On the way south, Wanyan Liang had a conversation with Wanyan Yiying and asked him why the attack on Zhending City was unsuccessful.
Speaking of which, Wanyan Yiying was also very angry, and he was also very dissatisfied with the failure to successfully conquer Zhending City.
But the fact is that Zhending City is still standing as strong as ever after more than a month of his fierce attack. The Liberation Army on the city should have suffered heavy losses, but their morale is still high.
All their firearms should have been used up, but with the help of cold weapons, they still annihilated the Jin Army's troops on the city many times and threw them off the city wall. The defense was very tenacious, leaving him helpless.
What's even more frightening is that the attack of the golden juice at the top of the city has not stopped. The entire city tower is almost poured with golden juice to form a thick wall of feces. The rich smell makes people intoxicated.
This also reflects from the side that the city has abundant food reserves, which is far from the time of emergency. As long as there is enough food in the city, the Jin army's hope of breaking the city is very slim.
Wanyan Yiying lost the lives of more than 3,000 soldiers under Zhending City, and the number of people who died of injuries and colds due to illness in the past month remained high. Only less than 2 of his 30,000 infantry could still maintain combat effectiveness. Ten thousand.
Those who were still alive but had no fighting ability were simply thrown under Zhending City by him. In the name of surrounding Zhending City, he actually left them to fend for themselves.
The total force brought by Wanyan Yiying was less than 30,000, and the main force was cavalry with little loss. The help to Wanyan Liang was relatively limited, so Wanyan Liang rebuked Wanyan Yiying.
But he also knew that Zhending City would definitely be difficult to fight, so he didn't criticize him too harshly.
"All the way south, every city seems to be defended desperately by elites. They can't be persuaded to surrender and can't be conquered by force... Yiying, where do you think the rebels got so many elite troops? Why are they so tenacious and unwilling to surrender? ?What did the leader of the thieves do to them? To make them so loyal?"
Wan Yanliang covered her eyes, showing deep fatigue.
Wanyan Yiying looked at Wanyan Liang's tired state and felt very uneasy.
"Your Majesty, this bandit army is indeed different from all the bandit armies we have encountered in the past, but they are still a bandit army after all. They started less than two years ago and have a shallow foundation. Not to mention that our army has nearly 80,000 cavalry. As long as they face the If you fight against each other, you can definitely win.”
Wan Yanliang sighed and nodded slowly.
"Yes, as long as we face each other head-on, we will definitely win a big victory... Yes, it is indeed true. So, just go to Jinan directly. I will definitely make Su Thief pay the price for his rebellion!"
Wan Yanliang clenched his fists, his face full of deep resentment and deep-seated hatred.
The inability to capture the city was indeed a big problem, but the Jin army was not completely without gains.
If the city could not be taken, the surrounding rural forts were in bad luck. Wan Yanliang directed all his anger towards those rural forts and launched a very fierce attack on them.
If the cavalry cannot attack the city, then they should cooperate with a small number of infantry to attack the forts. While killing people to improve morale, they can also seize the food, grass and money that the army urgently needs.
Wan Yanliang himself also knew the importance of food. In order to reduce the burden on logistics, he sent the cavalry troops out to attack Wubao as he advanced. It would be best if he could capture them. It didn't matter if he occasionally encountered those who couldn't capture them.
Anyway, there were indeed many Wubao captured along the way south, and the food and money seized were enough for daily consumption. This also allowed Wan Yanliang to hoard a lot of food and money in case of emergencies.
However, the countryside in various states was indeed greatly damaged by Wan Yanliang. Many forts were destroyed, most of the powerful clan houses and the tenants under their control were killed, and the rest were all incorporated into the signing army. Go south.
It can be said that the Jin army went all the way south, paying a lot of blood and killing many people along the way.
After giving up attacking Hengshui, Wanyan Liang did not think about attacking Xindu, which had a larger city. He simply gave up attacking Xindu, surrounded Xindu with 5,000 troops, and then went directly south to Zaoqiang.
Zaoqiang was undefended, and Wan Yanliang easily occupied Zaoqiang and stored the grain and fodder collected from attacking Wubao in Zaoqiang. There were several cities like Zaoqiang along the way, all of which were prepared for unexpected needs.
If there is a problem with logistics, with these cities and provisions, the main force of the Jin Army will not be immediately wiped out, and there is still room for recovery.
Needless to say, if there were not those powerful landowners who formed strongholds to defend themselves along the way south, the advance of the Jin Army would really not be so smooth. Once the Liberation Army cuts off their logistics and supplies, they will immediately collapse without any room for recovery. nothing.
How else can I say this?
Wan Yanliang reorganized himself briefly in Zaoqiang and then began to march towards Enzhou. According to the investigation, only the Liberation Army garrison was found in Liting County in Enzhou. The rest of the area has also completed the construction of strong walls and cleared the country. Except for the rural Wubao, there are no other human settlements. .
The powerful ability of the Liberation Army to clear the country and fortify the wall opened the eyes of the senior officials and generals of the Jin Kingdom. It was the first time they saw such a scale of fortifying the wall and clearing the country.
If they continue to fight south, they will have almost penetrated Hebei, but the strong wall and clearing of the wilderness are still not over. It seems to be far away, and they have no idea where the end is.
They originally thought that the Liberation Army's efforts to clear the country would be limited to a few states, but now the terrible facts told them that the Liberation Army had cleared the entire Hebei province. Going south, Shandong was very likely to be cleared by them as well.
What a terrifying solid wall and clear wilderness.
When thinking about this possibility, Wan Yanliang, let alone others, thought for a moment that he might as well stop fighting and lead his troops to retreat.
But when Wan Yanliang realized that everyone was thinking about going back, a sense of fear arose spontaneously.
Everyone wants to go back, and no one wants to continue fighting, because they can go back, they have a way out, and they can be more comfortable and live a better life after they go back than now.
But I am different.
He knew that he couldn't go back, he couldn't go back, if he hadn't won the battle and returned victorious, there would only be death waiting for him.
He has accumulated too many grievances, from the people, the government, the army, the enemy, and his own people...
He is almost universally hated.
If he cannot win the battle and prove that he is still strong, he will have no way out.
Okay, there’s nothing to be confused about, let’s get on with it.
This war needs to continue, for himself, for his imperial power and throne.
So Wan Yanliang issued the order to march troops.
At the same time, drastic changes were taking place behind him.
After he led his troops south, the balance was maintained in the rear for a period of time. The Liberation Army inside the city and the Jin soldiers outside the city maintained a strategic balance. If you don't attack me, I won't attack you.
Most of the besieged cities were attacked by the Jin army. For a while, they really didn't dare to leave the city, but as time passed, the Liberation Army in the city began to murmur in their hearts.
After such a long time, there were no reinforcements or any movements from the Jin army outside the city.
They originally thought that this was a plot by the Jin Army, trying to lure them out of the city to fight, but the fact was that the Jin Army did not attack again. It had been so long, and even if it was a plot, there should be some movement.
No, nothing happened.
It was as if the Jin soldiers outside the city wanted to maintain a strange balance with them inside the city and sign a strange non-aggression treaty.
This is very strange.
So in Hejian City, Jiang Liangping's thoughts came to life.
He discussed this matter with his deputy Chen Qian.
"Tell me, what's going on with the gold thieves outside the city who haven't moved for so long? Do they still want to fight? What's the point of just surrounding us without moving? Should we send out troops to test it out?"
"Leave the city? General, we don't have many troops on hand. Even if the gold thieves outside the city have no conspiracy, their troops must be more than 10,000. The entire Hejian City is surrounded by water. Thank God if they don't attack the city. , isn’t it appropriate to go out of the city at this time?”
Chen Qian objected to this.
Jiang Liangping frowned and shook his head.
"Even if there is some conspiracy, there won't be any movement for so many days, right? They fought so hard before, but now they won't fight if they say they won't. The main force left in a big way and never came back. What do I think and feel? wrong."
