Gao Xianzhi said in a deep voice: "During the time my brother left the army, I not only sent people to Chang'an to investigate, but I also personally went to investigate three days ago, and the situation is indeed not optimistic. The rebels should know that we are about to attack Chang'an, so the main force gathers in Chang'an City, and soldiers and horses continue to gather in the city. According to reports, not only are all the more than 100,000 troops that Shi Siming defeated from Tongzhou in Chang'an City, but now even the more than 50,000 soldiers and horses of the rebel army attacking Shuofang's army have also been mobilized to Chang'an. At present, Shi Siming's more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in Chang'an City, plus the 40,000 defenders in the original city, plus the 50,000 soldiers and horses transferred back from Shuofang, the number of defenders is close to 200,000. And that's not even counting the recruits they recruit in the city. ”

Wang Yuan took a breath and frowned, "So many soldiers and horses? It's going to fight us to the death. It's a tricky thing. With the 130,000 soldiers and horses we have on hand, it will probably be a bitter battle. If we don't, we'll lose a lot. ”

Gao Xianzhi nodded and said, "Yes, although my army has recently won a victory, its morale is booming. However, the disadvantages of soldiers and horses are on the bright side, and it is a siege operation, and its difficulty can be imagined. And you haven't seen the situation of Chang'an City with your own eyes, since Shi Siming retreated from Chang'an, he has driven the people to strengthen the city wall and build the fortress and arrow tower day and night, if you go to see it now, you won't be able to recognize it as Chang'an City. ”

After a pause, Gao Xianzhi slowly continued: "The Chang'an city wall was already tall and strong, but now it has widened and heightened a lot. The city walls are densely packed with arrow towers and fortresses, which are almost like copper walls and iron walls. Even if we have a divine cannon, I am afraid it will be difficult to shake it. You know the city defense of Chang'an City, it is difficult to collapse the city wall without reinforcement, and it is even more impossible after reinforcement. The role of the Shenwei cannon may be limited to bombarding the streets of the houses in the city. However, it is the capital, there are still hundreds of thousands of people in the city, and I don't want to kill the people and bomb the capital to a mess. Besides, bombing the city is not beneficial to attacking the city, such a large city, the range that the Shenwei cannon can attack cannot exceed a street, and it will not play a big role at all. ”

Wang Yuan nodded in agreement, the Shenwei artillery attack will either collapse the city wall and city gates, or for the small city, it can destroy half of its city. It has a devastating bombing effect. However, the city's defense is strong, the city is so big, and the Shenwei cannon is powerless. Chang'an City occupies more than ten miles from north to south and east to west, but the Shenwei cannon can only bombard a small corner, which is useless.

"It is impossible to bombard the city with the Shenwei cannon, and if the Shenwei cannon can't collapse the city walls, it will lose more than half of its power. Bombarding the city is even more unrealistic, to put it mildly, there is not much help in the siege, and the scope of the bombardment is limited, even my thunder bombs cannot be consumed. In the first battle of Tongzhou, the consumption of thunder bullets was huge. Although it was replenished when it came out of Shu, the total number was only more than 10,000. The speed of manufacturing in the arsenal is limited, and the raw materials are also tight, so I can't use these thunderbolts indiscriminately, I always have to use them on the blade. ”

"Yes, so, this battle against Chang'an may be a tricky matter, and a good situation will be lost if you are not careful. You and I have to think carefully about this matter. The reason why I say that I am worried that Your Majesty is anxious for us to attack Chang'an is because Chang'an is now a giant beast covered in thorns, and there is no way to start it. And if we don't attack for a long time, Your Majesty will inevitably be in a hurry. By then, I'm afraid what he said won't count. Gao Xianzhi said.

Wang Yuan frowned and groaned, took the wine glass and drank it dry, and said in a deep voice: "Brother, I have a proposal about the matter of marching into battle, I don't know what you think." ”

Gao Xianzhi smiled and said, "Coincidentally, I also have a proposal. ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "That's still the old rule, let's write it on paper and see if it's one thing in mind." ”

Gao Xianzhi laughed and said, "Okay." ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said: Gao Xianzhi has changed a lot, how could he be willing to play such a boring game with himself in the past, but now he is actually full of interest.

The two took a pen and paper and wrote it separately, and then spread it out on the case for comparison, Gao Xianzhi wrote 'trapping the rebels and leading the snake out of the hole', and Wang Yuan wrote 'cleaning up the periphery, isolating the Chang'an rebels, and forcing them to come out to fight.' ’。 The two of them each looked at each other's notes and laughed.

"There are no colorful phoenix wings, and the heart is a little clear. Looks like we've thought of another piece. Wang Yuan said with a smile.

Gao Xianzhi raised his glass and smiled: "Happy, being able to meet you, brother, is really a blessing for me Gao Xianzhi in this life." Led the army to fight with your brothers, you don't even need to talk nonsense, everything you see and know is in the idea. ”

Wang Yuan also raised his glass and smiled: "Brother also feels the same way, brother, I hope you and I can always get along like this, I hope we will always be good brothers." ”

"Good brother, a toast." Gao Xianzhi nodded and smiled. The two of them raised their glasses and drank it all.

The two had the same strategic intent written on the note, and it was the best option at the moment. Since, as Gao Xianzhi said, Chang'an City has been armed to the teeth, it is obviously not a wise choice to fight a hard-fought siege battle.

The siege operation is a double-edged sword, and conquering Chang'an can naturally boost the morale of the people, drive the rebels to the east of Tongguan, and recover the land of Gyeonggi. However, if it fails, the consequences will be devastating. Under the condition that the rebels were well defended and prepared to attack the city, Wang Yuan did not have any chance of winning. The key is that the hole cards in his hands play a small role in this siege battle and cannot play a decisive role, so Wang Yuan never wants to risk his hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses.

Then, it is an excellent choice to take advantage of the opportunity of the rebels to shrink and defend Chang'an, take the opportunity to clean up the land of the state capital around Chang'an, recapture the large area occupied by the rebels, and form a situation of isolating Chang'an City. In this way, on the one hand, you can avoid a head-to-head siege battle with the main force of the rebels, and on the other hand, you can take the opportunity to relieve the siege of Longyou, rescue the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi, and join forces to enhance their strength. Thirdly, isolating Chang'an City and cutting off its supplies and depleting its morale is also a disguised siege. If the rebels do not leave the city, they will inevitably be exhausted. If he went out of the city to attack, then it would be equivalent to taking the initiative to abandon the fortified fortress of Chang'an, which was exactly what Wang Yuan expected. In the field battle without the protection of the city wall, Wang Yuan was not afraid of his opponent at all, in fact, what he expected was that the rebels would be able to fight out of the city.

"Brother, in this case, I'm afraid Your Majesty should be in a hurry again. If we don't attack Chang'an, I'm afraid he will have ideas in his heart. Gao Xianzhi said with a smile.

Wang Yuan waved his hand and said: "If you have an idea, let him want to go, but I can't take care of his feelings at the moment." Your Majesty longs for peace in the world overnight and returns to the previous peaceful and prosperous times, but how is this possible? Besides, how could he have cared about our feelings? We are fighting outside, what did he do in Chengdu? This time I also completely offended him, I was determined to kill Fang Xuan in front of him in Sanhualou that day, I just wanted him to understand that I, Wang Yuan, am not easy to mess with. ”

Gao Xianzhi looked at Wang Yuan in a daze, and sighed lightly: "Brother, I'll talk a lot, you did a bit too much in that matter." Your Majesty was forced to kill Fang Xuan, and this account will definitely be credited to you. Your Majesty has to let you be the prime minister, it seems to be important, but in fact, you may not think so in your heart. Hey, you're a tough guy too, and so am I. You and I may not end well. ”

Wang Yuan smiled: "I have always been short-sighted and only look at the present. I don't look ahead or backward. I don't want to know what Your Majesty will do to me in the future. I also want to be the right ruler and minister, but the decision is up to him. If Your Majesty doesn't want to leave a good story between our monarchs and ministers, I have nothing to do. But there's one thing, I'm not going to let anyone slaughter me, no matter who it is. Whoever is good to me, I will repay tenfold, and whoever is bad to me, I will repay it a hundred times, this is the sentence. ”

Gao Xianzhi was stunned for a long time, and said softly: "That's it, I won't mention this matter anymore." All in all, congratulations on becoming the prime minister of my Datang. This is the youngest Xiangguo since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, you should be proud enough. I'm happy for you as a brother. Let's have another drink to congratulate. ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "Brother, you understand how this Xiangguo came about. Someone has already said that I coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and His Majesty killed Fang Xuan again and forced me to be this Xiangguo, don't you know the intention? All in all, as you said, no matter what, this is the most glorious time in my Wang Yuan's life, no matter how he came to this position, no matter what kind of disasters his official position will bring. Anyway, there are not many people who have been able to die well in my Tang Xiangguo. As far as I can see, there have been three prime ministers who have not had a good death. ”

Gao Xianzhi smiled and said, "Brother, do you feel a chill down your spine?" In recent years, the position of this Xiangguo has indeed been cursed. ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "Not only is it cold on the body, but the bottom of the buttocks is still roasted by fire." It's cold on the top and hot on the bottom, so I don't know what to do. ”

Gao Xianzhi laughed, raised his glass and said, "Don't care about him so much, sit down first." Come on, have a drink. ”