Lu Qiming was stunned and looked at Wang Miao's eyes intriguingly.

What does Wang Miao mean by this?

Hasn’t he been a powerful driving force for the Northward Advance Strategy?

Why is there now showing signs of change?

Thinking of the meaning of the words Lu Qixiu revealed to him before, Lu Qiming guessed that there might be some changes in the prince and the Privy Council.

"But the prince's attitude has changed? Should we first go south and then north?" Lu Qiming thought, "Since the Shatuo people can ignore the attitude, they should go south first, there must be some reasons, right?"

Lang Kun also agreed, "Yes, Privy Councilor, haven't he determined the Northern Strategy? How long will this delay be put on hold? Our preparations here need to continue, or suspend?"

"You two should also know the attitude of the prince. The strategy of advancing north will not change, and the time will only change slightly. As for the reasons, you may also guess some. From the Battle of Xuzhou to the Yanyunyi strategy, to the recovery and purge of Lu, a series of wars have consumed a lot of food and military capital. Even the grain prices in Shouzhou, which have never been short of food, have risen sharply. In addition, this time the Daliang collapsed, a large number of Bian Luo soldiers fled to Xuzhou. According to preliminary statistics, at least 300,000 people were from Luoyang, and Bianzhou successively evacuated from Daliang to the prefectures in the Xuzhou General Administration in the past six months."

This time, in addition to inspecting the military affairs of Pinglu, Wang Miao also wanted to give Lu Qiming, Lang Kun and the others a reassurance, so that they could not affect their military preparations due to changes in the situation in the south.

Because of some subtle changes in the situation in the south, the Privy Council has also adjusted its strategy and has to have a large military operation in the south, but it is expected that the time will not be too long. We must strive to completely resolve the southern problem within three to five months, no more than half a year, and then go all out to plan for Heshuo. It is even possible that the northern strategy should be launched before the southern military operation is over.

"So, the prince asked me to come here this time to check the preparations here. Including the establishment of the Pinglu Army, the progress of the establishment of the Pinglu Army cannot be slowed down, but can only be accelerated. According to the opinions of the prince and the Privy Council, all aspects must be prepared before the end of June, that is, the northward advance may be launched before mid-July, and you must have this preparation."

Lu Qiming put down the wine bowl he picked up again and weighed it, "Prince Envoy, do you want to take Chu Yang?"

"Well, this is the case, but it depends on whether some other conditions are ripe." Wang Miao explained patiently: "There are some new trends in the south of Yue and the ant thieves. Wuwentang and the Privy Council are paying attention, so there will be some minor adjustments. However, the prince and the Privy Council have not changed their attitude towards Heshuo. Moreover, judging from the information obtained by the Khitan, the Khitans are seeking to put pressure on Liu Shouguang, asking Lu Long's army to withdraw from Tanzhou and Jizhou, which put a lot of pressure on Liu Shouguang. It is estimated that Liu Shouguang cannot withstand the pressure of Yelu Deguang and will withdraw from Tanzhou and Jizhou."

"Tanzhou and Jizhou have actually been almost penetrated by the Khitans. Liu Shouguang only stationed two soldiers in Tanzhou and Jizhou, which is better than nothing. Yelu Deguang did this not for the sake of Tanji and Jizhou, but for Youzhou!" Lu Qiming changed his expression slightly, "Youzhou is Yelu Deguang's ultimate goal. If you take Youzhou, there will be no danger in the Hebei Plain. Khitan cavalry can come and go freely."

"Yi Shui and Juma Shui can't play a blocking role at all. If Youzhou is occupied by the Khitans, the entire Heshuo will be in danger." Lu Qixiu also added.

"After the loss of Youzhou, Yizhou, Wuzhou and Mozhou are difficult to save. The Hutuo River and Zhangshui and the Fox Dian in Moxian and Waqiao areas can have some blocking effects. However, the terrain of this line is too vast. Khitan cavalry can cross the river from waterways hundreds or even thousands of miles east and west. Even if we control Cangzhou, it will be difficult to control Shenzhou. Huzhou and Mozhou. Khitan cavalry can cross the river to the west and run east. We have to arrange troops on the Yongji Canal line of defense to protect Cangzhou. It is very difficult to defend."

Since Lang Kun became the governor of the Pinglu Army, he has been focusing on military affairs. After learning about the next task of the Pinglu Army, he has been thinking about the situation in Heshuo, especially the geographical terrain of the three states of Di, Cang and De. He even specially recruited several guides who were very familiar with the situation of Cang, Mo, Ying and You to explain it to him, and then compared the map and sand table to study it.

Even Lu Qiming was very touched by Lang Kun's performance. Before, he still had some opinions about Lang Kun being the deputy governor of Pinglu Army. In his opinion, this was a bit like Jiang Feng's compensation for Yu Mingzhen, because Yu Mingzhen only served as the governor of the Ya Army. Lang Kun and Yu Mingzhen had some relatives, but they were arranged to be the deputy governor of Pinglu Army. Jiang Feng did not even distribute Zhang Yue and Qin Zaidao.

Although these people are not as powerful as Lang Kun in martial arts, they are the generals of the first army. The use of martial arts will actually fade away in the future. On the contrary, loyalty will become more and more important as the power of Xuzhou continues to expand.

"That's true." Wang Miao looked at Lang Kun with some surprise and nodded. He did not expect that this general from Taining Army had such a deep understanding of the geographical conditions of Heshuo, even no less than his son from Heshuo. "Although there are several rivers on the Heshuo Plain, it will be frozen in winter. Secondly, the Hebei Plain is wide and the river channel is straight, and there are many places to cross the river. With such a long river channel, the defense party is under great pressure and is easily attacked by the enemy, causing one to lose sight of the other. Therefore, we must build a solid bridgehead in Cangzhou before the Khitans control Youzhou."

"If possible, it would be best to let Liu Shouguang withstand the pressure of the Khitans instead of it." Although Lu Qiming also wanted to compete with the Khitans, as a governor, he had to look at the problem from a higher level. The Khitans were not easy to deal with. From the overall situation in Xuzhou, if Liu Shouguang's Lulong Town was ahead, it would undoubtedly be more beneficial to Xuzhou's development for more time.

"I thought so too, but Zhang Chujin could not provide much help to Liu Shouguang, and might even drag him down. So we need to take over the three states of Di, Cang and De, first to ensure that our own defense is stable, and then consider whether Liu Shouguang is worthy of support." Wang Miao nodded.

"If the Tuyuhun people can form an alliance with us, it may be able to greatly alleviate the pressure of Liu Shouguang." Lang Kun said suddenly.

Wang Miao looked at the other party with appreciation, "Well, the Privy Council is also planning the issue that General Lang is considering, but in the final analysis, it depends on us."

***************

On March 29th, the Jin army advanced along the canal and arrived at Taoling Town, ten miles southeast of Yongqiu County. It is only fifteen miles away from Songzhou. The cavalry can break into Xiangyi County in Songzhou in half an hour, and the army can reach Xiangyi City in two hours; it is only thirty miles away from Kaocheng County in the southwest corner of Caozhou, and it can also reach Kaocheng County in two hours.

Both Xuzhou and Caizhou were watching the movements of Shatuo Iron Cavalry nervously.

The Wuning Army and Ziqing Army who had completed the transfer of Songcheng had evacuated Songcheng. The Ziqing Army was stationed in Yucheng and Chuqiu, while the Wuning Army retreated to Yongcheng.

The final result of the negotiation between the two sides was that Xuzhou gave up Yingshang, but only obtained Xia Cai, and included it in Shouzhou. Now Shouzhou has added a county, with a land spanning north and south, and has four counties, Shouchun, Huoqiu, Anfeng and Xia Cai, which was a compensation for the previous exclusion of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and Huoshan counties to the Zhouzhou.

Suzhou and Danzhou were established at the same time.

Suzhou has governed the five counties of Tongxian, Qixian, Fuli, Shansang and Linhuan. The prefecture is located in Tongxian (Tongqiao Town) and is included in Xuzhou.

Shanzhou has six counties, including Shanfu, Chuqiu, Dangshan, Yucheng, Jinxiang, and Fanghe. Among them, Jinxiang and Fanghe were transferred from Yanzhou. Chengwu County, which was originally considered to be transferred from Caozhou, did not adjust the prefecture in Shanfu, and Shanzhou was transferred to Wuning Town.

As soon as Xuzhou and Caizhou reached an agreement, Xuzhou immediately released the captured soldiers and masters of Caizhou, and even voluntarily returned a considerable number of weapons and armor to help Caizhou quickly establish a defense line in Songzhou.

Yang Kan also served as the champion general as the commander of the three town army, and unified the command of the Tianping Army, Zibo Qing Army, and Wuning Army to deal with the entire western situation.

This is the first time that Yang Kan stands side by side with Zhu Mao.

The two of them stood on the wall of Kaocheng County and looked southwest.

Yang Kan and Zhu Mao are not familiar with each other.

In fact, Zhu Mao was not familiar with the generals of the original Huai You Army system, but he was more familiar with the generals of the Lu Army system who were in the Resistance Army.

"Governor, the Crow Army is here." Yang Kan narrowed his eyes and observed the black cavalry flying by several miles away with a thousand-mile mirror. "It is indeed a cavalry brigade. He has served in the Liang army several times, but the scale of the war is not large, so it is difficult to judge."

"Yang Shumi, Shatu Iron Cavalry is not a false reputation, but there is no need to praise him too much. He has been dealing with Shatu people for a long time, so he still knows a little about their strength."

Zhu Mao maintained a calm but respectful attitude towards Yang Kan. He could not care about Yang Kan, but he could not respect the rules and military disciplines of the Xuzhou General Administration. Since Yang Kan was the Privy Councilor, he came on behalf of Jiang Feng and he must give necessary courtesy.

"I wonder what the governor thinks about the combat effectiveness of his infantry?" Yang Kan was more concerned about this.
Chapter completed!