Zuo You hurried into the hall when Han Tong's troops from Zhuozhou reported an emergency. Wei Renpu and other ministers immediately raised their heads, and some of them hurriedly put down their pens.
Guo Shaodao: Bring up the urgent report.
He was sitting on the upper seat, holding a Go piece in his hand. On the board, black and white pieces were interlaced, but they were not arranged in a chessboard, but in a strange circle. He was no longer as calm as before, but frowned and looked nervous. There were many scribbled words and patterns on the paper next to him.
The officials working in the lobby held their breath and the place became even quieter for a moment.
Zuo You said: Inspector Li is in Gu'an County, and his main cavalry of tens of thousands is there. Inspector Li can reinforce Han Tong if he goes west.
Wei Renpu said: Maybe Li Chuyun’s troops have already gone to reinforce Han Tong.
Wei Renpu pondered for a moment and said: As long as Li Chuyun sends out cavalry reinforcements, the Liao army will not be able to capture Zhuozhou.
Guo Shao nodded immediately. He looked at the fortresses represented by black pieces on the chessboard, repeatedly proposed various tactics, and determined that the infantry and cavalry were coordinated and there were fortifications. Although the attacking force might be insufficient, it would not be difficult to defend the Zhuozhou battlefield.
Zuo You said: According to reports, the main force of the Liao army besieged Zhuozhou and deployed a large number of siege equipment. Do you want to have a decisive battle in Zhuozhou
Guo Shao blurted out: The Liao army is not willing to fight a decisive battle with the Zhou army.
Zuo You said: If the Liao army were to leave this time, the infantry and baggage would suffer heavy losses.
Guo Shao read Han Tong's report again. It is true that the Liao army is not only composed of cavalry. They were unable to mobilize hundreds of thousands of cavalry this time. Many of the infantry were mainly Xi people. Of course, if they wanted to attack the fortresses on a large scale, they would have to carry a lot of baggage.
If the Zhou army defeated the Liao army head-on in Zhuozhou, it might not be able to deal a substantial blow to the Liao army's cavalry, but their infantry and baggage train would still not be able to escape easily.
At this time, Wei Renpu pondered and said: If we mobilize the infantry to gather towards Zhuozhou, will we be attacked by the Liao army halfway
Guo Shao said in a deep voice: It is very likely. If we are really caught in the opportunity to fight, we have no fortifications to rely on along the way and we have not gathered into a battle formation. It will be extremely dangerous if we are caught by heavy troops.
Wei Renpu said: According to the military strategy, if we want to be conservative and safe, we only need Li Chuyun's main force of 50,000 cavalry to reinforce Zhuozhou and cooperate with Han Tong to ensure that the battlefield of Zhuozhou will be invincible.
Many officials immediately agreed with this strategy, which was both simple and reliable.
But Guo Shao did not make a decision for a long time.
Indeed, this strategy was too conservative. Guo Shao found a previous inference from the scribbled paper, and this strategy could not pose any threat to the Liao army.
First, the main force of Li Chuyun's cavalry was no match for the Liao army in a field battle, and they could not win if they chased them; they could only rely on the fortifications of Zhuozhou and the 35,000 elite infantry of Han Tong's army to compete around Zhuozhou City. It was impossible to attack and win, and the possibility of a major defeat was also very small, and they were in a position where they could not win.
Since they could not pose a direct threat to the Liao army, Dong Zunhui would face a greater threat if he attacked.
Guo Shao stood up and paced back and forth in front of the table. He no longer wanted to hide his nervousness and pressure at the moment. He pondered and said: I think the purpose of the Liao army is not to fight a decisive battle. There may be other traps and variables, but if we are too restrained, we will fall into an extremely passive situation.
Guo Shao suddenly stopped and looked at the map on the wall. At this time, the four cities of the Zhou army were spread out along the east-west line; Bazhou was the base camp located on the south bank of the Juma River, closest to Gu'an County. The deployment of troops that can be used for field operations: the new city of Jinzhou in the east is the Jiannan Army and the Jiangnan Army with more than 50,000 infantry and cavalry; Zhuozhou and Gu'an in the west are closer, each with 35,000 imperial infantry; Bazhou has 20,000 infantry and cavalry, the main force in Gu'an, and Dong Zunhui's nearly 10,000 Hu Ben Army cavalry in Bazhou.
After a moment, Guo Shao said: Give the order, Li Chuyun and Shi Yanchao lead the cavalry to reinforce Zhuozhou, Yang Biao leaves 20,000 cavalry in Gu'an; Gu'an and Bazhou each leave 5,000 elite infantry to help defend the city, and the remaining 45,000 people will advance north and south to the Juma River and merge into one place as soon as possible. Dong Zunhui's troops will be immediately transferred to Gu'an, rest for a day, and then attack according to the established strategy.
Guo Shao paused and said: The Imperial Army cavalry has two horses. Yang Biao's troops do not need to travel long distances and do not need two horses. The extra horses will be allocated to the Gu'an infantry. The Gu'an infantry will ride horses to march south quickly and quickly gather with the infantry from Bazhou heading north. Then 45,000 people will return to Gu'an together, and then gather in Zhuozhou nearby from Gu'an.
Wei Renpu said: Your Majesty's intention is to gather a large army in Zhuozhou to fight a decisive battle with the Liao army.
Guo Shao said in a deep voice: “A decisive battle is not easy, but once our army gathers a large force in Zhuozhou, it will pose a threat to the Liao army.
Everyone was talking about it.
Guo Shao calmed down and realized that this was a very subtle psychological warfare. When he was not sure what the other party was going to do, he would feel the risk of actively deploying offense and defense.
Wei Renpu and Zuo You looked at Guo Shao for a long time in silence.
Guo Shao looked around, his eyes bright with excitement: If we are passive in every battle, we will suffer overall. As long as we have strong strength and confidence, we have to fight sometimes. I want to see what the Liao army can do.
At this moment, when Guo Shao looked outside the door, he was suddenly blinded by the sunlight reflected from the snow, while the two large rooms outside seemed a little dim.
The atmosphere seemed to be frozen like quiet snow.
Guo Shao was the emperor, but Wei Renpu ignored his usual respect and asked again: "Has His Majesty issued an order?"
Guo Shao looked at him seriously and nodded slightly.
Wei Renpu immediately said to an official beside him: Write a military order.
This kind of military order directly issued to the general, Wei Renpu sent it to Guo Shao after going to the military camp. Guo Shao calmed down, picked up the brush on the inkstone, dipped it, and carefully wrote "approval" on several military orders.
I have probably never written a few words so seriously in my life.
After Guo Shao signed the military order, he wrote a letter himself to inform the generals of the detailed strategy.
Outside Zhuozhou City, the snow was filled with smoke, shouts of killing were deafening, and cannons roared. The Liao army attacked from all sides, and the Zhou army's imperial guards also counterattacked the fortress occupied by the Liao army. The war never stopped for a moment.
Under the siege of heavy troops and siege weapons from both sides, no one could defend the earthen fortress. It was only a matter of time before it was captured. Han Tong's troops attacked at a relatively slow speed, and the outer perimeter could no longer support the general defense line under the tug of war.
Han Tong stood on the tower for an unknown amount of time, looking eastward, eagerly waiting for reinforcements. His eyes were already bloodshot, his lips were blackened by the cold air, and his left hand tightly grasped the hilt of the sword.
The generals below were anxiously cursing: "Gu'an is only a short distance from Zhuozhou. Even if they had to crawl, they should be able to get here. Why haven't they arrived on horseback yet?"
The generals could complain, but Han Tong could not. He stood there with a cold face. He had a plan in mind: if they really couldn't hold on, they could all retreat to Zhuozhou City and there would be no danger. With tens of thousands of people guarding the city, it would take more than ten days or half a month for the Liao army to capture Zhuozhou City. But in this way, the role of his tens of thousands of people in this war would be small. As a general who was an important link in the battle, Han Tong was definitely not willing to be marginalized.
To the east, the four gates of Gu'an County were wide open, and large groups of mounted troops were dispatched from all directions. The long line of cavalrymen from the North West Gate converged on the west road, forming a mighty force of men and horses, a dark mass on the snow.
The other two mounted infantry marched straight south. The land and rivers had long been frozen, and even the scattered villages were hidden by the snow. The army was divided into more than a dozen columns, and rode south in large numbers.
So many people marching together seemed a bit lonely, probably because there were no other people except the army. In this season and this situation, the people would not go out casually.
To the south, in Bazhou, where the imperial palace camp was located, neatly lined infantry crossed the Juma River on the ice and snow and marched northward. The sound of horse hooves could be heard faintly from the lower reaches of the river, and Dong Zunhui's cavalry was also moving northward.
The huge whiteness of the snow made many things less noticeable. The emperor standing on the city wall was no longer so conspicuous. Guo Shao, wearing the fur coat given by the eunuch Wang Zhong, stood there and watched for an unknown period of time.
Wang Zhong said carefully: Although the sky is clear, it is colder when it is clear than when it is snowing.
Yes. Guo Shao responded casually. The ancients relied on experience, and he immediately understood the reason. Snow evaporates from solid to water vapor under the sun, absorbing heat, so the temperature is even lower.
Wang Zhong whispered again: Your Majesty, please rest your body.
Guo Shao said nothing, still watching the troops coming out from near and far. From a distance, those soldiers and horses looked a little special, each of them was carrying a large blanket, in this kind of weather, no matter how lightly they traveled, they could not ignore keeping warm.
At this moment, he just stood there, but his heart was tighter than a bowstring.
It doesn't mean that you don't need to take risks after you have a lot. If you are reluctant to take risks, you will always be in a passive position and unable to turn things around.
However, Guo Shao alone could place such a big bet, which meant that he had reached a certain level of power. Otherwise, even the emperor would not have the final say. In many eras, dynasties always adopted a passive and conservative strategy because most people were not so bold and no one could place a big bet.
The rumbling sound of horse hooves in the distance sounded like thunder in the sky. But when Guo Shao looked up, the sky was cloudless and the wind was very light. The world was peaceful.
Guo Shao repeatedly pondered the turmoil between heaven and earth, and thought that the chances of winning were still not small. It was just too important and the pressure was too great, so he would be anxious if the result was not revealed.
These days are really hard to endure, but when they are over, you will definitely breathe a sigh of relief.
After experiencing the Battle of Shouzhou and the Tokyo Mutiny many times, Guo Shao would think that it was finally settled and he would never have to go through such hardships again; but he didn't expect it to happen again every time.
But if I can get through this time, there shouldn't be such great pressure again. After abolishing the Liao Kingdom, it seems that no one can threaten me anymore.