RPAGF Chapter 7213 The Older Generation's Views
Chapter 7213 The Older Generation's Views
Chapter 7213 The Older Generation's Views
Huangfu Song had nothing to do recently. Chen Xi pointed out a way for him, and now his affairs were all arranged. Even if he died now, the marriage between Huangfu Shuhou and Ruan Huihui was already confirmed. There might be some turmoil in the Huangfu family in the short term, but over the next few decades, the Huangfu family's situation would definitely not be much worse than it is now.
This was already a complete fulfillment of Huangfu Song's expectations. After all, because of his existence, the Huangfu family was now far above normal levels, having taken and seized a considerable amount of things from others. Without a suitable heir, the Huangfu family would have been in a difficult situation just having to repay these things after his death.
But now they don't have to return it. After all, taking more and more is a skill. The other party can't openly rob them, and their own family has the ability to resist. After that generation, it will rightfully belong to the Huangfu family.
Therefore, Huangfu Song has been in a good mood lately, and he often has a few rounds with Zhu Jun. Zhu Jun himself doesn't have much to do. Although he is from Jiangdong, his connection with Jiangdong is so-so. If you really want to talk about his connection with Jiangdong, it's probably with Huang Gai. In fact, if you really want to talk about the number of times he has contacted Huang Gai, he has contacted the Zhu family more often than he has contacted them.
The Zhu family of Jiangdong is ultimately not Zhu Jun's family. He was just born into a distant branch and did not develop there. The Zhu family is quite powerful and deeply rooted there. Even though they are now very willing to build a relationship because of Zhu Jun's rank and ability, Zhu Jun and the Zhu family of Jiangdong are basically using each other. If it comes to real feelings, Zhu Jun and Huang Gai can talk about it.
After all, Huang Gai's Huang and Zhou Yu's Zhou are on the same level. Although Huang Gai made himself look like a poor commoner, he really had connections. Moreover, Huang Gai was neither loud nor arrogant, and he knew how to advance and retreat.
So when Zhu Jun really wanted to know something and felt that the Zhu family was likely to make things up for him, he would send a letter to Huang Gai to ask. Huang Gai generally wouldn't make things up and would tell the truth to some extent, after all, he was someone who could address Zhu Jun as "brother".
Well, this isn't actually a dig at Huang Gai, nor is it about him trying to climb the social ladder by associating with Zhu Jun. It's just that back when Huang Gai hadn't yet joined Sun Jian's group, his eldest cousin—the kind of cousin who was like a grandfather—was still alive. Huang Wan, one of the Three Dukes, had given Huang Gai some advice on how to make a living, but Huang Gai wasn't willing to do it.
Otherwise, if he really wanted to, Huang Gai would most likely have come from the Central Imperial Guard and followed the path of Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, or Lu Zhi. But as you know, Jiangdong is a bit strange; occasionally, some guys will appear who attract strong people with their charm. Sun Ce was like that, and so was Sun Jian.
Then Huang Gai followed Sun Jian. In fact, according to the path that the Huang family arranged for Huang Gai when he was young, Huang Gai should have been recommended as a filial and incorruptible official, entered the central government, and then followed the route of the palace guard, which would have led to the current position of Ruan Gong. According to the Huang family's arrangements, it was highly likely that he could have succeeded.
After all, this was a family of three dukes, and a rather prosperous one at that. However, Huang Gai did not follow the predictable path laid out for him by his eldest cousin, but instead followed the elder brother he thought was suitable, and has indeed made a name for himself.
Putting aside everything else, Huang Gai is one of the three elders of Jiangdong, always leading from the front. His own children are not as crazy as Han Dang's son, and he is luckier than Cheng Pu. Naturally, Huang Gai is doing very well in Jiangdong. To put it bluntly, although Huang Gai is now living in Southeast Asia and no longer interferes in Jiangdong affairs, he will definitely be in the position of managing the thirteen livestock farms that Chen Xi assigned to Zhou Yu.
Even if Huang Gai doesn't get to control it all, at least the three elders of Jiangdong will get one or two portions. After all, they are all respectable people and have some sense of shame. If none of the three get it, then there will be a big problem, and Sun Ce will probably have to personally get involved and give them a good talking-to!
So Huang Gai's information might be a bit slow, but it's definitely accurate, and there's nothing he can't say. On the contrary, when Zhu Jun asks Huang Gai, he has to think carefully about how to ask, because there are some things Huang Gai dares to say that Zhu Jun doesn't dare to listen to. Doesn't he understand what it means to take responsibility if you hear something?
However, during this time, Zhu Jun wrote to Huang Gai, inviting him to come to Chang'an for a visit and to move his eldest cousin's grave. After all, Huang Gai was a prominent figure, having been granted a title and fiefdom, and with a powerful family background. He needed to maintain a respectable image, and renovating his grave would be a respectable gesture.
Huang Gai said he would come in a while, but he is still on his way. He should arrive in about ten days. Zhu Jun thought he would invite all the older brothers that Huang Gai knew to come and have a drink with him. After all, he is now of a high enough rank, so it wouldn't be shameful to bring him over. They are all considered members of the senior group.
"Zichuan, show us the secret letter, and we'll give you an accurate assessment." After Huangfu Song arrived, he sat down in the armchair and reached out to Chen Xi to ask for it. Compared to the somewhat polite gestures he had a while ago, Huangfu Song had quickly adapted to his new role.
"Wait a moment. It's just a secret letter, so there are some things that can't be shown. The dynamic map will be presented in a little while," Chen Xi said with a smile, after having someone serve Huangfu Song some tea and snacks.
"Alright then." Huangfu Song didn't stand on ceremony and didn't care that the tea snack was a high-oil, high-salt, high-protein baked nut tart. He picked it up and ate it. Back in Eastern Europe, there was no such thing.
Yuan Yin quickly arranged everything and created a huge light and shadow map on the table, clearly showing the terrain around Balayaka, even the river channels and the permanent defensive facilities built around it.
“This terrain.” Huangfu Song put down the nut biscuit, clapped his hands, and his originally casual expression became much more serious. Huangfu Song had heard of the location of Baloyega, but seeing it so clearly made him instantly realize the danger of this place.
"Surrounded by water on three sides, what's the weather like lately?" Zhu Jun frowned. In terms of defensive warfare, Huangfu Song was no match for Zhu Jun. Although his adaptability was limited, he was still very reliable in defense due to his solid logistics. So he could tell at a glance what the key issues to deal with in this terrain were.
“It’s the cool season in the Ganges area recently. Because of the previous Blazing Sky Ring, the climate is quite abnormal now, and the temperature is a bit lower than normal, about thirteen or fifteen degrees Celsius.” Chen Xi gave a simple explanation of the macro environment, and Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun both rolled their eyes.
"What I mean is, will it rain? Will it rain heavily?" Zhu Jun pointed to the upper reaches of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, gesturing there. "If I were the Kushan commander, I wouldn't attack Prayaga directly. I would bypass it from here, surround Prayaga, and then store water in these two places. In a normal year, that would be fine, but if it rains heavily, with this terrain, I could just carry you away."
“According to the hydrology there, there shouldn’t be much rainfall during the cool season, but the weather has been quite abnormal recently, so it’s hard to say. Fortunately, Yuanzhi’s secret letter mentioned that they have constructed a special Xuanxiang, which has rain-transferring clouds and will bring light rain.” Chen Xi pointed to the Xuanxiang Death Array around Baluoyaga and said, “The reserves of supermodel cloud energy are enough to power this array.”
“In that case, we don’t need to worry about the timing.” Huangfu Song nodded and stroked his beard. “After all, either the rain clouds have been moved away or some of them have been released first. If they don’t form a rainstorm, we don’t need to worry too much about flooding.”
To carry out a water attack, the right time is needed, which means heavy rain. Xu Shu and Yu Jin have clearly considered this, although their logic is different. Xu Shu is considering moving the rain clouds away, while Yu Jin is considering continuous small-scale rainfall, combined with Lu Su's spiritual talent and the amplification of the Xuanxiang Formation, to create a cold fog for the enemy.
Both solutions can address the problem of water attacks, and both can be considered radical cures. Yu Jin's solution seems problematic, but a torrential rain that can drown people, when spread over three months, will have virtually no impact. Therefore, Yu Jin's solution also addresses the problem of water attacks at its root.
"Are there any pontoon bridges and support teams prepared in these three directions?" Huangfu Song asked, pointing to the waterways to the north, south, and east.
“We have none in the north and south, but we’ve prepared for the east.” Chen Xi looked at Xu Shu’s arrangements. “With a force of nine thousand, there are about fifteen hundred sturdy shield guards, four thousand heavily armored shield guards, two thousand cavalry, and one thousand archers. Holding this position and buying time shouldn’t be a problem.”
"Why not deploy in the north and south? It's a strategic move that allows for both offense and defense, and it won't be easy for the enemy to cross the river." Zhu Jun pointed to the north and south, suggesting a well-coordinated plan that serves as a springboard and fulcrum for short-to-medium distance travel, while also delaying the enemy.
"Let me see the answers Wenze and Yuanzhi gave." Chen Xi flipped through Xu Shu's secret letter, which contained a very detailed account of all the arrangements and the reasons for not making any arrangements. So Chen Xi found the reasons after a quick search.
“One issue is that we don’t have enough Shield Guards.” Chen Xi coughed twice, while Huangfu Song nodded slowly. He completely understood and thought it was normal, but he added, “You don’t even have a legion of Shield Guards. Isn’t that a bit disrespectful to your patron? I, Huangfu Song, keep one Shield Guard as a symbol of my reputation. You’re not treating your patron like a human being at all!”
Xu Shu knew that the number of Shield Guards was not large, but he really did not expect it to be this small. You see, he initially wanted three thousand Shield Guards, but in the end he only found one thousand five hundred from Yu Jin's side. As for why he didn't build any on the north and south sides, it was because Xu Shu figured that he definitely couldn't find nine thousand.
Well, the truth is that Xu Shu didn't actually have three thousand, let alone two thousand. Fortunately, Xu Shu had a lenient approach when making the arrangements, so one thousand five hundred would have been enough.
"On the other hand?" Zhu Jun fully understood why the Shield Guards transformed into something else entirely once they reached the front lines, so he had no doubts about the answer.
“There are other preparations on the south side. The Kou family has always had arrangements there, but it's relatively far away.” Chen Xi pointed to the mountainous area next to them. Zhu Jun glanced at it and understood. “What about the north side?”
“Because it’s a plain area, the White Horse Cavalry can charge out directly from here if necessary.” Chen Xi drew an arrow from the north gate of Prayerga.
To be fair, the distance is actually quite far, and according to normal military arrangements, a support would indeed be needed. But since the White Horse Cavalry is the one preparing to do this, what's the point of arranging anything? The best arrangement is to not arrange anything at all. Just rush out from the north gate, go at maximum speed, forcefully charge onto the Ganges, and skim across its surface.
Currently, the Ganges is in its dry season. The White Horse Cavalry is flying at full speed and at low altitude. Given the current width of the Ganges, it would only take them about ten seconds to fly across. Therefore, there is little point in providing support on the north bank. Instead, it would only alert the enemy. It would be better to do nothing and let the White Horse Cavalry choose their own direction and charge out directly.
"The line of thinking is fine." Huangfu Song nodded. "If that's the case, then we should ask about the other party's situation."
"We've already run into problems with timing and location, shouldn't we at least consider the human element?" Chen Xi sighed.
"What's there to ask? We've never encountered this situation before. Even when we only had enough to eat, we never ended up like this," Huangfu Song said with a hint of sarcasm. "If you ask me, there's really no need to be so nice to them. Being a soldier is being a soldier; sometimes you have to be prepared to die!"
Zhu Jun nodded repeatedly in agreement, "It's gotten to this point. Back in our day, we would have killed anyone who asked. What right did a common soldier have to ask such questions? We would have just executed them without hesitation. We would have made an example of them to establish our authority. Only you are so hesitant and indecisive. What are you thinking about?"
"Alright, alright, I didn't come here to complain about this," Chen Xi said, waving his hand. The problem he was facing was not a problem for Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun, because their style meant they would never encounter such a problem.
"The front lines have handled the issues of timing and location quite well, and the problem of insufficient numbers of Shield Guards is not serious, as the survivability of the heavy armored Shield Guards is sufficient to compensate. However, if the issue of personnel is not resolved, then resolving the issues at the front is meaningless," Huangfu Song said with a hint of coldness.
"You're too kind-hearted." Zhu Jun leaned back, the chair making a creak, and said to Chen Xi with a tone that was hard to tell whether it was a sigh or a disappointment.
"I just felt it wasn't necessary." Chen Xi shook her head.
“There’s no such thing as unnecessary.” Huangfu Song glanced at it. “Those who deserve to die must die. Military regulations are military regulations. They are stricter than the law. What do you mean by ‘you’ve already given the order, and they still don’t carry it out’? Do you know how we handled this situation back then?”
"Suppress the rebellion directly, and execute everyone involved, from the top to the bottom." Zhu Jun gave the answer directly without waiting for Chen Xi's reply. "Anyone who disobeys orders? If you can win and fight back, that's fine, then there must be something wrong with your superiors' orders. But if you can't win, can't fight back, and still disobey orders, then your life is worthless, isn't it!"
“Yu Wenze didn’t fail to control those people; rather, he went along with their will,” Chen Xi said with a sigh, without refuting his statement.
“An army can only have one will,” Huangfu Song said coldly. “But it is clear now that it does not have a single will at all.”
"Don't be too cruel," Chen Xi said helplessly.
"What's so brutal about this? This is an army," Huangfu Song said with great dissatisfaction. "If you continue like this, you'll certainly maximize humanity, but your fighting strength..."
"Combat strength is on the rise," Chen Xi quickly added. "Putting everything else aside, combat strength is still guaranteed. If even combat strength had declined, I certainly wouldn't have done this."
"Forget it, let's talk about Oswin." Huangfu Song waved his hand, not wanting to hear this sermon-like stuff. In his opinion, the increase in combat power was Chen Xi's skill, not the ability of the soldiers on the front lines. They didn't even know who the big and small kings were anymore. In their time, they would have been killed!
“Oswin’s situation is not very clear right now. We’ve contacted our inside sources to confirm it, and we should have accurate information soon. But according to what Yuanzhi and Gongren have gathered, Oswin has probably mobilized 250,000 troops this time.” Chen Xi flipped through Xu Shu’s secret letter and gave his answer.
The news that Oswin could command approximately 600,000 troops hasn't been sent over from the Kushan Empire yet. Xun Qi has only just escaped from Motuluo and returned to Peshawar to relay the intelligence. After all, no matter how open the information is, directly giving it to the Han court would cause a lot of trouble.
So we'll have to wait a few more days for this news to arrive, but as I said before, being able to command an army of 600,000 doesn't mean you actually have an army of 600,000.
Based on the scale of weapons, armor, and provisions that Xu Shu and Dong Zhao mobilized from the Kushan side, Oswin should have mobilized around 250,000 men. This is also the reason why Yu Jin decided to defend Paloyaga to the death. As long as Yu Jin does not make any mistakes, it is not difficult to hold on to this scale.
At least for Yu Jin, even if Oswin led 250,000 men, he couldn't possibly be killed like a dog in open field battle. Moreover, even if Oswin was truly so powerful that he could be killed like a dog, Yu Jin was currently holding the city and defending it. Could Oswin possibly fly in?
“Two hundred and fifty thousand? That should be enough to execute the tactic of blocking Prayaga, then crossing the Ganges, and attacking Varanasi.” Huangfu Song drew a circle on the Prayaga side and then drew an arrow pointing directly at Varanasi. “Oswin can definitely execute this tactic.”
“Yuanzhi said that Wenze actually hoped Oswin would execute this tactic.” Chen Xi nodded, which was why Chen Xi thought Yu Jin’s defensive plan was quite good, at least it was indeed quite stable.
"Oswin bypassed Prayaga, then launched an attack to break through the blockade and coordinate a pincer movement with Varanasi?" Huangfu Song said coldly. "Did he consider the possibility that Oswin might wipe them all out in one fell swoop?"
Please cast some votes! The author looks like he's about to die a horrible death in the streets. It's too tragic. This isn't just "fizzled out," it's "dead."