New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Five li outside the north gate of Guangling City lies the Jin army camp.

Inside the military tent, Wanyan Xie frowned, his face ashen, looking cold and furious. Just two hours earlier, he had boasted to Tang Qian that he would climb the walls of Guangling at noon today, and he felt even more ashamed and indignant.

The commander remained silent, and the subordinates standing below dared not speak even more. No one even had the courage to look up and sense the atmosphere. For a moment, the entire military tent fell into a silence where no one dared to breathe.

A series of hurried footsteps came from outside the tent. A guard lifted the tent flap and walked to the opposite side of Wanyan Xieye. He was about to report the battle casualty figures that he had just tallied when he hesitated for a moment. His face was very ugly and he didn't know how to start speaking.

Seeing the other party's hesitation, Wanyan Xieye's heart sank. However, the defeat in battle was already a fait accompli, and no matter how unwilling he was, he still had to face it.

Wanyan Xieye clenched his fists, suppressing the slight trembling in his body, and squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth: "Speak."

The guard hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and reported in a heavy voice: "In this attack on Guangling City, 2,163 people from each side died and more than 3,600 were wounded, including more than 1,400 seriously wounded. In addition, there are more than 670 who have not yet returned to camp. 126 generals of various ranks were also killed."

Upon hearing this long string of numbers, the generals present all breathed a slight sigh of relief. The battlefield just now was a magnificent spectacle filled with smoke and fire. Faced with such an unexpected situation, the Grand Marshal should be able to accept the casualties of less than 10%.

With an air of authority, Wanyan Xieye swept his gaze across the entire room. How could he not know what these people were thinking?

On the surface, the loss of less than 5,000 men was indeed within his acceptable range, but couldn't these brainless idiots make a simple comparison between the two?

Our side suffered over 5,000 casualties, but what did the enemy pay? Apart from some thrown explosives, nails, and pieces of iron, they suffered no losses whatsoever. The 30,000-strong army was bombarded continuously, and not a single soldier was able to get close to the enemy's moat.

In other words, as long as the enemy is well prepared, they only need to stand on the city wall and throw these cloth bags that can take lives instantly to wipe out their army.

No wonder Tang Qian dared to speak to me like that; it turns out he possessed such a powerful weapon. As long as he remained holed up in the city and didn't come out, I really didn't have any good strategies to break through it.

"Now that we have witnessed the enemy's prowess, let's all share our opinions. The new emperor of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou, is on the other side of the Yangtze River. We have an absolute advantage. If we are blocked on the north bank of the river and the other two armies seize the initiative, our Eastern Route Army will lose all face."

The generals looked at each other, realizing that the inevitable problem had finally arrived.

If they encountered the Song army's usual desperate resistance, they could naturally resort to siege tactics. However, the firearms the enemy was now using were things they had never seen before. The one-sided massacre that had just occurred had already terrified many tribal warriors. At this moment, the morale of the entire army was low. Even if they came up with some countermeasures, the effect would probably be much less than expected.

Wanyan Xieye's question instantly silenced the military tent once again. Everyone unconsciously took a step back and lowered their heads, showing no intention of meeting the Grand Marshal's gaze.

"Aren't you all supposed to be invincible warriors? What's wrong with you now? Just because you knew your enemy but not yourself, you were fooled by that little thief Tang Qian? A bunch of incompetent fools, you are a disgrace to the heroic blood of your ancestors flowing in your veins."

In the silence, a general cupped his hands towards Wanyan Xieye and said, “We are just brave warriors who only know how to charge into battle. We will obey the orders of the Grand Marshal. If the Grand Marshal tells us to go east, we will never go west. We will not hesitate to fight the enemy. But it is really difficult for us brave but reckless people to offer good strategies for breaking through the city.”

“Commander Wu is right. We have never seen the weapons thrown out of Guangling City before. However, even if the enemy’s firearms are sharp, we have no reason to back down. We will go through fire and water without hesitation, as ordered by the Grand Marshal.”

"We will go through fire and water without hesitation."

Looking at the statements of all the generals present, Wanyan Xie also sneered. The question he had raised had circled back to him. These people in front of him were really useless brutes.

However, it's no wonder that he couldn't blame others. He was too arrogant, always thinking that Guangling was just a small southern city that would be easy to conquer. That's why he didn't bring any strategists with him.

"After watching the battle today, I also think that Tang Qian's weapon is indeed powerful, but it still has a flaw. The explosion range of the cloth bag is not very large. One of the reasons why it was able to repel our army was the surprise attack. The most crucial problem is that our army's formation was too tight."

These words were like a wake-up call, and all the generals looked as if they had just been enlightened.

There is indeed a world of difference between a marshal and a general. These people could only see the power of the enemy's firearms, but they had no ability to see these key elements in such a chaotic battle.

"If our army disperses all its forces, the Song army's new weapons will have no advantage at all. As long as a section of the city wall is breached by our army, Guangling City will be in the pocket of our Great Jin."

When Wanyan Xieye initially devised the siege plan, he intended to fight Tang Qian to the death in the north of the city. That's why he concentrated 30,000 troops, thinking that he could take the city walls in one fell swoop. However, this turned out to be the key factor in his defeat.

"Since we can't concentrate our forces to launch an attack from one point, let's disperse our troops and attack all four city gates at the same time. I don't believe that Tang Qian has deployed heavy troops on every section of the city wall."

However, the other three city gates are indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack. The easiest place to break through is the north gate. Wanyan Xie still needs to carefully consider and come up with a perfect military force allocation plan.

"Assemble 15,000 troops to attack the west gate, thereby diverting Tang Qian's attention. As for the north gate, extend the battle line to its longest point, from east to west, with the entire city wall serving as our attack point. Fighting on two fronts will inevitably throw the enemy into disarray."

"After you return to camp, please reassure all the soldiers. We will surely be able to take Guangling City in tomorrow's battle."