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With even the slightest stir in Changping City, the million-strong Xu army could arrive in an instant.
At that ti, Chu would have to face not only the Jin-Xu United Army but also the possibility of additional, endless reinforcents coming from Xu.
Based on this point, Jin was clearly not a place that could be swiftly dealt with.
Therefore, Lu Yuan didn’t set his sights on Jin.
After disregarding the Zheng Kingdom, he still had to strike first at that intimately familiar old friend, the Tang Kingdom.
Why strike at Tang?
Firstly, the Tang territory bordered Chu. Striking the opponent ant that Chu could be better supplied from the rear and avoid the risk of having their retreat cut off.
By taking over Tang’s territory, Chu could directly assimilate the benefits, which could be described as maximized.
Secondly, Tang’s military forces were too scattered.
According to the negotiation amongst the Four Kingdoms, in this resistance against Chu, Tang was to provide an army of 1.8 million.
Out of this 1.8 million, 1 million were to remain to guard Tang’s own territory, while the remaining 800,000 were to be sent to the western borders of Zheng to aid in the defense against Chu.
And the western border of Zheng was essentially just the western part of Gaoyang County.
aning that there should have been 800,000 Tang troops stationed in Gaoyang County to help the Zheng people in their defense.
But as ntioned before,
In a recent battle, although Chu’s forces had surrounded and annihilated a detachnt of Tang’s army in the western region of Gaoyang County,
The number of Tang soldiers extinguished was only 250,000.
And there were only two Inborn Grandmasters among them.
Far from the number Tang originally promised, it wasn’t close at all in actuality.
However, upon reflection, this was normal.
After all, it was a war being fought for others. Tang might say one thing, but when it ca to action, they naturally couldn’t be expected to do their utmost.
With their own lives at stake to defend soone else’s land, did you really think others would be so kind-hearted?
Besides, the Four Kingdoms of Yuzhou were not like Chu.
On Chu’s side, because all the major armies had a Lu Yuan Avatar, even within each county, including the national capital, there were Lu Yuan Avatars stationed.
Under such circumstances, communication throughout Chu, between central and local governnts, and between the front line and the rear, was relatively smooth.
When Lu Yuan issued an order, all regions and departnts, both central and local, could well coordinate resources and troops, engaging in war mobilization.
Thus, when Chu’s army set out, unless obstructed by natural disasters, there were hardly any delays or omissions.
But the other nations did not enjoy such a privilege.
Deception within the ranks, embezzlent of military funds, misreporting of military intelligence, over-reporting the number of troops, exaggerating the strength of the enemy, poor communication, delays in deploynt...
All such maladies that could be encountered in ancient feudal societies were, to varying degrees, present in the other nations.
In such an environnt, even though all nations had been tempered through the age of great contention and had undergone various reforms, it was inevitable that a multitude of absurd issues would arise.
The fact that Tang’s promised troops were fewer and delayed was not at all surprising.
It would have been astonishing if the full contingent had shown up!
This single incident of defending an ally showed the discord between the hearts of the Tang and Zheng nations, or rather, amongst all Four Kingdoms.
As well as so of their shortcomings.
So, based on this assessnt and the interrogation of captured Tang troops, Lu Yuan could basically confirm that Tang had not yet prepared internally to fight such a war of defense for Wei.
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The opponent might indeed be ready to mobilize a grand army of 1.8 million, without deceiving Zheng, Jin, and Xu in the Three Nations.
But when it cos to mobilization, discussing whether it will be a one-ti event or carried out in several batches over ti becos relevant.
After all, if I mobilize 1.8 million people at once, that is 1.8 million people.
If I split it into two or three tis, 500,000 once, 600,000 another ti, and 700,000 yet another ti, the total is still 1.8 million.
The number is correct, and I have kept my promise.
You surely can’t accuse of breaking my word, can you?
However, the significance and effect of mobilizing at once compared to several mobilizations are completely different.
Take, for example, the 250,000 troops from Tang Kingdom that were to assist Zheng.
With only an army of 250,000 and two Inborns, they were instantly overwheld by the Inborn encirclent of Chu State, powerless to resist.
But if the opponent really had an army of 800,000 and six or seven Inborn Grandmasters, then even if the Chu army instantly gathered 60 Inborns, taking down the opponent instantly would not be so simple.
It’s feasible to hold out for five or six days, or even ten days.
At the very least, holding on for three days is definitely possible.
Perhaps with that amount of ti, they could send word back and allow the various states to prepare.
In tis of war, even the slightest intelligence and montary ti differences can often decide the outco of a battle, determining the survival or demise of a country.
Regrettably,
Tang Kingdom did not actively fulfill their agreent, thus missing this opportunity.
Even Lu Yuan’s keen observation of the reduced number of troops dispatched to cooperate with Tang’s defense hinted that the opponent might not have been fully prepared for mobilization and was not adequately ready for war, revealing a significant vulnerability in their entire western defense.
Thus, after breaking through Zheng, Lu Yuan did not hesitate to turn his guns around and aid his next target at Tang Kingdom.
As it turned out, his judgnt was not wrong.
As the Chu army moved northward from Gaoyang, due to their rapid advance, the defenders of Pingyang County to the north of Gaoyang, which belonged to Tang, were totally unprepared.
They were taken by surprise when the Chu army burst in from the rear.
The 300,000 troops of Tang in the county, along with four Tang Inborns, had no chance to react before Lu Yuan and his central military expedition wrapped them up like dumplings.
After rely two days of intense battle, the Tang forces in this county were completely annihilated.
A part of the army was then split to guard the captives and to attack the remaining prefectures and counties of Pingyang.
Lu Yuan, leading nurous Inborns and a portion of elite troops, continued to push northward, directly invading the last county of Yuzhou under Tang control, Xihe County.
This was also the main battlefield where Tang Kingdom’s military expedition and Chu clashes occurred.
A million Chu troops and ten Inborns were stationed at Tang Kingdom’s military expedition.
700,000 Tang troops and twelve Inborns.
The main forces of both sides were in a standoff on the Xihe battlefield.
However, Lu Yuan, like divine soldiers descending from heaven, slaughtered his way from behind in a manner that Tang could have never anticipated.
Along with Tang’s expeditionary forces, he directly encircled Tang’s main force at the front line of Yangcheng.
The Tang army instantly fell into a critical mont of survival.
And from that mont on, Tang’s entire western battlefield completely collapsed.
After Lu Yuan employed the Xiantian Cluster Tactics, the war against the Four Kingdoms of Yuzhou beca akin to a lower dinsional attack, achieving unbelievably effective results.
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