"You are absolutely right."
Yue Fei nodded in response. "Gunpowder is a surprising method, but we must not put the lives of our three armies on a gunpowder explosion... It is just a surprising initiation, and there must be a perfect countermeasure to follow it up... I really have a complete siege plan! Even if the gunpowder fails, we can still safely attack the city and properly repel the enemy at the same time!"
Tian Shizhong was completely helpless.
Zhang Rong also hesitated to speak.
"That's what I think." Yue Fei ignored the two's reactions and returned to his usual self, speaking calmly. "If we can capture Yuancheng, the regulations of these two cities will be enough to store the ships safely... Zhang Jiedu, is that right or not? You don't have to worry about where to store the warships in the winter, or whether to sail the ships back to Henan."
Zhang Rong glanced at the river sandwiched between the two cities and the artillery carts on the other side of the river, and nodded helplessly.
"If we want to break the city before it freezes, we must have enough troops to ensure that we can attack the city with all our strength, and at the same time we must work together to resist the reinforcements from the north... Is this right or wrong, General Tian?" Yue Fei looked at Tian Shizhong again.
Master Tian took a long breath, suppressed his dissatisfaction, and said with all his strength: "Yes."
"Then can you personally bring 15,000 people here to help me reinforce the Jin army in the north?" Yue Fei continued to ask seriously. "Only in this way can I have enough spare strength to attack the city..."
Although he was standing by the stove, Tian Shizhong felt his scalp tingling and his whole body was cold. "My army is already short of soldiers... How can we bring more than 10,000 people here? Are we going to give up more than ten cities in three states?"
"No." Yue Fei responded calmly. "My foolproof countermeasure is very simple on your side. You have too few soldiers to defend so many places, right? I will make the decision and abandon the three states and more than ten cities... Only guard the two cities of Xiajin and Gaotang where the river is the narrowest, and connect Jinan and Qingzhou as a line of defense... Can't we defend it?"
Tian Shizhong was stunned for a moment, he couldn't believe his ears, and immediately asked: "If we abandon the three states, how will the Marshal explain to the emperor and Tokyo? Do you know that if we abandon the three states, those officials, scholars, and people in the rear will not know how to fight, and I'm afraid they will cause chaos!"
"But at least this will ensure that in case of defeat, the defense line can be preserved." Yue Fei replied simply. "As for the rear... First, according to the emperor's order before leaving, the officials in Tokyo can only question us, but cannot interfere with us; second, this war is related to the fate of the country. How can we waste troops at the end for the sake of face and the turmoil in the rear? If we lose the overall situation, it will cause disasters for a hundred years; third, this matter really has a beginning and an end, and I will bear it myself! Just tell me if you come to defend like this, can you gather 15,000 soldiers from the right army of the imperial camp for me?"
Tian Shizhong stared at the person in front of him with an extremely complicated look, but he actually shook his head and confirmed:
"Yes! But how can 15,000 people help you block the three Wanhu of Ali, Shaohe, and Wang Bolong who have already appeared in the north on flat ground? Especially the two Wanhu of Ali and Shaohe are stationed in Guantao, north of Yuancheng, only 20 to 30 miles away."
"I have a way!" Yue Fei blurts out.
Tian Shizhong almost cursed, but suddenly he remembered something, and his heart moved slightly, but he didn't ask any more questions. He just suppressed his speculation and anxiety, and shook his head slowly: "The people on the other side of the river are not blind. How can we quickly get the main force to cross the river and set up a defense line?"
Yue Fei turned his head and looked at Zhang Rong, who had not spoken for a long time.
Zhang Rong was stunned for a moment, then reacted. Regardless of the fact that he was in a basket in mid-air, he lowered his voice and pointed to the river in the east, saying, "Pengju! I, Zhang, trust you... but in this situation, how can you expect my fleet to get through? There are artillery vehicles pressing down on us! The water is much shallower!"
"This is the key." Yue Fei finally said with a slightly difficult tone. "Brother Zhang, don't be too aggressive... Just go over with a dozen ships and two or three thousand people to seize a position... If you can do it, I will let you do it, if you can't, then we will just retreat and set up a defense line... How do you think?"
Zhang Rong stared at the other person without saying anything for a long time.
Master Tian was holding a thick hemp rope beside him, his fingers bent almost to a dangerous degree, but he didn't dare to make a sound.
Wang Gui, who had been silent for most of the day, wanted to say something but stopped himself. After a while, he simply picked up the shovel and prepared to add coal to the hot air balloon's furnace.
However, Yue Fei stopped this action with his hand.
"This is courtesy before force, right? If I don't agree, will you issue a military order after this basket is put down?" Zhang Rong's tone was trembling. "Don't allow me to speak?"
"Brother Zhang!" Yue Fei replied in mid-air. "We are soldiers and we eat food... Is it just soldiers and we eat food? Why do we eat food? After three or five years of peace, have you forgotten the thoughts and people of the past?"
Zhang Rong also sighed, then gritted his teeth and said, "Since you're talking about the past, then well, just like you trusted me so much back then and almost led the Jin army to Suotou Beach all by yourself, I should trust your character and ability today... Three thousand men and twenty small ships, I'll let Xiao En lead the team!"
After saying this, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Camp Navy simply turned his face to the east and avoided the waterway to the west.
Tian Shizhong wanted to speak, but he didn't know how to start, so he could only hold the hemp rope harder. However, soon, the commander below, Bei, began to drag the hot air balloon down at Wang Gui's signal. The hemp rope tightened, but he didn't even have a place to hold anything. He was at a loss for a moment, so he simply squatted in the basket and held his head.
Then, still silence.
As for Yue Pengju, he took a deep breath and tried to go over his plan again, which had actually been conceived since the first day he arrived and was already well known by heart. However, he just couldn't calm down.
After a while, the hot air balloon was slowly pulled down, and Marshal Yue, a governor and two deputy governors-general jumped out of the basket one after another. Then they all looked calm and walked briskly, and left proudly, which made low-ranking officers like Bei Yan secretly respect them.
A moment later, drums began to be beaten in Daming City to gather the generals. When all the generals in the city gathered, Hebei Army Marshal Yue Fei sat at the top in full armor, Zhang Rong sat at his side in a cotton-padded jacket, and the two deputy governors Tian and Wang also sat at the upper left and right positions, each of them with a blank expression and a stern look, quite impressive.
"I have a perfect plan. We will definitely break through Yuancheng and take Damingfu within this month." Yue Fei ordered calmly, looking down on them. "All of you follow the military order and speed up your preparations!"
There was an uproar in the tent including Zhang Zigai, Tang Huai, Zhang Xian and others. Only the four highest-ranking generals sat still, as if they had already made an agreement and were confident about it. They did not want to argue with these ordinary generals.
So, very quickly, all the generals gradually became solemn and courageous.
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