Chapter 304: The Talent of the South

The so-called disaster is not a single line, that is, after King Yong learned that King Wu was blocked from Yanziji and could not advance an inch, he received the news that the Liao army advancing eastward was imminent.

Xiao Yan'er's soldiers were so prosperous and menacing that they greatly surprised King Yong.

On March 19, the 41st year of Chongzheng, he attacked the defense line of the Zhili Guard and broke it.

In the early morning of March 20, Zhili Wei's battalion was taken, and the entire army of Zhili Wei was annihilated, and Li He was killed by Wei Commander.

In the afternoon of the same day, Sun Longzhang, the commander of the Guangwu Guard, was ordered to rush to the aid to block the offensive of the Liao army, but his headquarters was ambushed by the Liao people in the upper reaches of the Yongding River, and after losing most of them, he left in a hurry.

On the evening of the same day, Sun Longzhang, who was running wildly all the way, was caught up by the Liao army less than 20 miles away from the Guangwu Guard, and fought on the plain, the Guangwu Guard reinforcements were defeated and defeated, the Liao army broke the Guangwu Wei camp, and the Wei commander made Sun Longzhang beheaded.

On the morning of the 21st, the Northern Army outpost, which was 130 miles away, was surrounded from the east by the Liao soldiers who descended from the sky, and more than 7,000 soldiers and horses were completely annihilated.

On the same day, the Liao army, which had stopped for a while, broke through the two heavy defensive lines set up by the Northern Army west of Wangjing one after another, and arrived at Wangjing on the 21st, and began to sweep the Xia army headquarters around Wangjing like lightning.

In the early morning of the 22nd, the Liao army completely completed the siege of Wangjing, the capital of Great Xia.

In three days, the Liao army broke through the five defense lines of Great Xia one after another, defeated two guards, and also carried the heads of two guard commanders.

The strength of the Liao army's combat power made all the soldiers and horses specially arranged by King Yong before all useless, and Gao Cixiang at this time could only gather all the soldiers and horses into the Wangjing City, relying on Gao Chi Shenqiang to trap and defend.

Facing Xiao Yan'er under the soldiers in the city, he felt a sense of pale powerlessness in his heart, this beautiful and ambitious woman actually made the hundreds of thousands of horses in his hands unable to bring him even a trace of peace of mind.

"Your Highness, the two guards of Zhili and Guangwu add up to 70,000 people, and they were defeated by the Liao people within three days. Peace talks on that day were the best policy. ”

"Your Royal Highness, Lord Pei's words are really a mistake for the country and the king, since ancient times, how can there be a reason for the new lord to cut the land and seek peace before he ascends the throne? What should the subjects of the world think of this? What is the face of my dignified heavenly state? ”

King Yong sat on top of the imperial case, looking at the courtiers who were fighting in the palace and the two factions were arguing endlessly, and he couldn't make up his mind for a while.

Beat? Who will be the commander-in-chief?

If King Wu was now in the king's capital and ruled the overall situation with his generals, he would definitely stand resolutely among the hawkish ministers and shout to the subjects of the world: Those who offend me will be punished even if they are far away!

But what about now?

I have to say that Xiao Yan'er's thunderous military actions in the past three days have made him have no confidence to resist him at all.

And he also knew very well in his heart that the reason why he was able to sit firmly on this dragon chair was not because of the 300,000 soldiers and horses in his hand, if he fought with the Liao people here in Wang Jing, and held out in the end, even if the Liao people were repulsed, what should he do in Shanxi? You must know that your imperial brother is also a general from the army!

"Forget it, this king is tired, let's retreat, pass the order, Wang Jingjiumen is under martial law, without my warrant, no one is allowed to enter and exit without permission, and later Zhu Shangshu and Zhou Shangshu will come to the study to find me."

King Yong closed his eyes tiredly, and pushed his hand towards His Highness's ministers, he felt that even if he let these people quarrel until dark, he probably wouldn't be able to take it over.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Just now, they were arguing with red faces, incompatible with water and fire, and a group of ministers who have him without me and me without him today, after King Yong's words, they seemed to suddenly become mutually deferential and tacit, and bowed to King Yong, and then Yuguan withdrew from the hall.

Listening to the footsteps that gradually disappeared in the main hall, Gao Cixiang also planned to stand up and turn around and go back to the upper study.

But when he opened his eyes, he found that although the main hall had been restored to its previous emptiness, there was still a person standing upright under His Highness.

Gao Cixiang recognized that this person was He Zhiran, the head of the military department.

"Lord He, is there anything else? Why don't you retreat with the courtiers? ”

As soon as King Yong spoke, he had already stood up, ready to send He Zhiran away, because he had long been accustomed to this group of officials who were used to making a big fuss.

"The minister has a strategy to help His Highness retreat from the enemy."

"Oh?"

King Yong looked at him expressionlessly, and didn't mean to sit down and listen, "So, just now in the court, why didn't you say it, but instead dropped it down and told me alone, did you want to invite merit?" ”

"A person who reads is a person who learns literature and martial arts, and sells it to the emperor's family, how can there be the word 'invite'? Besides, even if His Highness just said it in the court, I'm afraid His Highness may not be able to listen to it, maybe now His Highness has been classified as a mediocre person who fights or peaces. ”

Hearing this, Gao Cixiang raised his eyebrows with interest, and asked him: "The Liao army is coming to the city, and the two strategies are either to fight or make peace at the moment, I listen to Lord He's words, is there a third way to go?" ”

He Zhiran looked very roundabout and bowed to King Yong and said, "Your Majesty has a third way to go, but Your Highness needs to sit back on the dragon chair and listen patiently to Your Majesty." ”

King Yong didn't answer, and after glancing at He Zhiran lightly, he turned around and sat back on the dragon chair obediently, and raised his hand towards His Highness, "Say, I wish Lord Wenhe a high view." ”

Regarding King Yong's "enlightenment", He Zhiran smiled angrily, and then nodded and said: "Your Majesty's strategy is neither war nor peace, but war for peace!" ”

"My lord, do everything possible to let this king sit here and listen to you, you won't just tell me this, will you? If I can really fight with the Liao, do I still need to come to the main hall to ask you? King Yong was full of hope just now, and He Zhiran, who seemed to be an "embroidered pillow", poured a basin of cold water, and looked very unhappy.

However, He Zhiran continued unhurriedly: "No, no, Your Highness misunderstood what His Majesty meant. The battle I am talking about is by no means to drive the army out of Wangjing to fight with the Liao people and move the sword, but to fight a battle of trapping. From the perspective of his subordinates, although the Liao army has now completed the siege of Wangjingcheng, Wangjingcheng is high and deep, and the troops are still sufficient, and they will not be able to break through overnight.

On the other hand, what about the Liao? Coming all the way from the northwest, deep into a foreign land, the tired soldiers! Breaking through our five lines of defense in three days shows that the Liao army is strong on the one hand, but on the other hand, it also proves that they are now at the end of their strong crossbows, racing against time.

Therefore, this battle of Wangjing siege is not us in the high wall, and they are outside the high wall? ”

King Yong seemed to understand what he meant, and frowned slightly and said, "You mean to drag it out?" I don't know that holding on now is the best and only thing we can do, but you must know that the Liao people have come with elites, and there are many battle-hardened generals in the army. And on our side, the generals who have really been on the battlefield, I can count them on one hand. Besides, we can't always tense our nerves all the time, and in this case, we will confront each other, and I am afraid that the slightest negligence will lead to a catastrophe. ”

"That's right!"

King Yong's words seemed to be in He Zhiran's arms, making him tilt his head heavily, "That's right! That's why I said, we have to fight for peace, and the best defense is to attack. Fighting, we must fight, the Liao people who are fighting are hurt, annoyed, chaotic, and can't stand it, they will naturally come to His Royal Highness to negotiate peace, and at that time, it can be a fair peace negotiation that can put forward conditions for each other. ”

"That'........ How should we fight? ”

"Night Raid! Surprise! The Liao army is only 70,000 or 80,000 people, and we have more than 200,000 horses left in our hands, excluding the two guards of Zhili and Guangwu, which have been damaged, and the continuous day and night harassment can turn them three times is more than enough. There is only one purpose every time, that is, the Liao people must not have a moment of peace! ”

After listening to this, King Yong nodded, and inevitably asked with some concern: "If a part of the troops is divided into a feint and night attack, then if the Liao people attack the city in a big way during the day, will our defending forces be a little insufficient?" ”

He Zhiran smiled at Gao Cixiang and responded: "Your Highness misunderstood, the feint attack is during the day, and the night attack at night is our main force." As long as the offensive at night is strong and deep enough, I am afraid that the Liao people will not even have the strength to push the cloud ladder the next day. ”

Under He Zhiran's series of refreshing plans, Gao Cixiang finally wiped out a little joy on his expressionless pale face, although it was abrupt and ugly, but this smile became more and more indifferent.

"Lord He, when my father was here, it seems that this king has never seen you in the court before, right?"

King Yong looked at He Zhiran, he almost couldn't search for any deeds about him in his mind, as if he had always been such an unknown person,

"Your Royal Highness Mingjian, the subordinate came from a humble background, and he has been a secretary for more than 20 years, but twice because of his outspoken confrontation with the official, he failed to make an inch of progress above the official position. It was also due to the turbulence of the times and the lack of manpower in the Ministry that he gave his subordinates such an errand of the main affairs as appropriate, so that they could have the honor to go to the palace to listen to the government. ”

King Yong nodded when he heard this, "Hehe, Lord He, you let this king find it easy." ”

After speaking, he paused for a moment, and said in a straight voice: "He Zhiran listened to the order, and from now on he will take over the post of commander of the Northern Army, and will be fully responsible for the defense and Liao affairs within Wang Jing. ”

"Minister, take the order!"

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