Zhao Jiu was silent for a moment, but could only nod helplessly, then continued to rein in his horse and move forward: "Deyuan is thoughtful... How is the military situation in northern Shaanxi?"
"Wu Jie was defeated three times and lost Fuzhou. Hu Mingzhong retreated to Ningzhou to dispatch the food and grass that I had provided him. Qu Duan went to Qingzhou to reorganize the troops of Huanqing Road. Wu Lin went to Yuanzhou to reorganize the troops of Jingyuan Road. Wu Jie himself led the remaining troops to retreat to Fangzhou and continued to resist Loushi... Compared with this, Huo Nu tried to cross Liangshan to Tongzhou to support the Jin army in Hedong, and then was repelled by Han Taiwei himself. This was expected and appropriate."
"Fangzhou." Zhao Jiu sighed on his horse, but he felt a little confused.
"Fangzhou is in the south of Fuzhou." Liu Ziyu hurriedly reminded him from behind. "It is in the lower reaches of the Beiluo River, but the key point of Fangzhou is not on the Luo River, but on the Ju River, 20 miles away from the Beiluo River. There are rivers and mountains there, so it can still be defended... but the Beiluo River passage can no longer be blocked!"
"In other words." Zhao Jiu looked at him in a daze. "If Lou Shi disregarded everything and was determined to march south to the Weibei Plain, he would be unstoppable? It's been less than a month, right? He has already penetrated northern Shaanxi and taken all three states?"
"It is unlikely that Lou Shi would abandon Fangzhou and move south. Otherwise, if he does, Wu Jie will lead his army to cut off his retreat." Liu Ziyu answered earnestly at first, but after he finished speaking, he himself was not sure, so he added one more sentence. "Even if Lou Shi really abandons Fangzhou and moves south, the Wei River can still be defended. We can quickly deploy troops and our defense is sufficient."
Zhao Jiu kept shaking his head, but his face looked extremely ugly.
No one dared to say much. When they arrived at the Prime Minister's Mansion, each unit of troops went to the city to settle down. The central ministers, close officials, and accompanying generals with names and surnames, however, followed the emperor directly into the city.
Yuwen Xuzhong had already led dozens of senior officials from Guanxi and generals of the Western Army to the courtyard to meet him.
After entering the courtyard and closing the door, everyone began to greet each other formally. Emperor Zhao, who had been unable to hide his worried look beside Zhang Jun and Liu Ziyu, had surprisingly recovered as usual and calmly faced many people he met for the first time.
After both parties sat down, Zhao Jiu, who had done his homework on the way, even remembered to specially summon Liu Qi, the military commander of Xingyuan Prefecture (Hanzhong area), and took his hand to ask a few questions... According to Yang Yizhong's reminder, this man had once accompanied the emperor to the imperial court before Zhao Jiu fell into the well, and then returned to Guanxi to serve as the Protector General of Longyou. Later, Zhang Jun valued him and entrusted Yuwen Xuzhong to promote him to the actual commander of the Hanzhong army, largely because of his experience in front of the emperor.
In other words, this brother of Liu Xi, the governor of Xihe Road, and the son of Liu Zhongwu, a famous general of the Western Army, "knew" Zhao Guanjia, and was even a rare "own man" of Zhao Guanjia among the six routes of Guanxi.
After the two sides finished greeting each other, Zhao Jiu sat upright, but still did not ask about the military situation. Instead, he began to assign positions according to what they had discussed on the way:
Liu Xi, the former military commander of Xihe Road, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the three western roads; Liu Qi, the former military supervisor of Xingyuan Prefecture, was appointed as the commander of Lizhou Road (under Xingyuan Prefecture); and Zhao Zhe, the former military supervisor of Qinfeng Road, was appointed as the commander of Qinfeng Road.
The well-known Western Army generals below the generals, such as Murong Wei, were promoted to the military commander of Qinfeng Road; Li Yanqi was promoted to the military commander of Xihe Road; Zhang Zhong was promoted to the military commander of Xingyuan Prefecture.
He also temporarily sent a letter to Hu Yin in the name of Yuwen Xuzhong, allowing him, Qu Duan and Wu Jie to take charge and allow the two generals to withdraw the troops from Jingyuan and Huanqing routes before the battle.
This was the reward before the battle. Considering Qu Duan's previous arrangements, this was within expectations, and the generals were naturally grateful... but it was hard to say how much effect it had.
After patiently arranging all these, Zhao Jiu ignored the sweat that had already soaked through his cotton military uniform, and then slowly asked about military affairs. However, he only spoke to Yuwen Xuzhong at the beginning: "Prince Yuwen, what does Xixia say?"
"I went to Xixia to invite troops early, but Xixia was slow to respond." Yuwen Xuzhong stood up awkwardly. "I am ashamed."
"I didn't count on them." Zhao Jiu said disapprovingly, but he instinctively held the saber tied to the leather belt around his waist, and then looked at the many Western Army generals on the left side of the hall. "I don't know the geography of Guanxi... You are all veteran generals of Guanxi, but can anyone tell me, can Fangzhou be saved?"
Dozens of Western Army generals looked at each other, and dared not speak a word.
After a while, Liu Xi, who held the highest position, had the most experience, and the strongest family foundation among the people present, had no choice but to stand up and speak carefully:
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being blunt. Wu Jie has suffered repeated defeats and his troops have long lost their will to fight. Qu Duan and Wu Lin have recently gathered troops in Jingyuan Road and Huanqing Road. We cannot send them to help them properly at the moment. If we wait until the troops from Chang'an reach Fangzhou, it is possible that Fangzhou has already been broken and we will be attacked head-on by the Jin cavalry in the wild... However, our army has sufficient supplies and a strong force. It is better for us to set up our troops along the Wei River, Beiluo River, and the Yellow River, while Your Majesty stays in Chang'an and waits for the summer heat."
Zhao Jiu nodded, as if he had expected this answer.
"I don't recommend going to rescue them either." Liu Ziyu also stood up and said, "Sir, let's not talk about whether we can rescue them or not. The troops in Xingyuan Prefecture and Xihe Road are just what Lou Shi couldn't predict. We should also raise them with surprise troops for great use!"
Emperor Zhao stroked the sword in his hand, then nodded, without any expression... In fact, what else could he do? He didn't know the geography of Guanxi, the abilities of these Western Army generals, or which of them were reliable and which were not. He didn't even have the chance to see the generals of Jingyuan Road, Yanfu Road, and Huanqing Road in person. The only thing he could do was to do his best and leave the rest to fate.
In fact, this is exactly what Wanyan Loushi wanted to see, forcing you to come to a battlefield that you are not familiar with, use unfamiliar subordinates and troops, and face unfamiliar enemies.
It can only be said that at this moment, Zhao Jiu felt more and more that Wanyan Loushi was indeed a famous general of the Jin Dynasty.
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