The Jin army besieged the city, and the Song emperor’s daughter died

Chapter 38 The Ministry of War decides on the strategy

In the next few days, a strange phenomenon occurred in Kaifeng City.

It is clear that the Jin army is besieging the city, but the gates of Kaifeng are wide open. The number of Qinwang troops from various places is increasing, and it is roughly estimated that there are more than [-] soldiers and horses.

Kaifeng City could no longer be accommodated, and many of King Qin's troops, who had arrived late, had no choice but to set up camp with their backs to Kaifeng City.

At the same time, Li Bangyan directed people every day to pull up a car and send the property to the Jin Army camp.

Fortunately, Zhao Fujin had specially instructed that the property sent out of the city should be kept secret and not seen by the soldiers who came to serve the king.

If they saw it, they wouldn't be furious: "I worked so hard to come to King Qin, but you guys don't reward the Song army, but you take money and send it to the Jin camp every day!"

As the number of King Qin's troops increased, the Ministry of War was also in chaos.

Li Gang felt that he couldn't control these generals from various places at all. They held a noisy war meeting, which was not like a serious discussion among great powers. It was clearly a mess, and everyone had their own thoughts.

Li Gang wanted to let the officials come forward several times to calm the situation.

Even a court meeting in the Chui Gong Hall would be fine.

But Zhao Fujin politely refused every time, either saying that he was not feeling well or that he was busy with family affairs, but he refused to show up anyway.

Zhao Fujin's attitude puzzled Li Gang.

Shouldn't the biggest issue for the imperial court now be Wanyan Zongwang of Moutuogang?
What could be more important than this?
On this day, Yao Pingzhong once again proposed his surprise attack strategy. Li Gang summoned the generals of the various armies to discuss it, but the scene was still the same chaos.

The discussion was not at all about how the various armies should cooperate with Yao Pingzhong's surprise attack on Jinying. What was discussed was how to divide the credit if it succeeded, and who would take the blame if it failed!
Li Gang was speechless and could only ask Master Zhong to speak.

Zhong Shidao is the most powerful and senior general among all the armies present, and his words are always useful.

But as soon as Zhong Shidao opened his mouth, he rejected Yao Pingzhong's surprise attack plan: "No need! We now have more than 20 troops inside and outside Kaifeng City in the Song Dynasty. We can just fight Wanyan Zongwang openly, so why bother playing these small tricks?" "

As soon as Mr. Zhong opened his mouth, someone echoed: "What Mr. Zhong said makes sense. Just go fuck him!"

"Yes, the Jin army only has 2 people, so they are afraid of birds!"

When Yao Pingzhong heard this, he was not happy and said in a strange way: "Mr. Zhong is really old and wants to be safe in everything he does. Let me ask you, how many horses and troops do you have in each army? Are there more infantry or cavalry?"

Someone answered: "We only have infantry here!"

Yao Pingzhong smiled and said: "Look! Although we have 20 soldiers and horses, most of them are infantry. Everyone here must have heard a lot about the cavalry of the Jin Army, especially Tiefutu over the years. The cavalry of the Liao Kingdom Strong, right? An army of 20 was defeated by a Jin army that was less than [-]! We only have [-] soldiers plus the defenders. Can we go head-on with the Jin army?"

Of course, some people echoed Yao Pingzhong's words.

"Little Xianggong Yao is right. Once the whole army comes, it will be better to win. If we lose, Kaifeng City will be destroyed! The Song Dynasty will be over!"

"Yes, this is a battle for the subjugation of the country! If we lose, we will be infamy throughout the ages!"

Seeing that the two parties were arguing, Li Gang mediated: "We can defend the city without making a surprise attack or pressing down with the entire army. We can just carry it with Wanyan Zongwang. The Jin army does not have much food and grass. If they cannot carry it, they will naturally fall." retreat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhong Shidao and Yao Pingzhong said at the same time: "No!"

Li Gang was stunned. Although he was not familiar with marching and fighting, he also knew the art of war: don't seek victory, seek defeat first!
You can win the battle, but before you win the battle, you must first consider whether there is a chance for a comeback if you lose.If you cannot afford the price of failure, then you would rather not have a risky victory!

Yao Pingzhong made a surprise attack. If he failed, the morale of the Song army would be greatly damaged. Even the Western Army at the peak of the Song Dynasty's combat power could not defeat Wanyan Zongwang. How could other teams have the heart to fight again.

If Zhong Shidao were to press all the troops and lose, the Kaifeng defense battle would end early, and the Song Dynasty, which had been in power for hundreds of years, would also be finished, and the risk would be even greater.

It is safest to only defend the city. Why don't these two generals who have experienced hundreds of battles understand?
……

……

"It's Li Gang who doesn't understand!"

While drinking porridge, Zhao Fujin said to Guo Jing, who was waiting on the side: "How did your Imperial City Department get in to the meeting with the Ministry of War?"

Guo Jing smiled naively: "Didn't you tell me, the official, that we in the imperial city should keep an eye on the generals of King Qin's army who are entering the city from all directions? This is how I arranged the people..."

Zhao Fujin snorted: "You are called spying on military aircraft. If you are caught by the Ministry of War, you can beheaded directly. Don't come to me then!"

Guo Jing waved his hands repeatedly: "Don't worry, officials. Our Imperial City Division works professionally. Even if we are accidentally caught, we will never say it was ordered by you, officials."

Zhao Fujin nodded with satisfaction and wiped his mouth: "The king and his ministers are united. I cannot let these generals think that I am wary of them."

"I understand, I understand!" Guo Jing smiled and took the bowl and handed it to the waiter who was waiting.

"Guan Jia, what did you just say Mr. Li didn't understand?"

Zhao Fujin stood up and stretched his waist: "I said Li Gang doesn't understand what Zhong Shidao and Yao Pingzhong think!"

Guo Jing was puzzled and humbly asked for advice!
Zhao Fujin was fine now, so he also smiled and said: "The two of them came all the way from Shaanxi to Kaifeng. Why?"

"Of course it's for King Qin!"

"Oh, it's for military merit! You, Li Gang, are defending the city. How can these two make meritorious deeds?"

Guo Jing suddenly realized: "The officials are very knowledgeable, but the Ministry of War is so noisy now that they can't even come up with a specific strategy to retreat from the enemy. This cannot continue."

Zhao Fujin snorted: "Then what do you think?"

Guo Jing hesitated for a long time, and finally said: "I feel that Xianggong Li... seems unable to handle this matter."

"Haha, isn't that normal? If you want a civil servant who came from Yushitaijian to lead troops to fight, isn't that the same as asking you, Guo Jing, to be the prime minister? There's no fun!"

Guo Jing said with a smile: "Then since the officials know about it, why don't they accept their fate again?"

"Huh? What you mean is that I am a person who burns bridges when no one wants to use me. When no one wants to use me, I will use Xianggong Li. When someone does, I will kick them away."

Guo Jing was shocked and quickly explained: "That's not what I meant!"

Zhao Fujin ignored him and thought for a moment with his eyebrows furrowed: "Go and call me Li Bangyan. He is a prime minister and has been a little idle recently. I have to find something for him to do!"

(End of this chapter)