On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the weather was freezing cold, and the atmosphere in Ligu Town, located in the center of the Jin army's exaggerated camp, was almost frozen.
There was no way. The nobles above all had grim faces, and the people below could not help being restricted layer by layer. Besides, there was no reason for them to be happy… The Yellow River froze on the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and then the war of attrition became more and more intense day by day. As a result, until yesterday, that is, the fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, many soldiers rushed forward but failed to break through the Song army's defense line, and only sacrificed countless lives in vain… In this situation, not to mention the middle-level Meng'an Moukes, even the officers of the Haner reinforcements were not in a good mood.
As for the lower-level soldiers and civilian laborers, let alone the contracted soldiers, they are the direct sufferers of casualties. How could they be happy?
That’s right, yesterday evening, the Jin army’s first general offensive, which had been planned for three or four days, ended in such a muddle.
It's not that there was no fighting, but the imagined scene of five Wanhu going from west to east, three Wanhu going from east to west, two Wanhu in the south, two Wanhu in the north, and one in the center of Gao Jingshan, where everyone fought together and the Song army could not hold on and collapsed across the board, did not occur.
With the death of Wang Bolong, a Wanhu suddenly disappeared. In the afternoon's battle, Shaohe in the north was alone and dared not launch any decent offensive towards the Song army's strongest northern defense line. Wanyan Bendu, Elubu, Ali who came to rescue, and Gao Qingyi and Pu Suyue who escaped from the city, all mustered their strength, followed their military duties, and launched several tentative attacks, but quickly retracted like a cat showing its claws.
There was really no way. The disappearance of Wang Bolong and his Wanhu could not be concealed in the east and the north. The morale of several Wanhu in the east, from top to bottom, was extremely depressed. None of them had the spirit to fight to the death.
On the other hand, in the west, with such a huge battlefield and delayed news, the army was able to muster up some courage under Yu Balisu's military order and charged hard twice. However, such an offensive could not be effectively tied up in the east and north, and was blocked by the Song army, which had high morale and continuous support.
Finally, as the Song army's second-line troops provided full support and began to display a large amount of spoils captured by Wang Bolun's troops, the Jin army's top brass, fearing that it would cause a collapse in morale on the front lines, had to call off the troops.
In fact, at that time, some people even worried that the Song army would use the captured heads of the Jin army as cannonballs... What else could they do if they didn't withdraw?
"How do you mean?"
In a fairly spacious house in the town, Gao Qingyi was sitting alone on the porch, leaning against the stove and drinking fish soup, with a copy of the latest Song Dynasty newspaper next to him. When he heard someone coming in, he asked directly without even raising his head.
The person who came was none other than Shaohe, the Wanhu from Bohai.
Hearing this, he did not answer directly. Instead, he asked his attendants to help him take off his helmet and armor. Then, he took a bowl, chopsticks and spoon, sat down opposite Gao Qingyi, poured himself a bowl of hot soup, took a few sips, and then sighed:
"What can I say? It's such a mess, not worth talking about!"
"I still have to tell you, and I'll tell you in detail." Gao Qingyi's face was calm. "After what happened yesterday, how can I be scared again?"
"It was just a quarrel..." Shaohe picked up the bowl and took a few sips before he took a long breath and told the story in general. "Seven or eight Wanhu who were not on the eastern front were still confused until today. They just couldn't believe that a whole Wanhu was gone so quickly, and it was Wang Bolong's Wanhu. When Erlubu had his men dump Wang Bolong's frozen body in the yard, everyone in the court dared to believe it, and then they started to pass the buck, saying that it was the men on the eastern front who watched him die without helping. Later, Pu Suyue went up and told him what he had seen on the city wall, and the matter was over. Then they put the blame on everyone, saying that Wang Bolong was a man who had harmed the country, and then said that Erlubu and Ali were ineffective in rescuing him. Wanyan Bendu even blamed the incident on Gao Dutong in the city, which caused me to argue with him for half a day."
Gao Qingyi's expression remained unchanged, as if he didn't care about the matter. "Is that all? What did the King of Wei say to the Marshal? Didn't they discuss future strategies?"
"That's exactly what I want to say." Shaohe said in a sullen voice. "After a long time of fussing, the Fourth Prince just kept silent. Maybe Wang Bolong's old injury was irritated. Anyway, I don't know what he was thinking. Balisu simply came at noon and said that he was going to inspect the barracks and distribute some rewards to the soldiers..."
“That’s right.”
"Of course he was right... The situation was stabilized only after Balisu came." Shaohe took a sip of the soup bowl and continued. "After the situation was stabilized, this guy acted like a marshal and said a few decent words... The first one pointed out that Wang Bolong's arrogance had ruined the country, lost his army and humiliated himself, and it had nothing to do with others; the second one was to promote Pu Suyue to the temporary commander of ten thousand households, which was to gather the twenty or thirty Moukes brought out of the city with the few remaining infantry and defeated soldiers of Wang Bolong, and add some signed soldiers to make up a ten thousand households..."
"What else can we do?" Gao Qingyi finally showed some expression, but he smiled bitterly. "A Wanhu was lost in such a muddle... Even if we have to make do, we have to keep this Wanhu organization, otherwise the morale of the army will be lost."
"It's better than nothing, right? As for the morale of the army, it's completely gone since yesterday." Shaohe put down the bowl and looked at the attendants feeding the horses in the yard. He was a little depressed for a moment. "In fact, how could I not know that so many Wanhu, all of them are either veterans or nobles, the reason why they are so noisy and chaotic, isn't it because they are afraid of me and use this to cover it up? Even if I quarreled with Ben Du, it was actually the same inside... At the end of the quarrel, some people were already shouting to withdraw the army, withdraw to Yanjing, and some people said that it would be better to leave a few tens of thousands of people here to confront, and the rest of the troops and horses directly took advantage of the freezing of the Yellow River to go south to the city of Dongjing, and set up a siege... Besiege Wei to save Zhao."
"Not really." Gao Qingyi paused for a while before responding softly. "Not really. We still have hundreds of thousands of troops. We only lost a few thousand people... Why is it so?"
"Gao Tongshi's words are too light." Shaohe shook his head. "Yesterday's battle was not as simple as losing a few thousand men... If we really talk about the strength of the troops, let's take a closer look. Just take Wang Bolong's case, forty Mouke were lost in the camp, and Hedong was defeated and trampled by the Song cavalry, losing one or two thousand. Adding up, it's only about five or six thousand casualties and a commander of ten thousand households. As for the Song army, they also suffered a lot of losses in luring the enemy. I heard that there was also a troop of horses and horses in the west who came out to fight to the death to cover up, and they also suffered a lot of losses. It's not completely unscathed... But no matter how you look at it, a commander of ten thousand households was directly lost! This is not a matter of calculating the strength of the troops!"
Gao Qingyi remained silent. How could he not understand?
Wang Bolong's defeat yesterday was not a matter of a few thousand men being lost, but a matter of an elite, fully staffed army of Wanhu being wiped out in an instant. The entire organization disappeared.
It's really gone completely.
The main general was dead and his body was left there; the general's flag was broken and trampled; among the more than fifty Mouke, forty were completely surrounded in the Song army camp. No matter they died or surrendered, forty Mouke were lost in total, and then they were chased and trampled by Song cavalry outside the ambush circle, suffering one or two thousand casualties... Do we have to point to the remaining group of supplementary infantry and the remaining few hundred cavalry and say that they are still there?
Even though Pu Suyue became the Wanhu, everyone knew it very well. In fact, he was more like the Wanhu who inherited Gao Jingshan's position in the city. It was a change of military power within the Bohai people and had nothing to do with Wang Bolun in essence.
So, Wang Bolun’s Wanhu was really gone.
So how many such Jin troops are there?
Twenty?
Actually, not that many.
On the surface, there are 20, but in fact, there are no more than 20 Wanhu, such as Wang Bolong, who is a direct descendant, a founding father, a well-equipped, elite soldier, and a continuous inheritance. Starting from Yanling, Yaoshan was the most prosperous, and the Jin army lost three or four Wanhu, not to mention the mess of Huo Nu in northern Shaanxi.
In fact, the importance of this organized military force can also be seen from Yanling and Yaoshan... In the battle of Yanling, only a dozen Meng'an were lost, and they were not lost in an organized manner, which resulted in the collapse of the Jin army's offensive. Wanyan Talan was also turned from a famous general in the past into a useless man who dared not talk about soldiers. Not to mention Yaoshan, after a battle, only 20,000 or 30,000 losses were lost, and everyone in the world knew that the Jurchens could no longer continue to make progress in the overall situation. Whether it was the Central Plains or Guanxi, they could not get involved. It is precisely because of this that this battle directly affected the overall situation of the world and reversed the general trend.
Why did the Wuzhu brothers want to set up a new army in Yanjing?
In addition to checks and balances, the essence of this old foundation is that it is withering, and we have to seek to maintain a military force that can reassure people.
Speaking of peace of mind, Wang Bolun's defeat was not just a matter of losing his organized strength. He actually used his qualifications and the foundation of his own army to raise a question to the entire Jin army - that is, if even his Wanhu could be easily wiped out in such a short time on such a battlefield, does it mean that all the Wanhu have lost the safety of independent action?
This may be a bit of an exaggeration.
But now, not to mention the far-reaching impact, the only problem that the Jin army had to face was, after maintaining morale, what should they do next?
Obviously, the loss of this Wanhu and the subsequent failure of the first general offensive have effectively shaken the confidence of the Jin army's top leaders in annihilating Yue Fei's troops and rescuing Yuancheng.
It even affects their judgment on long-term strategies.
"The spoon is closed."
After sitting in the corridor for a long time, watching the other party drink two bowls of soup and eat half a fish, Gao Qingyi finally spoke. "Please do me a favor."
"What?" Shaohe looked up in surprise.
"I want to meet the King of Wei." Gao Qingyi said seriously.
Shao He immediately frowned and said, "You are the confidant of the Grand Marshal, the so-called remnant of a criminal. How can the King of Wei trust you if you go to see him with your identity? And if you want to say something, you might as well go to see Balisu. In my opinion, he seems to be a responsible marshal."
"Balisu is responsible, but the one who can really make the decision is still the King of Wei, so we still have to see the King of Wei." Gao Qingyi explained calmly. "As for the remnants of the guilty ministers... If he doesn't believe it, I have done my best."
"For whom are you working so hard?" Shaohe asked with a frown.
Gao Qingyi avoided talking.
"Well!" Shao He stood up with a stern face. "I drank two bowls of fish soup from you, so you should be grateful. I'll go and tell you that General Gao has told you to pass on a message. As for whether the King of Wei is willing to see you, that's none of my business."
Gao Qingyi just remained silent.
However, as the sun sank to the west, the fire gradually died down, and the soup pot became cold. Gao Qingyi, who was sitting in the corridor, finally waited for the guards sent by Wei Wang Wanyan Wushu. Then, after being searched, Gao Tongshi was taken to the house where Wushu lived in the town before sunset.
Specifically, it was in the bedroom of the back house.
Wuzhu was lying on the kang with a hot towel on his face, while Shaohe stood on one side. However, as Gao Qingyi bowed respectfully to the person on the kang and then stood with his hands crossed, Shaohe simply turned around and left without saying a word.
For a moment, Wuzhu was the only one in the bedroom, lying on the kang with his head up, Gao Qingyi was standing at the door with his hands crossed, and two or three guards were standing in the corners of the room to keep watch.
"Are you Gao Qingyi?" Wuzhu didn't move at all when he heard the noise, and didn't even take off the towel covering his eyes. "Nianhan's trusted informant... It is said that after Nianhan read Xi Yin's political reform documents, he planned to make you Xi Yin's deputy, as deputy prime minister?"
"The culprit is Gao Qingyi." Gao Qingyi bowed his head slightly. "That is indeed the case."
"What qualifications do you have to be the vice prime minister?" Wu Cheng asked in a cold tone.
"Maybe it's just because he's close to the capital marshal that he made such a joke?" Gao Qingyi answered sincerely with his hands crossed.
"Then how close are you and Zhan...you and Marshal Du?" Wuzhu still lay there motionless.
"The Grand Marshal died in the Shangshutai. When Sheyema (Nianhan's eldest son) heard that the soldiers had surrounded his mansion, he cried and held the criminal's hand, saying that he hated that he and his son had not listened to the criminal's words earlier, which led to the disaster today..." Gao Qingyi answered calmly. "Is it probably this close?"
I don’t know if it was because the face mask had become cold, but Wushu finally pulled it off his face and glared at the man with a pair of bloodshot eyes.
Gao Qingyi just stood there with his hands folded.
The two sides were deadlocked for a moment, and the ruling prince of the Great Jin Kingdom spoke again, but his tone was a little strange: "According to Shaohe, Gao Dutong in the city has a private message that he only told you, and asked you to convey it privately?"
"It's just an excuse for me to ask General Shaohe for an introduction." Gao Qingyi paused for a moment before sighing. "As for General Gao, he just wanted me to tell His Royal Highness the King of Wei that he has been favored by the Jin Kingdom for twenty years and will never bring shame to the Jin Kingdom... Such words are not considered private."
When Wuzhu heard this, he became sad instead. He also sighed on the couch, and then said: "Gao Jingshan is at least better than Wang Bolong..."
"I have something to say." Gao Qingyi suddenly interrupted, and Wuzhu glanced at him coldly, but did not respond. Seeing this, the former continued to speak. "Wang Bolong's crime is unforgivable. He has caused trouble for the country. This is natural. But at this point, from my point of view, General Gao also has an unshirkable responsibility... He is the general of the military division of Daming Prefecture, but he cannot establish his authority and command his troops. Since the beginning of the war, he has not been able to control Wang Bolong, which is also a major reason why Wang Bolong has caused trouble for the country. Moreover, since the beginning of the war, General Gao has acted conservatively, which is also a major reason why Yue Fei was able to succeed. Forgive me for speaking frankly, General Gao also has a major responsibility."
After hearing this, Wuzhu took several deep breaths on the kang and actually felt somewhat relieved.
You know, Gao Qingyi's words were exactly the thought that had been on Wuzhu's mind since yesterday until now.
It is certain that Wang Bolong has harmed the country, but he is already dead, and cursing him a thousand times will not make us feel better.
There is no need to mention Gao Jingshan's accidental burning of the balloon yesterday. It really cannot be blamed on him, but he has been conservative in military strategy since the start of this war, which now seems to be a major reason for this situation.
And to be frank, is it true that Gao Jingshan is unable to control Wang Bolong? Does he intend to use Wang Bolong as a target to win over Shaohe and Ali?
It is very likely that there was, because Gao Jingshan himself was not a noble person.
Even further, Wang Bolong was defeated and his army was depressed. What was the point of sending the elite troops in the city, especially the Bohai troops, out of the city? From a small point of view, it was to preserve the manpower, but from a big point of view, it was because he didn't want to defend the city? A general was still thinking about the retreat of his own clan at this time, and his frustration was written on his face, but he didn't want to defend the city and maintain the overall situation for the country. Is this reasonable?
But the problem is, isn't Gao Jingshan still holding on in the city? Even if Wuzhu had ten thousand complaints, he couldn't say it out loud, and could only remain silent. Or maybe he knew very well that after yesterday's battle, all the responsibilities had to be borne by him, the King of Wei!
The pulling speed cannot be shared.
Not only that, people like Balisu will only resent Wuzhu for not being able to restrain Wang Bolun, and will also use this as an excuse to demand that Wanyan Bendu and other direct descendants of Wanhu further unconditionally obey the marshal's command.
Of course, he was relieved, but after a while, Wuzhu turned over and sat up, staring into the other person's eyes and spoke coldly:
"Gao Qingyi, General Gao saved your life, so don't gossip about it. Wang Bolong is arrogant and domineering. In the final analysis, it is because Yanjing does not want Daming Mansion to have too much military power, so they deliberately indulge him. What's more, there are Han people in Bohai and Liao... Gao Qingyi, I'm telling you clearly, if you have to find someone other than Wang Bolong to take responsibility for this matter, it can only be me, the King of Wei... Do you understand?"
"I understand." Gao Qingyi replied quickly.
"Tell me, what exactly do you want to say to me?" Seeing the other party respond, Wushu was too lazy to care too much and just urged him.
"Your Highness." Gao Qingyi immediately spoke seriously. "I heard that Wang Bolong died in battle yesterday, and the general attack failed, which shook the army and changed their minds... Some people simply suggested taking advantage of the freezing of the Yellow River to attack Tokyo from the south, and implement the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao... Is that right or not?"
"Yes, there is this matter... do you want to make a suggestion?"
"How dare I speak up?" Gao Qingyi replied softly. "But I have a few things and doubts. If I can't talk to the King of Wei in person, I will always feel uneasy..."
Wuzhu sneered, as if he was disdainful, but did not say anything to stop him.
"First of all... if we go south to Tokyo, let's not talk about the risk of war. Just think about the official of the Song Dynasty in Hedong. Given his temperament and Yue Fei's decisiveness in using troops, can we really rescue the 60,000 or 70,000 Song troops under Yuancheng?" Gao Qingyi didn't waste words when he saw this, but went to the heart of the matter without hesitation. "And if Yue Fei can't be transferred, then we can gather a large cavalry force in the wild to intercept... What's the purpose of going south? If we don't fight ourselves, we have to make life difficult for the Song people? Is this a childish temper or a military strategy?"
Wuzhu glanced at the other person. Although he still didn't say anything, his expression had eased a little.
"The second thing." Gao Qingyi couldn't help but sigh. "Although the Great Jin is led by the Jurchens and the Wanyans are the main ones, the sources of our army have been mixed since the uprising. In addition to the Jurchens, there are Bohai people, Koreans, Liaodong Han people, Yanyun Han people, Xi people, Khitan people, and recently they are trying to win over the Mongols... Among them, the Bohai people have a close relationship with the Jurchens, and they have always been mixed, so they are quite useful... But now, Da Tabuye died in battle, Da (white on top and Da on bottom) died in battle, and the criminal ministers are also doomed to fail. Only Gao Dutong and Shaohe are left... If even Gao Dutong is abandoned..."
"How can you give up?" Wuzhu suddenly interrupted. "If we go south, isn't it actually to save General Gao? Wang Bolong's defeat is not a pity, but it also makes it difficult to resume the siege... The ice period is only a few days, and no one knows how many days we can fight. If the army's morale is not strong, the next time will only be weaker. If we continue to stay here and attack, isn't it the same as watching Yuancheng trapped? In my opinion, it is better to go south and implement the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao, that is the real rescue!"
"Maybe it is a rescue." Gao Qingyi said calmly. "But the problem is, will the Han soldiers in Yuancheng think that the King of Wei is saving them? When Yue Fei came to the city, the Han soldiers rebelled on the spot. Now that General Gao has sent many Moukes out of the city, it will be very difficult for the remaining forces to suppress the Han soldiers and civilians in the city. When General Gao decides to be loyal to the country, will other people in the city still think about being loyal to the country? Isn't the King of Wei afraid that as soon as he leaves, Yuancheng will rebel and surrender the city? At that time, Yue Fei will occupy Yuancheng and there will be no constraints. Isn't he afraid that he will turn around and eat up the surveillance troops? Then cut off our retreat and food supply? Make our army lose quickly?"
Wuzhu was unable to answer for a moment.
"Besides that." Gao Qingyi continued to speak seriously. "These Bohai native Meng'an and Mouke in the army have always been loyal to General Gao, especially those who were sent out by General Gao at the risk of their lives. Almost everyone is grateful. Do they also think that the King of Wei is going south to save General Gao? Even the soldiers of other ethnic groups, what do these people know about military strategies? Seeing that the King of Wei abandoned Yuancheng and went south, I'm afraid they will think that the King of Wei is going to abandon General Gao? When the news spreads to Hedong, what will General Yelu Mawu think? They have the lessons of Yelu Yudu and Yelu Nuge... In this situation, isn't the King of Wei afraid of people's backlash?"
Wushu instinctively glanced at the master's slave standing behind Gao Qingyi, then looked at Gao Qingyi again, his face full of fatigue: "I can hear that you don't want to seek a status here as Shaohe said, but you are grateful to Gao Jingshan and want to persuade me to stay and try to save him... Is that right or not?"
"Yes." Gao Qingyi knelt down and kowtowed inside the door, then answered honestly. "The thing I hate most in my life is that I couldn't save the Grand Marshal. Now that the Grand Marshal's family is dead, and General Gao has saved my life and given me a chance, I can't let him down again... But King Wei, this has nothing to do with whether what I said makes sense or not!"
Wuzhu shook his head and retorted: "Then let's talk about the facts... According to what you said before, the Han army wants to rebel, and the Khitans cannot be trusted. You Bohai people are dissatisfied with this... Isn't the Great Jin Kingdom already riddled with holes and can't do anything?"
"This is exactly what I want to say today." Gao Qingyi spoke earnestly on the ground. "King of Wei... Times have changed! Before, the country was thriving, and in more than ten years, it became a great country. At that time, we could do whatever we wanted, just like a warrior riding a horse on a plain. But now, the country is on the defensive. Zhao and Song are attacking with all their troops. If we retreat, we will be in danger of being wiped out. At this time, doing things is like carrying a heavy load on a high slope. We must be careful... Your Highness, I am not exaggerating."
Wuzhu said nothing.
Gao Qingyi also continued to speak confidently on the ground:
"Your Highness, our Great Jin started from a remote place outside the Great Wall and eventually became a great country with thousands of miles of territory. The foundation is of course the Jurchen cavalry. But the saying goes that if the Jurchens are less than 10,000, they are invincible. This is certainly a compliment, but it also points out that the core ethnic group of the Great Jin is relatively small, right? Therefore, in order to accomplish great things and to serve the overall situation, it is inevitable that the Han army will grow day by day or that other ethnic groups will be recruited as troops. Among them, the various ethnic groups are chaotic and have different cultures, so that they have their own ulterior motives. This is a common and inevitable incident... It is not something that will happen just because I say it today, and it will not disappear just because I don't say it today... Today, I am just advising the King of Wei to pay attention to people's hearts. Isn't this right?"
Wuzhu listened to the other party calmly, and seemed to muster up some courage. He shook his head decisively on the kang: "What you said makes some sense, but the Great Jin is not going to this extent. How can a country with thousands of miles and hundreds of thousands of troops lose the morale of the army just because of the loss of a ten thousand households?"
"How can a country with a vast territory and hundreds of thousands of troops abandon a loyal minister and a famous city just because they lost a million households?" Gao Qingyi refuted on the spot, but kowtowed again. "Your Highness, I have two more words to say. Please allow me to say them."
"You say so."
"Your Highness... Wang Bolong's incident also illustrates one thing, that is, we previously thought that the Iron Cavalry could fight two at a time, and the supplementary soldiers could fight one at a time, so 20,000 soldiers could fight 300,000 Song troops in the imperial camp... This is wrong! In the future, we can't calculate it this way!" Gao Qingyi raised his head and stared at Wuzhu, speaking hurriedly. "And if the Great Jin wants to win the decisive battle, it can only seek to combine large cavalry forces in the field and use the advantages of large cavalry forces in the field to win!"
Wuzhu was unable to refute again.
"Finally, I would like to say that whether the army will go to Tokyo to rescue Zhao or continue to try to rescue Yuancheng here is not about Tokyo and Yuancheng, nor about the strategy of rescue Zhao or the remaining courage... but about another thing..."
"What is it?"
"I want to ask the King of Wei, if things don't go well, a decisive battle is necessary... King of Wei, with these dozen Wanhu and the new Yanyun army, is he going to fight in Henan or Hebei?! In Daming Prefecture in the south of Hebei, or in Zhending Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture in the north of Hebei?" Gao Qingyi raised his head and said fiercely. "At this time, King of Wei is only thinking about how to win, and not what to do if he loses? King of Wei, it's right to plan for victory, but you should also be prepared to fight with all your might!"
Wuzhu was horrified and jumped off the kang, standing on the ground barefoot.
Gao Qingyi kowtowed again: "So, I beg the King of Wei not to go south... Try to save Yuancheng and General Gao... In this way, even if things really go wrong, we can retreat safely, or help defend Taiyuan, or stay in Hejian and Zhending, with Yanyun behind us, and fight to the death in the wild! Instead of throwing the army to Henan, once we get confused, we don’t know where to throw the hundreds of thousands of troops in our hands! Even the gradually assembled Yanyun New Army cannot be combined with the troops in our hands! Isn’t that a direct demise of the country?"
After saying this, Gao Qingyi lowered his head and remained silent, and the bedroom was silent for a long time.