Daqin arrests alchemists, what does it matter to me as a qi refiner?

Yang Ling said: "Brother Guo, don't panic. Although the current situation is indeed serious, we don't necessarily have to die. With our strength, we still have great hope of defending the city."

"Brother Yang, what do you mean by this?"

"I know you don't want to give up this city. However, if my guess is correct, our city might have already changed hands, with Wanyan Sheng's troops stationed in it, or even Wanyan Sheng himself coming."

"How is that possible?" Guo Ye retorted, "If it is true as you said, there are high-ranking generals of the Jin Kingdom in the city, and Wanyan Sheng is leading the expedition personally. This city should have been controlled by their people long ago. How could our small force take the leading position?"

"What you said makes sense, but don't forget our previous layout here."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, since we have already figured out the enemy's food and fodder transportation routes, why don't we cut off the food supply here and put the enemy in a situation where they are attacked from both sides?"

"So that's how it is!" Guo Ye slapped his forehead and said, "If you hadn't reminded me, I would have almost forgotten about this matter. We have been prepared for a long time, and the amount of food stored is far greater than that of the enemy. If Wanyan Sheng really dares to come this time, we will be invincible."

Yang Ling nodded slightly and said, "That's right."

"No!" Guo Ye suddenly shook his head and said, "With Wanyan Sheng's personal presence, our situation has indeed improved, but don't forget that we don't have many soldiers. Can we stop the Jin army with just a thousand people?"

Yang Ling's face was solemn, and he said slowly: "I know this is almost impossible. But this does not mean that we have no chance of winning."

"Then tell me, what is our advantage now?"

"I have thought about this question before, but I have never been able to find an answer. But sometimes I feel that it is easier for us to deal with the Jin army. Because we are Han people, and they are the people of the Jin Kingdom."

Yang Ling suddenly understood: "You mean, they will take their status into consideration and will not act rashly. They will just wait for Wanyan Sheng to lead his army to attack the city, and then we will take action when the opportunity arises."

Yang Ling smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Guo, you are right. This is exactly what I think. But I always feel that something is missing, which makes me unable to judge."

"What's missing?"

"I lack confidence! I always feel that it is uncertain whether this plan can succeed, let alone win. As the saying goes, if you plan carefully before taking action, you will know both yourself and the enemy, and you will never be in danger of a hundred battles. I don't have enough confidence."

"I understand, I understand."

Guo Ye patted Yang Ling's shoulder in a comforting manner and said, "Brother Guo, don't be too pessimistic. I believe that what you said is from the bottom of your heart. The lack of confidence you mentioned must be referring to the failure of this plan, which is also easy to explain."

"how to explain?"

"This time our opponent is the most elite cavalry of the Jin Kingdom. Even under the command of the Duke of Pingyang, the quality of this unit is top-notch. Unless we use weapons with huge damage such as catapults and crossbows as auxiliary weapons, we will not be able to defeat them. Not to mention, Wanyan Sheng is personally in charge, and thousands of arrows are fired at once. I estimate that the probability of our survival is less than 20% or 30%."

"No wonder I feel that this plan, no matter how you look at it, has no chance of success."

Guo Ye continued to persuade him, "But you have to be open-minded, brother Guo. As the saying goes, a blessing in disguise. We didn't participate in Wanyan Sheng's crusade, so we are not a failure. No one in this world can predict their own fate. Even fate has it all."

"Ah." Yang Ling sighed: "This sentence sounds so familiar."

"What's the matter with that?"

"I have said this to others before, but unfortunately it didn't work well then. Today, I was slapped in the face by you, Brother Yang."

Yang Ling said: "We are both losers, so there is no need for anyone to slap the other in the face."

Guo Ye laughed and said, "Okay, then let's talk about our own issues and not expose each other's shortcomings. Brother Yang, have you ever thought that everything is determined by fate and not by man? Since we have chosen to carry out this plan, we must accept the result of failure."

"Of course I know that. But this is about my life after all. Even though I know there will be failure, I still can't help but feel a little worried."

"Actually, there's nothing we can do about your worries. We can only deal with them as they come. The only thing I'm worried about now is whether your plan is reliable or not. If it doesn't work, won't both of us die?"

"Don't worry about this. I have studied it carefully. This line of defense is the strategy I decided to adopt after careful selection. It is neither close to Beihai City nor far from Yanyun. It is built entirely on the river channel, which can ensure the replenishment of Yanyun reinforcements and at the same time maintain the speed of the Jin army's pursuit."

"If that's the case, it would be great."

"Well, then please tell me in detail, Brother Yang, your specific ideas."

Guo Ye nodded and explained the plan he had developed.

Yang Ling frowned and said, "Although this plan is very thorough, there are two very tricky points. The first point is that we don't have enough troops to achieve the goal of encircling and annihilating the Jin army."

"Of course I understand that. So we must gain an advantage in terms of military strength. Otherwise, with only a few thousand men, there is absolutely no hope of victory."

"That's the supply of food and grass. I've sent people to investigate. About five or six hundred miles from here is near Daming Prefecture. There are many large farmlands there, enough to support our army."

"I know that, too. But the problem is that if we want to transport such a large amount of food and fodder in, we have to bypass Wanyan Sheng. This involves great risks."

Yang Ling's eyes widened as he said, "You mean Wan Yan Sheng could launch a surprise attack on us at any time."

"It is absolutely possible that Wanyan Sheng will send troops. Otherwise, his position as Khan will be over. However, he will definitely bring a large number of cavalry this time. I just don't know if they are his personal guards or a ragtag army from other tribes. The combat effectiveness of such troops is generally low. Even if we are defeated, we can retreat safely. But if he leads the army personally, it will be a big trouble."

"That may not be the case." Yang Ling said, "Wanyan Sheng is a great Khan. He would not personally go to the battlefield unless he had no other choice."

Guo Ye shook his head and said, "Don't be afraid of a million things, just be afraid of nothing. Everything is possible. Fortunately, we still have time to prepare, and we still have a chance."

Guo Ye said: "My suggestion is to send someone to notify Yanjing City immediately while Wanyan Sheng is still not able to react. Ask them to mobilize troops to support them immediately."

"I'm afraid it's inappropriate."

"why?"

"Think about it, if our message was transmitted smoothly, Wanyan Sheng would have been able to prepare earlier and perhaps avoid this failure."

Guo Ye pondered for a long time before saying, "Brother Yang, what you said does make sense, but our intelligence network has been almost deployed, and it will be difficult to restore it in the short term. It is hard to say whether this news can be delivered to Yanjing City."

Yang Ling said, "I don't expect to pass it on. What I mean is, try to delay it. At least until after the autumn harvest. During this period, even if Wanyan Sheng makes any moves, the reinforcements from Yanyun will not be able to come to rescue in time. In this way, we can at least hold out for about four months." "Four months?" Guo Ye frowned slightly and said, "I'm afraid the time is a bit tight. I'm worried that we can't hold on."

"Then we can only fight desperately, cross the Luan River as soon as possible, and then retreat to the Western Regions."

Guo Ye said: "But Wanyan Sheng's army is stationed on our rear road. If we withdraw, we will be surrounded. In that case, we will really not be able to escape!"

"There's nothing we can do about it. It's better than dying by the Luan River."

"That won't do." Guo Ye said, "If we really withdraw, Yan Yun's reinforcements won't be able to arrive. In that case, the battle between Wan Yan Sheng and us will be completely deadlocked, which is not good for Yan Yun."

"You are worrying for no reason. Wanyan Sheng's main forces are in the east. Even if he has tens of thousands of soldiers, he can't cross the border to attack us."

"It's hard to say. The Wansui Mountain Camp is only a few hundred miles away from Yanjing City. It is entirely possible that Wanyan Sheng will send cavalry from the Wansui Mountain Camp straight to our Yanyun hinterland. In this case, the pressure on the Yanyun soldiers will be too great, and I'm afraid they won't be able to hold out for four months."

"I have already thought about this issue. As far as I know, Wanyan Sheng's main force is still on the eastern front, more than a hundred miles away from the western front. In this way, even if they want to cross the border, it will take more than two months to reach our rear."

"If they were ambushed on the way, the delay would be even longer."

Yang Ling smiled bitterly and said, "Yanyun's cavalry is known as the second best in the world. Do you think our enemies would be stupid enough to set an ambush?"

"That's hard to say. I can assert that Wanyan Sheng definitely sent more than just this few troops. The troops he sent this time are definitely Wanyan Sheng's most elite troops."

Yang Ling nodded, this was similar to what he thought.

After all, Wanyan Sheng was once a veteran general of Yanyun and was somewhat familiar with Yanyun's tactics.

He knew very well that Yan Yun's cavalry was world-famous and could not be easily ambushed.

However, precisely because of this, Wanyan Sheng did not dare to send large numbers of troops across the border to fight.

Because no one can figure out the true strength of Yan Yun. We must not act rashly.

After traveling thousands of miles to the heart of Yanyun, if we were ambushed by Yanyun's main force, the losses would be too great.

Although Wanyan Sheng had a large number of soldiers and horses, they were just a mob of people from various tribes, with very simple equipment and weak combat power. How could they withstand the charge of the Yanyun cavalry?

As the saying goes, "An ant can kill an elephant, and all other things are inferior except for reading." This proverb is not just bragging.

If the cavalry of Yanyun were just ants, then Wanyan Sheng's troops were elephants. No matter how powerful the ants were, they would die if they encountered a group of elephants.

Yang Ling pondered for a moment and said, "According to what you just said, if we want to delay the arrival of Yanyun's reinforcements, we have to lure Wanyan Sheng's main force to our side, or simply trick them into giving up the eastern front. Otherwise, this strategy won't work."

"Then how do you think we can attract Wanyan Sheng's main force?"

"Your method is good. But the key to this strategy is to be on guard against Wanyan Sheng ambushing us halfway."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that we must split our forces and retreat from two directions. In this way, even if Wanyan Sheng wants to intercept our flank, he will have to eliminate our main force first."

"You mean to disperse the main force?"

"Not only disperse, but also disperse our main forces to the east and west."

"Will this method work? We can divide our troops, but Wanyan Sheng can also divide his troops. The Wansui Mountain Camp is a thousand miles away from Yanjing City. Wanyan Sheng can just choose a place and arrange a scout to find out the movements of our army."

"Then we need to divide and separate his forces."

“How do you want to differentiate?”

"I have three options. First, you and I will lead our 50,000 infantrymen and attack from north to south. Leave traces along the way. In this way, Wanyan Sheng will not suspect that you and I have escaped and will definitely pursue us."

"What about the second rule?"

"The second way is to split up our forces and launch a surprise attack. We have a lot of people here, and Wanyan Sheng didn't expect us to split up our forces, so he will definitely send out cavalry to chase us. We will seize Wanyan Sheng's central army with lightning speed. By then, Wanyan Sheng will only have infantry on the periphery to block the pursuit of the Yanyun Army. In this case, Wanyan Sheng will be in danger!"

"This plan of yours is unreliable. The Wansuishan camp is not close to our Yanyun Army camp, and our cavalry is far inferior to them in speed. Even if we capture Wanyan Sheng's central army, it will probably be useless, right?"

"You don't understand this. Although the cavalry is slow, they can leap and gallop. In this way, Wanyan Sheng will not be able to catch up with us. By the time he finds out that he has been tricked, the cavalry of the Yanyun Army will probably have rushed over to support him."

"Hmm? Then what is your third way?"

"The third way is to concentrate our main forces on the western front, and then fight a decisive battle with Wanyan Sheng on the western front."

"A decisive battle? Are you sure?"

"Of course, I have come to discuss this with you after careful planning and full preparation. Wanyan Sheng's troops have the upper hand on the Hetao Plain. But on the banks of the Yellow River, our troops are more than ten times his. We will fight him on the banks of the Yellow River, and the outcome is still unknown. However, as long as we delay time and let the cavalry of Yanyun come to reinforce, Wanyan Sheng will be finished."

"But Wanyan Sheng has deployed a large number of troops in the Hetao Plain. Even if our cavalry can arrive, it will be difficult to break through Wanyan Sheng's formation and rescue our main force in a short period of time."

Yang Ling sighed and said, "Yes, I understand the reasoning behind this. But we have no choice."

Suddenly, Guo Ye fell silent.

He knew very well that this was the best option at the moment.

But he could not agree to Yang Ling's request, because he knew very well that Wanyan Sheng would never fight with the Yanyun Army in the Hetao Plain.

Because Wanyan Sheng knew his own situation and understood that the situation on the Hetao Plain was not comparable to that of the Yanyun cavalry. If the two sides fought head-on, they would definitely not gain any advantage. (End of this chapter)