Volume 2 Chapter 35 Military Strength
It is said that Chief Censor Hu Mingzhong volunteered to prevent the censors from going to Xiangyang, which showed his loyalty but also made everyone else embarrassed... Oh, only your Censorate is loyal and will stand by the government?
And everyone knows that this guy is a fool. If Emperor Zhao had not considered him as a mentor for his wanderings, and if former Chief Censor Zhang Jun had not forgiven his personal grudges and recommended him before leaving office, and if he had not had internal qualifications among the Censors, how could he have achieved such a prominent position?
Of course, fortunately, the official was knowledgeable and did not comment. He just smiled and left, which prevented everyone from asking to go to the front line.
However, thanks to Hu Mingzhong's statement, everyone gave up the idea of persuading the emperor to take a long-term view, and this was exactly what Emperor Zhao admired about Hu Yin.
Back to the present, the Jin emperor issued an edict at the end of June, and this public decree was passed to Nanyang through the hands of the Hebei rebels in early July, and Emperor Zhao also switched the government back to wartime mode in mid-July.
It was not until this time that Emperor Zhao had some understanding of his family background.
"There is no need to worry about food and fodder. Although the food stored by Prime Minister Liu in Nanyang has been sent to various cities in the west of Beijing, the Jin people have not yet crossed the river, so it should not affect the transportation of autumn harvests in various places. Jinghu's own food and fodder should be enough." That evening, in the military quarters of Yushan Camp, the Minister of Revenue Lin Qi, who came with him under the pretext of reporting military information, continued his report, but did not mention the previous incident with Prime Minister Zhong. "So there is enough for the military. I am afraid that once the war breaks out, the front line will collapse in a short time, and then countless defeated soldiers and civilians will go south..."
"Don't think about it." Zhao Jiu, who was sitting in the middle of the military quarters, shook his head to stop the other party from continuing. On the left and right of the official stood the chief guard Lan Gui and the imperial guard Yang Yizhong. As for Liu Yan, he was currently inspecting and supervising the 2,000 guards who had just arrived at the military camp, and had never entered. "If it really comes to that, the central government will be powerless to do anything. They can only defend themselves in Nanyang and Xiangyang. There is no point in saying more..."
"Yes." Perhaps because they were transferred to the military camp, Lin Qi was much more careful in his words even though they were in a small barracks. "Then the Ministry of Revenue can directly report to the government and the Privy Council that there is enough food and fodder to use."
"That's right. Unless reinforcements don't arrive for more than 200 days, we rarely hear the phrase 'running out of arrows and food'. This is good news after all."
Emperor Zhao clasped his hands together and sighed, then passed over the Minister of War Chen Gui (who knew as much about military equipment and city defense as Chen Gui did) and asked another person, "How many soldiers are there?"
"Reporting to the emperor," Wang Yuan, the commander of the Imperial Camp, pretending not to understand the emperor's strange words, did not need to step out of the line to face the crowded barracks, but stepped forward directly. "According to the list of soldiers and horses in the Imperial Camp, the Imperial Camp Right Army in Huaidong, the Imperial Camp Left Army in Huaixi, the Imperial Camp Central Army in Nanyang, and the Imperial Camp Rear Army in the southeast, there are about 120,000 people in total. As for the Tokyo Zong Liaison Office, Nanjing Zhang Zhizhi Office (Zhang Suo), Shanzhou Li Jinglüe Office (Li Yanxian), and various Western Army offices, as well as Xijing Big and Small Zhai, and Hebei Volunteer Army, it is not clear enough. We can only roughly estimate that Henan and Shaanxi have a total of no less than 300,000, and Hebei Volunteer Army is countless."
"This means that the central government has no less than 400,000 troops." Chief Censor Hu Yin was a little surprised.
"Unless the Hebei Volunteer Army can cross the river to provide support, no matter how many there are, it will be meaningless." Deputy Privy Councilor Lu Yihao looked at the young Hu Mingzhong with a straight face. "As for Li Yanxian of Shanzhou and the Western Army of Guanzhong, no matter how many there are, they can only contain the Jin army in the west. Let's see how many they can contain and how long . As for Zhang's troops, most of them are bandits in Jingdong and defeated soldiers who have just surrendered. These people are indecisive and don't have much combat power. It's possible that they will flee directly when the Jin army arrives..."
"Yue Fei can always trust Zhang Suo." Zhao Jiu suddenly interrupted. "Yue Fei should have more than 10,000 people now."
"The Zhangs only have 20,000 soldiers at most." Lu Yihao said immediately, but after a short pause, he continued. "Besides, Li Boxi's rear army can't be relied upon either."
Not only Lin Qi and Li Guang, but the other ministers crowded in the military quarters also raised their heads and stared at the new Prime Minister who had just taken office for a few days, or simply had only been in Nanyang for a few days, and then looked at Emperor Zhao who looked normal under the light.
However, Emperor Zhao did not show any suspicion or shock.
"Is it because they need to protect the Queen Mother?" Wang Boyan asked. "Or is it because the rear army is not strong enough and can't afford to travel a long distance to support the front line?"
"Neither of them." Lu Yihao said bluntly. "It's because Li Boxi is a poor leader. Once the war starts, it's unclear whether Zhong Xiang will rebel or not, and the southeast will be in trouble."
The atmosphere in the tent suddenly became stagnant, and countless people breathed heavily.
However, Lu Yihao turned around and bowed to the official who was about to speak, then continued:
"Good instructor, you know that I came from the southeast, and I have a very clear understanding of the situation there and the behavior of Li Xianggong. I have always known that this man's politics, personnel, and logistics are well organized. But for many years, despite the lessons of Tokyo and Taiyuan, and the new examples of Fan Qiong, he is still sloppy in military affairs... Previously, there was chaos in the southeast, and there were military riots in Jianzhou, Hangzhou, Tanzhou, and Mingzhou. It seemed that he easily quelled them, but in fact, he just wanted the southeast to be stable as soon as possible after holding the troops, so he pardoned countless rebels and bandits, and continued to treat them well, and took them into the rear army of the imperial camp... And these are all serious hidden dangers... Therefore, I dare to assert that once the Jin people come, there will be chaos in the southeast again, and even the rear army of the imperial camp will be in chaos. How can they support the front line?"
Everyone kept silent, but seeing that Emperor Zhao nodded slightly while thinking about something, Minister of Revenue Lin Qi, who had nothing to do with the camp, had no choice but to speak out again:
"Prime Minister Lu Shu's words are absurd! Prime Minister Li's behavior is exactly the same as that of Zong Liushou. Didn't Zong Liushou also treat Dongjing with leniency and mercy? Didn't he use the pacified rebels and defeated soldiers to save Huazhou?"
"So Li Gang is a rough man." Lu Yihao didn't even look at him, just coldly. "Zong Ze is magnanimous, but he also knows to pick out some chickens to kill as a warning to others, while Li Gang is just lenient to the warriors, how can he be compared with him? Not to mention, Zong Ze has always known how to command generals, and he has appointed people who are loyal and willing to die for him, so what about Li Gang?"
"Let Prime Minister Lu know that Prime Minister Li is also a good judge of people."
As the Imperial Censor in the Palace, Li Guang really didn't want to confront a minister over trivial matters unless it was absolutely necessary, so as not to lose his deterrent power over the ministers. But when it came to his benefactor Li Boji, how could he bear it?
"Of course I know. This man first gained a great reputation during the Jingkang period, and then the government gave him such grace and power. In addition, he is also a man of respect for the wise and humble, so many talented people in the southeast are willing to follow him, and he has a full staff of wise men. Once he has grasped the personnel, all government affairs will naturally start... But are literati and military men the same thing? I'm talking about knowing the generals, not knowing the people!"
At this point, seeing that Lin Qi and Li Guang wanted to talk more, Lu Yihao was probably tired of confronting these henchmen of Li Gang, so he simply bowed to Zhao Jiu again and said, "Sir, I am willing to guarantee it with my life. The southeast will be in chaos, and the rear army of the imperial camp cannot be relied on at all. We must not make any plans with the southeast and the rear army of the imperial camp, which will cause the situation to deteriorate!"
As soon as these words were spoken, countless people in the barracks felt their scalps tingling. Even Lin Qi and Li Guang turned pale and dared not say anything more, because they suddenly realized that it was wartime and what they were discussing involved the lives of countless people, even their own lives.
Lin Qi thought of the previous time when Lu Yihao came to Nanyang, his own minister's evaluation of this man in the letter to him - "This man is extremely rude, and it is not worth mentioning that he was used for a short time. I am only worried that he will cooperate with the government and neither of us can control him!"
"You are a prime minister, why are you talking about the head of a man? As for the southeast, I have no idea. However, it is not because Prime Minister Li is careless, but because others cannot learn from Zong Liushou." In the panic, Emperor Zhao suddenly laughed. "You must know that just as Prime Minister Li is good at using people, once the personnel are in place, government affairs will naturally go smoothly. It is said that he is a natural prime minister. Zong Liushou is also a natural commander... As far as I know, he never cares about his status and age in the army. Once he marches, he must wear coarse cloth, carry a black pot, sit in a cart, and sleep with straw. Everyone in the army, whether it is a defeated soldier or a bandit, knows where he is at a glance, and then falls in love with him. If he can do this, it will be natural to be a good person or a powerful person."
Everyone paused, and many seemed to be thinking about something... Perhaps this was why Emperor Zhao was determined to come to the army.
"In short, the rear army cannot be relied upon. It should be Zhang Jun's right army, Han Shizhong's left army, and Nanyang's central army, plus the big and small Zhais of Xijing, Yue Fei and Zhang Rong of Zhang Suo, a total of more than 100,000 people, and then there is Zong Liushou. " Emperor Zhao easily concealed the fact that he treated the southeast and the rear army of the imperial camp as a garbage dump, and immediately returned to the main topic. "The problem now is that everyone says that only some of Zhang's troops can be used, so how many soldiers can Zong Liushou use? What is the combat effectiveness of the remaining 100,000 people?"
"There must be 100,000 troops left by Zong, right? And they are the troops that have fought against the Jin people in Huazhou." In the midst of the dullness, Wang Yuan actually said something fair and honest. "As for the overall combat power, I think defending the city can still work. As for fighting outside the city... Let's not talk about whether there are half of the troops who dare to fight in the field. Let's just say one thing, the terrain of the Central Plains is flat. From Dongjing to Nanyang, the enemy cavalry travels back and forth like flying. Now they are coming in large numbers. If they really go straight to Nanyang with 100,000 troops, it would be a bit difficult to fight in the wilderness."
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly. What Wang Yuan said was almost the same as what he thought.
In other words, if the Jin people did not change their grand strategy, the west would probably be left to fate and they would have to hold out as long as they could, while the east and the front would be two hundred thousand versus one hundred thousand... There might be some discrepancies, but not too big, because firstly Emperor Zhao was keeping a close eye on Nanyang and there were not many vacancies, and secondly, it might not be too late for Han Shizhong and Zhang Jun to take advantage of the vacancies... This was one advantage of the Jin people arriving quickly.
Among them, the deployment of the Jin army's 100,000 troops was even clearer due to their Meng'an Mouke system. It was nothing more than 50,000 to 60,000 Jurchen, Khitan, Xi, and Bohai cavalry, and 40,000 to 50,000 northern Han soldiers (including cavalry and infantry).
Even the specific generals could be guessed after Wang Yuan produced the official translation list. After three or four years of fighting, everyone was familiar with the names of those Wanhu, but they were easy to confuse.
However, the more they knew about the comparison of the enemy's strength, the more depressed they became. Moreover, this depression became more obvious as Liu Ziyu from the Zhifang Division began to discuss their general strategy.
In fact, after Liu Ziyu finished speaking, Emperor Zhao asked a few more questions. The Imperial Censor Hu Yin, who probably understood what he said, could not help but ask directly: "If the Privy Council arranges this way, won't the 200,000-strong army just sit there and wait for death? The 100,000-strong Jin army will march south, just like mud and sand rising up. Those who can resist will resist, and those who can't will collapse on their own. Let them survive on their own?"
"This is the only way to go in the early stages." Liu Ziyu responded in a deep voice. "When the Jin army of 100,000 comes, we can only rely on the city to resist step by step, divide their troops layer by layer, and use their strength. When the Jin army is exhausted, wait until the weather gets hot next year, and then send out troops to calmly fight back..."
"Should we send more troops to calmly escort the Jin people out of the country?" Hu Yin was furious. "During the Jingkang period, the imperial army was disbanded in this way."
"After all, there are 200,000 soldiers. Can't we resist step by step while gathering the army to find an opportunity to annihilate one or two?" Lu Yihao was also extremely dissatisfied with the general design of the Zhifang Division.
"The chancellor doesn't know about military affairs, and shouldn't discuss them, so please don't talk nonsense." Liu Yanxiu (Liu Ziyu's pen name) raised his head and said this to Hu Yin first, then turned around and bowed to Lu Yihao. "As for the chancellor, he is the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, so he should ask this question, but this is the only strategy I and the Ministry of Personnel can offer you at this time... Please forgive me for being blunt, but as long as the enemy is not exhausted, we should not seek opportunities to fight, otherwise we will surely lose! That's what I said!"
Hu Yin was scolded back and could only keep silent. However, Lu Yihao's face turned livid and he was about to explode on the spot.
"Zi Yu is right." At this moment, Zhao Jiu suddenly said, "Just now we talked about the ruins of Luoyang, the Western Capital. This is a big loophole. Should we let the big and small Zhai retreat to Ruzhou when necessary?"
"The Privy Council had this intention." Liu Ziyu bowed to the emperor again. He didn't know if he realized that if Emperor Zhao hadn't given him face, his current demeanor would have been suppressed by the real boss. "But a few days ago, the big and small Zhai happened to send an official document to the Privy Council, saying that a red turban army had recently risen in Hedong. The army was quite large and had contact with them, and was willing to be controlled by them. The Ministry of Personnel believed that Shanzhou was still too weak to Li Jinglue, so they intended to let them cross the river to receive this army, so as to help Li Jinglue a little... However, this matter still needs the emperor's decision!"
"Then let the two Zhai brothers go to Hedong to prepare the Red Turban Army to serve as Li Yanxian's flank." Zhao Jiu replied straightforwardly. "Let Lu Xing take Niu Gao, who was born in Ruzhou, and retreat Ruzhou."
Liu Ziyu immediately bowed his head. Lu Yihao, Wang Boyan and Wang Yuan all wanted to say something, but they could only bow.
"Urge Zong to stay behind and have him immediately arrange for the garrisons to be stationed in the cities north of Yingchang Prefecture... We can't wait any longer." Zhao Jiu thought about it again, but finally had nothing to say. "Besides that, is there anything else that needs to be done right now besides waiting for the Jin army to attack?"
It was Liu Ziyu who bowed again.
"Tell me."
"Your Majesty," Liu Ziyu said seriously. "In fact, the Ministry of Personnel has always been worried about one thing, that is, the Jin people are coming in large numbers. What if we use military power to lure them into surrender? You must know that our army is stationed in various key locations from east to west and from south to north. Although it is meant to resist step by step, it also means that the safety of each city is completely left to the generals... Should we send out military supervisors to each city and each army to prevent the past Jinan Prefecture incident?"
"No need!" Zhao Jiu answered before Hu Yin, who seemed to be ready to move, could. "This battle is a test of the times. We are not strong enough. Don't do things that will only backfire... Isn't the military supervisor afraid of death? Just sit in Nanyang and wait for the enemy's situation to be determined... It won't be long!"
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then bowed in agreement.
