To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 837: Chapter 358 The Way of Moderation_3

The only way of life left for Chu and Ning Countries was to make a northern breakthrough, to take over the land of Central State where Liang resided, seeking survival in this move.

By then, perhaps Chu and Ning could turn their weapons into gifts of silk, joining hands to embark on a Northern Expedition together.

In doing so, they would truly have overcome this great calamity between Heaven and Earth, preserving the ancestral temples of the six clans and seven families.

All of these strategies were based on Bai Yian’s true method to break the current stalemate, the only way out for the six clans and seven families, considering various actions up to now.

That’s why after his earlier strategy for a decisive battle was rejected, he proposed an equally extreme conservative strategy.

The goal was to preserve the Jiangdong foundation to endure until the great calamity a hundred years later, the last chance for survival.

However, such a sober recognition, judging by the attitudes of the many court officials and the Emperor in the hall, was something these people could never accept.

At least not until they had run themselves ragged and come to terms with reality, they wouldn’t accept it.

Therefore, Bai Yian couldn’t be bothered to explain himself to these people before this and just watched each one perform their own act.

And his attitude, once seen by Shen Qiu and the other ministers, actually made them even more pleased with themselves.

They felt that the Wuan Marquis had recognized the value of the middle way and, even felt ashamed due to the huge gap compared to the other sides, so he wisely chose not to make a fool of himself by coming forward.

Feeling triumphant, Shen Qiu waved his hand to stop the fawning flattery of the senior officials and turned his head to look at Han Quanhui, Minister of the Ministry of War accompanying him, and said, “Minister Han, as the head of the Military Department, the responsibility for recruiting soldiers, allocating supplies, and training personnel rests on the Military Department.@@novelbin@@

Previously, Wuan Marquis’ first strategy has been moderated by me.

The second strategy of broadly recruiting soldiers throughout the country can also be executed in moderation.

With over ten years of national power accumulated by our great Da Ning, we can truly manage to recruit an army of one million.

But after assembling an army of one million, based on the current treasury reserves, we could at most maintain it for a few years, ten at best, not for the long term.

Therefore, the assembly of one million is too many, I believe it can be reduced, taking a middle approach, by cutting from one million to five hundred thousand.

With these five hundred thousand new soldiers, plus the current veteran soldiers, Da Ning will have one million three hundred thousand soldiers in total.

Even if my modified middle way of the first strategy fails, beaten by Chu thieves, and we again lose soldiers and generals,

the remaining troops can retreat into the country and join with the strong military forces there. At any rate, we can still retain one million soldiers, which is exactly within the financial capacity Da Ning can maintain for the long term.

With an army of one million defending the territory, we can ensure the Jiangdong foundation is secured without worry.”

Shen Qiu then modified Bai Yian’s second strategy with a middle way approach,

directly halving the original scale of expanding the army by one million to only five hundred thousand.

As he had said, this served as a supplement to the middle way of the first strategy.

If the first strategy were to fail, then after losing generals and soldiers, leading the remaining wounded troops back into the country, Ning Country could still maintain a million strong soldiers.

With such an overwhelming military force, focused entirely on defense, it would indeed seem that Jiangdong could be preserved.

Wasn’t Zhou Country to the north, despite being besieged by barbarians, Wei, and Liang from all sides, able to withstand and endure until now with an army of approximately one million two hundred thousand?

And their conditions in Ning Country were far better than those in Zhou Country.

Now, as the great calamity is approaching, Jiangnan and Yangzhou, not part of Central State’s territory, hold no attraction to the northern Liang Country,

They wouldn’t continually send troops to harass and attempt conquests like they do, craving for Zhou Country’s Henan and Nanyang, which are part of Middle Earth.

So with the Yangtze River Natural Barrier, Ning Country only needs to dispatch tens of thousands of naval forces to fend off the threat from north of the river in Liang Country.

The rest of the army could obviously be spared to fully confront an attack from Chu State.

With an army of one million defending a country, no matter how one looks at it, there’s no risk of Jiangdong being lost.

However, in Bai Yian’s view, this strategy may appear sound, but it also harbors hidden dangers.

The newly recruited army of five hundred thousand troops were hastily assembled, and since they were inadequately trained, they could only be used as civilian workers.

Without a year or two’s time and several bloody battles to harden them, they would fundamentally be unfit for major use.

So when Shen Qiu spoke of an army of a million, in reality it was merely an army of five hundred thousand, with an additional five hundred thousand men who were nominally soldiers but actually nothing more than civilian workers.

This combination, in terms of true combat effectiveness, was naturally worrisome.

And if the Chu thieves truly unified the north of the Lingnan River, after a slight reorganization of a year or two, they could pull together a million troops to launch an invasion to the east.

By then, facing the Chu troops’ army basking in the glory of their recent victories over formidable foes, could these forces truly hold back the opponent?

Certainly, Bai Yian was not optimistic.

This is why he proposed the seemingly ultra-conservative strategy of expanding the army by a million.

This was not because Bai Yian was scared senseless but rather because it was the optimal strategy calculated from the actual situation.

Just as with the Chu people defending Jiangxia, a batch of new recruits barely lasted a month before nearly ten percent were lost.

The new recruits enlisted by Ning Country, even if they relied on guarding the city, would still suffer significant casualties during training.

And considering Ning Country’s lengthy border with Chu State, with its many forts and strongholds, it was impossible for all to be as formidable as Jiangxia; their defensive capabilities were definitely greatly reduced.

Furthermore, given the long-standing peace in Jiangdong, the quality of Ning Army’s new recruits was certainly not as good as those from Chu State, which was engaged in warfare year after year, and their training time was likely not as abundant as that of the Chu State’s new troops.

All these factors combined signified that the hastily recruited new soldiers would definitely be inferior to the Chu troops within Jiangxia.

With the cities they were defending being neither as strong nor as strategically positioned as Jiangxia, and their defenders being weaker than the Chu troops in Jiangxia, these troops responsible for guarding the innumerable cities and fortresses along the border would certainly suffer greater casualties.

In the event of the Chu troops laying siege, if the Ning forces ended up trading at a ratio of three, two, or even one to one, Bai Yian would not find it strange at all.

And if one considers the inevitable formation battles during the Chu-Ning conflict, then the losses would be even greater.

Recruiting a million soldiers only to have five hundred thousand die, leaving behind five hundred thousand elite troops, was all too plausible.

Adding on the casualties among the veteran soldiers during the battle, the remaining elite troops combined with the original veteran soldiers would in fact still be an army of a million, just within the financial support range that Ning Country could sustain.

It seemed as if Bai Yian suggested Ning Country should train a two-million-strong army.

But in fact, half of that two million were prepared to be used as cannon fodder, to consume Chu Country’s forces and buy time for training his own elite troops.

But now, according to Shen Qiu’s middling approach,

it left the Ning-Chu border defense potentially riddled with gaps.

The elite troops that could finally be trained would definitely fall short of a million, and this could not fully guarantee Ning Country’s security.

It can be said,

Shen Qiu’s self-perceived balanced approach had once again foiled Bai Yian’s future plans.

Yet the people in the hall were completely oblivious, showering their Emperor’s middle-of-the-road method with praise and once again a chorus of sycophantic adulation arose.

Witnessing this scene, Bai Yian nearly ground his molars to dust.

‘This damned moderation, these damn sycophants.’

After cursing inwardly twice, Bai Yian also knew that the situation was still irreversible, and he could only bemoan, ‘So be it. If worst comes to worst during battle, I will petition His Majesty to expand the army again, to carry on fighting while training. It is still not too late.

As long as I am here, the Chu thieves will never take Jiangdong.’

The Wuan Marquis secretly vowed, his heart filled with determination.