After Li Qin returned to his seat, he looked at the map illuminated by candlelight and said:
"I've decided, we won't go into battle yet."
Upon hearing Li Qin's decision, Peng Jiahu and the other generals immediately wanted to step forward and say something more.
But Li Qin immediately stopped him.
Li Wenqi, who was standing opposite Li Qin, immediately stepped forward and said sternly:
"General Peng Jiahu, the decision to take over has been made. Do you have anything else to say?"
Li Wenqi immediately looked seriously at Peng Jiahu and the other generals in front of him.
Li Qin, however, explained in a gentle tone to Peng Jiahu and the other generals:
"Now is not the time to act. Zhao Shuaizhen's Jizhou garrison is heavily fortified, and our chances of a surprise attack are slim."
However, based on my judgment, Wanyan Jian's army should already be attacking Jizhou.
Now that the main force of Jizhou is here, as long as Wanyan Jian launches an attack, the completely undefended Jizhou will surely be defeated in one battle.
When that time comes, the families of these soldiers in Jizhou will fall into Wanyan Jian's hands, and the morale of the army will definitely waver, leaving them unable to fight any longer.
Moreover, even if Wang Zhen arrives with a large army, it will be an army with no fighting spirit and low morale.
At that time, this exhausted army, devoid of any fighting spirit and with low morale, will be combined with the army of Jizhou that has no will to fight.
The advantage still lies with us.
At that time, we can completely resolve the matter in one fell swoop.
So please wait a few days. It won't be long before everything is settled.
When the time comes, you'll have to fight some battles.
I hope you'll still have that same drive then.
The brothers Li Qin and Li Wenqi, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, suppressed the requests of the generals.
Let them continue to wait.
Li Qin knew that during this period, he had been preventing the army from attacking Zhao Shuai Town, and the soldiers were all holding back their anger.
He needed to continue suppressing the anger of his generals.
But Li Qin knew that he was not his father and did not have his father's high prestige.
We can't force them, otherwise, if something goes wrong, those hot-tempered generals might lead their men out to launch a surprise attack on the Jizhou garrison camp, which would be disastrous.
In the end, he and his brother Li Wenqi, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, one gentle and one firm, suppressed the situation.
After suppressing them, Li Qin looked at Jizhen on the map.
He gradually frowned, because he figured that Wanyan Jian must have already arrived outside the pass in Jizhen.
They were waiting for the main force of Jizhou to leave completely, so that they could be tied down at Shanhaiguan.
The army of Jizhou has been stationed at Shanhaiguan for such a long time now.
He should have taken action long ago; judging by the timeline, he should be almost at Jizhen by now.
As dawn broke.
As the flames of war in Jizhou gradually subsided, and the flags bearing the words "Great Wu" were taken down one after another, it symbolized the fall of this important northern town of Great Wu.
Wanyan Jian rode his horse across the streets of Jizhen.
At this time, the streets of Jizhen, a major town of the Great Wu built to resist foreign tribes and protect the capital, were filled with Jurchen soldiers with their hair styled in the shape of money rat tails.
This important town of Wu was completely captured by Wanyan Jian, the Khan of a foreign tribe.
Looking at the captured Jizhen, Wanyan Jian understood perfectly well that he had taken advantage of the darkness to rush to the city of Jizhen last night.
Taking advantage of the air raids on Jizhou and the town's lack of preparedness, they dispatched elite Jurchen warriors to infiltrate Jizhou under cover of night, and together they captured the town, which already had few troops.
Wanyan Jian said to the Jurchen general beside him:
"Have you all done what I asked you to do?"
One of the Jurchen generals said, "Khan, rest assured, we have already sent people to take control of the families of those Jizhou troops."
There will absolutely be no problem.
After hearing the Jurchen general's words, Wanyan Jian nodded in satisfaction and said:
"Very good. The families of those soldiers from the Jizhou garrison are the key to our victory. We cannot afford to lose them."
"Yes, Great Khan."
The Jurchen generals immediately bowed and obeyed.
Then Wanyan Jian continued to ask them:
"What happened to the prisoners we captured during our night raid on Jizhou?"
“We plan to take those Southern prisoners of war back as slaves, as is customary.”
The Jurchen general continued speaking to Wanyan Jian.
But Wanyan Jian shook his head and instructed them:
"No, release them."
"Release them all? Great Khan, this..."
Upon hearing Wanyan Jian's order, the Jurchen generals were immediately stunned.
Then Wanyan Jian continued:
"Release them all, and let them bring the news of our capture of Jizhou and the capture of their families to Zhao Shuaizhen and the entire Jizhou army under Shanhaiguan."
What I want is for their morale to waver and for them to lose their will to fight.
"And we have their families under our control; we can completely manipulate them."
Upon hearing Wanyan Jian's plan, the many Jurchen generals before him praised the Great Khan's wisdom.
Then Wanyan Jian continued speaking to them:
"Have Zhao Shuaizhen's family members been captured?"
After hearing Wanyan Jian's words, the Jurchen generals shook their heads and said:
"According to the prisoners of war's report, Zhao Shuaizhen, as a general on the frontier, had his family in the capital, not in Jizhou."
Upon hearing this news, Wanyan Jian nodded in agreement.
It was a pity that Zhao Shuaizhen's family members were not captured, but it was enough to control the families of the other generals and soldiers of Jizhou within the city.
Then Wanyan Jian said to them:
"Alright, carry out my orders and release all the prisoners of war."
They were instructed to deliver this message, which was shaking the morale of the army, to Zhao Shuaizhen at Shanhaiguan.
By the way, you should also send someone to inform Li Qin, who is defending Shanhaiguan, of our capture of Jizhen.
Send more men; by now, the area below Shanhaiguan should already be completely surrounded by the armies of Jizhou and the Southern Dynasty capital.
Li Qin must have been fighting a fierce battle with the Southern Dynasty's army for several days.
Tell him that I have already captured Jizhou and will soon cut off the supply lines of the Southern Dynasty army.
"Join forces with his forces to capture some of the troops besieging him."
"yes."
Upon hearing Wanyan Jian's order, the numerous Jurchen generals immediately began to carry it out.
The prisoners of war from Jizhou who had just been captured were released by the Jurchens in a state of panic.
They even went so far as to ensure that the message could be delivered to the Jizhou garrison below Shanhaiguan.
The Jurchens even provided them with food to eat along the way.
Even after receiving the food, the prisoners of war in Jizhou were still incredulous.
However, they quickly left after receiving the food and being released.
Some of them simply took the food and ran away.
Some of them went straight back to their hometowns in the countryside.
Only a portion of the troops made it to Shanhaiguan, bringing the shocking news of the fall of Jizhou to Zhao Shuaizhen, along with the 70,000-strong Jizhou garrison.
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