"It seems that the messenger has sent our news..." After hearing the news that the Tang army's bombardment had stopped, Qin's Prime Minister Ying Ke said with a sigh of relief.
He was very lucky that he sent the messenger in advance, which allowed Wuyang to escape a catastrophe. The city is now in chaos. If the Tang army's bombardment continues, he will soon lose effective control of the entire city.
That is simply unimaginable: countless rioters will run around in the city, and they will be more destructive than artillery fire, turning the entire city into a purgatory.
"It seems so, sir." The officers around them also breathed a sigh of relief. They were really confused now. If the Tang army attacked, none of them knew what to do.
Zhang Xuan should have experience, but he really couldn't pass on his experience to everyone. No matter how sophisticated the Imperial Guards who are usually responsible for public security in the city are, it is impossible for them to be proficient in field defense techniques.
"Let Zhang Xuan come here for a meeting and tell him that within 48 hours, the Tang army is unlikely to launch another attack... Let's work together to find a way to see if we can solve this crisis." Ying Ke looked at the faces of the people next to him. The nervous minister told his confidants: "Just send someone."
"General Zhang Tuo, there is really no chance of winning in the battle in Wuyang City. You and I both know this very well. There is no preparation here to face the enemy. Under such circumstances, once the war resumes, the situation will immediately get out of control. ." After finishing speaking, Ying Ke looked at Zhang Tuo next to him, and began to persuade: "Do a good job in your brother's ideological work, and try not to make him feel that... everything he did is in vain..."
"I understand." Zhang Tuo nodded. He was actually the first among the Qin army generals to know that defeat was certain. His air force has lost a total of more than 1,900 brave pilots from the beginning of the war to the present, as well as more than 4,000 other navigators, machine gunners, and others.
Qin lost a total of about 4,000 aircraft of various types, a large part of which were destroyed on the ground...
Such losses were too late to make any replenishment. The little wealth accumulated before the war was almost wiped out within two months of the war.
After several frantic efforts failed, almost no aircraft of its own side could be seen in Qin's sky. Those expensive jet aircraft, even if partially supplemented, are almost completely unable to take off for combat without qualified pilots.
Qin State now has a total of more than a hundred jet fighters, hundreds of propeller fighters and bombers... But these planes are all hidden in the airport behind, and they are completely unable to organize to participate in the war.
As an air force commander, Zhang Tuo has long been aware of these issues, and he is even more aware of what losing air supremacy means to a modern war.
"It's just." He looked at the minister not far away and motioned to Prime Minister Ying Ke to follow him farther away. Then after the two people moved a few steps away, he lowered his voice and continued to say to Ying Ke: "It's just my lord, General Liu Zhian is desperately trying to defend, and his... identity... you know, this is how we operate here, Will it put him in danger?”
"I know...I know everything...but his army going north is our only bargaining chip. If we ask him to stop, what else do we have to use to negotiate with Tang?" Ying Ke looked bitter. said.
He sighed and said to Zhang Tuo: "The empire has reached this point, and we can only wrong General Liu...or, in other words, we can only wrong some people. When everything is over, I will give them an explanation."
"Sir!" Zhang Tuo was startled, then suddenly looked at Ying Ke, and grabbed Ying Ke's arm bitterly: "You must not act out of emotion... General Liu Zhian will definitely understand your difficulties and will not blame you. .”
"So what? Someone will eventually be responsible for the whole thing, or this war. Your Majesty is naturally a wise Majesty... so the responsibility naturally belongs to me, the arrogant prime minister. It doesn't matter... two months I had already thought about it before." Ying Ke said to Zhang Tuo with a wry smile.
"Alas..." Zhang Tuo also sighed bitterly. He suddenly felt very aggrieved. It was obvious that the original decision was made by everyone together. It was obvious that everyone was advocating to defeat the Tang Dynasty and dominate the world... But in the end, Why did it end like this?
After a brief silence, Zhang Tuo continued to ask: "There is one more question, sir. Before he fell into coma, His Majesty gave the order to defend Wuyang to the end. The order my brother received was also to assemble the troops and fight to the end in Wuyang."
"Disobeying His Majesty's will is a big or small matter. If Your Majesty wakes up, we have surrendered the city. By then..."
"You don't have to worry about this... I said, someone must be responsible for this. Since I can resist the guilt of the war, I can naturally resist the guilt of resisting the decree. I am enough to make this farce go quickly. Let's end it soon." Ying Ke felt a little tired. For him personally, he was already looking forward to his ending.
After all, death is sometimes a kind of relief. Compared with the long and tortured process, the final result is actually not that terrible.
…
In Zhang Xuan's headquarters, after confirming that the Tang Army only fired two artillery shells, he roughly guessed that someone had stopped the Tang Army's bombardment.
However, the order he received from Ying Duo was to defend Wuyang, so he naturally did not relax his arrangements. He let the second-line troops enter the position and drove the civilians east of Wuyang City to a relatively safe place.
In addition, he also gathered almost all the forces he could find outside the city and piled them near the railway line and highway on the south side.
As long as the Tang army rushes from this direction, his troops can block the Tang army and launch defenses along the railway line. Once the Tang army penetrated his defense line and penetrated to the west side of the railway line, his troops could form a pincer attack with Liu Zhian's troops heading north to contain the Tang army.
If a miracle happens and they eat this Tang army, then Wuyang's offensive and defensive situation will be much better. As long as it takes a few days, His Majesty's condition will improve, and Yingduo, who has regained his strength, can end this war more honorably.
That's right, Zhang Xuan didn't expect to turn defeat into victory. He was just prepared to use all his strength to win the last shred of dignity for the defeated Qin State. This little bit of dignity may allow the Qin people to live a little better after being ruled by the Tang people...
