That night, the side hall of Ziwei Pavilion was brightly lit, and more than twenty important ministers gathered together to discuss how to deal with the immediate crisis. However, the protagonists were Han Shizhong and Wu Gao, and the emperor Zhao Gou was going to ask them for advice.
Privy Councilor Xu Xiantu first introduced the situation at hand to everyone, "According to the news just received, Zhang Jun sent General Luo Shengping to lead an army of 20,000 to attack Quzhou. The momentum is overwhelming. Quzhou cannot be saved. The next step must be Yanzhou. Yanzhou is just the right place."
There are 10,000 troops left by Li Hui, but their morale is very low and they may not be able to defeat the Huaixi army. If Zhang Jun's army captures Yanzhou again, the next step will be to attack Lin'an Prefecture."
There was a slight commotion in the hall, and many ministers had no idea of the state capital. It was not until Xu Xiantu said that after taking Yanzhou, the next step would be Lin'an Prefecture, everyone suddenly realized that Zhang Jun's rebels were very close to them.
Xu Xiantu paused for a moment, and when everyone calmed down, he continued: "I have received information from Jiangbei. Tens of thousands of troops are gathering in Jiangbei. The opponent's warships are rushing in the Yangtze River and will arrive in Jiangdu County within a few days. So it is very likely that
Zhang Jun's army will cross the Yangtze River from Yangzhou and attack Zhenjiang Prefecture. This is a two-sided attack by the opponent. The situation is very critical. We must make a decision as soon as possible!"
"Excuse me, Xiangguo Xu, how many troops do we have now?" Xie Qian, the Minister of Punishment, asked.
"At present, we still have 150,000 troops, 30,000 troops in Zhenjiang Prefecture, 20,000 troops in Fujian Road, 20,000 troops in Lingnan, 10,000 troops in Yanzhou, and 70,000 troops in Lin'an. In addition, there are still 70,000 troops in Lin'an.
There are some state soldiers, totaling about 20,000 to 30,000."
Bachelor Zhang Jun asked again: "If we recruit troops urgently, how many troops can we recruit?"
Xu Xiantu thought for a while and said: "There should be at least 50,000!"
Zhang Jun nodded, "In that case, we need to urgently recruit troops. It is best to recruit 100,000 troops. Immediately transfer the 20,000 troops on Fujian Road back, and then gather the 30,000 civilian regiment troops. In this way, we will have 30,000 troops in our hands."
With an army of 100,000, we can calmly counterattack the Huaixi Army. The most important thing for us now is the army, we must recruit troops immediately!"
Although Zhang Jun was dismissed twice and appointed as the ambassador to know about Fuzhou affairs and appease Fujian Road, Zhao Gou recalled his old friendship and recalled him to the capital.
At the beginning of the year, he was appointed as a bachelor and participated in politics as a bachelor.
Zhang Jun's suggestion was unanimously agreed by the ministers. The key is that both Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei learned the lesson tonight and kept silent. Especially Qin Hui. When the emperor left Xu Xiantu to ask for advice in the afternoon, he knew that the officials were dissatisfied with him.
If I continue to object, I am afraid that the officials will push me to bear the responsibility for the defeat, so it is better to remain silent at this time.
Zhao Gou said happily: "The matter of recruiting troops will be left to the Privy Council. It must be implemented as soon as possible. It is best to start early tomorrow morning!"
"I obey the order!" Xu Xiantu bowed and retreated.
At this time, Zhao Gou glanced at Han Shizhong and said, "Captain Han!"
Han Shizhong hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Wei Chen is here!"
"I want to ask you a few questions. First of all, when Poyang Hukou Village was defeated, why did you retreat without fighting? You gave up more than 500 warships!"
In fact, Zhao Gou had already asked this question. If he asked it again now, he was actually asking Han Shizhong to explain it to the important ministers.
"Reporting to your majesty, Zhang Jun personally led an army of 100,000 people at that time, and then the Western Army and Navy cooperated. Zhang Jun's army sneaked into the camp at the third watch. My sentry sounded the alarm in time, giving the soldiers time to react. Although the soldiers were all in time,
They rushed out of the military camp, but it was very chaotic. Many soldiers were without shoes and barefoot, and many soldiers were bare-handed. And almost all the soldiers were not wearing armor, because it took a quarter of an hour to put on armor, and there was no time at all.
The other side came well prepared. If Wei Chen did not retreat in time, a hundred thousand troops would inevitably surround the 30,000 navy troops, and the result would be the complete annihilation of my army. Therefore, Wei Chen analyzed the situation at that time and took advantage of the enemy's encirclement before it was formed.
, successfully retreated from the southeast corner."
"But you abandoned the warship, why didn't you get on board in time?"
Han Shizhong sighed and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, there are two reasons why the army cannot board the ship. First, Zhang Jun's 5,000 forward troops blocked the road to the dock. I must annihilate these 5,000 troops before I can rush over.
, but there was no time, Zhang Jun's 100,000 troops had already entered the camp.
Second, even if there were no five thousand troops to intercept us, we would not be able to get on the ship, because the dock can only dock three ships at the same time. After the three ships are filled with hundreds of soldiers and leave, the three ships below can continue to load soldiers, and the humble position
We have 30,000 men under our command, and it will take at least two hours to get them all on board, but we still don’t have enough time. The only choice we can make is to withdraw our troops to avoid the annihilation of our entire army. Please give me your Majesty’s advice!”
Zhao Gou nodded, "You were attacked by Zhang Jun's 100,000-strong army, but in the end you were able to escape unscathed with only the loss of more than a thousand people. Compared with Li Hui's entire army, which was wiped out, I understand how precious it is. I will name you as
Marshal of the rebel forces in the south of the Yangtze River, you can lead 30,000 naval troops to deal with the enemy forces in Quzhou, and be sure to annihilate them all!"
"I obey the order!"
Zhao Gou glanced at the ministers again and asked, "Do you have any objections to this?"
Han Shizhong and Wu Gao both sat in the hall and waited, saying that the emperor had already decided. Who would object at this time? There was silence in the hall.
Zhao Gou nodded, "Give me the sword talisman!"
A eunuch came forward with a plate. On the plate were Shang Fang's Emperor's Sword, Tiger Talisman and Marshal's Seal. Han Shizhong took it and said with emotion: "We must share your Majesty's worries and never let the rebels threaten Lin'an!"
"Go! Governor Han will leave tonight overnight."
Han Shizhong bowed and left.
Zhao Gou said again: "Please invite Wu Dutong!"
Wu Gao was dismissed along with his brother Wu Jie in the Yue Fei incident. Wu Jie was dismissed from his post and placed under house arrest. Wu Gao had better luck and was appointed to be the informant of Yuanzhou affairs. However, he was framed by Qin Hui last year and was removed from the post of informant of Yuanzhou affairs and was reassigned.
Chenzhou Biejia, you must know that Chenzhou is on Henan Road. His position as Chenzhou Biejia is still a false one. He is idle in Lin'an and receives a salary of several thousand dollars a month.
However, Wu Gao had some savings and could barely live a comfortable life, unlike his brother who distributed all his money to the soldiers and eventually died of poverty.
Wu Gao was named the capital commander just half an hour ago and returned to his old profession in the army.
He stepped forward and saluted, "I'm here!"
Zhao Gou nodded, "Wu Dutong is good at pass defense. He has made outstanding achievements in defending the Jin soldiers in Hanzhong. But Zhenjiang Prefecture is defending against attacks by warships in the water. I want to know whether Wu Dutong is competent?"
"Reporting to your Majesty, whether it is pass defense or river defense, they are actually the same thing in origin."
"What's going on?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, I am going all out to kill the enemy bravely!"
Zhao Gou smiled and nodded, "In this way, it is indeed the same thing, but it is different after all. What are you going to do?"
Wu Gao said calmly: "The enemy soldiers just want to go ashore and seize Zhenjiang City. There are two lines of defense for Wei Chen. One is shore defense to prevent the enemy from landing. If the enemy forces successfully land, I will be defeated."
Withdrawing into the city and conducting a defensive battle is the same as defending the pass. In addition, the subordinates will send a surprise force to operate on the periphery to attack enemy ships in the canal."
At this time, Zhang Jun asked: "What if the enemy army does not attack the city, but the army goes directly south along the canal?"
Zhang Jun's question is very important. Dashan Pass is the only way to pass, so it must be captured, but Zhenjiang City is not a city that must be attacked. The enemy can ignore it and go south directly.
Wu Ga pondered for a moment and said: "If this is the case, I will lead my army to pursue and continuously attack the enemy's rear. If the enemy's main force fights, I will lead my army to go around and attack the warships in front."
"good!"
Zhang Jun praised: "The army can turn around, but the fleet cannot turn around. This is the key!"
Zhao Gou nodded, "I appoint you as the Zhenjiang Defense Envoy and lead an army of 20,000 to defend Zhenjiang Mansion. I do not ask you to defeat the enemy, but I hope you can delay the enemy as much as possible to give Lin'an time to prepare for war."
