Bao wouldn't have appeared on his own.Sānbǎo leaned close to Lǐ Chén and whispered, “Half an hour ago, they found a broken bottle in the quarters of the Crown Prince’s concubine, along with some ashes...Chapter 1537: Friend or Foe

Zhou Ping'an frowned.

Li Chen's refusal was not out of sentimentality.

...but rather truly stand at a global perspective, taking everything into account. ...

This plan, once it fails, then the Yueya Guan will be breached, and the Central Plains will directly face the threat of the Liao army. At that time, Da Qin will face the biggest threat since its founding.

So Li Chen couldn't make a single wrong step, and he couldn't afford to leave any room for error.

This is inconsistent with Zhou Ping'an's bold and radical strategy.

Zhou Ping'an said, "But Your Highness, the Liao army is now like an arrow on the string, they have to fire it. Even if they have doubts, facing the temptation of breaking through the Moonlit Pass, they will be unable to resist."

"It's hard to resist, you're right about human nature."

Li Chen then continued, "If the benefits are large enough, they will choose to take risks, but the key lies in that selectivity."

"What I want is for them to win after giving it their all, to charge through the Yueya Pass without any hesitation or doubt, not to enter cautiously, with every step a test and every move a question."

"If I were Yelü Shenxuan, I would definitely divide my troops to enter Yueya Pass. Once there is a change, I will immediately retreat, and I will never easily pass through Yueya Pass and rush into the Gansu-Shaanxi Basin."

These words eased Zhou Ping'an’s furrowed brows, and he said sincerely, “It was the subordinate who failed to think things through.”

"It's fine."

Li Chen said calmly, “You haven't come into contact with Yelu Shenxuan, nor the Liao army. Moreover, you are not skilled in military affairs, so it's understandable.”

At this moment, Wu Qingsang asked: "But Your Highness, how difficult it would be to achieve the effect you just mentioned!"

"Well, that's difficult."

Li Chen nodded and said, "So how to truly deceive the Liao army, deceive Yelü Shenxuan, is the key to the success or failure of the plan, and this point..."

Turning his head to look at Zhou Ping'an, who had been silent all this time, Li Chen smiled and said, “I presume Ping'an has a brilliant plan”

Zhou Ping'an saw that all eyes were on him, and he spread his hands and said with a wry smile: "I'm just an ordinary person, how could I have divine calculations Your Highness is flattering me too much."

Li Chen smiled without saying a word, just looking at Zhou Ping'an.

Finally, Zhou Ping'an couldn't hold it in any longer.

He smiled wryly and said, "Please come to the sand table."

Li Chen stood up, Wu Qingcang and Wu Banshan followed closely behind, and they all came to the sand table.

Zhou Ping'an shuffled the troop deployments on the sand table, dividing them simply into friend and foe. He then said: “Let’s take a look at the strength comparison between us and the Liao army first.”

"With six hundred thousand iron cavalry, the Liao army has fought many battles. I ask General Wu and Marshal Wu, with your experience, how many of the Liao troops are still capable of fighting"

Wu Qingcang frowned and said solemnly, “Conservatively speaking, it's at least over 450,000.”

"Alright, then let's say 500,000."

Zhou Ping smiled and gathered the strength of the Liao army, estimating it to be 500,000.

Then he pointed to Yuya Guan and said, "The power here is mainly divided into four parts."

“The first component, the defenders of Yueya Guan, are the most loyal force. Including the soldiers from Liaodong, there are roughly 110,000 able-bodied troops left. If we disregard the wounded, we could field about 130,000 men. Wu Shuai, is my estimation accurate”

Wu Qingcang nodded and said, “Very accurate.”

Nodding, Zhou Ping'an divided out another pile and said, "This part is support from Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, 80,000. But the number that truly has combat capability is less than half, about 40,000."

"There is also a portion, the Yan Yun Sixteen Cavalry of King Ning, 150,000 strong, which is also the most powerful in terms of combat effectiveness, but their loyalty is almost nonexistent."

Let me know if you have other text you'd like me to translate!tually have a mountain of silver hidden in their homes!The heavy breaths all around the yard made Liu Sichun realize something was seriously wrong."Your Highness..."Before Liu Sichun could speak, Li Y...