Every day, new military newspapers and intelligence came from the south, filling Li Ze's tables. Things are moving towards the scene that Li Ze least wants to see.

Even if there are famous generals like Shi Zhuang on the front line, they cannot change this major trend.

After annihilated 20,000 Southern Alliance troops around Jigongling and forced their way to Changsha, Xiangtan and other places, Shi Zhuang did not stop for a long time, but immediately turned around and rushed to attack Ding Sheng's troops who had arrived in Wangcheng.

However, the result of the battle at Jigongling and the rapid decline in Changsha was obviously not only a significant blow to Ding Sheng, but also greatly frightened him. He immediately stopped and began to prepare for retreat.

When Shi Zhuang arrived, Ding Sheng cut off his arms to survive. After leaving behind 10,000 soldiers to guard Wangcheng and resisting Shi Zhuang, he led the remaining 20,000 soldiers to retreat significantly.

But the destination of his retreat was not Yiyang. Even though Yiyang had another 30,000 troops led by veteran Sun Debin.

Ding Sheng headed towards western Hunan.

At the same time, Sun Debin, a veteran in Yiyang, also made beautiful tactical confusing behavior. He gave up Yiyang simply and neatly, and before leaving, he deceived Liang Han and Qian Biao. It was not until Sun Debin's army almost left that Liang Han realized.

However, it was too late.

In Qian Biao's report, it was speculated that Sun Debin was most likely to be about to run away the moment Ding Sheng left Yiyang and went to Changsha, otherwise, he would not have been able to walk so smoothly.

Judging from Sun Debin's marching route, his final destination is undoubtedly Xiangxi.

Maybe Ding Sheng finally decided to run to Xiangxi, which was also due to Sun Debin's idea.

This is a problem.

Li Ze rubbed his temples and felt a burst of pain in his head.

Xiangxi!

Located in the northwest of Hunan, at the junction of Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Yizhou, it has an area of ​​tens of thousands of square kilometers. At this time, it is a typical poor mountain and bad water place.

Li Ze always remembers that in his previous life, he watched a TV series called Wulong Mountain Bandit Suppression, which talked about the bandit suppression in western Hunan. In that place, the large army was not very useful at all. Even if it was not a problem with logistics supply, the large army rushed in and entered the mountains and ridges, and it was like a drop of water falling into the ocean, and even a bubble would not be gurgled.

"Everyone, western Hunan has vast areas, mostly mountainous areas, many tribes, and extremely complex ethnic composition. It is in a state of large and small settlements." Lu Lin glanced at the people in the conference room, then lowered his head to look at the thick stack of information in front of him.

"There are ethnic groups that call themselves Bizka, distributed in Longshan, Yongyou, Baojing, Jishou, Guzhang and other places, and there are ethnic groups that call themselves Guoxiong, distributed in Huayuan, Fenghuang, Luxi and other places. These are two larger ethnic groups in the local area. They occupy the vast majority of the population in western Hunan. However, they are basically in remote areas, while the Han people live in riverside forks, Jinzhen and Wuchang with relatively convenient transportation. Although Xiangxi, in name only, is under the rule of Hunan Observation, has never been effectively ruled and managed for a long time, and is a typical anarchy."

"What are these Bizka and Guoxiong? Since they belong to the same ethnic group, do they have common leaders? Or are they chiefs, clan leaders, etc." Zhang asked.

Lu Lin shook his head: "There was once, but now, there is no more. Ding Taiyi has put some effort into this aspect, because they are unable to effectively rule this area, so he will not allow these ethnic groups to gather together to form a force that threatens him. So in the past few decades, he has only done one thing for this area, which is to constantly sow and disagree, and let different tribes among these ethnic groups conquer each other. For a long time, even the same ethnic group is here.

As long as the group belongs to different tribes, the hatred between them has accumulated very deep. For Ding Taiyi, he only needs to control convenient transportation and collect taxes, but he doesn't care about the rest at all. In this area, there is more of a chaotic state of autonomy. As long as there are hundreds of ten people in his hand, with swords and guns, he can dominate one side. There is always a big king flag on the city wall here. Maybe this person is still the boss today. After a night, this person will be slaughtered and replaced by another person."

"There are no laws here, only patriarchal laws, clan rules, bloody and barbaric here are considered to be the most normal thing." Lu Lin continued.

Li Ze raised his head and looked at the people and said, "Now, there is a big change here. Ding Sheng and Sun Debin's two troops entered Xiangxi. When they effectively controlled this place, it would be many times more difficult to destroy them."

"Since the people here are unruly, Ding Sheng may not be able to stand here! The locals are afraid that they are very repulsive!" You Yong said.

"Exclusion is of course." Li Ze said: "But Ding Taiyi was unwilling to make a big fight here in the past because the harvest was not proportional to the effort, and it was not worth his doing so. Now it's different. Ding Sheng was forced by us to have no way out. Xiangxi is the only place he can stick to. Therefore, working hard to manage this land is the choice he has to make."

Gongsun Changming sighed and said, "Where do you want to operate, there are still many means. Ding Sheng's first step is to control those places with convenient transportation, and then start to develop outward with these places as the center point. Those large and small ethnic groups, whether suppressing or winning over, have some ways to deal with them. Moreover, this person's name is still in the name of the person entering Xiangxi. After all, Xiangxi is still under the jurisdiction of Hunan Observer. Where they are, there must be a certain foundation. Among those large and small ethnic groups, there must be people who support the Ding clan. Focus on winning over these ethnic groups, use money and arming to make these ethnic groups stronger in a short period of time, and then suppress and threaten other ethnic groups, and can still gather considerable strength in a short period of time."

Xu Xiang flipped through the information in front of him and frowned: "More importantly, Ding Sheng is entrenched here and can still receive strong support from Guizhou and Yizhou. It is obvious that Ding Sheng's rule here is healing and stable, and the stronger his power, the more we can keep our feet on our way. For Yizhou and Guizhou, it is beneficial but not harmful."

"What do you say in the report?" Li Ze glanced at You Yong.

"Your Majesty, Shi Zhuang said in the report that it is not feasible for a large army to attack Xiangxi at present." You Yong said: "First, we know very little about the environment and geography of Xiangxi. Second, Xiangxi has poor traffic and difficult supply. If the army wants to enter, we must be fully prepared. At present, our preparations are not enough to support us in Xiangxi. If we force ourselves to enter, we will suffer unprecedented defeat."

"What's his countermeasure?" Li Ze waved his hand and said.

"Shi Zhuang said that at present, in terms of military affairs, we can only blockade in the general direction of Xiangxi to ensure that the enemy in Xiangxi does not pose a threat to other parts of Hunan. While working hard to manage other parts of Hunan, we will slowly approach it." You Yong continued.

Li Ze was silent for a moment and smiled bitterly: "Everyone, now everyone should understand why I am unwilling to launch a thunderous offensive against places like Hunan and Jiangxi, right? Because we are not sure to wipe out all the enemies in one fell swoop. Once the enemy escapes to places like Xiangxi, it will be a big trouble. Now, such trouble is still in front of us."

He knocked on the table with some annoyance, and Li Ze continued, "But many of you still think that this time we have won Hunan and most areas of Jiangxi are a rare victory. What a win? Now Ding Sheng has 50,000 or 60,000 people have escaped into Xiangxi, which has changed the balance of power in Xiangxi. Once he has completed effective control of Xiangxi, the price we have to pass on will be very high. Like Ding Sheng, there is Qian Shouyi who escaped to Ji'an. Didn't the inner guard say that this person has sent an army to Jinggangshan not far from Ji'an? These people have all had the same idea and are going to entangle with us to the end."

"Everyone, it seems that we have won this battle, but in the long run, we have lost! We will pay more to wipe out these two teams next!"

"Originally, our strategy was very stable. First, let the two places become poor from the economy, and then use various means to differentiate, win over and disintegrate. When the opponent is weak, we will assemble a large army to destroy it in one fell swoop. Now, our own arrangements have not yet been in place, and the war has started first. Why can't Shi Zhuang get rid of the main force of the Ding family? Isn't it because of insufficient troops?"

"It seems to be in great shape now, but we have exposed our strength completely. Not only did we break Ding Sheng and Qian Shouyi's courage, but we also scared other places. Is it a good thing for the enemy to be scared? It's not necessarily everyone. The result of their fear is that in the current situation, they will give up those fat but not easy to guard, retreat to those poor mountains and rivers, and use the harsh natural conditions to entangle with us. When they are afraid, they will join us more and unite to deal with us. We are increasing the difficulty for ourselves."

Inside the house, everyone lowered their heads.
Chapter completed!