“I am Xu Qingnian!”
“Great Wei Supervising Secretary.”
“Hundred generals of the six vassals at your command!”
“Declare war on all nations!”
As Xu Qingnian’s voice rang out, the whole of Great Wei’s Kyoto was completely abuzz with excitement.
People had been waiting for this day for far too long.
In the past twenty-one days, three responses and three warnings had been exchanged not for respect, but for humiliation.
Although Great Wei had not won the battle of the Northern Expedition, Great Wei had not lost either.
It could be said that the people of Great Wei, everyone, had waited for this moment to declare war.
Finally, Great Wei declared war.
And it was personally ordered by Xu Qingnian.
How could the people not be excited?
How could the people not be excited?
The people were in an uproar, shouting long live His Majesty and Xu Qingnian’s name.
“War! War! War!”
“Kill those B*****ds.”
“We support Lord Xu!”
“Good, good, good, it’s finally time to fight.”
“Fight, fight, let them know know, the might of my Great Wei nation.”
The people raised their arms and cheered, they were afraid of war, but they were not afraid of it.
The seven hundred years of Great Wei’s heritage had given the people a proud heart, a proud heart above the upper kingdom.
At this moment, the whole of Great Wei was shocked.
Of the six ministries.
The Ministry of Officials.
Chen Zhengru let out a long sigh as he looked up at the dome of the sky, all that he had done.
But the end result was still a battle, an inevitable battle.
He closed his eyes Avray.
Avray closed his eyes.
This battle, unavoidable, had come to this after all.
A quarter of an hour later.
Chen Zhengru opened his eyes, his gaze was not cloudy, there was only determination, an unprecedented determination.
Since it was no longer possible to stop the engagement, he was not going to change anything, what was done was done.
This was the decision of the world’s public opinion.
If Wei wanted to fight, then he would fight too!
At that moment, Chen Zhengru straightened his clothes and took a step out of the Ministry of Justice and headed for the courtroom.
The Ministry of Punishment.
After hearing Xu Qingnian’s order, Zhang Jing exhaled a long breath.
He did not care whether he fought or not, what he cared about was making a choice as soon as possible.
If Xu Qingnian wanted to fight, he would support it.
If Xu Qingnian did not want to fight, he would also support it.
Now that he had to fight, he had to do what he had to do.
The next moment, Zhang Jing walked out of the Shang Shu Room.
“Pass on this official’s order, Great Wei enters a state of war, the whole country is on alert, the Ministry of Justice, strictly check everything, night is forbidden, no intercommunication is allowed in all cities, this war is about the national prestige of Great Wei, about the national luck of Great Wei, you must do everything you can to stabilize the internal affairs of Great Wei.”
Zhang Jing spoke up, and with the order of the Minister of Penalty, he banned all nights in the country.
“We will obey the order.”
At that moment, the entire Ministry of Punishment spoke in unison, their voices deafening.
The war in Great Wei was not only an external war, but also an internal war. The six ministries had to work together to stabilise the internal affairs of Great Wei, otherwise there would be a strong external enemy and internal worries, wouldn’t it be a joke?
No one from the top and bottom of Great Wei can avoid this war.
In the Ministry of the Household.
Gu Yan sat in the minister’s office for a long time in silence.
He was the minister of the Ministry of Finance, and the war was the last thing he wanted to see.
A loss or a draw would be the worst, and then there would be real internal and external problems.
He did not want a war.
But he knew that the battle could not be avoided.
“D*mn it!”
“Shouren! This battle, you must fight it fiercely for me! Fight until they dare not offend my Great Wei again in a hundred years.”
Gu Yan got up, he roared, and since it was unavoidable, he didn’t buckle down and search.
It had already been ordered, what else was there to say.
Fight, fight the F**k out of him.
Gu Yan pushed open the door to his room and walked straight towards the Great Wei Palace.
In comparison, Minister of Works Li Yanlong and Minister of Rites Wang Xinzhi were relatively calm, for the Ministry of Works, once the war started, the Ministry of Works would have to be busy.
However, the good thing is that the Ministry of Works has trained a number of new people because of the construction of the waterwheel, which is perfectly adequate for the time being.
Wang Xinzhi, the Minister of Rites, had an even simpler idea: let’s just fight, it’s just a matter of preparing more things.
It’s just a matter of preparing more things for the burial, some costumes and so on.
Oh, for whom, you ask?
It must be for the foreign rulers.
For what? To humiliate them.
What else could they do?
At this point, it’s a battle to the death.
If it is a battle to the death, who is Wei afraid of?
He is the Minister of Rites, and what does the Ministry of Rites do? Diplomacy?
Wang Xinzhi knew where the strength of diplomacy lay, and that was in the sword.
To fight is a good thing, but also a bad thing.
But not to fight is definitely not a good thing.
The attitude of the six ministers changed dramatically with the order of Xu Qingnian.
These were the vassals of Great Wei.
Since they were going to fight, there would not be a single wimp.
The military officials, on the other hand, had already been banging their gongs and drums for a long time. These days, they could barely sleep at night, hating to gallop their horses to the foreigners and kill all these doggone things.
But the problem was that Wei was slow to take a stand, and Xu Qingnian even wrote three warning decrees in a row, which in their eyes was already a sign of weakness.
Some military officials even cursed these civil servants for teaching Xu Qingnian a bad lesson.
Some other military officials thought that Xu Qingnian had been beaten out of his mind. He was decisive in killing internally but weak externally?
If it wasn’t for the fact that several State Princes were holding these military officials at bay, I’m afraid there would really be people looking for trouble with Xu Qingnian.
However, it’s all right now.
Everything was fine.
Xu Qingnian drew up the decree in place of His Majesty.
Great Wei!
Declare war!
In a flash, all the military officials straightened their clothes and crowns and headed towards the court of Great Wei, and all the lords set off in unison, for this was a battle, and they had to witness this moment.
This moment in history.
Outside the Great Wei Palace.
The six ministers, the nine princes of state, and nearly thirty or so liege lords all arrived in unison.
Including the Confucian ministers of the Great Wei Palace of Literature also arrived at the first opportunity.
Everyone was outside the palace.
And at the same time, the voice of the eunuch inside the palace rang out.
“His Majesty has decreed that all the hundred officials be declared to enter the Palace of Wenhua.”
The voice rang out and the hundred officials were a little surprised, the Mandarin Hall was a place of deliberation, why not go to the main hall?
But no one bothered to ask, and the crowd walked towards it in an orderly manner.
The next moment.
Inside the Mandarin’s Hall.
Gathering a full court of civil and military officials, the people discussed among themselves, especially the Minister of War who came late, having given various orders.
But the discussion went on for a little over half an hour.
After all, the empress and Xu Qingnian were nowhere to be seen, which made the crowd a little curious.
But no one said anything, they were all waiting in silence.
After about a while, Xu Qingnian’s figure appeared.
Squeak!
With the door of the hall slowly opening, Xu Qingnian’s figure appeared in the eyes of the crowd.
“We have met Supervisor Xu.”
In a flash, many people bowed towards Xu Qingnian, except for the Duke of State and the Six Ministers, the rest of them all bowed.
Xu Qingnian was now a first-ranking official with the power of life and death, and her status was extremely high. The fact that the empress had not appeared proved one thing: she had left Great Wei in Xu Qingnian’s hands for the time being.
When he entered the hall, Xu Qingnian stood at the centre and bowed towards the ministers on either side.
“Xu Qingnian, meet all the lords.”
As Xu Qingnian bowed, the crowd returned the obeisance once more.
After this obeisance, Xu Qingnian spoke out.
“My lords, today’s battle is about the national prestige of Great Wei, so we are all united in our hearts and minds to promote the national prestige of Great Wei.”
Xu Qingnian spoke up, and as soon as he came up, he explained the situation and told the crowd the importance of this battle.
“We understand.”
At that moment, the civil and military officials spoke in unison, whether it was the six ministries or the State Dukes, at this moment Xu Qingnian was the supreme commander, the empress had given all powers to Xu Qingnian.
Then they would only listen to Xu Qingnian’s words alone.
After receiving a response from the crowd, Xu Qingnian began to give direct orders at that moment.
“Someone, bring the things here.”
As Xu Qingnian’s voice rang out, hundreds of eunuchs immediately brought in strategic sandboards.
In the sandbox, the terrain and mountains of all the countries surrounding Great Wei were clearly marked, including routes and garrisons.
The sandbox was ten feet wide and twenty feet long, and together with the strategic map and so on, many people were busy, turning the entire Wenhua Hall into a military office.
The six ministers and the military officials looked at Xu Qingnian’s sandbox and couldn’t help but smack their lips for a moment.
This sandbox was too subtle, a glance could see through the battlefield, the workmanship was very good.
“My lords, this object was built by Qingnian’s order to the Ministry of Works.”
“This time, when war is declared, your lordships must not leave the palace every step of the way, and all clothing, food, housing and transportation must be in the palace to ensure that the war opportunity is not leaked.”
“At the same time, all Confucian officials of the Confucian lineage should withdraw from the Great Hall, return to the Great Wei Palace of Literature, and write articles to boost morale.”
Xu Qingnian spoke up and told all the Confucian officials to withdraw and go back to writing articles to boost morale.
When this was said, the Confucian minister lineage immediately frowned, Xu Qingnian was undoubtedly defending against them by speaking like this, and before that, he had deliberately added a sentence to ensure that the war opportunity would not be leaked.
This was inexplicably some targeting.
“Lord Xu …….”
Some great scholars from the Great Wei Palace of Literature opened their mouths, wanting to argue a few words, but Xu Qingnian’s voice was not close to humane.
“My order is both an imperial order.”
“Great Wei has declared war, and His Majesty has handed over all authority to Xu.”
“The first slash, Xu Mou does not want to cut on his own people.”
Xu Qingnian spoke out, this was his attitude, a phrase that would suffice.
When one enters a state of war, there is not so much to say, and one deserves to be killed by mistake.
At the same time, Xu Qingnian also took out the Great Wei Dragon Talisman.
Seeing the talisman is like seeing me.
At this moment, Xu Qingnian is the sky of Great Wei, saying one thing or another.
As a matter of fact, once this was said, the faces of several great scholars changed, but they knew the situation at the moment, so they swallowed their saliva and didn’t say anything more, and left directly.
After the Great Confucian of the Palace of Literature had left.
Xu Qingnian directly gave the order and said.
“Where is the Minister of Officials?”
Xu Qingnian opened his mouth, and since he was leading with himself, it was a public matter, and this matter, for which he was solely responsible, could directly give orders to Chen Zhengru.
This is not disrespectful, but rather respectful, to be so.
In the battle of nations, there is no such thing as personal friendship and human kindness.
“I am here.”
Chen Zhengru took a step forward, he called himself a minister because Xu Qingnian had taken the dragon talisman, and by answering in this way, he also made his attitude and stance clear.
“You are ordered to draw up a decree that Great Wei declares war on all the countries, and make it known to the world on the grounds that the countries are meddling in their internal affairs and threatening to secede.”
“At the same time, stabilise the internal affairs of the dynasty and ensure that everything, in order, is in order and must not be misplaced due to the war.”
Xu Qingnian opened his mouth, and the first thing he did was to make it known to the world, and to prepare an article on the conquest.
“I receive the decree.”
Chen Zhengru bowed towards Xu Qingnian and said without any hesitation.
“Where is the Minister of Punishment?”
Xu Qingnian continued to speak.
“I am here.”
Zhang Jing also took a step forward.
“You are ordered to immediately give orders to make sure that all counties, provinces, counties and townships in Great Wei are notified within two hours to strengthen their precautions, and that the officials from the Ministry of Penalties will come forward to control all people who are not of our clan, regardless of whether or not there are problems, for the time being, to prevent collaboration with the enemy.”
Xu Qingnian gave a second order.
“I receive the order.”
Zhang Jing nodded without hesitation, although he had already had people informed, the point of controlling the foreigners had not occurred to him, not so much because he had not thought of it, but because he had thought of it but did not dare to do it.
But now that Xu Qingnian had given the order, he would simply do as he was told.
“Where is the Minister of Household Affairs?”
Xu Qingnian shouted.
“I am here.”
Gu Yan took a step forward and spoke in this manner.
“Before the three armies move, food and straw go first, this official orders you to open the treasury, stockpile food and straw, cooperate with the Ministry of Works to build war weapons, no saving on military administration.”
“At the same time, before this battle, reward the three armies and prepare a pension for battle deaths, calculated according to the Northern Expedition, no less than a penny.”
Xu Qingnian spoke out, in order to boost morale, first reward the three armies, including the pension piece, must be clearly stated in advance to.
Otherwise, it would chill the hearts of the soldiers.
As expected, with Xu Qingnian’s words, the Bing family people showed joy, Xu Qingnian put the warriors first, it was enough to prove that Xu Qingnian was still biased towards their Bing family.
“My servant, receive the decree.”
Gu Yan replied, decisive, he had never been stingy about military matters, he would not even try to save a penny.
“Minister of Works, Minister of Rites, the two ministers will cooperate with Minister Chen to stabilise the court.”
Xu Qingnian took the lead in resolving the matter of the six ministries, and stabilising the dynastic framework was a top priority.
The Great Wei Dynasty could not be brought to a complete standstill because of this war, it was time to develop and farm, it had not yet reached the moment of life and death.
“Where is the Minister of War?”
Xu Qingnian opened his mouth and called out to the Minister of War.
The latter had long been hungry and thirsty, and immediately came out, bowing towards Xu Qingnian and saying.
“I am here.”
As the Minister of War opened his mouth, Xu Qingnian did not hesitate to say.
“Minister Zhou, you are ordered to assemble the eight gates of the capital soldiers to maintain the security of Great Wei’s Kyoto, and at the same time mobilise the Great Wei garrison to form a defensive front around the seventeen provinces surrounding Great Wei.”
Xu Qingnian came to the sand table and put down one banner after another, since he wanted to conquer the war, he had to stabilise his situation first, to reassure the people and also to take good defensive measures.
This was inevitable.
“My servant, receive the order.”
Zhou Yan led the order.
And then Xu Qingnian turned his gaze towards these military generals who had long been hungry and thirsty.
At this moment, Xu Qingnian was extremely confident.
“Marquis Xinwu, this official has appointed you as the vanguard general of the First Army, this is the Great Desolate Military Talisman, mobilise the strength of all the military battalions, gather outside the clan, take the lead in leading 300,000 troops, this official wants you to rush under the clan within a day, build a large camp 200 miles away from the clan, all military supplies will be delivered the following day, can you do it?”
Xu Qingnian inquired.
“The last general, I will certainly live up to my orders.”
The Marquis of Xinwu stepped out, he bowed towards Xu Qingnian and said with determination.
“Good!”
“Marquis of Sheyang will have you as the second army, the vanguard general, Marquis of Guangyang and Marquis of Lingyang as the left and right generals, the three of you hold the Qilin military talisman and lead 300,000 troops each, assemble at Tang, Amuta, and the Tuliang tribe respectively, and set up a military camp two hundred miles away as Marquis of Xinwu did.”
“The journey is long, you are given three days to deliver all military supplies, within seven days, can you do it?”
Xu Qingnian said as he set up the banners.
Clan, Tang, Amuta, Tuliang.
These were the few countries that Great Wei was bound to encounter along its northern expedition route, especially the Clan Kingdom and Tang Kingdom, whose strength should not be underestimated, and these two countries were also on the impeachment list.
“The last general takes orders.”
The three marquises did not hesitate as they took the military talisman.
“Marquis Qu Zhou will have you as the third army, the vanguard general, Marquis Yang Du, and Marquis Chong Ping as the left and right generals, and the three of you, holding the talisman of the Son of Heaven, will each lead an army of 300,000 troops and enter from the west, sweeping all the foreign tribes.”
“This official orders you to proclaim the Zhaowen under the city, those who open the gates and surrender will be reckoned with after the autumn, those who do not open the gates and surrender will be killed without amnesty, there is no need to consult the court, stop the war with blood.”
Xu Qingnian spoke, his words incomparably cold.
“The last general takes orders!”
The three Marquis of Qu Zhou spoke in unison, they had war blood in their bones and had been in the imperial court for decades, now they finally had the opportunity to go out and fight, they were naturally excited.
“If anyone dares to disobey the general’s orders, he will be executed.”
Xu Qingnian said solemnly, if you go to war, you have to follow the rules of war, if you do not follow the rules, you will be executed.
“My subjects understand.”
The seven princes and marquises shouted in unison, and then quickly left, putting on their battle armour and preparing to assemble their army.
The next moment, Xu Qingnian was silent and began to study the situation.
This time several of the State Princes were somewhat frozen.
They waited for an hour and found Xu Qingnian fully engaged in the sandbox, when finally Lord An’s voice rang out.
“Lord Xu, have you forgotten about us?”
“What do we do next?”
An Guoguo opened his mouth, as he watched these princes and lords lead their troops into battle, naturally his heart was on fire, not to mention him, the rest of these princes and lords were all eagerly awaiting, hoping that Xu Qingnian would hurry up and order them ah.
But what they didn’t expect was that Xu Qingnian had been thinking about the battle for an hour and hadn’t paid any attention to them, so how could they be patient?
Hearing the words of Lord An, Xu Qingnian immediately understood what the other party wanted to do.
At once, he opened his mouth and said.
“Your Excellencies, how can you use a slaughtering knife to kill a chicken? You don’t need to use your Excellencies for this battle, if you also want to get involved, you can go and mobilise the three armies.”
“To boost morale and so on.”
Xu Qingnian spoke up, he really didn’t want to use the State Dukes, they were no ordinary people, they were all truly powerful martial artists, each one of them had come up through military service.
They were to be used for the northern expedition, not to deal with this matter.
When this was said, the state princes were a little depressed, they had thought that they could still lead their troops into battle, but what they did not expect was that they would not be able to take the field, but what Xu Qingnian said was also right, this kind of war, if they were still used.
But what Xu Qingnian said was also true, if they were used in this kind of war, it would indeed be killing a chicken with a bull’s-eye.
“Lord Xu, what about us? We are not as honourable as the Duke and his men, can we go on the expedition?”
Many princes and lords began to ask, and some military generals, asked Xu Qingnian.
“No need.”
“Seven princes and marquises and three major military battalions are sufficient to deal with the foreigners of the kingdoms.”
“The conquest is heavy, but so is the internal affairs, so you all stay in the Mandarin Hall and deal with all military intelligence at all times, the battle of the three armies, every step, needs to be thought through carefully.”
“Make sure that the smallest sacrifice is made for the biggest reward.”
Xu Qingnian said with certainty in his words.
He knew that all these princes and generals wanted to go to war, but what Xu Qingnian understood more than anything else was that there did not need to be too many leaders to fight a war, there were not too many generals but only the best.
On the contrary, internal logistics are extremely important, and these princes and lords must be allowed to oversee and discuss the best policies.
Otherwise, can one really control the situation by oneself, with all the details?
The people were a little disappointed, but they understood that there was really no need for so many people in this battle.
And logistics and internal affairs are also crucial, internal stability and external warfare, that is the real war.
And so it was.
The whole of Wei began to boil.
Everywhere in the barracks there was also a drumbeat.
“Pass on the order of the Supervising Secretary, Lord Xu Qingnian Xu, that the Qilin Army assemble!”
“Follow the Marquis of Sheyang, the Marquis of Guangyang and the Marquis of Lingyang, and set out to crush the nations!”
“Pass on Lord Xu’s order to assemble the Great Desolate Army!”
“Pass on Lord Xu’s order, the army of the Son of Heaven is assembled!”
At this moment, the battle drums of Great Wei shook the sky, and the three major military camps prepared themselves almost immediately.
Long before, they had expected that Great Wei might be about to conquer the war, so the whole army was prepared.
With the order of the Holy Decree coming down, the three armies were instantly geared up and ready to go.
The quickest was the Marquis of Xinwu, assembling 300,000 Great Desolate Army, without even a pre-battle pep talk, and 100,000 war horses took the lead in running into the Tombs, with yellow sand rolling along the way, followed by 200,000 infantry.
A siege weapon was hauled out, and the 300,000-strong army, with its momentum, broke through the clouds.
Like black clouds in the sky, the earth trembled on the way, frightening birds and animals.
The country was 2,000 miles away from Wei, so it was a bit stressful to arrive in a day, but the good news was that everyone was eager to fight, and the Great Desolate Army was ready for the battle.
The men were ready to fight, and the army was ready to fight.
This battle.
It was the first battle since the Northern Expedition of the Great Wei.
It was too important to lose.
And at this moment.
The Great Wei foreign kingdoms were also completely turned upside down.
All the envoys from the foreign kingdoms had gathered at the Si Long Palace, having learned of the Great Wei’s declaration of war an hour ago.
To be honest, although they knew that the Great Wei Dynasty would declare war, the moment Great Wei declared war, they were still scared and panicked.
Once the war was declared, there would be sacrifices, and no one wanted to be the first to die under the Great Wei’s iron hors*men.
In particular, some of the smaller states that had just joined the impeachment army were remorseful, as they had not yet reaped the benefits of the war, but they had been declared war.
They were the first to regret it.
Some wanted to break away now, but they had promised when they joined earlier that they absolutely could not do so or else the nations would crusade against them.
For a while, they were caught in a dilemma.
But the most frustrated were the Fan Kingdom, the Tang Kingdom, the Amuta and the Tuliang tribe.
They were the first four countries to be attacked by Wei’s army.
To put it bluntly, if they were unlucky, they might be smashed by the Wei army in the first place.
All sorts of sounds rang out in the palace, like a vegetable market, and it seemed unusually chaotic.
Finally, just at that moment, King Si Long’s voice rang out.
“All give this king silence.”
He shouted, causing over a hundred ambassadors from the foreign countries to fall silent.
“What’s all the noise about?”
“Can’t you guess that Great Wei wants war?”
“Isn’t our aim to have Great Wei send troops to conquer the war?”
“Now that Wei has declared war, isn’t that just what we want?”
“What are you all panicking about?”
King Si Long’s voice was cold.
Before the fight, they were all arrogant and domineering, demanding all sorts of benefits, but now when they hear that they are going to fight, they are all full of sorrow? Do you really think you can get it for nothing?
“King Si Long is right, if he, the Great Wei, has gathered a large army, can we not gather a large army? As long as there are no martial artists above the second rank, how can we fear a battle?”
“So what if there is a second-ranked martial artist? We also have a second-rank martial artist, so if we join forces with the barbarians, what are we afraid of them?”
“The Great Wei Dynasty is only trying to scare people, I think, just to scare us.”
“Even if we really fight, it will only be a battle of engagement, if we lose, the big deal is to compensate some silver and pull a few random scapegoats out, in the end the two dynasties will have less benefits for us.”
“Yes, with the Sudden Evil Dynasty and the First Yuan Dynasty, why should we be afraid of him?”
Among the hundreds of emissaries, there was no lack of warlike people who were not afraid of this declaration of war by the Great Wei Dynasty.
As their voices rang out, the crowd of ambassadors quieted down a little.
If you think about it, it was true. The combined total of more than a hundred foreign tribes from all the countries was a giant, and the relationship nowadays was one of prosperity and loss.
Unless the Great Wei Dynasty sends out first-grade martial artists, or all second-grade martial artists, who would be afraid of them if they just relied on conventional fighting and gathered together?
Seeing the crowd pondering like this.
King Si Long’s voice rang out again.
“Great Wei has declared war, in our plan.”
“If there are no surprises, Great Wei should send two battalions of the Kirin Army or the Heavenly Son Army, one to guard Kyoto and protect the integrity of Great Wei.”
“The other one will be the Northern Expedition, and the first one will be the Fan Kingdom, not enough for the Fan Kingdom to worry about, we will be supported by our countries, the Si Long clan will support 10,000 elite iron hors*men and 80,000 war generals, and the countries will also contribute.”
“Especially the surrounding foreign countries, at least one third of their troops should be drawn out, this is the first battle, it is important.”
“Do not seek victory, only to delay the Great Wei Dynasty.”
“No defeat means victory, delay for a month, if the Great Wei Dynasty dares to increase its troops and horses, the vassal kings everywhere will rebel with it.”
“If we do not add troops, we will continue to delay, and we will give you as much food and supplies as you want.
King Si Long asked confidently.
Indeed, with these words, the crowd instantly put their hearts down.
In particular, the emissaries from the tomato countries could not help but sigh with relief.
To put it mildly, if they were to lose themselves, how could the others be any better off?
Therefore, the emissary of the Tomato Kingdom got up and paid his respects towards King Si Long, saying.
“Many thanks, King Si Long.”
The Si Long clan’s iron hors*men were famous all over the world, and this race itself was good at riding and shooting. 10,000 elite iron hors*men were worth 100,000 equal troops, plus there were 80,000 troops to support them, so how could he not feel at ease.
“My country supports five thousand elites.”
“Then my country also supports eight thousand elites.”
“Twenty thousand of our infantry.”
“Fifteen thousand infantry from my country, plus ten giant armour-breaking crossbows.”
The voices rang out, and the countries were not stingy anymore, they came to the aid of Tang, and gave quite a lot, five thousand for you, eight thousand for him, ten thousand for that, twenty thousand for this.
But it was just a matter of dividing the types of soldiers.
When two countries are at war, cavalry ranks first, followed by heavy armour, and finally infantry, those with swords and guns to cut and kill.
When he heard this voice of support, the emissary of the Tomato Kingdom was even more smiling.
But verbal promises were useless, he personally recorded every support, saying that he had it in mind, but in fact he was worried that people would not keep their word.
When the full tally was completed.
The emissary of the Tomato Kingdom could not help but look surprised.
150,000 elite cavalrymen.
Three hundred and fifty thousand ordinary soldiers.
There were countless crossbows and arrows of all kinds, so the resources were enough to arm the entire nation.
Good.
Good.
Too good to be true.
“My lords, then I will go and report to the monarch that we are all on the same side in this battle, so that Great Wei will know what we are capable of.”
“But my lords, it is important to implement this as soon as possible, although Great Wei will not be the first to go to war, but the sooner it is implemented, the sooner the entire nation of Tomato can be at ease and boost the morale of the Tomato army.”
So said the emissary from the Tomato Kingdom.
The crowd smiled and nodded, but inwardly they were laughing.
However, as this was the first battle, they did not say anything.
At that moment, King Si Long also asked his people to bring in a sand table to discuss with the ambassadors of the various countries how to deal with the situation.
Since they had declared war, they had to be 100% prepared, especially when they were fighting against the strong, and naturally they did not want to lose on the details.
In this way, time passed little by little.
The following day.
High noon.
Within two hundred miles of the foreign country of Fan.
The Marquis of Xinwu has arrived here with an army of 100,000.
The yellow sand was rolling around, covering the sky, and the 100,000 iron hors*men were all martial artists, the worst of whom were tenth-grade martial artists, and they had not slept for a day or a night without any weariness.
“Pass on this marquis’s order to set up camp and rest.”
Marquis Xinwu spoke, then he took out a heavenly decree and wrote the word has arrived directly, followed by burning the heavenly decree, and then his gaze looked into the distance.
Two hundred miles away, he could not see.
But at this distance, the tombs would surely notice too, but it didn’t matter, there would be no concealment as he led his 300,000 strong army.
“Marquis Xinwu, do you think this battle, will it be fought?”
At this moment, the left general Lin Feng spoke up, a third-ranked general who had been appointed by the Marquis of Xinwu as the left general of the vanguard of the First Army this time.
“Naturally it will be fought, but it looks like it will take a few more days.”
“It will take two days to set up camp, two days to prepare the military supplies, and several days for the two armies to engage.”
“It will take an estimated ten days to actually fight, so we still have to wait a bit.”
The Marquis of Xinwu jumped down from his horse, stretched his back and said so.
He had fought in wars and could roughly estimate the length of the war.
Right now, it would take about two days to complete the encampment of 300,000 troops, and there would be a lot of things to put in place, plus you would have to settle them when the military supplies were transported, right?
Plus when two armies meet, you always have to talk some trash to each other to boost the momentum, and when you’re almost ready, wait for everyone to be ready and just start killing.
This is not just the way Great Wei fights, but also the way the world fights.
Small wars can be fought with a few stratagems, but big wars must be fought step by step, otherwise one mistake can easily lead to the destruction of the whole army.
Furthermore, the world believes in Confucianism, and rules are still followed in warfare.
So the Marquis of Xinwu calculated that it would be about ten days before the real fight would take place, at least ten days.
“En, ten days is about right.”
“The biggest worry at the moment is actually the issue of food and fodder.”
“Wei is 2,000 miles away from here, and there are several places that are dangerous, so I’m afraid that it won’t arrive in two days.”
“There are still provisions for the Second and Third Armies to be transported, Marquis, in fact, the General is curious, how will Lord Xu distribute these provisions?”
“We are the vanguard army, so we should be allocated more, right?”
Right General Zhang Wu spoke up and inquired.
He was still particularly concerned about the aspect of rations and fodder.
Before the three armies moved, food and fodder went first.
Everyone was a martial artist, so there was no problem starving for ten days, but the amount of food was also more than ten times that of a normal person, so it would be troublesome if the supply and demand were insufficient.
Especially when Xu Qingnian directly dispatched the three armies to the expedition, it made him inexplicably worried ah.
“Shouren is the reincarnation of the true Wenqu Star of Great Wei, he has his own good strategies, so we should not think too much about it.”
“This is not a full-scale war either, Shouren said one day, probably just to raise morale, we are all martial artists, what can we do if we wait for two days? As for the two thousand mile journey, it is nothing, the food supply will not be less,”
“Back then, the Northern Expedition, tens of thousands of miles, could also be provided, what is a mere two thousand miles now?”
“Besides, the Second and Third Armies are located in a place surrounded by some of our vassal states. Even if we are hungry, we will not be hungry.”
Marquis Xin Wu was straightforward, he trusted Xu Qingnian unconditionally.
However, he did need to pay attention to the matter of food and fodder, so that the battle would not be affected by this matter.
Half an hour later.
Inside the country.
Iron cavalry, war horses, elite soldiers, stone throwers, giant armour-breaking crossbows, and so on were sent to the country.
The palace of the King of Tomato.
The Chancellor, with his two beards, was holding the resources from various countries and said with a cheap smile on his face.
“Your Majesty, as of now, there are 20,000 iron hors*men, 60,000 elite soldiers, 35 stone throwers, 4 million stones of grain, 50,000 war swords and 90,000 sets of armour, all of which have been transported to the country.”
“These are only a tenth of what the kingdoms have promised; all the rest of the resources are expected to take five days to arrive in full.”
“Your Majesty, after this battle, our country will be greatly strengthened, now we should make the trick of dragging.”
“In the Great Wei Dynasty, the Marquis of Xinwu has led hundreds of thousands of troops to camp near the Daqiu Mountain Range, two hundred miles away, and I intend to send someone there to pretend to negotiate for peace.”
“In reality, we will stall the Marquis of Xinwu and the others in order to make peace, but ask for favours from Great Wei, while then asking for resources from the nations.”
“If this first battle can be delayed for half a year, the Tomato Kingdom will be able to become one of the top three of the ten kingdoms, and its national power will increase greatly.”
The chancellor of the Tomato Kingdom spoke, his face full of cunning, attempting to claim the benefits of the kingdoms, as well as those of Great Wei, by delaying.
When this was said, the ruler of the Tomato Kingdom pondered for a while, before nodding and saying.
“This is a good plan, but we should not send for peace today, the kingdoms must have laid eyes within the State of Fan, so let us wait for some time.”
“Even if Great Wei wants to fight, we should wait for some time, set up camps to transport food, the two armies are holding each other, wait at least ten days and see how the situation is first.”
The king of the Tombs did not agree directly, but he was interested in the plan.
“Your Majesty is wise.”
The chancellor bowed towards the ruler of the State of Tomato and so complimented him.
And so it was.
Inside the capital of Great Wei.
Xu Qingnian stared at the sand table in contemplation, and the entire Wenhua Hall resounded with various voices, as the generals of the military department were discussing countermeasures for the conquest, and every detail needed to be discussed, so it naturally seemed noisy.
And just at that moment, a voice rang out.
“The Marquis of Xinwu has sent a heavenly decree and has arrived outside of the tombs and is camping in the Great Autumn Mountain Range, please ask Lord Xu for instructions.”
As the voice rang out.
Xu Qingnian merely waved his hand without saying anything, but quietly gazed at the country of Fan, which had only four cities in its entirety, three across and one down.
After a long time.
Xu Qingnian withdrew his gaze, already having an idea in his mind.
It was also at that moment that the voice of Lord An Guo rang out.
“Shouren, where have the quartermaster sent the provisions? Have they crossed the Tian Yan dangerous road?”
An Guo opened his mouth and pointed to a dangerous place in the sand map.
“No.”
Xu Qingnian shook his head.
“Haven’t you reached the Tian Yan Dangerous Road yet? Where is it? The Rongzhong Earth Vein? If it’s here, then it will be at least two more days before we can deliver the provisions to Marquis Xinwu.”
“It just so happens that we have camped and rested for these two days.”
Duke An nodded, he didn’t say anything, after all, Xu Qingnian was in charge of the big game, it was normal to be a bit rusty, this matter of rations and fodder, as long as the delay didn’t exceed ten days, it was fine.
After all, martial artists don’t eat for ten days, so there’s no problem.
But Xu Qingnian’s voice slowly rang out.
“The rations have arrived.”
Xu Qingnian spoke indifferently.
With a single word, everyone present was surprised.
“It’s already here?”
Everyone stared at Xu Qingnian in a daze, their eyes filled with surprise.
Two thousand miles, it would take almost two to five days to deliver, it mainly depended on what the transport equipment was, some wagons could do one day transport, but such were rare, but the regular ones would take at least three to five days.
Xin Wuhou left yesterday.
Today he arrives?
And early too?
That’s a bit strange, isn’t it?
What did Xu Qingnian use to transport it?
Is it possible that he used a dragon boat?
That can’t be right? There was no need to use a dragon boat to escort them on the 2,000-mile journey, right?
But the next moment.
Xu Qingnian took out a long-prepared letter and said.
“Two thousand miles expedited, hand this letter over to Marquis Xinwu.”
Xu Qingnian did not explain, and Duke An did not continue to ask.
At that moment, a general walked in, took the envelope and, as quickly as possible, sent the general’s order out.
With the fastest war horse in Great Wei, he ran a thousand miles.
At almost breakneck speed, in about two hours, they arrived at the Great Autumn Mountain Range.
This kind of war horse, with the bloodline of demon beasts flowing in its body, ran extremely fast and was only used to deliver military war reports.
The Great Autumn Mountain Range.
A voice rang out.
“Two thousand miles expedited!”
“Lord Xu has a military opportunity!”
The general delivering the letter jumped straight off his war horse, drenched in sweat, and handed the letter in his hand, to the Marquis of Xinwu.
The latter took the military intelligence.
The generals on the left and right all looked away.
The envelope was opened.
There were not many words.
But the words were brilliant.
“Tonight at midnight!”
“Three hundred thousand troops!”
“Raid on the tombs!”
“Those who stand in the way! Kill!”
“Anyone who is a male member of the imperial family! Kill!”
“The civil and military forces of the Tomans! Kill!”
“Those who disobey! Kill!”
“Burn the king’s palace for seven days! All the gold, silver and jewels will be rewarded to the three armies!”
“This battle.”
“Only victory is allowed, no defeat.”
“Overseeing Young Secretary, Xu Qingnian.”
Looking at the letter.
The Marquis of Xinwu froze.
The generals on the left and right also froze.