Son of Song Dynasty

Chapter 120
After Fang Zhengqi stepped back, Zhao Dezhao let out a sigh of relief.

Different from the meaning expressed in the joke just now, he actually didn't doubt Fang Zhengqi's judgment at all in his heart, and he had already made a decision. He said that he wanted to discuss with Pan Mei, but it was just a tactful veto.

It is obviously impossible for a military general who is so shameless and shameless to eunuch himself to gain the respect and support of his subordinates, and it is also unlikely to have the prestige of a general.

As the saying goes, there will be a raging nest. With such an army led by a general, the combat effectiveness can be imagined, and it is very possible that it will collapse at the first touch.

Therefore, what Fang Zhengqi said was very reasonable, and it was indeed a mature and prudent statement. It must be right for the army to go out to seek a "stable" word.

What's more, when Zhao Dezhao's emperor's father gave the opportunity face-to-face before the expedition, what he told him meant the same: advance steadily and don't take risks.

But Zhao Dezhao knew very well in his heart that things couldn't be done like this!

"General Pan, in your opinion, is it better to ride Tianling or cross Chengling?"

Not long after Fang Zhengqi left, Zhao Dezhao invited Pan Mei over to secretly discuss the direction of the march.

Pan Mei raised her eyes and glanced at Zhao Dezhao, with a wry smile on her lips and said: "With His Highness's temperament, he must have made up his mind a long time ago. Why must he pretend to discuss it with the general? We will march as His Highness says, and the general will not object to it anyway. Also useless."

Zhao Dezhao was startled for a moment, and then laughed out loud, this man is becoming more and more sensible.Immediately, he stopped pretending and made his words clear.

"This king wants to be quick. You knew about this early in the morning, but before the expedition, my father repeatedly told me to listen to the general's words when things happen, so this king still needs to know the general's intentions."

After saying this, Zhao Dezhao stared at Pan Mei without blinking, waiting for his answer.

Pan Mei's guess was right, Zhao Dezhao had indeed made up his mind, and the so-called listening to opinions was just a posturing, a pretense.

No matter what opinion Pan Mei holds, it will not change Zhao Dezhao's established decision.

But Zhao Dezhao still needs him to make a clear statement. This is not a simple military issue, but a political stance.

Pan Mei knew very well that if she made a statement following Zhao Dezhao's attempt to "seek quickness", if she was frustrated or even defeated in Qitianling, then she might be blamed for her misconduct; However, if he takes a stance of opposition, Zhao Dezhao will think that he is only seeking self-protection and is unwilling to take responsibility together. This is an unreliable position.

No matter what kind of statement you make, you have to bear unpredictable risks, but you can't influence the result. This feeling makes Pan Mei very helpless and annoyed, as if being forced to go to the gambling table with a knife to make a big bet , but doesn't even have the power to shake the dice, thinking about it makes me very aggrieved!
If you lead the army by yourself, you can fight wherever you want, and you can fight as you want, regardless of life or death, you will recognize everything yourself, wouldn't it be neat and happy?
After a long time of intense inner struggle, Pan Mei finally spoke, with some hesitation in her words: "Your Highness, I didn't think that..."

"General Pan!" Zhao Dezhao suddenly stood up and raised his hand to stop him: "My lord sees that you have a sick face, it seems that you have contracted an epidemic disease, please rest and recuperate these days, and ignore military affairs for the time being! "

Pan Mei opened her mouth wide in astonishment, showing extreme surprise, mixed with some gratitude.

How could he not know that this was Zhao Dezhao letting him go. In case of defeat in the next battle, he could set aside most of the responsibilities, which was equivalent to His Royal Highness taking all the responsibility for the decision-making of the war alone.

But is His Highness the County King okay?
……

"No, Your Highness, the terrain here is too dangerous. The soldiers attacked all day long, and no one can climb the wall!"

A majestic pass is located near the mountains and rivers, on the west bank of the Qinshui River Valley, with steep peaks on the left and river channels on the right.

As dusk approached, the Song Army's onslaught was repulsed by the defenders of the Guancheng. Apart from leaving piles of corpses at the base of the wall, they did not achieve any results. Even the battlements on the top of the Guancheng wall were not significantly damaged. , Fan Yongfu, who personally led the siege team, retreated in embarrassment with a black face, and played back to Zhao Dezhao, who was watching the battle and supervising the battle.

Half a month ago, after Zhao Dezhao gathered the rear team of Qi Nanzheng army, he stayed in Lingling, rested for three days, and then led the troops to the Yanguan.

Yanguan was the first pass line of defense set up in Qitianling in the Southern Han Dynasty. According to Fang Zhengqi, there were [-] elite soldiers guarding it.

According to "Sun Tzu's Art of War", five attacks and ten encircle the enemy. The [-] Song army against the enemy's [-] defenders should be more than ten times, but the difficulty is that the terrain is too dangerous.

The Qinshui River from north to south meanders through the Nanling Mountains here, opening a gap in the high mountains. With the migration and changes of the river channel for thousands of years, a long and narrow river beach has been scoured on the west side of the river channel. On the flat ground, the most convenient access to Lingnan, Yanguan is located on this river beach, just blocking the entrance for the army to go south.According to Fang Silang, a member of the Ministry of War who accompanied the army, as early as the Qin Dynasty and the early Han Dynasty, when Zhao Tuo began to build Nanyue, he built a pass here, which also proves the danger of this pass from the side.

After setting up camp, the Song army first made a tentative attack on Guancheng to test its defense situation. Judging from the current situation, it is obviously a hard bone that is not easy to chew.

Zhao Dezhao looked up at the strict Guancheng, and felt as if he was in a hell surrounded by peaks. There were steep peaks on the left and right, and the Qin River meandered through it like a white ribbon. Jian, it seems that it is not much lower than the surrounding peaks.

There is no need to read military books, Zhao Dezhao can see the difficulty at a glance just based on his experience in playing real-time strategy video games - the front width of this broken place is too narrow, even with an absolutely superior force, it cannot be deployed.

After taking a look at the sky, I saw that most of the sun in the west had disappeared into the mountains. With the lighting conditions at this time, a night battle to attack the city was basically blind and not worth trying.

Zhao Dezhao was a little depressed, and signaled the flag officer of the Chinese army, Ming Jin, to withdraw.

In fact, by this time, there were no soldiers left. Almost all of the hundreds of soldiers who had entered the city were dead. The mountain wind is soaked in a faint smell of blood, and there is even a disgusting stench, which is the so-called "golden juice" poured down on the city wall - it is a widely used weapon for defending the city in this era .

Chapter 121 Offer advice
During the tentative siege, what Zhao Dezhao couldn't bear the most was this so-called "golden juice".

Throughout the afternoon, he saw with his own eyes that the Southern Han soldiers guarding the city poured dung juice on the top of the city. , it's still a fucking south wind right now!

Suddenly, a voice sounded next to him, pulling Zhao Dezhao's thoughts back from the dung.

"Your Highness, since there is a pass city in front of us, why don't our troops go down the river? They still have the ability to erect the wall on the water!"

It was Liu Hui who offered advice and advice. He was the son of general Liu Yu and one of the "army staff officers" recruited by Zhao Dezhao in the palace school. In the experience of joining the army, it was the first time today that he really saw the army fighting with his own eyes. He was so excited that he yelled all afternoon, which made Zhao Dezhao extremely irritable.

At this moment, his face was flushed with excitement, his nose fluttered, and his voice was high-pitched, as if he thought of an obvious solution to break the situation.

(End of this chapter)