Xiao Siwen returned to the top of Youzhou city wall, feeling filled with emotion.
Standing on the high top of the city wall, the flat land outside the city seems even more vast, and the sky seems so low that it is within reach.
The clouds were not thick, and the light from the sun behind them brightened the clouds, making them dazzling in the middle, and the light spread out in all directions like thousands of arrows, making them even more magnificent. The golden light at this time was like a judgment from the unknown.
Xiao Siwen stared at the river in the south of the city for a long time without saying a word. The Sanggan River meandered eastward, and the ripples on the river surface caused by the wind were like armor plates of thousands of troops. Along the river eastward, there were indeed thousands of troops. The city of Zhou army in the lower reaches of the Sanggan River had been built. Xiao Siwen could imagine that the army could reach Youzhou within a day by advancing along the river.
According to the spies' reports, the city built by the Zhou army was just a large military camp and a large granary. There were basically no civilians in it except the militiamen who were building the city. Therefore, there was no need to consider many of the livelihood issues of an ordinary city, otherwise it would take several months to build.
He slapped his palms hard on the blue bricks of the parapet several times, making some trivial movements. Then he carefully wiped off the dirt on his hands, turned around and walked down the wall.
As soon as he got off the city wall, he heard the dull sound of sawing wood in the city. Craftsmen were still making catapults day and night. Xiao Siwen was inspecting the city defense and met the Han official Fan Zhongyi.
Fan Zhongyi invited Xiao Siwen to an official office to see something.
Hollow out a stone and stuff it with gunpowder. Light the fuse and throw it to explode. Fan Zhongyi said that this was something captured by the Liao army when they attacked the Zhuozhou Fortress. It was a new thing.
Xiao Siwen picked it up and took a closer look. It would probably not be easy to hollow out the stone with such a small hole.
Fan Zhongyi said: That’s true.
He then took out a broken copper fire gun, which was also used by the Zhou army. The Liao army had seen this thing on the battlefield earlier this year. It was loud and produced a lot of smoke, but its range was far inferior to that of a bow and crossbow, and it was also slower.
Xiao Siwen pondered for a while and felt that the tactics of the Zhou army in attacking Youzhou might not change much. But if there was no external aid, it would only be a matter of time before Youzhou was captured by hundreds of thousands of troops.
After Xiao Siwen's patrol, he wrote a memorial that night, reporting to the capital that the Zhou army was about to attack Youzhou and requesting for reinforcements.
He hoped that the Zhou army could delay for a few more months. By autumn, the Liao army's horses would be fatter and have more food and fodder, so the pressure of food and fodder for the war would not be so great.
In early April, the grassland is green and the weather is not too hot.
No one among the nobles of Shangjing questioned the news that the Zhou army was going to attack Youzhou. The Zhou army spent a huge amount of money to build a city in the southeast of Youzhou, and the army had been gathering in Hebei for several months. I'm afraid it was not just a bluff.
The palace discussed again the issue of sending troops south.
The army returned to the north at the beginning of the year, and had to go out again a few months later; and the period of time between the two also allowed the Zhou army to occupy advantageous places. However, this situation was not a waste of time, and it was definitely not a decision-making error.
It was really helpless. If the Liao army of more than 100,000 people stayed in Youzhou, it would cost a lot in a few months. The Liao army was still in Youzhou, and the Zhou army would not dare to rush forward to build the city. The situation would only be a stalemate. Except for both sides wasting money and food, there would be no result.
Yelu Jing said nothing, hoping that the tribes would support him again and march south.
At this moment, Yelu Jing suddenly felt that Xiao Siwen was a loyal minister. If he lost Hebei, he could not imagine whether his throne would be stable and what kind of chaos would happen next.
Someone suggested that we could imitate the situation at the beginning of the year and send elite light cavalry south to harass and threaten the Zhou army besieging the city.
General Yelu Xizhen objected: "This is a different time. In the battle of Youzhou last year, the Zhou army's northern expeditionary army penetrated deep into Liao territory and was isolated outside Youzhou City. Moreover, our army has been gathering and will move south soon, which poses a great threat to the Zhou army. The Zhou army withdrew so quickly because they wanted to preserve their strength and were unwilling to take risks."
At this time, the Zhou army's defense line was only a day's journey away from Youzhou. I don't think it would be easy to force back the Zhou people with just a small group of elite troops.
Yelu Jing turned his gaze to Yelu Xiu'ge.
Yelu Xiuguo also said: "I would like to be the vanguard, but the Khan can lead the army to the south to fight the Zhou people."
At this moment, the atmosphere in the palace was not right. It was not like before when everyone was angry and shouting for war. Most people kept silent. It was because they had experienced this on the battlefield in the south at the beginning of the year. This kind of war would not bring any real benefits, but would damage their own capital. At the moment, the envoys were not well off.
After some discussion, they could not give up Youzhou easily. Finally, they reluctantly reached a consensus: first, light cavalry would go south to support the southern garrison to hold Youzhou, delay until autumn, and then send the main army south.
Yelu Jing said: Let Duke of Zhou Yelu Xiu'ge be the vanguard, lead 10,000 elite soldiers from the palace, select 20,000 cavalry from the tribal army, and march south as soon as possible to reinforce Xiao Siwen in defending the city.
Yelu Xiuge bowed and accepted the order.
Yelu Jing didn't dare to transfer all the palace troops in Shangjing. This time was different. He had to stay in Shangjing for a few months. If he didn't have any strong forces around him, he would feel uneasy.
Yelu Jing sat in his chair, looking back at the ministers on both sides, looking at their faces, as if trying to guess what each of them was thinking.
"Don't worry, Khan. I will teach the Zhou people a lesson when I go south," Yelu Xiu said bitterly. This was not only a promise to the emperor, but also a message to the people present, so that some people would not look down on others because of their own failure at the beginning of the year.
Yelu Jing praised: "It's great that Duke Zhou is the right-hand man of our Khan."
Everyone also hurriedly said some auspicious words. At this time, a noble couldn't help asking: What method do you want to use to crack the Zhou people's
No one could answer it.
General Yelu Xizhen said calmly: In the current situation, I am afraid we can only waste time or fight with our strength. There is no other way.
No matter what, Yelu Jing also showed a glimmer of urgent hope.
Yelu Xizhen looked at Yelu Xiu'ge: Unless an unprecedented talent emerges, a peerless general achieves extraordinary feats, and unexpectedly wins a crucial battle, we can escape from this quagmire.
People couldn't help but sigh in disappointment after hearing this. It was just nonsense. Of course, there were famous battles in history where a small number of troops defeated a large number of troops, but such things were hard to come by and could not be obtained easily just by thinking about them.
Yelu Xiuguo stood there with his teeth clenched and eyes wide open, as if he was gathering strength. Many people in the court used to flatter him as a hero, but later blamed him for provoking the Zhou State and bringing trouble upon himself, trying to shift the blame onto themselves for no apparent reason, as if achieving extraordinary feats was something he should do.
The Liao emperor looked at it and said with great hope: "The country is in danger, and I am very worried. If Xiu Ge can accomplish extraordinary feats for me, he will surely become a hero that will be passed down for thousands of years among all the Khitan peoples."
The so-called extraordinary achievements and extraordinary people are, of course, those who can do extraordinary things at the most difficult and critical moments, and only then can they be called gods.