Wanyan Benjian said the words he least expected to hear.
As long as the most elite members can be preserved, Wanyan Benjian will have the confidence to establish a new king and preserve the interests of their group.
Not only that, with the army in hand, the Jin Kingdom will at least have the strength to fight against the counterattack that will be launched by the Liberation Army, and it is possible to win, so that it will not lose even its last hope.
It can be said that as long as that battle is won, the status of Wanyan Benjian and Xin Jun will be consolidated.
This is the best ending to turn the tide.
If you try to save everything, in the current situation where food routes and escape routes are cut off, there is a high probability that it will be suicide.
Not only the less elite ones couldn't be saved, but the elite ones couldn't be saved, none of them could be saved. Wanyan Ben saw that he might die here and be buried with the whole army.
Even if some of them were lucky enough to escape, it would still be a dream if they did not have enough strength to suppress the opposition and resist the Liberation Army.
What's more, Wanyan Liang's southern expedition brought not only troops and generals, but also half of the imperial court.
Wan Yanliang's southern expedition did not completely eliminate the need to deal with state affairs.
His prince Wanyan Guangying is only ten years old and cannot handle government affairs at all. Staying in Zhongdu is of greater symbolic significance. The ones in charge are the ministers he left behind. For the ministers, there are some things that they cannot handle. Yan Liang would not hand over those powers to his ministers.
Therefore, even during the march, Wan Yanliang still needed this half of the court to help him handle some matters that must be handled by the emperor himself.
As for Zhongdu, only the prince and the other half of the court were left, barely maintaining some daily state affairs.
The army is really going to be completely wiped out here. Not only are they going to die, but the Jin Dynasty court will also directly lose half of it and cripple half of it. That would be so fun.
What other government affairs should be done? What world do you govern?
It will collapse directly.
Heshi Lieliangbi's consideration was very good, and he put all possible situations in front of Wanyan Benjian.
After careful consideration, Wanyan Benjian made a decision.
"If you abandon the army and civilians, you will abandon it. You can't bring soldiers and war horses with you. If there is not enough food, you will kill the horses for food. Save all the food for the war horses. The soldiers will eat horse meat. Let them eat horse meat regardless of the situation." We must return to Zhongdu no matter what!"
Heshi Lieliangbi was shocked.
"Grand Governor, the bandit army also has an organized cavalry team. Even if the number is small, they can still launch a pursuit. We have to guard against it! Bring everyone with us, and the speed will definitely be affected. When the time comes..."
"I know, that's not what I meant. Besides, the rebel army won't have many cavalry, at least not as many as our army. As long as the number is small, there is nothing they can do against us."
Wanyan Benjian waved his hand: "Liangbi, these cavalry and war horses are our lifeblood. We can throw them away, but I don't want to throw them away. As for returning north...the army needs multiple routes. What I mean is to concentrate the elites." The main force takes the shortest and safest route.”
Heshi Lieliangbi was stunned and immediately understood what Wanyan Benjian meant.
It's not that you won't abandon or give up, but that you should give other soldiers a little hope.
Wanyan Benjian will take half of the court and the most elite army back north by the safest route with the most abundant food, and strive to return to the central capital as quickly as possible.
The rest of the troops will split up and return north to see who is lucky. Those with good luck may be able to go back part of the way. Those with bad luck... just treat it as the main force returning north to attract the enemy's attention.
Guess they're not lucky enough.
So Heshi Lieliangbi nodded, accepted this statement, discussed with Wanyan Benjian for a while, and then called Wanyan Yiying and Yi Lacheng, and the four of them discussed for a while.
The final result was that the main force of the army returned in three groups, leaving behind the signing army and civilian husbands as a barrier.
The main road is the one that must be returned, gathering all the elites and court officials.
The other two groups are supplemented by trying their best to return and strive for more people to return. If this is not possible, it is not completely unacceptable to lose all.
As long as all the elite main force can return.
They also discussed the number of the elite main force, 50,000 cavalry, one person and two horses, and strive to return all of them to preserve the Jin Kingdom's cavalry strength to the maximum extent.
The second and third routes are each equipped with 15,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry, and take different routes back north. As for whether they can go back and how many people can go back, it depends on their own luck.
Of course, the withdrawal strategy must be announced openly, and it is normal for the troops to be divided and returned.
As for now, except for senior officers and a small number of personal guards, all middle and low-level officers and soldiers do not know that the army's logistics has been cut off, and they plan to continue to hide it.
If the lower-level soldiers knew about the logistics severance, they might panic even more, and they might even start a mutiny, and they would not be able to make good arrangements at all.
Just say that this is a normal "turn in" and not a retreat, so as to deceive the soldiers at the bottom and allow the army to return safely. Even if the news is leaked midway, can people still turn the world upside down on the road?
"Although the plan is formulated in this way, whether it can be implemented smoothly is still a question. If it is implemented smoothly, it is unknown whether it can return smoothly. We lost this battle, completely."
After discussing the details, Wanyan Benjian couldn't help but sigh.
The other three people also sighed.
Yes, now that things have happened, they finally have time to think about the outcome of this battle.
An armed group of more than 400,000 and close to 500,000 people marched southward, preparing to quell the rebels in Shandong and Hebei with an unstoppable momentum. The momentum was huge and earth-shattering. Before setting off for the expedition, they made a vow.
The results of it?
The army suffered a bloody blow under the iron wall of the rebels, and was almost in dire straits under Wan Yanliang's magical operation.
Along the way south, soldiers suffered losses along the way. The number of those who died in battle alone was close to 20,000, and the number of those who were injured, sick and lost combat effectiveness would not be less than this number.
In addition to the female real soldiers who supervised the siege of the city, a total of 160,000 soldiers from Yanyun, Liaodong, and Hedong went south. So far, less than 100,000 soldiers can return together.
Even if all of them returned successfully, the Southern Expedition Army would have lost one-third of its main force. Real figures cannot deceive anyone.
Now all the soldiers and civilians have to be sacrificed as sacrifices for returning from the north.
And how many of the 100,000 main force can return smoothly?
How many of the 180,000 war horses can successfully return to China and continue to ride?
The main force and young men suffered such heavy losses, and the Jin Kingdom's war potential was also severely damaged. Within a few years, there would be no spare power to attack the rebels in Shandong and Hebei.
No, let alone whether it can launch another attack. The Liberation Army will definitely win and then take advantage of the opportunity to go north and try to seize the land of Yanyun. However, the morale of the Jin Army has been greatly damaged and the prestige of the Jin Kingdom has plummeted. Whether it can successfully defend and keep Yanyun and Zhongdu? That's not necessarily true.
Moreover, after the defeat in this battle, it is hard to say whether the Southern Song Dynasty will continue to stand still and whether the Xixia will continue to stand still.
The Nanjing Road, the land in Guanzhong, and the land in Hedong are all at risk of being lost. The ambitions of countries that were previously suppressed by the military power of the Jin Kingdom will expand in an all-round way.
"For our country, the Jin Kingdom, the best outcome is to start a confrontation with the Liberation Army in Yanyun, Guanzhong and Nanjing can also maintain a confrontation with Song and Xia, and the worst outcome is to retreat to Liaodong and withdraw the protection of Taizu Emperor Long Xing Zhiye, bid farewell to the Central Plains from now on, I don’t know when I will come back next time.”
Heshi Lieliangbi told the results of his analysis to the other three people. The other three people were in low mood and very helpless.
They were defeated, completely and simply.
