() Su Jin smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I don't understand at first what prompted Li Yuanhao to entangle hundreds of thousands of troops to invade our northwest roads. The northwest war lasted for several years, and the great national power of our Song Dynasty was still overwhelmed by this.
The war dragged on to exhaustion. The little Li Yuanhao occupied less than one tenth of the territory of our Song Dynasty, and the population was less than three million. What did he use to consume us until today? What details can he have?
Are you trying to force an army of hundreds of thousands into a posture of marching south?"
Zhao Zhen said: "Yes, I also want to ask these questions. If in the past few years they relied on stored grain to confront us at the border with the Song Dynasty, they could handle small-scale battles. Now that they have sent peace envoys, they have used
The army attacked so fiercely that it was puzzling."
Su Jindao: "I discussed this answer with Han Shuai and Fan Shuai for a long time. Under the inspiration of the two marshals, I finally understood the reason. Li Yuanhao was desperate in this battle. His purpose was not to send his army south to annex the Song Dynasty. Although he
I really wanted to, but he didn't have the ability; the peace talks between the two sides had been open for a long time, and the Western thieves, relying on their advantage in the northwest, must have made a lot of demands, and of course I, the Song Dynasty, could not agree to them, so Li Yuanhao just wanted to use a war
The victory forced us to sign a covenant under the city; this is the madness before death, the so-called end of a strong crossbow; once Weizhou is captured, the court will definitely be shocked, and Qinzhou will become a frontline battlefield. If Qinzhou is captured again, they will
Then we can go around and attack the Yanyan and Huanqing roads. The entire northwest barrier will collapse, and our capital city of the Song Dynasty will be exposed to their eyes."...
Everyone suddenly realized that if Weizhou fell, based on the development situation, what Su Jin said was very likely to happen.
"It's a joke. Since the Western bandits are at the end of their game, how can they fight again after taking Weizhou? That's nonsense." Xia Song had stayed in the northwest and fought with the Western bandits for several years. He was an expert and wanted to deceive
It's not easy for him.
Su Jin smiled and said: "Master Xia is right. If the Western Bandits capture Weizhou, they will indeed have no strength to fight again. When the war first started, I told Commander Han and Fan that even if Weizhou is lost, they will not be able to fight again."
I will also use the 50,000 soldiers and civilians guarding the city in Weizhou to kill half of his 120,000 invading enemies, leaving them unable to invade. Even if I don’t kill many of his soldiers and horses, according to the situation of hunger and cold among the Western bandits,
Presumably, they must not have the power to attack, so in fact none of the situations I mentioned above will occur."
Everyone was in an uproar, is this guy a sex changer? He just said that the situation was critical, but Xia Song immediately changed his words after he said it. How dare this guy dare to talk nonsense in front of the emperor's ministers?
Su Jin waved his hand and said, "Everyone, be quiet and listen to me."
Du Yan sneered and said, "Master Su is treating us like monkeys."
Su Jin smiled and said: "How dare you, Mr. Du is not a monkey, how dare you play tricks on you; if Weizhou I am about to talk about falls, will you worry that Qinzhou will be broken through and threaten the safety of the capital? You are all thinking after the fact.
Knowing that the Xia army is at the end of its battle and has no strength to fight again, if Weizhou is swept away, will you be worried without understanding the situation? Once you are worried, the peace terms proposed by the Western thieves and the safety of the capital will be affected.
If we think it is nothing compared to nature, it is very likely that we will agree to the peace terms under heavy pressure, and then we will play into Yuanhao's plan, which is actually what Li Yuanhao had in mind."
Everyone was silently thinking about this possibility. They had to admit that once Weizhou was lost and the army of hundreds of thousands of Western thieves approached the southwest, it was definitely possible to hastily negotiate a peace for the sake of the safety of the capital, and the peace terms proposed by the Western thieves were really too much.
They demanded that the Song Dynasty recognize the founding of Xixia, pay 500,000 taels of silver and a million yuan each year, and allow party members to cross the border for grazing, harvesting, and planting. They also asked the Song Dynasty to open up restrictions on the banned exports of cotton, steel, etc.;
Once these conditions are agreed to, it will be a huge blow to the Song Dynasty. It will be equivalent to feeding a white-eyed wolf with fat meat. Knowing that it will bite back after it is fattened, you continue to fatten it. This is a great humiliation.
.
Zhao Zhen understood what Su Jin meant, and he was also weighing the possibility of agreeing to the conditions. He asked himself, once the safety of the capital was threatened, he would probably order to agree to the peace terms in order to save the capital. What Su Jin said was not made up out of thin air.
In Zhao Zhen's mind, nothing is more important than the safety of the capital; he will not hesitate to pay a huge price for this.
"The process of the war is actually very simple. The bandits from the west attacked the west, feinted to attack the east road, Yanyan and Huanqing roads, and then used the mobility of the cavalry to quickly attack our Weizhou city. Although their strategic intentions have been known to me and Commander Han and Fan.
Although he saw through it, the momentum of hundreds of thousands of troops was still unstoppable; the east road was restrained by the 30,000 cavalry of the Jianing Army of the West Bandit Yuzhou, and Fan Shuai could not divide his troops to rescue him, but Fan Shuai supported a large number of kerosene and bows and arrows.
Armor, weapons, and food played a big role, and Qinzhou, where Han Shuai was located, still dispatched 15,000 soldiers for reinforcements and shipped a large amount of food and weapons despite the tight defense situation.
It played a huge role in the victory of the war.”
Su Jin turned around and saluted Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi to express his gratitude. Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi quickly returned the salute, secretly praising Su Jin for never forgetting to mention their contributions, and that they were quite good friends.
"The tactics of the Western Bandits are simple. They relied on the strength of their numbers to launch a strong attack from the very beginning. It must be said that the Western Bandits Army Ji Yanming has a good combat power. The Weizhou city wall was breached on the first day of the attack. Fortunately for us, Weizhou
The state soldiers and civilians fought to the death to drive back the enemy troops, but the Western bandits did not take advantage of their numerical advantage to attack the city from all sides and disperse our defenders, so we were able to pass through the danger."
"After the Western Thieves lost the first battle, they understood this and prepared to build a large number of ladders to attack the city from all sides. I ordered people to burn the trees on Longshan Mountain in the west overnight, cutting off the wood harvesting area where the Western Thieves built the ladders, forcing the Western Bandits to have no choice but to
Instead of dismantling the siege engines and building ladders, there were several fierce battles that followed, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. However, Weizhou's troops were too small to defeat the Western thieves, so I had no choice but to take risks and lead my subordinates, Ma Han, Zhang Long, Zhao Husi.
Wei Dutou and eight other masters climbed over the snow-capped mountains and sneaked into Huizhou City, where the enemy's grain and grass were stored, and burned hundreds of thousands of grain and grass belonging to the Western bandit army;
I worked hard and repelled the crazy attack of the Western bandits before the food and grass were burned, which bought me time for my actions in the rear. The Western bandits had no food to eat, so they naturally retreated without a fight."
Su Jin briefly talked about the process of the war in an understatement. Although Zhao Zhen had heard it from Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi last night, and heard it again from Su Jin's mouth now, he still felt sweat rushing down his spine.
This was the first time for most officials to hear about the battle. The sight of hundreds of thousands of troops attacking the city in overwhelming numbers made their hair stand on end. What was even more incredible was that Su Jin actually led a dozen people to go deep behind enemy lines and burn the enemy.
Military rations and grass, although Su Jin did not go into details, but you can imagine it with your buttocks. The place where the rations and grasses are stored is naturally heavily guarded. It is hard to imagine how difficult and dangerous this is. This Su Jin is not a fuel-efficient lamp.
, this courage alone is enough to be proud of the world.
"Master Su's move is comparable to that of the Han Dynasty general Wei Qing who led 500 cavalry to raid the Huns' tent. It is even worse. He is extremely courageous and commendable for his loyalty and bravery!" Deputy Prime Minister Jia Changchao, who was not very talkative, actually spoke;
His words also represented everyone's aspirations. Su Jin's image in the eyes of everyone suddenly became taller. Even Xia Song, Du Yan and others who hated Su Jin had to admire Su Jin and asked themselves, if they
Do they have such decisive courage in defending Weizhou City?
Zhao Zhen sighed: "What a thrilling battle. Su Aiqing can be said to be versatile in both civil and military affairs. Wen is the number one scholar in our dynasty, and Wu is the Optimus Prime of the Northwest. Our dynasty is lucky!"
Su Jin's face turned red and he said: "Your Majesty, I am not as brave and fearless as you think. I was also frightened at that time, but if the city is destroyed, it means death, so I have no choice but to fight with all my strength."
Everyone couldn't help but smile, and felt a lot closer to Su Jin. It turned out that he was also afraid of death at that time, so he didn't have to feel too ashamed when he waited.
"Actually, you don't have to go there yourself. You can just send someone to go. How can you, as a chief officer, personally take risks? It's a bit nonsense." Zhao Zhen said.
Su Jin said: "That can't be done. I'm not as good at defending the city and fighting as any other person. Moreover, I came up with this strategy. All the plans are in my heart. Firstly, I can't put others in danger. Secondly,
No one is more sure of success than me, so I will use my strengths and avoid weaknesses, and those who are good at guarding will guard them. I, who is good at making trouble, will just go and make trouble."
Zhao Zhen and everyone laughed. Su Jin was telling the truth. Although he praised him as a versatile man in both civil and military affairs, everyone understood that Su Jin was a fledgling after all and still lacked experience in actually confronting the Western thieves.
Zhao Zhen smiled and said: "This battle has greatly enhanced the prestige of our country. Once this battle is over, the situation has greatly improved. This is the credit of the three of you. The most important thing today is to reward the three of you. The list of relevant meritorious personnel.
You wait until the three of them go to court to draw up a report and discuss their merits and reward them together."
Su Jin and the other three people quickly stepped forward and knelt on the ground. Zhao Zhen waved his hand, and Huang Peisheng, the chief chamberlain, slowly took out a prepared imperial edict, unfolded it and loudly said: "Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Su Jin, listen to the edict!"