Chapter 499: Escape
"The Qiang are quite powerful, with hundreds of thousands of people and tens of thousands of combatants. Furthermore, Maozhou is a vast land. Now, let's discuss what we can do."
As soon as Jia Cong finished speaking, all the generals looked at the survey map and fell into deep thought.
"Marshal, the situation in Maozhou is unclear right now. It would be better for me to lead the vanguard into Maozhou first. Once the situation is broken and the Qiang tribe's arrangements are revealed, you can then lead your troops to suppress them in one fell swoop." Jiang Zining said loudly.
Shi Nai on the side retorted, "General, I don't think it's appropriate."
"Although General Jiang is brave, if he falls into an ambush by the Qiang people, it will be extremely dangerous. Even if we win a great victory, our troops will certainly suffer heavy losses."
Jia Cong nodded slightly. He naturally would not allow Jiang Zining to act so rashly.
Afterward, the other generals offered their own proposals. Some suggested marching directly to Wenshan to engage the Qiang in a decisive battle, while others suggested deploying troops along the border to deter the Qiang, with the main force heading towards Chengdu. While there were many ideas, none of them were perfect. Finally, everyone's attention fell on Jia Cong.
Jia Cong pondered everyone's suggestions and asked while examining the survey map, "What do you think, if our main force directly seeks a decisive battle with the Qiang people, how will they react?"
Everyone was stunned, and then someone said, "General, although the Qiang are powerful, you command a hundred thousand troops, and they are at a disadvantage. If our army advances, they may not choose to fight us head-on. As everyone knows, you are here for the tribes of southern Xinjiang. How could the Qiang be willing to be a shield for the southern Xinjiang tribes?"
"It's very likely that they will use the vast territory of Maozhou to engage in a grappling battle with our army, thereby draining our energy and stamina."
Jia Cong laughed out loud, "Yes, that's right! Order all troops to march south and enter Maozhou tomorrow!"
To the north of Wenshan, a large group of buildings is the ancestral land of the Qiang people. In the center of the ancestral land, a grand hall with carved beams and painted rafters stands.
The Sichuan region has been in turmoil lately, and the Qiang people have taken to sitting back and watching the fight unfold. Regardless of which side wins, it won't be a bad thing for the Qiang people. When the time comes, their troops can attack and seize the surrounding prefectures. However, Daqian's reinforcements arrived quickly and were stationed in the Shiquan area instead of Chengdu, making the Qiang people somewhat uneasy.
Inside the main hall, the clan leader Guwu sat high up, with all the clan elders sitting below him.
"Now the Daqian army is stationed at the border of Maozhou. I think they are here with ill intentions. How do you think our people should respond?"
"Our tribe hasn't rebelled. If the Daqian army were to attack us, wouldn't that be a futile effort?" an elder said immediately. "The tribe leader should send an envoy to inquire about the reason. The tribe leader is not only the leader of our tribe, but also an official of Daqian. If the Daqian army were to attack our tribe, it would be difficult to explain to the imperial court."
"Hmph, the Daqian troops are clearly here with ill intentions. They've even detained the prefects of Mianzhou, and now they're coming to Maozhou. Their purpose is obvious. We should send our elite troops to blockade the border. If the Daqian troops dare to enter, we'll immediately start a war."
As he was speaking, a member of the tribe suddenly broke into the hall.
"Chief, something bad has happened!"
Before Guwu could get angry, he heard the man hurriedly say, "Chief, we just received news that nearly 100,000 Daqian soldiers have entered Maozhou and are heading straight for Wenshan. We estimate that they will reach Wenshan in three days at most."
"What!" Guwu's expression tensed. "Who sent this news? Where is the Daqian army now? How is it possible that there are 100,000 troops?"
"It's Lord Hetu who sent the message!"
Hetu was the eldest son of Guwu, so he had no doubt that the news was false.
…
"Good, good, good!" Inside the Daming Palace of the Imperial Palace in Shenjing, the retired emperor looked at the battle report that had just arrived from Sichuan and laughed heartily. "Little Monkey fought well in this battle. Just based on this one battle, he is more than enough to surpass all the military merits!"
"Although there are many talented warriors among the military, there are many talented generals but few talented commanders!"
"Why did I lead the army to war? First, because of the crisis in the north, and second, because of the lack of a capable commander. When the country was founded, the four kings and eight dukes were all capable of ruling a region, but by my time, such people were few and far between. Emperor, you are blessed to have a son like this. Why worry about instability in the world?"
The emperor standing by was also smiling like a flower, his face full of pride, because this was his son.
"Father, could you please help me clear up my confusion? I am not as good as you, and I really don't understand matters of marching and deploying troops!" Emperor Longxing wanted to seek advice sincerely, but he also wanted to support the retired emperor.
How could he not see that the emperor was in a very good mood at the moment, and it would be a bit boring without someone to support him.
As expected, the retired emperor stroked his short beard with pride and said, "Dai Quan, go and get me the geological survey map of Sichuan and Shu."
When Dai Quan brought the survey map, the retired emperor pointed to the military report, stroked the survey map, and asked Emperor Longxing, "Emperor, if you were the commander-in-chief of the army, how would you fight this battle?"
Emperor Longxing thought for a moment and to be honest, he really didn't understand the military report.
"I command hundreds of thousands of troops. The Qiang may be powerful, but they only have about 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers capable of fighting! If I lead them into battle, how can the Qiang not be defeated?"
The Emperor gave him a look of disdain. "If I let you lead the army, I'm afraid you'll be defeated. You're worlds apart from that little monkey."
"Look here, that guy sent 100,000 soldiers into Maozhou. Is there anything strange about that?"
"This... is puzzling. He has a total of 120,000 soldiers and horses. Even if you add the Shiquan army's 10,000-plus, that's only 130,000. But he's already sent out tens of thousands of troops before. There definitely aren't 100,000 of them here. Could it be that he's transferred troops from other places?"
"Hmph, I tell you, these 100,000 soldiers and horses are fake."
"Ah!" Emperor Longxing was stunned. "How could it be fake?"
"Look at these 100,000 soldiers and horses. They only cover 80 miles in 10 days. They can even crawl faster than that. What does this mean? This guy has figured out the Qiang people's intentions. He's using these 100,000 men to hold them back. The Qiang people will definitely not easily start a war when they see the army coming. So the two armies will confront each other, or even play hide-and-seek. Believe it or not, even if these 100,000 men come face to face with the Qiang troops, they will pretend not to see them."
"Where did he get 100,000 people?"
"Humph, didn't you see the military report mentioning that the young men he recruited have already arrived? All they need to do is disguise themselves. How dare the Qiang spies enter the army for a thorough investigation? What the Qiang people saw was what this guy wanted them to see."
