Chapter 685: Choice

"Your Majesty, Xie Duan wants to see you." When Han Zheng and Sato Makoto were discussing, another eunuch came to the imperial study.

After exchanging a glance with Sato Makoto, Han Zheng said, "Whatever you say, you come."

Then, he turned to Sato Makoto and asked, "Does Lord Sato want to step aside?"

Shaking his head, Sato Makoto said, "No need. Since he came here for the withdrawal of the Southern Liang army, I can convince him to join you in resisting the King of Yan."

Han Zheng also meant this. He nodded to the eunuch and motioned for Xie Duan to come in.

After a cup of tea, Xie Duan arrived. When he saw Sato Makoto, he was obviously surprised.

But now, he no longer cared about the presence of outsiders, and said in a hurry, "Your Majesty is still awake so late, you must have known the news of the withdrawal of the Southern Liang army."

"Yes." Han Zheng said truthfully.

Seeing Han Zheng's calmness, Xie Duan said angrily, "Your Majesty is very calm at this time. Without the 200,000 soldiers of the Southern Liang and the 100,000 cavalry of the Northern Di, how can we fight the King of Yan?"

After a pause, he continued, "After the Southern Liang withdrew their camp, the Liang and Fan families also withdrew their troops to the south."

Han Zheng's eyes sank slightly. This was within his expectations.

However, he could not blame the Liang and Fan families now, because if the war went badly, he would have to rely on them next.

So he said, "It's not that I'm not anxious, but it's useless to be anxious. After all, the most dangerous people in this war are you and me. They are not in a hurry yet."

Xie Duan almost cried out, ""But what should we do? Can we beat the King of Yan with just our two families?"

"We have to fight even if we can't win. Do you want to hand over Jinling to the King of Yan? "Han Zheng asked back.

"Of course I won't. If the King of Yan wants to occupy Jinling, he must pay a price of blood. But even so, if we lose, our heads will be used as chamber pots for the King of Yan." Xie Duan smiled bitterly.

"That may not be the case!" Han Zheng glanced at Sato Masahisa and gave him a questioning look.

Sato Masahisa nodded, and Han Zheng told Xie Duan the plan in the letter.

Xie Duan was surprised to hear this.

He rolled his eyes and said, "This is also a way out."

After that, he nodded and said to Sato Masahisa: "I, Xie Duan, am willing to fight with Qi and the King of Yan to delay the King of Yan's southward march."

Sato Masahisa laughed, hugged Han Zheng with one hand and Xie Duan with the other, and said loudly: "This is a retreat to advance. If the King of Yan is destroyed in the future, I promise to help you restore your country and continue to be your free and easy emperor. "

Xie Duan and Han Zheng nodded and said at the same time: "Then we have to rely on Lord Sato."

They had a solution immediately.

If they didn't agree to Sato Masahisa, they would have to fight with King Yan to defend their territory.

In this case, it would be better to cooperate with Japan's plan.

After all, they could see that Japan was unwilling to have King Yan unify Dasong, but hoped that several dynasties would appear on the territory of Dasong.

This was also in line with their interests.

After discussing this, the three discussed how to deal with the next war.

With the loss of the Southern Liang army, they could no longer take the initiative to attack King Yan.

But it was still possible to occupy the strategic location to resist King Yan step by step.

At the moment, their goal was It is a fortress defending the outer perimeter of Lu City.

…

Dongping City.

At the same time as the Southern Liang troops withdrew, Zhao Xu also received the news sent by Ma Han.

According to Ma Han, Dianzhang had already arrived in Xiangcheng.

The next day.

Zhao Xu immediately sent out scouts to investigate, and indeed found the Southern Liang troops and the Northern Di cavalry retreating to the southwest.

After a while, he received information that the Liang and Fan families' troops retreated to the south.

"Hahaha... Your Highness's move really hit the snake's seven inches. This Dou Wei is extremely selfish. Facing the crisis in Xiangcheng, he really ignored the Yan coalition and only cared about himself. "Chang Wei said.

At this moment, he and Zhao Xu were both in the command room of Dongping City.

Zhao Xu nodded, and he asked Ma Han to march to the northwest. One was to cut off the connection between Beidi and Nanliang, to prevent Beidi from continuously sending troops to Nanliang and participating in the civil strife.

The second was to resolve the coalition forces against Yan.

Although, he was confident that he could defeat the million-strong army of powerful families gathered in Qizhou.

But even if he won, the royal army would certainly suffer certain casualties.

This casualty would be in the tens of thousands, and this was something he didn't want to see.

A few days ago, after investigation, the Yan-attack coalition had gathered more than 1,500 artillery pieces in Qizhou.

Although the range and power of these artillery pieces are far inferior to those of Yanzhou.

But if the two armies confront each other and the Yanzhou artillery cannot clear them in the first time, these artillery pieces can still cause a lot of casualties to the soldiers of the royal palace.

Therefore, it is most cost-effective to dismantle the Yan-attack.

In this way, he can defeat the powerful families one by one.

"But the Xie family's troops do not seem to withdraw, and they seem to want to guard Lucheng together with the Qi army." Chang Wei frowned.

"This is not surprising. For the Xie family, the lips and teeth are cold. If Qi is destroyed, his Xie family's Ningzhou will not be able to be saved. Instead of withdrawing, it is better to deal with us together with Qi." Zhao Xu said.

After a pause, he continued to say to Chang: "It is better to fight two at the same time than to fight five at the same time. You should immediately reorganize the troops and prepare to take over the entire Qizhou."

"Yes, Your Highness. "Chang Wei looked excited.

During this period, the royal army captured eight counties outside the four southwestern counties of Qi.

And the eight counties were restructured and government offices were established.

Now, the eight counties are completely under their control.

With the support of the people, the civilians in Yanzhou only need to transport food and grass to Qizhou, and then the people in the eight counties can take over and transport the food and grass to Dongping City.

In fact, they no longer need as much food and grass as planned.

Because part of the food and grass supply can be obtained from the eight counties in Qizhou.

Chang Wei left, and Zhao Xu looked at Lucheng on the sand table.

This Lucheng is the contemporary Tai'an in Shandong. It is located at the southern foot of the Taishan Mountains. It can be said that the terrain is dangerous. To the south of it is the Yimeng Mountains, which can be said to be surrounded by mountains.

And on the mountain road leading to Lucheng from the two mountains, there are four fortresses that are both passes and cities.

They are Jicheng in the north, Zibo in the east, Yangcheng in the west, and Yicheng in the south.

Among them, Yicheng borders Ningcheng, and you can reach Pengcheng in Ningzhou after leaving Yicheng.

Looking around, he finally looked at Yangcheng.

Jicheng and Zicheng are strategically located. Although Yangcheng is also located in the mountains, the terrain here is slightly gentler, making it the most suitable place for attack.

However, Han Zheng could naturally think of this, so he would definitely deploy heavy troops in Yangcheng.

But there is no way. Not every battle on the battlefield can be fought with clever tactics. When necessary, you can only fight a hard battle.

As for Yicheng, he did not consider it because Yicheng is at the southernmost end of the Yimeng Mountains and spans hundreds of miles.

Going around is laborious and time-consuming, so it is better to attack Yangcheng.

Thinking of this, his eyes narrowed slightly.

For him, it is time to sweep across the north of Dasong and then go south to unify Dasong.