To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 726: Chapter 321: Deceive the Heaven and Cross the Sea_3

However, Lu Yuan was not so pessimistic about this.

Looking at the expression of his good friend, he couldn’t help but smile, “The matter of Hanzhong isn’t urgent at the moment. Even if we sell grain to Zhou Country right now, there are still a lot of possibilities. Perhaps, through this opportunity of selling grain, we may come up with better strategies to conquer Hanzhong…”

Attacking Hanzhong had always been Lu Yuan’s planned strategy, so he naturally couldn’t give it up easily.

Especially now, since he had refined Qingyunzi as a replacement for Huang Xuan to invade the Southwest, he was even more determined.

Indeed, selling grain to Zhou Country at this moment is helping the enemy.

However, Chu State can take advantage of this opportunity to transfer troops from various places and mix the soldiers for the conquest of China in the grain transportation team, thus deceiving the Zhou People and transporting the troops to the border of Zhou Chu.

When the time comes, they can take advantage of the grain transaction to launch a direct attack on Hanzhong, which is not impossible.

If this battle succeeds, not only will the grain sold to Zhou People be returned to Chu State, but the silver used by Zhou People to buy grain will also become Chu State’s spoils of war, further enriching Chu State’s treasury.

This is called achieving both goals, killing two birds with one stone, and having a great opportunity.

Of course, to accomplish this, it is necessary to consider how to mix troops with the civilian workers transporting grain, how to deceive Zhou People, and how to make Zhou People relax their vigilance and not station a large number of soldiers in Hanzhong during the grain transaction…

All these issues need to be considered and resolved.

Lu Yuan had only thought of this deceptive scheme temporarily, and he had no idea whether it could be implemented or how effective it would be after use.

Any plan needs the right timing, suitable location, and support from the people.

He hasn’t seen this opportunity yet.

“But even if we launch the final attack and Zhou People are prepared in Hanzhong, the grain and silver used by Zhou People to buy grain will eventually fall into the hands of my Chu State. That’s for sure,” Lu Yuan said.

Lu Yuan told Sun Siwen of his plan and then continued with a laugh, “As for whether we can take Hanzhong in the end, it’s just a matter of competing for strength, deploying our forces, and deciding the winner.”

In his words, there was a sense of confidence and heroism.

Chu State is now a hegemonic power, capable of mobilizing a million troops, enough to contend with any country in the world.

This time, to conquer Hanzhong of Zhou Country, using strategy is just to minimize the losses in the battle.

It does not mean that Chu State can’t win against Zhou Country without clever strategy.

Even if their scheme is exposed by Zhou Country, Lu Yuan can lead three hundred thousand soldiers to the north and fight them in Hanzhong.

Since his debut, he has fought more than a hundred battles, killing four innate experts, destroying one nation, subduing three nations, and defeating millions of enemies, expanding Chu territory by tens of thousands of miles. His military achievements are indeed outstanding.

Even the Zhou Country he is planning now was once a defeated opponent.

Facing such an enemy, even if they are powerful, it is an exaggeration to say that Lu Yuan fears them.

As expected.

Hearing Lu Yuan say this and being infected by his heroic spirit, Sun Siwen’s original worries also dissipated a lot.

In the end, he laughed and said, “What the king said is true. While using clever strategies to fight for the country is important, the right path should not be neglected. If the strategy does not work in the end, it’s simply a matter of facing the Battlefield and fighting for victory.

For Chu State’s new hegemony, there were many doubts from various countries, and it really needs a head-on battle to demonstrate their military power to the world and establish their hegemony.”

The rise of a new hegemon always comes with the decline or failure of the old one.

Chu State is now the newly rising hegemon, but it is just a hegemonic title, and whether it really has the strength of a hegemon is still a matter of doubt among people.

After all, although Chu State has outstanding achievements, it has only dealt with small nations like Hanzhong and Xichuan in the past.

Even when dealing with the Southwest Yi country, it was just fighting Barbarians.

Defeating these countries can only prove that Chu State has some strength, but it cannot prove that Chu State can truly compete with other hegemons.

So, to prove this point, it is necessary to find a hegemonic country, fight them head-on, and then defeat them.

And looking around, the only ones that meet this requirement are Zhou, Liang, and Ning – the Three Nations.

But among the Three Nations, Liang and Ning do not have any major war at the moment and can mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops for battle at any time.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Chu State has little chance of victory against them.

But Zhou Country is different.

Zhou Country is currently fighting on three fronts, and most of its troops are tied up internally. If Chu State were to engage them now, Zhou Country would not be able to deploy more than 300,000 troops, with no more than 100,000 professional soldiers.

On the other hand, Lu Yuan can mobilize 300,000 soldiers, with the support of civilian workers, a force of 500,000 to 600,000 is nothing to sneeze at.

In terms of military strength, Lu Yuan has an absolute advantage.

As for the innate experts, with him and Huang Xuan, even all the first-rate experts of Zhou Country combined would not be a match for the two of them.

Other concerns, like money and supplies, are even less of a worry.

Chu State’s coffers are full, while Zhou Country is already facing a grain shortage. If a real war breaks out, Zhou Country will be unable to sustain it.

Military strength, top experts, and funds – with these three advantages in hand for the battle, if Lu Yuan can’t win against Zhou Country, his decades of fighting experience would be in vain, and he’d be better off just killing himself on a piece of tofu.

The only concern for this battle is the final gains and losses.

However, regardless of the gains and losses, stepping on Zhou Country’s face and securing Chu State’s position as a hegemonic power has become an unquestionable national policy.

This was clear to both Lu Yuan and Sun Siwen.

When they had initially set Hanzhong as their target, they had already thought through this point and had no doubts.

At this moment, a conversation between the monarch and his ministers only reconfirmed this point.

After resolving their doubts, Sun Siwen had no more concerns and, upon receiving Lu Yuan’s approval, led the ministers to further discuss the trade with Zhou Country’s messenger.

At the same time,

The movement and transportation of food and fodder from various places, and the mingling of troops, soldiers, and civilian workers proceeded smoothly.

A war aimed at conquering Zhou Country was quietly unfolding under the cover of a seemingly normal grain trade…