Only now did Zhu Si understand Liu Sigu's good intentions in asking him to retreat immediately. After learning that Guo Song had captured Huaizhou and Liyang City, Zhu Si locked himself in the king's tent for a full day and did not show up. The generals were so anxious that they all
Found military advisor Liu Sigu.
"Military advisor, if this goes on, morale is getting lower and lower, please go and persuade His Majesty!" Everyone begged one after another.
Liu Sigu comforted the generals and said, "Don't worry too much. It's not necessarily a bad thing to let His Majesty calm down for a while. I will go and persuade him. Please don't worry."
"Military advisor, is our current situation very serious?" Another general also asked what everyone was thinking.
"The current situation is indeed unfavorable to us, and it can be said to be relatively severe, but it is not at the end of the road. As long as we deal with it properly, we will still withdraw to Luoyang normally."
Liu Sigu's comfort made everyone feel at ease a little, and everyone discussed for a while and then dispersed.
Liu Sigu really wanted to see Zhu Si. Zhu Si could give him some cold treatment and let him reflect, but he could not be so indifferent that he would lose his confidence.
Liu Sigu came to the king's tent. When the guards saw the military advisor coming, they all cheered up. Liu Sigu asked in a low voice: "How is he?"
The guards shook their heads, and one guard whispered: "My mood is very low. I haven't had any water or rice in a day."
"Okay! I'll go and persuade him."
Liu Sigu opened the curtain and walked into the big tent. The tent was covered with thick carpets. Zhu Si was lying alone on a soft tiger leather chair, staring at the top of the tent in a daze.
Zhu Si is obese and snores loudly when he lies down. But today he couldn't fall asleep even after lying down for a whole day, which shows that he is very worried.
"I told you not to disturb me!" Zhu Si said with great dissatisfaction.
"Your Majesty, it's me!"
"Ah! It's the military advisor. Please sit down quickly."
Zhu Si struggled to get up. He was too fat and it was very difficult to get up. At this time, two personal guards hiding in the corner appeared in time and helped Zhu Si up.
"You go ahead!"
Zhu Si waved his hand and asked the guards to retreat, and the two personal guards hid in the corner.
"Military advisor, I'm so embarrassed to see you! I didn't listen to your advice, which is why I'm so passive today."
Liu Sigu said calmly: "From ancient times to the present, few monarchs have listened to the advice of counselors. In fact, your majesty is already good. Only children can listen to what is said, so your majesty does not need to blame yourself too much."
Liu Sigu's comfort made Zhu Si feel more comfortable. He sighed again and said, "I just don't understand why our brothers can't compete with Guo and Song in Hebei. Every battle is bound to be defeated. Our brothers were driven to Liaodong. I am here."
There is no place to stand in Hebei, why is that?"
"Your Majesty cannot compete with Guo Song in Hebei because Guo Song has been plotting against Hebei for many years and has set many traps. For example, when he captured Mingzhou, he clearly could have wiped out Li Wujun in one go, but he left Li Wujun behind.
He came down and used it as bait to mobilize Zhu Tao's army south. When Zhu Tao swallowed the bait and went south, he led his army to capture Zhu Tao's lair in Youzhou. One year after he implemented this plan, Zhu Tao was fooled unknowingly.
.
In fact, the same is true for Wei State. He did not attack Wei State in a large scale last year because he wanted His Majesty to go north and let Tian Xu seize the throne. This is an opportunity for everyone. The reason why Guo Song has the advantage is that he has the right time, place and population.
.
"What is the right time, right place and right people?" Zhu Tao asked again.
"Your Majesty, the timing was when Tian Xu killed his brother and established himself, which led to the internal division of the Wei State. Your Majesty actually seized this timing, even more timely than Guo Song, but our geographical location, people and people are not as good as Guo Song, so we
There is today’s passivity.”
"What are geographical advantages and harmonious relations?" Zhu Si continued to ask.
"The geographical advantage can be viewed from two aspects. On the one hand, it means that Guo Song occupied the entire northern part of Hebei, and the Jin army could attack at multiple points and sweep from north to south. On the other hand, Guo Song made sufficient preparations. Zhu Tao and Li Wujun
He did not transport the grain and military supplies he had hoarded for many years to Chang'an, just to seize Wei."
"This isn't right!"
Zhu Si jumped up and said: "I can also attack Hebei, Bozhou, Weizhou, Huaizhou and Weizhou more. Although there is the danger of the Yellow River, after the Yellow River freezes in winter, there is no difference between attacking Wei from the north and the south. Besides,
I have also prepared for many years and accumulated a large amount of food in Liyang City, so what do I mean by insufficient preparation?"
Liu Sigu smiled bitterly and said, "Then the problem lies in people and people!"
Seeing Zhu Si's silence, Liu Sigu continued: "In fact, it can be seen from a small incident. Your Majesty seized Changle County as a military camp and drove the people out of the county, but Guo Song sent the people of Changle County to Yuancheng for resettlement.
His Majesty's army invaded the Wei State, scaring millions of Wei people to flee north. However, Guo Song established refugee camps in Qingzhang County and Qinghe County. Therefore, his troops in Hebei were inexhaustible, and the people in Hebei were willing to sacrifice their lives for him.
He can easily recruit hundreds of thousands of troops, but we have no troops in Hebei. This is not only due to the support of the people, but also the support of the gentry..."
"Enough!"
What Zhu Si heard was extremely unpleasant. He interrupted Liu Sigu with great dissatisfaction, "What's the point of talking about this now? Can it help me get out of trouble? The military advisor should say something practical! What should we do next? Is to order the Luoyang army?
Go north for reinforcements, or should we break through and go south?"
Liu Sigu knew Zhu Si too well, so he would definitely not hear his own advice. He could only sigh secretly and said to Zhu Si: "Your Majesty, if we want to safely withdraw to Luoyang, we must have an army to support us. At least Guo Song will not pursue us."
, Your Majesty, I suggest that a hundred thousand troops be stationed on the south bank of the Yellow River."
Zhu Si stood up and unfolded the map. He asked: "Which location is better for a hundred thousand troops to gather?"
Liu Sigu pointed to the area between Puyang and Baima and said: "This place is more suitable. On the other side is Tanyuan Town. Here we can attack Liyang and force the Jin army in Liyang not to dare to act rashly. At the same time, we can also respond to Weizhou's retreat."
Zhu Si nodded, "This location is good. It is indeed a strategic location. A military city can be built here in the future."
Zhu Si's spirit began to rise, and he swept away the depression and decadence of the day. He took a few steps with his hands behind his hands and asked, "Then how should we evacuate?"
Liu Sigu said calmly: "I have thought about this issue repeatedly. The first thing is the time arrangement. We still have fifteen days of food. We might as well tell the soldiers that there is still enough food for thirty days. I believe Guo Song will get this."
According to the news, at least in the first twenty days, he did not expect that we would suddenly evacuate."
"This is a good idea. If you want to deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your own people."
Zhu Si praised: "Then what?"
"Then we have to withdraw based on the enemy's strengths and weaknesses. The Jin army will definitely use cavalry to pursue us. This is their advantage, but the cavalry also has weaknesses, that is, forests and mountains are not conducive to cavalry."
Liu Sigu pointed to the map and said: "We are at least eighty miles away from the Yellow River. There are large wheat fields to the south, which are very suitable for cavalry operations, so we must not go due south, but there are low hills on the southeast and southwest sides.
What's more important is that there are endless forests, especially the forests in the southwest. Although they are not very long from east to west, they are very wide from north to south, stretching for forty to fifty miles, all the way to the Yellow River, which is only more than thirty miles away from us. As long as we escape into the forest
, the enemy cavalry has nothing to do with us."
"But there is also a forest in the southeast!" Zhu Si pointed at the map.
"Beizhi knows. What Beizhi means is that we divide our troops into three groups and let the 20,000 old and weak troops retreat from the south to attract the enemy's pursuers. Then we divide the main force into two, with one part withdrawing from the southwest and the other from the southeast.
Withdraw your troops, Your Majesty, take the southwest direction and gallop thirty miles on horseback, and you will be able to escape the enemy's pursuit."
Zhu Si nodded slowly. He thought for a moment and said, "We still have fifteen days of food. It would be better if we withdraw our troops on the tenth day and 100,000 reinforcements have arrived on the south bank of the Yellow River."
Liu Sigu shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, we will withdraw our troops in three days!"
Zhu Si was immediately stunned, "But... in three days, the 100,000-strong army has not even had time to deploy."
Liu Sigu smiled slightly and said: "Your Majesty, in the art of war, what is true is false, and what is false is true. I said that one hundred thousand reinforcements would be brought in for Guo Song. I know that Guo Song will never believe us twenty days later.
I also believe that his spies in Luoyang will discover the mobilization of our 100,000 troops, making Guo Song think that we will not withdraw until reinforcements are deployed.
But at the moment when he least expected it, we suddenly withdrew our troops. As long as we are given an hour to withdraw, we can retreat safely."
Zhu Si gave a thumbs up for a while and said, "Great military strategist!"