Having children earns benefit, start competing for dominance in the world by marrying a wife

Lu Chen at this time said, "Great Scholar, do you think we should attack Great Wu's territory this time?"

Lu Chen had great confidence in the combat capabilities of the North Country's army. In his opinion, it wouldn't be a problem at all for North Country to defeat Great Wu's forces.

However, defeating Great Wu's army would be easy, but the follow-up matters would be more troublesome, such as counterattacking Great Wu.

Lu Chen was still tangled in his heart about whether to counterattack Great Wu and occupy their land.

Although Lu Chen already had experience in governing North Country, after all, it was his feudal state, and if he were to occupy Great Wu's land, he might not be able to manage the common people there effectively.

Governing the common people of another country is a complex matter and not an easy task.

As North Country was still developing, Lu Chen did not wish to create chaos in his own country by occupying foreign lands.

Zhuge Zhongguang at this time said, "Prince, in the humble opinion of this old servant, not only should North Country counterattack Great Wu, but we should also seize Youping County, which borders Yongan County."

"Only by counterattacking Great Wu can we better deter other dynasties and buy more time for North Country's development."

"And by occupying Youping County, it would allow North Country to border the lands directly controlled by the Great Sum court."

"Most importantly, Youping County has a large population, and these common people have grown resentful towards the Great Wu court in the past two years due to droughts and taxation issues. If North Country's policies are introduced to Youping County, we can quickly win over the hearts of its common people, and North Country is also in need of this population."

When Zhuge Zhongguang initially came to North Country, he traveled through many places in Great Wu, including Youping County, so he had some understanding of the situation there.

When North Country was buying Yongan County from Qi Country, they only purchased half of it, and the other half just so happened to block a direct border between North Country and the lands controlled by the Great Sum court.

But Great Wu's Youping County just happens to border the region controlled by the Great Sum court, so if North Country were to move against Great Sum one day, they could launch their troops directly from Youping County, bypassing Qi Country and other feudal states to attack cities controlled by the Great Sum court.

Of course, if North Country were to march south to attack the Capital city one day, they could also choose to advance straight through, but having an additional route into the region controlled by the Great Sum court simply means having more options.

Just as Great Wu would not concentrate all of its military might in Yongan County when attacking North Country but would also pass through Great Jue, entering North Country from there.

Moreover, occupying Youping County has other benefits, such as caravans being able to bypass Qi Country and save on some taxes, but of course, these are all trivial benefits.

For North Country, the real benefit is the population, as the development of North Country relies on its populace, particularly for industrial advancement.

Lu Chen looked at the map before him and pondered for a moment, then said, "Alright, once General Mu and his troops have crushed Great Wu's three hundred thousand soldiers in Youping County, we will immediately launch the counterattack."

Just then, the voice of a soldier rang out from outside, "Prince, urgent report from a Great Wu scout!"

Lu Chen immediately said, "Come in."

The next moment, a Jinyiwei Guard entered the study and handed the intelligence report to Lu Chen. Lu Chen opened it and read carefully, then passed the report to Zhuge Zhongguang who was beside him.

Zhuge Zhongguang took the report, glanced over it, and then said, "It seems that there's going to be a fight over at Yongan County."

Lu Chen then immediately picked up a pen and began writing military orders, stating in the orders that once Great Wu's forces attacked Yongan County, Mu Changtian would lead troops in a counterattack against Great Wu, seize Youping County in the shortest time possible, and cut off the logistics of Great Wu's main force, preventing supplies from reaching the main army entering Great Jue.

Immediately, Lu Chen handed the military orders to a Red Ribbon Messenger, instructing them to deliver the orders to Yongan County with utmost speed.

After handing over the military orders to the Red Ribbon Messenger, Lu Chen wrote another set of orders, instructing Song Xuelin from Yingyang County and Dongmen Feiyue to prepare to face Great Wu's main force directly.

The intelligence that Lu Chen had just received was precisely the news that Great Wu had sent three hundred thousand troops through Great Jue.

Since Great Wu had already sent two Grandmaster Military Generals and three hundred thousand troops into Great Jue, it was certain that Yongan County would be the first to see action; Great Wu would attempt to tie up the soldiers of North Country there and buy time for the main force led by the two Grandmaster Military Generals.

In essence, Great Wu had mobilized a total of six hundred thousand troops for the campaign against North Country.

This news not only reached North Country but also quickly made its way to the Sum Emperor who was immensely pleased upon learning that Great Wu had mobilized six hundred thousand troops to exterminate North Country, as it meant his own plans could soon commence.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

The citizens of Yongan County had essentially all left already; in order not to involve them, Lu Chen had issued an announcement early to have them evacuate. Now on the roads of Yongan County, one could hardly see anyone other than soldiers.

Just at that moment, the excited voice of a soldier rose up outside the tent, "General, they're here, they're here!!!"

Hearing this, Mu Changtian immediately stood up.

The next moment, that soldier entered the tent and after catching his breath he said, "General, the enemy general Ying Feiyu is leading an army of three hundred thousand towards our defenses. They claim their soldiers were killed last night and have come to demand justice from us!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the tent broke into smiles. After such a long wait, the enemy had finally committed troops, and they couldn't wait any longer.

Mu Changtian promptly said, "Prepare the horses, meet the enemy!"

As his words fell, Mu Changtian headed towards the outside of the tent with large strides.

After Mu Changtian left the tent, the sky above Yongan County resounded with continuous drumbeats.

Before long, both armies had arranged their battle formations.

However, when the soldiers of Great Wu caught sight of the army of the North Country, they were all incredibly puzzled.

Their confusion wasn't because the army of the North Country dared to leave the city to engage in battle; they were puzzled as to why the soldiers of the North Country looked so few in number?

In reality, the majority of the soldiers from the North Country had already been on standby at their respective positions—for instance, the artillerymen were already at their stations, and soldiers armed with guns were already waiting in the trenches. The army behind Mu Changtian was the force that would surge forward to scatter Ying Feiyu's troops after the initial clash.

When Ying Feiyu saw a burly man draped in a red cloak emerge from the North Country's side, he knew it must be the North Country's leading general. He immediately gathered his energy and shouted loudly, "Last night, soldiers from North Country infiltrated Great Wu's territory and killed our soldiers. Today, this general has especially come to seek justice!" Experience more content on m v|l e'-NovelBin.net

Hearing this, Mu Changtian chuckled and then, gathering his energy as well, shouted back, "Ying Feiyu, cut out the nonsense. If you have the capability, bring your soldiers and fight us!"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Ying Feiyu was taken aback for a moment. Then he furrowed his brow and took a serious look at Mu Changtian in the distance.

The next moment, he suddenly realized who it was.

But before he could say anything, someone behind him intervened, "Mu Changtian, the North Country's leading general is Mu Changtian!"

"Wasn't Mu Changtian already eliminated by the Sum Emperor long ago? Why would he appear here!"

"What's going on?"

...

Once Ying Feiyu came back to his senses and didn't care too much about who the leading general was, he continued, "So you're not dead. When I heard in Great Wu that you had been killed, I even felt sorry for you. But not only are you not dead, you've become the Great General of North Country."

"Good, this general has long wanted to see for himself what General Mu is capable of!"

Ying Feiyu and Mu Changtian could be considered old acquaintances after all, belonging to the same generation, and they had met before. This was why, upon hearing Mu Changtian's voice, Ying Feiyu immediately recognized him.

However, even though he recognized Mu Changtian, it did not affect Great Wu's decision to send troops against North Country in the slightest.

War was imminent!

The next moment, Ying Feiyu shouted loudly, "Attack!"

As his voice died away, the sound of drums rose from the ranks of Great Wu's army, and both the archers and spear-carrying soldiers swiftly shifted their positions.

Seeing them arranging their formation, the corners of Mu Changtian's mouth couldn't help but lift slightly.

In the past, it took some time for two armies to arrange their formations before a battle.

But the times had changed.

No matter how good the battle formation was, it couldn't withstand the bombardment of cannons.

The army of Great Wu was swiftly arranging its formation, but the soldiers of North Country didn't budge; mounted on their horses, they stood still.