The main force of the Zhejia Army is stationed here.
At the junction of Huanzhou and Yunzhou, dust was flying, and rows of soldiers passed each other.
At this time, Yue Fei and Zhe Meiyue learned that Xixia had not joined forces with the Jin Kingdom, so they handed over the defense of the west to Zhe Yanzhi, and their couple rushed over to help Zhe Kecun garrison Huanzhou.
Early this morning, the two of them came out to inspect.
Zhe Meiyue asked with a worried look on her face: "Husband, do you think Jin Jun will take action?"
Yue Fei shook his head and said: "I don't know about this, but the weather has turned cold. If the opponent wants to attack, it should be within the next two days."
Zhe Meiyue frowned and said, "But I think Third Uncle and the others don't seem to be very sure."
Yue Fei sighed and said: "We knew it was too late, and compared to this time, the Jin Army deployed all its main forces. This battle will be difficult to fight."
Zhe Meiyue shook her head slightly and suddenly said: "By the way, why haven't the reinforcements from Fuzhou arrived yet?"
Yue Fei snorted and said, "They won't come to Huanzhou."
"What?"
"I was the one who suggested to Third Uncle not to deploy all the troops in Huanzhou."
"Why is this?"
Yue Fei said: "I don't agree with a head-on fight with the Jin Army. After all, we still don't know the strength of the Jin Army. I still hope to adopt the same defense system as the Kaifeng defense battle last time, with a light front and heavy rear defense system. The front relies on mines and firearms with a small amount of firepower."
Defend with force, fight while retreating, while consuming the Jin army, while waiting for reinforcements, and then figure out how to counterattack after the Jin army's purpose is clear."
Zhe Meiyue nodded thoughtfully and said: "My husband, this is a very good plan. Youdao is to go all out in one go, then weaken again, and then it will be exhausted. As soon as the Jin army sends out troops, it will be fierce. We should avoid its edge, and the Jin army
All of them are cavalry. If all the troops are deployed at the beginning of the war, if they fail, the whole army may be annihilated. By then, Huanzhou, Shuozhou, and even Taiyuan will be very dangerous. No wonder my husband did not mobilize the 30,000 troops earlier.
come over."
Yue Fei said: "Actually, there is another purpose of doing this, which is to take care of Hunyuan Prefecture. After all, we don't know how the Jin Army will divide its troops. If the Jin Army attacks Hunyuan Prefecture, the troops behind us can act according to the situation and support Hunyuan Prefecture.
State, Hunyuan State must not be lost, otherwise Wanyan Zonghan will definitely not let us get there again.
As for us, even if we can't hold Huanzhou, it doesn't matter. We can hold on to Shuozhou. As long as Taiyuan is not lost, then we will have the capital to fight the Jin army. Then our reinforcements will continue to come from all directions.
Come here, the Jin army will become more capable of riding a tiger and be unable to dismount. Then we can launch a massive counterattack."
...
...
To fight or not to fight!
Everyone in the Song Army was very uneasy about this, but the initiative lay with the Jin Army, and the Jin Army, which had the initiative, was also hesitant. If the Jin Army's opponent had been Xixia, they would have fought long ago, but
The national power of the Song Dynasty was comparable to that of the Jin Dynasty. It also had a large population and well-trained soldiers. Once a war started, it would be devastating. Even the winning side would probably have to shed a layer of skin.
There are also endless disputes about this issue within the Jin Army.
Of course, Wanyan Zonghan was determined to fight. His base camp was surrounded by the Song army, which made it difficult for him to sleep and eat well.
But Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Xiyin still have many concerns.
Especially Wanyan Xiyin, in their vision, they wanted to annihilate the elite of the Song Dynasty with a devastating force. However, the Song army's firearms made him very afraid. God knows whether he would step on landmines if he went out. Once he was blocked by the Song army,
After this first wave of charges, it will be even more difficult to fight later. After all, the Song Dynasty has a population of 100 million, and the additional troops will be hundreds of thousands. As long as they are united and fight to the end, they want to win this battle.
War is easier said than done. If the war situation falls into a stalemate, it will be very disadvantageous for them.
Wanyan Zongwang and the others were originally scheduled to launch the attack on the first day of October. Now there are only two days left before the first day of October. The Jin Army's 150,000 troops are ready and waiting for them to give the order. As long as the order is given, they will allocate troops from Yunzhou.
Two lines, outflanking Huanzhou's Zhejia army on the left and right.
A decision must be made as soon as possible.
On this day, Wanyan Zonghan's mansion, including Wanyan Yinshuke, Liu Yanzong and other generals, sat inside and began the final negotiations.
Wanyan Zonghan closed his eyes, and after a while, he said calmly: "Zongwang, fight, or not?"
"Let's implement these two plans."
Wanyan Zongwang said it without any hesitation.
Wanyan Zonghan opened his eyes and looked at Wanyan Xiyin beside him.
Wanyan Xiyin nodded and said, "I agree with You Dutong's words."
Wanyan Zonghan said: "The cook is obviously bluffing. The more he does this, the more scared he is. If we don't send troops, we will play into the cook's hands."
"I know that."
Wanyan Zongwang said: "But no matter how much he bluffs, there are still more than 100,000 Song troops around here, not necessarily less than our army, and their reinforcements are already on the way. You are sure to defeat them in one fell swoop. If not,
Then don’t send troops.”
"How will you know if you don't fight?"
Wanyan Zonghan hummed: "When Emperor Taizu raised his army, we only had a few thousand soldiers and horses, but when faced with hundreds of thousands of Liao troops, we not only were not afraid, but also defeated hundreds of thousands of Liao soldiers in one fell swoop. Now we are on par with the Song army."
, what’s the invincible reason?”
"If my father is still here, if he wants to fight, then I will take the lead and never hesitate. It's a pity--" Wanyan Zongwang sighed and said: "Besides, Dajin is not just starting at this time.
That was a huge amount of money. We had nothing at that time, but now we have thousands of people, and we have to consider them."
At this point, he paused and said: "Actually, if there was no second plan, I would definitely choose to send troops immediately, but now it seems that this second plan is obviously better than the first one."
Wanyan Zonghan snorted and said, "What do you mean by that?"
Wanyan Zongwang said: "When the Liao Kingdom was at its most powerful, they sent troops to the south many times, but they all returned without success and suffered major defeats, so they signed the Chanyuan Alliance. This shows that the Southern Dynasty is not a waste. Now
We must not despise them until the Southern Dynasty becomes more powerful.
And we fight from north to south. First we have to break through the defenses in the Yanyun area, then we have to break through the second barrier of Taiyuan, Hejian, and Zhongshan. Finally, we have to cross the Yellow River to reach Kaifeng Mansion. This layer is layer by layer.
Layers of barriers will wear us down to death.
Even after arriving at Kaifeng Mansion, the Song Dynasty still has a steady stream of reinforcements coming from the south. It is really difficult to predict the outcome. And judging from the current formation of the Song army, they have been guarding against us and have always been prepared.
Be vigilant, we said it at the beginning. If the Song Army is vigilant, they will implement the second plan. Therefore, I still agree to bypass these barriers and attack from the west and north, and even go around to the south of the Yangtze River in the Southern Dynasty.
Attack to the north, so as to severely damage the foundation of the Southern Dynasty."
Wanyan Xiyin nodded and said: "Yes, the economy and granaries of the Southern Dynasty are all in the south of the Yangtze River, but the elites are all deployed in the north. If we can avoid its main force, go back to its rear, and then destroy its foundation, then the Southern Dynasty can destroy itself.
.”
"Zong Han. At first, Yelu Dashi gained the support of many tribes in the west. It can be seen that the local tribes still supported the Liao Kingdom in their hearts. Although your western expedition drove away Yelu Dashi, it did not regain most of the Mongolia. In fact, strictly speaking
Speaking of which, at that time, the territory of Liao Kingdom had not been fully integrated into my territory of Dajin, so we should eradicate it now."
Wanyan Zongwang smiled softly as he spoke. He said confidently: "We should take the opportunity to consolidate our control over the west and regain those tribes. We can conquer the grasslands to the north. Mongolian herds of cattle, horses and sheep will bring us a lot of wealth.
To the west, we can attack the Gaochang Uighurs, destroy the Hexi Corridor of Xixia, even destroy the connection between the Southern Dynasty and the countries in the Western Regions, destroy the Yelu Dashi, and then attack Xixia in a roundabout way, taking Xixia first, and then the Central Plains."
Wanyan Xiyin said: "That's not all. Once we control the Western Region, we can borrow a road from Tubo to return to Dali County and complete the strategy of destroying the Southern Dynasty from south to north."
Gao Qingyi, the first counselor beside Wanyan Zonghan, also nodded and said: "General, what the second prince said makes sense. Xixia has always been in harmony with our country from the beginning, but recently it has become very close to the Southern Dynasty. From the beginning of Xixia's
From a diplomatic point of view, they do not want us or any of the Southern Dynasties to dominate, so if we attack the Southern Dynasties, maybe Xixia will send troops to rescue us, because Xixia also knows that once we destroy the Southern Dynasties, then they will be the ones next to Xixia."
When Wanyan Zonghan saw that Gao Qingyi said this, he couldn't help but feel a little moved, and said: "But when will such a large-scale roundabout be carried out?"
Wanyan Zongwang smiled and said: "Zong Han, there are some small countries and small tribes to the west. Once my army arrives, many tribes will definitely choose to surrender. But when we gather a small number, we will become a large number. If they are put together, this piece of meat is not small.
When we bring this person, money, and freight back, we can also give an explanation to the elders, so that they will support us more in the Western Expedition. The key lies in Xixia. Once Xixia is conquered, the entire west will belong to us.
Now, the march into the Central Plains will be just around the corner, and I expect it to be completed within seven years."
Wanyan Xiyin said: "Seven years is too long, five years at most. Today's Southern Dynasties can only protect themselves and do not have the strength to attack us. However, their firearms are improving with each passing day. After seven years, they may have the strength to attack us.
"
Wanyan Zongwang nodded and said: "What Xi Yin said is true, and we also have to find a way to get these firearms. The Southern Dynasty sold a lot of firearms to countries in the Western Regions. During this Western Expedition, these firearms will fall into our hands."
It will also be of great benefit to our firearms development."
Wanyan Zonghan pondered for a long time, and now everyone's eyes were focused on him. After a while, he made a decision: "That's it, we will change our route to the west."
He is not a reckless man. Why did he insist on going south in the first place? It was because there were a large number of Song troops hoarding near his base camp, which made it difficult for him to sleep and eat well. At least he had to pull out the thorn in Hunyuan Prefecture. In fact,
Wanyan Zongwang also understood this, so his initial proposal was to directly send troops to Yunzhou instead of asking Wanyan Zonghan to mobilize troops to Pingzhou, because this was impossible. Wanyan Zonghan had been operating in Yunzhou for so long.
Here he is the emperor.
At this moment, a guard came in and said: "I would like to report to the right capital commander that the privy envoy of the Southern Dynasty has sent a letter."
The generals were stunned.
Wanyan Zongwang said: "Bring it up."
The guard delivered the letter and left.
In the past few years, Wanyan Zongwang worked hard to learn Chinese characters and read the art of war in the Central Plains. Now he can read letters by himself. After he read for a while, Wanyan Zonghan quickly asked: "What is written in the letter?"
Wanyan Zongwang smiled and said: "He invited me to go to the other side to guide their military exercises."
Wanyan Xiyin said: "Second Prince, please do not be careless. This cook is very cunning."
Wanyan Zongwang waved his hand and said: "He doesn't have the courage yet. I dare to kill him, but he doesn't dare to touch me."
Gao Qingyi looked worried and said: "Second Prince, this Southern Dynasty loves to play tricks of sowing discord." He actually meant this for Wanyan Zonghan to hear, because he was afraid that Wanyan Zonghan would be suspicious of Wanyan Zongwang.
Wanyan Zonghan didn't understand, so he laughed and said, "Qingyi, you have been with me for so long, do you think my belly is like this? I think this letter from him is just to test us."
Wanyan Zongwang nodded and said: "Although the cook is cunning, he is not capable of doing such a boring trick. He should also know that if we want to attack, it will only be in these two days. If I go tomorrow, it will prove that we cannot
If I don't go, it means we will attack soon."
Wanyan Zonghan said: "What do you think about Zongwang?"
Wanyan Zongwang smiled and said: "Since we have decided to march to the west and he did not write a letter, I actually plan to go and meet him, and by the way, I will supervise him on the promise they made to us in the Southern Dynasty." (To be continued...)