Chapter 801: Prelude to War

"Your Highness!"

The steamer slowly docked at the Baima Ferry, and soon Zhao Xu got off the warship.

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

Seeing the King of Yan get off the boat, they saluted.

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

Coming to the command room, Zhao Xu looked at the sand table of Jinling and the surrounding areas, and said, "Have you checked the deployment of the opposite side?"

"Your Highness, I have checked it out." Chang Wei said.

After controlling Jiangbei, he placed a team of hot air balloon soldiers in Baima County, who were specifically responsible for detecting the deployment intelligence of the opposite clan army from the air.

He knew them well.

Picking up the teaching stick, he pointed to the sand table, "The powerful clan army built two arc-shaped trenches outside Jinling City and deployed 300,000 troops. At the same time, they used sandbags to build fortifications inside Jinling City and stationed 100,000 soldiers, totaling 300,000 troops inside and outside."

"400,000 troops? They really spent a lot of money." Zhao Xu frowned.

Chang Wei said: "These are mainly the troops of the Xie family, the Han family and the 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 thing they can do is to fight us to the death."

Zhao Xu nodded.

Jinling, Sucheng and Songcheng are the 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 plain area, the grain production is also very high.

Because of this, the Xie family and others can survive to this day with such a small area.

Even after retreating to Jinling, the remaining 200,000 troops can be expanded to 400,000.

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

Zhao Xu frowned slightly when he heard this.

Jiujiang flows from west to east, and there is a bend in the Jinling area, forming a triangle.

Jinling is at the top of this triangle.

In addition, except for the plains near Jinling, the farther places along the river are all mountains and ridges, and it is impossible to land.

Therefore, if you want to go south from the east, you can't avoid Jinling, the riverside barrier.

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

Because this would put the royal army between Nanliang and Wu.

If they cut off the food supply if they went deep into Xiangzhou, the royal army would be in trouble.

Although Nanliang and Wu are not in harmony now, he can't ignore all the situations.

Moreover, Xiangzhou is really a remote place in this era, and there are many mountains in the area.

If they occupied it, they would not only have to disperse their troops to garrison, but also would not pose any threat to Wu or Nanliang.

This is because Xiangzhou is also mountainous to the east and west.

It is also troublesome to transport food and grass when marching south.

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

Although this is certainly a tough battle, if they take Jinling, they will have a stable foothold in Jiangnan.

If they continue to advance layer by layer, they can take all the plains in the southern part of Ningzhou and Zhejiangzhou, and control the most important grain-producing area of ​​Dasong.

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

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

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

Chang Wei nodded, "Indeed, trenches have also been built around the counties along the river. Wu has provided 200,000 troops to guard the counties together with the Ningzhou nobles. If these counties along the river are attacked, the troops of Jinling may be ready to support them at any time."

Clearing his throat, he continued, "The most important thing is that in order to prevent us from winning over the people like we did in Qizhou, they have recently issued an order that once we launch an attack, the people will be allowed to bring food into the city."

"In order to resist this king, they have already ignored the lives of the people." Zhao Xu's brows were locked deeper.

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

That is, to increase his burden of food and grass, and he has to maintain the food route during the southward journey.

In this way, they can hinder his attack by attacking the food route.

It must be said that there is nothing wrong with their current strategy.

This method is often used in wars between countries.

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

In history, every time Jinling was attacked, there was no special strategy, and it could only be attacked by force.

This time it was his turn, and it was the same.

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

The cities could support each other at any time.

He might as well just take Jinling directly.

First, taking Jinling would severely dampen the arrogance of the powerful families.

Second, the royal army would have a stable bridgehead in Jiangnan, and transport food and grass to Jinling City.

They could rely on Jinling City to take down nearby cities, and there would be no pressure on the food route.

Thinking of this, he said to Chang Wei: "The boats for crossing the river are ready, and we will launch an attack on Jinling City. This is a tough battle. You must show your power to this king, especially the mercenaries from the Western Land, let them taste our power!"

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

The prelude to the war of unification of Dasong is about to begin.