The news of the fall of Yunzhou hit Yang Wu's heart like a hammer, making him almost angry and scolded his mother.

At the beginning, he realized that once the Jin army wanted to make a breakthrough in the direction of Yang Liudu, it would inevitably choose to launch a surprise attack on Yunzhou.

So at that time, Yang Wu also specially asked Liu Xin about the situation of the Yunzhou garrison, but Liu Xin's answer was that Wang Chuancheng, the Yunzhou guard, "has a calm personality and is deeply rooted in his father's true heritage".

Although Wang Juan is not outstanding among the many generals of Wu State, his qualifications and prestige are also not top-notch, but his advantage is that he has a calm personality and is reliable; So after hearing that Wang Chuancheng was Wang Juan's son, Yang Wu was also a lot more relieved.

Now it seems that it is just a tiger father and a dog son.

Yang Wu rubbed his forehead vigorously, sobered himself up a little, and asked in a deep voice: "How many troops did the enemy use, what are the losses of our army, and what is the current situation, haven't you received any news at all?" Why didn't the long sword receive any news before the war? ”

Fan Yu, who was in charge of intelligence, was ill during this time, and the long sword was temporarily in charge of Wang Qing, the deputy commander.

He hurriedly replied: "King, after all, the news from Hebei is separated by the Yellow River, and sometimes even if there is important news, it is difficult to reach it in time, maybe it is delayed, right?" ”

Yang Wu snorted coldly, not very satisfied with his reply, but the most important thing now is not to hold him accountable, but to figure out the situation and make countermeasures.

He looked around and said, "This is not the place to talk, you all come with Gu, and then send someone to invite the other commanders and generals, by the way, call Liu Renzhen too, let's discuss it temporarily." ”

Hurried to the Chongzheng Hall with the ministers, and none of the ministers spoke again along the way, and Yang Wu was also pondering the recent situation.

After Chai Zaiyong led the army to the west, because it had been more than half a year since the armies went out, and it had been almost two months since the Wu army captured the Central Plains, and there was also a month and a half to destroy the Liang, but the Jin army had not moved, so Yang Wu gradually let down his vigilance, feeling that Li Cunqiao might have decided to pacify Zhenzhou first, and then go south.

Therefore, during this period, Yang Wu ordered that the armies of the Northern Expedition could take turns to return to the south to rest, and the specific method was that each army was divided into three groups to take turns to rest.

In other words, basically about 10,000 troops of each army have returned to the south.

Of course, even if some of the troops returned to the south to take turns to rest, the total strength of the Wu army remaining in the Central Plains was still very large, plus the recently newly formed army, not counting the 30,000 people used for firewood, there were about 200,000 in total.

Among them, although some cavalry used firewood to march westward, and some cavalry returned to the south to recuperate, the number of cavalry remaining in the Central Plains was still 6,000, and the strength was quite sufficient.

On the other hand, on the side of the Jin army, the total strength of the Jin army may reach more than 200,000, or even more, but considering that the northern Jin country is facing the threat of the Khitan and Zhenzhou has not yet been pacified, the real force that can be used for river crossing should be about 100,000.

Therefore, in terms of troops, the Wu army obviously has an absolute advantage, and there is an advantage in the naval army to control the Yellow River, although the Jin army attacked and occupied Yunzhou, but there is no need to panic too much, just mobilize the army to launch a counterattack.

In history, Li Cunmiao was able to destroy the Liang State in one fell swoop, because the core of the Liang State was in Kaifeng, and as long as Kaifeng was defeated, the Liang State would die.

However, the core of Wu is in the south, and even if the Central Plains region is broken, it will not hurt the root of Wu.

The Jin army simply could not achieve victory as quickly as in history, and as long as they did not make big mistakes, they could drag the war into a protracted war; In terms of the ability to fight a protracted war, the three Jin kingdoms together may not be able to compare with a Wu state, not to mention that the Jin State still has the big hole of Zhenzhou that has not been filled, and if it is a protracted war, it will be beneficial to the Wu State.

Thinking of this, Yang Wu gradually relieved himself, and he had already made a plan for the next battle.

By the time he arrived at the Chongzheng Palace, his complexion had completely returned to normal.

After a long time, the generals who remained in Luoyang hurried over; And during this period, another new piece of news came, but it was a secret agent from the Long Sword Capital.

It turned out that the Jin army's raid was completely led by Li Siyuan, but Li Siyuan's actions were very cautious and secretive, until he led the army to cross, the Wu army's spies got some fragmentary information, but at this time it was too late, the Jin army took advantage of the cover of night and heavy rain to launch a surprise attack, and occupied the city in one fell swoop.

In addition, it was mentioned in this news that the Jin army should not really use many troops, because there were still many Jin troops stationed at Yangliu Ferry.

After reading this secret report, Yang Wu saw that all the people who should have arrived had arrived, so his face was as usual, and he said in a calm voice: "Generals, you must have also heard that the news you just received is that Yunzhou has been lost. ”

The generals immediately "buzzed" and whispered.

"There are 5,000 defenders in Yunzhou, why was it attacked all of a sudden? The guard general Wang Chuancheng is guilty of dereliction of duty and should be severely punished! ”

"How many troops are there from the Jin army, even if it is a surprise attack, but if the number of troops is small, it will definitely not take the city overnight!"

"Our army should take advantage of the fact that the enemy army has not gained a firm foothold and immediately launch a counterattack!"

……

The crowd was talking, and the scene was very noisy.

Yang Wu looked at the generals expressionlessly, as if he had ignored their noise, but secretly observed the reactions of the generals.

"This time, the Jin army was menacing, and it knocked Yunzhou down at once, and it seems that many of the generals were panicked. But it's also the time to see how well the generals can adapt. ”

He looked at the generals, and saw that many of them had panicked faces; There were also many people with excited faces and shouting for an immediate counterattack; However, there are also many people with calm faces, as if they are bowing their heads in contemplation; Another person had a relaxed face and did not seem to be at all worried about the situation.

Those panicked generals were quickly secretly written down by Yang Wu, thinking in his heart: "When encountering a little big change, you lose your sense of proportion, how can such a general take on a big responsibility?" ”

And those generals who looked excited and shouted that they would immediately launch a counterattack were labeled as "reckless" by Yang Wu, and they clamored for counterattacks without even knowing the specific situation of the enemy.

The generals who bowed their heads and pondered had to watch further to see if they could figure out the situation through their own analysis.

As for the general with a relaxed face, it was the veteran Zhou Ben, but Yang Wu was a little puzzled about his attitude, not knowing whether he was confident or pretending to be calm.

After a while, Yang Wu motioned to Guo Chongtao, who was standing beside him, and Guo Chongtao immediately stood up and said, "Everyone, please be quiet, in front of the king, what kind of body is so noisy!" ”

The generals hurriedly quieted down and looked at Yang Wu.

"General Zhou, when Gu announced the news of the fall of Yunzhou to the enemy just now, all the generals had their own reactions, but you, the general, had a relaxed face, I don't know if the general is in his chest?" Yang Wu asked a little curiously, and at the same time hoped that he could stand up and boost the morale of the generals.

Zhou Ben hurriedly replied: "Cheng Zhu can't say it in his chest, but the old minister thinks that the Jin army crossed the river to attack Yunzhou this time, which is completely to send him to death!" ”

"What? Die? ”

"General Zhou, what does this mean? The Jin army was menacing, and Yunzhou was attacked by it overnight, but General Zhou said that they were here to send them to death, I don't know what this means? ”

The generals were immediately stunned by his statement, and looked at him with curiosity on their faces, even Li Chengding and other generals who had been pondering before also wanted to know why he made such a judgment.

Yang Wu also said to Zhou Ben: "I don't know why General Zhou said this, but is there any basis?" ”

Although he had come to the conclusion that he did not need to worry too much through his previous analysis, he was not confident that he would be able to destroy the enemy forces heading south.

But Zhou Ben is so confident, which makes everyone curious.

"Your Majesty, the reason why the minister said this is to make a judgment from the strength of both the enemy and us."

"I want to hear about it!"

"King, the strength of the Jin army is only more than 200,000, of which at least 50,000 or 60,000 garrisons are in Datong, Daijun, Youzhou and other places in the north to guard against the Khitans, and this part of the army cannot be used."

"In addition, the Jin army is not as good as our army, its army is composed of the army of the feudal town, and some troops are needed to stay in various places, plus the containment of Zhenzhou, so the minister thinks that the strength of the Jin army will not exceed 100,000 at most."

Everyone nodded in agreement, which everyone had already thought of.

However, even if the Jin army has less than 100,000 people, considering the great victories that the Jin army has won against the Liang army over the years, as well as the results of this raid on Yunzhou, no one dares to be careless, let alone think that the Wu army will definitely achieve victory if it has more troops than the Jin army.

In history, not to mention 100,000 against 200,000, or 200,000 against 200,000, there are many examples of great victories in the end; There are even decisive examples such as the Battle of Weishui, who dares to say that the Wu army will definitely win?

I only heard Zhou Ben continue: "First of all, Zhenzhou has not yet been pacified, and the Jin army must divide its troops into two ways to fight; On the other hand, our army has a stable rear and is united in one place, and this is an important advantage of our army. ”

Yang Wu nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"The second point is that although the enemy army can use no more than 100,000 troops, this is actually an overestimation of the enemy army."

"Our army has the advantage of a naval army, and it can cross the river to attack at any time, so a part of the Jin army's strength must be divided to defend the states along the Yellow River. As a result, the enemy will actually have fewer troops to use. Zhou Ben continued.

Yang Wu nodded and said: "This is true, the core of the Jin Kingdom is now near Weizhou, Hebei, whether it is Weizhou, Lanzhou, Huaizhou, Mengzhou, it is all under the danger of our army, and it is impossible for the enemy army to leave some more troops to defend." ”

"But even so, it is enough for the Jin army to leave at most one or two thousand people in these places, and our army also needs to divide troops to hold all places, and it is difficult to concentrate them all. What does General Zhou think about this? Yang Wu then asked.

"Great King, the third point that the minister wants to say is that although the enemy army has captured Yunzhou, does the Jin army really dare to attack deep into the hinterland of the Central Plains?" Zhou Ben asked rhetorically.

At this time, Guo Chongtao also reacted and said: "Yes, although the Jin army captured Yunzhou, they are just that. The fundamental weakness of the Jin State is that there is no naval army, as long as our army's naval army is still there, it can threaten the Yangliu Ferry at any time, and the Jin army does not dare to go south with all its might, let alone go deep alone! ”

After listening to the analysis of the two, Yang Wu suddenly laughed: "At a critical time, these veterans are really reliable!" ”

In Zhou Ben's analysis, in fact, the last point is the most critical, and the others are not the focus.

Although the Jin army has a small number of troops, as long as it is used properly, it can also achieve a big victory, so the number of troops can only be used as a reference, not as a basis.

However, the Jin army mentioned by Zhou Ben did not dare to launch an attack in depth, which is the key point.

As long as the threat to Yangliu Ferry was not completely lifted, the Jin army did not dare to cross the river to the south, and at most sent a small number of troops to attack, leaving the main force in Hebei to protect the most important passage of Yangliu Ferry, which was no threat to Wu at all.

After all, the fall of Yunzhou was just an accident, and as long as other places were prepared, it would be impossible for the Jin army to take it so quickly.

Not only that, the Wu army was also able to calmly arrange and gradually launch a counterattack, on the one hand, trying to blockade the ferry with a naval army and cut off the connection between Yunzhou and Hebei, and on the other hand, launching a counterattack on Yunzhou with the main army.

Even if there are more defenders in Yunzhou, if there are no reinforcements, it will be lost sooner or later.

Yang Wu looked at the generals, and saw that the generals who had panicked faces before had calmed down at this time, and he was immediately satisfied with Zhou Ben's performance just now.

At this moment, new news came, but this time it was a plea written by Wang Chuancheng, who had lost the battle, a battle report written by Liu Xin, and some news sent by the secret agent of the long sword in Yunzhou.

Yang Wu first opened the battle report and the news sent by Liu Xin and the long sword, and then went to see Wang Chuancheng's plea after reading it, and then he suddenly became angry: "This Wang Chuancheng, at this time, still wants to shirk responsibility and lie about the military situation?" ”

It turned out that Liu Xin, who was in Yanzhou, sent a battle report saying that the strength of the Jin army should not be much, not more than 10,000; The news from the Long Sword Capital mentioned that the strength of the Jin army was only about five or six thousand.

However, in Wang Chuancheng's plea, it was said that the Jin army had tens of thousands of troops, and took advantage of the night to attack, and the Wu army was caught off guard, so it was attacked and captured.

Although Wang Chuancheng was the direct party involved in the first battle of Yunzhou, Liu Xin and Chang Jiandu's secret reports both mentioned that the Jin army was not strong, which made it obvious that Wang Chuancheng was suspected of lying about the military situation to shirk responsibility.

Although he was annoyed in his heart, Yang Wu didn't show it at all, and after he put down the battle report, he said: "The battle report said that the Jin army did not have many troops for sneak attacks, and it would not exceed 10,000 people. ”

He looked at the generals, and continued: "Although the more specific situation is not clear, the King of Jin has taken the initiative to challenge, and then we must let them know that our army is not easy to mess with, let them have no return, and let them feel afraid!" ”

"After returning home, the generals immediately took action and were ready to go out at any time! All the governors and Yan Shangshu, Guo Shumi are all staying, and the other generals will go back first! ”