That afternoon, at the military meeting held at the Prime Minister's Mansion in response to the new situation, the Privy Council had just marked the new battle situation on a simple clay plate. Before Liu Ziyu had time to make a few words of explanation, Liu Xi, the commander-in-chief of the three western routes, formally asked Zhao Jiu to lead the main force to attack directly and fight at Baishui.
"Officials."
Because it was a large military meeting with many participants, it was held in the shade of the trees in the backyard, and Liu Xi stood in front of a huge clay plate with his hands folded, and spoke passionately. "At this point, neither the enemy nor I have any special strategies to talk about. The battle in Guanxi is just a matter of settling accounts. Before, I thought that the Jin people were strong and one against three, so I thought that at least 120,000 or 30,000 troops would be enough to meet the enemy. Today, I still hold this view, but I also need 100,000 troops to take the initiative to meet the enemy and block the enemy from the plain. And now, there are 100,000 royal troops in Guanxi!"
I have to say that Liu Xi's remarks make sense.
The closer it gets to the showdown, the more everything seems like a simple math problem...but in its simplicity, it is extremely deadly.
The algorithm Liu Xi gave was the same as always, still one against three, so after discovering the change in the situation, he could vaguely solve the problem here, because there were really about 100,000 Song troops that could be mobilized in Guanxi... 40,000 troops in the central camp of the imperial camp, 40,000 troops in the three western routes of the western army plus 40,000 troops in Jingzhao, and Emperor Zhao had a trump card in his hand.
It's still not enough. No matter where it comes from, for example, from Qu Duan and Wu Lin who should reply soon, if we gather a little bit, we can get at least 100,000.
In fact, Liu Xi's move was soon echoed by many military officials. Except for his brother Liu Qi who did not participate to avoid suspicion, all the generals in Guanxi who were qualified to come here to "meet Prime Minister Yuwen" enthusiastically requested to fight.
Later on, even Wang Yuan, the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Camp who had been working so hard on making clay plates, couldn't help but step forward to ask for a fight... This was his chance, the chance to turn the empty command of the Imperial Camp into a real one, and he was unwilling to give up even the slightest hope.
Seeing such an enthusiastic attitude, and the military miracle that Wu Jie had just created, Yuwen Xuzhong and Zhang Jun, who had been rejected by the emperor once before, also began to hesitate.
As for Emperor Zhao, he had no extra expression as usual. He just sat in front of the clay plate and listened quietly to the generals' words.
"I think it's not possible!" Just as these people finished expressing their opinions and Zhao Jiu was about to reply, Liu Ziyu, the chief secretary of the Privy Council, stood up with a dark face and spoke fiercely. "It's absolutely necessary. Please punish Liu Xi and Zhao Zhe as the two leading thieves, and behead them as a warning to future generations!"
The summer breeze was blowing and the shadows of the trees were mottled. Liu Xi, Zhao Zhe and several other generals of the Western Army were all stunned. Yuwen Xuzhong and Zhang Jun also shrank back.
Without waiting for these people to come to their senses and think of words to refute, Liu Ziyu bowed again and said something shocking:
"Your Majesty, how can these people serve the country or the emperor? They just saw Wu Jie's extraordinary achievements, and they were jealous and underestimated the enemy. They want to use the fate of the country to gain fame for themselves! Please don't be fooled by them!"
Zhao Jiu immediately shook his head and said, "Don't say these hurtful things... It doesn't matter if you have selfish motives, as long as you can win! On the contrary, if you can't win, your so-called public-spirited heart is nothing but a heart that harms the country... Yan Xiu, let's talk about the matter."
"Then let's talk about it. I think Liu Xi's calculation is wrong!"
As soon as the generals took a breath, Liu Ziyu continued to face them seriously. "Your Majesty, I only want to ask, if we send 100,000 troops to Baihe to block Loushi, what if Loushi holds out and waits for reinforcements? Even if Puzhen is blocked by Han Taiwei, when it comes to the decisive battle, the moment of life and death, can't the Jin army abandon the logistics and send reinforcements from Longmen Ferry to support 20,000 or 30,000 elite troops? And if we take Liu Xi, the general, as an example, one against three, where can we get the 60,000 or 70,000 troops to deal with these 20,000 or 30,000 Jin troops? Does Han Taiwei have to abandon Tongzhou? Then when the Jin army forces a crossing from Puzhen, and 100,000 or 80,000 come over, where can we find the remaining 200,000 or 300,000? Therefore, I say that Liu Xi and Zhao Zhe should be executed! I don't believe that they keep saying that they are three against one, but they can't think of this!"
There was silence in the courtyard. Zhao Zhe instinctively looked to Zhang Jun for help, but was glared back at. Liu Xi even knelt down on one knee and claimed that he was negligent and incompetent.
Seeing this, Zhao Zhe quickly bowed his head and apologized.
Zhao Jiu motioned the two generals to stand up, and at the same time he slowly shook his head at Liu Ziyu: "What Yanxiu (Liu Ziyu's pen name) said makes sense, but General Liu and his men cannot possibly have bad intentions... Let's discuss this later!"
Liu Ziyu couldn't say much and could only nod his head in agreement.
Just like that, because of Liu Ziyu's insistence and Emperor Zhao's ambiguous attitude, this military meeting ultimately could not change the general plan. In the end, the military meeting decided to let Wang Yan lead the Eight Character Army forward to set up formations in Pucheng, Meiyuan and Fuping areas to resist when the opportunity arises and to provide flank support for Han Shizhong.
The military meeting ended in failure.
After the military meeting, not to mention that everyone had their own destinations, Zhang Jun took the initiative to call his best friend Liu Ziyu as soon as he went out and invited him to ride in the same car.
"Yan Xiu, what you and Liu Xi calculated is not right!"
One in purple, the other in red, a pair of prominent old friends sat opposite each other in the mule cart, and Zhang Jun got straight to the point. "It can't be three to one! The Western Army is defending the country, with supplies piled up like a mountain, the emperor is personally leading the battle, and the morale is high, how can it be three to one? Wu Jie was in Fangzhou, was that three to one?"
"Three to one is what I said?"
Liu Ziyu was of course fearless in private with his friends, and he was also very angry, so he simply sneered. "Liu Xi said three to one. Who in Chang'an doesn't know that? Yuwen Xianggong is weak, and you and Hu Mingzhong are both unyielding. The three northern routes are Hu Mingzhong's territory, but the three western routes are your territory, and the Liu brothers are your private people! Therefore, even if Wu Jie can be used, it can only be said that the three northern routes of Shaanxi can be used. On the contrary, Liu Xi's statement confirmed that your three western routes are weak and can only fight three to one!"
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