The emperor wrote a letter to Minister Shen, and the letter naturally talked about recent events in the court.
In fact, Mr. Shen is very well-informed with the Di Reporter here. Although he is in Huai'an, he basically knows everything about the major events in Jiankang City, but he just pretends not to know.
Now that the emperor has personally written a letter, it is no longer easy for him to pretend not to know.
From March, when Shen Yi went to the north of the Huaihe River to take advantage, until late April, there has been no fighting in Huai'an for more than a month. Shen Yi and his generals rarely had a period of rest.
Right now, the emperor has something for Shen Yi to handle, and Mr. Shen doesn't dare to neglect it.
After all, the little emperor's situation is not very good now, and he needs help from his minister, who is leading troops abroad.
After receiving Shen Yi's order, Jiang Sheng did not dare to neglect and immediately sent someone to deliver the message.
Early the next morning, when Master Shen was still sleeping in, all the generals under his command had already gathered in the imperial envoy's carriage. When Shen Yi finished washing and dressing and walked to the front yard, these generals all saluted Master Shen with fists in their hands.
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"Meet Mr. Shen."
Shen Yi didn't like the ceremony of kneeling and bowing. Except when he was promoted in the army, these subordinates would give him a half-kneeling ceremony. At other times, they would hold their fists together.
Because he just woke up, Mr. Shen stretched out and said lazily: "Everyone is here. Have you had breakfast?"
Xue Wei smiled and replied: "Brother Jiang arranged the meals after we arrived in Huai'an, and we have already eaten."
Shen Yi looked back at Jiang Sheng, smiled, and then said, "It's enough to eat. Then let's not waste time and get down to business."
Having said this, he paused and continued: "Well, let's go to the main hall to talk."
At this time, including Shen Yi, there were seven people in total, who were basically the decision-makers of the Huai'an Army.
Most of the six people except Shen Yi were the commanders or acting commanders of the five guards under the Coastal Capital Division, but Su Ding and Wan Zhong were not.
This is worth mentioning.
When they were previously assigned to the Fifth Guards, Ling Su's Liu Mingyuan and Zhang Meng were both acting commanders of the First Guards. However, Wang Hong, the acting commander of the Wenzhou Guards who followed Xue Wei, was seriously injured and had been bedridden for several months.
.
He is recovering from his injuries this time, and it will take at least a year or two to recover.
What has to be said is that even if he can return to work in the military after one or two years, it will not be easy for him to join the decision-making level.
As for Wan Zhong, he is a newly emerged general. He was also a warrior who killed a Japanese pirate in Linhai City with Xue Wei. Recently, he has made many achievements. Although he is still a Qianhu, he and Xue Wei are brothers who have lived together through life and death.
, coupled with his commendable courage and often fighting on the front line, his position on the Eastern Front has become more and more dazzling, so he was called by Shen Yi.
After everyone sat down, Mr. Shen took a sip of tea, looked at everyone, stopped talking nonsense, and said straight to the point: "Everyone, I invite you to come here today. I have nothing else to do. I just want to fight with Qi people again."
Everyone's eyes were looking at Shen Yi at the same time.
Mr. Shen took a breath and continued: "And this is a battle that must be won."
Everyone was silent.
Only Su Ding thought more. He looked at Shen Yi and said: "Mr. Shen, now the people of Qi know how powerful our Huai'an army is. The people of Qi north of Huai'an have already been on guard. They want to be like the previous two times."
I’m afraid it’s not easy to find tricks…”
He didn't say it explicitly, but the meaning was obvious.
If we call again rashly, I am afraid that not only will there be no advantage to be taken, but we may also suffer a loss, and a big loss.
Mr. Shen let out a breath of turbidity. He looked at everyone and said slowly: "Everyone, the first two times we went north, the decision was in my hands. It is a battle that can be fought or not. There will be no consequences if we don't fight.
But this time, I’m afraid we have to fight.”
Master Shen looked calm, looked at Su Ding and said: "As for the problem General Su said, I have already thought about it. The two hundred miles of Huaihe River directly north of Huai'an is indeed tightly guarded by the Qi people. If you want to attack it, you can't.
It is said to be extremely difficult, but at least it will cause heavy casualties, so we cannot go directly north."
Shen Yi knocked on the table with his hand and said in a low voice: "After all, the Huaihe River is not only more than 200 miles away from Huai'an. It is difficult to reach the north of Huai'an. Let's take a boat to the west. No matter how many people there are, it is impossible to conquer this place.
The Huaihe River, which is one or two thousand miles long, is water-proof."
When these generals heard this, they all looked at Shen Yi. Ling Su hesitated for a moment and asked, "Why is Duke Shen so anxious?"
"It's not because I'm anxious."
Mr. Shen blew the hot air from the tea in front of him and took a sip.
"It's just that if I don't fight this time and I want to fight next time, I'm afraid I won't have the chance to fight."
After all, war is a continuation of politics, and politics is also another kind of war.
If it fails at the political level, then the war will be meaningless.
For example, now, the Jiankang court already has some atmosphere of chaos, so at this time, Mr. Shen must give the emperor some political support from the perspective of war.
After all, before this, it was the emperor who had always provided Shen Yi with war support at the political level.
This kind of political support can only be achieved through war.
Xue Wei was more straightforward. Hearing this, he grinned and said: "Mr. Shen, I don't understand what you mean, but if you want to fight, I will be the first to support you!"
As soon as he spoke, the remaining five people clasped their fists at Shen Yi: "I'll wait and listen to Mr. Shen's instructions!"
Master Shen nodded with satisfaction, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to die, nor are you forced to break through the Qi people's defense line along the Huai River."
Shen Yi said calmly: "I was thinking about this matter last night, and I didn't fall asleep until early in the morning. Finally, I came up with a rough idea. I'll tell you, let everyone listen, and then we can think about it together."
Having said this, Mr. Shen paused and continued: "Now, the enemies in the north of Huai'an are on high alert for us, so what I mean is that we will send warships to attack the north bank, but we will not land."
"At the same time, another group of people landed north of the Huaihe River from the west."
"It should be noted that even if the people on the other side land, they will not attack the Qi army guarding the Huaihe River. Instead, they will choose the nearest city to eliminate the Qi people's effective strength."
The word "vital force" is no longer unfamiliar to the Huai'an army. At least these generals can understand it.
Su Ding frowned slightly, clasped his fists and said: "Mr. Shen, in theory, there is no problem with your strategy. It may have miraculous effects, but you still have to consider the actual situation..."
He looked at Shen Yi and sighed: "We don't have that many ships."
Based on the current number of ships of the Huai'an Army, the peak transportation capacity should be about 5,000 people per trip. However, if warships are sent to harass the Qi people's defense line along the Huaihe River, the transportation capacity will be reduced by more than half.
Landing in Huai'an is due north, but to the northwest.
As this comes and goes, the ability to transport troops will be greatly weakened.
Moreover, every time he stayed north of the Huaihe River, the possibility of being discovered by the Qi people increased, and it was impossible to have enough time for Shen Yi to cross the river.
Mr. Shen nodded and said, "I have already thought about this..."
"Fortunately, although we have to attack everyone, we don't have to do it within this month. There is still a lot of time. During this time, I will urge the War Department to send us warships as soon as possible."
Having said this, he paused and continued: "In addition, I will ask someone to purchase ships. The more the better."
"I will prepare all these things for you."
Having said this, Shen Yi looked at everyone and said slowly: "At the same time, the court and I both need a big battle with no victory..."
"Can you guys do it?"
Without saying a word, Wan Zhong stood up and half-knelt on the ground: "Go back to Mr. Shen, we can!"
Everyone's eyes were turned to this stupid young man.
However, everyone could only stand up and half kneel in front of Shen Yi.
"At the end of the day, I will definitely live up to Duke Shen and the high hopes of the imperial court!"