Yue Fei's strategy could not be considered brilliant.

Yang Yi Zhong initially entered the battle from the north bank of the Jishui River, while Li Cheng on the opposite side came around from the other side of the Yellow River. In essence, they were doing the same thing, which was to encircle and attack from the side, and was one of the most common military tactics.

Only these two's "encirclement" failed, but Yue Pengju's encirclement succeeded, and it was a double-sided encirclement and double-sided attack, and the distance was farther, the road was more difficult, the troops were more, the speed was faster, and finally the results were more...that's all.

Of course, one thing that has to be admitted is that even though Yue Fei and his imperial camp vanguard finally completed this strategic encirclement, the contributions of others, such as Zhang Rong's real fighting on the front line, Yang Yi Zhong's bloody blocking of the enemy at the Jishui River, and even Xiao En's desperate and blind support as a mere county magistrate, cannot be regarded as useless.

On the contrary, there is never any useless effort in war. Without these people's seemingly unprovoked consumption and blood and bravery, it would be impossible to achieve the so-called fatal blow that seems magical in the end.

For example, in the previous round of Jin invasion, Zhao Jiu ranked Han Shizhong and Chen Gui first in military merit, followed by Li Yanxian and Zhang Jun, and finally Wang Yan and Yue Fei, who played a miraculous role… This is not just a political balancing act, but if it were not for these people’s counterattacks, perseverance, consumption, and even defeat in the early stages, it would be a fantasy to expect to drive the Jin people back in one battle in the later stages.

These people also made great contributions in the Battle of Changsha.

However, now is not the time to discuss these issues because the war is not over yet.

According to the latest intelligence, Li Cheng should have successfully escaped into Jinan Prefecture. He is currently defending Changqing, an important city in Jinan Prefecture. He has escaped from the encirclement one step ahead and occupied a good defensive position... This time, Hong Ya's guess was absolutely correct.

Dudu Li Cheng, the Double-Sword Master, understands Yue Fei very well.

At the same time, Kong Yanzhou and Liu Lin's nearly 30,000 troops were surrounded by Yue Fei and Zhang Rong who were heading west from Mount Tai in the narrow plain between the Ji River and Mount Tai, north of Pingyin and south of Changqing. They were helpless and almost desperate... The reason why I say "almost" rather than "directly desperate" is that theoretically there is still the possibility of reinforcements for them.

Maybe General Li will suddenly make a desperate move and come to help?

Maybe the Jin army across the Jishui River and the Yellow River will fly over?

Maybe Emperor Liu Yu would just be like an old man who is still as passionate as he was in his youth, and rush over from Jinan in one breath with a thousand horses galloping across the plain?

In comparison, the Prime Minister Hong Ya of the Great Qi and the thousands of soldiers from Mizhou who were trapped in Yanggu City theoretically have more reason to speak of.

First of all, Yanggu County is the only county in Dongping Prefecture north of the Jishui River. It connects the north, south, east and west, and is a famous rich and large county. The county seat is also very tall and magnificent...

That’s right, unlike Gong and Liu who were in despair in the wilderness, Lord Hong had a strong city to defend. Kong Yanzhou and Liu Lin would be envious to death if it were him.

Secondly, although the Song army outside Yanggu City gathered many generals from various parties, the total number was not large, only about six or seven thousand people in total, and Hong Ya also had four or five thousand people. Considering the offensive and defensive issues, his military strength was actually not at a disadvantage.

The last and most important point is that the Yellow River is not far behind Yanggu County. If the Jin people really come to help, Yanggu will be the first place to be rescued.

If you think about it this way, the place that Li Cheng arranged for Prime Minister Hong doesn't seem to be a bad one. If Prime Minister Hong really has extraordinary talent, he can turn Yanggu into a jade wall, and then drag tens of thousands of Song troops to death under the city of Yanggu for several months. Maybe the Jin people will directly make him the prime minister of Jin!

"He wants to surrender, just to save his life?"

Due to his special status, Yang Yizhong naturally became the commander of this joint force. However, upon hearing this, he could not help but sneer in the central army tent. "He is the prime minister of the pseudo-Qi, a so-called important official who surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, and a national scum. The government has already made a conclusion about such people. How can we let him go? If we let him go, wouldn't Zhang Yu have been stabbed to pieces in vain?"

Speaking of which, when Yang Yi Zhong was not in front of Emperor Zhao, he usually seldom spoke, and basically maintained a dignified and calm demeanor. But when he made a rare sarcastic remark at this moment, no one thought it was wrong... After all, the pressure this confidant of the Emperor had been under in the past few days was so great, and with the situation changing today, he naturally felt a little relieved and vented.

It's human nature.

In fact, not only the many people in the tent, but even the messenger, who was usually good at observing people's words and expressions, secretly groaned in his heart when he heard these words and saw these expressions.

That’s not all. After Commander Yang rebuked Hong Ya for his wild ideas, he actually didn’t forget about the envoy:

"Zhang Maode, Zhang Erguan, how come you are now an envoy of the Pseudo-Qi? Is it okay to play both sides, do you think?"

Zhang Maode was such a smart man that he knelt on the ground in public and said earnestly: "General Yang, County Magistrate Xiao abandoned us, and thousands of soldiers from the pseudo-Qi army suddenly came in. How can I, an ordinary citizen, resist? Even now he forced me to come out as an envoy, how can I refute it for my family? However, of course I yearn for the royal army of the court. As long as General Yang has the say, I will go back today and let all the hundreds of people in my family fight to the death for the country and must welcome the royal army in..."

This is what Yang Yizhong said, but this person was extremely dishonest, so he had to threaten him a few more times in order to get the upper hand.

However, before Yang Yizhong could speak, and Li Kui, the two Li Baos and the three commanders below were too late to join in the fun, someone spoke first, and it was none other than the 'Yanggu County Magistrate' Xiao En.

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