The issue that Su Yonglin is most concerned about, first and foremost, is of course the total strength of the Jin Army.
Regarding this point, Su Yonglin had previously estimated that the number of soldiers of the Jin Army going south was about 200,000. Counting the miscellaneous signing troops, civilians and other personnel together, they could make up about 600,000.
However, Yelu Yuanyi denied this estimate.
"In other words, Wan Yanliang had previously announced that he would lead 600,000 troops to the south, but it turned out that he did not have 600,000 troops at all?"
"Six hundred thousand troops?"
Yelu Yuanyi sneered and said: "Forget it, six hundred thousand. Counting the army and civilians, it is difficult to even have five hundred thousand now. If there was no rebellion in Liaodong, the number of five hundred thousand would be almost okay, but the number of people in Liaodong is almost okay." There was chaos, many armies were defeated and destroyed, and many strong men took the opportunity to escape.
The imperial court originally focused on recruiting troops in Liaodong. Once the strong men in Liaodong fled, the number of soldiers and horses that the court could recruit was immediately reduced. Under the current situation, the number of soldiers that Wan Yanliang could use was only 120,000. The number of soldiers in Liaodong to suppress the rebellion was reduced. There are still 50,000 to 60,000 troops, but they will not be able to move south in a short time.
The army in Hedong is on one route, and the army in Kaifeng is on another route. The army in Guanzhong and Shaanxi need to be used to defend Song and Xia, and cannot move. In other words, if Wan Yanliang is still planning to go south at this time, he can use it. The real number of troops that can be mobilized will not exceed 120,000. "
Su Yonglin shook his head.
"One hundred and twenty thousand soldiers is still not a small number. When the ancients went to war, the so-called three hundred thousand, four hundred thousand and five hundred thousand troops often only had a hundred thousand capable soldiers, not to mention the armies of Hedong and Kaifeng. , all put together, it is still extremely stressful for me.”
Yelu Yuanyi did not refute this.
He just nodded and said slowly: "There are not many troops in Kaifeng. We fought a battle with the Liberation Army before and suffered relatively heavy losses. The remaining troops mainly have to guard against the Song Dynasty. There are probably only a few soldiers that can be used for the expedition." Just 10,000, a few thousand people is a big deal, not more. As for Hedong, they can indeed produce 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers, which should not be underestimated."
"In other words, all together, the number of soldiers Wan Yanliang can use to attack me is around 160,000 or 170,000?"
Su Yonglin looked at Yelu Yuanyi.
Yelu Yuanyi thought for a while and nodded cautiously.
"Even so, if there is any difference, it will not exceed 10,000."
Su Yonglin lowered his head and thought for a while.
"That is to say, without the Khitan Rebellion, he could have used more than 200,000 soldiers to attack me. This does not include the troops that can be mobilized in Guanzhong and Shaanxi... The Kingdom of Jin is still strong."
Yelu Yuanyi looked at Su Yonglin, thought for a while, and asked cautiously: "Now that the matter is over, I wonder if you can tell me the true strength of the Liberation Army?"
"Have you never known the true strength of the Liberation Army?"
Su Yonglin asked back.
Yelu Yuanyi shook his head.
"We sent a lot of spies, but the results were limited. All the Jurchens in Hebei and Shandong were eliminated by the Liberation Army. Without internal support, it would be difficult to find out the information from the outside. I only know about the Liberation Army's approx. There are two hundred thousand troops, and we have heard rumors of three hundred thousand, but most people think this is an imaginary number and not true."
"It's really an imaginary number, not that much."
Su Yonglin shook his head: "Similar to the Kingdom of Jin, we have to declare what we should claim, two hundred thousand and three hundred thousand. Those are all external claims. After I reorganized the Liberation Army, in fact, the Liberation Army has 150,000 regular soldiers. There are about 100,000 local armed forces, but among them, there are only 100,000 elites."
"Only? Hehehe, General Su is really joking, one hundred thousand elites? If you hadn't said it yourself, I would have even suspected that you were lying to me."
Yelu Yuanyi looked at Su Yonglin with an unusual smile on his face.
"I'm afraid you still think I'm lying to you, right?"
Su Yonglin smiled and shook his head: "I'm not lying to you. One hundred thousand elites, of which fifty thousand are absolute elites. Their seeds are the army that defeated Wanyan Alin's cavalry head-on. I used the backbone of that army to expand the absolute elite." An elite army of 50,000 people.
The remaining 50,000 were obtained by reorganizing other armies. Although they are not as elite as the absolute elite, I have also invested in seeds, strengthened training, and eliminated the old, weak, sick, and disabled. The soldiers are all young and strong, with considerable strength, and can be called elites.
The remaining 50,000 are the troops that were reorganized not long ago. They are stationed in Shandong. Their combat effectiveness cannot be considered strong. They can almost compete with Kong Yanzhou. They cannot be considered the main force. My real reliance is on the 100,000 elite troops.
If these 100,000 elites are commanded properly, they can still guarantee unbeaten against the Jin Kingdom's 50,000 cavalry. It may be a bit difficult to go up further, so I can't do it head-on against Wan Yanliang's cavalry for the time being.
As for the local armed forces of about 100,000 people, they have received a certain degree of training, but in terms of combat effectiveness, they are probably stronger than your signature army. If they fight against the signature army, they should be able to win steadily. Shangzhengbing... should be slightly inferior. "
Seeing the seriousness of Su Yonglin's words, Yelu Yuanyi was a little surprised.
"You really didn't lie to me?"
"Of course, the enemy is at hand, why should I lie to you?"
"You won't lie to me because you doubt me? Just like Cao Cao initially doubted Xu You?"
"I am not Cao Cao, you are not Xu You, and we are not fighting the Battle of Guandu."
Su Yonglin was a little depressed and said with a wry smile: "You have no way out, and I have no way out. We can't go on this road without supporting each other, so why should I doubt you?"
Yelu Yuanyi took a deep breath.
"Do you really have a hundred thousand elites?"
"yes."
"How can it be!?"
Yelu Yuanyi was surprised: "It has only been a year and a half since you started the uprising. How could it be possible to train a hundred thousand elites who can fight against the cavalry? How did you do it?"
"Well...I really won't talk about it anymore. When this battle is over and we win, you and I are still alive. Go and see for yourself in the army and see how I got my elites."
Su Yonglin said confidently: "General elites are elites in body, but my elites are not only elite in body, but also elite in mind. By the way, there is one thing I think the Jin Kingdom's army may not be able to do. My army always has three meals a day, and is always well fed.”
"Three meals a day? There is never any shortage? Can you still eat enough?"
Yelu Yuanyi was a little surprised at first, feeling that this was really unimaginable.
But when I think about it carefully, I calm down a lot.
Although it is hard to imagine, it is not impossible. Su Yonglin must have exaggerated in it, but looking at the record of the Liberation Army, it seems that although there is exaggeration, the content is not much different.
The Liberation Army did not say that they had enough to eat three meals a day, but basically they should be able to avoid starvation.
As long as the leader has excellent troop command skills and strong control over his subordinates, it is not impossible to achieve this situation.
In the same way, giving the Jin army three meals a day and being fully fed every time is not financially impossible, it is possible. Yelu Yuanyi will never question this.
The rule of the Jin army is to have two meals a day, plus extra meals during wartime. The current military expenditure is indeed aimed at the goal of keeping the soldiers full with two meals a day. This is what the court thinks on the surface. .
When it comes to financial resources, Wan Yanliang's financial resources are far better than Su Yonglin's. If Su Yonglin can do it, he can definitely do it.
It's just that in reality it's almost impossible to implement it.
If the military expenditures invested by the Jin Dynasty court in the army are fully implemented, it will not be difficult to feed the soldiers every day. It is not impossible to have a meaty meal every three to five days. It can be done, this is certain.
However, the army of the Kingdom of Jin has always been a corruption-stricken area, and there is no cure, so it must be impossible to do it.
Generally speaking, according to Yelu Yuanyi's own estimation, 40% of the military expenditures invested by the court could actually be used on the army. This can be regarded as the officials loving the soldiers as much as their sons.
To move up to 50%, it is only possible if the right time, right place, right people and the right people are present.
Basically, 30% is enough to be kind, 20% cannot be said, and 10% is indeed a bit excessive, but if it is really done like this, it will be difficult for the emperor to know the whole story.
It is a wishful thinking to want all military expenditures to be spent on soldiers.
