From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 498

It took Zhou Yuan ten days to reach Shanhaiguan.

The first scene when he arrived here made him fall into silence for a long time.

The strongholds near Shanhaiguan were full of blood, wounded and wailing.

Soldiers were carried down from the city wall one after another. It was normal to have broken arms and legs. Many people died as soon as they were carried down.

Shouts and killings were everywhere on the city wall. The Eastern Tartar army had almost attacked and fought with the soldiers of the Great Jin on the city wall.

At this moment, the cruelty of war was revealed.

This is not the human world, but the Shura Purgatory.

Zhou Yuan shouted: "Li He, Liu Fang!"

"I am here!"

Zhou Yuan said: "Take the soldiers of the five military camps to the city wall and concentrate superior forces to block the defense gap."

"Yes!"

The two men had red eyes and roared, leading the soldiers to rush up.

Zhou Yuan continued: "Guan Dayong, take your elite battalion and clear out the Donglu Tartars on the city wall. I don't want prisoners, I just want them dead."

"Okay!"

Guan Dayong, holding the Fang Tian Hua Ji, rushed up with his three hundred elites.

"Wang Xiong, Shi Yi!"

"I'm here!"

Zhou Yuan said: "You take four thousand people and kill all the way north along the city wall, take advantage of every opportunity, constantly check for leaks and fill in the gaps, and prevent the defense gaps from appearing again."

"I obey your order!"

After assigning the tasks, Zhou Yuan strode up to the city tower.

Song Wu couldn't help but said anxiously: "What about me, Zhou Yuan, what about me! I want to kill the enemy too!"

"Shut up!"

Zhou Yuan suddenly turned around and said sternly: "You call me by my name in the army, you don't understand military discipline. If you do it again, I will beat you with 20 military sticks and let you go back to the capital."

Song Wu's face turned pale, and finally he lowered his head and said: "General, I want to go to the battlefield."

"You have a time to do things!"

Zhou Yuan said this and went straight to the tower.

The arrival of the five military camps greatly boosted the confidence of the defenders of Shanhaiguan, and they continued to repel the siege troops of the Eastern Tartars.

Wu Dingzhong, Pang Lixing, Qiu Huan and the other three also hurriedly came up, half-knelt down, and clasped their fists and said: "I will see the General!"

The imperial edict of the cabinet has been sent here at full speed. They all know that Zhou Yuan has been named the Grand Marshal of the Eastern Expedition to Resist the Tartars, controlling all military and political powers of Shanhaiguan, and carrying the Emperor's Sword, like an emperor in person.

These veterans, whether they were convinced or not, had to obey the imperial edict.

Zhou Yuan glanced around and said, "Let's go to the beacon tower to talk about the situation here."

Wu Dingzhong changed color and said, "General, they are still fighting."

Zhou Yuan said, "It doesn't matter. In less than a quarter of an hour, Nurhaci will definitely withdraw his troops. The five military camps will come to support us. Our morale is high, and they will not choose to fight to the death at this time."

The three generals looked at each other and were speechless. They had to obey the order.

When they arrived at the beacon tower, it was just a temporary command post at the forefront of Shanhaiguan. In addition to tables and chairs, there were a few buckets of water for drinking.

Zhou Yuan said: "General Wu, tell me about the situation here."

Wu Dingzhong said quickly: "This morning, we counted the troops, and there are still more than 46,700 people left. In addition, there are more than 20,000 wounded soldiers who can no longer participate in the battle and are constantly sent to the rear."

"Nurhaci had nearly 120,000 troops, and now there are only more than 80,000 left. We annihilated nearly 40,000."

"It was mainly a siege battle. Their cavalry could not play to their advantage, but it was cold and freezing, and our soldiers were not used to it. Many soldiers fought with illness, so there were so many casualties."

"If we fight them in the summer, we can even make the casualties equal."

Natural factors are also unavoidable. The Donglu people have lived in a bitter and cold place for many years, and they are indeed cold-resistant. Low temperatures and heavy snow are commonplace for them.

Because of this, even in a siege battle, the other side annihilated three times the number of the Jin defenders.

Zhou Yuan nodded and said, "Are there any problems with logistics? Food, water, clothing, medicine."

"No problem, the main problem is the lack of people."

Pang Lixing gritted his teeth and said, "These brothers we brought with us are almost dead or wounded. If this continues, Shanhaiguan will not be able to be defended sooner or later."

"It is said that soldiers should defend their country, but who is not raised by their parents? I don't want to bury them all here, otherwise I will have no face to return to Jizhou, and I dare not go to see their parents."

Zhou Yuan also had to admire Pang Lixing and Wu Dingzhong. They are worthy of being famous generals. The soldiers they brought out are all iron-willed men. The casualty rate has reached this level, but they have not collapsed. It is really rare.

Qiu Huan said lightly: "Since your majesty asked the general to come and take charge of the military and political power, I believe that the general must have a good plan. Please tell the general and open up the situation."

"Qiu Huan!"

Wu Dingzhong said in a deep voice: "It is the will of His Majesty to appoint the Marquis of Zhongwu as the commander. As a soldier, you should support it unconditionally. Don't speak in a sarcastic way and bring the yin-yang and yang tactics in the court to the army."

They are all old generals, and Wu Dingzhong is certainly not so blind as to not see this.

Qiu Huan snorted: "General Wu, it's not that I, Qiu Huan, want to play any tactics, but how to fight this battle."

"The enemy is strong and we are weak, the enemy is numerous and we are few, and there are gaps in the defense line. It is about to be lost. As the general of the anti-invasion, shouldn't he think of a way?"

"Should we bury the five military camps here? After the soldiers are finished, what should we do with Shenjing?"

Pang Lixing said: "War is not achieved overnight, but step by step. The general has just arrived and needs time to familiarize himself with the situation."

Zhou Yuan waved his hand and said: "Stop arguing, it's meaningless. "

"Qiu Huan, I don't want to make things difficult for you this time, just because you are still fighting in Shanhaiguan and not a deserter."

"Otherwise, the Emperor's Sword would have chopped off your head long ago."

As soon as the voice fell, the soldiers outside shouted.

"The Tartars retreated! The Tartars retreated!"

"They fled! We won! We held on!"

The cheers outside made the people in the beacon tower breathe a sigh of relief.

Qiu Huan said stubbornly: "I don't plan to take this head. If you can defeat the Eastern Tartars, you can cut off my head and use it as a chamber pot!"

He is also a soldier. Although he has always been at odds with Zhou Yuan, he still knows the terrible consequences of the loss of Shanhaiguan.

Zhou Yuan smiled and said: "Why is there no breakthrough? Tell me what you think."

Wu Dingzhong said: "The gap in strength is huge. We can only defend the city wall and cannot take the initiative to attack. We are also in a passive situation in the war. "

"In this situation, we can only fight back the way the other side fights. There is really no other way."

Pang Lixing said: "We have thought about taking the initiative before, and even tried it, but we are even worse at attacking on the ground. Opening the city gate and rushing out will only lead to our own destruction."

Zhou Yuan waved his hand and said: "Don't always focus on the battlefield of Shanhaiguan. The essence of war is politics. If you can't break the situation on the battlefield, find a breakthrough point in politics."

The three generals looked at each other, all confused.

Zhou Yuan said: "It's very simple, General Wu, now you are Nurhaci, think from the perspective of the Eastern Tartar, how should this battle be fought?"

Wu Dingzhong gritted his teeth and said: "From his perspective, of course it's easy to fight. The power is so much higher than the opponent, and one day they will win."

"The reason why we didn't launch a general attack is purely to retain more combat power in order to take over Shenjing and more land."

"He knows we can't afford to delay."

Zhou Yuan smiled and said: "Why can't we afford to delay? "

Wu Dingzhong said bitterly: "We have no money, the treasury is empty, and we have to find ways to collect military expenses. Every extra day of fighting here will make the treasury tighter."

"It's still a long way to go before the autumn tax. Our soldiers need to keep getting money. Otherwise, it will be difficult to stabilize the morale of the army in this situation. This alone will block us."

"I even guess that Nurhaci plans to spend another two months with us until we are exhausted and completely desperate before launching a general attack."

"In this way, he can take us down at the lowest cost."

Zhou Yuan nodded and said: "Well said, this is Nurhaci's idea, this is his politics."

"You also overlooked one point. He is sick and has not much time left. He plans to train a successor."

"To suppress the Eight Banners Beile, military merits and prestige are necessary. He wants his son to stand out, suppress more people, and gain more prestige, so it is also necessary to prolong the war."

"This is also politics. ”

Speaking of this, Zhou Yuan paused slightly and said: "Why can they prolong the war without pressure? Because they are not short of money!"

"Conquering Goryeo has brought them huge benefits, and they are very confident now."

Pang Lixing couldn't help but say: "What should we do? It's a dead end!"

"We can't win in a direct decisive battle, and we can't win even more if we drag it out."

Zhou Yuan smiled lightly and said: "They have no pressure, and there is another point, that is, their food and grass are sufficient."

"How much food do 80,000 to 90,000 people need to consume every day? What about tens of thousands of war horses?"

"If we can burn their food and grass, then they will only have two choices: retreat and decisive battle."

Pang Lixing said: "Nurhaci has no retreat. At this point, they haven't even taken Shanhaiguan. They will definitely not retreat."

"They will launch a decisive battle!"

Zhou Yuan said proudly: "What I want is for them to start a decisive battle!"