My Cultivation Starting from Archery

Military strategy matters,

there's no need to doubt Xu Wencai's expertise.

Chen Sansi already had a plan in mind.

He reiterated with certainty, "That's right, two years."

Even if there were deviations, it couldn't exceed three to four years.

The longer the delay, the more difficult the battle would become.

The harm brought to the people by years of continuous warfare was also colossal.

Better a short pain than a long one.

Finding every possible way to end the war quickly was beneficial for everyone.

"If my lord wishes for a swift resolution, then our Beiliang Army must find a way to march south quickly and enter the Central Plains,"

after pondering for a while, Xu Wencai spoke again, "And for the Beiliang Army to enter the Central Plains, there are two routes.

"Either we make a detour through You State and Yunzhou on the spacious official road, or we take the route along the border of You State's Hongze River, but not to mention Dongqing's covetous gaze in Yunzhou, the several key passes to the south have long been blocked by the court. If we take the normal route, we will inevitably have to engage in continuous siege warfare which will not only consume time but also greatly deplete our supplies and military strength.

"The other route is to cross the Luotian Mountain Range, emerge from the Qilin Mountain's cliff plank road, and then attack Chunqiu Prefecture.

"But what we can think of, the court can also predict.

"Thus, it's likely the plank road has already been burned by them. Even if we rebuild it, it would be continuously sabotaged, not to mention, individuals like Prince Cao Rong are now gathered within Chunqiu Prefecture, which lies beyond the plank road and is an inevitable path upon exiting. It's just another dead end."

The march south of Beiliang,

was never an easy task to begin with.

Otherwise,

the court wouldn't have initially allowed Sun Xiangzong to control so many troops in Beiliang. On one hand, he indeed needed to suppress the barbarians, on the other hand, it made rebellion not so easy.

The Luotian Mountain Range was a treasure land of resources for those who practiced martial arts and also a natural barrier between the Northern Territory and the Central Plains.

"Junior brother,"

Cheng Wei, clacking away on his abacus, finally suggested, "Otherwise, we should follow Mr. Xu's advice and take our time. It's difficult for us to penetrate the border, but taking Yan State to the west and advancing to Yunzhou in the east isn't hard.

"Especially under the current circumstances, both Dongqing and West Qi are only focused on Mang Mountain and are unlikely to pay too much attention to us.

"Once we have the four states of the Northern Territory under our control, dragging it out for three to five years, then thinking about entering the passes will be much easier in terms of both military strength and supplies."

The White Robe did not join the discussion.

They knew that no one could talk him out of it.

"My lord, it's not that I lack ambition,"

Xu Wencai once again pointed out the difficulties, "The reality is that we are lacking in supplies and military strength. Yan State is manageable; with you leading the troops, we could take it within two months. But afterward, we would inevitably face attacks from Dongqing, and we would need to allocate a large part of our forces to cope with that. Consequently, we would have neither the military strength nor the supplies to take the Qilin Mountain plank road and attack Chunqiu Prefecture."

"If the plank road is impassable, then we don't take it!"

Chen Sansi suddenly interrupted, "If we lack supplies, let's make sure Chunqiu Prefecture lacks them too!"

"My lord means..."

Xu Wencai's feather fan landed on a city marked clearly on the yellowish map behind Chunqiu Prefecture with the words "Hongdu Prefecture."

Hongdu Prefecture was situated just beyond Chunqiu Prefecture.

It was also an essential transit point for the Central Plains to transport food supplies to the Northern Territory.

If Hongdu Prefecture could be seized, it would be akin to driving a nail into the court's supply line, isolating Chunqiu Prefecture as a stranded city.

"But the issue is,"

Wang Zhi rubbed the hilt of his blade, "Hongdu Prefecture lies beyond Chunqiu Prefecture. You can't bypass Chunqiu Prefecture unless you fly over it, and even if you managed to fly across, the soldiers under your command can't do the same."

"Beside Qilin Mountain, there is a miasma-filled mountain known as Yinping Mountain."

Chen Sansi looked at the map and revealed, "Yinping Mountain is rugged and difficult to navigate, stretching for hundreds of miles, but 'Hongdu Prefecture' just so happens to be outside of Yinping Mountain. Therefore—our plan is 'to openly repair the plank road while covertly crossing Yinping'; making use of the dense vegetation and miasma of Yinping Mountain as cover to directly reach 'Hongdu Prefecture' and cut off their supply route. If Beiliang has no provisions, let them suffer the same. Let us all starve together!"

"Junior brother,"

Cheng Wei's confusion grew, "You've already said Yinping Mountain is difficult to traverse, and surrounded by miasma, it should be impossible for a large cavalry to pass through."

"Then we won't use cavalry,"

Chen Sansi had already done the calculations, "The medicinal herbs in the Liangzhou warehouse can produce enough anti-miasma pills for seven thousand people. These seven thousand will accompany me on foot across the mountain directly to Hongdu Prefecture!"

Crossing Yinping covertly to reach Hongdu directly!

"You really have a big nerve to come up with this,"

Senior Sister Nine Rong Yanqiu was somewhat lost for words but soon analyzed calmly, "There's another problem, even if you succeed and capture Hongdu Prefecture, you would still face a frenzied counterattack from Chunqiu Prefecture's army. Do you plan to use seven thousand men against an enemy force that could well surpass a hundred thousand in their siege?!"

"Seven thousand is enough!"

Chen Sansi made a shocking statement.

He then asked, "Xu Wencai, once Yan State has been pacified, if I hand over more than ninety percent of the military officers, troops, and supplies to you, how quickly can you settle Yunzhou and move to assault Chunqiu Prefecture to support Hongdu?"

"Five months,"

Xu Wencai held his feather fan and bowed, "Within five months, I will surely subdue Yunzhou, and then the entire army will march to attack Chunqiu!"

"Good! That's settled then!"

Chen Sansi began to issue commands,

"Xu Wencai, listen to my order! Starting today, you will send people to Qilin Mountain to urgently repair the plank road day and night, mobilizing the army to make feint attacks.

"Cheng Wei, listen to my order! Gather all the pharmacists and doctors to produce the anti-miasma pills, and ensure everything is ready within two months. There must be no errors!"