Chapter 758 – West Conquering Army
“Since that’s the case, Xiwen, make preparations for the handover and travel toward Guilin Prefecture!”
At the same time as he chose the Guilin Governor, Ouyang Shuo also chose the replacement of Fan Zhongyan. He was the current Deputy Zhen An Prefecture Governor -Cui Shousi.
Cui Shousi was a member of the Cui Family and was the second member of the Cui Family that became a civil servant of Shanhai City after Cui Yingyu. He had previously taken the roles of Country Magistrate and Prefect and also helped Mulan Yue run Zhen An Prefecture for so long.
Now, it was time for his promotion. Officially becoming a governor meant that he was also the first native governor developed by the territory.
If nothing surprising happened, this would be the maximum that Cui Shousi could go. After all, compared to historical civil servants like Fan Zhongyan, there was still a gap in their ability.
At the same time, Cui Shousi’s promotion helped to balance the negative effects brought about by Song Wen’s promotion. The battle between the Cui and Song Families had now reached equilibrium.
“Yes Monarch!”
Fan Zhongyan got up and bowed respectfully. Inside, he could not help but feel excited. For him to be able to become the governor of Guilin Prefecture was undoubtedly a significant win in his journey.
How sharp was Ouyang Shuo? Especially after training the Yellow Emperor Internal Cultivation Technique, Ouyang shuo’s perception of human emotions had reached a whole new level.
To be more specific, he could touch a person’s heart.
Naturally, he would not be able to know what you were thinking but any small emotion would he caught by him.
Hence, ever since Ouyang Shuo returned from the voyage, the officials of Shanhai City all became more careful when they reported to him.
The reason within was that their actions and thoughts could not escape the eyes of the Lord. How could one not feel terrified about that?
Without a doubt, this was also a special talent of a Monarch.
Following which, the two of them talked until dinner time before their conversation came to an end.
7 PM, Ouyang Shuo went to the small courtyard.
The cool breeze blew across, and the air was filled with the scent of osmanthus, making one drunk from the scent. Chiyou City at night was not as hot as during the day, and the breeze shook one’s brain.
Such a night was perfect for talking to other tribe members.
His schedule in the day was just too busy, and Ouyang Shuo did not have any time to meet the mountain barbarian tribe leaders. Only at night did he invite the four most influential ones to his little courtyard.
As this was not an official meeting, Ouyang Shuo instructed them to bring wine and dishes. The specially made osmanthus cake was soft and delicious while the territory specialty Three Flowers Wine was mellow.
Talking about the Three Flowers Wine, it was truly amazing.
As it had gotten famous early on in the imperial cities, the current Three Flowers Wine was one of the most popular wines in the wilderness. Especially after wine masters modified it, the taste became more mellow and purer, becoming a representative item of Shanhai City.
After taking down Guilin Prefecture, they would heavily promote the wine industry. After all, the water there was a lot better than the water of Lianzhou Basin.
Wine produced locally in Guilin would definitely get one drunk and addicted.
The pavilion only had a round table. Ouyang Shuo sat with the four old men beside him. The mountain barbarian tribe was originally one that was really brutish, but they had learned all about Han Race customs by now.
When Ouyang Shuo saw that, he was stunned.
Out of the four, two of them were brothers of Chiyou who appeared with him in the wilderness, and of the remaining two, one came from 100 thousand mountains while the other came from Yunnan Province.
After becoming the Barbarian King, only then did Ouyang Shuo learn that the layout of the mountain barbarians in Nanjiang far exceeded his expectations. Apart from the traditional Chuannan Province, Lingnan Province, there was also Yunnan Province, Chuanbei Province, and the Shu lands.
Apart from the 100 thousand mountains, the Shu lands were the place with the second largest mountain barbarian population.
The mountain barbarian gathered by Chiyou mainly came from the 100 thousand mountains while a portion came from Chuanbei and Yunnan Province. However, as there was a huge distance and there was Taiping Country in the middle, there were still many mountain barbarians living in those two provinces.
“Tribe leader Mu, do you still contact the people in Yunnan?” Ouyang Shuo raised his cup and asked the tribe leader who came from Yunnan Province – Mu Yao.
“Yes, they really admire our life here.”
Speaking of which, Mu Yao was filled with emotion, “Not long ago, I went to Yunnan to catch up with some of my brothers. When they heard of our life here, they all wanted to immediately move over.”
“However, because the Battle of Yunnan is about to start, it is not appropriate for them to leave.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded, “The Battle of Yunnan is about to begin. Can you tell your tribesmen there to prepare to help the army? When Yunnan is taken down, a good life awaits them.”
“I’ll definitely spread the words of the king.”
“That’s great.”
Ouyang Shuo did not specially mention this; it was just something that had cropped up. He did not have any hopes of the mountain barbarians in Yunnan being of much help. At most, they would just be the guides of the attack.
Yesterday, Ouyang Shuo had received reports that the Guards Legion Corps 1st legion and the 2nd legion of the Dragon Legion Corp led by Shi Wanshui had reached the frontlines.
At the same time, the 2nd legion of the Guards Legion Corps and the 4th legion of the Dragon Legion Corps had been formed up. Ma, Cao Cun, Xiahou Yuan, and the other Three Kingdoms generals had already completed their studies and were on their way to meet up with their forces.
The two legions would immediately move toward the Yunnan battlefield.
If everything went well, the battle would begin at the start of the 12th month.
Based on the reports from the Black Snake’ Guards, the deal between Yunnan City-State and Yanhuang Alliance had been completed. Yanhuang Alliance was truly putting in a lot, gathering 200 thousand troops to support Yunnan City-State.
Just Handan City alone had sent 60 thousand.
Chun Shenjun, whose embarrassment turned to rage due to the Guilin Prefecture incident, sent out 50 thousand.
If one considered the 200 thousand Alliance Army troops from Yunnan City-State, it was enough to go up against the Shanhai City Army. After all, out of the six legions they were sending out, two were just formed.
In terms of overall combat strength, both sides were basically on the same level.
Ouyang Shuo was guessing that the change in Guilin Prefecture was enough to make Yanhuang Alliance decide to snipe Shanhai City.
Since they acted, Fallen Phoenix City and Stone City who both did not need to act during the Battle of Lingnan would appear once more. The gift that Ouyang Shuo prepared for Yanhuang Alliance could also be given earlier than planned.
Ouyang Shuo believed that his gift would give the Yanhuang Alliance a really huge
surprise.
Gong Chengshi had also taken the initiative to contact Ouyang Shuo to say that he would move the army in Jiangchuan Province to monitor Xiangnan City-State and Pill Sun City.
As for Xunlong City, Ouyang Shuo did not have any instructions for him and left him to decide on his own.
At this point, the Yunnan battle that was about to start was not just a simple battle.
One could foresee that this battle that wrapped in millions of troops would be the pinnacle act of the 3rd year of the Gaia.
The results of this battle would directly affect the fates of the two alliances in the following year.
Guilin Prefecture had been reclaimed, Kunming Prefecture was merged into Shanhai City, and Baiqi had started to reorganize the troops. The six legions were all moved into Kunming Prefecture to await orders.
Based on the plan from the Military Affairs Bureau, the six legions would be called the West Conquering Army with Baiqi as the West Conquering Commander. Huo Qubing would be the deputy and Bai Hua would be the senior advisor.
Even the Nanjiang Governor-General House Chief Secretary was sent to the West Conquering Army as a strategist.
The command center of the Chief Secretary was located in Consonance City.
The current West Conquering Army would most likely use Kunming Prefecture as the core to spread out on all sides.
At the same time, due to Guilin Prefecture being reclaimed and Shanhai City coming to an agreement with the two City-States, the strategic need at the Withered Flower Stronghold had been reduced. The Military Affairs Bureau had ordered the 3rd legion of the Leopard Legion Corps led by Feng Yi to move west to Zhen An Prefecture.
Without a doubt, they would be the reserve force for the Battle of Yunnan.
As for Chuanbei City-State in the north, the two strong legions of the Leopard Legion Corps would be in charge. Similarly, the Leopard Legion Corps would be in charge of monitoring Xiangnan City-State.
This battle pretty much involved the entire Shanhai City Army. If they won this battle, Shanhai City would be the undoubted overlord of Nanjiang, creating a stable foundation for the establishment of the country in the 4th year of Gaia. If not, everything was just talk.
As a result, neither side would strike out easily.
Like now, the 200 thousand Yanhuang Alliance troops had already teleported to Yunnan Province. However, as for which city or which cities, no one knew.
Due to the terrifying intel ability that Shanhai City had displayed in the Battle of Lingnan, Di Chen and the others had made careful plans so that their tracks would not be found.
Even if they knew that Shanhai City had two legions that had not reached the battlefield, they still did not choose to strike.
Di Chen and the others were not fools. Kunming Prefecture had a total of four legions in it. If they struck, they would lose the geographical advantage. It would be like using your weakness to attack the enemy.
What they needed to do was to set up numerous traps in the various prefectures and wait for the Shanhai City Army to take the bait.
Hence, the initiative for this battle still lay in the hands of Shanhai City. The order to start the war would be given by Ouyang Shuo.
And where was Ouyang Shuo? He was thousands of miles away in Chiyou City, drinking Three Flowers Wine and eating osmanthus cake while talking to four old men.
