It was not that Tong Guan and the large number of generals who had been completely seized of power had not thought about resisting, but when they were taken out of the tent, they saw pairs of alert eyes around them, and arrows with arrows on their strings, pointing towards them from time to time. When he took aim at the crossbow, the courage to resist in his heart completely dissipated.
Whether it is Tong Guan or these generals, in the final analysis, they are all people who cherish their lives. No matter how important military power and reputation are, can their own lives be important? At this point, no matter how reluctant they were, they could only admit defeat and let others lock themselves into small independent tents, with no freedom of entry or exit.
Of course, this does not mean that they have completely surrendered. As long as they are given a chance, these people will still cause trouble and cause trouble to Sun Tu and the others. But from the current point of view, this is obviously the most beneficial to the Song army. It can quickly boost and unite the morale of the army, allowing everyone to get over this defeat that has not been fully accomplished.
Sun Tu's tough measures not only frightened Tong Guan and others, but even the two elders of the Zhong family, who had experienced countless storms and had been killed in the blood sea of the mountain of corpses, were frightened. During this period, the two elders of the Zhong family were frightened. Although people were present, they did not say a word, because they did not know how to react at the moment and could only remain silent.
It wasn't until Tong Guan and others were taken out, and only a few of their own people were left in the tent, that Zhong Shidao hesitated and said: "Qianli, Yuehou, you are too bold, this is... but a mutiny... "There was worry in his tone, but more bitterness.
Among the seed masters, an old face darkened as he stared at Sun Tu: "Qianli, do you know what the consequences of doing this will be? Not to mention whether the soldiers below will be in chaos because of this. Once the news here leaks, Damn it, you and I will die without a burial place, and we will also be branded as traitors and rebels after our death!"
"Seniors, there is no need to be nervous. Since I dare to do this, I have my own reasons. As for the consequences, I would like to ask you two, considering the fact that your Western Army has always been tabooed by the imperial court, do you think that if you are defeated this time? Will those people in the court spare you? As for me, in fact, there is no way out for a long time. I have offended more people than you. I even killed Gao Qiu on the way here. As long as I don't return to the court with a great victory. , I will definitely die. Since we are in a desperate situation, why can't we give it a try?" Sun Tu's tone was extremely calm, but the words he said made their hearts beat faster again, and their faces became heavier.
"You... are really brave to the extreme. I have met countless people in my life, but I have never seen anyone like you!" Zhong Shidao was speechless and shook his head, "But it is true that you saved my Western Army soldiers. After all, we have promised I love you, so no matter how dangerous this matter is, we can still help you... "
Master Zhong was about to say something, but Sun Tu beat him to it: "Old Mr. Zhong, what you said is wrong. You are not doing all this to help me, but to save yourself! The current situation no longer allows us to hesitate at all. This is not only related to the life and death of you, me and our soldiers, but also closely related to the safety of the Song Dynasty and even the entire Central Plains!"
"Marquis Yue, are your words too exaggerated and alarmist?" Zhong Shizhong said with a frown.
"No, everything I said is true..." Sun Tu immediately explained in more detail what he had said to inspire the entire army.
He came, and at the end he stared at the two of them: "You two seniors have been in the army for many years, can't you see that the Song Dynasty court is already terminally ill and the building is about to collapse? If we use conventional means to save it, will it be able to survive?" When? So we have to take strong medicine and use extraordinary means to treat extraordinary diseases!"
After hearing what he said, the expressions of the two people changed again, and they couldn't help but look at each other, and communicated silently. In fact, they don't know that the Song Dynasty is full of ills in both the court and the military. It's just that as officials of the Song Dynasty, they have never made such a bold decision. In fact, if it had not been for Sun Tu's appearance, the two of them would have watched the elite of the Western Army be wiped out because they were squeezed out by Tong Guan in this battle against Liao. In the end, they would have died on the battlefield after the invasion of the Jin Army. Be loyal to the country...
In the final analysis, they are still loyal to the imperial court and are doing something impossible to succeed for the sake of the reputation of the family for generations. Even if they know the final outcome, they can only pretend that they cannot see it and they are still going all the way to the dark side.
Such people are certainly worthy of admiration, but in Sun Tu's opinion, they are not worthy of learning. Veteran generals like them should have a better ending, and they should be allowed to play a greater role in this war!
They could also appreciate Sun Tu's good intentions, but they still couldn't turn such a corner for a while. They could only stare at Sun Tu blankly, speechless for a while. Sun Tu took the time to fill the bowls of water for the two of them: "I naturally admire the idea of two loyal people to the court, but sometimes we should learn to be flexible. For our generation of soldiers, victory is the most important thing. Important. What do you two think?"
A sigh came from Master Zhong's mouth: "That's all. Now that things have happened, no matter how much we say, no one will believe that we don't know anything about this matter anymore, and that we are no longer your accomplices, Sun Qianli."
"Huh, that's what happened. Apart from cooperating with you, we really have no other choice." Master Zhong's face became even more ugly, and he glared at Sun Tu bitterly.
After all, they still have the blood and backbone of soldiers. For them, being able to defeat the Liao army in front of them and finally capture Youzhou is an acceptable result. But then, Zhongshidao frowned again: "Having said that, after this battle, our Western Army suffered heavy casualties, and there will really not be many available troops in the future. And what you did will inevitably shake the morale of the army. , what else can we do to fight the Liao army?"
"Yes, there are also logistical supplies. We lost most of them in this flood. Once we don't have supplies, how can we fight against the Liao army?" When it comes to the use of troops, Zhongshizhong hit the nail on the head and pointed out this biggest problem. Hidden danger.
Sun Tu's expression also became solemn: "This is indeed the problem we are most urgent to deal with now. The logistical supply of food baggage was hampered by the fact that our food route was cut off by the Liao army before, so there is still a large amount of supplies piled up at Yanmen Pass. As long as we send an urgent order to transport it over there, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get through the current difficulties.”
Upon hearing this, the two of them nodded in agreement. Speaking of which, it really feels like a blessing in disguise. If it hadn't been for what the Liao army had done before, there would have been more supplies stocked in the military camp, and the losses would have been even greater.
When Sun Tu saw them nodding, he felt refreshed and continued: "As for the Liao people, I think they don't dare to do it now.
Let’s start a war lightly again. Yes, we did suffer a lot of damage in this battle, but they are not much better, and compared to our Song Dynasty, the Liao people's current situation will only be worse. They will only be unable to bear greater damage, otherwise this It is no longer possible for the elite Liao army to return to the north to fight the Jin people! "
This time, the two elders of the Zhong family frowned deeply. Although Sun Tu's words made sense, they still could not completely reassure them.
Seeing this, Sun Tu added: "Actually, the wisest choice right now is to retreat to the vicinity of Yanmen Pass. This will not only solve the problem of food logistics, but also temporarily avoid the Liao army and directly drag them to death. That's all. Once it comes, it takes a long time, which is also very disadvantageous for us. After all, it means long nights and many dreams."
Indeed, if you follow what he said, you will be back to your previous sound strategy. This was a coup that the two elders of the Zhong family also advocated to break the Liao Dynasty, but it was rejected by the court before. But now they are not easy to use, because once time passes and the court knows about the changes in the army, trouble will ensue, at least they can't cope with it at this time.
"So the best way right now is to hold on?" Zhong Shidao quickly understood and asked.
"Exactly, hold on until the logistics can catch up, the morale of the army recovers, and then look for opportunities to defeat the enemy. In addition, I also thought of something, maybe this will be the key to victory or defeat in this battle between Song and Liao." Sun Tu looked solemn. , just as he was about to say what he was thinking of, the voice of a soldier came from outside the tent: "General, there is a Liao envoy outside the camp asking to see him. I wonder if he will be received?"
After being stunned for a moment, Sun Tu laughed: "It seems that it is just as I thought. Even the Liao army did not dare to start the war again, so they sent envoys here." Then he said loudly: "Since the Liao people are here as envoys, we can't turn them away, so let's invite him in to talk."
The expressions of Zhong Shidao and Zhong Shidao both changed, and Sun Tu was right. It seemed that there was indeed a chance for a comeback, and the previous decision was indeed the right one. This made the two of them look at Sun Tu with something else in their eyes, a mixture of worry and joy.
After a long while, an official from the Liao Kingdom came to the tent with his head held high. He raised his fists at Sun Tu and others and said: "This is Fan Wu, the envoy of the Liao Kingdom. I am here to conquer you, the King of the Southern Academy of Liao Dynasty." Marshal Yelu Xiongge of the South has ordered me to come and give you a few words to Commander Tong Guan of the Song Army."
"You say it, we'll just listen." Sun Tu was not dissatisfied because of his attitude, and of course he had no intention of letting him sit down. He just said casually.
"Which one of you is Tong Guan, the commander-in-chief of the Song Army?" Fan Wu glanced at the people in the tent with piercing eyes, but felt that none of them were right.
Sun Tu smiled and said, "My Tong Shuai is ill, so of course he can't see guests today. If you have anything to say, just tell us. If you don't want to say it, please leave."
"..." The other party pondered for a moment, and finally gave in: "It doesn't matter if I tell you. What my commander-in-chief means is that both sides have suffered heavy casualties this time, and it is really difficult to fight again. How about we stop? Also, I What the Liao soldiers admire most are heroes. The general of your Song army who led the troops out of the camp the day before yesterday turned the tide. We really want to know who he is and pay our highest respect!"