With the recovery of Datong Prefecture, which had not belonged to the Han Dynasty for more than a hundred years, the entire Taihang-Yellow River scenic area has completely fallen into the hands of the Song army. At the same time, a total of about 40,000 Khitan and Eastern and Western Mongolian reinforcements arrived in Datong, and the remaining troops of the Imperial Camp Rear Army will also be completely liberated, and then march eastward in a large scale to join the main force.
This situation is, of course, very good. Not just good, but very good.
But at the same time, some hidden worries began to emerge. The army gradually became restless, underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, and suffered successive defeats.
The Jin army did not completely lose its morale because of the sudden loss of Taiyuan. Yelu Mawu still defended Jingxing, the main passage from Taiyuan to Hebei, and Xihe City, the capital of Fenzhou in the southwest of Taiyuan Basin, was still firmly held in the hands of Wanyan Salihe.
But these seem to be minor details. In fact, compared with the record of the Song army and the performance of the Jin army before the fall of Taiyuan City, the current situation did not exceed expectations. It was just that the miraculous fall of Taiyuan City gave the Song army a higher sense of expectation for the war, which made it more unbearable to suffer a small defeat under the wave of great victory.
And this is only true for the civil officials who know nothing about military affairs and the lower-level military personnel.
As for the top leaders of the Song army, what really made them worried and nervous at this time was the successful escape of the Datong defenders and the stance of the two Mongolian reinforcements, especially the Eastern Mongolian reinforcements... The account was easy to calculate. If two Wanhu escaped, there would be a difference of 40,000 inside and outside. If the stance of the 15,000 light cavalry Eastern Mongolian reinforcements was reversed, there would be a difference of 30,000 inside and outside, which added up to a difference of 70,000.
No one dares to underestimate this number.
The sun was getting lower and lower in the west. Under the willow trees by the Fen River, Emperor Zhao had already put down his newspaper and started fishing.
As for the main planner of the Datong war, he was also the direct superior of one of the main attacking forces in the Datong direction (Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Camp Rear Army Guo Hao was directly in charge of one of the routes), and he was also the temporary chief of the Taiyuan base camp after the New Year's Day, that is, Wu Jie Wu Jinqing. After receiving the news in the city, he immediately fell into a state of intense anxiety and even panic.
After just a moment's hesitation, he realized that he should better explain things to the officials - he didn't want to lose this last stage because of this kind of thing.
"Is that so?"
Zhao Jiu put down the fishing rod in his hand, turned around and looked at each other, his face looked a little bad, which made Yang Yizhong under the tree next to him also change color a little.
"Yes." Wu Jie, who was standing in front, saw this scene and was glad that he did not delay and came directly to report.
"Jin Qing." Zhao Jiu was silent for a long time before speaking, but he did not directly discuss the issue of Eastern Mongolia. "Do you know why I am so confident in entrusting all matters in Taiyuan to you?"
"I am ashamed." Wu Jie's heart tightened.
"That's not what I meant." Zhao Jiu shook his head, then simply stood up with his hands on his knees, and then paced back and forth under the willow tree with his hands behind his back. "I think that people like you are much better than me in handling some military affairs, organizing military arrangements, and understanding the geography of Hedong... I just sit here and be a good official who stabilizes the morale of the army... But even I have my own considerations that I cannot relax... What do you think I, as an official, should be concerned about while staying in Taiyuan now?"
Wu Jie waited for the official to finish speaking, then calmly but helplessly responded: "It should be logistics and manpower."
"Yes, that's the two points!" Zhao Jiu stopped and looked at him with a little emotion. "Jin Qing, you are indeed a handsome talent..."
Wu Jie sighed softly.
Besides, the logic is not that complicated.
After Taiyuan, anyone with a little knowledge of military strategy knew that there was bound to be a decisive battle, and it would be a battle in the wild. Because if you put yourself in their shoes, after witnessing the power of gunpowder, the Jin Dynasty's top leaders would not take any more risks. They simply could not afford the serious consequences of the sequential explosions of Zhending Prefecture, Hejian Prefecture, and Yanjing City.
Therefore, the main force of the Jin army was forced into a dead end by the Song army. The only thing they could do was to seek a decisive battle in the field when the main force of the Song army left Hedong and marched into Hebei.
As for the decisive battle in the field, when the morale was already high, the Song army's main considerations were of course manpower and logistics. The more manpower, the better, and the more logistics, the better. Therefore, after Zhao Guanjia handed over all the general affairs, he could consider nothing else, but he had to pay attention to the amount of logistics supplies and manpower in Taiyuan.
In comparison, the gains and losses of a city, the victory or defeat of a part, how to sweep the Hedong region, and how to advance to Datong are not worth worrying about.
However, this was also the important reason why Wu Jie came to apologize this time, because compared with other things, this matter had touched upon the most core issue of troop strength comparison during the decisive battle.
"I... am ashamed." Thinking of this, Wu Jie felt even more ashamed.
"Don't be ashamed." Zhao Jiu shook his head slowly. "Mr. Jin, since this has happened, we have to have a pair of thoughts and ideas today... because we, the monarch and his subjects, must not have differences in understanding and thinking."
Wu Jie quickly bowed.
"First of all, I have said before that the army does not have enough gunpowder." Zhao Jiu started from a message that both sides have confirmed. "I have accumulated gunpowder for several years, hundreds of thousands of pounds, and divided it into two parts that day. In order to ensure that Taiyuan can be taken, Hedong has used it all in one go. The tens of thousands of pounds allocated to the Prince of Yan'an were also used by him directly that day... Maybe there is still some, but that is with Yue Pengju. I really don't have any here."
In the setting sun of early spring, Wu Jie's expression remained unchanged, but as soon as Emperor Zhao finished speaking, he immediately shook his head: "I think it's okay... because the Jurchens don't dare to gamble! Even if someone told Wanyan Wushu and Wanyan Balisu in person that we were out of gunpowder, they wouldn't dare to gamble! Even if they saw us using artillery carts to destroy the city bit by bit, they wouldn't dare to gamble. They would just think that we were preparing to use the gunpowder in the most critical place just like before."
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