Chapter 1890: The Unity of Yanjing's Offensive and Defensive Battle (1)
Chapter 1890: Unity in the Attack and Defense of Yanjing (1)
According to Xue Rengui's advancing speed, it will probably take less than three days to join forces with Su Dingfang at the foot of Yanjing City. By then, the 30,000 defenders in Yanjing City will face the siege of 70,000 Qin troops.
At this thought, Liu Che suddenly felt a chill running down his spine, and quickly asked: "Wei Aiqing, how is the mobilization of the people to defend the city going?"
Prime Minister Wei said: "The people of Yanjing are extremely supportive of Your Majesty. When the summons was issued, the people of the whole city responded in large numbers. Currently, 60,000 strong men have volunteered to join the defense of the city.
In addition, there are 50,000 old and weak people who have volunteered to become auxiliary soldiers to carry supplies for our army."
Hearing this, Liu Che's gloomy heart couldn't help but feel a flash of warmth. He was not alone.
Although Liu Che's prestige in Youzhou was high, it was not to the point where the entire city could die for him alone, except for Yanjing City.
Yanjing City was built brick by brick by Liu Che himself, and more than 90% of the people were refugees from Hebei or those who could not survive.
If Liu Che hadn't moved them to Yanjing and given them a place to stay, these people would have starved to death long ago in the troubled times.
For the people of Yanjing, Liu Che was not only their king, but also their savior.
The people at the bottom are indeed very ignorant, easy to be provoked, and cannot distinguish right from wrong, but they are very simple and simple, and they will be nice to anyone who is nice to them.
As the Han army suffered repeated defeats on the frontal battlefield, the aristocratic families had separated from Liu Che, and only the common people still supported Liu Che.
After Liu Che's recruitment order, almost the entire city responded and volunteered as labor auxiliaries, not only to support Liu Xiu, but also to protect their hard-won homeland.
It’s no wonder that Hei Bingtai’s infiltration of Yanjing and the rumor work have never made any progress.
Liu Che had a profound influence on the city of Yanjing.
Knowing that the people still supported him, Liu Che was immediately relieved. After all, if the people didn't support him, he really wouldn't be able to hold on in this battle.
"Prime Minister, if you want to defend Yanjing City, it is not enough to have the support of the people."
A trace of ruthlessness flashed in Liu Che's eyes, and he said solemnly: "There must be meticulous work by the Qin army in the city. In addition, I don't know how many aristocratic families in the city have turned to the Qin army. If you want to defend Yanjing, you must first solve these hidden dangers.
"
Huo Guang immediately stood up and said calmly: "Your Majesty, I have already thought of a solution to this.
The Qin army's secret operations are hidden too deeply, and we don't have time to pay attention to them at the moment, but we must strengthen monitoring.
In addition, the monitoring of generals in power should be increased to prevent them from being seduced by the Qin army's subtle tactics and turning to the Qin army.
As for the aristocratic families in the city, their clan soldiers must be forcibly recruited, and after being disrupted, they can join the ranks of the city defenders.
In this way, it not only solves the family's hidden dangers, but also increases the number of our army's defenders."
"As for the Qin army's detailed operations, it will be okay to deal with it this way, but those aristocratic families, will they really be willing to hand over their clan soldiers?"
Liu Che really had no confidence at all in this regard.
Liu Che knew the Youzhou family very well, they were all unprofitable guys who didn't get up early.
During the previous expansion of the army, there was an urgent shortage of food and grass. Liu Che prepared to ask the noble family to borrow 500,000 shi of food and grass for emergency use, but in the end, he could not even borrow 100,000 shi.
The aristocratic family is not even willing to borrow food and grass, let alone summon clan soldiers?
Of course, Liu Che would not be able to borrow food and grass, and the main reason was Qin Hao.
After Qin Hao occupied and stabilized Ji Qing, he immediately settled the accounts of the aristocratic families at the end of the year and liquidated the families that had supported Yuan Shao on a large scale.
Thousands of heads rolled to the ground, frightening the Youzhou family half to death. In order to prevent being liquidated by the Qin army in the future, they naturally did not dare to openly support Liu Che. They all supported Liu Che secretly.
Qin Hao's move to liquidate the aristocratic families was so cruel that Liu Che suddenly lost the support of most of the aristocratic families in Youzhou, which was equivalent to directly breaking off Liu Che's arm, so that he did not even have enough food and grass to expand his army.
If he hadn't extorted a large sum of food and grass from the Manchus and had some secret support from some die-hard families, Liu Che would have run out of food.
Just the material support is enough to be on the Qin army's liquidation list. Even clan soldiers are sent out to support them. When the Qin army captures Youzhou, these aristocratic families will 100% be exterminated by the Qin army.
Therefore, it is almost impossible to get the aristocratic family to voluntarily hand over their clan soldiers, because this is like forcing them onto the Han army's chariot, and walking all the way to the dark without being able to get off halfway.
"Of course it's impossible for the aristocratic families in the city to hand over their clan soldiers, but at this moment, they can't help it anymore."
A trace of ruthlessness flashed in Huo Guang's eyes, and he said coldly: "The people in the city support your majesty and my great man, and the family should also make sacrifices and fully support our army in resisting Qin Cai.
If any aristocratic family is unwilling, it proves that they are loyal to the Qin army, so they will join the ranks of rebels and kill the whole family to serve as a warning to others."
"hiss……"
When all the ministers present heard Huo Guang's words, they immediately took a breath of cold air.
Cruel, too cruel, this is a rhythm to force the aristocratic families in the city to take sides.
The Han army still has 30,000 troops in Spectacle City, and hundreds of thousands of people also support Liu Che. Even if the Yanjing family unites, they only have more than 10,000 soldiers and cannot resist the Han army. Therefore, refusing to recruit is a dead end.
The purpose of Huo Guang's method is self-evident. He just wants to force the aristocratic family to join the Han army, or else die under the Han army's butcher's knife. There is no third way to choose from.
Officials from aristocratic families, after a brief period of consternation, jumped out one after another and cursed Huo Guang for having ulterior motives. They said that the Youzhou family had merit but not fault, and begged Liu Che not to adopt Huo Guang's strategy.
Huo Guang didn't care about this, and calmly said to Liu Che: "Your Majesty, you should continue to stop, otherwise you will be disturbed."
Liu Che was also shocked by Huo Guang's idea. If he really adopted it, his reputation in Shilin would be completely ruined. No aristocratic family would take the initiative to seek refuge with him in the future. But if he didn't adopt it, he might not even be able to see the future.
There won't be any anymore.
With this thought, Liu Che had already made a decision in his heart. Since he was desperate, he would finally go crazy.
"Prime Minister, please pass on my decree and recruit soldiers from the family to defend the city. Anyone who refuses to obey will be treated as a traitor," Liu Che said indifferently.
As soon as he finished speaking, all the ministers from aristocratic families knelt down and shouted "No". Only Huo Guang showed a smile, clasped his fists and said: "I accept the order."
These days, the world's aristocratic families are having a hard time. Thousands of aristocratic families have been massacred, and they keep popping up like mushrooms after a rain.
The Youzhou family naturally hoped that this losing war would end soon, but seeing that it was about to end, they did not expect to receive a recruitment order from Liu Che.