Ouyang Shuo realized that if they didn't make any changes, then the four shortcomings of drinking water, food, city walls, and the army, if any one of them were to have a problem, it would lead to the collapse of the army.
"We have to take the initiative."
Guo Ziyi stood up and said, "Half of the mutant army is made up of cavalry. Using cavalry to defend the city is akin to attacking the enemy's strong point. It is unwise."
Lian Po was a general who excelled in defense. Hearing Guo Ziyi's words, he frowned and said, "The enemy is several times our number. Even if we take the initiative to attack, it won't be of much use. It will only increase our consumption. It's better to fortify the city."
"If it's an aimless attack, it's naturally useless. But what if it's a decapitation?"
"Beheading?!" Lian Po almost sneered.
A murderous look flashed across Guo Ziyi's eyes, full of sharpness, "Looking at the situation in the city, there's no way out if we stick to defense. We can only be surrounded and killed by the enemy. Once the city was breached, they would be at the mercy of others. On the contrary, as long as we do the opposite and dispatch elite troops to kill the enemy's great generals, such as Boyan, we can shake the enemy's morale and win the battle. "
"Easy for you to say!"
Lian Po still didn't agree. "The enemy's general is heavily guarded by the army. It's very difficult to even get close to him, let alone decapitate him. They didn't want the enemy to take advantage of the gap and enter the city. It's better to defend. "
Lian Po was quite experienced in defending a city. During the Battle of Changping, when facing the Qin army of tigers and wolves, Lian Po was able to hold his ground for several years. He had always regarded it as the proudest achievement of his life.
This also showed that Lian Po was indeed good at defense. Taking the current battle of Lin 'an as an example, the western city wall guarded by Lian Po was the strongest one apart from the northern city wall.
In Lian Po's opinion, losing at the northern city wall was due to the difference in military strength, not because he was weaker than Guo Ziyi.
The two generals argued incessantly, each with their own reasons.
When Ouyang Shuo saw this, he suddenly glanced at Zhang Shijie and said, "If I remember correctly, General Zhang ought to have worked together with Zhang Hongfan's father, Zhang Rou, for a period of time, right?"
When Zhang Shijie heard this, he thought that Ouyang Shuo was suspecting him of colluding with the enemy general, Zhang Hongfan. His face darkened, "What does Emperor Xia mean? I did serve under Zhang Rou when I was young, but that's all in the past. "
Ouyang Shuo smiled faintly. "General, you misunderstand. I'm not doubting you, but I have something to ask of you."
During the Battle of Cliff Mountain, Zhang Hongfan had tried to use Wen Tianxiang to persuade Zhang Shijie to surrender, but it had failed. How could Ouyang Shuo doubt Zhang Shijie's loyalty to the Southern Song?
Zhang Shijie's expression softened and he realized that he had overreacted. He said embarrassedly, "Emperor Xia, if there is anything you want me to do, please let me know. If I can do it, I will do it."
Ever since he was conferred the title of Emperor Xia, Ouyang Shuo's words carried a lot of weight in the Grand Council.
Ouyang Shuo nodded and said, "Even though General Guo Ziyi's plan is difficult, it's the only feasible plan at the moment. What we need to do now is to make the impossible possible."
The others nodded in agreement.
"Just as General Lian Po said, the enemy commanders, be it Boyan or Zhang Hongfan, are both in the formation and hard to approach. If there's a way to lure them out, then we're halfway to success. "
Ouyang Shuo took the opportunity to ease the tension between Lian Po and Guo Ziyi. He didn't want the two generals to fall out before the battle even started.
In this aspect, Ouyang Shuo handled it with skill and ease.
Lian Po's expression softened. Even though he was a general under the command of Di Chen, he had been fighting with the Xia Kingdom for so long without a single victory. He was still very afraid of Emperor Xia, Ouyang Shuo.
Perhaps Lian Po still had a trace of reverence for Ouyang Shuo.
Zhang Shijie was also shocked. He had a faint guess, but he wasn't sure, "What does Emperor Xia mean?"
Ouyang Shuo smiled, "What I mean is very simple. Please send a letter to Zhang Hongfan, saying that we are willing to surrender with the Song army and invite them to the front of the formation for a discussion."
It turned out that Ouyang Shuo was planning to fake surrender.
"Will they believe it?" Zhang Shijie asked.
"That depends on what you write in the letter," Zhang Shijie said.
Different wording would naturally have different effects. To write a letter of surrender that Zhang Hongfan would believe without a doubt was indeed a difficult task for Zhang Shijie, a great general.
Fortunately, at this moment, Lu Xiufu took the initiative to say to Zhang Shijie, "Shijie, if you don't mind, after you finish writing the letter, I can help to polish it."
Obviously, Lu Xiufu also agreed with this plan.
"That's fine!" Zhang Shijie nodded. If this plan was successful, he would naturally be happy.
Sending a letter to Zhang Hongfan to fake surrender was only the first part of the whole plan. To make the whole thing flawless, careful consideration and careful planning were required.
The details determined the success or failure!
However, once the general direction was set, many details were easy to handle. Everyone present worked together, and with Jia Xu's advice, they finally came up with a detailed battle plan.
"Now we just have to see how Zhang Hongfan will react."
Ouyang Shuo looked at the military camp outside the city. His eyes squinted, and there was a hint of coldness in them.
…
That night, Zhang Hongfan received a surrender letter from Zhang Shijie.
In the letter, Zhang Shijie said, "Since the arrival of the mutant army, they have occupied the capital and bullied the young emperor without a leader. They have been acting arbitrarily in the city. If this goes on, the country will no longer be a country. Your army is at its peak, and breaking the city is just around the corner. However, my army and people are united, and we can only fight to the end. "
"If your army can promise to keep the royal bloodline and protect the people of Lin 'an, I am willing to lead my army out of the city and surrender. As for the specifics, please come to the front of the formation and discuss it in detail. "
Zhang Hongfan read it and was pleasantly surprised.
He did not dare to make a decision on his own, so he brought Zhang Shijie's letter and paid a visit to General Bayan that very night.
In the central tent.
Bayan finished reading the letter, his expression did not change. He looked up and asked Zhang Hongfan, "What do you think of this? Is there a trap? "Bayan instinctively had some distrust towards the Han.
In the eyes of the Han, the Mongolians were barbaric and uncouth, but in the eyes of the Mongolians, the Han were the representatives of evil and cunning. There was a cultural gap between the two nations.
Zhang Hongfan was not a three-year-old child. How could he be fooled? He took on the responsibility and said cautiously, "This letter is indeed suspicious. We need to investigate it carefully before we can come to a conclusion."
"That's right." Bayan had the same idea.
"Then, what about tomorrow's attack?" Zhang Hongfan asked carefully.
"As usual!"
Bayan did not have the slightest intention of being soft-hearted. "Even if the enemy wants to surrender, we must first make them feel pain. We must make them realize that surrender is the only way out."
"Understood!"
Zhang Hongfan nodded. It was already late at night, so he immediately took his leave.
But Bayan did not immediately rest.
After thinking for a while, Bayan recorded tonight's events in detail. He sent someone to send it to His Majesty overnight along with the letter, waiting for His Majesty's instructions.
Even if the Southern Song Dynasty really wanted to surrender, Bayan could not make the decision to not massacre the city.
…
The next day, the garrison of Lin 'an did not wait for Zhang Hongfan's reply. The Mongolian army attacked the city even more fiercely. For the first time, they sent infantry to directly participate in the attack.
The war became more and more tragic. There were countless casualties.
In one day, more than 20,000 people died in Lin 'an. If they continued to fight like this, the morale of the army would be disrupted before the food supply was cut off.
On the contrary, the main force of the Mongolian army had not been sent out much. It was the puppet army that was used up.
The so-called million-strong army only referred to the main force of the Mongolian army. It did not include the puppet army, auxiliary army and other miscellaneous troops. Otherwise, Bayan would not have so much confidence.
At seven o 'clock in the evening, the Grand Council held a regular meeting.
Zhang Shijie was a little unconfident. "Will the Mongolians see through our tricks?"
"Today's Mongolian performance is normal. They can't believe it directly."
In order to make the fake surrender more convincing, Ouyang Shuo and the others had other arrangements.
First, the Xia Divine Guards would take over the defense of the palace.
Ouyang Shuo even swaggered in and out of the palace with his personal guards during the day. He was extremely arrogant.
Second, Wen Tianxiang's position as the South Gate's Deputy General was removed and he was transferred to the Ministry of War's Assistant Minister. Wen Tianxiang was famous for being tough. The imperial court's "arrest" of Wen Tianxiang was equivalent to giving in to the Mongolians in disguise.
Third, the counterattack of the southern city wall would be reduced.
Zhang Shijie made it very clear in the letter that they could not control the Mutant Army. Therefore, they could only promise to open the southern city gate and let the Mongolian army in.
After removing Wen Tianxiang's position as the South Gate's Deputy General, Zhang Shijie took the opportunity to carry out a "great purge" within the Great Song Imperial Army. Dozens of Wen Tianxiang's subordinates were removed from their positions and investigated.
These things were done openly so that the Mongolian spies could see it.
Ouyang Shuo said confidently, "There should be a turn for the better by the day after tomorrow." After all, Lin 'an was not a pushover. If the Mongolian army wanted to attack Lin' an, they could not afford the price.
If there was a shortcut, Boyan would not be able to resist it.
"Then let's do it this way. Let's hold on for another two days." Lu Xiufu concluded. Because it was only a regular meeting, everyone dispersed after the meeting.
…
In the main tent of the army camp outside the city.
Night fell and the entire camp was plunged into darkness. Only the sparse light from the torches echoed the few rare rays of starlight in the sky.
The night wind blew and the light swayed. It was blurry as if it could be extinguished at any time. It was swallowed by the endless darkness, making people panic.
The Mongolian military discipline was strict. At night, the huge camp was silent.
The main tent was brightly lit. Outside the tent were Mongolian warriors in black iron armor. They were Boyan's bodyguards. These bodyguards were the best of the best in the Mongolian grasslands. Each of them had extraordinary skills.
The Mongolians did not have any smelting technology. Their armor was mainly leather. Only the generals in the army had the opportunity to wear iron armor. These bodyguards were all wearing armor. First, it showed that Boyan's status was extraordinary. Second, it was also because the Mongolian army went south and looted the wealth of the Central Plains.
In the center of the tent, there was a plate of charcoal. The firewood crackled and sparks flew. Boyan was dressed in regular clothes. He sat behind the table and carefully read the information sent by the secret agents in the city.
Nothing big or small in Lin 'an could escape Boyan's eyes.
"Do you believe it or not?"
For the first time, Boyan was in a dilemma.
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