Thief Emperor

Chapter 726 Keeping pace
Forty days sounds quite long.

But in fact, in this era of extremely poor mobility and communication capabilities, this time is quite short.

After all, in this era, it is quite normal for wars to last for one or two years, several years, or even ten years.

Throughout history, some inconspicuous small cities were able to defend for hundreds of days despite a huge disparity in military strength, not to mention a big city like Luoyang.

Su Sheng and Zhao Cheng looked at each other, then looked at Li Yun and said, "Master, it may not be easy to take Luoyang in forty days. If we just force the attack and fail to take it in the end, then we will lose everything."

"If the losses are too great, even if we take Luoyang in the end, it will not be worth the loss. The superior once said that if the disparity in military strength is not big, we should surround the city and attack the reinforcements. If Luoyang is besieged, Wei Quanzhong will definitely come to rescue. Perhaps we can set up an ambush outside Luoyang and fight the Shuofang army."

He looked at Li Yun and said in a deep voice: "If we win, we can take Luoyang calmly. If we lose, it won't be a big loss. At most, we will withdraw from Duji Road and rest for a while."

Li Yun thought about it seriously and shook his head: "It will take at least 20 days for the Shuofang Army to return. Besides, they are not fools. If we don't make any effort to attack Luoyang, they may not come back to rescue us. By then, the two sides will just be in a stalemate."

"And if we put the effort into attacking Luoyang, we might as well give it a try and see if we can take the city of Luoyang."

Mr. Li looked at Su Sheng.

"The most important thing is that this time in the Central Plains battlefield, there will definitely not be two forces. There is at least a 70% chance that the Hedong Army will be eliminated."

Zhao Cheng nodded and said, "General, I have discussed this matter with General Su, and I have reported the specific ideas to you. The current idea is that I will lead the troops to station in the north of Luoyang City, and a little further away, so that once the Hedong Army moves south."

"Our department can stop it immediately."

He looked at Li Yun and continued, "Sir, I have read the intelligence from the Nine Departments. The Hedong Army still has Taiyuan to defend, so they also need to be on guard. They have 100,000 troops, and this time they can only send out half of them at most."

"At most, about 60 to 70 percent."

Zhao Cheng whispered, "Master, including the new recruits that have been added during this period, even if it is just my unit, the strength of the troops is not less than that of the Hedong Army. Perhaps, we can fight them without attacking Luoyang."

After hearing what they said, Li Yun was also stunned and did not speak immediately.

With his personal authority, he could forcefully implement any strategy as the lord at this time. However, the Jiangdong Army has always conducted major events through consultation, and Li Yun has always respected the opinions of these frontline generals. He thought about it seriously, and then looked at Meng Qing, who had been silent.

"Meng Qing, why don't you say anything? Tell me what you think."

Meng Qing bowed his head slightly and said, "The superior is discussing matters with the two generals. It is already quite good for me to listen in. How dare I say anything more?"

Li Yun frowned: "Just speak when you are asked to. You are also a general on the front line, you should speak now."

Meng Qing looked up at Zhao Cheng, who smiled and said, "Your Excellency is right. General Meng should indeed speak up."

Meng Qing bowed his head and said, "My Lord, I do have an idea, but it is not mature enough and I don't know if it will work. Since you asked, I will speak out boldly."

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea, his voice calm: "You say."

Meng Qing stood up and looked at the map hanging in the commander's tent. He pointed at Luoyang City and said slowly, "My lord, my two generals, most of the Shuofang Army's forces are in Guanzhong, on the Tongguan line."

"Although they still have some troops left in the capital, they actually don't have any control over the area. To be precise, they..."

"It's just that in Luoyang City, although Luoyang City is a big city, it is just an inconspicuous little dot in the entire capital area, or even in Henan Prefecture."

"My opinion is that we should surround Luoyang City and fight against it, but we don't need to attack it by force, and we don't have to surround Luoyang City alone."

He pointed his finger near Luoyang city, and each time he pointed his finger at a place, he said a place name.

"Huaizhou, Zhengzhou, Dengfeng, Ruzhou and other states, as well as Yique, Luhun, Shou'an, Xin'an, Heqing and other counties west of Luoyang."

"These are all natural strongholds around Luoyang City. I have asked the Nine Officials to check. The Capital Region has always been prosperous. Even the county towns under Henan Prefecture are actually comparable in size to the state capitals in other places."

He looked at Li Yun and said softly, "Master, even if we only have the current Jiangdong Army's troops stationed in Dujidao, there are still 100,000 people, and there will be a steady stream of reinforcements coming in later."

"We can just keep an eye on Luoyang, and then occupy all the prefectures and counties around Luoyang and use them as our strongholds."

"Not occupy Luoyang, but occupy the entire capital."

Meng Qing whispered, "If we divide our forces, we can occupy almost all of them in a month. By that time, time will be on our side, even if the Hedong Army enters the battlefield."

"We are one family against two. With these counties and cities and firearms, I think it won't be a problem at all!"

Hearing this, both Li Yun and Su Sheng and Zhao Cheng's eyes lit up. However, Su Sheng quickly thought of a problem and said, "There are many Shuofang troops in Luoyang City. If the troops surrounding Luoyang are not enough, they can break out easily by breaking out in one direction."

Meng Qing looked at Li Yun, then at Su Sheng, and said with his head down: "General, we can send about 50,000 troops to station near Luoyang, so that we can completely block the news. The news in Luoyang City cannot be transmitted out, and the news outside cannot be transmitted in. In this way, it is unlikely that they can achieve internal and external cooperation." "Without internal and external cooperation, if the Luoyang defenders want to break out, not to mention how many casualties they will suffer, even if they really break out..."

Meng Qing said this, looked at Li Yun, and stopped talking.

Li's eyes were full of smiles. He said with a smile: "At that time, it was not called breaking through, but... abandoning the city and fleeing!"

"Okay, good boy!"

Li stood up and waved to Meng Qing, who immediately stepped forward. Li Yun patted him on the shoulder and laughed loudly, "Good boy, you have made great progress in the past few years!"

Zhao Cheng and Su Sheng were also completely persuaded by Meng Qing. Zhao Cheng looked at Li Yun and said with a smile, "If this is accomplished, General Meng will be the most meritorious official in the Central Plains."

Although Meng Qing cannot be considered as Zhao Cheng's close confidant, he is under his command after all. At this moment, he has to speak for Meng Qing no matter what.

After all, to commend Meng Qing is to commend his entire army.

Li Yun smiled and said, "That's natural."

"Then this matter is... settled like this, everyone listen carefully."

The three of them bowed their heads and clasped their fists: "We obey your orders!"

"General Su, you will lead the troops immediately, with Luoyang as the center, to the southwest of Luoyang."

As he spoke, Li Yun looked at the map and added, "That is Shou'an County, Yique County, Yingyang County, and Dengfeng County."

"These counties are the core areas of your defense. After taking them, you can choose the right time to attack Ruzhou."

Su Sheng bowed his head and said, "I will obey your orders!"

"General Zhao."

Li Yun no longer looked at the map. He said without hesitation: "You lead the troops to Xin'an County, Heqing County, and Huaizhou."

"We don't have to occupy Zhengzhou in the east. We just need to send some people to keep an eye on it. There are no enemies in the east, even if the Pinglu Army comes."

"We can also keep an eye on Xuzhou."

Zhao Cheng nodded his head.

Li Yun looked at Meng Qing and said with a smile: "I will personally lead a part of the troops to besiege Luoyang. Meng Qing, do you want to stay and besiege Luoyang with me, or follow General Zhao to make achievements?"

Meng Qing looked at Zhao Cheng and saw that he didn't say anything. After thinking for a while, he said, "You not only have to deal with military affairs, but also many political affairs. You need a helper. General Zhao, I want to stay by your side and help you besiege Luoyang."

Zhao Cheng quickly smiled and said, "Now it's the superior who is arranging the errand. There's no need to ask me about this. I have no opinion, no opinion."

The matter was settled in just a few words.

Li Yun made a final summary: "I think this plan doesn't have any big problems now. The only thing to pay attention to is that it must be fast."

"Luoyang City is the filling. What we need to do is to wrap a bun skin made of iron, wrap Luoyang City in the middle, and slowly digest it."

"This skin must be wrapped within 20 days."

"At most, it can't exceed one month."

At this point, Li Yun paused and said slowly: "During the time you are away, I will send a letter to the rear to double the quota of weapons and ammunition for each army."

"To defend the city."

Zhao Cheng and Su Sheng both bowed their heads deeply: "I obey your command!"

The two of them looked up at Li Yun, and without further ado, they said, "Then, General, go and prepare now."

Li Yun waved his hand, signaling the two to leave. After the two men left, Li Yun looked at Meng Qing and said with a smile: "Boy, after this battle in the Central Plains, you will be able to keep pace with them."

Meng Qing took a deep breath and shook his head slightly: "General, I have never led an army alone, and I am far away from the two generals..."

“It’s still a long way off.”

(End of this chapter)