Daishan raised his head, looked at his son, and a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
"Why can't we surrender? Didn't Mangultai surrender?"
"And don't forget, the current Khan of the Later Jin is not your father, me."
Although Dai Shan was not very smart, he had read a lot of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
He knew perfectly well how Lu Su had persuaded Sun Quan before the Battle of Red Cliffs.
Hauge, the Khan of the Jurchens, cannot be surrendered to, otherwise he will probably die mysteriously a few years later.
But Daishan is not the Great Khan, so why should he worry about this?
Yue Tuo quickly shook his head.
"Father, you still don't understand!"
"Zhu Youjian had only been on the throne for a little over a year when he launched a series of military campaigns against our Later Jin, which shows that they hated our Later Jin to the core."
"No matter our status or position, once we surrender, we will definitely not have a good ending!"
"Besides, we're not at the point where we're bound to lose yet!"
"Even if we were to surrender, we would have to wait until the Ming army had suffered a few losses."
"Only in this way can we negotiate terms with the Ming Dynasty."
After hearing these words, Dai Shan was indeed somewhat tempted.
"Then tell me, what should we do now?"
Yue Tuo looked down at the map on the table, thought for a moment, and then spoke again.
"The Liao River cannot be defended."
"Kawamoto is hardly a natural barrier, and the Ming army also has the advantage of a navy."
"If we insist on defending along the river, it will only lead to our demise."
"The most urgent task is to quickly mobilize Ao Bai's troops back, and then have him take the conscripted men we forcibly recruited to garrison various places east of Shengjing."
"It would also be good for Shengjing to have external support."
"In this way, the population in Shengjing can be reduced, and the pressure on us to defend the city will be much less."
"When winter comes, the Ming army will withdraw, and then we will have overcome this obstacle!"
The "Jian" in "Jiannu" originally referred to the tribe that Nurhaci led before his rebellion, which was called the Jianzhou tribe.
The territory of the Jianzhou tribe was located east of Shengjing.
Therefore, Yue Tuo's arrangement was simply to have Ao Bai lead troops to garrison their hometown.
They're just holding their rear.
Dai Shan nodded repeatedly.
"That is indeed a good idea."
"Although the Ming army has a large force for this eastern expedition, even if we include the Goryeo side, it is less than 200,000 men."
"Using 200,000 men to conquer cities and seize strongholds would naturally be a huge number."
"If we were to divide our forces to occupy such a large territory, it wouldn't be enough!"
"No matter what, we must hold out until winter. Even if we surrender then, the Ming Dynasty will not dare to underestimate us."
Yue Tuo sighed inwardly.
His plan was actually to take advantage of the arrival of winter and the retreat of the Ming army to see if he could launch a counterattack.
"If we can learn from the Northern Wei and fight a battle like the Battle of Canhebei, then there is still a chance for a turnaround."
"But judging from Father's expression, he will definitely refuse."
"Alas, it seems that the reign of my Later Jin dynasty will end next year."
He discussed some details with Daishan, then walked out dejectedly and summoned the princes of Shengjing.
At this time, news of Mangultai's surrender and the Ming army's large-scale eastward advance had spread throughout Shengjing.
The Jurchen leadership was filled with unease.
So as soon as Yue Tuo sent someone to call them, they rushed over.
"Yue Tuo, the Ming army is probably about to attack."
What should we do?
"Yes, you've always been smart; both Old Khan and Huang Taiji have praised you."
"You'd better come up with a plan now!"
In the past, such praise from the Jurchen leadership would have made Yue Tuo extremely happy.
But Yue Tuo now knew that these people were praising him simply because they wanted him to come up with an idea.
Ideally, one should be able to take the blame.
After all, if Shengjing were to fall, Hauge wouldn't have had time to get back.
Someone has to be responsible for surrendering.
Whoever gives the order now will have to take the blame later.
Although Yue Tuo was furious, he still said, "I do have a solution."
He explained the method he had discussed with Daishan.
The other princes all nodded in approval.
"That's a good idea."
"Let's do it that way then."
Hearing that everyone agreed with him, Yue Tuo's eyes revealed a hint of anger.
He thought to himself, "These princes present are all veterans who followed the old Khan in raising an army."
"My arrangement is acceptable, but it clearly doesn't leave any room for next year."
"And they didn't mention it at all."
"Doesn't this mean that they don't think our Later Jin can survive until next year?"
Yue Tuo snorted coldly and turned to leave.
This left the princes present somewhat bewildered.
"Why is Yue Tuo angry? Didn't we all agree with him?"
"Could it be...could it be that he thinks our Later Jin is doomed, so he wants to have his moment of glory and become the Great Khan?"
The princes exchanged glances, all agreeing that this guess was quite plausible.
"If Hauge can become the Great Khan, then why can't Yue Tuo?"
However, some people hesitated and said, "Dai Shan is still alive. Wouldn't it be a bad idea to bypass Dai Shan and directly make Yue Tuo the Khan?"
But everyone else waved their hands.
"At a time like this, what's the point of talking about good or bad?"
"Let's quickly find an opportunity to make Yue Tuo the Great Khan. That way, even if the Later Jin dynasty collapses, it will be Yue Tuo who leads the surrender."
It turns out that their support for Yue Tuo also stemmed from this idea.
After exchanging glances, everyone present could see what the others were thinking.
In the past year or so, the Jurchens have suffered a series of defeats.
Although some people were still unwilling to accept it, most of the Jurchen leadership were actually quite disheartened.
At this point, they all started having wicked thoughts.
Not long after they went outside, they each began to make their own arrangements.
Meanwhile, on the west bank of the Liao River.
Qin Liangyu, leading her White-Spear Soldiers, had already joined forces with Li Ruolian.
"General Li, you have done a great service this time!"
Qin Liangyu had a big smile on her face.
"His Majesty's decision to appoint you as the top martial arts scholar seems to have been the right one."
Li Ruolian, however, was not so happy.
He shook his head and said, "The main credit for recapturing Guangning City does not lie with me."
"If Minister Yuan hadn't dealt a heavy blow to Hauge in Goryeo, causing internal strife among the Jurchens, Mangultai wouldn't have surrendered."
Qin Liangyu was even more pleased after hearing this.
"General Li is not arrogant despite his achievements. It seems that the pacification of the Jurchens is a sure thing!"
She walked to the riverbank, looked at the Jurchen troops on the east bank of the Liao River, and a thoughtful look appeared in her eyes.
"It seems the Jurchens intend to defend along the Liao River?"
"If the Jurchens are really that stupid, that would be great!"
Ao Bai's troops were far fewer than those of Li Ruolian and Qin Liangyu.
Moreover, Mao Wenlong of Pi Island also has a large number of ships.
If the Jurchens dared to defend the river, they would be courting death.
It will be difficult to escape then.
Li Ruolian shook her head and said, "Although the Jurchens have suffered several major losses, they are not fools."
"They will definitely order the withdrawal of troops from Liaohe and return to defend Shengjing to the death!"
"But if we want to break through their Shengjing, it will probably be a tough battle."
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