Volume 1 Chapter 72 Crisis (Part 2)
Back to the present, with the words of Emperor Zhao, almost everyone fell into deep thought, even Zhao Jiu himself stared at Han Shizhong and stopped talking. Therefore, this wooden military house, which was actually just renovated recently, became quiet again. For a while, only the flickering candlelight caused light and shadow, and the spring water of the Huai River outside the house slightly rippled, causing the sound of waves.
"How about sending Wang De to provide some support?" After a pause, the secretary Hu Yin suddenly took the initiative to suggest, "Send Wang Yasha as the governor of Guangzhou?"
"No!" Zhang Jun, the Chief Censor, rejected it immediately. "How can Wang De command Miao and Liu with his qualifications? Even when Yuwen went to Huaixi to take charge, he was first given the title of co-director of the Privy Council! Besides, changing the generals before the battle would only backfire!"
"Then what should we do?" Hu Yin asked back immediately, but finally couldn't help but look at Han Shizhong and Yang Yizhong, two people who knew military knowledge... Since the naval battle that day, it has been an open secret that the emperor does not like civil officials to talk about military affairs on paper.
But for some unknown reason, Han Shizhong, the emperor's hero, was daydreaming at this moment.
"Unless the emperor and Wang De go to Huaixi together!" Yang Yizhong saw Han Shizhong standing in the room for half a day with his chin in his hand without saying a word, while the emperor just stared at Han Shizhong with expectation, so he could only helplessly spread his hands and answer. "But isn't this putting the cart before the horse?"
"Isn't that a hopeless situation?" Hu Yin was anxious. "How come the situation is critical when we win the war?"
"That's because the situation hasn't improved at all." Emperor Zhao finally spoke, but his words were earth-shattering, ready to shatter some people's fantasies on a small scale. "The so-called battles that were won were actually just superficial battles, and had nothing to do with the military fundamentals of the two countries..."
"What does the emperor mean?" Zhang Jun couldn't help but say. "The emperor was so desperate before, and just now he mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers to fight bravely. Now the rebels are swarming everywhere, and the enemy has tens of thousands of troops here, but they have lost thousands of soldiers and are going to return empty-handed... The situation is looking good, why are you just floating on the surface?"
"I'm talking about military matters." Seeing that Han Shizhong was still thinking about the question, Zhao Jiu simply continued to lie on his back and answered fluently. After all, he had an extremely clear understanding of this issue that was far ahead of his time. "Deyuan, let me ask you, let alone the fact that the outcome has not yet been decided, even if Jin Wushu really retreats this time, what will happen? Next year or the year after, if he leads the main force of the Jin army's eastern route, a total of 100,000 people, to come, can we really stop him?"
Zhang Deyuan was choked.
"Not only that, there is also Li Yanxian of Shanzhou. He fought even harder than us years ago and almost led the rebel army to recapture the entire Shanzhou by himself. He is truly heroic... But in terms of military affairs, Wanyan Loushi abandoned the Western Army in Shaanxi and turned his attention to Shanzhou. Will Li Yanxian be able to defend it in the future?"
Emperor Zhao sighed quietly and continued to ask questions.
"There is also the Dongjing Zong garrison, who is struggling to hold on at the front. It started almost at the same time as us years ago. Relying on a bunch of messy defeated troops, he stubbornly withstood tens of thousands of Jin troops in Huazhou and prevented the Jin army from crossing the river. He is undoubtedly a model general... But whether it is Wanyan Erlido, Nianhan, or even Talan, if there is really an elite Jin army of more than 50,000 who are determined to destroy the Dongjing Garrison, can they really hold on given their strengths and weaknesses?"
Zhang Jun was sweating profusely and was speechless.
"But why do we have to fight? What's the point of such a barely victorious victory?" Emperor Zhao said with emotion, and continued to speak without waiting for the people in front of him to reply, as if he was asking and answering his own questions. "It's because after the Jingkang Shame and the fall of the two rivers, there is no possibility of peace between Song and Jin. Unless one side is destroyed, there is no hope. And such a war is the so-called total war. In a total war, it is not about fighting for every city or land, every victory or defeat! It means that every city or land, every victory or defeat, and even every blade of grass and every tree must be fought for as long as possible!"
Everyone, including Zhang Jun, was in a solemn state.
"For now, the Song Dynasty's military affairs are in fact incompetent, and there is nothing to hide. So at this moment, through two or three local victories, telling the world that the country is still there, the country has not given up resistance, and that the Jin people are not invulnerable, it is already a great achievement! I never expect to determine the outcome of the world with these few victories, that is too far away... I just want to tell the world that no matter how hard it is, there is always a way! This is the basic principle of this war!" Zhao Jiu continued to sigh. "Most people don't understand this principle, and I can't easily tell it out to shake people's hearts, but you young people who are the pillars of the country must understand it!"
"I accept your advice!" Zhang Jun realized that the emperor treated him as one of his own, so he quickly bowed his head.
In fact, during this exchange, the Chief Censor seemed to have returned to that New Year's Eve, and he felt a rare shock from the bottom of his heart.
Hu Yin, Lin Jingmo and Yang Yizhong on the side also quickly bowed their heads... To be fair, in addition to being excited because the emperor treated them as his own, in the eyes of these close ministers, this emperor was sometimes too casual and too ignorant, but in the current situation, he did retain some great wisdom and courage, and they were really shocked.
"Official!" At this moment, Zhao's courage finally spoke seriously. "Actually, there is still a way!"
"I knew that a good minister would not betray me." Zhao Jiu immediately laughed and turned away. "What's the solution?"
"Attack directly from the front and overturn Wanyan Wushu's camp!" Han Shizhong raised his head and chest and answered simply.
"Should we take the initiative to attack when the enemy is divided into three parts and only the last part with six or seven thousand people is left in the main camp?" Maybe it was because he had just received the emperor's instructions and was in a state of excitement, but Yang Yizhong rarely took the initiative to participate in the discussion.
"yes!"
"It's still too difficult. How can a Jin army of six or seven thousand be destroyed in a place like the camp outside the city?" Yang Yizhong shook his head repeatedly. "It's not a lake that can flood."
"I also think that we cannot destroy the Jin army! But if we can concentrate our forces and launch a fierce attack at night, we may be able to burn down the Jin army camp, making the Jin people lose their foothold and dare not attack Huai River again!" Han Shizhong said disdainfully.
"Disband the camp without seeking to annihilate the enemy?"
"good."
"How can we make the Jin army lose its foothold by taking out just one large camp?" Yang Yizhong spoke bluntly. It seemed more like he was explaining things to Emperor Zhao and the three civil officials than helping Han Shizhong to find and fill in the gaps.
"If the Jin army naturally retreated northwards, occupied Mengcheng behind them as a stronghold, and retreated step by step, this strategy would be useless, because the Jin army had countless continuous footholds." Han Shizhong was still in high spirits. "But if the Jin army's original intention was to attack Guangzhou, then after the two divisions of 13,000 to 14,000 cavalry left the camp, they would definitely go around from the north and head to Shunchang Prefecture. At that time, they would not occupy the city as a stronghold, or even if they occupied it, they would not place heavy troops to guard it... Then at this time, their only foothold would be in the camp outside Xiacai City! If their camp is overturned, the camp garrison can only go north to occupy the city for support! The two divisions will also immediately turn back to support the remaining 6,000 to 7,000 people! Otherwise, in the wild, all the baggage will be lost, and there will be no chance or protection. These 6,000 to 7,000 people will really be destroyed by us!"
Yang Yizhong was already silent.
Han Shizhong turned to Zhao Jiu again and said solemnly: "Sir, the key to this battle is timing. We must start the battle soon after the Jin army is divided into three parts and two of them leave! We must not allow them to return in time, nor should we allow them to attack Guangzhou in a surprise attack! If the Jin army withdraws the second part tomorrow, we should start the battle tomorrow night or the night after tomorrow!"
Zhao Jiu already understood that this meant to forcibly seize the slightest opportunity created by the enemy's dynamic movement... In a word, the other party's change of position was not as fast as ours.
"It's still not right!" Without waiting for the official's reply, Yang Yizhong pondered for a moment, then shook his head again. "If this is to be done, we must try to concentrate our forces tomorrow night or the night after tomorrow. But right now, General Zhang of Xiacai City only has 10,000 soldiers available, and the rest are civilians and defeated soldiers. If we fail, the city will be destroyed..."
"Yang Dalang, don't flatter General Zhang." Han Shizhong's mouth curled up slightly. "Where can we get 10,000 soldiers from Xiacai City? If we really want to go out of the city to rob the camp, we can only use the more than 3,000 veterans he brought from Taiyuan!"
Yang Yizhong was speechless for a moment, not knowing whether to agree or disagree.
"But I have five thousand soldiers here!" Han Shizhong said proudly. "Your Majesty, Wang De's troops can also be used! Qiao Zhongfu and Zhang Jing's troops can also be selected to be one thousand, Hu Yantong's troops can also be used, and Yang Dalang's imperial guards can also be used in the hundreds!"
"If the troops from Bagong Mountain crossed the river to attack, they would have already alerted the Jin army camp!" Yang Yizhong became increasingly helpless. "If we divide our troops and attack one by one, it would just be throwing firewood into the fire..."
"I know what Liang Chen means!"
Just as the three civil officials were digesting the information, Emperor Zhao suddenly laughed. "The ferry to Xiacai City has been repaired. Starting tomorrow, I will trouble you to use the sailing ships to block the Huai River, and use the small boats to send the defeated soldiers of Liu Guangshi in Xiacai City to the south bank. Then, we will replace all the soldiers from Henan and me who can be used in Xiacai City! We will catch the Jin army camp by surprise!"
Inside the military quarters, everyone's expression changed.
"Is the emperor going too?" Not to mention several civil officials and Yang Yi Zhong, even Han Shizhong, the leader of the plan, suddenly became a little flustered.
"If I don't go to Xiacai City and sit there, aren't you afraid that General Zhang will kill you?" Zhao Jiu's expression was a little strange. "Or does General Zhang dare to trust you? Unless I go, I can't overturn the Jin army camp! Is that the truth?"
Han Shizhong wanted to say something but could only nod heavily. Although the expressions of several civil officials, from Zhang Jun onwards, changed constantly, they did not move at all, as if they had learned their lesson and knew that persuasion was useless.
As for Yang Yizhong, he rarely thought of another level - the emperor was probably more worried that Commandant Zhang had sold off several of the most important pieces in the imperial court, right?
After all, there is nothing that these ruffians from the Western Army would not dare to do!
Even though Yang Dalang and General Zhang have a close relationship, he dare not guarantee this!
So, Yang Yizhong didn't object.
Seeing that no one objected, Emperor Zhao actually felt a rare sense of pride in his heart - after all, from this perspective, he seemed to be quite useful!
