Chapter 310 Tianze's Expansion of the Army
The news of the alliance of the five princes naturally could not be hidden from Tian Ze's eyes.
Although I knew this day would come sooner or later, I never thought it would come so soon.
Sun Ce was fine, but even Liu Yan was involved, which was beyond Tian Ze's expectation. Tian Ze also began to pay attention to the unfamiliar name Liu Fan.
The alliance of the five major princes is somewhat similar to the five countries that joined forces to attack Qin during the Warring States Period, and it is also like a replica of the "princes' fight against Dong Zhuo".
Yuan, Cao, Sun and Liu, the four main characters are all there, which makes Tian Ze sigh with emotion.
"Gongtai, it looks like we have to expand our army."
This time, Cheng Yu didn't even need to speak, Tian Ze took the initiative to speak.
Tian Ze has always adhered to the principle of "strategically important and tactically despising" the princes of the world.
Although he had been suppressing the expansion of military forces for the sake of the development of the people's livelihood under his rule, he always ensured absolute military superiority.
In every battle, it seems that they are outnumbered, but if the defending troops are included, they are undoubtedly under absolute suppression.
The principle is that you can lose if you attack, but whether you win or lose, you can consume the opponent. As long as you can defend, you win strategically.
Relying on the advantage in comprehensive national strength, no one can be defeated by this style of play.
For example, in the Battle of Luoyang, even if they were defeated, they only lost a few hundred thousand soldiers and horses, but it was definitely enough to inflict no less than 100,000 casualties on Cao and Liu.
Tian Ze had a population of more than 40 million under his command, with sufficient money and food, so adding 200,000 soldiers and horses was nothing.
However, the combined population of Cao and Liu was less than eight million, and their money and grain were extremely limited. What could they use to compete with Tian Ze?
After this battle, Tian Ze can make a comeback in the second year, even if he loses again, he can come back in the third year.
But now, with the five major princes uniting, the situation has changed.
"The five princes have united, with a population of nearly 20 million, and a military force of no less than million." Cheng Yu glanced at Chen Gong, who had an unhappy expression, and added appropriately.
This time his words were not too strong.
After all, Tian Ze was the one who led the charge, so it was not appropriate for him to rush ahead.
And there was no need for him to say much this time. As the person in charge of internal affairs under Tian Zezhi, Chen Gong, although he focused on people's livelihood, was not ignorant of the overall situation.
Sili was surrounded by enemies, Jizhou was difficult to defend, and Donglai was alone and vulnerable but had to be defended to prevent the war from spreading to Liaodong.
If the enemies were only the three families of Cao, Yuan and Liu, Tian Ze's troops could still ensure safety.
But with the addition of Sun Ce and Liu Yan, the situation changed.
It's not just as simple as having an additional 200,000 or 300,000 troops.
Because the two joined the alliance, Cao, Yuan and Liu could release more military forces.
The shortcomings in various aspects such as containment, defense, and navy have been made up for a lot, and it is no exaggeration to say that the threat level has doubled.
Upon hearing this, Chen Gong fell silent.
Water network construction, Northeast development, the rise of hundreds of businesses, and Sili management...
He had too many reasons to explain.
But facing the current situation, he couldn't say a word.
Power comes from the barrel of a gun.
Being rich but not powerful is like a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered when facing the enemy.
"How much do you want to expand your army, my lord?"
After thinking for a long time, Chen Gong asked in a deep voice.
Tian Ze pondered for a moment, and suddenly turned his gaze to the three young figures at the end of the civil officials. "Kong Ming, Zhong Da, Boyan, how much do you think the army should be expanded?"
Upon hearing Tian Ze's words, Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi and Lu Xun were slightly stunned.
Although they were allowed to attend as observers, they always maintained a learning attitude and were rarely called upon by Tian Ze to speak.
After all, they were still too young, and they did not have a deep enough understanding of the overall situation and strategy under Tian Ze's rule in these major military and political affairs.
Everyone's eyes were looking at them, with expectations, curiosity, and consideration in their eyes.
The three of them were silent for a moment and began to think.
After a long while, Zhuge Liang was the first to step forward and said, "My Lord, I think we should expand the army by at least 200,000 men."
"Why?"
"As for the current distribution of our military forces, except for You, Bing, Ji, and Sili, there are few wars in the other eight states, so we only need to leave 150,000 troops in these eight states."
"Youzhou is a core area, General Xu Rong's 100,000-man army must not be moved lightly."
"Now that the threat from the Xianbei has been mostly eliminated, what we need next is slow work. The danger in the northern part of Bingzhou is not serious, and Gongsun Zan in the west is a place we must conquer, so he will not take the initiative to attack. Therefore, it is enough to leave 100,000 troops behind."
"After this, we need to attack Liang Province and fight General Gongsun. We also have to be on guard against Liu Yan's sneak attacks. Fortunately, Yi Province's troops are weak, and General Zhang Liao and General Xu Huang will be able to lead an army of 200,000 soldiers."
"It may seem that Sili is surrounded by enemies on all sides, but in fact, there are many mountain pass passes around it. Our army is quite good at defending the city. With such an advantageous location and General Zhang He in charge, even if we are besieged by various princes, 150,000 troops are enough to resist the enemy."
"In this way, it will be an army of 700,000."
"However, the key to our army's defense lies in Jizhou and Qingzhou Donglai."
"If I were Cao Yuan and the others, I would definitely use these two places as the breakthrough points."
"Donglai is a land of mountains and rivers, so the army cannot deploy. The main concern is the Dongwu navy. But our army has an absolute advantage in naval battles. Generals Gan Ning and Han Dang can lead 100,000 troops to garrison there."
"The land of Jizhou must be the core of the attack of all the princes. It is of vital importance. Although General Guan Yu and General Zang Ba are stationed there, at least 200,000 troops are needed to garrison there."
"In this case, we need at least one million soldiers and horses in total, and the army needs to be expanded by at least 200,000." Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice.
Upon hearing this, Tian Ze nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Sima Yi.
Sima Yi bowed slightly and said, "My Lord, my opinion is not much different from Kong Ming's. However, I suggest that we should expand the army by 300,000 just to be on the safe side."
"Leaving aside Liu Yan, the five lords can gather at least 600,000 troops. If we put all our efforts into attacking Jizhou, even with the support of Donglai's troops, I'm afraid we will need 300,000 troops to be safe."
Sima Yi actually had one more thing to say.
In his opinion, it was not very appropriate for Guan Yu to garrison Jizhou, and it would be better to replace him with Zhang Liao.
Because although Guan Yu is strong, he has obvious shortcomings.
In comparison, although Zhang Liao is not as aggressive, he is more calm and not easily tricked.
If Zhang Liao were to garrison there, 200,000 troops would be enough.
But he absolutely could not say such offensive words.
Moreover, when facing Gongsun Zan in Liangzhou, Zhang Liao, who is good at speed, is indeed more suitable.
Tian Ze nodded, then looked at Lu Xun again.
Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi had finished what Lu Xun wanted to say, and he scratched his head gently: "My lord, I also think that expanding the army by 300,000 is more appropriate."
As expected, Tian Ze nodded.
He positioned the three people differently and had different training directions, which the three of them had noticed. Therefore, their attitudes towards military expansion were naturally different, but their views were relatively consistent.
(End of this chapter)
