Hearing their own banner chief say this, the banner chiefs of the Plain Blue Banner were somewhat flustered.
"Banner Master, what should we do now?"
"Yes, yes, if we can't hold Guangning..."
Mangultai snorted coldly, interrupting them.
"Don't panic!"
"No matter how powerful the Ming army was, they were still just mortals!"
"This Guangning City is a fortified city that the Ming Dynasty has built up over two hundred years. It won't be so easy to breach!"
"Moreover, after the old Khan entered the city, he had already driven out all the Han people in the city and eliminated all future troubles."
He spoke eloquently and logically, and those people calmed down.
“You’re right, Chief. We really don’t need to worry too much.”
"Why don't you go down and rest for a while? I estimate that the Ming army will start attacking the city tomorrow."
Mangultai shook his head directly.
He looked at the Ming army outside the city and hesitated, saying:
"I do have an idea now."
"What do you think about me leading my troops out of the city tonight, taking advantage of the Ming army's unstable foothold, and launching a surprise attack?"
Almost simultaneously.
The Ming army outside the city had already begun to set up camp.
Li Ruolian and Li Zicheng stood on a small mound, looking at Ningyuan City in the distance.
Li Ruolian sighed, "Such a fortified city, yet it was handed over to the Jurchens back then..."
"Sun Degong truly deserves to die!"
Upon hearing this, Li Zicheng shook his head and smiled.
"General Li, don't worry. Sun Degong is still alive. Once we recover Liaodong, we'll have plenty of ways to deal with him."
After laughing, his expression turned serious.
"General Li, do you think the Jurchens in the city might launch a shameless sneak attack on us tonight?"
Li Ruolian raised an eyebrow, feeling that Li Zicheng's pronunciation of the word "sneak attack" was somewhat off, and she didn't know what accent it was.
But he didn't investigate further.
“I think they’re definitely going to launch a sneak attack,” Li Ruolian said seriously.
"At this time, the main force of the Jurchens was still in Goryeo, and they could not return in time."
"Although Guangning is fortified, no matter what kind of city it is, if the morale of the garrison is low, it will not be able to hold out for long."
"So I guess that Mangultai, even if it's just to boost morale, would try to launch a sneak attack."
That makes perfect sense.
Li Zicheng nodded, then said, "So, General Li, what do you plan to do?"
"We should send more people to patrol the surrounding area and add more people to keep watch at night, so that the Jurchens will back down."
"Or should we pretend to be unsuspecting, let the Jurchens into the camp, and then trap them?"
After pondering for a moment, Li Ruolian looked up and smiled, "Li Zicheng, let's learn from Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu."
"How about we write our thoughts down on our hands and then compare them?"
Li Zicheng didn't say anything, but rolled his eyes.
"General Li, I'm afraid we don't have enough space to write all these words!"
Li Ruolian hurriedly patted her head.
"That's true."
"Then don't write on your hands."
"Someone, bring me paper and pen!"
Seeing that he insisted on playing this game, Li Zicheng could only sigh helplessly and play along with his nonsense.
However, he thought to himself, "Li Ruolian has never attended any of Mr. [Teacher's] classes, so why does she like to play these games?"
"Could it be that he's been spending too much time with His Majesty and caught it from him?"
"I never expected this! Our Emperor usually has such thick eyebrows and big eyes, but he's actually this kind of person behind the scenes!"
In the palace, Zhu Youjian suddenly frowned.
"Is someone talking badly about me behind my back?"
Wang Chengen, who was serving nearby, quickly said:
"Oh, Your Majesty, you are truly insightful and far-sighted."
"With hundreds of thousands of our Ming Dynasty soldiers marching out to conquer Liaodong, the Jurchens must be cursing you in their hearts!"
Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement after hearing this.
That's true.
"Alas, it's just a pity that I don't have that... system that Master Gao mentioned."
"We also can't see the situation on the front lines with our own eyes."
"It's a real shame that he can't directly command the soldiers on the front lines like that bald guy!"
As he spoke, he looked up at the map of Liaodong in front of him.
By this time, the map was covered with all sorts of small flags.
Each flag represents a Ming army unit, or a Jurchen army whose location has been identified.
However, Zhu Youjian knew that the appearance of this map could only reflect the situation a few days ago.
However, it cannot provide real-time feedback.
Wang Chengen, standing to the side, smiled bitterly to himself.
"What's gotten into Your Majesty this time?"
"Judging from what Master Gao said, that bald guy is a negative example."
But he dared not voice his true feelings, so he quickly said:
"Your Majesty, the great generals throughout history have all been those who strategized within the tent and won battles a thousand miles away."
"Those who insist on going directly to the front line to command are actually doing a poor job."
This chief eunuch was different; a few casual flattering words were enough to cheer Zhu Youjian up.
Zhu Youjian chuckled and, as expected, stopped talking about command matters and instead inquired about the situation in the court.
"The news that I have issued an edict to reward the four generals should have spread by now, right?"
"What did those ministers say?"
Wang Chengen's expression changed, and he hesitated, saying, "This... Your Majesty, you should still summon Lord Luo."
“He’s in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so he knows this best.”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian knew that the ministers were absolutely opposed to the decree.
Otherwise, Wang Chengen, being a shrewd man, wouldn't have let Luo Yangxing answer this question.
The emperor smiled and said, "Alright, I understand."
Zhu Youjian stood up, stretched, and wasn't angry at all.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty only had a dozen or so generals. He appointed four generals at once, which was tantamount to breaking the pattern of the court.
The ministers naturally objected.
"But how could they possibly know what I'm thinking?"
After circling around a few times, Zhu Youjian returned to the map and stared intently at the location of Guangning City.
"Although the Beijing garrison may not be able to wipe out the Jurchens in one fell swoop this time, it is a sure thing that they will take back Guangning."
"Guangning City is a thorn in the side of the Jurchens!"
"If we take this nail, even if the Jurchens survive this time, they won't have many more good days."
"After destroying the Jurchens, my Great Ming will also destroy Japan, go to Southeast Asia, and launch an expedition to Europe."
"What are four mere generals compared to that?"
"Even forty generals wouldn't be enough!"
Zhu Youjian became more and more excited as he thought about it. He picked up a brush from the table behind him and dipped it in crimson ink.
Beforehand, the words "Da Ming" were written next to Guangning City on the map.
It seems that he had a premonition.
Outside Guangning City, Li Ruolian suddenly looked around.
Seeing this, Li Zicheng asked with a smile, "General Li, are you having second thoughts again?"
"If that's the case, we can still lead our troops back to camp and re-establish our defenses in time!"
Li Ruolian shook her head immediately after hearing this.
"Li Zicheng, you're wrong about that."
"In this siege, not only is the morale of the defending side important, but the morale of our attacking side is also extremely important!"
"If we order a return to camp now, the morale that the emperor has worked so hard to boost will just collapse again. How can we allow that?"
He slammed his fist on the ground and said in a deep voice, "Since we have already decided to empty the camp and lure the Jurchens into a trap."
"Then there's no reason to back out!"
"Regardless of whether the Jurchens launch a sneak attack tonight, I will not return before dawn!"
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