Although Sun Chengzong is old, and his official position is also the largest, but he is the youngest, seeing that Zhang Chun is so angry that his beard is cocked, he is afraid that this old master will be angry, so that the army will be handsome, and the rescue will be delayed, so he hurriedly persuaded: "The old gentleman should not have these liver fires, Hugh said that you are angry, why not the students?" After the siege of the Daling River, the students wanted to let the 10,000 stone pillar soldiers who participated in the construction of the city turn back to the rescue, but the imperial court transferred them back to Guannai, saying that they were protecting the Jingshi. How can this be true, Jiannu is thousands of miles away, what kind of Jingshi does he protect? This is clearly just an excuse for not wanting to transfer troops, which is really infuriating. ”

Hearing this, Qiu Hejia didn't think so, and secretly said Didn't you report to the court and say that Jiannu was going to enter the Kou from the wall? The imperial court only then transferred the stone pillar soldiers to the Beijing Division, why are you blaming others now, if it were you, the 10,000 stone pillar soldiers would also be transferred to the Beijing Division. After all, there was a mistake in the intelligence at that time, and everyone thought that Jiannu was going to enter the Kou Pass, and compared with Da Linghe, this Jingshi was naturally more important, and it was reasonable to transfer the warlike Shizhu soldiers to protect the Jingshi.

However, although he was dissatisfied with Sun Chengzong's actions in his heart, it was inconvenient to express it, so he casually echoed: "The lower officials also think that the imperial court is too cold. I think that during the Ningjin War, Xi Zongshang transferred two general soldiers and 30,000 troops from the Guannei to Shanhaiguan for the use of the Liaodong side, and this time to rescue the Daling River, the imperial court did not send a general army in the Guannai to rescue, only asked Lord Zhang to bring a few deputy generals to come, does this mean that the imperial court does not attach importance to the Daling River? ”

Hearing this, Zhang Chun hurriedly shook his head and was angry, but he still had the overall situation. Said helplessly: "I can't say that, at present, there are many bandits in the pass, and there is an urgent need for troops in various places." In the Xizong Dynasty, the threat of the Liukou to the imperial court was not very great, but since the third year of Chongzhen, due to a considerable number of Qinwang soldiers who participated in the "Jisi Change" because of lack of salary, they mutinied halfway to join the thieves, which made the problem of Liukou become more and more serious, and the combat power is getting stronger and stronger. I'm just angry with that You Shiwei, obviously I'm cowardly, but I found a ridiculous excuse. The military department doesn't deal with it, so it's unbearable to let people feel like this. ”

Sun Chengzong nodded, and also said: "What the old gentleman said is that in fact, not only the thieves in the Guannei need to be exterminated, but there is another point, that is, in the eyes of the imperial court, the Daling River is not as important as Ningyuan Jinzhou." Ningyuan and Jinzhou are the core of Ningjin's defense line, and if they are lost, the Jin army will approach Shanhaiguan and threaten the Jingshi, so whether it is the emperor or the emperor, they will do their best to protect Ningjin. However, Da Linghe is different, to be honest, you and I both know that this Da Linghe City is just an advance fortress in Jinzhou, even if it is lost, the impact on the Ningjin defense line is not fatal, and the imperial court will naturally not spare no expense to come to the rescue. ”

Hearing Sun Chengzong say this, Qiu Hejia seemed to think of something, and hurriedly said: "Yes, I heard that the imperial court was originally dissatisfied with the construction of the city on the Daling River, and when the Liang headquarters was on the stage, there were always people clamoring to give up the Daling River. It is still a little more manpower to disagree with the public and insist on building Dalinghe City. Now that the Daling River is besieged, some people in the court naturally think that you and I are self-inflicted, in their opinion, it was you and I who shouted to build a city on the Daling River, so now the task of rescuing the Daling River should also be solved by us in Liaodong ourselves. ”

"Solve it on our own?" Sun Chengzong smiled bitterly, "Hong Tai's troops came this time, there are seventy or eighty thousand people in all parts of Manchuria, and our army is not yet in the field, I am afraid that there must be more than 100,000 soldiers and horses to rescue it, so that there is a possibility of victory." If only 30,000 or 40,000 people were rescued, it was likely to be successfully rescued by the Jin army. Originally, I was the main advocate of rescuing Daling River, not only to protect the city, but also to protect the people, but now it seems that I am afraid that I can only protect the people but not the city, otherwise, the people and the city will be lost. After speaking, he glanced at Zhang Chun, wondering if the latter agreed with his proposition, after all, he was the commander of the army, and it was he Zhang Chun who finally decided, not his own strategy.

The fiasco of Song Wei and Wu Xiang's rescue had a great impact on Sun Chengzong, and a few days ago Zhang Chun and the Jin army fought, and the 40,000 army could not break through the Jin army's defense line. As a result, he gradually tended to adopt a confrontation strategy, accumulating troops while looking for flaws in the Jin army. When the odds of victory are higher, troops will be sent to the rescue.

Qiu Hejia didn't think so, he knew that the grain and grass in Dalinghe City had been in an emergency, and if he didn't rescue him, the soldiers and civilians in the city might really be finished. In addition, he was originally not hopeful about the combat strength of the reinforcements, but since Zhang Chun led his troops to fight Jiannu, he had confidence again. He believed that the Jin army needed a certain number of troops to besiege the Daling River, and that there would be no more than 40,000 people capable of field battles, and that if the Ming army was properly commanded, it might not be impossible to fight a war.

"If you don't fight, the saliva of those officials will be enough to drown the three of us, and the emperor will definitely not allow Daling River to be given up without a fight. Therefore, no matter whether the imperial court has new soldiers and horses transferred over, we must also fight this battle, which is nothing more than a question of when to go out of the city for a decisive battle. If you can win, it's the best, if you can't win, you can only follow what the scriptures say, and you can't protect the city. ”

Qiu Hejia directly said the point, there is no cavalry to want, there is no reason to wait any longer, and the date of the battle should be decided. They can wait, but Zu Dashou can't wait.

When Sun Qiu and the others were talking, Zhang Chun was also thinking about it. He believes that Sun Qiu's ideas have a certain amount of truth, but due to the lack of troops, no matter which plan is implemented, they should go all out, and cannot use compromise means. If you really want to go all out to break the siege, you should leave as few troops as possible in Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan, and Jinzhou should only leave the most basic defensive forces, and concentrate as many troops as possible to rescue Daling River.

The garrison of the entire Liaodong is also about 780,000 in total, and if 10,000 people are left to defend the Ningjin defense line, with the remaining 60,000 plus the 40,000 troops he brought, he will attack the Jin army in a desperate way, and there is still a certain chance of victory.

If you want to abandon the Daling River, you should quickly concentrate all the soldiers and horses from all over the country in Jinzhou, and take the Zu Dashou Department out of the city when the Jin army's camp is not finished, and the action must be fast, otherwise, there is still a danger of annihilation.

Both strategies have a certain risk, if the former fails, Ning Jin is dangerous, and the latter, even if it succeeds, will have to bear the responsibility for losing the Daling River.

However, the atmosphere of the court must not allow any mistakes, and the officials often grasp the slightest mistake of the generals in front of them, let alone abandon the land.

After thinking about it for a long time, he finally made up his mind and said to Sun Qiu and the others: "On the premise of ensuring that Ning Jin is not lost, I will take someone to save Zu Dashou, as for whether I can break through the encirclement of the Jin army, I can only resign myself to fate." ”

"So that's it?" Sun Chengzong glanced at Qiu Hejia.

Qiu Hejia nodded, as the governor of Liaodong, Ning Jin's safety was naturally more important, but he said to Sun Chengzong: "This battle is very important, it is better to ask the two general soldiers of Song and Wu to lead their troops to fight together, so that the chance of victory is greater." ”

Sun Chengzong hesitated and hesitated: "Most of the injuries of the two of them last time they went to help, and now there are only more than 1,000 horsemen under them, so I am afraid that it will not be of great use." ”

Zhang Chun said on the side: "It's always good to have a little more people." ”

Hearing Zhang Chun say this, Sun Chengzong didn't want to say anything, so he nodded and said, "It's okay, then let the two of them listen to the old man's command." ”

Zhang Chun hurriedly clasped his hands and saluted: "Thank you, Lord Sun." ”

Sun Chengzong hurriedly returned the salute, got up and walked two steps, looked back and asked Zhang Chun: "I don't know why the old gentleman thinks the sunrise is the best?" Until then, the students try to make it as convenient as possible for the old gentleman. ”

Zhang Chun thought for a while and said, "Without further ado, it's better to set it in ten days." ”

"Ten years later?" Sun Chengzong calculated, "August 17th, well, okay, ten days later." ”

After setting a date for the battle, Zhang Chun and Sun Chengzong had to leave separately, dispose of military affairs, and coordinate the materials needed for the war.

As soon as he stepped out of the steps, Zhang Chun stopped, turned around and said to Qiu Hejia who was seeing him off: "By the way, Lord Qiu, how is your favorite general Shi Dayong's injury?" ”

Hearing that Shi Dayong was asked about his injury, Qiu Hejia couldn't help but feel sad and sighed: "Lord Lao Zhang is worried, Dayong is still in a coma." ”

Zhang Chun also sighed and said with emotion: "Such a good general is really not uncommon in the life of this official." I hope that God can bless him, so that he can turn evil into good fortune, and then hold the sword for the Son of Heaven to guard the country. ”

Qiu Hejia nodded slightly: "This Dayong has what he wants in his life." ”

Zhang Chun said "um" and asked again: "The emperor gave him a piece of writing, do you know the way?" ”

Qiu Hejia knew about it, and said busily: "Knowing Lu Dao, it is the four words "horse leather shroud". ”

Zhang Chun lamented: "It seems that the emperor also knows that Shi Dayong's injuries are difficult to treat, and this horse leather shroud is probably praised after his death." Since the founding of our dynasty, I have been able to get the Son of Heaven's handwritten horse leather shroud, and this Shi Dayong is the first person. It seems that the emperor really values him. If you can save his life, it will be great for the country and the people. ”

"That's nature." Qiu Hejia was inexplicably sad.

"I have written the scene of the bloody battle under the city of Shi Bu and reported it to the imperial court, and I am afraid that the reward of the imperial court will also arrive in the next few days. I hope Shi Dayong can live to receive the order. ”

After Zhang Chun finished speaking, he shook his head and walked out of the governor's yamen with a regretful face.

Behind him, Qiu Hejia stared at the sunset for a long time.

………

(Author's note: There was a habit in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty that if the other party was one's peer, or slightly lower than one's own position and not a direct subordinate, no matter whether the other party was old or young, he could call the other party "old man" and call himself "student.") ）