Zhou Jun was sitting in the upper seat, listening to reports from his subordinates on the recent battle situation.
After listening, Zhou Jun said to Wenwu in the tent: "In the two battles of Jiumen and Mutaogou, our army killed the enemy and captured nearly 40,000 enemies. These 40,000 people were not only the elite of the rebel army, but also direct descendants of Shi Siming.
.When it comes to the first achievement, Guangbi should be promoted."
Li Guangbi came out of the queue, bowed and said to Zhou Junqian: "The last general dare not be greedy for credit, because the general commanded well and the soldiers fought bravely to kill the enemy."
Zhou Jun waved his hand and said: "In these two battles, no matter the strategy, courage or use of troops, everyone has witnessed it. You don't need to be humble. Next, let's discuss how to capture the strong city of Boling?"
Guo Ziyi said: "During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, the seat of Gaoyang Kingdom was in Boling. The city of Boling can accommodate ten thousand people, and its walls are two feet high. It is majestic and strong. It is the best in Hebei."
Li Guangbi continued: "Boling City not only has a strong main city, but also has Yongcheng, Wengcheng, etc., which are easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is indeed a trouble."
Zhou Jun thought for a while and asked: "Is there anyone in the city who has a heart for the Tang Dynasty? Can he instigate rebellion as an internal response?"
Guo Ziyi sighed: "Unfortunately, when Shi Siming entered Boling, the first order he gave was not to surrender, not to capture the enemy, to kill all the officials in the city, and to place his cronies in the city defense. Therefore, Boling
I’m afraid it will be difficult to place internal support in the city.”
Zhou Jun: "It seems that Boling City is such a hard bone that we can only bite it off with our teeth."
Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi looked at each other, then unconsciously turned their heads and said yes in unison.
Kong You, who was standing aside, suddenly raised his head and glanced at Zhou Jun.
When Zhou Jun saw Kong You's actions, he was startled for a moment, then remembered it in his mind, and asked the generals another matter: "Where are the troops led by Fang Guan now?"
Guo Ziyi said: "There are 200,000 troops under the command of Prime Minister Fang. They are now divided into two groups: east and west. The west route army has advanced to Chencang, which is only three hundred miles away from Chang'an; the east route army has arrived at Luojiao (today's Fuxian County, Shaanxi Province) and is pointing at Tongguan.
."
Zhou Jun was a little surprised.
When Fang Guan set out, he said he had an army of 100,000, but in fact the strength was less than 80,000. Now the army actually expanded to 200,000.
After listening carefully for a while, Zhou Jun finally understood that unlike his own regiment of elite soldiers, Fang Guan emphasized that the more the better, the more the better. Among the 200,000 soldiers, there were not only regular troops, but also temporary recruits.
It even included government guards and rebels from various places.
Moreover, Li Longji had high hopes for Fang Guan, giving priority to supplies, whether it was materials or grain, and even sent two generals, Cheng Qianli and Wang Sili, as deputies to Fang Guan's army.
Precisely because of these two lieutenants, Fang Guan fought all the way to the vicinity of Chang'an despite occasional problems during the march.
Guo Ziyi added: "There are widespread rumors from the outside world that Prime Minister Fang's 200,000 troops are attacking the enemies of Chang'an from the east and west. The rebels have fled and the capital will be recovered soon."
Zhou Jun remembered the comments about Fang Guan in the history books and shook his head. He couldn't say anything in public, so he could only order the generals to prepare for war separately and the military council was disbanded.
After the meeting, Zhou Jun thought of Kong You and invited the latter into the inner tent.
When Kong You entered the account, Zhou Jun asked, "Does Bo Hong have any ideas to teach me?"
Kong You said directly: "If you want to capture Boling City, you have three strategies: upper, middle and lower."
Zhou Jun was stunned.
Good guy, just now in the big tent, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi didn't come up with a single strategy, but Kong You said he had three strategies?
Zhou Jun: "I would like to hear the details."
Kong You: "Let's talk about the next strategy first. The 80,000 elite troops of the Tang Army will surround Boling and attack the city in turns day and night. Then they will select some from the rebel prisoners and loudly persuade the city to surrender every day. In this way, attack the city and attack the heart at the same time. Shao
In three months, or at most half a year, Boling can win."
Zhou Jun frowned after hearing this. This is what he is doing now.
The 80,000 soldiers under his command are elite soldiers from Shuofang Army, Anxi Army and Beiting Army. Although they can be used to attack the city, they will definitely suffer heavy casualties after taking Boling, and the gain will not be worth the loss.
So, Zhou Jun asked: "What about Zhongce?"
Kong You took the map, pointed to the location of Boling City, and said to Zhou Jun: "Boling is close to the Qishui River (today's Tang River). Every spring flood, Changjin floods and floods occur one after another."
Zhou Jun was surprised and said: "What do you mean..."
Kong You: "Your Majesty, wait for the flood season to come, and then dig out the east embankment of the Qishui River to flood Boling. In this way, the city can be easily captured without spending a single soldier."
Zhou Jun: "Once the Qishui River bursts its banks, it will inevitably sweep across the entire Boling County. By then, all life will be ruined."
Kong You: "Not only Boling County, but also Liwu County, Liaocheng County and several other counties. Once the Qianshui River breaks its banks, approximately hundreds of thousands of people will be trapped by floods."
Zhou Jun hesitated and said: "It is true that we can win by digging up the embankment, but this may lose the hearts of the world."
Kong You said with a smile: "Please think about it, my lord, just now in the tent, you asked the generals for advice. After Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi looked at each other, they both looked embarrassed, and finally chose to remain silent. Why?"
Zhou Jun reacted: "You are saying that both Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi have thought of this strategy, but flooding Boling will harm the world. If word spreads afterwards, the person who proposed the strategy will probably be reviled by the world.
?”
Kong You nodded slightly.
Zhou Jun took a long breath, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "This plan is postponed. I remember that you still have a better idea that you haven't mentioned yet?"
Kong You smiled at Zhou Jun and said, "The best policy is to encircle without attacking and wait for Shi Siming to leave the city on his own."
Zhou Jun asked doubtfully: "Surround the city without attacking? Wait for Shi Siming to come out on his own? Is this possible?"
Kong You: "An Lushan died violently in the first month, and Shi Siming's reputation in Hebei was damaged one after another due to the two major defeats at Jiumen and Mutaogou. Fang Guan led another 200,000 troops and approached Chang'an. At this time, the rebel army
The situation can be described as critical."
Zhou Jun: "Even so, Shi Siming still has over 10,000 troops in Boling City. How could he abandon the city defense and risk taking the initiative to leave the city?"
Kong You said at this time: "I'm afraid your lord has forgotten that there is another army on the north road, led by Pugu Huai'en and the Huihe people, who are instigating the rebellion of Ba Yegu and Pugu tribe. Once they succeed, they can capture Ping from the north.
Lu, and then outflank Fan Yang from behind. Moreover, many tribes in Hebei, such as the Tongluo, Xi tribe, etc., were forced to join the rebel army because of An Lushan. Once the news of An Lushan's death spread to these tribes,
Will they continue to obey the orders of the bandits?"
Zhou Jun thought carefully in his mind, if the Northern Route Army led by Pugu Huai'en can really fight against the Yegu and Pugu tribes, and even win over the Tongluo tribe and the Xi tribe, then the northern region of Hebei will appear.
The phenomenon of power reversal. At that time, the Yan army will completely lose its advantage in military strength.
Kong You added: "Your Majesty, you might as well think about it, what would Shi Siming do if he heard that the Northern Route Army was detouring through the desert and attacking the Hebei base camp from the north, and the troops such as Beyegu and Pugu rebelled one after another?
Intend?"
Zhou Jun: "Fan Yang is the foundation of Hebei. Shi Siming will definitely consider giving up Boling and rush to Fan Yang's aid."
Kong You: "Yes, once the news of the Northern Route Army's attack on Fan Yang comes, Shi Siming will definitely consider going north. Therefore, the key to this best strategy lies in one word - lure. What we have to do is to let him misunderstand our army's strategy
intention, and let him 'see' the flaws in our defense, and finally lured him to abandon Boling and take the initiative to leave the city."
Zhou Jun: "How should we lure him out of the city?"
Kong You: "First, our army can pretend to divide its forces and let Shi Siming think that our army has sent a partial army to go north to assist Pugu Huai'en in besieging Fan Yang. The purpose of the Tang army outside the city is not to attack the city, but to general
It was dragged in Boling so that it could not support Fan Yang. Secondly, our army could also slacken its defenses and deliberately create a gap to let Shi Siming see the possibility of breaking out, and then induce him to escape from the city."
After hearing this, Zhou Jun nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "In that case, let's wait for the news from the north first. If Pugu Huai'en, with the help of the Huihe people, can really speak against those tribes, then this