Warlords: Conquer the world from the county magistrate

Chapter 211: Secret Discussion of the New Southern Army

Yuan Yueting was the first to calm down. He looked at Shen Congfu and asked, "Will the Southern New Army agree to this proposal?"

Cao Zhongqi: "Yes, the Southern Army has made many northern expeditions. What benefit will attacking Nanshan bring to them?"

"Now that we have been defeated, there is no guarantee that the new army from the South will not attack us. Why would they unite with us?" Wu Peisheng also spoke up.

Shen Congfu still had a confident smile on his face: "The strength of the Nanshan Army is obvious to all of you. If we let it continue to develop, where will it be in three years?"

It has been only three years since Fang Jian unified Nanshan, and Nanshan is now able to cope with an invasion by an army of 300,000.

If we give him another three years, even if the North and the South join forces, they may not be able to defeat him.

"This is just our unilateral idea. We don't know what the new army in the south thinks." Cao Zhongqi said after pondering for a moment.

"If we really want to unite with the Southern New Army, we have to hurry up. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to unite with them after the Southern New Army has marched to Sanjiang Province."

Hearing this, everyone present was shocked. The original target of the Northern Army was the Southern New Army, but they changed their target because the Nanshan Army attacked Nanchuan.

Now that the Northern Army has just been defeated, it is possible that they will take the opportunity to launch a northern expedition.

Yuan Yueting looked at Shen Congfu and said, "Congfu, I'll leave this matter to you. Organize an embassy as soon as possible and go to Jinchang for peace talks."

In Yuan Yueting's view, whether it was the Southern New Army or the Nanshan Army, they all needed to be eradicated. He didn't mind winning over one side and attacking the other, in order to preserve his own strength and weaken the opponent's power.

"Don't worry, President. I will complete the task." Shen Congfu stood up and responded.

In Shen Congfu's opinion, when they attacked Nanshan, the Southern New Army did not make any moves, and the alliance between the two sides must have broken down.

Given the combat effectiveness of the Nanshan Army, given the breakdown in relations, the Southern New Army probably doesn't want the Nanshan Army to become stronger.

Since they had decided to unite with the new southern army, they would naturally choose to continue using troops, so Cao Zhongqi stood up and asked:

"Mr. President, if we continue to use military force against Nanshan, how many troops will we need to mobilize and which troops will we mobilize?"

Faced with this problem, Yuan Yueting also fell into deep thought. Although there were still hundreds of thousands of troops in the north, they still had to guard against the northern warlords and the new army in the south.

Even if they joined forces with the New Army in the South, they would not withdraw all the troops from Qiyuan and Heyuan.

After weighing the pros and cons for a while, Yuan Yueting said, "Qiyuan, Heyuan, Changde, Shengyang, and Bingshan, the garrisons in these five provinces cannot be moved."

"Leave the Third Army in the capital, and all other troops will assemble in Sanjiang Province."

Upon hearing this arrangement, everyone present was shocked. Yuan Yueting was planning to go all out and fight a decisive battle with the Nanshan Army.

Excluding the troops in Sanjiang Province, the Northern Army still had 10 armies and 9 divisions. Except for six armies that could not be moved, the remaining 4 armies and 9 divisions were all deployed.

These 210,000 people, plus the remaining troops from Sanjiang Province, are much more than the troops that went to Nanshan last time.

In order to reduce his guilt, Feng Huamin did not report the specific losses of the Changhuan Campaign. Therefore, the senior officials of the northern government always believed that there were still tens of thousands of northern troops available in Sanjiang Province.

Without paying attention to the reactions of the others, Yuan Yueting said, "Zhong Qi, you will be responsible for recruiting troops throughout the province. I will form ten more armies."

When Yuan Yueting called his name, Cao Zhongqi was very happy. He thought Yuan Yueting would let him serve as the commander-in-chief of the expedition.

"Yes." However, after hearing the assigned task, Cao Zhongqi responded weakly, then sat listlessly in his seat, with an unwilling look on his face.

Upon hearing Yuan Yueting's idea of ​​recruiting soldiers, Deputy Minister of Finance Peng Yuguo hurriedly stood up and said, "Mr. President, no."

"The government's finances are becoming increasingly difficult. If we continue to increase the number of troops by 300,000, the financial pressure will become enormous."

The reason why the Northern Government maintained the establishment of twelve armies and fourteen divisions was because it was financially insufficient and had no choice but to do so.

The 13th, 14th and 15th armies that were expanded previously were only expanded because of the rise of Nanshan, which put great pressure on the northern government.

If the army is really expanded by 300,000, the current financial situation of the North will collapse instantly.

The North's financial difficulties stem from the oppression of the world's powers. During the previous dynasty, a series of indemnity treaties were signed with the world's powers.

Nowadays, a large part of the Northern government’s financial expenditure needs to be allocated to various powerful countries, which has led to the current situation of the Northern government and its inability to unify the country.

Yuan Yueting waved his hand and said nonchalantly: "It's okay. I have reached an agreement with the Little Locust Country. They are willing to provide us with a loan of 200 million silver dollars."

Upon hearing that there was a loan of 200 million silver dollars, the Deputy Minister of Finance sat down and stopped talking.

With an army of 300,000 soldiers, the annual salary is only over 10 million silver dollars. 200 million silver dollars are enough to make the northern government's finances comfortable for a long time.

After discussing many details, the meeting was finally over and each department started to take action and carry out their respective tasks.

While the Northern government's top brass was holding a meeting, the three leaders of the Southern New Army also gathered together secretly. They also knew about the Northern Army's disastrous defeat.

There was no one else in the meeting room except the three commanders of the Southern New Army and their close associates.

Chang Yun first coughed lightly and said, "Everyone, I think you already know that the Northern Army was defeated. What do you think about this?"

"What's so good about this? The defeat of the Northern Army is our chance to march north." Lin Zongde has been coveting Sanjiang Province for a long time.

Three years ago, he finally took control of Sanjiang Province, but due to the disturbance caused by the southern warlords and the reinforcements from the northern government, he had to withdraw from Sanjiang Province, which made him very angry.

Now that the northern government is in decline, it is the right time to seize Sanjiang Province. How can he let it go?

Xu Weigong shook his head slightly and asked, "Commander-in-Chief Chang, what do you think?"

Xu Weigong knew that if the purpose was just to march north, Chang Yunxian would definitely not let them discuss it together and would just arrange the dispatch of troops directly.

Sure enough, Chang Yunxian said, "The Nanshan Army is too threatening. Although the Northern Army is weak now, it still has strength."

"Sending troops to the north at this time will only deplete our strength and that of the northern government, allowing the Nanshan Army to take advantage and reap the benefits."

Xu Weigong nodded, and agreed very much with Chang Yunxian's opinion. He was also very wary of the Nanshan Army.

It has developed to this level in just four years. If it is given a few more years to develop, it will be able to unify the world by then. How can he not be afraid?

Lin Zongde was confused by what the two said and asked, "What do you mean? Are you not going to launch the Northern Expedition?"

Xu Weigong was very confident in Lin Zongde, this reckless man. This kind of person was good at fighting but not good at politics and was easy to control.

After Xu Weigong explained it to him, Lin Zongde finally reacted.

"You mean, instead of heading north, we should change our goal to attack Nanshan Province?"