Qin State, Xinzheng. Inside the prime minister's house.

"It's the Yan people who have a headache again. They have a lot of trouble." Meng Yi handed a report to Shang Wen, and Shang Wen took it over and looked at it.

"Coal?" Shang Wen asked Meng Yi curiously.

"Yes, coal, it is mentioned in the report. Both Goguryeo and Yan people found a large amount of coal resources in the eastern mountainous area of ​​northern Liaoning. They both claimed territorial sovereignty over there because they were the first to make a statement. They were the first to discover. There. As a result, contradictions have arisen." Meng Yi explained. Shang Wen smiled and looked at the report in his hand. The facts are worse than what Meng Yi said.

The country of Yan is constantly developing towards the north. They have occupied many mountainous areas in Daxinganling and Daxing'an Mountains. They have developed local forestry resources. Not only that, a large number of forest resources have been devastated. Qin has little to do for the time being, because Yan's economic development is extremely rough. The Liaobei Plain has a large number of marshes and black land. These fertile land allows the country of Yan to develop large-scale agriculture, but they lack a sufficient population, and their food needs are self-sufficient, but exports are far from reaching the country of Yan. They turned to develop forestry, but forestry requires a certain amount of labor. Most of the labor force in Yan State is export-oriented, and a large number of people are migrating, or they are those who go out to work and stay in the local area to work. It was originally small, which restricted the further development of Yan's economy. However, Yan's country still wants to develop its economy. A large number of paper mills, wood processing plants, and furniture processing plants are all located here. In addition to these, there are quite a lot of mineral resources. The excavation work is simply horrible. They basically use the most violent blasting excavation. This method of excavation is prone to accidents. The coal accident in Yanguo has exceeded Zhao. The country’s highest peak period. It can be seen how chaotic their coal mining is, but this situation shows no sign of stopping at all. The situation is still going on. It is as crazy as it is. This kind of thing can't stop at all.

In addition to these, there are more terrible situations. That is the competitiveness of the economy. Yan Kingdom’s neighbor, Goguryeo, only developed the northern Liaoning area, and did not gain control over the Changbai Mountain area. However, the Goguryeo people firmly control the area and today’s northern part of North Korea, where there are a lot of coal and copper mines. , Gold mines and other resources, but the economy of the Goguryeo people is developing rapidly, which is more effective than the type of rough economic development in the country of Yan.

For example, with the help of Zhao Guoren, they set up a power plant, and a large amount of electricity can be supplied to Yan Guo. Yan Guo is undergoing technological innovation. Compared with the large amount of electricity imported from Goguryeo itself, the power transmission from Zhao Guo Goguryeo is more cost-effective. Goguryeo and Yanguo have already started cooperation in this area. Cheap power resources will be sent to Yanguo. However, with the further pressure of monetary policy, Goguryeo's energy The demand has become even crazier. Because capital brings more investment, for example, power plants, more and more power plants join the operation, which means that the energy gap will be greater, so Goguryeo’s grab for coal resources will be It becomes more urgent.

At this time, when such a thing happened, the situation can be imagined how bad it is. One is the ruggedly developed economy of the country of Yan, and the other is the economy of Goguryeo, which has developed in the same way. They both have a greater demand for coal resources, and the contradiction between the people of Yanguo and Goguryeo unfolded.

And the contradictions are not only these. Both Goguryeo and Yeon have developed their own steel industry, especially Goguryeo. To build their own navy, they must have their own steel plants, and the foundation of the industry is steel, but there is no iron ore in Goguryeo. In this situation Therefore, it is necessary to import a large amount of iron ore from Yan. In order to develop their own industry, the price of electricity is cheap, but the people of Yan Guo took the opportunity to make an article on iron ore. They deliberately pushed up the price of iron ore, so the contradiction further escalated. Because it's simple. This will destroy the trade balance. Goguryeo exports cheap electricity while importing high-value iron ore. Once this balance is broken, it will inevitably produce a big contradiction. Shang Wen looked at the report calmly. He felt that the Yan people handled this matter very badly. And it's very bad.

"Their situation is very bad. The Yan people have obviously become very stupid. If they can compromise with each other, they may achieve a win-win situation. However, the Yan people have chosen another way, which may lead to Yan. The situation in Korea and Goguryeo has further deteriorated." Shang Wen said worriedly.

"Yes, now the key point of the contradiction between the two sides has suddenly shifted to the coal-producing areas in the eastern mountainous area of ​​northern Liaoning. This contradiction may lead to war." Meng Yi said after receiving Shangwen's report.

"Yeah. But we can't do anything. We still need self-development. For the people of Yan and Goguryeo, we don't want them to develop too much, because they are too close to our northern port area. This will threaten it. The security of our northern region, in that case, our construction will be greatly violated." Shangwen said from the perspective of regional security. Yan Guo and Goguryeo's exploration of the northern region, the speed of development far exceeded Qin's imagination. At present, the Qin people’s northern and eastern borders have borders with the Yan people. In some areas of the east, especially the southern part of the harbor city, it borders the Goguryeo people. Whether they are Yan people or Goguryeo people, Qin people don’t like it because they Will threaten Qin’s difficult security situation when going out to sea.

"Yes, the only way is to make both of them consume excessively in the region, so as to achieve a balanced development of the region. Qin's current power in this region is still relatively weak, and our naval influence is also very strong. Limited. If the Goguryeo people develop their navy, our trouble will be big." Meng Yi said.

"Well. Well, we should pay attention to such a thing, but the problem is that we have not solved it yet, which is indeed very troublesome for us. We need to solve a lot of things." Shang Wen said. . This matter should be put on hold for the time being. First of all, the situation is extremely unclear, especially the relationship between the two countries of Yan and Goguryeo. The people of Qin also supported Goguryeo before, but now the power of Zhao people has entered it, and Yan The situation in China is more complicated. First of all, Zhao people love and hate Yan people, because Yan people are in a very good position, especially when they occupy the Liaonan Peninsula, where they can form a blockade of the naval bases of Qi and Zhao, and also occupy there. Their situation will be better. In addition to these, another important reason is that Yan people are not very interested in Zhao people, or there is still a certain amount of national hatred between the two countries. This relationship is very contradictory, and if it is not handled well, it will cause a chain reaction. Shangwen thinks it should be put on hold, after all. Shelving is much more proactive than intervening prematurely.

The Baba stronghold was 30 kilometers west, and Chen Li's cavalry unit had advanced 60 kilometers. As for his artillery and machine gun troops, the two infantry companies only walked 30 kilometers away. The most important thing is that they still need to rest, while the cavalry troops are advancing quickly.

"Our speed is still too slow." Chen Li said to his Chief of Staff Zhang Chen after inspecting the garrisons of all the troops.

"There is no way. The horses and camels equipped by the cavalry have four legs, and our artillery has four legs, but the problem is that our infantry does not have so many legs, and that is, their load is also More than we expected. If this continues, we will lose our suddenness." Zhang Chen said.

"This is nothing we can do. Our horses and camels are very limited. We hope that our offensive actions have not attracted the attention of the lovers. Now we can only rely on such a miracle." Chen Li said. .

"Okay. It can only be this way." Zhang Chen said. Then he handed Chen Li a can of canned food. This is their dinner. Fortunately, the soldiers can rest well, and their condition is pretty good. They live in a small village, which has been abandoned. But there will still be corpses nearby. These are all good things done by the Shazhou cavalry. They slaughtered like locusts. They swarmed into the village, killed all the people, and took away everything they needed. All the things that cannot be taken away are killed in a fire. It didn't take long for the fire to go out when troops like Chen Li arrived. They still need to dispose of the dead body, but fortunately there is a place to rest. This is considered a good treatment.

"Sir, I think our military strength is still too small. After all, we only have less than two thousand troops. We should make a plan to deal with it. Once we encounter a stalemate, our military strength will become the biggest problem. "Zhang Chen thought for a while and said so. The number of troops launching the attack is too small. If there are three thousand troops, there may not be such a worry, but the problem is that they have not even exceeded two thousand, and the problem is very big.

"I am also very worried about this problem. After all, the military strength is limited. Once a few people besiege us crazy, or if they adopt a solid defensive strategy, all our offenses will be exhausted. At that time, we will Being caught in an absolute disaster situation, this is very bad for us." Chen Li said.

"But sir, we have no solution. Unless we can get more assistance, otherwise." Zhang Chen said worriedly.

"Sir. There are some urgent matters that need to be dealt with." At this moment, a captain came to report.

"What's the matter?" Chief of Staff Zhang Chen asked first.

"A group of armed forces suddenly approached us. They claimed to be the Freedom Army, supported by our South Korean intelligence department, and they also provided special documents. The strangest thing is that they asked to follow us in the fight. This matter." The captain explained embarrassingly.

"Hehe, there is such a thing?" Chen Li thought it was very interesting, because it was equivalent to transporting soldiers to them, and suddenly they were joined by the Leading Party. This is a very good thing for them. .

"Sir, these people are unbelievable. Who knows that they got such paperwork from there. If they follow our team, if they suddenly turn back, our situation will become even worse. These people They are unbelievable people, they will cause us more trouble." Zhang Chen objected.

"Hey, don't rush to the conclusion, we can go and see. I think these people may have some usefulness. After all, those who are familiar with loving a few people or loving a few people, and we are just outsiders. We don’t understand their habits and customs. If they can fight around us, maybe we will save a lot of trouble. After all, we still need a stable rear and at the same time more allied forces.” Chen Li said disapprovingly. He believes that those who love a few people will not be threatened. Zhang Chen still wanted to oppose, but his own chief insisted on doing so, so it was difficult for him to continue to refuse. After all, his chief of staff duties had been achieved for such a thing.

"Raise your head and talk." Chen Li quickly saw the first Liji Free Army who had relied on, and Toller's Free Army was such a one.

"Sir. The little one is called Toller. The South Korean intelligence agency asked us to organize the Free Army. The commander can call for the confirmation of Chief Zhang. You see, those weapons have the special numbers of the intelligence agency on them. These, It can prove that we are real." Toller explained immediately when he saw Major General Chen Li. He is really scared. If a misunderstanding continues, he will definitely be shot in the head.

"Well, I believe you, you dare not do anything to us." Chen Li waved his hand, and the other party got up and talked. After all, kneeling is really too tired, and he would not have much respect for the other party. They still need these people because of the next thing.

"For such a thing, we still need your help. We are going to attack Thebes this time, and the benefits will be yours." Chen Li said with a smile.

"We are willing to play for South Korea. To play for South Korea." When Toller heard this, he knew that Koreans would reuse themselves and value their abilities very much. This is a good thing. Great thing.