After they greeted each other, Zhang Shijie explained the situation of the Mongolian army outside the city to Ouyang Shuo.
The more Ouyang Shuo listened, the darker his face became.
"Gaia is up to something!"
In history, the main general of the Meng Yuan Empire's attack on the Southern Song Dynasty was Boyan, and in the Battle of Cliff Mountain, it was Zhang Hongfan. Speaking of Zhang Hongfan, he was also a controversial figure.
Zhang Hongfan's father, Zhang Rou, was a Han who lived in the Jin Kingdom. Moreover, he was a local tyrant who fought against the Mongolian army at the Wolf Tooth Ridge. He was defeated and captured, and surrendered to the Mongolians.
Zhang Hongfan was born when Zhang Rou was forty-nine years old. At that time, the Jin Kingdom had already been destroyed for four years. In other words, Zhang Hongfan was born and raised under the rule of the Mongols.
Based on this background, it was understandable that Zhang Hongfan became an official in the Meng Yuan Empire. However, Zhang Hongfan was the main general of the Mongolian army at the Battle of Cliff Mountain and was considered the main culprit behind the destruction of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Because of Zhang Hongfan's Han blood, he was naturally nailed to the pillar of shame in history.
Because the Battle of Cliff Mountain had split the Chinese civilization, Ouyang Shuo did not have a good impression of Zhang Hongfan. If they met on the battlefield, he would definitely kill him.
In the battle map, apart from Boyan and Zhang Hongfan, even the Mongolian Yuan Empire's Big Boss, Khubilai, was here. This was completely different from history.
What kind of person was Khubilai? The last Khan of Mongolia was also the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. Speaking of this, he had to briefly go through the history of the Khans of the Great Mongolian Empire and the changes from the Great Mongolian Empire to the Yuan Dynasty.
After the death of Genghis Khan Temujin, his third son, Ogedei, who was better at governing the country, succeeded to the throne. His fourth son, Tolui, who was good at war, was in charge of more than eighty percent of the Mongolian army.
This arrangement of Temujin's laid the groundwork for the future division of Mongolia. During Ogedei's reign, in order to eliminate hidden dangers, he secretly poisoned and killed his fourth brother, Tolui.
After Ogedei's death, his eldest son, Guiyou, succeeded to the throne. Unfortunately, Gui You failed to live up to expectations and died after only three years on the throne. Tuolei's eldest son, Mengke, took advantage of the situation and seized the throne of Ogedei.
From then on, the throne of the Great Mongol Empire was in the hands of the Tuolei Clan until the fall of the Yuan Dynasty.
Mengke was a great figure and was called the "Whip of God" by the Europeans. During his reign, he launched the Third Mongolian Expedition to the West and opened up more territory than his grandfather Genghis Khan.
Unfortunately, Brother Mengke was also unlucky. When he and his fourth brother Khubilai attacked the Southern Song Dynasty, they were defeated in the Fishing Town. His sudden death not only triggered a five year battle between Khubilai and Brother Ali for the throne, but also forced the Third Mongolian Expedition to the West to stop.
At that time, the Western Expedition led by Xu Liewu had already reached the Mediterranean Sea and was preparing to attack Egypt. If Mongo had not suddenly died at that time, the history of the entire world would have changed because of this.
The history of Europe as a whole would be very different.
The reason why Khubilai was able to become the final victor in the war for the throne was because of the influence of Confucian culture, which indirectly gave birth to the Yuan Dynasty.
This siege was personally led by Khubilai, and it would definitely be a bloody battle.
Including the Southern Song Imperial Army, the Southern Song Dynasty had a total of 460,000 soldiers. But this time, the Mongolian army had a million soldiers, and this did not include the puppet soldiers and the prisoners of war.
Of course, such a large army could not be stationed outside the city. With Linan as the center, the Mongolians set up frontline camps in the six surrounding cities and surrounded Linan.
Other than Linan, the entire world was already occupied by the Mongolians. They had enough food to feed the million soldiers. Linan was more troublesome. According to Lu Xiufu's calculations, including the mutants, no matter how much they tried to save, the food in the city would only last them for twenty days.
After twenty days, they would have to think of other ways.
There were many "famous" battles in history. The reason why the defending troops could last for months was not because of the amount of food in the city, but because they had to find other sources of food.
What were they?
It might be a little shocking to say it out loud.
When there was a lack of food in the city, the first to suffer was the war horses. Since they could not charge out, the war horses became dried fruits for the defending troops.
When the horses finished eating, they became leather armor.
That's right, leather armor. The soldiers cut the leather armor into strips and cooked them in a pot. They could barely be eaten. Because leather armor was made from animal skin, it could barely be considered as a kind of food.
Other than leather armor, belts, boots, and even bowstrings, all weapons and equipment made from organic matter were turned into food.
What if they finished eating the leather armor? Then they could only eat people. First the old and sick, then the common people …
In short, when the defending troops were in a desperate situation, there was nothing they could not eat. Benevolence, righteousness, morality, and humanity were all thrown aside.
In China's history, eating people was not a rare thing.
When it came to the battle of Linan, Gaia was a little too much. On the surface, the mission was to defend for a month, but the food in the city could not last for a month.
This was a paradox.
The only way was to attack instead of defend, take the initiative to go out and search for food. In this way, the battle was even more difficult.
What gave Ouyang Shuo a headache was that from the words of Lu Xiufu and the other two people, although the Mutant Army had an absolute advantage in military strength, they did not want to give up their command.
At the very least, the 100,000 imperial soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty would not be under Ouyang Shuo's command.
If Lu Xiufu and the other two people did not cooperate, Ouyang Shuo would also have a headache. Of course, he could learn from the An-Shi Rebellion to have a "palace coup" and take over the power of life and death in Linan.
If he really did that, the situation would become even worse.
The palace coup was successful in Chang 'an because there was not only Emperor Li Longji in Chang' an, but also Crown Prince Li Xiang, who was pregnant with evil intentions, and more than a dozen princes.
But what did Lin 'an have?
Except for the eight-year-old Zhao Kuang, there was no one else in the Zhao royal family.
If Ouyang Shuo really wanted to be the regent, he might not be able to do anything if he offended Lu Xiufu and the other two ministers. The most basic things, such as appeasing the people, recruiting labor, and collecting food, could not be done smoothly without the help of civil officials.
This was a military map. Ouyang Shuo did not bring civil officials with him. Even if he did, it was estimated that it would be useless. What could they do in a short month? The specific things were done by low-level officials.
In short, without the cooperation of Lu Xiufu and the other two people, the battle of Lin 'an was basically hopeless.
Ouyang Shuo thought about it and could only pinch his nose and agree. As long as Lu Xiufu and the other two people did not make any excessive demands, Ouyang Shuo would try his best to do what he could.
Fortunately, everyone's interests were the same, and there was a basis for cooperation.
After testing each other, Lu Xiufu proposed to set up a temporary Military Office as the highest command organization in the battle of Lin 'an, taking over all military and political affairs in Lin' an.
Lu Xiufu, Zhang Shijie, and Wen Tianxiang were naturally members of the Military Office. Ouyang Shuo, as the representative of the Mutant Army, was also allowed to enter the Military Office. Otherwise, there was no need to set up the Military Office.
Seeing Ouyang Shuo so cooperative, Lu Xiufu naturally knew how to return the favor and allowed another lord and two generals to enter the Military Office to discuss important matters.
Ouyang Shuo felt a little relieved.
After thinking for a while, Ouyang Shuo decided on Xiong Ba as the lord. Ouyang Shuo could certainly pull Feng Qiuhuang into the Military Office to increase his right to speak in the Military Office, but what was the point of that?
It was impossible for the battle of Lin 'an without the participation of the Yanhuang Alliance.
As for why it was Xiong Ba and not Di Chen, who had become the head of the Yanhuang Alliance again, the reason was not complicated. It was just that Ouyang Shuo could not stand it.
One regarded him as an enemy, and the other took the initiative to express goodwill. It was not obvious who to choose.
Ouyang Shuo had to think hard about the choice of the generals. Among the 100,000 troops of Great Xia, the Royal Fleet led by Zhou Yu was not in Lin 'an at all, and Lu Bu, the third commander of the Imperial Guards, was not a piece of material.
As for Xu Chu, the general of the Divine Martial Guards, he was the same as Lu Bu.
However, Jia Xu, the strategist who followed the army this time, was a good candidate. During the An-Shi Rebellion, Ouyang Shuo brought Pang Tong, which was to take care of Pang Tong. In the end, in terms of military strategy, Ouyang Shuo still preferred the "Poison Warrior" Jia Xu.
However, Jia Xu was a strategist, so he could not enter the Grand Council.
Ouyang Shuo could only settle for the next best thing. He first put Guo Ziyi, who came with Feng Qiuhuang, into the Grand Council, and left the other general to the Yanhuang Alliance for them to decide.
After sitting in the position of Emperor Xia for a long time, Ouyang Shuo became more open-minded. He would not be petty and deliberately make things difficult for the Yanhuang Alliance.
If he really made things difficult, it would be on the battlefield in the wilderness. There was no need to be calculative on the military map. If he really did that, not only would Di Chen and the others look down on him, but it would also lower his moral character. It was not worth it.
After the discussion, Ouyang Shuo took his leave.
During the whole process, the little Emperor Zhao Kuang sat on the Dragon Throne without saying a word. It was like he was a puppet.
…
After returning to the military camp from the palace, Ouyang Shuo immediately met with Xiong Ba. He told him about the information he obtained and the establishment of the temporary Grand Council.
After listening, Xiong Ba was impressed and said, "Xiong Ba admires brother Ouyang's breadth of mind. Don't worry, after I come down, I will coordinate the alliance army and fully cooperate with the command of the Grand Council."
"Then I will have to trouble you!"
Ouyang Shuo smiled and cupped his fist.
Then, Xiong Ba took the initiative to talk about the situation.
When Ouyang Shuo was in the palace, Xiong Ba and the others did not just wait. They brought people around Lin 'an to understand the situation. It was not optimistic either.
The most worrying thing was that the people in the city were not stable.
Why?
Because the Mongolian army had a tradition that was enough to scare the common people. During the siege, the defending side only needed to put up a little resistance. After the city was breached, the Mongolian army would massacre the city.
Whether it was the Western Expedition or the Southern Expedition, it was the same.
After the massacre, the Mongolian army would throw the corpses into the waterways. Millions of corpses would be thrown into the Yangtze River or its tributaries. The corpses would be thrown into the wells to completely pollute the underground water. The Mongolians would also leave hundreds of people who witnessed the massacre and send them to the cities downstream to spread terror.
Before besieging Lin 'an, the Mongolian army had already massacred several cities.
As such, how could the people not be afraid?
Ouyang Shuo thought for a while and suddenly said, "To appease the people, I have a good idea."
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