Thief Emperor

Chapter 773 Making a feint to the east and attacking in the west
The military merit system has both advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is naturally that it is unsustainable because the war will end one day.

If we keep losing battles, needless to say, our entire army will be wiped out in no time.

If you keep winning battles, one day there will be no more battles to fight.

The swords and guns are stored in the warehouse, and the horses are released in Nanshan.

When there are no more wars to fight, the military merit system will naturally become unsustainable.

If it is forced to go on, it might give rise to a group of war-fanatic soldiers.

Moreover, there may be people in the military who forcibly provoke a war or even kill innocent people to claim credit.

All kinds of ills will become apparent.

But at this stage, the military merit system has brought huge benefits to Li Yun, that is, the Jiangdong Army's strong fighting enthusiasm and extremely fanatical subjective initiative.

The combat effectiveness bonus brought by this fighting enthusiasm is even difficult to quantify.

Even a general like Zhao Cheng, who was already at the top of the army, couldn't help but have sparkling eyes when he heard about a big battle, because it would bring merit, title, and supreme glory.

What's even more interesting is that Su Sheng is not in the Central Plains now, but is leading his troops north. Now he is fighting a big battle, and all the credit goes to him alone.

Even if there is Meng Qing, he is half a level lower than him after all, and Meng Qing has been his subordinate for a long time, so he cannot overshadow his brilliance.

Seeing Zhao Cheng like this, Li Yun smiled and said, "General Zhao, don't be anxious. We still need to sit down and discuss slowly how to fight this battle and what tactics to adopt after it starts."

At this point, Li Yun paused, looked at Zhao Cheng for a long while, and then continued: "The confidential information of the Nine Departments has always been synchronized to General Zhao. General Zhao should have known about Youyan and Fanyang."

Zhao Cheng nodded and said, "I know about this. I was just thinking of asking my superiors about this matter. How should we deal with the situation in Fanyang?"

Li Yun looked at him, shook his head slightly and said, "General Su is already in Hebei Province. With him in Hebei Province, no matter what happens in Hebei Province, it will be much easier for us to intervene later. In my opinion, Youyan is too far away from us, and the Khitans... may not necessarily go south immediately."

"Our most important enemy is still the Shuofang Army."

Zhao Cheng lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "I also know this, but after the Shuofang Army lost Shanzhou, they rushed into Guanzhong and closed Tongguan. They have been locked up and cannot leave."

"Our troops are too exhausted to attack Guanzhong. Moreover, if we attack Guanzhong, we still have to guard against the Hedong Army in the north and the Taiyuan Li family."

"I feel that it is not appropriate to attack Guanzhong in the short term."

"It's naturally impossible for us to attack Tongguan."

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said, "At this time, it is estimated that nearly half of the Shuofang Army's troops are in Tongguan. At least half of our 100,000 people must die before we can capture Tongguan."

"but."

Li Yun looked at Zhao Cheng and said, "Just because we don't fight the Shuofang Army doesn't mean they won't come out. Although they suffered a loss last time, they have never been convinced by us."

Zhao Cheng looked up at Li Yun, still not quite understanding.

Li Yun looked at him and said softly, "More than half of the Pinglu Army is heading north. We are short of manpower now. General Zhao, I order you to lead 50,000 elite troops eastward to Qingzhou and destroy all the remaining Pinglu Army. We will have the entire Henan Province in our hands."

Li Yun's words made Zhao Cheng completely stunned. He was stunned for a long time before he looked up at Li Yun and reacted: "What the superiors mean is to let me lead a large force to feint an attack on Qingzhou, so as to lure the Shuofang army out of Guanzhong?"

Li Yun nodded, and then slowly said: "Not only should we lure out the Shuofang Army, we should also lure out the Hedong Army. During this period of time, we have almost rested and recuperated. We are now fully refreshed and can have a good fight with them."

Zhao Cheng frowned and whispered, "Sir, this is too risky. Qingzhou is too far away from Luoyang. If a large number of our troops move eastward, we won't have time to come back once a war breaks out in Luoyang. By then, Luoyang... may not be able to hold on."

"Also, General Xiao Meng..."

He paused here and did not continue.

Li Yun looked at him with a smile and said, "General Zhao, are you worried about Meng Qing or me?"

Zhao Cheng was shocked by these words. He stood up almost immediately, knelt on the ground with a plop, and bowed his head deeply, saying, "My Lord, please understand. I have absolutely no such intention, absolutely no such intention!"

Li Yun reached out his hand to help him up, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I won't be so reckless. You took these 50,000 soldiers away on the surface, but in fact, you only need to take away 10,000 soldiers, and mix in some militiamen and civilians, and that will be enough to pass them off as real."

It is difficult to hide the large-scale troop movement from everyone in the world. After all, Li is not an unknown person. He has been in power for several years. At this time, his nine officials have been planted in several forces. Naturally, other forces also have spies planted in the Jiangdong Army. This is inevitable.

However, these spies can be blocked by mixing counterfeit goods with genuine goods.

It only takes 10,000 elite troops to move eastward, which is equivalent to 10 entire battalions of commanders moving southward. There must be spies of other forces in these 10 battalions of commanders. After they move eastward, the news will definitely spread.

As for the militiamen and laborers who mixed in.

Most of the time, each captain's battalion trains individually and is not particularly familiar with each other. Even if they advance together, it is difficult for them to discover each other.

As long as the captain-level generals remain pure and do not rebel, theoretically, this disguise can be done.

Zhao Cheng looked up at Li Yun, hesitated for a long time, and still said nothing.

Li Yun looked at him, saw what he was thinking, and said with a smile: "General Zhao doesn't want to make this feint attack?"

Zhao Cheng was silent for a while, then he lowered his head and gritted his teeth and said, "Yes!"

"Master, this subordinate wants to lead the attack!"

He whispered, "Master, I have been with you for the past few years. Although I have not been able to do my job well at times, I have not made any major mistakes. General Su is not here, so this kind of big battle... this kind of big battle, logically speaking, should also be fought by me..."

Li Yun looked at him and shook his head, saying, "If General Su Sheng was here, he would be the one to make the feint attack today. General Zhao, you have to understand."

"For such a large-scale action, if you don't go to those who are watching us, they won't believe it quickly. They will find ways to verify it. As long as General Zhao goes, Wei Quanzhong will definitely believe it."

At this point, Li Yun reached out and knocked on the table, then said, "Besides, just because I let you make a feint attack doesn't mean I'll pin you to death in the east. Once the war starts here, you should immediately abandon the army in the east and rush back."

"When the time comes, the battlefield here will still be presided over by you."

Zhao Cheng heard this and thought for a while, then he bowed deeply to Li Yun and said, "Your subordinate...Your subordinate obeys your command!"

Li Yun looked at him and said with a smile: "I have already said hello to Meng Qing. Meng Qing will be back in Luoyang tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Then you two can sit together and work out a specific set of rules. I roughly calculated these two days and we have about a month to complete this."

Zhao Cheng nodded his head. He looked up at Li Yun cautiously. After hesitating for a while, he knelt in front of Li Yun again and said, "My Lord, I lost my temper just now. I...I shouldn't go against your will."

"The military order from the superior is more important than anything else. If you ask your subordinates to launch a feint attack, I should not complain."

He bowed his head and kowtowed, "I was not able to let go of my thoughts at the moment, please punish me!"

Li Yun looked at Zhao Cheng kneeling in front of him, but did not help him up immediately. Instead, he waited for a while before saying with a smile, "It is normal for military generals to have some spirit and pride. If General Zhao is really like a white steamed bun, allowing others to control him, he may not be able to do anything on the battlefield."

After helping Zhao Cheng up, Li Yun looked at him and chuckled, "General Zhao has been with me for more than a year or two. You should know that I am fair in everything I do. What should be done is what should be done."

“Basically there will be no bias.”

Zhao Cheng took a deep breath and nodded repeatedly in response.

After that, the two of them talked for a few more words, and Zhao Cheng bowed his head and said goodbye: "Your Excellency has returned from your journey, please have a good rest, I will not disturb you anymore."

Li Yun said "hmm" and warned: "For now, only you and I know about this matter, don't let it out."

Zhao Cheng bowed his head deeply: "I understand!"

He stepped back until he reached the door of the room. After hesitating for a moment, he looked up at Li Yun again and stepped forward to whisper, "Sir, if our army advances eastward and the Shuofang and Hedong armies show no reaction, can I take this opportunity to..."

"Take over Qingzhou!"

Li Yun was stunned by these words. After a while, he scratched his head and asked, "Isn't this... this... this a little embarrassing?"

Zhao Cheng did not answer, but continued to look at Li Yun.

Mr. Li sighed and waved his hand, saying, "The probability of this happening is not high. If this happens..."

"We can only talk about it when the time comes."

(End of this chapter)