Southern Tang, Jiankang City, and Political Affairs Hall.

In the hall, there were civil servants from the Ministry of War, who kept reading the war reports from the front line.

"On the seventh day of the ninth month, Duan Xiushi's command of the Feng general Shang Mian defeated Cui Yubao, the commander of the Qing army, and occupied Tuolin County."

"On September 13th, the commander of the Right Army under Li Guangbi's command, Wei Ruchuan, was defeated Shangcai and left behind Lu Jinshan and occupied Ganfeng, Yunzhou."

"On September 22, Qiu Fuzhi of Henan led his troops to rebel and defeated Anyang Army, and the army sent Xiao Xun to surrender to the enemy."

...

Listening to one unfavorable battle report after another, the face of Emperor Li Yu of the Southern Tang Dynasty was ashen.

Li Mi, the adviser standing among the ministers, was wearing a Taoist robe and closing his eyes to rest. He seemed to be unwilling to care about everything around him.

Other civil and military officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty lowered their heads and no one dared to speak.

Cheng Yuanzhen, the eunuch standing beside the emperor, saw Li Yu closing his eyes, waved his hand, and quickly winked at the eunuch holding the rituals beside him, who quickly stopped the civil servant who reported the military situation.

Li Yu opened his eyes, looked at the civil and military officials in the hall, and asked, "Going north and south, my dear friends, who can analyze the current situation for me?"

The ministers looked at each other, and Zhang Xun, who was then the Minister of War and the Censor of the Censorate, walked out and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this time the North Counterattack has mobilized a total of 400,000 troops, and it is divided into three eastern and western central routes. The West Route Army entered Shannan West Road and attacked Shannan East Road; the Middle Route Army entered Luoyang and attacked Runan; the East Route Army entered Jizhou and attacked Xuzhou. At present, except for the Eastern Route Army led by Li Guangbi, they are still fighting against Shi Siming, the other two armies of the Northern People have basically declared victory."

Li Yu: "Shi Siming...will he have a chance of winning against Li Guangbi?"

Zhang Xun: "Although Shi Siming surrendered to our dynasty, he was cunning and cunning. According to his opinion, although the court issued an order to defend Xuzhou to the death, he would definitely disobey the military order in order to preserve his strength. Therefore, Xuzhou is most likely unable to be preserved."

Li Yu's face was solemn: "At present, most of the Shannan East Road and Henan Road have been lost. If Xuzhou is occupied again, wouldn't it be a critical situation?"

Zhang Xun: "If Li Guangbi took Xuzhou, he would definitely enter Yingchuan to the south and form a group with Guo Ziyi's troops. Their next target of attack is probably Jiangcheng, the gateway to Jiangnan West Road."

"Jiangcheng is an important town in Ezhou. There are 166 lakes, more than 30 rivers, and steep mountains. Therefore, if the northerners want to go south, they cannot bypass this place, so they must first capture Jiangcheng. Now, Duke Zhaode (Lai Yan) leads an army of 120,000 to guard Jiangcheng. Whether it is food and grass or supplies, they have been garrisoned for more than a year. It is very prepared. Please rest assured."

Li Yu frowned and said, "The enemy has 400,000 people and firearms. Even if Duke Zhaode sticks to it, he will be alone."

Li Mi, who was standing by, finally spoke at this time: "Your Majesty, the northerners are now in a state of unstoppable power. The three armies have only taken a few months to directly attack the gateway of Jiangnan. This may not be a bad thing."

Li Yu was stunned.

Li Mi held the whisk and bowed to Li Yu and said, "On the surface, the Liangcheng army is strong and powerful, with great momentum. But if you calculate carefully, although the troops under the jurisdiction of the northerners have elite troops, Anxi and Beiting, it is far away from Liangcheng, and it is difficult to rush to support in time. These 400,000 troops are equivalent to all the troops that Liangcheng can use in the Central Plains."

Li Yu: "What do you mean by sir..."

Li Mi: "The faster the attack and the further the North's army, the more it goes, the more it is separated from the rear. Once something happens in the rear, the 400,000 army wants to turn back and help, it will cause chaos in the military orders, and the second will be difficult to deal with. At that time, flaws will naturally arise in the enemy."

Li Yu nodded gently: "What sir said is reasonable."

Li Mi: "Your Majesty, don't forget that as early as three years ago, we were weaving a large net just to trap the northern people. Now, the 400,000 troops in Liangcheng are heading south, and this large net has reached the end. Jiangcheng is the key to this battle between the north and the south, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a result of its contribution. If everything goes well, Zhaode Duke only holds the 400,000 troops of the northern people, it doesn't take too long. In just a few months, the next big net will naturally slowly shrink and break the enemy's neck."

Li Yu thought for a moment and asked Li Mi: "What if the person who closed the net is unwilling to do his best?"

Li Mi smiled and said, "As long as you see a big fish in the net, the person who collects the net will definitely contribute."

At the same time, Tieren City (Shibao City) under the jurisdiction of Tubo.

Standing on the highest platform of Lianbao, Tubo Dalun Sang Chiruo, wearing fur, looked to the east from afar.

Beside him, two of his important officials stood respectively.

One was Dun Renzeng, the prime minister of the Tubo Dynasty, and the other was Yin Tu, the commander of the Shanwei Army.

Yin Tu glanced at the foot of the mountain and asked Sang Chiruo: "Master, what are you looking at?"

Dun Renzeng frowned and corrected Yin Tu and said, "The title of head of the family can no longer be used. The great remarks have already been granted a virtuous person in the golden tent. You should respectfully call him the King of Great Virtue."

Sang Chiruo smiled and turned his head, saying to Dun Renzeng: "Title is not important."

Then, he said to Yin Tu: "I'm looking at the capital of the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an."

When Yin Tu heard this, he looked east and saw that there was nothing else except a white mist.

Tickling his head, Yin Tu muttered: "Why can't I see..."

Sang Chiruo asked Dunrenzeng: "Where is the army of Northern Tang now?"

Dun Renzeng: "According to the latest information, the main force of the Northern Tang Dynasty has arrived in the territory of the Southern Tang Dynasty, which is thousands of miles away from Chang'an."

Sang Chiruo: "Where are our army? Are they ready?"

Dun Renzeng: "Under the Daxian tent, there are fourteen six-winged divisions, thirty-nine Tomotoes, a total of 200,000 troops, who are fully armed and are waiting for your orders at any time."

Sang Chiruo nodded slightly.

When Yin Tu heard this, he hurriedly said, "The Shanwei Army has summoned 30,000 tribes, and they can set off at any time!"

Sang Chiruo turned around and continued to look east.

Seeing this, Dun Renzeng whispered: "The Great Sage King De and the Southern Tang envoys in Lushe City urged us to send troops on the grounds of annual tribute."

Sang Chiruo did not turn around and whispered: "I heard that those Southern Tang people gave a lot of wealth and women to the nobles of the city, which made many people speak for them."

When Dun Renzeng heard this, his whole body trembled and stopped talking.

Yin Tu, who was straightforward, looked at Dun Renzeng who was frightened and frightened, and seemed not to understand what was going on.

Sang Chiruo said at this time: "Tell the nobles in Luoshu, continue to wait. When the troops of the Northern and Southern Tang will be red-eyed, the Tubo soldiers will be able to attack."

Hearing this, Yin Tu asked excitedly: "The target of sending troops is that Chang'an City?"

Sang Chiruo: "Tubo walked down the plateau, Chang'an was just the first city I wanted to take... The purpose of this war was not to plunder, but to conquer."
Chapter completed!