Chapter 158: In war, one cannot be too soft-hearted.

"The enemy is skilled in archery and horse riding, much stronger than us, and at least one person has two horses. It's okay for a short battle, but if it lasts more than half an hour, we will start to suffer."

Li Wuwei's words made several people nod in agreement. It is not a problem if you don't know yourself, but it is a problem if you are blindly confident.

Zhao Jian said with a headache: "The current situation is that if we want to fight the opponent, we have to fight two against one at least, and we may not win."

"After all, not all the people in Shanhaiguan are cavalry."

Qi Chang said: "So what should we do now?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiuzhu looked at Qi Shaoshang.

"What does Master Qi say?"

Qi Shaoshang thought for a moment after hearing this, rubbing his fingers on his nose, and said after a long time: "It's difficult to swallow this nail now."

As he spoke, Qi Shaoshang looked at Li Xiuzhu.

"But we are sure of the original intention of seeking us out."

"We will attack Juyongguan at night and seize the gate. I am 80% sure of that."

"I just don't know if the general's men can capture Juyong Pass."

"If we take Juyongguan, then the Silla troops in our hinterland will become a tortoise."

"The turtle in the jar."

"As long as we can hold our three cities, this army will collapse without a fight."

Li Xiuzhu nodded and said, "I think so too."

"We only have about 50,000 troops. If we force our way in, even if we can defeat the Silla army with the cooperation of the Shanhaiguan defenders, we will not be able to defend Shanhaiguan anymore."

"Then we will have lost two cities, which will be a huge loss for us and the Zhou Dynasty."

"So I decided to attack Juyongguan tonight."

When Li Xiuzhu said this, the others were stunned, even Qi Shaoshang frowned.

"Your Excellency, no. We have been harassing them for a whole day and are exhausted. If we go out to fight now, we will surely fail."

Qi Shaoshang didn't say anything, but he had already made up his mind that they would run away as soon as the army entered the city.

He couldn't let the people of Lianyunzhai die in Juyongguan with such a brainless general.

"Yes, sir, we really can't fight at this time."

"grown ups……"

Before they could finish, Li Xiuzhu interrupted with a smile, "Okay, even though we're going to fight tonight, I didn't say we're going to fight now."

"It's autumn night now, just before dawn, when I'm the most tired and exhausted. At this time, the other party must be unprepared and even have no energy."

"So you can now tell the army to eat and rest."

"We will get up at yin hour, cook, eat until we are 70% full, and then head straight to Juyong Pass and attack the city at shen hour."

As he spoke, Li Xiuzhu looked at Qi Shaoshang.

"Master Qi, please set out an hour early to observe our enemy's defenses, and when the afternoon hour comes, immediately attack the city."

"I will order the army to wrap the horses' hooves with cloth, put bridles on the horses, and arrive one mile outside Juyong Pass before 6:30 in the morning."

Qi Shaoshang didn't expect Li Xiuzhu to be so thoughtful. Except for the tight arrival time, everything else was almost perfect.

In this way, the enemy will be sleepy and hungry, and without breakfast, the army will be in chaos, so the probability of capturing the city will be 90%.

Qi Shaoshang was silent for three seconds and then said seriously, "Okay, my brother will definitely open the city gate at 1:00 a.m., so please don't miss the time."

"My brothers' lives depend on you, sir."

Li Xiuzhu also spoke with a serious look: "Don't worry, I will lead the army to set out at 2:00 pm. We will arrive early, not late."

Qi Shaoshang didn't say anything else, but bowed. Li Xiuzhu smiled when he saw this.

"Okay, let's go and make arrangements."

"Sun Ci, please stay for a moment."

Several generals clasped their fists at the same time.

The army was just having lunch at this time, and it was only 7 o'clock in the evening. They still had three or four hours of sleep before 3 o'clock in the morning, which was enough for the soldiers and horses to recover their strength.

After several generals left, Sun Ci looked at Li Xiuzhu, waiting for instructions.

Being left alone at this time, there must be some important arrangements.

Indeed, Li Xiuzhu asked directly, "Sun Ci, how many soldiers do you have available now?"

Sun Ci had the fewest soldiers among their teams, because all the soldiers left in Lianyun Village were his.

Including the losses in the previous suppression of bandits, his team only had about 4,500 people left.

Excluding the 2,000 logistics soldiers, the team still has 2,500 people.

"Your Excellency, excluding the soldiers protecting the logistics, we still have 2,500 men available to fight."

Li Xiuzhu nodded when he heard this, it was pretty much what he thought.

"You don't have to fight this battle anymore."

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

"I'll give you two tasks. The first one is to guard the gate of Juyongguan, especially at night."

Sun Ci was stunned.

"Your Excellency, do you think that Silla will attack the city overnight? But why don't they attack outwards, but head south?"

Li Xiuzhu stood up, looked at the obscured Yuan Yue outside the hall and explained: "Because once I enter Juyong Pass, I will kill all the local nobles."

"Without the aristocracy stirring up trouble, Juyong Pass is easier to defend than to attack."

"General Luo Shicheng of Shanhaiguan will certainly strengthen the guard because of the incident at Juyongguan."

"The only thing I'm worried about is Yanmen Pass. Although Zhu Zhinuo didn't lose Yanmen Pass, no one knows whether the nobles here and he himself have defected..."

Sun Ci was stunned. He didn't expect Li Xiuzhu to be so bold as to massacre all the gentry in Juyongguan. You should know that among those gentry there were families of two ministers in the court.

This... aren't you afraid of something going wrong?

Sun Ci thought for a moment, then said after a moment of silence: "Sir, isn't it too much to slaughter the nobles..."

Li Xiuzhu didn't wait for Sun Ci to finish, glanced at him, and asked, "Is there your family?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Ci hurriedly shook his head.

"No, no, even if we do this, it will probably cause a lot of controversy in the court."

"I remember that three or five ministers' noble families had branches in Juyongguan."

Li Xiuzhu shook his head upon hearing this.

"Don't even mention the branch family, I will kill them even if they are from the main family."

"Today I asked someone to investigate, and found that as many as 30% of the noble families in Juyongguan turned against us."

"It took three quarters of an hour to open the gate of Juyongguan."

"None of the remaining noble families came to help."

"If someone hadn't betrayed us, if they hadn't stood aside and watched, Juyongguan would never have been lost."

“And if it happens again, we might also suffer.”

"If you count the servants of these parasites, there are probably tens of thousands of them."

"We can't afford to lose Juyongguan again, so they must die."

Sun Ci stopped talking this time. He didn't know how to persuade him.

Moreover, if they lost Juyongguan and failed to relieve Shanhaiguan, returning would be a capital crime.

I would rather die than let my friend die.

Sun Ci also understood why Li Xiuzhu kept him here.

"Sir, if there are noble families in our city who rebel against me, what will I do? Kill them all?"

(End of this chapter)

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