Chapter 58 Why do you say that?
Mu Ying and others knew Fu Youde's thoughts very well, but no one was sure now.
Who could have imagined that Mu Ying would suffer such a crushing defeat today, and no one could find a way to break the city from today's crushing defeat.
Fu Youde was very angry when he saw that no one was talking. Since no one was talking, he might as well make it clear. Anyway, the military meetings in the tent were recorded by the clerks and would be submitted to Zhu Yuanzhang for his review. Since no one was talking, he might as well say it.
"Marquis Xiping, Marquis Pingliang, you have both dealt with the Songming garrison several times. The Songming garrison's crossbow array is indeed extraordinary, but the power of this crossbow array is vastly different from what you have presented to His Majesty!"
"Thirty massive chariots and hundreds of thousands of infantrymen fighting in unison were unable to take even one step past the city walls. The strength of the Songming City defenders is clearly very different from what you two described."
"From today's battle, I've discovered Songming City's weaknesses. Their crossbow formations are powerful, but they can't cover everything, especially with Songming City's walls stretching for hundreds of miles. What does this mean, do you know?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Di and Mu Ying seemed to understand something, but Fei Ju, Zhu Su and others looked at Fu Youde with confusion.
"This means that Songming City's defenses can't be comprehensive. With such a long wall, there are bound to be one or two weak spots. Our next step is to find these weak spots. The focus of our future attack will be on these points."
After hearing Fu Youde's words, everyone woke up from their dreams and looked at Fu Youde with eyes full of admiration.
It is true that when a veteran takes action, one is worth two. Fu Youde did not even go to the battlefield today, but he was able to discover the weakness of Songming City just by launching two 'exploratory' attacks. He is indeed worthy of being the best in the Ming army besides Xu Da and Chang Yuchun!
Seeing that his words had stunned everyone present, a hint of satisfaction flashed across Fu Youde's face. He then coughed lightly and continued.
"During today's battle, I also noticed something else. Although their crossbow formation is powerful, it is not completely without weaknesses."
"It's not hard to see from the artillery suppression by Xiping Hou today that the Songming City army didn't do a thorough job of protecting the city walls. However, because they had pre-placed firing holes on the walls, they were able to respond calmly."
"Although their arrows can explode like crossbows, if our army forms a large shield formation and uses heavy shields for defense, their crossbows will be helpless against our army."
"But our army currently has a limited supply of giant shields. Marquis Xiping and Marquis Pingliang, I know you've been to Yunnan before and should be familiar with the scale of Yunnan's military equipment production. If I were to ask you to produce 50,000 giant shields within 15 days, would you be able to do it?"
"This matter is of great importance. If you cannot do it, please do not force yourself. I will immediately send an urgent message eight hundred miles away to report to His Majesty, requesting that His Majesty send troops to assist."
Zhu Di, Mu Ying and others looked at each other in surprise. They did not expect that Fu Youde had prepared this.
This is a blatant conspiracy, which is clearly intended to dissuade them from all negative consequences of today's battle in the future.
After all, today's battle was initiated by Mu Ying. At that time, Mu Ying acted on his own without Fu Youde's permission, and it happened twice in a row, causing such great losses. It would be strange if Fu Youde was willing to cover for him.
However, it was a bit difficult to make 50,000 giant shields within 15 days, but Mu Ying really couldn't refuse this condition.
If they had won today's battle, Zhu Di would definitely not have held him accountable for his arrogance and disobedience to the commander-in-chief's orders. But they lost, and Mu Ying was in a difficult situation. He could only stare at Zhu Di helplessly.
Among the several princes born to Zhu Yuanzhang, Mu Ying had a better relationship with Prince of Yan Zhu Di, except for Crown Prince Zhu Biao.
Seeing Mu Ying looking at him, Zhu Di didn't want to pay any attention to him. He had to bear the consequences of his own actions and he didn't want to get involved in this mess.
But Zhu Di didn't want to care. Someone behind him pushed him. Zhu Di looked back in surprise and saw that it was Jin Zhong who was signaling to him. Zhu Di hesitated for a moment and stepped forward to bow.
"General Fu, what you just said was a bit of a joke. Given the current situation in Yunnan and Dian, I'm afraid we can't meet your requirements. How about this? I happen to have a batch of giant shields here. In addition, there should be quite a few giant shields in the military treasury of Guangxi Prefecture, which can be requisitioned."
In the military tent, apart from Fu Youde, Zhu Di was of course the one with the highest authority and background. Since he had spoken, what he said must be certain. When Mu Ying heard Zhu Di offer help, he quickly agreed.
Zhu Su, like Zhu Di, originally did not want to get involved, but when he saw Zhu Di helping Mu Ying, although he did not understand why, he also followed suit and said that he had exactly 10,000 giant shield soldiers in his army and was willing to let Fu Youde command them.
Fu Youde saw everyone's opinions and a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He used a conspiracy to control Mu Ying and made the two princes agree to obey his orders and hand over the elite troops in their hands. His goal had been achieved.
But just as he was feeling proud and ready to give orders and show off his skills, a discordant voice suddenly appeared.
Fei Ju, the Marquis of Pingliang, stepped forward and said, "General, since we have to wait fifteen days before attacking Songming City, I suggest that you withdraw from Songming now."
"Huh?" Everyone was surprised to hear Fei Ju's words. Fu Youde frowned, "Why does the Marquis of Pingliang say that?"
"While observing the battle today, I discovered something. I wonder if the Marshal and the other princes have noticed. Songming City has eight garrison towns. Taking the three garrison towns that our army engaged in battle today as an example, I believe that any one of them has a garrison of more than 20,000 troops!"
"So what?" Fu Youde looked puzzled and didn't understand what Fei Ju said.
"General," Fei Ju said quickly, "one urn city has 20,000 men, and eight urn cities have 160,000 men. Adding the defenders in the main city, I believe the defenders of Songming City are at least 200,000 to 300,000!"
"This isn't the first time that Xiping Hou and I have fought against the defenders of Songming City. Their defenders have never fought outside the city, but that certainly doesn't mean they don't have field troops."
"The delegation Your Majesty sent to Songming City earlier witnessed with their own eyes the presence of a considerable number of cavalrymen. If that is the case, the number of Songming City's defenders is likely over 300,000, or even 400,000..."
After hearing what Fei Ju said, all the Ming generals present, including Fu Youde, were shocked. Everyone finally understood what Fei Ju wanted to say.
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