After all, people are not omnipotent, nor can they master everything without a teacher.
Li Xingchen's keen awareness of the general trend of the world ultimately lies in his extra thousand years of experience and understanding of this period of history. Xiao Mohe has no experience and cannot predict the future, so it is reasonable that his vision is limited.
As for Zhou Que and others, they were not on the battlefield, but just thinking about it from behind, so it was naturally easier for them to idealize the problem.
In Li Xingchen's view, apart from the aging Wu Mingche, the only person in Nanchen who can truly be regarded as having strategic vision is Chen Xu, the emperor of Nanchen. However, it is obviously unrealistic for Chen Xu to come here to command the battle.
Feeling the inquiries, doubts and even suspicions, Li Xingchen did not flinch. Instead, he took a few steps forward with a smile, walked straight to the map, stretched out his hand and drew a circle in the direction of the Central Plains:
"We were able to capture Jiangling before because the barbarians transferred all their domestic armies northward to attack the Turks. Now with Yuwen Yong's death, these armies will inevitably return to various places, and a large part of them will return to Xiangyang, and with it
As we conquer Jiangling, the barbarians will definitely strengthen their defenses from Xiangyang to the Central Plains."
After a pause, Li Xingchen slid his finger from the Central Plains position on the map to Xiangyang, and said in a deep voice: "This means that whether we attack Xiangyang or bypass Xiangyang and attack the Central Plains, it means that we will face the barbarians at their most severe.
Fierce resistance and counterattack, but my subordinates secretly believe that we do not have the strength now, and it is very likely that we will be like the Battle of Luliang, with troops under the city, unable to advance or retreat..."
Xiao Mohe and Zhou Que looked at each other and nodded slightly. They had to admit that what Li Xingchen said was true. If they launched an attack on Xiangyang at this time, the changes on the battlefield would really be exactly the same as the battlefield in the Luliang War. And even if they bypassed Xiangyang
, Not to mention how much trouble Xiangyang will cause if it is embedded in the back. More importantly, who can guarantee that there is not another "Xiangyang City" that is difficult to overcome on the road ahead?
"But..." Right Guard General Mao Xi couldn't help but frown at this time and said, "If we don't take the initiative to attack, I'm afraid the barbarians will launch a counterattack, and we will definitely be more passive by then."
After all, the Northern Zhou army is still in the north and will not appear in the south for a while, so Nanchen still has a short period of time. If you wait quietly until the Northern Zhou army arrives, Nanchen will undoubtedly be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength.
The battle situation will become more difficult.
Li Xingchen smiled slightly: "Just because we don't attack north doesn't mean we won't attack."
As he spoke, he reached out and knocked in another direction: "For example, here."
"Xinzhou (today's east of the mouth of Xiling Gorge)?" Mao Xi blurted out.
Li Xingchen solemnly nodded: "The barbarians marched north, and the army was divided into five groups. Among them, the troops of the western groups were all dispatched from Sichuan and Shu. This means that compared to Jiangling, the number of barbarian defenders in Sichuan and Shu was smaller.
, the strength is even weaker!"
"Sichuan and Shu?" Xiao Mohe narrowed his eyes slightly, he knew what these two words meant.
It means the majestic pass and the vast road, the land of abundance, and it also means the upper reaches of the river!
Throughout the ages, in naval decisive battles, those upstream have greater advantages. Sometimes going down the river can even have a decisive advantage. For dynasties along the river, the upstream is even more crucial.
When Huajiao rebelled, Nanchen did not hesitate to attack with all the strength of the country, because once the area from Baling to Xiangzhou occupied by Huajiao was connected with Jiangling in Xiliang, Nanchen would undoubtedly be cut off in the middle, and the middle reaches of the river would be lost.
Ships flying the flag of the Northern Zhou Dynasty can rush down the river directly to Jiankang Prefecture at any time.
However, on the big river, the current is turbulent and has very high requirements for ships. Not all ships can travel up and down the river easily. Especially with the current shipbuilding technology of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, even if Sichuan and Shu are controlled, there is still no way
The ships that were built for use flowed down the river, so in the thinking of most Nanchen officials, Sichuan and Shu were like a cage. No matter how strong the Northern Zhou Dynasty's fists were, they would never be able to break this cage, so it was insignificant.
Historically, the Northern Zhou Dynasty did not pay much attention to Sichuan and Shu, which could be a "powerful" place to the south, for a long time. The main direction was still on Jiangling and even Huainan. After all, no matter the distance of the road or the navy's shipbuilding technology,
The gap was enough for the Northern Zhou Dynasty to give up the idea of attacking from Sichuan and Shu.
It was not until the establishment of the Sui Dynasty and Yang Su was ordered to enter Sichuan that the situation changed. Yang Su recruited brave soldiers, mobilized craftsmen, and built a five-tooth ship that could restrain the Huanglong giant ship. Only then did the advantages of Sichuan and Shu come into full play.
However, at that time, Nanchen's front lines in the middle reaches had collapsed, so Yang Su's preparations in the upper reaches were redundant.
At this time, Sichuan and Chongqing were far less of a threat to Nanchen. Even Sichuan and Shu were not that wealthy for many years due to their remote location and were separated from the main battlefields and trade channels of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Many places had even turned into
Although the semi-civilized zone was not a burden to the Northern Zhou Dynasty, it did not gain much benefit from Sichuan and Shu.
This place seems to have been abandoned by the entire era.
Li Xingchen met the eyes of Xiao Maha and others and said solemnly: "We will deploy an elite force and navy to guard Xinzhou, and we will choose the opportunity to go up the river, break through the blockade set by the barbarians in the Badong area, and rush directly into the hinterland of Bashu
!At least now we have the Huanglong ship to rely on. As long as we can pass through the dangerous places of the Three Gorges, the entire river and the inner river will be under the protection and deterrence of our navy!"
"But even if Bashu is captured, what's the use?" Zhou Que frowned and interrupted Li Xingchen, "Now we don't have enough troops. If we divide our troops again, it means Jiangling will be under greater threat. By then,
What should we do if we can't defend Jiangling? Even if we capture Bashu, we still can't defeat Jiangling."
Li Xingchen glanced at Zhou Que and said lightly:
"What Duke Zhou said is wrong. Bashu is by no means useless. Look, Duke Zhou, I, Da Chen, now occupy Jiangnan, Huainan and Jingzhou, but these places are mostly located in plains and are easy to attack and difficult to defend. Once we occupy Bashu again, then the battle line will be
It will extend from its current position to the northwest and become a line from the Qinling Mountains to the Huai River. At that time, our territory of Dachen will be like the "Snake of Changshan". We can advance, attack, retreat, and defend. There is room for retreat, and we are the horns of each other.
, if you stretch out, you can find the enemy's weak points and kill with one blow. As long as we can guard the northern side of Bashu, the southern side of Xiangyang and Huaikou and other few southward passages, the barbarians will be helpless against us!"
Under Li Xingchen's gestures, the originally criss-crossed and unclear situation became clear, and the entire Dachen was like a long snake, sometimes circling and sometimes stretching, as if it was alive on this map.