In normal times, saying such words would be regarded as showing loyalty to the emperor, and there is nothing wrong with it.
But at this moment, it is a critical moment. To say such things at such a critical moment is to be heartless.
It can only be said that everyone has been in this state for a long time. When encountering an unexpected situation where Daikin does not have the upper hand, they are so lacking in adaptability.
The level of bureaucracy in the Dajin Empire is seriously declining!
However, this is also a long-lasting problem that cannot be recovered in a day. Even if there are some immediate changes now, it will not be of any help to Kong Yanzhou.
At the moment, Kong Yanzhou needs to judge whether this matter is true or false. If it is true, he will run away immediately. If it is false, he will immediately send troops out to fight the Liberation Army.
The difference between the two was so great that he had to think carefully.
But He Shi Liezhining and Jing Sihui are indeed veteran bureaucrats. No one wants to make a gaffe at this time. We are all people who are good at protecting ourselves. How can we keep the truth at this critical moment?
I would rather not say anything than say something wrong. The nature of a bureaucracy was fully demonstrated at this moment. I said a lot, but there was not a single motion.
So Kong Yanzhou was in a very difficult situation. He was completely unable to make a decision and was in a dilemma.
Because he couldn't make a decision until the end, he was so upset that he decided to just do everything he could.
While he stood firm in Kaifeng, he sent people south to move troops north to support Kaifeng. At the same time, he sent people to lead troops out of the city towards Tongjin Pass to proactively attack the attacking troops of the Liberation Army.
You’ve done everything you can do, so there’s no problem now, right?
Kaifeng was so important that Wan Yanliang almost semi-publicly stated that he would move the capital to Kaifeng in the future as a command center for launching operations against the Southern Song Dynasty and as a symbol of the Jin Empire's unification of the world.
There are still hundreds of thousands of craftsmen and civilians building Kaifeng palaces for Wan Yanliang. There are a large number of non-combatants gathered in Kaifeng city, and there are also a large amount of engineering and building materials, which are all money.
Although Kong Yanzhou was mentally prepared to retreat, it was based on the Southern Song Dynasty's massive Northern Expedition and the old guy Zhang Jun personally leading the troops to fight. In that case, he would not be afraid of being liquidated by Wan Yanliang afterwards.
But under the current situation, Kong Yanzhou could not afford to lose Kaifeng.
So he went to the doctor in a hurry and did everything he could. He was prepared to continue to wait and see the situation and see how things develop in the future.
Maybe the Liberation Army was really just a silver pewter gun tip?
Therefore, Kong Yanzhou still harbored some illusions, feeling that he might not lose in one fell swoop.
It is a pity that the You Yi Army led by Zhou Zhi is not what it used to be, and the Jin Army is still the same as last year, without any improvement.
So when Zhou Zhi led the main force of the 20,000 You Yi Army to encounter the 5,000-strong Jin Army field force, he directly formed a formation to fight with it, and it took him half an hour to defeat the Jin Army's field force head-on.
Then he personally led hundreds of cavalry to chase down the defeated Jin army and gained a lot. He fought until outside Kaifeng City before stopping his advance and retreating slowly to join the main force.
On February 26, Zhou Zhi led the main force of You Yi Army to Kaifeng City. Looking at Kaifeng City full of Jin Army battle flags and defensive troops, he concluded that Kong Yanzhou most likely did not abandon the city and flee.
So he relaxed and began to seriously clean up the Jin Army's military strongholds outside Kaifeng City. At the same time, he dispatched mobile troops to control the roads leading to Kaifeng in all directions, and launched a preliminary siege strategy in a decent manner.
In order to protect Kaifeng, Kong Yanzhou set up many military strongholds outside the city and stationed troops to protect Kaifeng City. They and Kaifeng City were horns with each other, so they still had some power.
So Zhou Zhi first launched a tentative attack on several military strongholds in the east of Kaifeng City to test the strength of the Jin army in the stronghold.
Two days later, on February 28, You Yijun's siege equipment arrived at Kaifeng City before he launched a formal attack.
After the war, Su Yonglin distributed a lot of unused firearms and some captured large ordnance to Zhang Yuejing, and asked Zhang Yuejing to take these luxurious siege equipment to attack the city and capture the territory.
Of course, some of these ordnance were assigned to Zhou Zhi for use, so the heavily armed Youyi Army began a formal siege of the city.
When a large number of thunder cannons and boulders fell in those military strongholds, Kong Yanzhou, who was watching the battle from the highest point of the city, felt somewhat regretful and scared.
He didn't expect that this Liberation Army was so good at fighting. It directly defeated his five thousand field troops, and its own strength was also so strong.
Five thousand field troops is not a small number. The maximum number of people a general can directly command based on communication means is no more than this. They can be used as independent combat units on the battlefield.
In the end, it was a complete failure. Only a few people fled back to Kaifeng, saying everywhere about how powerful the Liberation Army was in combat and shaking the morale of the army.
As a result, people in Kaifeng were in a state of confusion, and they were worried about the upcoming attack by the Liberation Army.
At that time, Kong Yanzhou was still very angry and dealt with some people who wavered in the military's morale, but now it seems that they did not waver in the military's morale and were just stating the facts.
The fact is that the Liberation Army is really strong, and its marching and fighting is very organized. It is completely different from the army in Kong Yanzhou's impression.
It is said that the Liberation Army has experienced several coups and changed its leaders several times since then. Logically speaking, the people's hearts should be getting weaker and weaker. How come it is getting stronger here?
The more coups there are, the more people in the team will be scattered, and the harder it will be to lead them. In the end, they will change and disappear. This is what should happen normally, right?
Kong Yanzhou didn't know why, but Kong Yanzhou knew very well that the Liberation Army was very capable of attacking.
The terrifying firearms and boulders flying in the air gave the Jin army a great sense of pressure. Kong Yanzhou only had a limited number of elite regular troops. Most of the regular troops were on the border to guard against the Southern Song Dynasty. How did he know that the Liberation Army could still launch a surprise attack? ?
In just one day, Zhou Zhi led You Yi's army to break through four military strongholds outside the city and annihilate thousands of Jin troops. The result was remarkable. Kong Yanzhou was frightened and became even more panicked. He kept discussing tactics with his subordinates, but found nothing.
Just when Kong Yanzhou was helpless, the real main force led by Zhang Yuejing was also progressing smoothly. After breaking through Xiangyi, he captured Qixian County, and then pointed his sword at Chenliu.
General Chen Liushou did not escape. He stood up to resist. He also had a considerable number of Jurchen soldiers under his command, and drove the Han people to sign an army to fight. It seemed that he was going to achieve a protracted war.
However, due to the lack of support from their subordinates, the Han Chinese Signing Army did not really want to make an effort. Within an hour of being attacked by the Liberation Army, chaos broke out. The Jurchen soldiers could not even stop the disintegration of the signing army, let alone the sharp attack of the Liberation Army.
So Chenliu City was declared fallen after being besieged by the Liberation Army for two hours. All the defenders in the city were wiped out, the defenders were killed, Chenliu was occupied by the Liberation Army, and Zhang Yuejing settled in the city.
After entering the city, Zhang Yuejing did not wait much. He sent his troops to Kaifeng and joined forces with Zhou Zhi on the third day of March.
At that time, Zhou Zhi had conquered all the military strongholds established by Kong Yanzhou outside the city.
It was not that Kong Yanzhou had not tried hard. He sent troops out of the city twice to try to attack You Yi's army, but they were defeated by You Yi's solid military formation. He was attacked by a small number of cavalry led by Zhou Zhi himself. On another occasion, Zhou Zhi almost rushed into the city, so he died. I lost my courage and never dared to leave the city again.
He didn't have many elite soldiers at his disposal. If he continued to fight, he would have to send out all his elite guards. The impact would be too great, so he chose to close the city and defend it, never to take the initiative again.
Relying on the tall city walls and perfect city defenses, if Kong Yanzhou really turned into a tortoise, Zhou Zhi had nothing to do. He tried to attack the city. After a strong attack, he saw heavy casualties, so he gave up the attack and chose to besiege the city to wait for Zhang Yuejing. Main force.
On the third day of March, Zhang Yuejing arrived in Kaifeng City and held a military meeting to let Zhou Zhi speak.
"According to Su Shuai, although Kaifeng is not as solid and difficult to conquer as when the Song Dynasty occupied it, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Kaifeng is still a strong city and difficult to conquer. A strong attack will definitely cause huge damage, so I I think that attacking the city is the next best thing, and attacking the heart is the best thing.”
Zhang Yuejing looked at Zhou Zhi and said, "That's what you say, but so much time has passed. The people in Kaifeng City should have known about what we preached for a long time, but they still insist on it. Why do you think this is?"
