On October 12, after the snow, it finally came a sunny day. Han Zhen rode his horse to the Song army camp outside the northern city of Daming Prefecture. He traveled from Guan County and inspected the positions of the First, Second and Fifth Army. They used natural rivers and artificial ditches to build an irregular camp overnight due to the situation, surrounding the enemy in an area about fifteen miles east and west and twenty miles north and south.

"Shu Commander, General Manager Tian went to investigate the terrain and ordered his subordinates to welcome him here. Please wait in the big tent!" Xie Ming, the 8th Army's capital, met Han Zhen and his group at the gate of the camp and went forward to salute. Although His Majesty appointed Tian Zhong as General Manager of the Western Front, who seemed to be the same level as Han Zhen, he was the deputy envoy of the Privy Council and the general manager of the Eastern Front, so he also had to hold the courtesy of the subordinates.

"Thank you for your hard work in Xie Yuhou!" Han Zhen dismounted and returned the greeting, and led him to the central army's tent.

The two of them sat down, had tea, and exchanged a few greetings. Han Zhen said: "The guns and cannons in the north of the city were not extinguished all night last night, and the enemy attacked them. I am very worried!" The Eighth Army was arranged in the south of the city. They used their strength to prevent the enemy from leaving the city to respond, and to block the path for the enemy to enter the city. They were under pressure from Zhang Gui's army and the enemy in the city. Once there was a mistake, all their efforts would be wasted.

"It made the general manager worry!" Xie Mingluo said, "Last night, Zhang Gui's troops launched several attacks, and the defenders in the city also sent troops to respond, trying to lead them into the city. Fortunately, the soldiers blocked their offensive with their lives. General Manager Tian did not sleep all night, and after a brief rest in the morning, he went to the front of the city to urge the troops to strengthen the camp and arrange defenses."

"I dare not take credit. If you hadn't set up a suspicion array and pressed each step, Zhang Gui would not have taken the risk of rushing forward and plunged into our pockets!" Han Zhen waved his hand.

"It's still the commander of Shushu, especially the main force on the Eastern Front, who turned thousands of miles in five days. He unexpectedly appeared in Daming and blocked Zhang Gui's retreat, so that he could close the door and beat the dog!" Xie Ming asked his personal soldiers to set up a brazier and moved to Han Zhen's feet. "Super Shushu put an empty city plan under the city of Jinan, which was especially a masterpiece. He deceived Zhang Gui's scout and bought time for Yan Feng and the others. General Manager Tian admired Shushushu!"

"Mr. Xie Yu, please don't mention this matter again. My move is really a risk. I still feel afraid even when I think about it." Han Zhen sighed, "This achievement should actually be recorded on Yan Feng and Guan Hong. The two of them broke Yidu within five days and annihilated Qingzhou. Then they moved to Jinan within two days, which allowed the entire plan to be realized."

"We are really worried about them!" Xie Ming said, "The two Yan Feng teams were formed for a short time, and they have not yet experienced the training of the war. They have been stationed on the eastern coast for a long time. In this battle, they have reached a warship expedition for thousands of miles to enter unfamiliar areas in the north. They are not clear about the terrain and are not suitable for the cold climate, but they can fight so well, which really makes us ashamed!"

"Oh, I feel very guilty!" Han Zhen said with a gloomy face, "The soldiers of the two units are mostly Jiangnan, and it is difficult to adapt to the sudden arrival of Jiangbei. The severe cold leads to frostbite and illness, which are more casualties than in the battle. And on the way from Qingzhou to Jinan, there was heavy snow again, and the soldiers who were very tired still struggled to move forward. Many soldiers were frozen to death and exhausted on the way. It's all my fault that I was too greedy for me..."

"Sir Shu, don't be sad. There are no immortals in the war. Think about how many people died all the way from Jiazi Town, but for the long-term peace of the Song Dynasty, they died for the people's living and working in peace and contentment." Xie Ming advised, "The lower officials heard that Shu, Shu, were hiding at night in order to hide their whereabouts, and lurked in the old canal road for many days. They could not raise fires to keep warm, and they could not make fires to make rice. They all drank ice water and eat dry food, which was really hard. At least we could still make fires to keep warm, eat hot food, and sleep in tents. How should we deal with you with you!"

"It's because His Majesty is foresighted. Last year, the winter review of Xuyi accumulated experience for us in the long-distance marching, winter combat and survival, and also trained our troops. Therefore, this operation also learned from many references, from organizing troops, marching hidden marches, material support, and camping and keeping cold. Especially the hidden ambush drills in the battle last year, which benefited them a lot." Han Zhen sighed.

"Haha, Your Majesty is a wise and everything is targeted. Otherwise, how could you win this great victory!" At this time, the curtain of the tent was lifted, and Tian Zhong's beard and hair were covered with frost. He came in with cold air and bowed to Han Zhen and said.

"Thank you for your hard work, you still have to take care of yourself!" Han Zhen stood up and said with a respect. He had been familiar with Tian Zhong for a long time, and his qualifications were not inferior to his own. He also served in the imperial guards for many years and was deeply trusted by His Majesty, so he did not dare to be arrogant in front of him.

"Super Shu still ignores the hard work, how dare I slack off!" Tian Zhong replied with a smile.

"Sir Tian, ​​we don't need to be polite. Now our two armies are united and we need to unite and coordinate our actions!" Han Zhen pulled him down and said.

"Your Majesty has already made an order. In this battle, the Shushu General will command the two groups in the east and west. The last one is willing to obey the order!" Tian Zhong sat down and said.

"Sir Tian, ​​don't be humble. Although we are surrounding Zhang Gui outside the Daming Prefecture City, the situation is still grim." Han Zhen said, "Our army is facing attacks on both sides. Whether Zhang Gui enters the city or the enemy in the city breaks out, once they are allowed to merge, we will find it difficult to wipe them out completely due to the limitations of our troops!"

"So we have to surround the city and capture Zhang Gui, so we have to use troops reasonably, fight one first, and then kill the other!" Tian Zhong said on the brazier.

"Yes, how are Tian Shuai going to fight?" Han Zhen nodded and asked.

"The last general thought that the Ulu belt in the palace was a turtle in the jar, and it was hard to escape. Although Zhang Gui was surrounded, his troops were kept intact, and he was also an elite Mongol Yuan, and he had quite strong combat power. However, our troops were scattered and the defense line was still weak. If he firmly broke through the siege, it would be difficult for us to keep him. Therefore, I suggest that we attack Zhang Gui first and then take the palace." Tian Zhong said.

"Well, I think this is the best strategy," Han Zhen said, "The city is so close that it seems that you can break into the city with just a little rush. I think it will definitely be difficult for him to resist this temptation at the moment. Later, the battle against the city also made him think about it and would not break through rashly, leaving us a chance. The key now is whether we can trap the enemy troops in the city and prevent them from cooperating inside and outside."

"Don't worry, Sir Shu, we have the confidence to block the enemy troops in the city and prevent their soldiers from leaving the city!" Tian Zhong said.

He then introduced his arrangement. The main force of the siege is the Eighth Army and the Third Army of the Western Front Corps and the Second Cavalry Division, the Third Artillery Division, the Xiangfan Army and the Yancheng Army. The difficulty is that the circumference of Daming Prefecture City is more than 48 miles long, and Luocheng has nine city gates and two water gates. With their troops, their troops cannot meet the standard of "ten times the encirclement" in the military book, and it is difficult to surround the city tightly, let alone blocking Zhang Gui outside and Wulu belt inside.

At that time, Tian Zhong deployed the three main divisions of Zhuang Siqi's army in the east, south and west of the city respectively, each with the division blocking one side. The main force of the Eighth Army was deployed in the north of the city, establishing two defense lines north and south, and using the local army of the Second Cavalry Division and the two divisions as reserves. In order to solve the problem of insufficient troops, they are mobilizing the entire army and organizing the husband and soldiers to dig trenches and build camps day and night.

"With one division defending one direction, is there a little less force?" Han Zhen pointed at Sha Pan and asked. A division has 10,000 troops, but a defense line of at least fifteen miles long must be established to ensure that there are no omissions, and then the force will be insufficient.

"This is also impossible. Fortunately, the enemy troops in the city want to pick up Zhang Gui into the city, so Zhuang Siqi's pressure is still low, and the first line of defense has been basically completed. After the system is formed and the firepower configuration is gradually completed, there should be no problem!" Tian Zhong said helplessly.

"Well, we are also facing these problems. Zhuang Siqi is not lazy this time!" Han Zhen nodded and asked with a smile.

"Haha, last year, the Zhuangdutong camp was broken. Not only did he say that he was ugly in front of the generals, but he was scolded by the emperor. How could he make the same mistake again?" Tian Zhong immediately heard what he said and smiled, "I was worried. I went to inspect early in the morning and found that this kid had a memory and used all the means he could use. There were many tricks, such as mines, tripping ropes, traps, etc. I was worried that those enemy soldiers who left the city would be ruined by him!"

"Your Majesty has a good attitude to employ people, and Zhuang Siqi is also brave after knowing shame!" Han Zhenyan said, "Along the way, I found that the defense depth of the Eighth Army was too small. Once both north and south were attacked at the same time, there was no room for maneuver, so I could only defend the front line and fight for consumption, which could easily cause large casualties."

"General Manager Tian has already thought of this problem!" Xie Ming interrupted at this time, "We have discussed that after the defense line is solid, we will organize an attack, unplug the enemy's villages outside the city, and compress the enemy's range of activities inwards. We will coordinate the attacks to the north to expand the depth of the north-south defense."

"Okay, tighten and sprint, compress inward and expand outward. Not only does it reduce the defense surface, save troops, but it also expands the depth of defense. We must also follow suit, tighten the encirclement, reduce its space for movement, and make it lose room for maneuver!" Han Zhen praised.

Next, the two set their respective combat scopes and discussed how to communicate with each other, how to coordinate between the two ministries, and how to allocate supplies. Given that the two sides fought hard in the past, the food and ammunition were consumed a lot, and because of the hidden marching, the baggage was difficult to replenish, the two jointly wrote a letter to Kaifeng to request the transfer of baggage and ammunition.

"Flying up, flying up..." Just as the two aides were discussing details, a burst of cheers suddenly came from outside the tent, and they couldn't help looking out together...
Chapter completed!