"Is five thousand troops too few?" Pei Zilie hesitated for a moment and looked at Li Xingchen.
After all, Li Xingchen wanted to attack more than just Badong. If Nanchen stopped after attacking Badong, he would definitely be counterattacked by the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, he must at least control the various fortresses along the river to ensure a firm foothold in Bashu.
heel.
Based on this calculation, five thousand men is indeed not enough. After all, although the Northern Zhou garrison in Bashu was not many, the local state capitals still had to have one or two thousand to maintain order, and the total number of various places was tens of thousands.
Li Xingchen shook his head slightly: "The key point of this matter is that suddenly, if our army of 20,000 to 30,000 people drives past in a mighty manner, it will definitely arouse the vigilance of the barbarians. What's more, with the cooperating navy, we have a lot of troops, which is enough.
.”
Seeing Li Xingchen's insistence, Pei Zilie couldn't say any more and immediately changed the subject: "What should so-and-so do?"
Obviously Li Xinchen only mentioned Xiao Shilian just now, which surprised him somewhat. Could it be that Li Xinchen's westward march this time does not count him?
Li Xingchen said with a smile: "Brother Da Shi, there are only five thousand people in total. If you and I were to lead them, it would be a bit of a fuss. What's more, the hussar general needs your help more than a certain person."
Pei Zilie was startled for a moment, and then he understood what Li Xingchen meant. Li Xingchen led his troops to the west, but it didn't mean that Xiao Mohe could just sit and drink tea. After the troops were divided, the strength of Nanchen's army would obviously be reduced again, and Yuchi Jiong would definitely not be able to
After the Northern Expedition troops gradually withdrew, they still defended Xiangyang City. The loss of Jiangling before could be attributed to the lack of troops on hand. Now that they have sufficient troops, he will definitely attack south to regain ground.
When the time comes, Xiao Mohe will naturally have trustworthy generals around him, and around Jiangling now, Chun Yuliang and Ren Zhong are both veteran generals. It is not yet known whether they will obey Xiao Mohe's orders, and Lu Guangda is even more new.
It is also unknown what Xiao Mohe's intentions were when he took refuge under Xiao Mohe. Therefore, Xiao Mohe's subordinates had better or must have a reliable general who could help Xiao Mohe turn the tide in an emergency.
Obviously, in Li Xingchen's heart, Pei Zilie is the best candidate.
Pei Zilie nodded solemnly: "Then I won't refuse."
And Xiao Mohe obviously has no objection to this. Of course, he is not arrogant enough to think that Yuchi Jiong is just a tortoise. According to Li Xingchen's previous "Snake of Changshan" plan, it goes without saying that the snake's head attacks Bashu, and Huainan where the snake's tail is located
This is the key to the long-term operation of Nanchen. As long as the Northern Zhou Dynasty does not attack with the whole country, then there is naturally no danger.
Therefore, the most deadly thing is actually Jiangling, the fragile seven-inch snake. Once the snake body of Jiangling is cut off by Yuchi Jiong, then Nanchen cannot look at each other, and there will be only death. Of course, Xiao Mohe does not know that in history
When the Sui Dynasty attacked Nanchen, they attacked the center first to cut off the connection between the east and west of Nanchen, and then defeated them one by one.
Therefore, for Xiao Mohe, with the help of Pei Zilie, he will be more confident in defending Jiangling.
The big deal was finalized. Xiao Mohe then looked at Li Xingchen: "Shizhong, there is one more thing. In the meeting hall today, besides Luo Ya..."
"General, are you talking about King Gu Ye?" Li Xingchen raised his eyebrows.
Xiao Mohe nodded, with a somewhat worried look on his face: "Although King Gu Ye finally expressed his opinion, his Guanglu Qing is no better than Luo Ya's regular attendant. Although he is not an official with real power,
However, in managing palace etiquette affairs, it will be useful to say no at critical moments. More importantly, if the news..."
Xiao Shilian and Pei Zilie looked over at the same time. King Gu Ye's attitude in the meeting hall was clearly one of reluctance, but we must not let this guy mess up!
Li Xingchen smiled and waved his hand: "The general is overly worried about King Gu Ye. It's not us who should be worried now, but him. After all, Jiangling City is our territory, and he is a light guy with no soldiers or generals around him.
Lu Qing is just an ant in our hands. If we don't want anything to happen in Jiangling City for no reason, he will definitely come to express his position. The general will just wait."
Seeing that Li Xingchen said he was confident, Xiao Mohe hesitated for a moment and nodded. After all, the top priority was not King Gu Ye: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will travel tomorrow, are you all ready?"
Li Xingchen, Pei Zilie and others were mainly responsible for this matter. Pei Zilie immediately stood up and said in a deep voice:
"Everything has been arranged. His Highness's car will go to Zhanghua Temple first, and then go to Huarong Road. We have stationed troops and horses in Huarong and Wulin Tun, and other scouts have been sent out to ensure the safety of both sides of Huarong Road.
, naval ships will also wander on the river outside Wulin. If there is any accident, they can respond at any time."
"You can rest assured now," Xiao Mohe said calmly, "No matter what happens tomorrow, we must ensure the safety of His Highness, or to be more precise, the safety of the two His Highnesses!"
"Will His Royal Highness Lechang also follow?" Xiao Shilian suddenly frowned in surprise. Of course, the court's decree did not say that Princess Lechang would also come to Jiangling with the prince, but of course it was impossible to conceal the existence of a princess.
, and obviously Lechang had no intention of hiding it.
Li Xingchen smiled bitterly: "With His Highness Lechang's temperament, it would be impossible not to follow him. What's more, the reason why His Majesty allowed His Highness Lechang to come is probably because he wanted His Highness to take care of some aspects that His Highness the Crown Prince could not consider.
"
Lechang was a smart and steady man, and of course he was more thoughtful about everything than the frivolous Chen Shubao.
"No matter what, we must be careful tomorrow. No matter which of the two His Highnesses has an accident, we cannot bear His Majesty's wrath." Xiao Mohe's face became solemn, "Especially since there is no movement from the Yangzhou Governor.
Well, who knows where that guy’s manpower is hidden.”
"No!" Li Xinchen and three others solemnly handed over their hands at the same time.
——————————————-
The wind blew the lanterns on the eaves, and the halo swayed.
Chen Shubao was pacing back and forth in the corridor, muttering something unknown.
"Brother Emperor?" Lechang's voice sounded from one side, "It's late at night and we have to go out tomorrow. Why is Brother Emperor still here?"
Facing Lechang's surprised gaze, Chen Shubao chuckled and said, "It's Lechang. You should go and rest first. I still have some things to think about."
Lechang suddenly looked at Chen Shubao in astonishment, suspecting that he had heard wrongly. This imperial brother who had never paid much attention to world affairs had anything else to think about. Is it possible that he still wanted to recite poems and compose poems at this time?
"Royal sister, do you think my father would be very happy if we could capture a territory as big as Bashu?" Chen Shubao knocked on his hand, unable to contain his excitement.