Chapter 355: Chapter 355

"Hehe, you didn’t get to see the look on Hui Wenzu’s face." Zheng Fan, munching on a handful of sunflower seeds he’d grabbed from Blind Bei, said this as he chatted.

Blind Bei chuckled and said, "I understand. The foreplay was all done, everything was ready, and then it turns out he’s a man."

"Blind Bei, I’ve noticed that ever since you overexerted yourself that one time, your whole style seems to have changed a bit," A Ming joked from the side.

"Everyone has their youthful days. It’s a pity this world is set in ancient times. Otherwise, I’d pass all those in my WeChat contacts whose names start with ’A’ to you."

Upon hearing this, Fanli rubbed his head, asking, "What does that mean?"

Siniang shot Blind Bei a glare and said to Fanli, "This is grown-up talk. Children shouldn’t interrupt."

Fanli continued to squat by the threshold, listening to everyone speak.

Ever since that night talk in the pavilion, when Fanli had bluntly asked, "Why don’t we just kill our lord?" everyone else had tacitly excluded the naive fellow from their more serious conversations.

They didn’t have to go to war anymore—or more precisely, they didn’t have to fight *that* kind of war anymore. Everyone was actually quite happy about this, so they deliberately lightened the mood with jokes.

Bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand, Blind Bei said, "The Qian people are preparing to completely abandon their outer strongholds."

Directly giving up the clusters of fortresses, no longer wanting them—this seemed like an extremely passive way to avoid war. Yet, it was also like drawing back a fist, making them even harder to deal with.

The fortress clusters were initially established as a defensive measure against small squadrons of Yan people cavalry raiding south. Indeed, for a time, they were effective. In the century after the Qian State’s major defeat, small-scale border frictions were common. Then, the Qian people began constructing these fortifications, and gradually, raids by small Yan people cavalry units ceased.

Later, with the decline of the Desert Barbarians’ Royal Court, the Silk Road between East and West flourished, and everyone became busy with trade and commerce. The border between the two states became more like a large transit market.

However, now that a large-scale invasion by the Yan people was imminent, the Qian State’s defensive fort system could no longer serve any truly substantial purpose. This was because they were no longer needed for early warnings, nor could they effectively hinder the enemy.

The first time Zheng Fan led only four hundred cavalrymen into Qian State territory, he first eliminated a "nail"—one of the forts—in their path, then carefully infiltrated deeper. Read full story at NoveI(F)ire.net

But the second time, when he led over a thousand cavalrymen south, taking out forts was merely a casual act, more like a warm-up exercise. When they returned, they did so openly and grandly. The Qian State forces could light their beacons if they wished; they couldn’t catch his cavalry anyway, and the Qian State soldiers in the forts wouldn’t dare sally out to intercept them.

Therefore, by implementing this measure, the Qian State could limit its losses, avoid further heavy investment in the fort clusters, and consolidate its forces.

However, the Qian State was a realm governed by scholar-bureaucrats, who were fond of making grand pronouncements without regard for practical realities. For the Qian State’s imperial court to make such a decision, the ministers must have pushed it through against strong opposition.

Zheng Fan then said, "This way, the Yan Army will no longer face scattered groups of small forts but will directly confront the Three Towns.

"Liang Town, Wei Town, and Chen Town are major fortresses, the key strongholds of the three border commands, garrisoned with the Qian State’s elite troops from these regions.

"This is the Qian State’s first line of defense.

"The second line of defense, centered around Mianzhou City, is primarily manned by the West Army Division. This includes 150,000 West Army Division soldiers and more than 40,000 Wolf Land Soldiers.

"Mianzhou City itself isn’t particularly large, but the West Army Division excels at constructing defensive earthworks and fortifications. Using Mianzhou City as a focal point, they have constructed an extremely strong defensive line.

"The third line of defense consists of 100,000 soldiers from the Forbidden Army, 50,000 from the Zu family’s forces, and over 100,000 local militia troops—similar in nature to the Yan State’s commandery forces. They are positioned where Shu Prefecture borders the Northern Three Towns.

"This defensive line relies on several cities in Shu Prefecture. Additionally, if the front lines required it, troops could be dispatched from here to supplement the first two defensive lines."

A Ming looked at his lord with some surprise. Normally, this sort of analysis would be Blind Bei’s responsibility, but it seems my lord hasn’t been entirely idle either.

"Three defensive lines, totaling nearly 700,000 troops. And because the Yan State has aggressively initiated this war, certain matters can no longer be kept hidden."

Blind Bei pulled a letter from his sleeve and said, "It’s becoming increasingly difficult for the Sixth Prince’s spies in the Qian State to send back intelligence, or at least valuable intelligence, but this piece is quite good.

"It says that, facing pressure from the Yan State, the dire state of the three border commands, and the mess created by the Forbidden Army’s march north, previously concealed and suppressed problems have now been exposed.

"The Qian Emperor is furious. He has dismissed three individuals from the Privy Council, and one minister was even dismissed and sent back to his hometown in disgrace.

"Simultaneously, the Qian State’s imperial court has dispatched nine imperial envoys to various prefectures to conscript soldiers. I don’t know about other regions, but in Beihe Prefecture alone, 20,000 ’Beihe Dare-to-Die Warriors’ have already been recruited.

"The Qian Emperor certainly has some tricks up his sleeve."

"In this world, emperors as clueless as the one who asked, ’Why don’t they eat meat porridge?’ are, after all, a minority," Zheng Fan commented.

A Ming then asked, "Does that mean if this stalemate continues, the Qian State might actually manage to reform itself due to the pressure from the Yan State?"

"It has already begun," Blind Bei corrected. "The Three Border Commands and the Imperial Capital’s Forbidden Army, according to the military registers, were each listed with a paper strength of 800,000. Traditionally, after squeezing out the inflated numbers, the actual total available forces should be over 700,000."