As all the participants arrived, Wu Feng signaled Ling Tianfang to start the meeting. This is an oval-shaped conference room with a very secluded location, located in the northwest corner of the castle guard's mansion. The atmosphere seemed very serious. The guard at the door was at least three feet away from the conference room. Once everyone arrived, the door was closed tightly.
"Everyone, according to your arrangements today, all of us here will discuss the recent work plan, especially the military plan. Now let me introduce to you the current situation of our Qingyang Mansion." Ling Tianfang stood up and walked out They lined up and came to the big wall behind Wu Feng. The wall was covered with thick velvet cloth so that not even a single crack was exposed. Everyone present, including Wu Feng, had no idea what Ling Tian was up to.
"Everyone, please take a look." Ling Tianfang opened the velvet curtain covering the large wall with a "swish" sound, and a giant schematic map of the northwest and surrounding areas centered on Qingyang was immediately displayed in front of everyone.
"This is our Qingyang Mansion," Ling Tianfang casually picked up a wooden stick leaning against the wall and pointed to a position in the center marked with a small red flag. "To the northeast of it is Guide Mansion, and further on To the north is Taixuan Mansion, and to the southeast is Bonan Mansion." Ling Tianfang pointed to two more places on the map.
"Directly south of Qingyang Prefecture is Jinzhou Prefecture, and further south is part of the Great Hengduan Mountains. Directly north of it is Yinchuan Prefecture, and to the northwest is the territory of the Luobi and Mote people. To the west, is the Western Region Among the kingdoms, Gaochang Kingdom and the southwest is the territory of the Grand Duchy of Luzon."
Everyone had never seen such a large map before, and they were immediately attracted. The map is very detailed and uses several colors to distinguish adjacent areas, making it clear at a glance.
"Let me talk about the surrounding situation again. There are eight forces around Qingyang. Three of them belong to the empire, namely Guide, Bonan, and Jinzhou. There is also one that belongs to the empire in name but is actually independent. And it has a close relationship with the empire's old enemy, the Sisluo Empire, which is Yinchuan Prefecture. The Mote and Luobe people in the northwest, Gaochang in the west, and Luzon in the southwest. Among them, Guide, Bonan, Jinzhou, Mote The people, Gaochang State, Luzon State and even Yinchuan Prefecture currently do not pose a big threat to us, only the Luo Bei people." Ling Tianfang spoke in great detail.
"Let me talk about the strength of the Luobi people again. The Luobi people's army is divided into four parts, namely the Western Expedition, the Southern Expedition, the Eastern Expedition, and the Guards. Among them, the Guards are the troops directly under their chief, about 300,000 The other three tribes each have about 250,000 people. Although they suffered a defeat in the war with the Chidi people last year, their vitality was not damaged, and this nomadic tribe is to serve the people when they enter, and to serve the people when they go out. The troops were replenished very quickly. Just because they suffered a defeat, we judged based on various intelligence analysis that the Luobi people will invade on a large scale this year to make up for their losses. And we, Qingyang, will be their One of the first choices." Ling Tianfang's tone became lowered.
There was silence in the conference room. Even people who did not understand military affairs could see that there was such a huge disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves, and that a war was inevitable. There was a suffocating atmosphere in the spacious conference room.
"Looking at our surroundings, there is no need to count on Guide, Bonan, and Jinzhou. Gaochang Kingdom has too much time to take care of itself. It is already very rare that the Yinchuan Prefecture, the Grand Duchy of Luzon, and the Mote people can avoid adding insult to injury. The Imperial Army is far away, and all these We can only rely on ourselves for everything." Ling Tianfang finally concluded.
Looking around at the people around him with sharp eyes, Wu Feng continued the conversation loudly: "So, we can't expect any miracles to happen. Even if there are, we can only create them ourselves."
After Ling Tianfang finished Wu Feng's words, he finally revealed the answer: "According to your opinion, we will launch an offensive against surrounding targets in the near future. The purpose is to expand our territory, strengthen our strength, and obtain a buffer zone."
This sentence woke up everyone present. Rather than sit back and wait for death, it was better to take the initiative. But where exactly is the goal? Everyone's eyes returned to the big map again.
"The eight surrounding forces, except for the Luobi and Mote people, are all grasslands and are currently worthless. The Grand Duchy of Luzon is too far away from us, and the nearest city is 800 kilometers away from us, and the road traffic The situation is not good. Even if we occupy it, it will not be of much help to us at present. The Gaochang Kingdom is closely connected with the Luobei people and cannot act as a buffer. Moreover, the countries in the Western Regions have always been relatively united. If we send troops rashly, I am afraid that The gain will outweigh the loss." Ling Tianfang pointed at various places on the map with a wooden stick and commented one by one.
"The rest are all territories belonging to the empire. The local governments of Guide and Bonan were established not long ago. The troops only have a few thousand people and their combat effectiveness is relatively weak. We are confident that we can take over the two provinces within a week, but at present The economic and security conditions in the two prefectures are very poor, and the city defense facilities are also in dilapidated condition. If we take them, it will only increase our burden and cannot be used in the short term." Ling Tianfang also excluded Guide and Bonan Prefectures from the target, leaving the remaining two prefectures. The only ones left are Yinchuan Prefecture and Jinzhou Prefecture.
"Let's take a look at Yinchuan Prefecture and Jinzhou Prefecture. The current city guard of Yinchuan Prefecture is Sun Yuanliang. He has two garrison divisions under his jurisdiction, with a total strength of 50,000 troops, and his combat effectiveness is not weak. Although Sun Yuanliang is nominally an imperial official , but the empire has long lost its control over it. Instead, it has a very close relationship with the neighboring Heathrow Empire to the north. Yinchuan City is only 300 kilometers away from Nuremberg, the southernmost city of the Heathrow Empire, where a hundred thousand troops are stationed. A pattern of echoes has been formed, so although the empire has long regarded Yinchuan Mansion as a thorn in its side, it has no choice but to swallow this bitter pill silently. If we set Yinchuan Mansion as a target, one major advantage is that we can gain the support of the empire. ." Ling Tianfang first introduced the situation of Yinchuan Mansion.
"But according to the current strength, our strength is not enough to take over Yinchuan Mansion. Even with the support of the empire, the maximum limit is that Taixuan Mansion can mobilize two divisions to support it. The decision must be based on the situation at the time. After all, Taixuan Mansion To the east of Xuanfu, there is a 100,000 Kaman army stationed in Jiama City of the Principality of Jerok, and to the north it borders the Heathrow Empire and the Kaman Empire. Fielding is also a battle-hardened veteran, and he will not fail to consider it. These factors." Liang Chongxin first raised his own questions.
"Yes, not to mention that the Heathrow army in Nuremberg will never sit idly by. I'm afraid we will be in a dilemma." Cui Wenxiu also expressed his objection.
Wu Feng nodded and signaled Ling Tianfang to continue. Ling Tianfang's wooden stick immediately pointed to Jinzhou in the south. "Jinzhou Fucheng is about 250 kilometers away from Qingyang Fucheng. Its south and west are part of the Great Hengduan Mountains. There are about 200,000 Gaoyue people living there. There are three groups in the north, east and central part. More than 100,000 Tang people live in densely populated areas, and Jinzhou City is located in the central part. The current city guard, Wang Shiqi, has been the city guard for nearly ten years. He has an incomplete security division under his command, with a total strength of about 15,000 people, including about 5,000 cavalry. , all light cavalry. Because Wang Shiqi adopted a discriminatory policy against the Gaoyue people, strictly prohibiting the Gaoyue people from going out to engage in farming, and imposing heavy taxes on the Gaoyue people to do business, the relationship with the Gaoyue people was very tense and conflicts continued. 10,000 people are stationed at the border with the Gaoyue ethnic group. Moreover, Wang Shiqi is very greedy for money, and his relationship with the local gentry and merchants is also very tense. It is said that the local businessmen are very dissatisfied with his heavy tax policy and have signed several petitions asking for tax reductions. He is also quite mean to his subordinates, and his relationship with the middle and lower-level officers of the security force is not very harmonious."
A discerning person would know from Ling Tianfang's introduction that Wu Feng had already targeted Jinzhou. It took more than a day or two to collect the situation in such detail. The generals of the army began to think about how to fight the battle against Jinzhou.
"But sir, although Wang Shiqi is unpopular, he is an official appointed by the Imperial Central Committee after all. If we just take military action against neighboring counties without authorization from the Imperial Central Committee, I am afraid it will arouse a strong reaction from the Imperial Central Committee. , although the empire currently does not have the ability to carry out military intervention, it will have extremely serious consequences for all our other work in the future." Xiao Tang expressed his views worriedly.
"Yes, this is also the biggest obstacle for us to set Golden State as our goal. But compared to several other places, it is the most appropriate to choose the lesser of two disadvantages. Of course, we must also try our best. We must do everything possible to resolve this contradiction." Ling Tianfang also agreed with Xiao Tang's point of view, but at the same time pointed out the advantages of this plan, "The current total strength of Jinzhou Prefecture is only 15,000 people, and 10,000 people are not in the capital. According to our strength , if we adopt a surprise attack, we should be able to control the situation within a day. If we can reach an agreement with the Gaoyue people and gain the support of the Gaoyue people after controlling Jinzhou, our military strength can be greatly improved in a short period of time. Improve. Because the Gaoyue people are naturally excellent infantry, strong in body, good at running, and can go into battle with a little training. Of course, it will definitely take a lot of work to gain the support of the Gaoyue people. However, according to our intelligence, due to the The government discriminates against the Gaoyue people, and governments across the mainland are biased against the Gaoyue people. Therefore, the situation of the Gaoyue people has always been quite difficult. As long as we can make some appropriate adjustments in certain policies, I think we can win them over. Supportive."
"What's more, we have established good relationships with some businessmen in Jinzhou Prefecture. Jinzhou is rich in timber and medicinal materials, and is also a good rear supply base. As for Mr. Xiao's concerns just now, we can take some flexible means and measures Let’s solve it.” But Ling Tianfang did not say what specific means he would take to solve it.
The generals of the army are also thinking silently, weighing the pros and cons, and only Jinzhou Mansion is the most suitable target. As for how to deal with the reaction of the central government of the empire, they are not considering it, but they believe that their superiors must have already There are countermeasures, not to mention that Ling Tianfang has clearly stated that there will be flexible means to solve it.
Wu Fengjian said that in addition to the doubts about how to deal with the reaction of the central government of the empire, almost everyone agreed with the selection of Jinzhou as the next target of action, and it was time for him to make a decision: "Everyone's speeches just now are all Very good, especially Xiao Tang's opinion is very important, but I already have a way to deal with it in my mind, please rest assured. Now I have decided to set Jinzhou as our action goal, and there is still a lot of work to be done around the action plan Yes, I think this plan is called "Operation Thunder", which means that once the action is as fast as thunder, it must be captured easily. The Intelligence Agency must step up the collection of relevant intelligence during this period, and the army must be ready to go into battle at any time. The War Readiness Department must prepare all the materials needed for the war, and the Security Bureau must do a good job in keeping secrets, and at the same time strengthen the monitoring of suspicious elements in the country. I want to solve the problem within three weeks." Wu Feng made a decisive decision.