After some debate, the opinions of several priests became unified, thinking that passive defense was not on both sides under the pressure of enemy troops. Once the enemy broke through the Yangtze River defense line, the Gyeonggi area would face the threat. Even if it was only possible, they could not ignore the series of consequences caused by the enemy's entry into Jiangnan.

"Since you have to fight, how do you think the purpose and goal of this battle should be determined?" Zhao Bing glanced at the ministers and asked. Since he decided to fight now, he must establish a combat policy, but he also understood that if people do not understand what to achieve and what to obtain in the war, then war cannot be carried out, or war should not be carried out. The established combat policy will be related to the scope of the means to be used and the size of the force to be used, and will be related to every subtle link of military operations.

"Your Majesty, Yuxi Timur has been leading the army in the northwest for a long time and is very arrogant. If he does not suffer severe damage, he will often invade the border in the future!" Jiang Yu said.

"Governor Jiang said well. I think since I want to fight, I might as well let go of my hands and feet so that he dare not peek at Jiangnan!" Liu Fu nodded.

"Your Majesty, the purpose of this battle is to fight back against the enemy's invasion; the other is to restrain the enemy's troops from Huaihe, so that they dare not divide their troops to reinforce Sichuan and Shu. Therefore, I support the proposal of the two governors to concentrate the troops of the Jiangdong headquarters to fight against the enemy, and to deal with the enemy with severe damage." Lu Xiufu said.

"I also think this battle is very necessary, but it must be controlled." Ying Jieyan did not object, but still expressed his own opinions, "Although our dynasty has recovered Jiangnan for two years and has accumulated some money and food, if it supports the east and west battlefields, it is still not strong enough. Please think twice."

"Well, what Governor Liu said." Lu Xiufu nodded thoughtfully after hearing this, "At present, the two battlefields of the east and west are going to war at the same time, it is really difficult to ensure military supplies. On both battlefields, I think the Western Expedition is the most important. After successfully capturing Chongqing, I will also rely on the court to supply military supplies for a period of time, and the cost is even more heavy. Although the Battle of Jiangdong is to ensure the safety of the capital, it is not advisable to be entangled with the enemy. After the enemy suffers severe damage, I will seek peace again. Therefore, I think it can be a quick battle to relieve the burden on the court!"

"Speed ​​battle and quick decision..." Zhao Bing murmured after hearing this. He knew that the time factors that need to be considered for the war plan were also needed by both sides of the war. The problem was that which side of the two sides could count on their situation to get special benefits from time first.

If the special circumstances of both sides can be offset by each other, then it is obvious that the loser can get this benefit first. Of course, this is not based on the laws of mechanics, but on the laws of psychology. Jealousy, suspicion, worries, and sometimes righteous indignation are all natural defenses for the unfortunate. On the one hand, it will bring sympathy to the "invaded" and on the other hand, it will weaken and disintegrate the internal alliance of the "invader". Therefore, time is more beneficial to the conquered person than to the conquered person.

Secondly, it should be considered that the use of the initial victory, as we have already pointed out elsewhere, requires a huge amount of power; the consumption of this power is not completed in one consumption, but continues like maintaining a large family. Although the power of the state is enough to allow us to occupy the enemy's area, it does not always withstand the large amount of consumption required to continue to occupy the enemy's area. In this case, it will become increasingly difficult for the state to continue to provide power, and it may be completely unable to provide it in the end. In this way, the situation can change drastically by just time.

Lu Xiufu's opinion on quick battles and quick decisions is also based on this. In offensive battles, it should be quick battles and quick decisions, and the strategic goals should be achieved in the shortest time. Because the longer the time, the more difficult military operations are, the more difficult it is to provide supplies. For defense, protracted warfare is beneficial to the defenders. On the one hand, it has sufficient time to mobilize reinforcements; on the other hand, it can weaken your own national strength.

"Your Majesty, I think if you want to protect peace in the south of the Yangtze River, you should seize the two Huai Rivers and use this as a buffer zone to achieve the strategic goal of seizing the Huai River and defending the Yangtze River!" Han Zhen interrupted at this time.

"Second envoy of Han, seizing the two Huai Rivers can indeed ensure peace in Jiangnan, but the army to be used is not only the Jiangdong headquarters, and the current military strength is not enough to support the battle between the two Huai Rivers. The large-scale expansion of the army will first affect restoration, restoration of people's strength, and accumulation of money and food. In order to seize the Central Plains, it will lead to a surge in military spending. It is difficult for the country to support it for a long time, so it has to retreat to Jiangnan again." Liu Fu shook his head and said.

"Well, what Governor Liu said makes sense, it's because I'm too radical." Han Zhen thought for a moment and realized that he had proposed a grand strategic goal that exceeded the emperor's early years. He then said, "Our current goal is to severely damage the enemy, Wanhu Mansion, Henan and Shandong, but it is difficult to achieve just guarding Jiangnan."

"Yes, the enemy attacks and defends us. After they find that our army is in strict defense, they will inevitably give up further actions. Although the enemy has suffered losses, it is difficult to deal with it with it!" After hearing this, Lu Xiufu immediately realized this problem. He limited the battlefield to Jiangnan and still could not achieve the newly established goal and achieve the goal of preventing hostile Jiangnan from harassing through this battle.

"Can we fight a defensive counterattack?" Seeing that the ministers had expressed their own opinions, reached a consensus on the strategic goals and the purpose of this battle, but they entered a deadlock in military operations, Zhao Bing said at this moment.

"Defense counterattack? Please let Your Majesty make it clear!" Several people looked at each other but did not understand the emperor's meaning. Lu Xiufu politely said.

"I imagine whether we can divide this battle into two stages. In the first stage, we use the strategy of luring the enemy into depth, luring the enemy to land in Jiangbei, and then cut off the enemy's retreat route and annihilate all the lands that invade Jiangnan; in the later stage, we will use the strategy of siege and attack the enemy's land that must be fought for, and force the enemy to rescue them. Then we use the strategy of besieging the city and fighting aid to encircle and annihilate the reinforced enemy, so as to achieve the goal of severely damaging the enemy in Huaidong and thus achieve the goal of preventing the enemy from raiding Jiangnan." Zhao Bing said his plan in a few words.

He said this not on a whim, but after consideration, since defeating the enemy in Huaidong is the absolute goal of military operations, there are three ways: crushing the enemy in Huaidong, occupying important node cities in Huaidong, and attacking the enemy in the surrounding areas. To achieve defeating the enemy, there must be two conditions: one is that one must have enough army and be able to achieve decisive victory in the war, so that the enemy loses the ability to counterattack again; the other is that it is enough to deter the enemy, make them lose the idea of ​​fighting again, and move to the negotiation stage.

Zhao Bing thought that all these conditions could be met. Jiangdong established five armies under his command. In addition, the imperial guards and the First Navy Division were stationed around the capital, with a total of 200,000 people, both in terms of military strength, equipment and combat effectiveness. The enemy's motivation for provoking war was impure, and it was nothing more than to imagine a limited war to alleviate internal crises and increase bargaining chips for negotiations. Therefore, Zhao Bing was not prepared to launch a full-scale war. Therefore, Zhao Bing was still confident in winning this battle.

"Your Majesty, if you want to lure the enemy, you must show your weakness. However, along the river are all important towns. Once you lose them, it will be very difficult to retake and annihilate them again. You still need to be careful!" Ying Jieyan frowned and said. He believed that the young emperor could understand his meaning. The important towns along the river are not only important military places, but also economic centers. Once they are given up, it will not only cause panic among the government and the public, but also cause significant economic losses. Even if the invading enemy is annihilated, it will also be suspected of not getting the gain. Therefore, the pros and cons must be weighed.

"What sir said is very much." Zhao Bing nodded and pointed to the map and said, "I am going to lure the enemy into this place and then gather and annihilate it."

"Oh, Your Majesty wants to lure the enemy into the front line of Kunshan. Most of this place is a barren land and there are few towns. It is indeed good as the main battlefield, but it is also difficult to replenish supplies because of the barrenness. I am afraid that the enemy will not fall into the trap!" Han Zhen said in confusion after seeing it.

"This place is indeed as you said, and it is difficult to get supplements. But don't forget that this place is the best place to cross the river and land. There are rich places like Changshu and Pingjiang around it, and after capturing Pingjiang, you can also go south and go straight to the capital, threatening Lin'an!" Zhao Bing said.

"Haha, not bad!" Han Zhen said embarrassedly when he heard this, "The current Mongolian Yuan naval army is weak and it is difficult to compete with our army for control of the Yangtze River and support crossing the river. However, the landing battle from Chongming can be launched to cross the river as a springboard. Now the river is narrow and the water depth is not enough to carry the sailing of our army's large warships. Floating bridges can be built. When A Shu invaded the south, he also chose this place, and then went south to Pingzhou and approached the capital of the capital."

"The Mongol Yuan was known for his cavalry. There were no strong cities in this area. They did not need to compete for the cities, but they could play their strengths. After crossing the river, they could go south quickly. As long as Yuxi Timur was not stupid, they would be the first choice." Zhao Bing nodded and said.

"Your Majesty's brilliant plan, so our army can set up an ambush between Baimadu and Taicang River. When the navy cut off the floating bridge and cut off the enemy's retreat route, they cannot move forward and have no way to retreat, and become a turtle in a jar. If they trapped them, they would die between the two rivers!" Liu Fu said with a smile.

"Where will your Majesty choose the place for counterattack?" Lu Xiufu asked.

"Yangzhou!" Zhao Bing pointed to the Yangzhou Road on the map without hesitation. Yangzhou is located at the eastern end of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain, central Jiangsu Province, bordering Taizhou and Yancheng City in the east; connecting Nanjing in the west, bordering Liuhe and Tianchang County in the west; facing the Yangtze River in the south, facing Zhenjiang and Changzhou in the south; connecting Huai River in the north, adjacent to Huai'an and Yancheng City; connecting the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the middle runs across the north and south.
Chapter completed!