Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 295: Mobilization! Strong response, fighting on all sides!
Li Yuanji turned around and looked at Cen Wenben with a stern gaze.

"Jingren, we are now attacked from three sides. There are more than ten countries' coalition forces in the north, the Harsha Kingdom in the west, and the armies of Srivijaya and other countries in the south.

Tell me, what should we do next? "

Li Yuanji knew very well that he had to fight this battle, and the current situation did not allow him to retreat at all.

Once the war breaks out, the army will be frequently mobilized and will face the enemy several times, which will inevitably require military expansion, and the amount of money, food and supplies required will be enormous.

Moreover, the transportation of money, food and materials requires a large amount of manpower.

This decision will bring about great changes here, and all of these require Cen Wenben's support to complete. Even if he can force Cen Wenben to do it, he wants to know what Cen Wenben is thinking.

Cen Wenben met Li Yuanji's gaze with a solemn expression and without the slightest hesitation.

"Your Majesty, I suggest you fight!"

“The king’s fiefdom is so vast now, it was conquered by sending troops. You must not give in to foreign wars, otherwise the people of the various prefectures will not support you.

Moreover, within the king’s fiefdom, there is sufficient money and food, and sufficient supplies to fully support the army’s campaign.

During the war, trade will be reduced, and all factories, as well as the Firearms Bureau, Iron Bureau, and Ship Bureau will invest all manpower and material resources to manufacture what the army needs.

All prefectures developed and supported the government, collected and reduced taxes across the board, and mobilized young and strong people to transport various materials to various locations.

The 200,000 Type B troops within the king's fiefdom can be immediately upgraded to Type A troops according to the needs of a war, and the 300,000 reserve troops can be directly upgraded to Type B troops.

If the war is fierce, the 300,000 reservists can be deployed directly to the battlefield after training."

Cen Wenben paused for a moment and said solemnly: "If we win this battle, no country will be able to stop the king's expansion, even the Tang Dynasty will be completely exposed to the king's army.

Even if they were defeated, they would still have Leizhou Prefecture, Guangzhou Prefecture, Nanzhou Prefecture, Jiaozhou Prefecture, Liuzhou Prefecture, Yuezhou Prefecture, Luzhou Prefecture, and Songzhou Prefecture as their absolute support.

After resting for three to five years, we can still support the king to send troops again and take back everything.

This time, we must not only fight back, but also take the initiative on every battlefield!"

After Cen Wenben finished speaking, Li Yuanji smiled sincerely. What Cen Wenben said was exactly what he was thinking.

Since he came to Lingnan, he now has this vast fiefdom. These were not given by others, but were conquered inch by inch by sending troops.

In the past, in order to develop, he tried his best not to fight big battles and always maintained a certain degree of control over himself.

Now, with enemies attacking from three sides, he doesn't want to endure it any longer.

If we have to fight, let’s fight!
"Haha! Great! What Jingren said comforts me!"

Then Li Yuanji stopped smiling and his eyes showed murderous intent.

"Draft a royal decree immediately and assemble the army immediately!

The armies of Srivijaya and other countries should convey my order and let Liu Rengui assemble the rest of the navy except the East China Sea Fleet, and then deploy 30,000 troops to meet the enemy!

Tell Liu Rengui that in this battle, not only must the enemy be defeated, but the Three Buddhas must also be destroyed!"

"Order Feng Ang to go to Andong Prefecture immediately to prevent Goguryeo from attacking Andong Prefecture!

Now that Li Er has been able to persuade Srivijaya to send troops, it is very likely that Goguryeo will send troops to Andong Prefecture.

Tell Feng Ang that if Goguryeo sends out troops, he will lead 60,000 troops from three prefectures to meet the enemy and then invade Goguryeo!"

"Order Yu Minghe and Ning Chun to integrate the various tribes as soon as possible. If Feng Ang sends troops to Goguryeo, immediately launch an attack on Goguryeo and assist Feng Ang to destroy Goguryeo!"

"Send a message to Wei Yunqi and tell him that no matter what method he uses, I will destroy the Harsha Dynasty for me!"

"Order Xi Junmai and Xue Wanche to return immediately!"

Li Yuanji then looked at Cen Wenben again.

"From the 200,000 Type B troops, select 100,000 of them as reserve troops to reinforce wherever a large army is needed!
In addition, the Firearms Bureau has been expanded again. Now I have asked the Firearms Bureau to manufacture new firearms. You must fully support it and provide all the Firearms Bureau needs.

Send more staff to the Firearms Bureau and the Iron Bureau to improve the overall casting capacity!
Finally, the allocation of food and supplies will all be left to you!"

Li Yuanji's heart was filled with excitement for a moment. This was the first time that he used his resources to start a foreign war. It was also the first time that he used hundreds of thousands of troops to fight.

Li Yuanji has always attached great importance to development. In his heart, development indeed occupies the most important position.

But Li Yuanji knew better that the stable environment needed for development could only be created by a large army. Now dozens of small countries had joined the war, and without exception, they were here to fight him.

If he wants to continue to develop and achieve better development, he has to destroy all these small countries first, only then can he develop better.

He understood this simple truth very well.

Especially now that new firearms have come out, he is even more fearless.

If the previous firearms technology could only establish an advantage, then today's firearms are enough to help him gain victory.

As Li Yuanji's decision came down, all trade within Li Yuanji's fiefdom was directly stopped. All prefectures, states, and counties began to gather all their young and strong people, and money and grain were continuously transported to the designated gathering points.

All civilian ships were requisitioned and used to transport food and supplies.

All major ports, both military and civilian, are filled with ships loading various supplies at the docks and transporting them to designated locations.

While caravan merchants from various countries were on edge, people from all prefectures and states all consciously participated in the collection and transportation of various supplies. Recruiting offices in various places were surrounded by young and strong men who wanted to join the army.

At the locations of Type B armies in various places, arsenals were opened one after another to equip the army with armor and various weapons. All work at hand was stopped and everyone assembled and waited.

All 300,000 reservists from all over the country were concentrated, and the armories also began to distribute various weapons, while high-intensity war drills were launched at the same time.

The army was constantly gathering, using various means, including post roads, rivers, and sea routes, to gather towards the north, west, and south.

Two months passed, and all preparations were completed. The armies were assembled and on standby. Wei Yunqi's western army and Liu Rengui's southern army all set out.

In the palace, Li Yuanji summoned Cen Wenben, Wang Gui, Wei Ting, Wei Zheng and others to discuss important matters.

“Your Majesty, the initial food and supplies needed by the western and southern armies have all been delivered, and the subsequent supplies have been collected and can be deployed at any time.

The supplies needed by the eastern army were mostly prepared and had already been delivered to Andong Prefecture and Dongzhou Prefecture through various major ports.

The supplies for the northern army have been deployed in advance. As the king leads the army on the march, the treasuries have been replenished along the way, so the army can replenish supplies at any time and anywhere. "

Cen Wenben was the first to speak, and after he finished speaking, Wei Ting followed closely.

"Your Majesty, the 200,000 Type B troops have all been assembled in Guangzhou Prefecture, Wuzhou Prefecture, Xizhou Prefecture, and Yunzhou Prefecture.

Yunzhou Prefecture has 80,000 troops, Xizhou Prefecture has 60,000 troops, Wuzhou Prefecture has 40,000 troops, and Guangzhou Prefecture has 20,000 troops. All the weapons of the army have been issued, and there is nothing to do, so they can reinforce the battlefields at any time.

The 300,000 reserve troops have now been assembled, including 100,000 from Leizhou Prefecture, 60,000 from Guangzhou Prefecture, 50,000 from Yuezhou Prefecture, 20,000 from Jiaozhou Prefecture, 20,000 from Liuzhou Prefecture, 20,000 from Nanzhou Prefecture, and 30,000 from Luzhou Prefecture.

Armouries in various places have already distributed the weapons and equipped 70,000 troops. The weapons needed by the remaining 30,000 troops are being mobilized from the main warehouse.

The reserve forces assembled in various places are all undergoing training, and in three months, they can also be deployed to any battlefield.

These 300,000 reservists have completed the transformation into Type B Army.

At the same time, the Ministry of War is recruiting new reserve forces, with a tentative quota of 100,000, pending demand."

Li Yuanji felt relieved as he listened to the two people's words. Fortunately, there were people to do these things. Moreover, both Cen Wenben and Wei Ting were extremely talented, and they handled the matter very smoothly and clearly.

If he were asked to do all these things, there would be no chance of sending out troops this time without a year or two of preparation.

After the two of them finished talking, Wang Gui spoke next.

"Your Majesty, trade in all regions has been stopped, and the common people are all actively cooperating. All the merchants causing trouble in various countries have been arrested, especially the merchants from enemy countries, who have all been taken care of.

Customs, coastal defense, and all major docks have stepped up their guard, and all funds of the Ministry of Commerce have been mobilized to raise various supplies.

The purchase of grain from the Tang Dynasty is still ongoing, but the Tang court later stopped selling grain, and now the amount of grain purchased is decreasing. All the purchased grain has been transferred to the Ministry of Households for redistribution.

Merchant ships going to various countries for trade have been suspended and are temporarily used to transport food and supplies. "

After Wang Gui finished speaking, Wei Zheng spoke up next.

“Your Majesty, I have ordered the Supervisory Council to rush to each prefecture, state, and some large counties to monitor local officials to prevent anyone from being corrupt or colluding with the enemy during this special period.

For the other counties that have not sent personnel from the Supervisory Council, I have been speeding up the formation of personnel to ensure that every county has someone from the Supervisory Council to supervise it.

During the supervision period, I have issued orders to all the offices of the Supervisory Council and have instructed all the personnel sent out to supervise impartially during this period. All reports on matters have been suspended. During this period, they will only be responsible for supervising corruption, lazy governance, and collusion with the enemy.

At the same time, the communication between officials and the people during this period will be the focus of the Supervisory Yuan’s subsequent supervision.”

Listening to everyone's summary report, Li Yuanji felt extremely gratified.

"Thank you for your hard work. During this period, you must not relax. If this war ends smoothly, everything will be fine.

With you guys handling it, I feel relieved, so let's leave it at that."

"Liu San, how many of those new firearms have been cast?"

Li Yuanji was extremely relieved about all this. Cen Wenben was in charge of the most important matters, so he had nothing to worry about.

The most important thing is that there is no point in him worrying, these things have to be left to them to deal with.

What Li Yuanji is most concerned about now is the firearms cast by the Firearms Bureau. These firearms are the key to the battlefield.

Although a lot of them have been put into service now, Li Yuanji still wants more. After all, the scale of the Firearms Bureau has expanded again and its production capacity has been further improved.

Among the armies sent out, the eastern, western and southern troops still used the original artillery, not the red cannon.

Even for muskets, Wei Yunqi in the west had the most equipment, followed by Liu Rengui in the south, because the navy itself had a certain amount of equipment.

Only Feng Ang in the east, as well as Yu Ming and there, had the least, but he had no choice.

Feng Ang had eighteen cannons and three thousand muskets, while Yu Minghe had only eight cannons and one thousand muskets.

These were all cast by the Firearms Bureau with the help of the Iron Bureau. Time is limited and there will be no more. They can only be gradually replenished during the war.

Even the Fire Dragons that were specially used by Liu Rengui's navy were not produced in large quantities, so Liu Rengui had to use them first.

The army he will lead to Tubo will be equipped with all new firearms, including twelve red cannons and two thousand flintlock rifles.

But Li Yuanji still felt that it was not enough. After all, with an army of nearly 100,000, they only had so many firearms, which looked shabby no matter how you looked at it.

Liu San immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, we now have five red cannons that can be delivered to the army tomorrow. There are also two thousand flintlock rifles that can be delivered to the army tomorrow."

Li Yuanji sighed when he heard this. He had originally wanted to produce 10,000 flintlock rifles and dozens of red cannons, but now it seems there is no hope.

Seventeen red cannons and four thousand flintlock rifles, Li Yuanji could only say that he had to make do with this number.

"Okay, then we'll deliver it tomorrow. Remember to go all out when you get there. You can gradually stop producing the muskets and cannons you produced before.

Now that the armies in various places are almost sufficient, we will focus on forging red cannons, flintlock rifles, and rockets."

Li Yuanji did not say much about the current production volume. Previously, the Firearms Bureau had been responsible for producing firearms for the other three armies.

Although there were red cannons, flintlock rifles, and rockets, the previous muskets and artillery had the advantage of relatively simple craftsmanship and were easier to produce. In addition, time was tight, so Li Yuanji had to produce a part of them and give them to the army first.

After explaining this matter, Li Yuanji immediately stood up and looked at everyone.

“Now that everything is almost ready, I will lead the army to the battle in three days.

Here, I leave it to you guys!"

After setting the date for the expedition, Li Yuanji immediately called Su Dingfang and Xi Junmai.

As for Xue Wanche, he had already led 30,000 troops to Tubo to provide support and pave the way for the main army.

When the two arrived, Li Yuanji spoke directly.

"After you go down, be prepared. The army will move out in three days!"

After he finished speaking, Li Yuanji immediately looked at Xi Junmai.

"Jun Mai, how is the training of the firearms army I asked you to form now? Can it fight?"

After the firearms arrived, Li Yuanji established a separate firearms army and gave it to Xi Junmai to lead.

As a confidant who followed him from Chang'an and had strong personal abilities, Li Yuanji had great confidence in Xi Junmai.

"My lord, the training has been completed and we are ready for battle at any time!"

Li Yuanji nodded and said, "Okay, then I will wait to see your performance.

The Firearms Bureau will deliver another batch of firearms tomorrow. You can have someone pick them up tomorrow and then install them all."

Li Yuanji was full of expectations for the performance of this firearms army.

(End of this chapter)