Become a feudal king from today

"Your Highness!"

The steamship docked slowly at Baima Ferry, and not long after, Zhao Xu got off the battleship.

At this time, the generals had arrived at the ferry from the south gate.

Seeing King Yan disembarking from the boat, they performed a military salute.

Zhao Xu returned the military salute and entered Baima County with the generals.

Arriving at the command room, Zhao Xu looked at the sand table in Jinling and nearby areas. He said, "Have you checked the deployment on the other side?"

"Go back to Your Highness and find out." Chang Wei said.

After taking control of Jiangbei, he placed a team of hot-air balloon soldiers in Baima County, specifically responsible for conducting airborne reconnaissance on the deployment of the Situ troops.

Know them inside and out.

Picking up the teaching stick, he pointed to the sand table, "The Shi army built two arc-shaped trench fortifications outside Jinling City and deployed 300,000 troops. At the same time, they also used sandbags to build fortifications inside Jinling City and stationed 100,000 soldiers. There are a total of 300,000 troops inside and outside."

"Four hundred thousand troops? They really spent a lot of money." Zhao Xu frowned.

Chang Wei said: "These are mainly the soldiers and horses of the Xie family, Han family and Wang family. At present, the Xie family only has three big cities, Jinling, Sucheng and Songcheng. There is basically no way to retreat. The only choice is to make a desperate move and fight to the end with us. ”

Zhao Xu nodded.

Jinling, Suzhou, and Songcheng are contemporary Nanjing, Suzhou, and Shanghai respectively.

Although these three cities occupy a small area of ​​Ningzhou, they are the richest and most densely populated areas in Ningzhou.

Because of the dense water network and the fact that it is a plain area, it produces a lot of grain.

Because of this, the Xie family and others can survive in such a small area until now.

They could even expand the remaining 200,000 troops to 400,000 after retreating to Jinling.

"Also, the mercenaries from Xitu are also in Jinling." Thinking of this, Chang Wei added.

Zhao Xu frowned slightly when he heard this.

Jiujiang flows from west to east, with a twist in the Jinling area, forming a triangle.

Jinling is at the vertex of this triangle.

Moreover, except for the plains near Jinling, the areas farther away along the river are full of mountains and ridges, making it impossible to land.

Therefore, if you want to go south from the east, you cannot avoid the riverside barrier of Jinling.

Of course, he also thought about going south from Jingzhou to Xiangzhou, but gave up.

Because this would put the royal family's troops between Nanliang and Wu.

Going deep into Xiangzhou, if they cut off the food route, the royal army will be in trouble.

Although Nanliang and Wu are now at odds, he cannot help but consider all situations.

Furthermore, Xiangzhou was really a remote area in this era, and there were many mountains in the area.

If it is occupied, not only will the troops be dispersed to garrison, but it will not pose any threat to Wu or Nanliang.

This is because Xiangzhou has mountains to the east and mountains to the west.

Marching south, transporting grain and grass is also a hassle.

It is better to go south from the eastern area of ​​Jiujiang.

Although this will definitely be a tough battle, by capturing Jinling, they will have a solid stronghold in Jiangnan.

By advancing layer by layer, we can capture all the plains in southern Ningzhou and Zhezhou, and control the most important grain-producing area of ​​Dasong.

The powerful clans naturally realized this, so they deployed heavy troops here to fight for every inch of territory with him.

"They must have arrangements for other counties along the river." Zhao Xu thought for a while and then said.

Since the mercenaries from the Western Territory are here, they will definitely provide the powerful people with the war experience of the Western Territory and consider it in more detail.

Chang Wei nodded, "That's true. Trench fortifications have also been built around the counties along the river. Wu State has supported 200,000 soldiers and horses, guarding them together with the Ningzhou nobles. If these counties along the river are attacked, Jinling's soldiers and horses may be able to attack at any time. support."

Clearing his throat, he continued, "The most important thing is, it seems that in order to prevent us from trying to win over the people like we did in Qizhou, they recently issued an order to let the people bring food into the city once we launch an attack."

"In order to resist this king, they have disregarded the life and death of the people." Zhao Xu's brows furrowed deeper.

Combined with Liang Kai's order for the people along the coast to migrate, he figured out some of the current strategies of the powerful tribes.

It just increased the burden of food and grass on him, and he had to maintain the food route during the journey south.

In this way, they could hinder his attack by attacking the grain roads.

I have to say that there is nothing wrong with their current strategy.

This method is commonly used in wars between countries.

Pacing back and forth, Zhao Xu's expression gradually became firm.

Every time in history when Jinling was attacked, there was no clever strategy and they could only attack hard.

This time it was his turn, too.

After all, since the county town has also built fortifications and has troops stationed there.

Each city can support each other at any time.

He might as well just eat Jinling.

First, taking Jinling can severely dampen the arrogance of the powerful clan.

Secondly, the royal family's troops now have a stable bridgehead in the south of the Yangtze River to transport grain and grass to Jinling City.

Then we can rely on Jinling City to capture nearby cities, and there will be no pressure on the grain road.

Thinking of this, he said to Chang Wei: "The boat crossing the river is ready, so we will launch an attack on Jinling City. This is a tough battle. You must give me a prestige, especially the mercenaries from the West. Let them have a taste of it." We are awesome!”

"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei shouted loudly when he heard this.

The prelude to the Great Song Unification War is about to begin.