Chapter 266 Who said we only have troops?
“Marshal, we caught a big one!”

“I have captured the second prince of Annan alive in the city!”

After Yu Yangzi of Wuyi Mountain blew up the city gate, the war ended without a doubt.

Ma Shang easily led the elite troops of the Beijing Camp to capture Hongji City.

Subsequent troops landed at the dock one after another and temporarily stationed outside the city.

It wasn’t until dusk that things finally settled down.

Ma Shang excitedly led his men and escorted Li Yuanting into the general’s tent.

Annan is a small country, but capturing the second prince of Annan alive is enough for Ma Shang to add an entry to his book of merit.

“Lord, spare my life!”

“Lord, spare my life!”

Li Yuanting was tied up and thrown to the ground by two soldiers. He no longer had the energy and spirit he had when he indulged in debauchery during the day.

He struggled to the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

“The Second Prince of Annan?”

Jia Cong turned around and glanced at Baochai, who had just been discussing military affairs with the staff group, with a smile in his eyes.

“It seems that Annan is not completely ignorant and has made a lot of preparations!”

“My Lord, this is all my father’s idea!”

“My father forced me to come to Hongji City to inspect the defenses in order to resist the army of the upper country.”

“It has nothing to do with me. I am innocent!”

When Li Yuanting heard this, he immediately realized that Jia Cong had guessed most of the purpose of his appearance in Hongji City.

Without hesitation, he sold out the King of Annan, Li Weiping!
“My father has long had the intention of being disloyal, and I have advised him against it many times.”

“Alright, I don’t want to waste any more time talking to you.”

“Tell me, do you want to live or die?”

Jia Cong picked up the teacup and took a sip, his tone calm.

“I want to live, I want to live, I want to live!”

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanting was afraid that Jia Cong would go back on his word, so he kowtowed repeatedly.

“Cooperate with me, and I will give you a chance to survive in the future!”

“Take him away and keep him under guard. He will be useful in the future.”

Jia Cong waved his hand.

“Come here, take this man away and assign someone to guard him!”

Seeing this, Ma Shang quickly ordered his personal soldiers to take Li Yuanting away.

Then he carefully approached Jia Cong.

“Marshal, do you want this Li Yuanting to inherit the throne of Annan so that people’s hearts can be stabilized quickly?”

“I have plans in this regard, but…”

“What do you think of Li Yuanting?”

Jia Cong looked at Ma Shang, who was one of the few capable people among the founding dynasty. With some experience, he might be able to stand on his own in the future.

“This… I think Li Yuanting is a treacherous villain. I’m afraid he won’t be content to be a puppet in the future.”

Ma Shang pondered for a moment before replying in a low voice.

As the head of the Zhiguo Mansion who inherited the rank of third-rank general, Ma Shang is now over 40 years old.

At this moment, he was cautiously tested by Jia Cong, who was not even twenty years old.

But there was no feeling of disobedience at all.

Several of the astute advisors in the tent guessed that Jia Cong was planning to train and use Ma Shang, and they couldn’t help but cast envious glances at him.

“What we want is his restlessness!”

“Annan is not like North Korea. It once rebelled against the imperial court several decades ago. The people here are unruly and difficult to tame.”

“The court’s plan for Annan was to establish Jiaozhi Protectorate after conquering it, with all its systems modeled after the Annan and North and South Protectorates of Korea.”

“Using barbarians to rule barbarians, the imperial court only looks at taxes and nothing else.”

“Li Yuanting is ambitious but incompetent, making him the most suitable bait. In the future, resistance forces in Annan will definitely contact him secretly.”

“As long as we keep an eye on him, we can set a trap in the future to wipe out most of the resistance forces in Annan.”

“Do your best and don’t let me down!”

After Jia Cong finished speaking, he patted Ma Shang on the shoulder again.

“I understand, and I will live up to your expectations!” Ma Shang couldn’t help getting excited and expressed his opinion loudly.

Jia Cong’s words clearly indicated that he was preparing for himself to be the Grand Protector of Jiaozhi Protectorate in the future!

Even the bulk of the Protectorate’s revenue would be divided between Jia Cong and the imperial court.

The little bit of oil and water left was enough for the Duke of Zhiguo to have a full meal.

The other generals in the tent immediately looked at him with envy.

“Sui Maoxiang!”

After encouraging Ma Shang, Jia Cong looked at Sui Maoxiang, who was at the head of the general’s tent.

“The general is here!”

“I order you to lead an army of 150,000 men. After two days of rest, you will board the ship again and sail south by land and sea to land in southern Annan.”

“I will assign you enough experts. You don’t need to worry about those above the third level.”

“Are you sure you can penetrate Annan and capture Zhenla before the end of the year?”

Zhenla was the Cambodia in Jia Cong’s previous life. During the Yuan Dynasty, it was ruled by Siam.

It was not until the reign of Emperor Taizong that the country was rebuilt, and it has only been a few decades since then.

The country is weak and although there are many temples in the country, it is difficult to find the true Buddhist teachings and there are not many masters.

“I am willing to issue a military order!”

“If you fail to conquer Zhenla before the end of the year, I will bring my head to you!”

Seeing that Ma Shang’s future was determined, Sui Maoxiang was unwilling to fall behind.

Compared with the commander of the Shandong camp, the Zhenla Protectorate to be established in the future will be a frontier official far away from the emperor.

He has Jia Cong as his backer.

Whether in terms of power or benefits, it is far from comparable to that of a Shandong camp commander.

“Okay, everyone go down and get ready.”

“Two days later, Sui Maoxiang will lead 150,000 troops southward, and the rest will follow me westward.”

“Just march fifty miles a day!”

“Since the King of Annan dared to send his prince to Hongji to inspect and resist the imperial army, it seems that he has been prepared for a long time and he must have the confidence in his hands!”

“Give them ten days to prepare. Don’t let me down!”

Annan is mountainous, with 70% of its territory located in mountains, which seriously hinders the army’s advance.

But Annan has a long and narrow territory.

Instead of wasting time conquering cities from north to south.

It would be better to give him enough time to mobilize most of Annan’s forces and accomplish the goal in one battle!
If Annan’s main force was defeated in one battle, it would be easier for the remaining troops to advance.

“The last general takes command!”

……

“Cong’er, we only have 400,000 troops, and another 70,000 are in the prisoner camp. Our combat effectiveness is worrying.”

“In the future, we will need to leave soldiers to guard the Protectorate established in Annan and other places.”

“Now that the troops are divided into two groups, will there not be enough troops?”

After everyone left, a refreshing fragrance came and Miaoyu walked out from behind the screen.

He came to Jia Cong’s side and asked in a low voice.

“Annan must at least keep Ma Shang’s 60,000 elite troops from the Beijing Camp to temporarily suppress the situation!”

“Zhenla is not as strong as Annan, so at least 30,000 people should be left behind!”

“There is also the Nanzhan Dynasty in Laos. Daqian Taizu once set up a Xuanwei Office in Laos, but in recent years, it is only a Xuanwei Office in name.”

“We will also need 30,000 people to garrison there.”

“According to this calculation…”

“We’ve already lost 120,000 elite troops before we even reach the Westerners’ sphere of influence.”

“Sister Miaoyu, who said we only have 400,000 troops?”

Jia Cong felt Miaoyu’s concern and leaned his head on her shoulder.

“Does the imperial court have any extra troops to mobilize? We can’t just transfer troops from the nine borders to the south…”

Miaoyu looked puzzled.

(End of this chapter)