bookrandom Chapter 124: Shazhou Dilemma
Chapter 124: Shazhou Dilemma
"In the past, my father took me to Shazhou to make a living. We transported exquisite jade, gold and porcelain from Dasheng to Shazhou and made a lot of money each time. I was only eight or nine years old at that time, but after seeing the prosperity of Shazhou with my own eyes, I will never forget it in my life."
"Ever since Qiangyi issued a ban, not allowing people from the other three countries to stay in Shazhou for a long time, my father's business has been going from bad to worse. Later, he had no choice but to take me back to Dasheng. But how can business in Dasheng be as good as in Shazhou?"
"If my father could have continued to do business in Shazhou, maybe I would be a rich second-generation now."
The man laughed at himself, "Now all this is in vain!"
That look made even Gu Nianzhi feel sad for him.
"No business, no life. The natural conditions in Shazhou are not good. If the movement of people is prohibited, business will also be affected. In the long run, it will become a vicious cycle and gradually become a barren land."
Gu Nianzhi sighed, and the man turned to look at her: "Why do you look a little unfamiliar?"
Although the expedition was somewhat hasty and various arms were recruited from different regions, he had only a hundred men under his command after all. After marching for several days in a row, eating and sleeping together, they all looked familiar to each other.
Although light cavalry were relatively smaller than other arms, Gu Nianzhi's figure was so thin that the man noticed him even though he didn't want to.
"You are Centurion Su Jinjun. I was the last one to join the team when I arrived at Dingxi Prefecture. Have you forgotten?"
Gu Nianzhi followed Liu Huan's instructions and explained without blushing or beating her heart.
"So it's the last few who were added. I was wondering why I didn't have much impression of you. Were your military rations withheld in Dingxi Prefecture? Why are you so thin?"
As he spoke, Su Jinjun reached out and patted Gu Nianzhi's back.
This palm strike was almost full of strength, and Gu Nianzhi felt that his soul was slapped out.
"Captain Su is truly born with supernatural powers."
Gu Nianzhi was almost photographed rolling her eyes, but in order not to reveal her identity, she had to endure the pain and praise him.
"My strength is nothing compared to General Shu and General Lin."
Su Jinjun was naturally happy to be praised, but he had seen Shu Huaiyuan and Lin Heng training on the battlefield, and their boxing skills and techniques were indeed beyond his reach.
"If I could learn a few moves from General Shu and General Lin, I would have no regrets in my life."
Gu Nianzhi never expected that the two generals who accompanied him every day were such idol-level figures in the entire army.
"With your divine power, you will surely be appreciated by the two generals after fighting a few battles. By then, not to mention sparring with them, you might even be able to serve as their deputy general." Gu Nianzhi said with a smile.
"Haha, I like what this brother said! When we recover Shazhou, I will definitely take you to eat all the delicious food in Shazhou and make you stronger before you go back."
"Thank you in advance."
Sima Yao and others followed Hatulig into the original provincial capital of Runan City, which had been transformed into a temporary combat readiness command center.
On the wall is a map of the border, and in front of you is a sand map of the battlefield.
Hatulig gave Sima Yao and others a detailed introduction to the current situation and made various marks on the sand map.
Lin Heng took out the defense map that Shu Huaiyuan gave him before he left, and according to the symbols on the defense map, he added some markers to Hatulig's sand map.
After half an hour, the two sides exchanged information and had a clear understanding of each other's military situation and the current battle situation.
"Now, the coalition forces of the three countries have regarded Shazhou as their base. It seems that they are preparing to fight a protracted war with us. We have been waiting for the army to arrive and launch a surprise attack to catch them off guard."
What Hatulig meant was that if the coalition forces of the three countries had a stronghold and the two sides engaged in a protracted war, Qiang Town would suffer.
On the one hand, Lunan City is not a border city and lacks the necessary city defense facilities. It is equivalent to using civilian equipment and military equipment to fight hard, which is obviously easy to fail;
On the other hand, Shazhou City is well connected and the three kingdoms are very close to it, so it is very convenient to carry out supplies. It can be said that once a protracted war drags on, with the strength of the three kingdoms fighting against Qiangyi alone, Qiangyi will obviously be unable to withstand it.
"Hatulig, what you said makes sense." Sima Yao pondered for a moment, first affirmed Hatulig's analysis, and then put forward his own judgment. "Now all countries know that Qiang Yi sent 100,000 troops to help, how could the three countries' coalition army not know? They still dare to clamor like this, they must have enough troops to compete with Qiang Yi's army."
Hatulig continued, "Your Highness, are you saying that surprise attacks are not advisable?"
"That's right." Sima Yao pointed at the sand table. "Although Shazhou is a city of Qiangyi, it is located between Qiangyi, Qibei Xichuan and Modong. From the map, it looks like the center surrounded by four countries. Moreover, Shazhou is currently occupied by the coalition forces of the three countries. Once we rashly lead our troops into this place, the coalition forces of the three countries will encircle us from behind and cut off the connection between our army and Lunan, and we will fall into an extremely passive situation."
"By then, no matter it is an army of 100,000 or 800,000, they will be trapped and short of food and water." Lin Heng added.
"By then, they won't have to fight us at all. They just need to trap us. Within three days, their morale will naturally fall."
Although Hatulig was a fierce general of Qiangyi and had won the seventh place in the Qiangyi Warrior Competition of Qiangyi Kingdom, he lacked practical experience and had never read any military books.
His strategic calculations on the battlefield were indeed like a blank sheet of paper.
But Hatulig is not stupid, nor does he just have brute strength. What is more rare is that he is not conceited, but is willing to learn.
Sima Yao and Lin Heng's analysis was like an epiphany for Hatulig.
He placed his right hand on his heart and bowed deeply to Sima Yao and Lin Heng.
This is the courtesy of the Qiang people to the people they respect.
"The words of the prince and General Lin made Hatulig suddenly enlightened. On the battlefield, I cannot win by my own courage. From now on, I, Hatulig, will obey the prince and General Lin. All the soldiers under my command will also follow your lead!"
"General Hatulig, you are too kind. The coalition forces of the three kingdoms are brave and good at fighting, and most of them are heavily armed cavalry. Although my Great Sheng has 100,000 reinforcements, most of them are infantry. When it comes to the battlefield, it is still the general's men who can ultimately decide the outcome."
Although there were some disagreements between the two parties when they first met, after mutual communication and reaching a preliminary understanding, they actually achieved cooperation for a common goal.
Qiang people are just like this. They can easily have inexplicable hostility towards people from other countries, but they are also simple. As long as they find that the other party is not annoying after contact, they can quickly become the most trusted partners of the other party.
Compared with the people in the Central Plains, the Qiang people are direct and cheerful, and are much easier to get along with than the Dasheng people who always hold back and do not express their emotions.