not over yet, there were new casualties every day, and it was impossible to make an accurate casualty statistics. Therefore, the battle report sent by He Jingyun was only an estimate. But even so, the casualties of nearly 20,000 people still made Ye Mingsheng's heart sink. You know, the Fengwu Army in Yunnan had only two armies, four divisions, and 100,000 people. The battle had only been going on for a month, and the casualties were nearly 20%.

Although he understood that the Fengwu Army had suffered so many casualties, the casualties of the Luoan Imperial Guard would be even greater, at least two to three times that of the Fengwu Army, but Ye Mingsheng still found it somewhat unacceptable. In addition, according to He Jingyun's report, Shangguan Hongyuan seemed to be targeting the two counties on the southern line of Jinzhong as breakthrough points, and gave a death order to Tang Peng, who was in charge of the attack on the southern line of Jinzhong, requiring Tang Peng to make progress on the southern line before the 17th, otherwise Tang Peng would be beheaded.

Therefore, under Shangguan Hongyuan's "death threat", Tang Peng was like a chicken with blood injected, and launched a fierce attack on the two counties on the southern line day and night regardless of casualties. Although Pingrong County and Wankang County on the southern line of Jinzhong are still under the control of the Fengwu Army, He Jingyun cannot spare more reinforcements to rush there. Therefore, He Jingyun also predicted that the southern line will be broken through by Tang Peng's troops soon··························

In this regard, He Jingyun also told Ye Mingsheng that even if the southern line was broken through by Tang Peng's troops, the soldiers of the Second and Third Armies fighting on the Yunbing battlefield were still full of fighting spirit and could ensure that Jinzhong City would remain impregnable.

Ye Mingsheng was somewhat comforted by this. He had been prepared for today's battle report since the day he decided to change his strategy and deal with Xu Zhaojie first!
In fact, as of now, the Fengwu Army has been able to ensure that none of the four outer counties have been lost. Ye Mingsheng already thinks that He Jingyun and Yun Bing's soldiers on the battlefield have performed very well. Now that the war has been going on for a month, according to the investigation of the General Coordination Office, although the Luoan court can still maintain the logistics supply of the 200,000 troops on the front line, compared with the beginning of the war, both the speed and frequency of supply have dropped significantly. At the beginning of the war, food, medicine and gunpowder that could be delivered in three or four days may now take seven days, ten days, or even half a month to deliver.

Because of this incident, the soldiers on the front line who were only slightly injured were delayed to become seriously injured, the soldiers who could have survived lost their lives, and the offensive that could have been continued while the iron was hot was forced to suspend due to lack of ammunition.

Therefore, the soldiers of the Imperial Guards on the front line have begun to complain. This undoubtedly shows that the General Staff's previous judgment that the Luoan Imperial Guards can only maintain a high-intensity attack for two months is correct. After two months, the Luoan Imperial Guards will fall into an offensive bottleneck and will no longer be able to launch a large-scale attack in a short period of time.

Now that the war has lasted for a month, there is not much time left for Shangguan Hongyuan and the Luoan Imperial Guards...

Just as Ye Mingsheng continued to think, Ye Cheng knocked on the door and walked in and said:

"Sir, Lord Gu is here!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded and ordered:
'Then let Sansi come in!'

"Yes!"

After the words fell, Ye Cheng did not take action immediately to invite Gu Sansi into Ye Mingsheng's study, but stood there and looked at Ye Mingsheng hesitantly. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised and immediately looked at him. Feeling Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Ye Cheng immediately plucked up the courage to whisper:

"Sir, Wang Jiang is here in Yijing again. She went to Changshan Clinic to look for Madam Pei a few days ago, but it is said that Madam Pei ignored her, so she is now seeking to see the eldest lady!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng was stunned at first, then he recalled the beautiful married woman of noble status in Zhang Zhiwen's letter.

Although Ye Mingsheng had not met Wang Jiang, the little emperor's aunt, to be honest, he was quite interested in her. After all, her identity as the emperor's aunt always aroused people's curiosity.

However, because the war was at a stalemate during this period, Ye Mingsheng had neither the time nor the energy to care about this matter, so he put it aside for the time being.

But I didn’t expect that Wang Jiang would come to me so soon...
"Is it still because of the ticket number license issue?" Ye Mingsheng pondered for a while and asked:
Ye Cheng nodded and said:

"Yes, Wang Jiang is very concerned about this matter!"

Ye Mingsheng thought for two seconds and then said nothing more. Instead, he instructed Ye Cheng:

"Please bring Sansi in!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Cheng understood what Ye Mingsheng was considering, so he followed Ye Mingsheng's instructions and immediately invited Gu Sansi into the study.

After entering the study and greeting Ye Mingsheng, Gu Sansi didn't waste any time and directly reported his recent work results to Ye Mingsheng.

"Reporting to the Lord, 700,000 taels of Dadongsheng's one million taels of bonds have been successfully subscribed. The remaining 300,000 taels are also in active progress. If nothing unexpected happens, all the bonds will be sold by the end of the month, and the silver will be fully received before the end of next month..."

"As for the issue of the ticket exchange license, the Yun family and the Liu family were very sincere and both paid a deposit of 100,000 taels of silver according to the rules. In addition, during the sale of the Dadongsheng bonds, the Yun family sold two shops to raise 200,000 taels of silver and purchased 200,000 taels of Dadongsheng bonds! The Liu family also purchased 150,000 taels!"

Upon hearing this news, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly. The two families were so generous, and it was worth it for him to talk to Cui Shao and Gu Zhongshi a few days ago. Since they had expressed their sincerity, he could not be stingy, so he immediately opened his mouth and gave instructions:

"Let's issue the licenses to these two companies, but the Chief Secretary must also strengthen supervision. During this period of time, you and the Chief Secretary will jointly draft a code of conduct for the ticket number industry and bring it to me!"

"Yes!" Gu Sansi nodded.

After a moment of silence, Ye Mingsheng continued to ask:
“We have Liaoyang’s ticket office, and we have Youyan’s ticket office as well. So how many bonds did the applicants for Jiyu’s ticket office buy?”

(End of this chapter)