Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2121 Wu Zetian's Eastern Strategy, the White Horse Cavalry Surrender to the Han

Although the Central Imperial Guard has been expanding its forces since the spring and summer seasons, it has now successfully expanded to a scale of 300,000 as previously planned, thus completing the previously proposed expansion plan.

However, the Central Imperial Guard was composed entirely of reserve personnel or recruited men from good families; not a single prisoner from the previous Henan campaign was captured.

The prisoners of war from the Henan campaign were either relocated to Shenglan Road and Xiping Road to strengthen control over these two areas, reorganized into various field armies as supplements, or added to the local prefectural armies.

However, in addition to ensuring combat effectiveness, the purity of the Central Imperial Guard is also very important.

Therefore, compared to existing prisoners, Wang Yu preferred to start training them from scratch.

However, precisely because of this, although the expansion plan has been realized since the beginning of the year, it will still take a considerable amount of time before their combat capabilities are truly formed.

The 100,000 troops transferred to the front lines are likely to fight against the established power of the Great Wu Dynasty, so it's impossible to use a new army; they are all the previous elite troops.

Using a new army to fight against these old dynasties might result in heavy casualties on a small scale, but on a larger scale, it could directly affect the outcome of a battle.

The new army's ability to withstand pressure is limited. If it is overwhelmed and defeated, it will directly affect the rest of the troops.

In other words, after Hulü Guang's 100,000 troops left, the Central Imperial Guards would still have 200,000 soldiers, but their combat effectiveness could not be guaranteed. After all, most of the remaining 200,000 troops would be newly trained soldiers.

Fortunately, of the three passes and one mountain in Henan, all except Liang Pass in the west are now under Wang Yu's control. In other words, the only area the Han Dynasty needs to focus on defending is Liang Pass in the west.

Furthermore, in addition to the Central Imperial Guards, the Flying Feather Legion, led by Guo Ziyi, was also stationed in Henan Province.

As a pure cavalry legion that originated from the main cavalry force of the original Zhen Dong Army, the combat effectiveness of this legion is absolutely guaranteed.

The Flying Feather Legion's combat strength is not necessarily the strongest among all field legions. After all, no matter how strong cavalry is, it is still just a single-soldier army.

When a single unit type has no other unit type to compensate for its weaknesses, it means that while it is a sharp spear, it is also more likely to expose its vulnerabilities.

However, the other field armies were formed through a systematic coordination of multiple branches of the armed forces. Each branch could fully leverage its strengths and compensate for its weaknesses.

However, the elite status of the Flying Feather Legion's soldiers ranks first among the five major field armies. Of the five major field armies, only the Flying Feather Legion was completely transformed from the Zhen Dong Army, which was originally one of the four battle-hardened border armies.

Therefore, even if Hulü Guang dispatched 100,000 elite troops to the front, the defenses of Henan Province remained solid. At least, the Song Dynasty to the west alone was not enough to threaten Henan Province at present.

Everyone has just finished a battle and no one wants to engage in another major conflict in the near future. At most, they will fight local wars like they are now.

Moreover, with Hulü Guang's 100,000 elite troops on the expedition, there was no need to prepare any extra provisions for him.

From Henan Road to Shenglan Road, the Hebei Road and Hedong Road along the way are both important grain-producing areas.

More importantly, Shenglan Road, which itself originated from the land of the four minor dynasties, is also an important grain-producing area.

After Hulü Guang's 100,000 elite troops arrive, Shenglan Dao Governor Fang Xuanling will naturally help them solve the problem of food supplies.

However, this battle cannot begin in the next moment.

Even with troop transport vehicles, it would still take more than half a month for Hulü Guang's 100,000 elite troops to travel from Henan Road, through Hebei Road, and finally through Hedong Road to Shenglan Road, without stopping day and night.

Moreover, Su Dingfang's side also needs to arrange all the troops, supplies, and equipment before he can actually send out his troops.

Without any preparation of troops, provisions, or equipment, going straight into battle is just a joke, isn't it?
Since Su Dingfang spent half a year annihilating two of the four minor dynasties, and then Da Wu established the political policy of supporting the sword and resisting the Han, and sent people to reconcile the relationship between the two dynasties of Da Jian and Da Hao.

Although the Great Sword and Great Hao dynasties can no longer return to their previous strategic alliance and are even wary of each other, at least they have stopped fighting each other.

Furthermore, after the Battle of Henan, the strength of the Han Dynasty entered a phase of rapid expansion. With the support of the two great Wu dynasties, Da Jian and Da Hao, they not only continued to expand their armies, but also became increasingly wary of the Han Dynasty, constantly monitoring its movements.

Su Dingfang's plan for a surprise attack was unlikely to succeed; the only righteous course was for his army to overwhelming the enemy with its superior strength. And for an army to overwhelming the enemy with its superior strength, extensive pre-battle preparations were essential.

The mobilization of the Han army, supplies, and siege equipment was not easily kept secret, and the two dynasties of Dajian and Dahao were filled with unease upon learning the news.

In the previous battle with Su Dingfang in Hedong, these two powerful generals of the dynasty suffered heavy losses and were almost demoralized by Su Dingfang.

So much so that their first thought at that moment was to ask Da Wu for help from behind them.

In fact, at this point, they weren't needed at all; the Great Wu itself had already received the news. The Great Wu Heavenly Martial Academy was no pushover. Moreover, with the rise of the Great Han, the Great Wu was paying increasing attention to the strategic situation in eastern Tianqi.

Although the news of the changes in the troop movements of the Han Dynasty had not yet reached the Great Wu court due to time constraints, Wu Bing'er, who was located on the border of Great Wu, had already received the message from the Tianwu Academy.

Wu Bing'er's appearance at the eastern border of Da Wu at this time was also quite opportune.

Her location was only separated from the lands of the four minor dynasties by a river. Both the Great Sword and Great Hao dynasties sensed something was wrong. With the immense strength of the Great Martial Dynasty's Heavenly Martial Academy, how could its speed be slower than theirs?

When Wu Zetian left Da Cang, she also brought the young emperor of Xicang with her, which attracted great attention within the Da Wu court.

The Great Cang Dynasty has already perished, and the emperor is still a child. Although, those who know, know the true value and strength of this emperor and his so-called court.

Unfortunately, this is indeed the most orthodox royal bloodline of Da Cang, and its significance is extremely important.

Therefore, the Great Wu court had to treat this matter with great care.

A group of important members of the imperial family, represented by Wu Bing'er and Wu Changsheng, came to greet them one after another.

Even the most destitute emperor is still a representative of imperial power. Showing sufficient respect to this young emperor is a sign of respect for imperial power and a way to maintain their own rule.

Among them, Wu Changsheng followed the navy down the river to provide support, while Wu Bing'er mobilized troops at the border, preparing for the possibility of the Han Dynasty intervening. In fact, at that time, the Han Dynasty had just finished a battle in Henan, and its armies were still in the process of expanding their forces, so they were unwilling to engage in a major war with the Wu Dynasty over this matter.

After Wu Changsheng led the Emperor of Xicang into the Da Wu region, Wu Bing'er did not return to the Da Wu court, but instead stayed on the eastern border of Da Wu.

With the changing situation in the eastern border of the Great Wu, the center of gravity of the Great Wu has begun to shift to the east to some extent. Therefore, as a senior general of the Great Wu royal family, Wu Bing'er has become increasingly concerned about the garrison in the east and the military measures on the eastern border.

She's staying here temporarily for this very reason.

In fact, it wasn't just her who stayed; Wu Zetian, who had previously made a name for herself, also stayed.

At this point, Wu Zetian may not have reached the point of wanting to become emperor. How ambitious she was was largely determined by the amount of power she had at her disposal.

However, she at least harbored political ambitions, and if she wanted to realize them, she would naturally try her best to be on good terms with this princess.

It can only be said that some people are born to be emperors, even if they haven't become emperors yet.

The same problem, but completely different ways of thinking.

Faced with the requests for help from the Great Sword and Great Hao dynasties, Wu Bing'er's idea was to send troops to provide assistance.

However, Wu Zetian was different. She proposed a different approach to solving the problems involving the Great Sword and the Great Hao.

At the same time, she even wanted to drag the Tuoba tribe into this mess. After all, as the Han Dynasty had predicted, the most important policy of the Great Wu Dynasty at present was to recuperate and rebuild. Even if a conflict broke out with the Han Dynasty, it would only be a local conflict, and the forces involved would be kept within a certain range.

Therefore, they might not be able to defeat the Han Dynasty, but bringing in another powerful force would be beneficial to their Great Wu.

Meanwhile, although the Tuoba tribe has already gained an absolute advantage in dealing with the Zhenbei Army, it is likely that they will soon be able to completely eliminate the Zhenbei Army.

However, after all, Lie Feiyang's remnants were still struggling in a corner and had not been completely wiped out. Secondly, the Han Dynasty had the Zhongxing Mountain Range, so even if the Tuoba tribe entered the fray, they were not afraid that the other party would become too powerful.

Friction between the Han Dynasty and the Tuoba tribe has intensified. In fact, Wu Zetian even wanted to use this opportunity to reignite the conflict between the Tuoba tribe and the Golden Horde, thereby further easing the pressure on the Han Dynasty in the north.

As for Shanyin, where the Zhenbei Army is located, as Tuoba Changping completely lost hope in Lie Feiyang, the original appeasement tactics have turned into the current iron-fisted killing.

Within just a few months, two-thirds of the Shanyin region had fallen, and the remaining two passes of the Zhenbei Three Passes had also fallen into the hands of Tuoba Changping.

It should be noted that although Tuoba Changping's previous appeasement tactics had encountered the headstrong Lie Feiyang, they were not entirely ineffective.

Tuoba Changping only failed to achieve his goal of defeating Lie Feiyang, but he gained much from his other targets.

Therefore, when Tuoba Changping officially set out with his troops, the Zhenbei Army at that time was actually already a half-crippled Zhenbei Army.

The fact that the Zhenbei Army, with only a half-crippled force, could fight the Tuoba tribe for several months is enough to demonstrate the fighting power of this iron-willed Zhenbei Army.

Even the losses of the past few months have caused Tuoba Changping some heartache.

During these months, the Zhenbei Army's signature Flaming Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and the Tuoba Tribe's Iron Blade Army, one of their two signature forces, fought several bloody battles.

The two armies fought to a standstill, with both sides suffering heavy losses. In several bloody battles, the Iron Blade Army lost nearly half its strength, so much so that Tuoba Gui, the general leading the Tuoba tribe, was reluctant to send the Iron Blade Army into battle again.

As for the Flaming Tiger and Fierce Leopard Cavalry, after suffering heavy losses in these bloody battles, even with several replenishments to their reserves, they have now reached a point where no more reserves can be added, yet they still cannot reach full strength. Thus, it is evident how devastating the casualties have been for this unit.

The fact that the Zhenbei Army was able to hold out against the Tuoba tribe for several months and still retain one-third of the Shanyin region is largely thanks to the Yanhu Liebao Cavalry.

Tuoba Changping greatly coveted the fierce and fearless Yanhu Leopard Cavalry, a powerful army known for its bravery and skill in battle. He had previously used appeasement tactics, offering generous terms to try and win over Lie Feiyang to the Tuoba tribe, partly due to the allure of this formidable army.

The combined strength of the Flaming Tiger and Fierce Leopard Cavalry is equivalent to that of 100,000 soldiers.

Not only the Flaming Tiger and Fierce Leopard Cavalry, but also the Black Cavalry and the former Champion Battalion, each of them could be equivalent to an army of 100,000.

Of course, the military expenditure required for any of these three units is no less than that for maintaining 100,000 troops, and in fact, it is only higher.

Unfortunately, even if Tuoba Changping coveted this army, given that Lie Feiyang was unwilling to join their Tuoba tribe, he had no choice but to make the decision to completely eliminate it.

The Black Cavalry was the foundation of the Wang clan's rule over the Zhen Dong Army, and for the Zhen Bei Lie clan, the Flaming Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were the same. If Lie Feiyang did not surrender, this force would not surrender either.

Although the Golden Fire Cavalry and the White Horse Cavalry were also elite troops, compared to those established elite troops, they ultimately lacked sufficient time to be tempered. Naturally, they also lacked the kind of beliefs and honor that were ingrained in the bones of those veteran troops.

Some things can only be truly possessed after the passage of time, until they gradually seep into your bones and permeate your soul.

These past few months have not only witnessed the Zhenbei Army's repeated defeats, but also the surrender of Gongsun Zan and his White Horse Cavalry to the Han Dynasty.

Lie Feiyang is incredibly stubborn, truly incredibly stubborn.

Whether facing the Tuoba tribe in the north or the Han people in the south, they were stubborn and unwilling to bow down, even at the cost of their lives.

He also had a group of people under his command who were just as stubborn as him, especially the old soldiers of the Zhenbei Army.

However, not everyone is as stubborn as Lie Feiyang. The fact that Tuoba Changping was able to use Huanrou's methods to bring in a group of people is proof of this.

Similarly, Lie Feiyang rejected the big man's repeated attempts to curry favor, but there were always people under his command who were willing to accept it.

Gongsun Zan was one of them.