Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 848 Gentlemen, who could dislike this place?

Time quickly passed and the sweltering summer arrived. The summer in the Western Regions was unbearably hot, and almost all combat plans could not be implemented in the nearly 40-degree weather.

The key issue is that it's not only hot during this period, but also rainy. The feeling of a sudden downpour when the temperature is 40 degrees Celsius, followed by the sun quickly peeking out, is truly unbearable.

Xia Lin is now soaking in the pool so much that he's almost become a giant, and he doesn't even want to leave the pool to eat.

"Commander, it seems like the cost of ice production for the next month is a bit too high. Is it really necessary to allocate funds to every barracks for ordinary soldiers?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? What do you mean we don't need to deploy ordinary soldiers anymore? Have you never experienced punishment before? Just do what I tell you to do, why are you questioning me?" Xia Lin was furious after hearing the logistics officer's suggestion: "Just do what I tell you to do, no matter how much it costs. I'll have someone make up for any extra deficit. But if you dare to cut any of my benefits, I'll sacrifice your head to the heavens."

The logistics chief walked out with his head down, looking dejected. He ran into Wang Zhuoheng, who had come to report to Xia Lin. Seeing his long face, Zhuoheng asked, "Were you reprimanded by the commander-in-chief? What happened this time?"

“General…” the logistics officer said, sounding aggrieved, “The commander-in-chief said that for the next two months we will have to allocate saltpeter to make ice, but the price of saltpeter has more than tripled compared to a few days ago. The monthly expense for ice making alone is about 150,000 taels of silver. This expense is too much, and our logistics department can't afford it. So I suggested to the commander-in-chief that we temporarily stop supplying ice to the barracks of ordinary soldiers and prioritize the officers' use. The commander-in-chief then said he would offer my head as a sacrifice to the heavens…”

Zhuo Heng frowned after hearing this, and after a moment of thought, he said, "Go back and resign as the Chief of Quartermaster. Go raise pigs."

"General..."

"Don't call me!" Zhuo Heng flicked his sleeves and was about to walk inside: "You bastard, are you really not afraid of death?"

Zhuo Heng dismissed the scoundrel and went into the room with the large pool where Xia Lin was. Xia Lin was currently submerged face down in the water like a corpse. Hearing the noise, he looked up and said, "Coming."

"Yes, senior brother. I've already sent that logistics manager to feed the pigs."

“Okay.” Xia Lin nodded and said, “Don’t use this kind of person next time; they have a problem with their thinking.”

“He’s been recruiting soldiers for a long time. I used to think he was shrewd, but I never expected him to be such a muddlehead.” Zhuo Heng smiled bitterly. “However, 150,000 taels a month for summer expenses is really too high. Does Senior Brother have any better ideas?”

"Hold on tight. The rank and file are the fighting force. Here's what we'll do: tomorrow, go and talk to the major jade merchants in the Western Regions, and drive up the price of Hetian jade to an astronomical level. Use that money to subsidize the price."

"Will people outside buy into that?"

“The merchants have their own ways.” Xia Lin waved his hand and said, “You don’t need to worry about this. Anyway, no matter how much they raise the price, we will take 7%, so they will naturally give a fair price.”

"Seventy percent? Isn't that a bit too high?"

"Zhuo Heng, you have indeed grown, but your biggest problem is that you are too kind-hearted. Why are you being so polite to them? Do you think they will be polite to you? If you take this money, who will end up with it?"

"Major nitrate factories and nitrate mines."

"So in the end, didn't the saltpeter makers make money? Aren't they just ordinary working people? Yes, right? We're just redistributing wealth in another way. Otherwise, if you leave the money to these businessmen, they'll hoard wealth, accumulate land, and snowball into powerful families. Once they become powerful families, their influence and wealth will be too great, and I'll have to kill them. After that, won't the money just go back to society? In the end, won't it still end up in the hands of ordinary working people through education, healthcare, and infrastructure? So tell me, is leaving them so much money helping them or harming them? For these people, the more money they have, the less money they actually have."

Xia Lin leaned back and kept talking, while Zhuo Heng nodded repeatedly. Although this was different from the classics he had read, his senior brother must be right. It did sound unorthodox, but it was also a truth proven by practice.

"I understand."

Xia Lin nodded and glanced at Zhuo Heng from head to toe: "So tell me, what brings you here all of a sudden? You didn't come here just to take a bath with your senior brother, did you?"

Although Zhuo Heng was already commanding the three armies in the Western Regions, he was still just a young man in his twenties who hadn't had many girlfriends. Moreover, the Western Regions was a strange place, with both male homosexuality and gynecological homosexuality. Xia Lin's sudden remark made him feel a little embarrassed.

"No... Just now Jiuzhen reported that the Li Tang dynasty is currently under the regency of Prince Qin, Li Jiancheng, and the Li Tang emperor is heading to the Western Regions. He must be personally overseeing the chaotic situation in the Western Regions and stabilizing those Western Region states that are vaguely leaning towards us."

After hearing this, Xia Lin's face also became expressionless. After a long while, she muttered to herself, "Why is she getting involved? A strategist and tactician coming here to play diplomatic war? Isn't she just asking for trouble?"

"Senior brother, what should we do now?"

"Get ready. Start consolidating the battle lines now and prepare for a proxy war." Xia Lin decisively issued the order: "Arm a group of small countries that are not strong and may be swallowed up by other countries at any time. The rest will be a chessboard war between three countries."

After Xia Lin finished speaking, he looked up at Zhuo Heng and said, "Also, go and inform the senior officers of all departments of the legion that I will be personally giving lectures starting this afternoon."

Upon hearing that Xia Lin was going to personally give a lecture, Zhuo Heng was overjoyed. He immediately ran out and ordered his men to gather officers from various units. The officers were even happier because Xia Lin's battle record over the years was verifiable, and his tactics and strategic thinking had even been included in the military academy's war syllabus for study.

If the previous generation's military genius was Li Jing, then this generation's must be Xia Lin. To have the military genius personally teach them is no small matter.

Generals of all ranks donned their brand-new uniforms and waited early in the auditorium. Despite the hot weather, they did not feel uncomfortable at all and instead waited with great interest.

Around 2 PM, Xia Lin slowly walked in. His entrance caused everyone to stand and applaud, the atmosphere incredibly enthusiastic. Xia Lin simply raised his hand and gestured for them to stop. "Gentlemen," he said, "we're all familiar with each other; some of you are even veterans from the first and second phases of Fuliang. I'm very pleased to see your achievements today. However, you've all lacked experience in independent and large-scale operations. So, for the next month, I will explain things you haven't encountered before to you every day." With that, he turned and wrote the words "Greater Strike Force Theory" on the blackboard.

At that moment, everyone, including Zhuo Heng, lowered their heads and began writing in their notebooks, many of them even with a kind of pilgrimage-like piety in their eyes.

"As the saying goes, 'An army of ten thousand has no boundaries, an army of one hundred thousand stretches to the sky and the earth.' In such situations, most command orders need to be deployed in advance, and the possibility of battlefield micro-management is extremely small. Therefore, when commanding large-scale operations, what we actually need to consider is the issue of depth..."

The deep battle theory is actually very difficult to implement in the mainland because it involves many factors, but we are currently in the Western Regions, and we will definitely have to fight proxy wars in the future. At this time, we need to master more military theories.

After several days of classes, the overall progress was acceptable, and the news that the Li Tang emperor had moved into the Anxi Protectorate had already reached Xia Lin's ears.

This is truly a clash of titans, and countless people are craning their necks in anticipation of this ultimate showdown. They really want to see who will emerge victorious in this contest between the first female emperor in history and the executive vice emperor of the Great Wei.

“Now that Her Majesty the Empress has arrived, it would be too impolite of us not to make a sound.” Xia Lin leaned back in his chair, holding a report from the front lines. His eyes flickered, and a smile appeared on his face. “Well then, since everyone is free, let’s hold a drill tomorrow. Red vs. Blue, with the Blue side’s military system and equipment modeled after the Tang army… no, the Blue side must have the Tang army’s logistical capabilities, the Northern Han’s rapid advance capabilities, the Great Wei’s artillery coverage capabilities, the combat skills of the New Army, the fighting resilience of the Northeast Army, the tactical coordination capabilities of the Tang army, and the infantry-cavalry coordination capabilities of the Northern Han.”

The generals below were dumbfounded when they heard this.

"General... how are we supposed to fight then?"

"Just go ahead and fight." Xia Lin waved his hand impatiently. "You guys just need to rack your brains to beat it. No matter what the outcome, it has to be a spectacular battle. I'll invite military observer groups from all sides over. Don't embarrass me. You can't lose face, understand?"

"understand!"

The generals below rose to receive their orders, while Zhuo Heng himself was in charge of commanding the Blue Army, and Xia Lin served as the commander-in-chief of the Red Army. The two sides quickly set up their formations 130 miles outside the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty and began preparing for this exercise.

But their orders hadn't come down yet, which terrified the Tang Dynasty's Anxi Protectorate. The Empress had just arrived and the Wei army was already acting like this, fully equipped and ready to go—how frightening was that… Moreover, the enemy was Xia Lin's army. If they took advantage of their weakened state to launch a massive attack, wouldn't Her Majesty be captured and sent abroad as a student? Even if they were rescued, she'd probably have to have a child with that damned Xia Lin and bring it back. By then, the Tang Dynasty would have lost all face…

"Your Majesty, the other party's intentions are not good. You should retreat back to the interior."

The military governor of Anxi trembled as he spoke, because everyone knew who Xia Lin was after. He had been enjoying himself here for so long, and Xia Lin had treated him like dirt. But the Empress had only been here for a few days, and now Xia Lin was already causing trouble. This was terrifying...

However, this was no problem for Her Majesty the Empress. She merely raised her head slightly to glance at the incompetent military governor in front of her, and then gently placed the teacup in her hand on the table.

"Make preparations," Third Sister's voice was cold and clear. "The Tang Dynasty is not one to be slaughtered at will."

Upon hearing this, the military governor's tailbone trembled, but at that moment, his entourage, led by the Third Sister, presented a cool and stylish gesture: "Your subject will take care of it immediately."

The very next morning, a massive horde of Li Tang soldiers, carrying their flags, marched to the border. They now possessed cannons, and judging from their craftsmanship, they seemed to be no less formidable than Xia Lin's cannons. They also looked fierce and menacing.

In addition to cannons, to compensate for the gap in individual combat capabilities, Li Tang soldiers also carried bottles that could be used as projectiles, in addition to their regular equipment. Once the cloth strips hanging on the outside of the bottle were ignited and thrown out, the area in front of them would turn into a sea of ​​fire.

This is quite impressive. Even though there is a generational gap compared to Xia Lin's side, San Niang believes that Li Tang's fighting spirit is definitely not much worse than that of the new army. In short, they are very strong.

The two armies stood facing each other across the border, and everyone around them began to sweat with anxiety. Once this imminent war broke out, there was no turning back. They probably had no other choice but to bet on one side.

However, the Northern Han would not waste such a good opportunity. After discovering the movement of Xia Lin's army two days ago, Liu Min immediately sent someone back to report to Emperor Gao of the Northern Han. At this moment, tens of thousands of reinforcements were rapidly crossing the desert and heading in this direction.

Their real intention was to seize a piece of the pie in the midst of this power struggle, and their strategy was simple: help whoever won. If the Tang dynasty won, they would take advantage of the situation to seize the territory of their long-time enemy, the Western Turks, and one-third of the Western Regions.

If Xia Lin wins, they will head south to take Longcheng and then march on Chang'an. In short, no matter which side loses, the Northern Han will tear off a large piece of flesh from the loser as soon as possible.

The three forces suddenly found themselves in a standoff, and the kingdoms of the Western Regions were trembling with fear. For example, the Abbasid Caliphate, which had previously been called the Tiger of the Western Regions, immediately retreated its defensive line by 600 li upon learning the news. In other words, this vast Western Regions empire, which spanned Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North India, voluntarily ceded 600 li of territory due to the standoff between the three giants of the Central Plains.

Now, when people ask about it, there's no longer any mention of the "Tiger of the Western Regions." Everyone who knows about it calls it the Persian Cat.

But it's not their fault, it's just too terrifying... because the three major powers in the Central Plains had stationed nearly 400,000 troops outside Yumen Pass. Every morning when the emperors of the surrounding small countries opened their windows, they could smell the clashing of weapons outside, which frightened them so much that they couldn't even eat properly.

A major war could break out at any moment. If one of our weapons were to go off at this critical moment, it could very well lead to a war that changes the course of the world.

However, no one expected that just as the tense atmosphere reached its peak, the envoys of the Great Wei stood before the leaders of the Tang Dynasty, the Northern Han Dynasty, and the various kingdoms of the Western Regions almost simultaneously.

"By order of our commander-in-chief, we invite His Majesty the Tang Dynasty (General of the Northern Han) to send an envoy as an observer group to participate in the exercise."

(End of this chapter)