War destroys human nature, but it is also the ultimate weapon that tests everything.
Since Wanyan Wushu went south, although the overall strategy he implemented has not attracted substantial opposition, in the process, he has always treated everyone with an attitude of staying away from strangers, and has been suffering from the entire army.
There were doubts about his motives for marching.
Correspondingly speaking, the Zhao Guan family in Nanyang City is even more uncomfortable. These days, as the supreme commander of the weaker side, he has to receive and digest countless bad frontline military reports every day... and the process of this battle that he originally expected.
Differently, the fall of Nanjing, the interception efficiency of the Tokyo Remaining Division which was far below expectations, and the previous defeat of Han Shizhong all exceeded Nanyang's expectations.
In the end, it became a question whether to stick to the established strategy of defending the city in Nanyang.
In fact, in the past few days, the Zhao Guan family themselves had been shaken and confused.
However, Zhao Jiu is really quite good, because except for his moment of dissoluteness on the Double Ninth Festival, he can hide this kind of doubts and fears in his heart so as not to lose his composure. The others are not so 'calm'...
After Mrs. Liang Hongyu personally rode to Nanyang to report Han Shizhong's defeat and determined to defend Changshe, Nanyang City began to waver on a large scale.
Not to mention the inevitable trend of soldiers and civilians going south, and not to mention the hundreds of deserters killed before and after the Yushan camp. It is just that Zhao Guanjia was in front and behind him, but the central government gradually began to favor Zhao Jiu himself to go to Xiangyang unconditionally.
It cannot be said that there is a problem with going to Xiangyang first. This was part of the original strategy.
But the problem is that the front line is already so dangerous. If the Zhao Guan family takes the initiative to go to Xiangyang at this time, the Tokyo left-behind troops in front, who are already showing signs of total disorder, and the few isolated cities between the Five Rivers are likely to disappear in an instant...
…The former will surrender and go south and become military thieves; the latter will basically have no way out.
More importantly, Zhao Jiu couldn't imagine what he would do in the future if he lost Han Shizhong again when Yue Fei failed and didn't even know where he was going!
Therefore, the Zhao Guan family chose to stay in Nanyang with the strongest attitude, and the entire center was almost overwhelmed. The troubles that occurred were enough to write a separate book "A Trip to Nanyang in the Second Year of Jianyan".
At this time, another person must be mentioned, that is, the new deputy privy minister Lu Yihao. This new privy minister is the most rude among the seven or eight husband-in-laws that Zhao Guan's family has experienced in more than a year, but he is also the only one.
A husband who took the initiative to approve of Zhao Guan's adventurous style in this matter.
Thanks to the existence of this person and the combination of the absolute power of the official family and the Xianggong, the "Xiangyang forces" within the province, the Privy Council, and the Yushan camp ultimately failed.
Of course, Zhao Guan's family did not allow Lu Yihao to impose additional punishment on this matter... The situation has reached this point, and all differences and disputes should not cause any further losses to their side.
However, as Wanyan Wushu led the army to Nanyang City, the matter ended in the way of "another boot finally fell on the ground", and everything had settled.
At this point, not only are Zhao Guanjia and Wanyan Wushu unable to escape, each determined to continue their grudges with the other in Nanyang, both sides have actually taken the final result of Song and Jin's fourth large-scale attack and defense as a bet.
On Nanyang City.
On November 11, the second day after the Jin army arrived at Nanyang City, a battle broke out quickly between the two sides, but the process and results were lackluster.
The Jin people did not have complete equipment, so how could they attack the city? It was nothing more than driving out the people in the west of Beijing and forcing the city to fill the river, in order to intimidate the city and create an atmosphere of terror.
The war between the Song and Jin Dynasties has entered its fourth year, and is about to enter its fifth year. The people in the city have already been hardened to a heart of stone. They have no human thoughts and struggles at all, but they are unable to attack.
Stop and stop filling the river at all costs.
As for Wanyan Wushu and Zhao Guanjia, neither of them went to the front line. The former was supervising the construction of the camp, and the latter was patrolling the city to appease people.
It was like this for three days in a row.
In fact, it was not until the fourth day that the Jin people's camp, which included 35,000 main troops, 6,700 newly surrendered Han troops, 20,000 to 30,000 civilians and craftsmen, a total of 50,000 to 60,000 people, was fully completed.
It was not until the early morning of the fifth day that the Zhao Guan family appeared on top of the city for the first time.
"Officials, let's take a look. We have been condescending to observe clearly these days... The Jin army has three banners of ten thousand households this time. Counting the rebel general Zhang Yu's tribe, it has 40,000 soldiers, including 20,000 cavalry." In the early morning of the 15th,
On the only remaining watchtower in the northern barbican of Nanyang City, Liu Ziyu pointed at him from a distance and explained to Zhao Jiu and the two accompanying Lu Xianggong (Wang Boyan was sent to Xiangyang by Zhao Guan's family because he supported the evacuation to Xiangyang). "And they were originally sent to Xiangyang.
But relying on the strength of the cavalry to surround three and one missing, they still forcibly surrounded it on all sides, no doubt determined to take this city by force!"
"Where are Zhang Yu's soldiers and horses?" Before Zhao Jiu could say anything, Lu Yihao frowned and asked.
"In the east, the craftsmen and captured civilians are also in the east, under the unified control of Zhang Yu." Liu Ziyu immediately raised his hand and pointed.
"So, the east side is the weakest?" Lu Hao asked Nian Xu, seeming to be aware of Lu Yihao's intention.
"It's not just like that." Liu Ziyu paused for a moment and continued. "I would like to teach you two husbands. I will discuss it with the Zhifang Division. Since the Yushan camp on the bank of Baihe River in the east is vacant, there is no way the Jin people would abandon such a good stronghold.
, it is impossible to say that a logistics camp was set up there. Moreover, Chen Shangshu also said before that although the moat water comes from many sources, it is mainly drawn from the Baihe River. The water level of the moat has dropped significantly in the past few days, but it is not filling the river.
As a result, the Jin army probably cut off the east side or something like that. But in this way..."
"In this case, it seems too obvious." Zhao Jiu can be regarded as someone who has experienced military affairs for a long time. Hearing this, he couldn't help but sigh with his hands behind his hands. "It seems like it is specially designed to lure us to attack."
"That's right." Liu Ziyu frowned. "There is Baihe blocking the way to the east. Even if we can get out of the city and win a surprise attack, we will be trapped by the Jin Army's cavalry in an instant."
Hearing this, Lu Yihao sighed and gave up his unnecessary thoughts, but he was still a little unwilling: "But what about the moat?"
"There's no need to worry about the moat." Because of the sight, Zhao Jiu looked far to the side, and just found a section of the moat in his field of vision. He saw that the moat was filled with corpses, debris, and ice edges, and the color looked particularly weird.
The sunlight reflected slightly in the early morning, but he paused for a moment before answering. "The ice in the water tank in the palace has become thicker and thicker in the past few days, and it cannot last for a few days. But Wanyan Wushu's posture is simply crazy.
Damn it, we can’t say we’ll see a serious offensive in just two days…”
Liu Ziyu was about to speak but stopped.
"What?" Lu Yihao frowned as the white air filled the air. "If you have anything to say, just say it."
"You should be able to see serious siege equipment today." Liu Ziyu said in a deep voice. "In the east of the city, yesterday I saw countless ladders and several goose carts sent to the north in the direction of Wanyan Wushu's camp, and today the moat is It’s already frozen deep…”
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly.
"And." Liu Ziyu added again. "Chen Shangshu requested that these last few watchtowers be demolished after today..."
"What kind of ridiculous words are these?" Lu Yihao couldn't help but feel confused.
"It's to prevent artillery." Before Liu Ziyu could say anything, Zhao Jiu responded calmly. "In a few days, the Jin army's artillery vehicles will come together, and the high walls and high buildings will become targets in vain. Once they are smashed, it will easily cause casualties."
"This is indeed what Chen Shangshu said." Liu Yanxiu nodded in response.
"Guan family," Lu Yihao finally couldn't help it anymore. "I have been here for several months, and I have been in Yushan before. I haven't taken a closer look at this city. I feel uneasy when I see it today... I'd like to say it bluntly, the old rules for guarding the city, Unheard of…”
"What you said has never been heard before. Most of it was decided by me and him." Zhao Jiu interrupted the other party directly. "His methods and methods are absolutely no problem. And until now, Xianggong Lu has something to say. , please wait a moment...don't delay the defense of the city."
Lu Yihao suddenly felt depressed.
And a moment later, as the sun shone brightly, the smoke from the kitchens inside and outside the city dispersed, and the Zhao Guan family and others, who were sitting side by side on the watchtower of the urn city with the two princes and some important ministers, saw the Jin army's siege force for the first time.
Correspondingly speaking, it was also the first time that the Jin Army had close contact with this strange-shaped city.
There must be artillery positions in the city, so the Jin army built a tall earthen platform a full three hundred steps away from the city wall. Wanyan Wushu came out to see it for the first time today, but he also attracted three dozen people from ten thousand households. Meng An arranged his seat here and watched calmly.
Logically speaking, no one should expect to be able to break through the capital of a country that had been built for more than half a year before launching a large-scale artillery attack. In fact, the Jin army's attack on the city was still based on Zhang Yu's troops driving away the civilians, but two fierce security forces were invested. They are just the core soldiers, and the target is only a place in the north of the city... It is obviously a tentative move.
But the problem is that for some reason, judging from the senior officials of the Song Dynasty and the generals of the Jin Army, this city still gives people the illusion that it can be conquered in one go...
"The walls of Nanyang City seem a bit short, don't you think?" Wan Yanba quickly moved back and forth behind the stage, jumped up and down, and gestured with his hands for a long time before he came on stage, and then he expressed his doubts as soon as he opened his mouth. "We are on this stage. It is ten feet and five feet high. If you compare it like this, how come the city wall of this majestic capital of the Song Dynasty seems to be less than four feet tall? Not to mention Taiyuan, Tokyo, even the ordinary big cities in the border counties of the Song Dynasty can't compare, right?"
After hearing this, the surrounding golden generals all pointed their fingers to measure, but the superior, Wanyan Wushu, was sitting there with a slight frown, as if he was showing off his face again... There was nothing I could do, he was a bit poor in geometry, not to mention that he was as good as the Zhao Guan family across the way. Compared with the stereotypes, there are some differences between him and his subordinates.