"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Golden Thieves on the East Route have a total of fifty-two to three thousand regular soldiers, two-thirds of whom are Jurchens and Bohai people, and the rest of the soldiers are mostly Khitan, Xi people, and Han people. Except for the regular soldiers, In addition, there are about 100,000 auxiliary troops from Ali Xi and all kinds of troops, so the lineup is very powerful!"
"Your Majesty, don't underestimate the Golden Thieves' Alixi. Although they are auxiliary soldiers, most of them are capable of fighting. Their equestrian and martial arts skills are even better than those of our veterans of the victorious army!"
In the mountain camp, among the Chinese army, the two brothers Dong Jingang and Dong Luohan, who had just been persuaded by Guo Tiannu to surrender, had already put on the purple robes of the military attachés of the Song Army. They stood respectfully in front of Zhao Kai, He Guan, Wang Yuan, Han Shizhong and others. Tell them honestly what they know about the situation of the Jindong Route Army.
This Jin's Eastern Route Army... is far more powerful than Zhao Kai and others imagined before!
Their number is apparently fifty thousand, but after counting Ali Xi and the rest of the auxiliary troops, the number is a full 150,000!
"Who is Ali Xi?" Zhao Kai asked, "If he can be worthy of being a veteran of the victorious army, why can't he be a regular soldier?"
Dong Jingang, who was originally a clan member of Dong Xiaoxiao's family, had a rough appearance but was quite thoughtful. He took Zhao Kai's question and replied: "Your Majesty, this Jurchen military system is different from that of the Song Dynasty. No." Recruiting soldiers is a military system in which soldiers and civilians are integrated into the nation. The Jurchens call it the Muke Meng'an system. Generally speaking, the Jurchen and Bohai tribes have one regular soldier and two Alis per household. Those who like to serve as auxiliary soldiers... Generally speaking, those who serve as regular soldiers are strong men, and those who serve as Ali's are either weaker Jurchen men, or strong men for clients who are brave enough to fight."
"Who are the Jurchens' customers?" Zhao Kai asked, "Are they all willing to fight for the Jurchens?"
The so-called customers do not mean patrons, but tenants. Zhao Kai felt that these Jurchen tenants must have been severely oppressed by the Jurchen landlord class. They should be thinking of rising up and making revolution. Why did they help the tiger?
"Reporting to Your Majesty," Dong Jingan continued to explain, "the sources of these Jurchen customers are also very mixed... some are prisoners of war. Some are poor people who have no property and difficulty in making a living. Some live in places that are... Assign it to a certain Muke."
"Are they all willing to work for the gold thief?" Zhao Kai asked again.
Dong Jingang smiled bitterly: "We are all wanderers in troubled times, just struggling to survive..."
As he spoke, he glanced at Guo Tiannu, who had also changed into a servant's clothes.
He paused and then said: "Besides, the Jurchen military law is strict, and rewards and punishments are fair. If those Alixi deserted in battle, their families would be punished. If they died in battle, they would receive corresponding pensions. If they performed military exploits, they would be promoted. You can change from Alixi to a regular soldier, or even become an official. Of course, you can also share the spoils you grab. Moreover, the Jurchens have been victorious and invincible in all these years. They have gained a lot and suffered few casualties.
Therefore, most of the Jurchens' customers, Ding Zhuang, are willing to serve as Ali's soldiers and fight for the Jurchens. "
Zhao Kai nodded. This Dong Jingang looked rough, but his words were reasonable, and he had done well on the pontoon bridge before. If the demon girl hadn't come forward to persuade him to surrender, the battle on the pontoon bridge would not have been over yet!
Thinking of this, Zhao Kai smiled and said to Dong Jingang and Dong Luohan: "King Kong and Luohan, I also have clear rewards and punishments. As long as you can kill thieves and perform meritorious services, you will definitely be a very popular minister one day!"
As for the family members you left behind with the golden thief... Well, let me change your and the goddess's surnames, so that the golden thief doesn't know that you three have abandoned the dark side and turned to the bright side! "
Dong Jingan, Dong Luohan and Guo Tiannu heard this, looked at each other, then saluted Zhao Kai together, and said in unison: "Your Majesty, please give us a surname!"
Zhao Kai nodded and said with a smile: "Okay! Then I will give you three names...King Kong, Arhat, and Goddess. I see that the three of you are tall, so I will give you the surname Gao. From now on, you will be named Gao." Call them Gao Jingang, Gao Luohan, and Gao Tiannv! From now on, the three of you will be the adopted sons and daughters of Captain Gao!"
King Kong, Arhat, Goddess, and the pharmacist Guo Yaoshi are all common names for Buddhist disciples. They are everywhere in the Liao Kingdom, and there are many here in the Song Dynasty.
Moreover, as Captain Gao, it seemed quite reasonable to adopt a few exiled warriors from the North as adopted sons and daughters, and let them serve as claws and hawks.
"I would like to thank Your Majesty, Gao Jingang, for giving me your surname!"
"I would like to thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Slave Gao Tiannu thanks Master for giving me a surname..."
The three people who had changed their surnames all thanked me happily! Can you be unhappy? Dong Jingang and Dong Luohan will be Gao Yanei from now on! With this status, it will be easier to get promoted in the future.
And Guo Tiannu suddenly transformed into the little lady of the Gao family...
Zhao Kai waved his hand and asked the two Gao Yanei and the Gao Niangzi to step aside. Then he frowned and said to He Guan, Wang Yuan, and Han Shizhong, who had just been promoted to commander: "Mr. Guo should be here by now." Arriving at Liyang... Jinthief Wushu will probably send out troops tomorrow morning, and he should arrive at Dagong Mountain tomorrow afternoon! Do you have any good ideas?"
"Your Majesty," Han Shizhong had just won a battle and been promoted. Now he was the most motivated, so he was the first to speak, "I have a plan that can defeat Wu Shu!"
"Tell me about it!" Zhao Kai was overjoyed when he heard this.
"I suggest using grain carts to circle an arc at the head of Tiancheng Bridge, and then use large shields and spears to cover it. The arc array has hundreds of crossbows built in, strong bows and crossbows, and thousands of elite soldiers. We can definitely defeat the gold thief! "
Han Shizhong proposed a tactic similar to Queyue Formation. Liu Yu, the founding emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, once used this formation to defeat the Northern Wei cavalry.
"Inappropriate, inappropriate..." He Guan shook his head, "Although this Queyue Formation can temporarily defeat the gold thief's attack, the gold thief can still break it as long as he spares some casualties. Our Great Song Dynasty After all, soldiers and generals cannot be compared with the Beifu soldiers of the Eastern Jin Dynasty!"
Zhao Kai thought for a while and asked: "Lieutenant He, do you have any tips for defeating the enemy?"
"Your Majesty," He Guan said, "Since ancient times, the way of using troops has always emphasized the use of right combination and surprise victory. In the past, Liu Yu was able to defeat the Northern Wei Dynasty, destroy the Southern Yan Dynasty, and annex the Later Qin Dynasty. He relied not only on cunning tactics, but also on practicality. Really elite soldiers of Beifu. If Tuoba Si had dared to mobilize the whole country to cross the Yellow River and fight Liu Yu for a life and death fight, I am afraid that there would not have been the unification of the north in the Northern Wei Dynasty. But now we have a weak army and few generals. Although we can rely on ingenuity, we can It succeeded for a while, but in the end it was difficult to defeat the army of gold thieves. And a strange plan must be accompanied by strange dangers. If it fails, not only will the limited elite soldiers be lost, but the natural long bridge may also be lost. The long bridge is composed of more than a hundred large bridges. If some of these large boats fell into the hands of gold thieves, the Yellow River defense line would be in vain! Therefore, the veteran suggested abandoning Gong Mountain, demolishing the long bridge, and moving to Jushan, Baima, and Wenzi Mountains, and On the south bank of the Yellow River, suspicion formations were widely spread, and many flags were built to confuse the troops."
He Guan's method is stable, but if the Song army demolished the long bridge and withdrew the camp on Dagong Mountain... then it would be obvious that they were cowardly!
"Captain Gao" wins first and then gives up. Doesn't it mean telling the golden thief that he has no strength? The gold thief is already arrogant. If he sees through Song Jun's trump card, why not scream and kill him across the Yellow River?
However, it would be too risky to use the Moon Formation to defeat the enemy on the north bank of the Yellow River... Zhao Kai thought to himself: It would be great if a city could be built at the foot of Dagong Mountain! Yes, build a city!
Build a city overnight!
Thinking of this, Zhao Kai suddenly laughed, "I already have a way to stop the enemy... I will build a city at the foot of Dagong Mountain, at the head of Tiancheng Bridge!"
"Building a city? It's too late!" Wang Yuan shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, that can't be accomplished overnight... I have checked the terrain before. If you want to defend it more firmly, the city wall must be at least 2,000 steps long. Damn it. With more than 20,000 soldiers and generals, it will be good if it can be built in 10 days."
"It doesn't take 10 days..." Zhao Kai stood up suddenly, "One night is enough! I want to build a one-night city under Dagong Mountain!"
"This is impossible!" Wang Yuan shook his head repeatedly, "Your Majesty, building a city with plywood is not like setting up a camp. Once the soil is compacted, it won't be that fast!"
Zhao Kai laughed a few times: "I have been prepared for a long time!" He turned to He Guan and said, "Pass on my decree, order all the soldiers in the army to have a good meal, and then carry shovels and all sacks and straw bags, and each person will bring two With only torches, we will gather at Tiancheng Bridge at the foot of Mount Gong... I will lead them to build a city overnight!"
Zhao Kai's method turned out to be to fill the city wall with sacks and straw bags, and it didn't need to be too high. A height of more than one foot was enough for the time being. If such a project requires the construction of rammed earth to strengthen the city wall, the amount of work will be huge. With 20,000 people working on the construction, it would be very fast to win the project in 10 days and 8 days.
But it is much easier to pile them with sacks or straw bags. 20,000 people build a 2,000-step city wall. On average, 10 people are responsible for a city wall that is one step long, which is about 1.5 meters. It is one foot high, which is almost 3 meters, and the thickness is 3 meters. If it is more, you may need to build a parapet at the top of the city. or something), and also 15 cubic meters of soil... it should be done.
"Old minister, take the order!" He Guan knew what Zhao Kai was going to do, so he hurried out of the camp after receiving Zhao Kai's order.
"Your Majesty..." Wang Yuan didn't understand what "One Night City" was, so he still wanted to comment.
Zhao Kai waved his hand and interrupted him: "You will follow me across the river immediately... and tell me how the city at Tiancheng Bridge should be built." He then said to Gao Jingang, Gao Arhat, and Gao Tiannu, " King Kong, Arhat, and Goddess, you also follow me!"
The armies of Gao Jingang, Gao Luohan, and Gao Tiannu have now been dispersed and incorporated into the generals Zhao Kai brought from Kaifeng Mansion and Han Shizhong's troops (Zhao Kai took about 5,000 elite soldiers from Liang Fangping and Wang Yuan) (given to Han Shizhong), and all three of them became naked.
Wang Yuan had no choice but to accept the decree together with Gao Jingang, Gao Luohan and Gao Tiannu.
Zhao Kai then said to Han Shizhong: "Shizhong, you take your troops to Gong Mountain, set up a false camp, and set up many flags to think that the soldiers are suspicious!"
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