When Zhao Chen saw the news from the Imperial Capital, his face almost turned green. He held his breath and almost forgot to breathe. He didn't quickly inhale until his body reacted naturally.
He has been a prince for so many years, studied military art for most of his life, and fought in wars for several years. This is the first time he has heard that such a ridiculous thing can happen.
The Tang Empire actually planned to let Dahua cease the war in Fengjiang for a few days, restore the railway, and let the trains from the Tang Empire go to Qin...
This is really unheard of, this request is simply ridiculous! But what is even more ridiculous is that the Imperial City actually took this request seriously and sent it to the front line for him to express his opinion.
As long as he still has a little bit of shame and a little bit of dignity, do you still need to ask him, a frontline general, about this kind of thing?
If this matter had been done a few years ago, Emperor Zhao Kai would never have agreed to such a rude request! The train of the Tang Empire was traveling across the war zone, and he actually asked the warring parties to cease fire? What a joke!
But after getting angry, Zhao Chen also knew that he had to consider this matter carefully before he could give the Imperial Capital an answer that met their expectations.
With Zhao Kai's temperament, it was impossible for him to easily agree to such a thing, so he obviously had his own considerations when he sent this news to Zhao Chen on the front line.
Perhaps Zhao Kai was trying to pass the blame and hoped that Zhao Chen could deny this unreasonable request on his behalf.
Zhao Chen lowered his head and looked at the telegram in his hand again, and fell into deep thought. He looked at every word on it and analyzed the twists and turns in it.
From a purely military perspective, allowing the train from the Tang Empire to pass through would not actually have much impact. In other words, even if it were really agreed, Zhao Chen would not lose anything in his offensive operations.
There may be problems in two aspects. One is that the attacking Dahua army may need to stop the attack for more than ten days, and even give up some occupied blocks or buildings to ensure that the damaged railway can be repaired. The trains of the Tang Empire
It is safe to pass.
Another aspect is whether the trains of the Tang Empire will affect the supply of the Dahua Army. After all, this railway ensures the supply lifeline of the Dahua Army fighting in Fengjiang. If it is affected, it will directly lead to a series of adverse consequences.
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The first point actually has no impact at all. Continuing the attack and suspending the offensive are actually in Zhao Chen's interests: the Dahua Army has been attacking continuously for so long, and there is no problem in finding a reasonable reason to suspend the attack for a few days and let the troops rest.
There is also no problem with the second point, because the train from the Tang Dynasty to Qin takes the return line and does not delay the transportation line to Fengjiang. It only needs to be dispatched and will not affect the supply of the Dahua troops in Fengjiang.
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Therefore, from a purely war perspective, allowing trains from the Tang Empire to pass would not have a huge impact on the Battle of Fengjiang.
But Zhao Chen must take care of Zhao Kai's emotions. He is leading troops outside, and what he fears most is losing Zhao Kai's trust.
If Zhao Kai is really dissatisfied with him, it will hinder his operations in Fengjiang, and many unnecessary troubles will arise.
"Can't you think carefully... think about what the situation is now?" Zhao Chen didn't dare to mention the subject, but he mumbled this sentence to express his dissatisfaction.
At this time, he still wanted to let his ministers share the pressure for him and maintain the face of the Great China Empire that few people valued. He really didn't know whether to call Zhao Kai stupid or crazy.
If you don’t admit some things, won’t they exist? If you close your eyes, will the whole world disappear? Don’t you admit that the Great China Empire will still be the overlord of the Western Continent ten years ago?
In fact, many senior officials of the Great China Empire know that after this civil war is over, their Great China Empire will most likely become a second-rate power.
Even if they can destroy the Fengjiang rebels, the price they pay is definitely not small. There is a tiger that cannot be eliminated lying beside the bed, but sadly, he is a little kitten. This external environment is really extremely bad.
Imagine that if Qin wins, the Great China Empire will be completely surrounded by two countries: one is the powerful Qin, the other is the prosperous Tang...
For the Great China Empire, both sides are tigers and wolves. With the current national power of the Great China Empire, neither one of them can be suppressed.
As for the so-called second-rate powerful countries, they are actually the officials of the Great China Empire who are trying to put money in their own faces. Based on their so-called national strength, whether they can be regarded as a country on the table and whether they can be called strong still remains to be seen.
Debatable.
As a landlocked country, the Great China Empire has no ports. This flaw is actually very fatal. In the process of world change, maritime transportation has become more and more important. Countries without coastlines and ports are naturally at a disadvantage in the economic and trade process.
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Just imagine, when the Qin State no longer needs to use Dahua to import goods from the Tang Empire, how much better will the economy of the Dahua Empire be?
With second-rate national power and perhaps only third-rate military power, how could such a great power survive between Qin and Tang under the name of an empire.
In fact, Chu Muzhou, Chen Jingchenchuan and others are already thinking about how Dahua will survive between the Qin and Tang Dynasties with its new status.
The only one who is still unwilling to accept the reality is Zhao Kai, the emperor of the Great China Empire. It is impossible for him to accept that the Great China Empire becomes the actual "Great China Kingdom". Even if the country's name is not changed, it is just a downgrade in status.
, Zhao Kai couldn’t accept it at all.
But everyone knows that this downgrade is actually inevitable.
It is inevitable that the Dahua Empire will continue to exist as the Dahua Empire. The best result is that the Tang Empire will recognize the legal existence of the Dahua Kingdom.
If the Tang Empire had the ambition to continue to advance westward, then both the Great China Empire and the Great China Kingdom would become the dust of history.
Now, whether the Great China Empire can continue to exist depends on the will of the Tang Empire! How long the Great China Empire can continue to exist depends on how long Qin and the Tang Empire are willing to maintain the status quo!
And all of this is based on the best-case scenario! The Great China Empire can still survive in the cracks, but only if they can win the civil war!
If the Battle of Fengjiang cannot be subsided for a long time, the national power of the Great China Empire will be further weakened. As long as this tragic civil war continues, the Great China Empire will pay the price.
Zhao Chen even felt that they were actually unable to end this war. As long as the Zangjian Pavilion built a railway, the Great China Empire would definitely lose part of its land in this civil war.
Even if the Fengjiang rebels fail in the civil war, they can retreat to Jiange, rely on the terrain there to resist, and rely on the support of the Tang Empire to fight this civil war for a long time.
The Dahua Empire that lost Jiange and Nanku, the Dahua Empire that reduced Fengjiang to ruins, the Dahua Empire that was completely surrounded by Qin in the southwest... Who knows how much of the country's destiny is left?
"Call back... Your Majesty, I believe that we cannot agree to Tang Guo's unreasonable request..." Gritting his teeth, Zhao Chen decided to help Zhao Kai fight against this thunder.
He is a general who is fighting abroad. As a soldier, he must have the integrity and backbone of a soldier. If even he loses the courage and dare not say no to the Tang Empire, then who else in this country can resist the temptation to seek strength?
What about neighbor pressure?
However, as the royal family, as a confidant, and as a minister who knows the situation, he must remind his monarch what the situation is at this moment.
So after he waited for the officer in charge of the message to leave, he added to his confidants: "Draft another confidential message... I am reporting this with tears in my eyes. The situation at this time is strange and changeable, and there should be no further disputes. The morale on the front line is sluggish.
It’s not a bad idea to rest for half a month... There will be no loss if we agree to Tang Guo’s request... I hope Your Majesty will think again.”
The previous telegram was to help Zhao Kai bear the thunder. If Zhao Kai was really unwilling to allow the train from Tang to pass, then Zhao Kai could directly use the telegram on the surface.
The next telegram was to explain the stakes to Zhao Kai. If Zhao Kai understood the relationship, then he would just think that Zhao Chen's first telegram was just a fart.
After doing all this, he sighed deeply. He didn't know if the generals of Tang State would be like him, making idiotic choices to take care of the monarch's emotions when they were fighting abroad.
After thinking about this, he smiled bitterly. At least the generals of the Tang Empire would not consider the messy feelings of other countries, because no one would make any unreasonable demands on the Tang State.
Moreover, the Tang Empire seems to have never lost a battle since its establishment. Being a general of the Tang Empire is indeed easier.
"Alas..." He sighed, feeling a little envious at this moment. This former general of the Great China Empire was now a general of the Great Tang Empire.
What he didn't know was that there was not only Qian Jinhang serving in the Tang Empire's army, but also Feng Kezhi, whom he didn't know about.
After receiving the telegram, Zhao Kai was indeed delighted, and then ordered his men to deliver the telegram to Chu Muzhou. As for the secret message sent by Zhao Chen, Zhao Kai withheld it.
Everyone actually knows what's going on. Zhao Chen is just taking the blame for Zhao Kai this time. Zhao Chen failed to attack on the front line before, and now he can only bite the bullet and follow Zhao Kai's wishes to stabilize himself.
Just the right to command.
Therefore, Chu Muzhou did not take this telegram seriously: The Tang Empire did not have enough face? Haha. I would like to see if the face of the Qin State is enough.