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Chapter 771: 336: Protector of the Nation - God's General _3

Chapter 771: Chapter 336: Protector of the Nation – God’s General _3

He had been waiting all along.

…

After capturing Hanzhong, Lu Yuan issued an imperial decree to reward the meritorious soldiers, and then generously promoted his two avatars by a series of nobility titles.

On the surface, he played a perfect act.

After all, they were his own avatars. The more he rewarded them, the more insignificant the difference was, as if it were just passing from his left hand to his right hand.

However, through these generous rewards, he could boost the morale of the army and inspire the hearts of people.

As for the benefits that cost nothing, Lu Yuan was naturally pleased.

In addition to rewarding the army, Lu Yuan also issued a decree ordering the two forbidden armies stationed at Jianmenguan and the forbidden army of Xiangyang Prefecture in Western Jin to remain in Hanzhong District as the local garrison troops.

He also appointed Huang Xuan as the chief officer of the western part of Chu State, responsible for Hanzhong, Xichuan, and Hegu, fully managing the issues related to Zhou Country and the barbarians.

In the domestic front, the Ministry of Personnel has begun to pull out officials from various places, preparing to send them to Hanzhong to take over the newly occupied land. The Ministry of Rites is also preparing for the Enke examination, ready to select a batch of new officials.

It is expected that by the end of the year, the gap of thousands of vacancies in Hanzhong District will be gradually filled, and the rule of Chu State will be established.

In addition to selecting officials, Huang Xuan, who has already taken over Hanzhong, has also started reorganizing the captivated Zhou soldiers and expanding his own armed forces.

According to the plan.

He will select elite soldiers from the surrendered and recruit new soldiers in Hanzhong to create two new Forbidden armies.

These two Forbidden armies, along with the three Forbidden armies stationed in Hanzhong District, will form the main defensive force in Chu State’s northwest.

When the local garrison troops in Hanzhong are established, there will be 130,000 regular troops in Hanzhong alone, which is quite a strong force.

With Yangping Pass and Xiegu Pass as reliance, and Huang Xuan, the second realm of Inborn as an avatar, even if Zhou people send 500,000 troops to attack, Hanzhong can resist.

Even in cases of emergency, there is still a forbidden army in Xichuan Prefecture, and the local garrison troops of Xichuan and Hegu.

These people added up a total of more than 60,000 troops, belonging to Huang Xuan’s jurisdiction.

If they are willing, they can be transferred to Hanzhong District at any time.

So instantly, Huang Xuan changed from an ordinary local chief officer to Chu state’s most powerful local official.

Not only is he in charge of the three prefectures, but he also controls nearly 200,000 regular troops, with almost half of Chu State’s power in his hands.

For a while, many people in Chu State who were unaware of the truth became deeply worried about this situation.

Many people thought that handing half the territory to one person is risky, as it may lead to division if not careful.

Several people appealed to Lu Yuan, asking him to withdraw his order.

But in response, Lu Yuan basically ignored them.

Of course, he knew very well the risks of giving one person half of the territory and a third of the national troops.

However, that was only how it appeared to outsiders.

As his avatar, giving the three western prefectures of Chu State to Huang Xuan was essentially just a transfer of control between Lu Yuan’s left hand and right hand.

Nowadays, making such a division is just for the sake of saving administrative efficiency and managing the manpower and material resources of the three western prefectures more effectively.

Of course.

Apart from this, Lu Yuan also had some intention of fishing for troublemakers.

He wondered if waving the flag for Huang Xuan would lure out some people from within or outside the country who wanted to take advantage of the situation.

If he could seize the opportunity to eliminate some hidden dangers, it would be a good thing for Chu State too.

So even when faced with a surge of discontent from below, Lu Yuan remained steadfast and continued fishing for troublemakers.

During the uproar, he even issued two more appointments.

One was to appoint the newly surrendered Protector General Han Hua as the Western Defense Envoy, responsible for assisting Huang Xuan in the management of the defense of Xichuan and Hegu.

The other was to appoint Protector General Han Liang as the Qianzhong Defense Envoy, in charge of Qianzhong District’s defense.

Yes, that’s right.

The originally planned position of Qianzhong Chief Officer for Qingyunzi had changed again.

Because Ziyun Dao suddenly joined forces with Ning Country, causing the pressure on Chu State’s eastern defense line to surge, the current defense plan was no longer sufficient and needed to be strengthened.

So Qingyunzi’s position as Qianzhong Chief Officer was changed by Lu Yuan to the future Chief Officer of Lingnan.

Once Ning Country and South Sea Country were conquered, Qingyunzi would lead the Southern Expedition Army and station in Lingnan.

He himself would lead heavy troops and be stationed in South Sea Prefecture, responsible for the frontier defense of the Lingnan region bordering Ning Country.

Even on the northern side of Xiangyang Prefecture, considering the increasingly complicated situation, this northern gateway of Chu State also needed to be strengthened.

Lu Yuan had already ordered the three Northern Expedition Forbidden armies transferred from Dongting Prefecture to be stationed there.

In this way, together with the remaining two Forbidden armies in the prefecture, Xiangyang Prefecture would have five Forbidden armies with 100,000 combat-ready troops, plus local garrison troops, amounting to nearly 120,000 troops in total.

By stationing such a heavy force, Lu Yuan planned to have Zhou Qing lead these troops to attack the three eastern prefectures of Xiangyang, which were under Ning Country’s control, when he made a move against Ning Country.

The land of the three eastern prefectures lies north of the Yangtze River and south of the Han River. It is like a sharp dagger, deeply piercing into the heartland of Chu State.

Moving south from the three eastern prefectures and crossing the river will lead to Baling, the capital of Chu State, posing a severe threat to Chu State’s security.

Such a crucial location must naturally be taken into Lu Yuan’s hands.

And once the three eastern prefectures of Xiangyang are captured, Chu State’s eastern defense line can be extended a hundred miles eastward and a defensive line could be laid at a strategically important location called Xia Kou at a bend in the Yangtze River, blocking Ning Country’s navy from entering Dongting Prefecture.

Only by capturing the three eastern prefectures of Xiangyang can Chu State have the advantage of the Han River and share the Yangtze River natural barriers equally with Ning Country.

In this way, Zhou Qing would be in the north at Xiangyang Prefecture, Lu Yuan would be at Dongting Prefecture, and Qingyunzi would be in the south at South Sea Prefecture, with the three of them jointly building a nearly 3,000-mile-long defense line from north to south, firmly pinning Ning Country down.