When Liu Ming took the map and ledgers, his hand trembled, and the papers rustled.
Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming's knees buckled, and he almost fell to the ground—conquer Chang'an in one month?
This was more absurd than a farmer trying to poke the sun with a bamboo pole!
Yun Fei saw their expressions and knew they didn't believe him.
He smiled faintly and said,
"If I can assemble an army of a million within twelve days, can you take Chang'an?"
The ledger Liu Ming had just picked up fell to the ground with a 'thud' again, and the papers scattered.
Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming, on the other hand, stared wide-eyed, frozen in place, as if he had misheard.
"A million-strong army! A million-strong army! A million-strong army!"
Liu Ming murmured to himself, his eyes glowing with excitement.
He knelt on the ground without hesitation, his voice trembling with emotion:
"My Lord, if there truly is a million-strong army, let alone a month, I can take Chang'an in fifteen days."
Yun Fei nodded, signaling him to rise.
After Liu Ming stood up, he immediately pointed at the map and said,
"My Lord, how many troops do we have now?"
Yun Fei calculated briefly and replied,
"Currently, we have forty thousand troops, and we can assemble one hundred thousand by tomorrow morning."
Hearing that one hundred thousand troops could be assembled by tomorrow, Liu Ming became even more excited.
He opened the map of the Great Wu Dynasty and pointed to two strongholds, saying,
"My Lord, these two places are the lifelines of the Great Wu Dynasty's transportation."
"With one hundred thousand troops, plus our current position, I am confident we can capture them within two days."
"Once these two points are taken, the Great Wu's reinforcements will be completely cut off."
He continued to point at four locations on the map:
"These four locations are closest to Chang'an. As long as My Lord can resolve the issue of a million-strong army within twelve days, I can take these four strongholds within two days."
"At that time, we will divide our forces into four routes, converging from all sides, and we can capture Chang'an within a day."
"My Lord need not worry about Chang'an's defenders. Although there are one hundred thousand Imperial Guards, they have never been on a battlefield, and their combat effectiveness is far inferior to border troops."
"I have conducted an investigation,"
"As long as we capture Chang'an within fifteen days, the border armies will not have time to return for aid."
"It can be said that as long as we assemble a million-strong army within twelve days, our true opponents will only be those one hundred thousand Imperial Guards."
"With a million troops, I refuse to believe we cannot defeat one hundred thousand Imperial Guards."
"What's more, by then we would have already cut off two main transportation routes."
"The returning soldiers will only be slower."
"Adding the time for transmitting messages and confirming intelligence, we will have at least a month of buffer time."
...The next morning.
The morning sun pierced through the clouds, casting a crimson hue on the dilapidated walls of Qingshan City.
Liu Ming stood at the highest point of the city tower, his finger slowly tracing the winding ink lines on the map, finally stopping at two vermilion marks.
"Duanyuan Pass and Tong Pass..." he murmured.
His green robes flapped in the morning breeze.
"Take these two places, and Chang'an will become a turtle in a jar."
Heavy footsteps sounded behind him.
Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming approached, wearing crude armor hastily made overnight, his face still bearing traces of un-dried sweat.
"Military Advisor, My Lord sent me to ask, when can the army depart?"
Liu Ming didn't turn around, simply tapping the map with his finger:
"Grand Marshal, which place do you think we should attack first?"
Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming leaned closer to the map, pointing at the location of Duanyuan Pass with his calloused finger:
"This is closer to us, let's attack here first."
"No." Liu Ming suddenly turned, a sharp glint in his eyes.
"Why?" Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming frowned.
Liu Ming took out a bamboo slip from his sleeve and slowly unrolled it:
"Tong Pass, though difficult to attack and defend, is geographically crucial. Once taken, we can both attack Duanyuan Pass and directly seize Chang'an."
"Furthermore, Tong Pass has not experienced warfare for nearly fifty years, and its defenders may be lax."
"In contrast, although Duanyuan Pass seems easier to breach, its defending general is reckless, but his deputy, Zhou Gan, is extremely cautious."
"Moreover, over the years, border disturbances have almost all been concentrated at Duanyuan Pass. Therefore, they have rich combat experience and stronger defensive capabilities."
"So, the actual situation is far more difficult to breach than it appears on the surface."
He lightly tapped the records on the bamboo slip with his fingertip.
"More importantly—Tong Pass is the main lifeline for grain transportation, with three times the stored grain of Duanyuan Pass."
Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming was somewhat confused:
"Military Advisor, I don't quite understand what you're saying, just tell me where to attack."
Liu Ming glanced at him and explained:
"A one hundred thousand-strong army has enormous daily consumption."
"What's more, My Lord's soldiers are all tall, and to maintain their combat strength and marching speed, they require three times the grain of ordinary soldiers."
He put away the bamboo slip and looked towards the squad of elite fighters assembling within the city.
"We must live off the land through war."
"Only by first seizing the grain at Tong Pass can we sustain ourselves until we reach Chang'an City."
At this moment, orderly footsteps came from below the city wall.
The two looked down and saw squads of elite fighters marching in silent formation.
They were all over two meters tall, with bulging muscles and heavy footsteps, as if the ground itself was shaking.
Even more unsettling was that some of them still had arrows from yesterday embedded in their bodies, or their skin was charred black from fire oil, yet they moved freely.
"Monsters..."
Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming subconsciously swallowed, realizing his slip of the tongue, and quickly looked around.
Fortunately, the nearest elite fighters were ten paces away and seemed not to have heard him.
Even if they had heard, they wouldn't have cared.
Liu Ming chuckled softly: "Grand Marshal, why fear your own soldiers?"
"You don't understand." Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming lowered his voice, "These fellows don't seem like living people at all."
"Yesterday, I personally saw a soldier whose arm was cut off, using the blood gushing from his severed arm to smear a defender's face, then biting through the opponent's throat."
A flicker of surprise crossed Liu Ming's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
"It is precisely because of this that we are sure to win."
He pointed to more elite fighters assembling outside the city, "Look, My Lord did not lie."
Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming looked in that direction and couldn't help but gasp.
During yesterday's siege, there were only thirty thousand elite fighters, but now the open field outside the city was densely packed with people, at least triple the number, a full one hundred thousand troops.
Further away, an endless stream of dark figures surged from the horizon, like a black tide.
"He actually gathered one hundred thousand troops." Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming whispered, his voice full of bewilderment.
"Even conscripting commoners wouldn't be this fast..."
Liu Ming gave him a meaningful look, his voice low:
"Grand Marshal, some things, the less you know, the longer you live."
Liu Ming didn't care why there were so many soldiers, nor how My Lord had gathered them.
He only cared about one thing—overthrowing the already corrupt Great Wu Dynasty.
A flurry of hooves interrupted their conversation.
Yun Fei slowly approached on a stolen warhorse.
This was the result of him spending an entire day and night barely learning to ride.
While he still couldn't freely control the warhorse to gallop or trot, making it walk steadily was no longer a problem.
Behind him followed twenty tall elite fighters.
"My Lord." Liu Ming and Grand Marshal Zhang Lieming quickly saluted.
Yun Fei waved his hand and dismounted.
He looked even more exhausted than the day before, with sunken eyes, but his expression was unusually exhilarated.
"How is the plan progressing?"
He asked.
Liu Ming quickly unfolded the map in his hand:
"Your subordinate suggests capturing Tong Pass first, for three reasons..."
He briefly summarized his previous analysis.