To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

After pondering for a while, Lu Yuan eventually decided to conduct a round of expansion recruitment from among that group of civilian workers.

He would select the elite, train another contingent of soldiers, and supplement the local prefectural and county soldiers as well as various military expedition camps’ troop deficiencies.

Yes, the scale of this recruitment was not just limited to three hundred thirty thousand prefectural and county soldiers.

He planned to further expand the recruitment, train an additional two million plus men, and after supplementing the local forces, inflate the Northern Expedition army to a strength of eight million strong.

Indeed, at a time when Chu State’s logistical pressures were severe and supplies were getting increasingly difficult, Lu Yuan did not consider reducing the scale of the war but planned to continue recruiting troops instead.

It wasn’t that he had lost his mind or become a war maniac.

It was the choice he made after considering practical concerns.

The current situation was not only clear to Liang, but Lu Yuan here had also more or less seen the situation clearly.

What he had originally thought, which was to annihilate both Liang and Wei within a year, proved to be unrealistic after last year’s practice.

And this year’s second Northern Expedition to capture Grand Liang in one battle was probably achievable.

After all, the strength of Chu State far surpassed that of the Monarch and Ministers of Liang by more than just a margin.

The three armies that had been split off not only had forces five times the size of the three prefectural cities surrounding Grand Liang but also thrice the number of Inborn Grandmasters.

In terms of disparity in strength, it was even more exaggerated than the previous attack by various princes on Mengshan Pass.

Therefore, taking the surrounding three prefectures was essentially not a problem.

Liang’s hope of whittling down Chu’s military strength using the outer prefectural cities was nothing more than a pipe dream.

And if Chu’s main force was not depleted and their strength was preserved, converging to attack Great Liang would naturally be unlikely to encounter any accidents.

Laying siege for about two or three months, Grand Liang should fall by no later than July of this year.

But does breaking through Grand Liang signify the demise of Liang State?

It’s not that simple.

Without Grand Liang, Liang State would merely lose Liang Prefecture.

Behind Liang Prefecture, in places like Shanyang, Rencheng, Yingling and others, Liang still had nearly two million troops.

In the eastern region, Liang still had a million strong army.

The soldiers near Grand Liang were only part of Liang’s main forces.

In other areas, there were still large numbers of Liang’s main forces gathered, and they controlled many affluent territories.

Until these main forces of Liang were wiped out, until those territories were lost, Liang wouldn’t fall so easily.

After breaking Grand Liang, there would at most be three months left this year for the Chu army to carry out its conquests.

It is fundamentally impossible to defeat the remnants of Liang’s army mentioned above within three months.

Even if the troops of Liang surrendered along the way, Chu would not be able to assume control of the remaining territories of Liang within three months, not with such a rapid pace of march.

Therefore, just considering time alone, Chu State would not be in a position to annihilate Liang within this year.

Moreover.

Lu Yuan could be certain that if Chu truly captured Grand Liang and seized the Imperial Capital of Liang, then those countries that were originally hiding behind Liang, merely providing front-line support, would certainly not be able to restrain themselves and would step onto the forefront.

Take Xu State, for example.

Since last year, seeing such a terrifying progression in Chu’s Northern Expedition, Xu State immediately changed its stance from originally being hostile towards Liang, swiftly switching to supporting Liang.

However, at this time, Xu State’s support was merely limited to providing some financial and grain aid, to assist them in maintaining their army.

Xu State only regarded Liang as a barrier, a buffer zone, to block the thrust of Chu’s northern movement.

But if Grand Liang were to fall and Liang Prefecture occupied by Chu, then Xu would be directly facing Chu along their border.

With the original buffer zone gone, the barrier would naturally no longer be tenable.

At that time, Chu’s threat would be directed straight at Xu’s homeland.

Under such circumstances, how could Xu possibly remain still?

Therefore, directly sending troops to confront Chu would become inevitable.

By then, following Wei, Zhao, Liang, and Zheng, Chu would be waging war with another hegemonic state, Xu.

This was going to be a one-against-five scenario, even more exaggerated than Liang’s previous solo fight against the world.

And it might not be just Xu State.

If Chu captured Grand Liang and continued eastward, it would not be long before they bordered Tang Kingdom.

Once bordering Tang Kingdom, Tang’s expansion in the direction of Qingzhou would naturally be blocked by Chu.

Originally, Tang could cooperate with Chu for the purpose of dividing Liang together.

But if that prerequisite disappeared, then Tang’s attitude would naturally change as well.

In a world where all nations viewed Chu with hostility, it was highly probable that Tang would also send troops to campaign against Chu.

And if Tang deployed its troops, would Xu Country and Jin Country be far behind?

If these countries all formed an alliance, wouldn’t Chu just become the enemy of the entire world?

All these scenarios were highly likely to occur.

Under such circumstances, Lu Yuan’s expectations for the progress of the Central State strategy were naturally lowered again and again, from the original one-year conquest of Liang and Wei to a step-by-step approach.

From swiftly swallowing the world, the strategy adjusted to a gradual encroachment.

The original plan for a quick victory was no longer possible.

In facing the entire world as an enemy, even Lu Yuan wouldn’t dare to claim an easy victory.

Chu State’s national power also could not support this.

Therefore, changing the strategy from a short-term conflict to a long-term war was quite necessary.

Originally, maintaining an eighteen million-strong army was indeed too much of a burden for Chu, so large that it was difficult to sustain over a long period.