For the time being, we will not count the number of casualties since the start of the war. We can only say that there are 300,000 soldiers in the imperial camp, 90,000 in Hebei, and 210,000 in Hedong. Now we have to count the 15,000 Khitan reinforcements and 20,000 Western Mongolian reinforcements. The civilian laborers were 500,000 at the beginning, and now according to Emperor Zhao, there are probably no less than 600,000 or 700,000. In addition, there are 50,000 or 60,000 Dangxiang auxiliary soldiers whose consumption is greater than that of civilian laborers and less than that of combat soldiers... Wu Jie didn't need to calculate, he probably knew in his heart that Emperor Zhao's statement was probably not exaggerated at all.
After all, no one had ever tried to prepare for a war on this scale... The previous five-way attack on Xia was one example, but that time, the logistics collapsed halfway through the battle. Wu Da was actually quite familiar with this.
Thinking of this, Wu Jie also became completely serious: "May I ask your Majesty, if that's the case, how much food and grass do we have left?"
"I cannot give an exact number for the moment, but the previous consumption was 50% more than originally estimated. Once the rear troops of your imperial camp and the reinforcements from the north move, the number will almost double." Zhao Jiu gave a very terrifying and intuitive result.
"That is to say, the original one year is now estimated to be just over half a year." Wu Jie did some calculations in his mind and almost blurted out, "The war has been going on for almost three months... Must we stop fighting before the Cold Food Festival next year?"
"That's about right!" Zhao Jiu sighed. "At that time, even if we still had soldiers and some money and food, we had to stop fighting and save our strength... Otherwise, even if we didn't use the Jurchens, the Mongols and the Koreans would cause us a lot of trouble. Sometimes I really don't understand why the Jurchens and the Mongols could hold on?"
Because they are not the royal army, because they signed the contract to be used and thrown away, because they are fighting on the inside, because they carry livestock with them and drink goat's milk and cow's milk, how can they be the same?
Wu Jie was speechless, and did not say anything. Instead, he skipped the question and continued to ask: "Then may I ask the emperor... Is this why the emperor wants to quickly capture Taiyuan City?"
"Yes." Zhao Jiu nodded in response. "If we can quickly capture Taiyuan City, we might be able to take advantage of the spring sun to fight a decisive battle in Hebei and achieve complete success."
"But there is one thing I have to say now that I am here... I have been to Taiyuan before. This city may look small, but it has almost no military flaws... Especially since the Fen River is about to thaw." Wu Jie bowed sincerely. "Your Majesty, haste makes waste."
"I know." Zhao Jiu nodded again, but suddenly changed the subject. "Jin Qing... you just talked about the selfishness of other generals for a long time, and you half-heartedly admitted that you had selfishness, but you never said what it was... You came so quickly this time, maybe you heard some rumors that I was going to go to Yaoshan and asked you to give you the general strategy of the Hedong war, so you couldn't wait to come?"
Wu Jie seemed a little embarrassed, but he knew that it was pointless to hide anything in front of this official.
Then, the man paused for a moment, then bowed his head and admitted, "I am ashamed."
"It's okay." Zhao Jiu sighed again, then finally stood up and walked out with his hands behind his back. "I do have this intention. I have also let Han Liangchen and Li Yanxian know more or less. Wu Qing can also make some preparations... But before that, I have a letter with Yue Pengju to try to break the city together tomorrow... So, you have to make two preparations, the overall preparation after breaking the city, or the overall preparation without breaking the city, because no matter which one, after tomorrow, I will hand over the overall situation here to you, just like the story of Yaoshan, you will be in charge of the overall planning, and I will also relax appropriately."
Wu Jie was stunned for a moment, not knowing whether to express gratitude, lose his composure, or even be at a loss.
After saying this, Emperor Zhao directly lifted the big curtain, and saw that it was actually quite bright outside. It turned out that while the emperor and his minister were talking in the tent, the snow outside the tent, although not big, had been falling one after another, and before they knew it, the ninth year of Jianyan had turned slightly white.
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