"Well, this situation is the last thing I want to see. Once His Majesty dies and the kings seize the throne, the empire will definitely become divided. The Kaman and Pu people in the north should have already made an agreement with the Taiping people. , the empire will definitely send troops. War in the north of the empire is inevitable, and the Machi Khans are waiting for an opportunity to stay in Baling. Wuhu County will definitely be exposed to the flames of war again. The Linlang family will definitely not be willing to be lonely, and the empire will be ignited with war. ." Wu Feng said seriously, "So if there is such a trend, I can only do my best to prevent this situation from happening."
"It's just that I'm afraid it's difficult for us to intervene in this situation. Several highnesses stand together, each with heavy troops and their own sphere of influence. Even if they fail to compete for the throne in the imperial capital, they can still escape back to their old nest. It is difficult to completely eradicate their influence. It is impossible to eliminate the root cause of the civil war." Su Qin frowned and explained further.
"If your Highnesses can be allowed to understand the current internal and external situation in the imperial capital and let them reach a compromise, can we avoid or delay the possibility of civil war triggering foreign invasion?" Wu Feng asked hesitantly, but he also knew that this was the only possibility. It was just my own wishful thinking. Those people were unwilling to be inferior to others. How could they reach a compromise
"This possibility is very small. His Highness, Situ Tai, currently controls the entire Yanyun County. Local officials from several prefectures in the northern part of Donghai County are also flirting with him and have more than 300,000 troops. During the war with the Taiping Sect, Always preserving their strength, the combat effectiveness of the First and Second Legions and several independent divisions in the northern military region are among the best among the Imperial Army, and they also have considerable potential power within the Imperial Capital; His Highness Situ Jun currently controls the Five Lakes If the Sixth Army is included in Dabu and Jincheng Prefecture in Kansai, the number of armored troops is close to 300,000. According to intelligence, Situ Junzheng actively showed favor to Cheng Dayou in an attempt to recruit Cheng Dayou. If he succeeds, Situ Jun's strength will reach a higher level. In addition, Lin Guoxiong is said to be actively negotiating with Situ Jun, but the progress is unknown."
"His Majesty Seventh Prince Situ Yuan is relatively weak in the imperial capital, but he is dominant in Jiangnan. The Seventh Legion is his loyal confidant, and the Tenth Legion has been formed, but its combat effectiveness has not yet been tested. In addition, the naval fleet has also Some people are leaning towards Situ Yuan, and the most important thing is that as an important ally of the empire, the Kingdom of Milan has expressed support for him. If this is the case, then his strength is unpredictable."
"As for the Ninth Prince Situ Lang, he has the power to supervise the country. Most of the ministers in the DPRK regard him as the successor of His Majesty the Emperor. He controls the newly built third and fourth legions. The eighth and ninth legions are in the eastern suburbs of the imperial capital and During the formation of the northern suburbs, if nothing unexpected happens, the City Guards Corps should also belong to his secret son. As for the Guards Corps, if he can obtain the righteousness in name, it is estimated that Ma Yuanwang will also support him. Among several highnesses, He should be the most competitive among them. But he also has a fatal weakness. His influence in the empire is too weak, and his influence cannot spread beyond the capital."
Su Qin kept analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the four princes who were most likely to aspire to the throne. His sentences were incisive and to the point. Wu Feng and the other three nodded incessantly, "In your opinion, Kaman and At what point will the Poole troops intervene?"
"In my opinion, if the melee between the four Highnesses becomes a reality, His Highness, His Highness the Third and His Highness the Ninth Highness will definitely find ways to expand their territory and strengthen their strength. Then the tired Taiping Cult members will probably become a delicacy in the eyes of everyone. , if the Taiping people cannot resist it, it is hard to say whether You Daofang will invite the armies of the two countries to go south in the name of the so-called Taiping Holy Kingdom at the last moment."
"According to the current intelligence, You Daofang has become more and more authoritarian, self-willed, and unable to listen to anyone's objections. The land distribution movement and the wealth-sharing movement that were launched in the areas controlled by the Taiping Religion some time ago have pushed them The reconciliation policy originally implemented was completely destroyed and was getting worse. The Heshuo and Beiyuan areas were in turmoil. The gentry and merchants fled one after another. On the surface, this consolidated the support of the middle and lower classes for the Taiping Religion, but it was completely lost. The middle and upper class have the last vestige of trust in the Taiping Religion. These simple-minded guys control such a large area of territory in vain. They don’t know how to resume production and develop the economy, but they blindly use this method of killing the goose and taking the eggs to achieve quick results. Stabilizing the country is a fantasy!" Su Qinzhuang was extremely disdainful, obviously very disappointed with the performance of the Taiping Sect.
"Well, Gu Dengyun and the independent intelligence agencies have now become divided within the Taiping Religion. Bo Jinchen's faction, which advocates a limited attack on aristocratic forces to maintain social stability, has been isolated. You Daofang also sees that it still has a certain influence. He was not removed from his post despite the circumstances, but in fact You Daofang had bypassed Bo Jinchen and directly interfered in the military command of the military. Bo Jinchen was now just a nominal military minister. When this information came over, I was I once considered whether to use this opportunity to order Liang Chongxin to attack Hejian. Later, I considered that this might lead to the relaxation of their internal struggle and unified external affairs, so I simply let them fight internally until they completely lost the basis of public opinion. Later, it was not too late to send out troops again, and the Red Di people here came to cause trouble again, so they gave up. Now it seems that it is better for the Taiping Sect to move or not?" Wu Feng cast his eyes on Ling Tianfang.
"Sir, there are actually three roads before us. The first is to attack the Taiping Army. The advantage of this road is that it can gain support from public opinion, and the Taiping Army's combat effectiveness is also weak. The disadvantage is that Anyuan is dangerous to defend. From Longdong , if Tianshui launches an attack, our battle line will be too wide and the defense line will be too long, which may also trigger a strong rebound from the Taiping Army. Also, as Su Qin just said, if the other Highnesses also regard the Taiping Army as delicacies, then It is very likely to attract the invasion of northern counter-jackals.”
"The second line is to go south from Tianshui and capture Jincheng. This line is good in that it can take surprise. Situ Jun's defense in Jincheng is weak and can be conquered with one attack. He can also look at the five lakes to the east and Hanzhong to the west. Forming a strategic encirclement situation, of course, there are many shortcomings. The relationship between Situ Jun and our allies will immediately break down, and the front line will be stretched further, which is not conducive to defense, and it will also easily attract attacks from Situ Jun's army, and public opinion will also be unfavorable to us."
"The third option is to unite with the Lang family to attack Hanzhong and Lujiang and carve up the territory belonging to the Lin family in Kansai. The advantage of this route is that our alliance with the Lang family can give us an absolute advantage in Kansai and give up control of Lujiang to The Lang family came in exchange for our occupation of Hanzhong. In this way, we can enable Tianshui, Longdong and Xikang to have a relatively stable rear, and our loss of troops will be relatively small. At the same time, we will occupy Hanzhong for our next move eastward. It is also extremely beneficial, and Jincheng is even more in the pocket. The only drawback is that we will be at odds with the Lin family. However, the Lin family is now in decline under the attack of the Machihans and the Lang family. They have no time to take care of themselves and are not a big threat to us. Personally, I quite agree with this route.”
Ling Tianfang put forward three sets of plans in one breath, which can be roughly divided into the north line, the middle line and the south line. He also made no secret of his opinion, which was to unite with the Lang family to solve the Lin family.
"Tian Fang, it seems that uniting with the Lin family to attack the Lang family is also a way." Wu Feng said with some dissatisfaction. This guy knew the special ambiguous relationship between himself and Lin Yuexin but deliberately proposed this third route, and also said By supporting this line of march, aren’t you deliberately trying to embarrass yourself
"Sir, you want to march into the Central Plains, not Tiannan! No matter what else, even if we can solve the Lang family together with the Lin family, so what? Lin Guoxiong regards Hanzhong as a forbidden land and will definitely not give it to us, but Hanzhong is against us But we are indispensable. Even if we get Bashan, to the east is the Lujiang River occupied by the Lin family, and to the south is Tiannan County, the home of the Lang family. The terrain is complex, easy to defend and difficult to attack. And even if we go through all the hard work to capture Tiannan, How much actual value does that have? Besides, now that the Lang family has surpassed the Lin family in strength, there is no need for us to become enemies of the Lang family in order to please the Lin family, right?" Ling Tianfang did not care about Wu Feng's personal feelings at all, and only looked at it from a purely military perspective. Analyze gains and losses.
It should be said that what Ling Tianfang said was reasonable. From a purely military perspective, the southern route should be the best choice, but involving Lin Yuexin made Wu Feng feel conflicted. Lin Yuexin's identity has opened a deep gap between him and her. Lin Guoxiong has two sons, so he naturally hopes to expand the Lin family's foundation. However, he and his subordinates have gone through all obstacles to create such a business. Of course, they cannot do it for a woman. And giving up, this irreconcilable contradiction is also the main reason for Wu Feng's indecision. Thinking about the possibility of fighting on the battlefield with the woman he likes, and that her father and brother might even become his dead souls, Wu Feng really couldn't think of how he should face it at that time.
The study suddenly became quiet, and Ling Tianfang stopped talking. Xiao Tang and Su Qin also turned their attention elsewhere. They all vaguely knew that the subtle feelings between their boss and the beautiful think tank of the Lin family were just a trick of fate. , God made the two fall in love at first sight and cherish each other, but then made the two face the situation of facing each other hand-to-hand.
Seeing that his boss was silent, apparently unwilling to accept his southern route proposal, Ling Tianfang had no choice but to do so. Apart from the southern route plan, the only other option was the northern route plan. However, the northern route plan had many disadvantages, and it was necessary to It must be avoided and eliminated through various means, and the choice of time and timing is also limited by many external factors. This will also affect the flexibility of northwest China in adopting military measures. Otherwise, there will inevitably be something like what Su Qin said. The phenomenon of interference from external forces, especially when the Kaman and Puer people are sharpening their knives.