Of course, after being caught off guard, Wang Yan and the others were speechless, but they couldn't help but agree quickly with a pinch of their noses… However, everyone also knew that Taiyuan City was different from Nanyang City and Dongjing City. Although the city was dangerous, the city wall itself was limited in size, and the core main wall was rammed earth, which made it impossible for the artillery carts to get on the wall, and the Jurchens should also lack the technology for small artillery carts, so as long as Emperor Zhao was not stupid enough to run to the wall, such a thing would never happen... Ren Baozhongzhen found a way to show his loyalty.
The topic was brought up, and Zhao Jiu finally smiled and spoke, still fiddling with the bow: "I know, I will just stay in the camp and watch you guys take the city, I won't take any risks."
Everyone quickly agreed and acted as if they were relieved. However, when they came to their senses and continued the discussion, they couldn't help but get to the point ahead of time because of Emperor Zhao's words about breaking the city. At this point, the conversation became very dry.
Because it is really difficult to break into the city.
“So, if you want to break into the city, you have to use artillery carts to advance layer by layer. First, break through the city gate, then wipe out the deer fort, fill in the trench, and possibly fill in the moat. Finally, you can use the artillery carts to smash each other and win by quantity.” After some discussion, Wang Yan tried to summarize.
"So, does Taiyuan City have no weaknesses?" At this moment, Zhao Jiu suddenly interrupted, playing with his longbow. "Look, there are fortifications on three sides of the city, isn't it missing one? And if what you said is true, the inner city is adjacent to the west and north, and the artillery carts cannot be placed in the northwest corner... Why can't we attack the city from the west?"
Everyone paused, then looked at each other.
Afterwards, Wang Yan had no choice but to take the initiative to explain: "Let your Majesty know that there is indeed no fortress west of Taiyuan City, and it is impossible to set up artillery carts in the northwest corner. Not only that, there is only a sheep and horse wall under the west wall of Taiyuan City, which is not very extended. Even the fortresses on the wall are much less than those on the other three sides... But the Fen River is only a hundred steps outside the city to the west. It is cold now, and the Fen River is open to traffic, but it may thaw in ten days at most. By then, the west of Taiyuan City will be the safest place in Taiyuan City... Your Majesty, it's not that we can't take a risk from the west, but we don't have ready-made siege equipment, and I'm afraid it will be too late."
Zhao Jiu smiled and shook his head, but he didn't know whether he was pretending to be profound or was happy because he finally found the way to pull the longbow in his hand.
"Does the government want to cut off the Fen River?" Ren Baozhong thought for a moment and asked seriously. "While it's cold, dig a river channel outside first, and once the ice melts, cut off the original river channel, and then turn the river channel into a smooth road, set up positions from the west, and fire artillery to attack the city?"
Wang Yan and the others seemed to be thinking about something, and after a while, quite a few people seemed to be interested, and soon began to echo their opinions... Obviously, although this method sounds stupid and a waste of manpower, it seems to be feasible in front of Taiyuan City, a military fortress with almost no blind spots.
Emperor Zhao was not in a hurry to respond, because after studying for a long time, he finally pinched the lower third of the Japanese longbow and pulled the bow properly. Taira no Kiyomori, who had not dared to say a word or interrupt, hurriedly handed over an arrow.
Then Emperor Zhao bent his bow, drew his arrow, and pulled the bowstring towards an earthen rampart a few dozen steps in front of him. He then looked at the arrow that was deeply embedded in the earthen rampart as if he was thinking about something.
This shot also attracted a lot of people's attention.
"What do you think of this Japanese longbow?" Zhao Jiu turned around and asked a question that was obviously off-topic.
But, who can blame them for being officials?
As for the quality of the bow, everyone present is an expert and can know the inside story at a quick glance. However, due to their status, it may not be their turn to speak.
"I think this bow still has some merits." Wang Yan was already a little anxious, but he could only answer with his hands folded. "In terms of close range shooting, in terms of lethality alone, it is comparable to the Jurchen hard bow and heavy arrows, but in actual combat it is far inferior to the Jurchen hard bow..."
"Is it because the bow is too long, or because it is made of bamboo or wood?" Zhao Jiu couldn't ask any more.
"Both." Wang Yan said with a bit of annoyance. "The bow is too long, which makes it inconvenient to draw the bow. If you want to shoot the bow immediately, you will need to hone your bow skills from a young age. As for the bamboo and wood ones, in close combat, the Jurchen hard bow's ox horn iron frame can block swords, but the Japanese bow can be easily cut off."
"That's right." Zhao Jiu sighed and handed the bow to Taira no Kiyomori beside him. "This bow is not useless, but it is not our turn to use it here, because for close shooting, there are ox horn iron frame hard bows, and for long-range shooting, there are divine arm bows, so how can we use it? Just like the warriors today, their loyalty and bravery are commendable, but they don't have heavy armor, and we are dominated by armor, so their courage can only be in vain. But we can't laugh at them. When the Jurchen heavy armored cavalry appeared, we were helpless at first, and finally we slowly figured out the tricks, using heavy armor against heavy armor, strong crossbows against heavy bows, and long axes against cavalry... When anything comes out, it is only very effective at the beginning, and after a long time, sooner or later we will get used to it."
Everyone became increasingly confused.
"Nowadays, the most fundamental thing for attacking a city is the artillery cart, right or wrong?" Zhao Jiu continued to ask. "Once the artillery is used, it will only take time for any city to be defeated, and the city's countermeasures are mostly to counter artillery, right or wrong?"
"right."
"yes."
Wang Yan and Ren Baozhong spoke almost at the same time.
"This is what I mean." Zhao Jiu finally turned around and gave his final conclusion. "Taiyuan City is not an ordinary city. It is the center of the entire Hedong area. Once it is taken, the Hedong area will be safe. Any price is worth it, and any method can be tried... In fact, this is also one of the reasons why I rushed to the city so quickly at all costs... My lords, I want to capture the city, and I want to capture it quickly, otherwise, why would I come so quickly?"
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