Chapter 361 Caliber

February twenty-nine.

Imperial City, Fushi Yamen of Jingxi Township.

Shen Hao came at noon, Jiang Cheng was outside socializing, he didn't dare to disturb Jiang Cheng and could only wait at the yamen.

Jiang Cheng didn't come back until Shenchu, smelling of alcohol.

After entering the public house, the adjutant called Jiang Cheng hot water to wash his face and sober up, and made a cup of tea.

After a lot of tossing, the adjutant left wisely, and Jiang Chengcai said, "I heard you have been waiting for a long time?"

"It didn't take long. My lord was busy with his affairs because my subordinates disturbed my lord."

"I just finished last year's official review. At noon, the Commander's Yamen hosted a banquet, and Pang Da was there, so I couldn't go away. You must have something important to come here. Is there any news from the south?"

Shen Hao nodded, and replied, "Yes. Several news came back these days, and the subordinates are a bit hard to decide, so I can only come to the adults to make a decision."

Jiang Cheng leaned back in his chair and said with a smile, "Tell me, is there still a time when you can't handle it?"

Shen Hao took out a topographical sketch of the barbarian area from the storage bag, put it on the long table in front of Jiang Cheng, pointed to a point marked on it and said: "Look, my lord, this is Baitou Gorge, located at The middle part of the barbarian region is also the farthest location explored by slave caravans over the years.

Due to the limitation of luggage storage and transit, the slave caravan knew almost nothing about the territory south of Baitou Gorge. But this time, my black flag battalion spy directly crossed the Baitou Gorge to explore the real situation in the southeast region of the barbarians.

According to the spy's report. In fact, before crossing the Baitou Gorge, the spies discovered something strange this time. That is, the barbarians began to organize and send large-scale safari teams to collect the population in the area north of Baitou Gorge and south of Wuhu Lake. This has touched the fundamental interests of the Slave Chamber of Commerce, and I believe it will not be long before the Slave Chamber of Commerce will find out. "

"Huh? On purpose?" Jiang Cheng was surprised, but he didn't interrupt Shen Hao's words. He sat up straight and listened more carefully.

"Then the spies captured three wolf cavalrymen of the red-eyed wolves, and after questioning them, they learned that the red-eyed wolves had erected the Frost Moon Banner in Sangbiqiu and used it as the place where the flag stands, officially calling for the establishment of the royal court. However, the royal court has not been erected at present, and it should be almost ready. But it should not be far away.

After getting the news, the spies split into two groups, returning all the way to send messages, and continuing south all the way. I have already arranged for people to go to Xiaochuan to set up a transfer. The latest news is that after entering the area south of Baitou Gorge, the southernmost spies discovered that the view of the barbarians in the country is completely untrue, or even the opposite.

The barbarians are in the northwest, which is the hunting area of ​​the Slave Chamber of Commerce. Specifically, the north of Baitou Gorge is indeed barbaric, but after crossing Baitou Gorge, it is like two worlds. Neither the fields nor the villages are much worse than Guochao.

And just tens of miles south of Baitou Gorge, yes, right here, there is a huge military stronghold that stretches for more than ten miles, and it is estimated that 100,000 people are stationed in it. "

Jiang Cheng looked at the map in front of him, frowning tightly. The location of the military stronghold that Shen Hao pointed out happened to be stuck behind the Baitou Gorge, holding down a most suitable terrain. According to Jiang Cheng's many years of military experience, this military stronghold is not the best position for defense. On the contrary, this military stronghold is actually more suitable as a forward position for cover and assault.

"Besides this military stronghold, on the night of February 19th, they happened to encounter a barbarian army marching in a hurry, and followed behind, and found that it was a multi-ethnic mixed army of nearly 50,000. It is dominated by wolves, mixed with powerful groups such as tusked elephants and grizzly bears. But this army did not enter Baitou Gorge or stay in the military stronghold, but marched here in a hurry."

As Shen Hao said, he pointed to a mark on the north side of Baitou Gorge on the map.

"This is called Jianchuan. It is three hundred miles north of Baitou Gorge. The terrain is mainly hilly, which is relatively complicated. However, there is a side road dug by the barbarians 40 years ago, which runs across the entire Jianchuan area and extends for a hundred miles to the northwest. Although it has been lacking in repairs for a long time, it can still run horses and pass some heavy vehicles with a simple adjustment.

The subordinates thought that this was the barbarian's conscious attempt to control the key arteries. The purpose is likely to be preparations for war. "

Jiang Cheng didn't speak, he studied the map that Shen Hao handed over.

After a long while, Jiang Chengcai said: "Not only do you want to control the main roads and occupy Jianchuan, but you can also form horns with the military stronghold in the direction of Baitou Gorge, and you can retreat or defend and attack. However, the force of the horns is not as good as pincers." Attack, if I'm scheduling it! There should be an army of the same size as Jianchuan occupying it."

"Hu Zhuyuan?"

"Yes, Hu Zhuyuan, if it is also occupied here, it can be connected with Baitou Gorge and Jianchuan to form a pincer shape. It is a perfect offensive arrangement."

Shen Hao is not familiar with military affairs, but he also got some ideas after seeing Jiang Cheng's gestures on the map, and immediately asked: "My lord, your many years of experience in battle formations will definitely not be wrong, I will let the spies in front go to Huzhu when I go back." Yuan Chatan, if it is true, then the barbarians should be moving."

Jiang Cheng shook his head: "It's just a posture, and it's still too far away to do it. Unless they can take the front line of Wuhu in one fell swoop, otherwise, it's a dream to get the initiative by relying on this pincer offensive."

"situation?"

"Hey, forget it, let me tell you this, the barbarians seem to want to move now, but the probability of bluffing is higher, and there should be other calculations. In addition, they dared to do this without even erecting the royal court Don't you think it's strange to put on a posture?"

"The subordinates are also very puzzled, but they think that this should be the red-eyed wolf clan taking advantage of the situation. The purpose is to use the deliberately created crisis to quickly integrate internal relations and achieve the purpose of establishing the royal court and taking charge of the royal court."

Jiang Cheng's reaction was quick, Shen Hao said that he understood after a little turn in his head, then stood up from the chair, walked back and forth in the room, frowning.

"My lord, if the barbarians established a royal court because of the red-eyed wolves, they will inevitably expand northward quickly. If they want to take back a large amount of idle land in the north, they will inevitably collide with the slave trade association. Do you want to inform the slave trade association? Let them avoid losses, and at the same time let Guochao prepare for it?"

This is the main purpose of Shen Hao coming to find Jiang Cheng today.

The barbarian's side is likely to change, and the barbarian has secretly recovered its vitality many years ago, which will definitely pose a threat to the old Jing dynasty, and it will be more confident to prepare one day earlier.

However, there are too many internal problems in the old Jing Dynasty, especially the Ministry of War, and now it is still unclear what is right and what is wrong. What if the Kundalhuo Pass is opened directly after the fight and the barbarians enter the pass?