TO ACHIEVE IMMORTALITY, I CULTIVATE USING QI LUCK

Chapter 1143: Chapter 461: The Fourth Northern Expedition Chapter 1143: Chapter 461: The Fourth Northern Expedition As for the contraction of the defense zone in the homeland, Lu Yuan had been contemplating this idea since he had drawn troops from the Yuzhou Camp back to the homeland for reinforcement.

But previously, he was preoccupied with the Northern Expedition and temporarily had no time to attend to this, only able to conceive plans in his mind and slowly make preparations.

Now that the Northern Expedition had ended and the winter season for recuperation had arrived, he finally had some free time to make adjustments and handle the situation.

The abandonment of the territories of the eight prefectures in the southwest and Lingnan was just the first step.

By consolidating the above-mentioned regions, Chu State could potentially save about 1.15 million county soldiers, as well as 4.6 million people working on military agricultural colonies, and seven Inborn Grandmasters.

Of course, these were theoretical figures.

When defenses were initially established, in the southwest and Lingnan areas, Chu State indeed had that many troops.

But now, it was already the third year of Chu State’s Northern Expedition.

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After so much time had passed, the Barbarian and sea raiders invaded incessantly, especially fiercely this year.

After so many wars, the troops and residents in the military agricultural colonies of the two defense zones, how much remained was really a question.

Even Lu Yuan did not know the specific troop strength on the southern front at this time.

In the cities in the south, the defending Inborn Grandmasters were ordinary Inborns cultivated and subdued by Chu State, apart from one Avatar newly transferred back from the Yuzhou Expeditionary Camp this year, there were no other Avatars of his.

In such circumstances, the situation Chu State faced on the southern battlefield was actually similar to the situation Xu, Liang, and other states faced when confronting Chu State previously.

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They were blind, figuratively in the dark.

So, though there were creatures like semi-Divine Blood Variants such as the wind eagles, timely communication with the front line was still exceedingly difficult.

Not to mention obtaining real-time updates on the situation of various cities and clarifying their specific troop and supplies status.

This was undoubtedly very dangerous.

Because under such circumstances, Chu State in the southwest and Lingnan War Zones could experience what Xu State did in Shouzhang City before.

Regarding whether that city still held out or had fallen to Chu’s forces, there was complete ignorance.

Even Lu Yuan, at this moment, could not ensure that the cities and strongholds in the two southern War Zones still remained in Chu State’s hands.

The situation had already turned grave.

And it was precisely because of this that he had the thought to contract the defense line and move the defense region further back.

“This year, we already evacuated the people from Qianzhong and Jian’an counties, as well as the southern parts of Yuzhang and Dongting counties.

Thus, by next year, we shall begin evacuating the people of Hegu and Xichuan counties.

These two western counties together have about twelve million people, just right for the third wave of relocations.”

Compared to Linhai, Yuzhang, Dongting, and Xiangyang, which were only separated from Central State by a river, Hegu and Xichuan counties, which were further west, had evidently become the weakest links in Chun State’s control within its main territory.

Moreover, Hegu County was remote, situated on the highlands with barren land and a scant population to begin with; it really wasn’t worth continuing to hold onto.

Though Xichuan County boasted the Xichuan Plain, which produced bountiful grain and had a dense population of over ten million, it was a genuinely important source of finances and food.

But the same problem persisted.

Being on the border of the western frontier was Xichuan County’s biggest weakness.

After giving up on the vast area in the southwest, the significance of Xichuan County as a key rear position for that region diminished greatly as there was no longer a field of use for the food and supplies it produced.

And without supplying the southwest, it was difficult for the food production of Xichuan County to traverse the surrounding mountains and be transported elsewhere.

Apart from the water route directly to Dongting, which was relatively convenient, the other roads leading out of Xichuan County to the outside world were considerably difficult to travel.

If supplies couldn’t be transported out, and Xichuan County itself couldn’t use up so much, then the massive production of grain and money would be wasted.

Furthermore, being off to the side and far from the central government was another drawback.

Thus, there wasn’t much value in retaining Xichuan County.

Therefore, this time, Lu Yuan was prepared to target Xichuan County as well for abandonment.

“Once the people from Hegu and Xichuan counties are relocated, the troops that were withdrawn from the southwest can directly be stationed in Xichuan County.

Using Xichuan County as the core, we can secure the defenses south of Hanzhong and west of Dongting, establishing a western defense line.

Then, taking Qianzhong County as the core, we can build a southwestern defense line that guarantees protection west of Dongting.

Next, with South Sea Prefecture as the core, we can construct a southern defense line that safeguards the south of Dongting and Yuzhang.

Finally, with Jianan County as the core, we can create a southeastern defense line that protects Yuzhang and Linhai.

These four counties, with their four lines of defense, if managed well, can form a new defensive iron curtain, firmly blocking the invading Barbarians and sea raiders at the southern border of our homeland.”

Lu Yuan was planning the defense strategy for Yangzhou’s main territory.

The four counties and four lines of defense were the new buffer zone he had prepared for the homeland.

“Now that the defensive region has shrunk from the original territory of nine counties to the current territory of four counties,

the original stipulation of having two defensive strongholds per county can be appropriately relaxed to increase and station additional cities.”

The greatest fatal factor in the Barbarians moving north and infiltrating the southwest Lingnan defense lines was due to too few defense strongholds per county in Chu’s army, which couldn’t cover the whole county and gave the enemy a chance to infiltrate.

Now that the defensive territory has instantly contracted to less than half of the original area, unknowingly conserving substantial defensive forces, troops become instantly abundant.

Thus it’s also time now to strengthen the defense in the above four counties and the need for stationed cities and strongholds.”

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