The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 244: We Should Fight a Stupid Battle

"Report! The Jin bandit army has moved." The scout reported: "They are carrying a large number of catapults and are moving very slowly. A large number of crooked horses are circling the army, leaving our scouts no chance."

Upon hearing the news, Qi Chongli and the Thirty-Second Eunuch were shocked.

Both of them looked nervous and hurried to see Madam Gong Er and the prince.

However, the expressions of both of them seemed very calm. The prince just smiled and said nothing, but Madam Gong Er waved her hand and shouted, "Prepare to fight."

"Leave the city?" Qi Chongli felt sick at the thought of these two words. As a former Minister of War, he felt the need to step forward and offer important advice: "Mr. Gong, I know you are incredibly brave, but the Jin bandits are masters of field combat. Zhao Sheng of Qingzhou, Yan Gao of Weizhou, and Li Kui of Mizhou were all defeated by the Jin bandits because they left the city to engage in a reckless battle. In my opinion, the best strategy is to defend the city to the death and fight a strategic battle."

Uncle Thirty-Second also quickly agreed: "We think so too."

Madam Gong Er: "Defending the city stubbornly and fighting a mediocre battle will only put us on the defensive and embolden the Jin thieves. Once they realize we dare not leave the city, they will bypass it, break through the various earthen forts we have deployed, and march straight into the hinterland, burning villages and towns, destroying farmland and mines, and finally besieging the city. This is the usual practice of the Jin thieves."

Qi Chongli's face turned grim after hearing this. What Madam Gong Er said was true. This was the "locking the city method" that the Jin thieves were best at. But even though they knew that the Jin army would fight like this, the Song army had no choice but to defend the city. They had no other choice because they would be beaten if they left the city. They would be beaten if they left the city... They had already suffered a psychological trauma.

Madam Gong Er: "We must lead an upright army and defeat the Jin army head-on in the field. Only then will the Jin thieves give up the idea of ​​using the 'lockdown method' and dare not harass our military villages again."

Qi Chongli: “…”

Ideals are full of hope, but reality is very skinny! Don’t you know that the enemy’s vanguard general’s name is Gu Wei?
Do you feel his bony figure?
If Gong Er Niangzi was not a bandit leader but the emperor, Qi Chongli would have planned to "die to remonstrate with him", but the other party was a bandit leader, and "die to remonstrate with him" would not work.

He had no choice but to look at the fake prince for help, hoping that he could speak up.

Yue Wenxuan smiled at him and winked. "Even if we win by defending the city, the enemy will be able to retreat calmly. It's better to fight in the open. After winning, we can use the power of victory to chase the enemy for twenty miles, seize their food and fodder, and even take some Iron Buddha armor back for collection."

Qi Chongli: “!!!”

Crazy, Gong Yishi and Jiahe Wang are both crazy.

Qi Chongli was about to complain when he suddenly felt something was wrong.

It seems that it is not just the two leaders who have gone crazy, the entire barracks seems to be crazy. When the soldiers heard that the Jin thieves were coming, although their faces showed the inevitable nervousness before the battle, they did not have the "cowardly", "cowardly", "I'm dead" feelings on the faces of the Song soldiers.

The soldiers were in a very stable mood, and many of them even had confident smiles on their faces.

One of the soldiers actually laughed: "A real gold thief's head costs thirty strings of cash! This time our team will have to kill two or three of them."

Another soldier holding a musket laughed and said, "Since joining the musketry, the calculation of military merit has changed. When the muskets are in formation, they are counted as 'strategic merit'. If they win, the entire unit is counted as a military merit. When it comes to pursuit and hand-to-hand combat, only the real gold thief's head is valuable."

The soldier chuckled and said, "Then we should defeat the Jin thieves head-on, and then chase the defeated soldiers and chop off their heads."

Everyone in the caravan started laughing: "Well said! This time we'll cut off two or three heads, and each of us will get a few coins."

Soldier: "My sword is thirsty for a long time."

Qi Chongli was shocked when he saw this: "Such high morale! Didn't the soldiers ever think about losing?"

He ran around the barracks, and wherever he saw the soldiers were, they were all full of confidence.

They were very different from the Song soldiers he had seen before... It was not until he ran to the outskirts of the barracks and saw a large group of bald soldiers that he felt the morale had obviously dropped.

The bald soldiers performed much worse than the Marshal's Office and the Royal Guards, at least they looked a little panicked on the outside.

These bald soldiers were led by two bald generals. Qi Chongli had met these two men before and remembered their names. They were military generals from Hebei, one named Wang Hong and the other named Li Cui.

Qi Chongli: "Ah, General Wang, General Li, you are here too?"

Wang Hong: "Ah, Lord Hou, you are here too?"

Qi Chongli: "Your heads..."

Wang Hong proudly stroked his bald head, his face gleaming with pride: "Isn't this head handsome?!"

Qi Chongli thought to himself: Your mother is so handsome.

But he said, "It's quite a sight!" Then he immediately changed the subject: "The Jin bandits are about to arrive, and the noble Gong wants to leave the city to fight. Why don't you and General Li go and advise him?"

Wang Hong: "Advice? What's the point of advising?"

Qi Chongli said: "We absolutely cannot fight recklessly. As the generals leading the army, you should know about military affairs. You should advise us to defend the city to the death. Fighting a slow battle is the best strategy."

Wang Hong and Li Cui shook their heads at the same time: "We are not the generals leading the army. We Hebei soldiers are here to serve as auxiliary troops."

Qi Chongli: "Ah? Elite soldiers from Hebei are actually serving as auxiliary troops here? This...what a waste."

Elite soldiers?

Wang Hong and Li Cui both smiled bitterly, thinking: Are the soldiers led by the two of us actually elite soldiers in the eyes of the Marquis?

If you think about it carefully, it seems to make sense.

Although they are very weak, Hebei is located on the "border" and the Hebei soldiers have been fighting with the northern ethnic minorities for a long time. Compared with the Central Plains soldiers and the Jiangnan soldiers, the Hebei soldiers can be regarded as elite soldiers.

It doesn’t matter if I’m bad, as long as my teammates are worse than me, I’m a damn elite soldier!
Wang Hong said, "My Lord, we must fight outside the city. We won the battle at Guwei last time. There's no need to defend the city this time. As the saying goes, defending a big city requires field battles. We are now defending the entire Jiaodong Peninsula, which is much larger than a big city. How can we avoid field battles?"

Qi Chongli: "It's more likely to be bad than good."

Wang Hong: "That may not be the case! Lord, please go outside the barracks and take a look at the people's spirit in the city, and you will know something."

Upon hearing this, Qi Chongli thought to himself: The people in the city? They must have been frightened and panicked, fleeing to the mountains and forests outside the city, right?
Even though he thought so, he still decided to go and have a look, because he was not a stubborn pedant, but a man who could get things done.

After running out of the barracks and arriving at Jiaoshui County, they were shocked to see that the common people did not seem to be fleeing in panic. Although they looked more cowardly than the auxiliary soldiers, they were all carrying various strategic materials on their shoulders and hands to transport them to the rebel army. Local soldiers, archers, militiamen from wealthy gentry, and laborers transporting food... were all running around in the city, shouting one after another.

The whole city was filled with excited sounds!

(End of this chapter)