The candidate to replace the garrison commander of Xinyu Pass had not yet been decided when an urgent report was sent back from Yinshan Pass in the north, which had traveled eight hundred miles in an instant, that nomadic tribes in the north were invading the border with great force. Fortunately, the garrison commander Wu Yong was well prepared and managed to hold on.
Soon after, bad news came from the west. Yueshan Pass was breached, the defending general Pan Hong was missing, and the enemy was like a force to be reckoned with, having captured two cities in a row.
No one expected that Yueshan Pass would be the first to fall.
"We must stabilize the west." The prince looked at the generals, "I wonder who is willing to go there to help me share my worries."
Duke Anguo stood up and said, "I am willing to go."
The prince clenched his hands into fists in his sleeves. Duke Anguo was already fifty-seven years old and had not used a sword or a gun for many years. What was the difference between going there this time and committing suicide
"Is there no one in Daqing?"
Finally, a general stood up and said, "I am willing to go."
His hair and beard were half white, but his eyes were firm. Hua Zhi recognized him. It was General Lin who had been retired for many years, the Lin from Hualin Lane. The two families had lived next to each other for many years. Although the civil and military officials did not have frequent contact, they had never had any dirty dealings.
She had an idea and looked towards the military generals, only to find that most of them, who made up half of the court, were old. Daqing really had no generals left.
In the Qingxin Palace, the prince could not calm down no matter what. He paced back and forth, his brows and every feature seemed to be wrinkled into a ball.
Even though he had thousands of ambitions in his heart, he was still young and had not been brought up by the prince. Hua Zhi did not blame him for not being calm at this moment, and continued to think about it in her mind.
The west has already been lost, and we need someone with real ability to stop this decline. If we send one person to kill one, the morale will be gone if we lose a few more cities. The south also needs to send a main general as soon as possible. If Daqing is lost in the south, we will be completely passive. If the Chao Li people hiding in Daqing spread rumors again, the people will be in chaos. Besides, she always feels that the south... is not that simple.
But what we lack now is a main general.
As for the north, Hua Zhi bit her tongue. That place should be the most stable right now. Wu Yong is good at attacking, her grandfather is well-versed in military books, and with the help of her fourth uncle, defending the city should be no problem. The two sides should be able to hold on for some time with cooperation, provided that the Chaoli tribe does not concentrate its firepower from there.
"Master, do you have any plan to break the impasse?"
Hearing this, Hua Zhi raised her head and said, "Even if I have a plan to deal with the enemy, I can't find anyone who can be used."
Yes, one can think of ways but one cannot create people out of thin air. The prince wanted to sigh to the sky, wondering what a mess his father had left for him.
"Your Highness, you must stay calm and not panic. The war has just begun. If you start to panic now, what will you do in the future?"
The prince took the handkerchief handed to him by Lai Fu and covered his face with it for a moment. When he took it away again, the emotion had faded from his face. "If there is really no other way, we can only let Duke Anguo and General Lin go to their respective places, and arrange for a few young generals to go with them. With the guidance of the old generals, they will definitely improve."
"Your Highness is right."
At this time, Lai Fu came over to report, "Your Highness, Master Taifu, the sand table is ready."
The prince stood up immediately and said, "Let's go and take a look."
According to Hua Zhi's request, the sand table was made very large, occupying nearly half of the side hall. The prince couldn't help but step forward and touch it, his eyes full of nostalgia, "This is much bigger than the one in Hua's house."
Hua Zhi picked up a long pole and began to sketch on the sand table. The map had already been imprinted in her mind, and she had never stopped since she started writing. The prince whispered something to her and stood silently beside the tutor, watching her movements.
Outsiders have been spreading rumors about how knowledgeable Taifu is, but few people know that these rumors do not even begin to describe one iota of Taifu's abilities. In terms of learning, Taifu is certainly not as good as those famous great scholars, but in terms of applying what he has learned, Taifu is unmatched.
From the capital city in the center to Kyushu, and then to the four border areas of the southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest, followed by the Yan Kingdom in the south, the nomadic tribes in the north, the Li Kingdom in the west, and Chaoli in the east, all of them are drawn with just a few strokes, but people can recognize where they are at a glance.
Rubbing her sore arm, Hua Zhi looked up and was about to speak when she realized that many people had appeared in the hall. She swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth and let them look at her.
The prince personally handed over a cup of tea, "Thank you for your hard work, Master."
"Thank you, Your Highness." Hua Zhi took it with both hands, turned around and drank it in a few gulps. She had not had a sip of water since entering the palace today, and she was indeed very thirsty.
Lai Fu was very tactful and immediately took the empty cup away.
Duke Dingguo coughed lightly and spoke first, "Taifu, you are so generous, but what do you have to say?"
"I dare not say it, but Your Highness is eager to understand the current situation. I feel that words cannot explain it clearly, so I made a sand table like this, so that you can understand it at a glance."
Is it just for teaching? Duke Dingguo looked at her deeply, his eyes fell on this huge sand table. He knew about this thing, and he also had one at home, but he was not a military general and did not do much research, so he did not know that it could be used in this way.
"I wonder if we could listen in."
Hua Zhi looked at the prince with indifference. The prince had called them here with this idea in mind, so of course they had to respond.
There were civil officials and military generals present, old ministers like Duke Dingguo, and young officials favored by the prince like Shen Qi and Yu Xiasheng. At this moment, they all looked quietly at the only woman in the field.
Hua Zhi showed no fear at all. She organized her words a little and said, "It is no coincidence that the four countries attacked at the same time. Their intention is very clear. They joined forces to swallow Daqing. Now Yan Country, Li Country and the nomadic tribes have already started fighting openly. On the contrary, the Chaoli tribe did not take any follow-up actions after suddenly attacking General Sun. It is unknown where they are now and what their next step will be."
Hua Zhi pointed his long pole at the place where Li Kingdom was now, and then pointed to the south. "The west seems to be unstoppable, but I think the south is more dangerous. The south is closer to the capital, and the terrain is flat. The west is not only blocked by mountains, but also has a population disadvantage. If the battle line is extended, there will be no one to defend behind them. So I think that although they are charging fiercely, the real danger should be in the south."
The prince said thoughtfully, "Grandmaster, is this their plan? To make us think that the west is dangerous, so we move all our troops to the west and neglect to guard the south?"
"It is possible. If only Yan State did not have the courage to attack the capital, I suspect there are beautiful women in Yan State's army. Otherwise, General Zheng would not have been defeated so quickly."
"Indeed, Master, do you have a plan?"
"It can't be called a strategy, it's just bullying." Hua Zhi looked at the small area of Yan State, "We in Daqing need a granary to ensure the supply of soldiers at the front. How about we take down Yan State by cutting off the source of the fire?"
PS: I have revised three chapters into two and a half chapters. Kong Kong will continue to write. Maybe it will be published today, or maybe not. Don’t wait.