"The Song army has already sent a ship to Guantao." Ali finally revealed the last fatal information. "If Guantao is taken by the Song navy and the Song army on the other side of the river... and then another army is sent from here along the east river to surround and bite us, our 20,000 people will be doomed."
Shao He finally changed color, but was puzzled: "Why does the Song army have so many soldiers?"
"It should be that the elite troops of the imperial camp who were withdrawn from the three states were dispatched here in advance... It's not 30,000 per city against 50,000, but 30,000 per city against 60,000 or 70,000." Ali remained calm. "The military strength was calculated from the beginning."
Shao He was filled with indignation: "Wang Bolong relied on his position to disobey the orders of the commander-in-chief, and even made mistakes in his work due to his greed for merit!"
"Listen to me." Ali sighed. "Shaohe, I know you and General Gao are old friends, and General Gao used to be evasive, hinting that he was a Goryeo, but in recent years he has gradually come to the point of saying that he is a Bohai... After the departure of our elder brother, he has become the backbone of you Bohai people... It is normal for you to be afraid of him. But things are not that bad. Yuancheng is dozens of miles in circumference, with a population of 10,000, and General Gao himself recruited several thousand Bohai and Goryeo warriors in advance, plus the 20,000 to 30,000 civilians recruited later. We also have sufficient supplies and weapons, so we can still defend it if we want, especially before this month, our reinforcements should arrive."
Shao He was still emotional, but he lowered his head and glanced around on his horse, then said coldly: "General Ali, I remember when I was still a marching officer, I heard of your name. You dared to contradict even several princes in person. Why are you so patient and persuasive now? Is it really because you are old and believe in Buddhism?"
Ali was silent for a while before he calmly responded, "I do believe in Buddhism, but this matter has nothing to do with it. I just gradually realized that if you want to persuade people, there is no benefit in speaking harshly. It is better to speak kindly and honestly to them."
Shaohe let out a long breath, then looked up and remained silent for a while.
"Your troops have suffered heavy casualties." Ali remained calm. "Retreat first, I'll cover your rear... But if you retreat now, they can't outflank you, and most of them are infantry, so they probably won't chase you."
"Wave the flag! Blow the horn!" Shao He finally stopped being so angry and gave the order. "Withdraw carefully! Be sure to take the wounded with you!"
The surrounding Jin troops had been waiting for this order for a long time. When they heard it, they immediately left. Ali also turned around to dispatch troops.
Just like that, the war ended suddenly, and the Jin army was the first to collapse... This was certainly not a surprise, but it still made many Song soldiers fighting on the front line overjoyed... Many people who were blood-thirsty ignored military orders and chased directly out of the gap, but soon encountered a counterattack from the Jin army and even collapsed for a time.
Fortunately, the Song army quickly raised its second line of defense, which stabilized the situation and the Jin army did not linger on.
The war ended very suddenly, not only at the gap. When the people on the city wall saw the reinforcements withdrawing, the Jin cavalry under the city also chose to withdraw at the signal from the people on the city wall... and Yue Fei did not even let his Beiwei Army risk crossing the Yongji Canal from the rear to block the Jin Army's route back to the city, but just let them enter the city.
Of course, there were various reasons for doing so. For example, there were many corner towers in the northwest of Daming City. If they fought below the city, they would be easily attacked from above. For another example, the artificial river of Yongji Canal was neither wide nor narrow, and there were no dense pontoon bridges laid inside the northern positions, so it might not be enough. For another example, Gao Jingshan was also a smart man. He even let some Jin cavalry take a detour to the safest southeast water gate to enter the city.
But reasons are just reasons after all. Not doing something is not doing it, but you could have done so.
This caused heavy losses to the subordinates, especially Division Tian, who fell into extreme anxiety when he discovered that the death rate of his own long-axe heavy infantry was as high as 20%.
That’s right, it’s not resentment or dissatisfaction, but uneasiness... After such a long time, although Tian Shizhong cannot be said to know Yue Fei intimately, he has somewhat understood the other’s temper.
"marshal!"
In the afternoon, after hastily assigning the frontline affairs, Tian Shizhong galloped to Yue Fei's four-character banner and asked hurriedly without getting off his horse. "The enemy's army is in a great rout, and the city must be shaken. Moreover, such a large city is dozens of miles around, and there will always be loopholes. Why not blow up the city with gunpowder tonight, and then recruit death squads to attack. Once successful, we can succeed and achieve a miracle?"
Yue Fei shook his head: "General Tian, if that was your plan, I should have tried my best to keep the cavalry outside the city regardless of casualties..."
Upon hearing this, Tian Shizhong sighed softly, and then stared at the other party again, almost helplessly: "Then what do you want to do?"
"General Tian, this is what I think." Yue Fei suddenly raised his hand, and the surrounding soldiers and horses moved away like a tide. Even the soldiers holding the banner took the initiative to evacuate. After the surrounding soldiers had moved away, the Marshal of the Hebei Front Army of the Song Dynasty calmly reined in his horse and responded. "As for the matter of bombing the city with gunpowder, as long as we store it properly and don't let it get wet, then whether it is successful or not, it should be the same in principle..."
"You want to wait and delay the main force of the Jin army? Are you afraid that the Jin army reinforcements will not come after seeing the loss of Damingfu, but will turn back to Taiyuan?" Tian Shizhong almost blurted out. "Isn't that right? You crossed the river to break the city, but more importantly, you wanted to use the break the city as a means to help the government contain the main force of the Jin army, right? From the beginning, you had a big plan! From the beginning, you crossed the river to target the main force of the Jurchen army! You wanted to wait until the main force of the Jurchens came, and then break the city! Is that right?"
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