The Juma River in southern Youzhou was sparkling. Xiao Siwen rode his horse to the river first, dismounted, led the horse to the river to drink water, and reached out to touch the mane of his mount. He looked back at the river and built many floating bridges around it.
This place is close to the upper reaches of the Juma River. The governors of the Zhou State in the middle reaches are working on using the river water to artificially create swamps on both sides of the river in order to resist the harassment of the Liao cavalry from the south. But it is a very difficult task, and there has been no progress in a year or two; now, Xiao Siwen only needs to build a few floating bridges on the river to drive south.
Abudi, a subordinate, also led his horse to the river to drink water and bowed: "After we cross the river, we will go west. Will Yizhou be in trouble?"
Xiao Siwen laughed and said, "Sun Xingyou is a coward. He has been defending the place behind closed doors since hearing the news. How dare he come out? Even if he does, he is no match for me." The general of the Zhou army is heading for Niangzi Pass. Let's take Niangzi Pass first and wait and see. The army of Yelu A'ge in the north may arrive later.
Abudi nodded in agreement.
Xiao Siwen turned around and saw that the terrain to the north was slightly higher. He saw that a large number of infantry and cavalry on the plain were spreading towards the Juma River. He said: The warriors of the Liao Dynasty are like tigers. It is not easy for the Zhou army to pull out the teeth of the tiger. As long as our reinforcements can break through the periphery, Jinyang will not be a problem.
There was still no major movement outside Jinyang City, and the rain stopped after only two days.
A few days ago, the Zhou army had been besieging Jinyang fiercely, and the people in Jinyang were in a panic. But after the initial panic, people gradually adapted to the war environment and the world gradually stabilized. But at this time, one person was panicking: Prime Minister Guo Yuanwei.
Guo Yuanwei held a high position in the Northern Han court and had considerable power, but the more so, the more cautious he was. Before being arrested, Zhao Kuangyin showed dissatisfaction and anger, and it was obvious that he knew he was going to be betrayed; and that matter was a military secret of the court, and only a few important ministers and generals knew about it. How did Zhao Kuangyin know about it
Jinyang was in the midst of a great war, and although the Lord of Northern Han had not yet made a big fuss about the matter, Guo Yuanwei still sensed danger.
He thought about whether the process of doing things would leave any clues. He thought there were loopholes in some subtle details that he thought would not be exposed according to his previous arrangements, but he couldn't think of how others would know them.
Worried about the danger and luck, Guo Yuanwei suddenly regretted contacting Zhao Kuangyin. Now it seems a bit unnecessary; even if he didn't tell Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Kuangyin might not bite back. However, it was because he was cautious and felt uneasy that he did that.
Guo Yuanwei thought of surrendering to the Zhou army to protect himself, but he did not have direct control over the troops, so the plan was very risky. The best opportunity to surrender was the destruction of the Northern Han Dynasty.
But Guo Yuanwei was still so panicked because he judged that Jinyang should be saved this time. Carrier pigeons from Xinzhou and other places sent messages that the Liao army had already been dispatched, and even the Youzhou army was reinforcing from the east; as long as the reinforcements could get close to Jinyang, the Zhou army would not be able to attack the city.
As long as the Liao army's reinforcements are still there, the morale and morale of the people in Jinyang City will not be a problem.
Guo Yuanwei's main concern was his own safety, and the survival of Jinyang was certainly not what he cared about the most.
Yang Ye took advantage of the truce and went to visit Feng Jinke in the south city. He wanted to take the opportunity to take a closer look at the fortifications of the Zhou army, which was the main attack direction of the Zhou army; but Yang Ye could not come during the war, otherwise he would be suspected of meddling in his colleagues.
Feng Jinke went to the city wall to pay his respects. After a few pleasantries, the two men started talking about the war.
While Yang Ye was dealing with the situation, he was looking at the earthen fortifications below. The entire earthen fortification was more than twenty steps wide. The Zhou army had achieved some results in just two days. They had built a short section under the city wall. Although the effect was not great, it had only been less than two days for the Zhou army to build the earthen fortifications. Moreover, although the city wall looked high, this section was only more than thirty feet high, so the height was not out of reach.
He looked carefully and saw that on the rammed earth there were large rocks and rolled logs, bricks and stones from the Zhou army's artillery fire, which were all used as stepping stones to build into the earthen hill.
Feng Jinke said: "The Zhou army only piled up earth here. There were many ways to stop them. However, the Zhou army's gunpowder cannons were mainly thrown here. Once the weapons were placed on the city wall, a round of artillery fire would surely destroy everything. We have not found a way to stop them from piling up earth."
Yang Ye nodded and looked out at the scene outside the city wall. He reminded calmly: I saw a camouflaged ruin of a house on the southeast corner tower. I guess the Zhou army is digging tunnels and attacking, and they may repeat the same trick as in the Battle of Shouzhou to blow up the city.
Feng Jinke said: "I have dug tunnels in the city for defense. If the Zhou army digs close to the city wall, we may find them. We also followed the defense method suggested by Zhao Kuangyin and made arrangements for defense. It is not so easy for the Zhou army to repeat the same trick."
When Yang Ye heard about Zhao Kuangyin, he immediately thought of Zhao Kuangyin being sold out. He had no opinion on the decision of the Northern Han ruler, but he was also quite emotional, thinking that the so-called great imperial grace was just that when weighing the pros and cons.
But Yang Ye still kept his composure and did not want to surrender to the Zhou Kingdom easily through Zhou spies. Although he would have made merit by surrendering now, his reputation and reliability in the hearts of the people would be greatly affected. The performance of loyalty to the emperor should not be easily destroyed.
Yang Ye looked at it and said carefully: We will have a hard battle with Zhou Jun, sooner or later
Feng Jinke turned his head and looked towards the north, and said: Even if we succeed in piling up the earth, the width of the gap is limited. The Zhou army will attack from above and it will be difficult for them to break into the city from such a place, unless our morale is low and we have no will to fight.
Yang Ye recalled the great battle with Zhou's army near Baigu, and frowned without making any comment; but he looked down at the hill below, pondered for a moment, and nodded slightly.
In Yang Ye's previous speculation, the Liao army could rescue the Northern Han from this crisis. This was the consensus of the Northern Han's monarch and ministers. If the reinforcements did not arrive, Jinyang would surrender because of losing hope. It was meaningless for an isolated city to continue to consume resources without external help. But now, after seeing the Zhou army's tactics of using 100-jin stone cannons, he changed his speculation: if the Liao army did not come, Jinyang would not surrender, and would not have the morale to fight a bloody battle, and the city would be breached by force.
Feng Jinke pondered for a while and said: No matter what, whether the Liao army reinforcements can reach Jinyang city is related to the survival of our country.
He suddenly didn't care too much about the outcome of Zhao Kuangyin's matter. He was indeed a little disappointed with the Lord of Northern Han, and didn't want to die for him. In addition, although the spy in his family made him feel a little angry at first, he gradually realized that this was Lord Zhou's attempt to win him over, and he already had a way out.
Feng Jinke said: "According to reports, the Liao army has gathered near Yinshan Mountain and will move south soon. Jinyang City should be safe for at least one or two months. It depends on whether the Liao army can defeat Li Chuyun's army in Xinzhou and Niangzi Pass in the east."
Yang Ye nodded in agreement and stood on the top of the city wall for a long time without saying a word.