Start with a red name

Dong Guan's body was not delicate at all; on the contrary, he was quite robust.

This time, the blood spurting was not from the bad news itself.

It was the pent-up frustration he had been harboring for days, coupled with his stubbornness based on his powerful authority, that suddenly erupted at this moment, like a resounding slap across his fat face.

It was as if there was a voice whispering mockingly beside them.

Old man, you've been tricked again!

The complete annihilation of the army at fifteen post stations was already heartbreaking enough.

This repeated humiliation, with people pressing their faces against his, only fueled his anger and shame.

He had been in charge of two prefectures for decades, holding the lives and deaths of tens of millions of people in his hands. How long had it been since he had experienced something like this?
This is outrageous! How could it be?

Feeling the strong taste of blood in his mouth, Dong Guan gritted his teeth and walked towards the military camp without saying a word.

Back in the main tent, as soon as he sat down, the crowd silently followed him and filed into the tent.

They stood in their usual positions, one by one.

Dong Guan's lifeless gaze swept across everyone's faces one by one.

"...Now, what suggestions do you have?"

Looking back now, Dong Guan's plan, which he implemented single-handedly, had obvious flaws.

Or rather, the idea of ​​"wishful thinking" is too prevalent.

At that time, Dong Guan, blinded by rage, was like a ferocious beast that could devour anyone at any moment.

Even if someone notices something is wrong, they dare not say anything and can only go along with his wishes.

Now, reality slapped Dong Guan's fat face hard, waking him up, and finally someone dared to speak up.

Dong Guan's gaze swept around the tent before landing on a man with three sparse strands of beard under his chin.

After a few seconds of silence, the man stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said:
"Your Majesty, I have something to say."

"speak."

“I understand your desire to tear these scoundrels to pieces, but doing so now is not appropriate,” the man said.

"What's wrong with it?" Dong Guan asked.

The man was silent for a moment, then began to explain in a soft voice.

Last night, taking advantage of the fact that Dong Guan had concentrated all his energy and a large number of troops around the "throat waterway", the enemy directly eradicated fifteen post stations on the east bank of Xuanqinghai.

It was quite a commotion, but in terms of troop losses, it was alright, barely within Dong Guan's tolerance range.

Each post station was guarded by four to five hundred iron cavalry.

In total, the number of cavalry lost at the fifteen post stations was around seven thousand.

The fact that the enemy could so easily gain such a victory is certainly due to their clever use of strategies such as "luring the tiger away from the mountain" and "feinting to the east while attacking in the west".

This also exposed the flaw in Dong Guan's plan to use his iron cavalry as "chains" to lock the enemy within the Xuanqing Sea.

Even though our side has suffered repeated heavy losses, our troop strength and overall strength are still superior to the enemy's, which is beyond doubt.

However, in addition to gathering a large number of troops on both sides of the "throat waterway", Dong Guan also scattered them along the coast of Xuanqinghai like scattering beans.

The circumference of this coastline exceeds four thousand li!

Although this "dispersion" is not a uniform distribution like scattering sesame seeds, but rather based on "thousands of riders" as the basic unit, some remain stationary while others move, forming a cohesive whole.

In Dong Guan's plan, no matter where the enemy wanted to land and break out of Xuanqinghai, they would encounter his own iron cavalry immediately.

Even if one's own forces are weaker at a certain point, the surrounding troops will be quickly drawn to them.

Given the speed of the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry, the first force they encountered only needed to "stick" to them for a moment before tens of thousands of cavalry could quickly arrive and entangle them.

However, judging from the current situation, Dong Guan's idea is clearly overly optimistic.

Although he temporarily withdrew a large number of troops from the fifteen post stations where the entire army was wiped out because they were relatively close to each other.

Even if Dong Guan did not withdraw any troops, given the strength shown by the enemy, they could have easily wiped out the cavalry at several post stations before the enemy could react.

Dong Guan stared at the other person and asked, "Then how do you think it should be adjusted?"

The man said:
"In addition to the scouts and sentries that have been dispersed, our cavalry and other forces should be concentrated as much as possible."

Even if they cannot all be concentrated together, each army's cavalry should number at least 20,000.

"...In that case, wouldn't the siege strategy become ineffective?"
"They can break out from anywhere in the Xuanqing Sea at any time, as long as they want," Dong Guan said.

The man replied, "There's nothing wrong with that."

Upon hearing this, Dong Guan's eyes instantly sharpened.

Dong Guan's core base is all on land, and as long as nothing unexpected happens to these bases, he has a continuous source of revenue.

Even if he suffers some losses, he can recover quickly thanks to his powerful blood-generating ability.

Therefore, when such an enemy chooses to sneak into Xuanqinghai, Dong Guan naturally prefers to eliminate him here.

Instead of the two sides chasing and fighting each other in the two states of Xuanyou, even if he eventually wins, his "home" which he has been managing for decades will become a mess and a complete disaster.

This is a situation that Dong Guan subconsciously wants to avoid.

The man's answer, however, was exactly the opposite of what he intended.

The man stared at Dong Guan and said:

"Your Majesty, this enemy is very dangerous!"

"Of course I know……"

Dong Guan was already getting impatient.

He felt that the other person was spouting meaningless and unoriginal nonsense.

"But you're still worrying about the loss of the jars and pots, and you're even trying to eliminate the other side at the lowest possible cost!" the man continued.

"..."

Dong Guan suddenly fell silent.

He opened his mouth, but didn't know how to respond.

Without considering the "cost" factor, our side has the advantage of a large number of cavalry and a foundation of rule built up over decades.

If the enemy is on land in the Xuanyou and You provinces, it will be much easier to deal with them.

If the enemy is determined to remain holed up in the Xuanqing Sea, it will be much more difficult to remove this cancer.

This subordinate pointed out the real problem.

He was hesitant to act rashly.

They wanted to eliminate the enemy, but they didn't want to damage their foundation, and they were reluctant to lose even the smallest things.

Dong Guan remained silent for a long time.

The question then arises: "What if the other party is determined not to leave Xuanqinghai?"

"...After capturing the 'choke point', continue to send fleets northward."

"More than 80% of the ships in Xuanyou and Xuanqing provinces are now in the hands of the enemy."

With the few ships we have, it won't be easy to reclaim Xuanqinghai.

"If we hadn't deployed so many ships on the north bank of the Hanghe River for our southern expedition, we wouldn't even have enough to recapture this vital waterway," Dong Guan pointed out the problem. "But we also have an advantage. Although the enemy has many ships, every one that sinks is one less, while we can build them continuously."

I remember that Canglan Bay had a lot of timber stored there, ready to be air-dried.
These can all be used immediately, and we'll soon have many more ships at our disposal.

"Moreover, we can borrow from elsewhere."

"Borrow?" Dong Guan asked, somewhat puzzled.

The man nodded: "Although the southern expedition plan has been temporarily canceled, we can still make use of some things."

For example, we originally planned to take over all the boat guilds and water fortresses in the Linhang River area of ​​Haozhou and Yuanzhou and requisition their boats for our use.

The plan is very well done, and once it is implemented, we will soon be able to obtain a large number of ships.

However, doing so will inevitably increase the vigilance of other states towards us.

Upon hearing this, Dong Guan's eyes suddenly lit up.

He no longer cares that doing so would surprise his "friendly nations" or create huge obstacles for any future southward expansion.

With his subordinates' guidance, he has thoroughly clarified the core priorities.

He had no right to consider anything else until he had dealt with this enemy.

"If this situation really comes to this, then this battle will be long and it won't be resolved in just three to five days."

"It is clearly inappropriate to send our carefully trained cavalry to dismount and board ships to fight the enemy at sea, or to fight them underwater, as expendable resources."

More troops must be conscripted from the various tribal settlements.

"..."

After reflection and discussion with his subordinates, Dong Guan made appropriate adjustments to the strategy for the future.

Overall, the adjustments are not significant; they simply represent a shift towards greater restraint and pragmatism, free from wishful thinking.

……

Nightlight Island.

Just as Dong Guan and others were reflecting on their mistakes and repenting,

What is happening here is the most exciting scene for the entire "Black Wind Army".

Good fortune and blessings.

Yesterday, a water battle broke out first.

Because of deliberate planning, the "Black Wind Army" did not exert its full strength in this area, and kept controlling the output of its power.

However, in such a life-or-death battlefield, there is no question of deliberately holding back.

Every combatant on the front lines is giving their all and risking their lives in the fight.

The total number of participants was 15,000.

It mainly consisted of the shipyard and the "Southern Camp" of the guards.

While killing thousands of enemies, our own losses were equally enormous.

There were only a little over three hundred prisoners, all of whom were unlucky souls who had been stranded on their own ships and unable to retreat with the main force in time, having been sent back by the enemy ships.

Of these 300-plus prisoners, only a little over 100 were successfully converted and survived to become members of the "Black Wind Army".

As a result of this water battle, the "Black Wind Army" experienced a negative growth in size.

Fortunately, the Iron Cavalry then launched a lightning attack on fifteen post stations on the eastern shore of Xuanzhou in Xuanqinghai, near the "throat waterway".

Dong Guan, who was so eager to be flirted with that he actually made the mistake of being blind to his own shortcomings.

In this "Flesh-Cutting Operation," the entire 20,000-strong Black Wind Army cavalry was mobilized.

The nearly 7,000 iron cavalrymen from the fifteen post stations were swallowed up in one fell swoop.

After accounting for those who died in battle and were eliminated during transformation, the number of fresh blood was only a little over a thousand.

The conversion efficiency is lower than in previous attempts.

Geng Xuan guessed that this was because everyone knew Dong Guan was nearby, which put even more mental pressure on them.

These thousand-plus new members couldn't even completely fill the "deficit" of the Iron Cavalry.

Not to mention paying off the losses from the naval battle as well.

Fortunately, after a final count, the total size of the "Black Wind Army" did not actually decrease; on the contrary, it increased by several hundred members, bringing the total strength to over 67,000.

More precisely, it is 67,358 people.

This deficit was made up thanks to the fact that when they took over the nearly 7,000 cavalry from these 15 post stations, they also had more than 3,000 auxiliary troops fall into their hands.

These "servant armies," composed almost entirely of cultivators from other races, offered absolutely no resistance.

Before the "Black Wind Army" could even explain their prisoner policy, the prisoners immediately threw their weapons away and squatted obediently to one side with their heads in their hands.

Some of them, whose emotions were more outwardly expressed, had an eager look in their eyes that seemed to hold back their words, as if they had been waiting for them to be recruited.

After the battle, they all cooperated actively, helping to quickly clean up the battlefield, move all valuable supplies away, and help the Iron Cavalry quickly board ships and evacuate.

Each of them continued to do everything meticulously that a "servant army" should do.

However, before providing the "service," they made a complete 180-degree turn and changed their "service recipients."

If Dong Guan knew the truth, I wonder if he would be so angry that he would spit blood again.

After generously bestowing "good fortune" upon the more than 30,000 people who participated in yesterday's fierce battle, the thousands of newly recruited members were incorporated into various armies and battalions, either restored to full strength or further expanded and increased in number on the existing basis.

After consulting with Liu Mu, Song Mingzhu, Tie Lang, and others, Geng Xuan also made adjustments to the defenses of the "Black Wind Army".

The ship corps and the southern guard corps, which participated in yesterday's naval battle and all received considerable good fortune, will be reorganized and reassigned.

They were swapped with people from the East Camp, North Camp, and West Camp.

As everyone knows, the area south of Nightlight Island will become a new "battleground".

For the soldiers under Dong Guan who were about to be transferred to this area, it meant only one thing: the shadow of high probability of death had already fallen over their heads.

If they could escape such a fate, everyone would try every means to flee far away.

On the contrary, the "Black Wind Army" were like moths drawn to a flame, and if they were not given the chance to come here, they would be questioned for being unfair.

After making these arrangements, Geng Xuan went to a secluded courtyard on the island.

Upon entering the courtyard, one is greeted by a scene of "harmony and happiness".

In the courtyard, seven or eight people sat casually on low stools made of stone blocks.

Yang Qian, Liu Mu, Tan Ze, and others were among them.

There were also several unfamiliar new faces.

These people were all Geng Xuan's "spoils of war" from yesterday.

During the naval battle, Geng Xuan did not participate in the front-line fighting, and Ruan Ruizhe, Yu Qiuhe, and others did not notice his presence from beginning to end.

But his figure remained like a shadow moving about in that area of ​​water.

Although, compared to on land, Geng Xuan's movements in the water are also somewhat restricted.

However, when compared with others, his advantage in the water far exceeds that on land.

If he so chooses, he truly is like a drop of water entering the ocean. (End of Chapter)