Chapter 329 The Two-Pronged Approach

While Yang Xin was busy, Zhao Xiyao and the other women were not idle either; soon, various edicts were promulgated one after another.

All commoners could exchange their surplus grain for chicken seedlings and piglets at an extremely favorable exchange rate, and the tax rate for the breeding industry was reduced to one-tenth.

This made the people restless with excitement, and one by one, they carried hemp sacks filled with grain to the locations designated by the government for exchange.

Compared to white pigs, which consumed more grain, the White Feather Chickens that could continuously lay eggs were clearly more popular. In less than a month, all the chicken seedlings were completely exchanged, and major chicken farms had to order an additional batch.

The brewing workshops of the ten families were also quickly established. The idle grain began to continuously turn into fine wine, and jars of alcohol were rapidly distilled and stored in the government treasury.

Under multiple measures, the price of grain finally stabilized, and there were even signs of a slight upward trend.

Seeing the reports from various places regarding grain prices, Gao Yuan's brow finally relaxed.

With fresh reinforcements in hand and sufficient food and supplies, Gao Yuan's heart, which had been calm for over a year, became restless once again.

However, he did not expect that just as he had a tiny inkling of an idea, the system notification arrived.

“SS-Rank Life Section Overlord's Exclusive Notebook Event: Resource Dumper triggered;

How to consume surplus productivity? Naturally, through dumping and expansion. As a qualified leader, the Host needs to launch a war as soon as possible to expand the market;

Event Objective: Initiate a major battle with a deployment scale of no less than 50,000 troops within six months and achieve victory;

Event Reward: Obtain a corresponding quantity and grade of rewards based on a comprehensive score of the war's scale, the opponent's strength, and the results achieved;

Failure Penalty: If the war is not launched, any of the Host's attributes will be reduced by one minor grade; if the war is launched but fails, a certain number of already owned or future Mysterious Keys will be deducted based on the circumstances of the failure.”

Gao Yuan wondered if the Little Mustache from the original timeline was also bound to such a system. It really wouldn't let anyone live in peace, wanting to start a war at every turn.

However, everyone had been idle for so long that it was indeed time to move; otherwise, their bones would likely stiffen up.

After thinking for a moment, Gao Yuan immediately sent someone to call Liu Rengui over.

Upon hearing that Gao Yuan was summoning him, Liu Rengui guessed that he had some new plans and immediately rushed to the Governors Office main hall.

Seeing Gao Yuan standing motionless in front of the map, Liu Rengui knew he had guessed correctly and hurried over.

“I wonder where my Lord has set his sights on this time?”

Gao Yuan turned to look at Liu Rengui and revealed a smile.

“Regel, do you think we should continue to use force against Mughal, launch an attack on Jiangnan West Circuit, or directly march into the Guanzhong?”

Since he had guessed Gao Yuan's intentions, Liu Rengui had already formed a plan in his mind on the way over.

“Mughal's strength is weak; only a secondary force is needed. There is no need for the Central Corps to travel thousands of miles to assist in the battle;

As for Jiangnan West Circuit... currently, Jiang Huaizhen, General Ma Zhiyuan, and other famous generals are stationed there. If we attack, the difficulty would likely be quite high, and the area is filled with water networks, so our army's Cavalry advantage cannot be utilized;

Therefore, This humble general suggests using force against the Guanzhong. As long as we occupy Chang'an, we can cut the Northern Liang territory in half. Not only can we obtain high-quality soldiers from the Guanzhong, but we can also obtain a continuous supply of warhorses from Western Liang nearby.”

Gao Yuan was quite in agreement with Liu Rengui's analysis. Attacking both the Guanzhong and Jiangnan West Circuit would be difficult, but the gains from attacking the Guanzhong were greater.

However, he did not make a decision immediately but stared at the map for a while longer before finally making up his mind.

“Take an order!”

A clerk from the Governors Office immediately stood up, holding a tray with paper and a brush, and stood beside Gao Yuan.

“Appoint Liu Rengui as the Grand Commandant of the Tianzhu Circuit Expeditionary Force, Gao Yang as the Deputy Grand Commandant, and lead the Fifth Division of the Beiwei Army to station in Lahore. Relieve Hong Wan-tong of his post as Deputy Governor of the Central-South Corps, and reappoint him as Governor of the Pugan Corps.”

After giving the orders, Gao Yuan waved his hand to let the clerk write the formal command before saying to Liu Rengui,

“Regel, I have given you elite troops and capable generals. You decide how to fight the battle. In short, you must fight well; you absolutely cannot lose the face of our Great Yue.”

Liu Rengui didn't care about the number of troops at all. In his view, with the weak combat capability of the Azha, ten thousand Beiwei Army soldiers could sweep through the entire Indian Peninsula.

Just as he received the order and was about to leave, Gao Yuan called him back again.

“That kid General Yang Zhan is also over there in Tianzhu right now. Train him well for me, and don't you dare go easy on him.”

Liu Rengui was stunned for a moment, then leaned in and asked softly,

“My Lord, what about Madam Yang and the two Princesses' side...”

Gao Yuan's eyes widened like a tiger's as he said,

“Is it that easy to be my son-in-law? You just train him ruthlessly for me. If he doesn't turn into something decent, see how I'll deal with you.”

Gao Yuan flicked his sleeve and left huffily. Liu Rengui looked at Gao Yuan's departing back and suddenly felt that his Lord didn't seem so unreachable anymore.

With ten thousand Beiwei Army troops holding the line in Tianzhu, and with Liu Rengui, Gao Yang, and General Yang Zhan there, plus over thirty thousand troops from the Tianzhu Circuit—and the ability to call upon the Pugan Circuit's troops at any time if that wasn't enough—it was sufficient to deal with the Azha.

On the other side in the Guanzhong, Gao Yuan didn't have much confidence in capturing Chang'an. For such a fortified city with high walls and deep moats, Gao Yuan didn't want to risk a forced assault unless cannons were developed or the entire nation's strength was mobilized.

Therefore, for this battle, he set his target on depleting as much of the enemy's effective strength as possible and controlling the line from Mei County and Liquan to Jingyang around Chang'an, as well as the northwest region.

This way, he wouldn't need to pay a heavy price to take Chang'an City, and he could achieve the goal of connecting with the Western Liang region.

By referencing the actions of Ma Chao and Han Sui during the late Han and Three Kingdoms period, one could know that those Powerful Families in Western Liang would even sell their own fathers if the benefits were large enough, let alone just some warhorses.

Ever since Northern Liang lost Chencang to him, they had stationed heavy troops in the Guanzhong. Gao Zi led five thousand Cavalry stationed in Qishan to guard against his surprise attacks, and Gao Chou led eight thousand infantry stationed in Mei County to block his advance toward Chang'an.

Gao Bing led fifteen thousand troops presiding over Chang'an, there were three thousand troops in Jingyang, and Lantian and Hu County each had a unit of over a thousand qiang people Cavalry stationed there.

In other words, once the war began, the total force Gao Bing could mobilize was about eight thousand Cavalry and over twenty-six thousand infantry.

The combat effectiveness of these soldiers was not something those weaklings from the Azha could compare to.

However, after calculating repeatedly, Gao Yuan still felt he had enough strength to devour this army; he even hoped Gao Bing would take the initiative to attack.

If he wiped out all of his troops, then Chang'an would be within easy reach.

Initially not setting the capture of Chang'an as the goal was only because he feared excessive casualties, but if there was an opportunity for a decisive victory, Gao Yuan still wouldn't refuse it.

Having made up his mind, Gao Yuan began to write the operational plan:

The main force for the expedition would definitely be the 4,500 men of the Xiaoguo Army under the Central Corps, three divisions of the Beiwei Army totaling 30,000 men, plus 15,000 men from the Xuanjia Army drawn from various places, totaling about 50,000 troops.

As for the Imperial Guard Division and the remaining 10,000 Beiwei Army soldiers, Gao Yuan did not intend to mobilize them this time. After all, he had to leave a main force behind to guard South of the Ranges and Jiangnan West Circuit.

Otherwise, once the news of his attack on the Guanzhong spread, it was inevitable that Jiang Huaizhen, Mao Biao, and others might have some ideas.

Relying solely on the troops of the Lingnan Corps, it would likely be very dangerous if they truly launched a full-scale attack.