Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Come in and talk."

Ren Yuan gestured for Tong Guan to enter the tent.

"Your Highness, it's been a long time."

Tong Guan was dressed in civilian clothes, and his wounds were deliberately exposed, so that anyone with eyes could see the bandages on his body.

"Have you seen the wounds at the Huichun Army's place?"

Ren Yuan could tell from the way the bandages were tied that Tong Guan had already gone to the doctor at Huichun Army.

"I've seen a doctor, and he said it's nothing serious. In fact, I feel like my injury is almost healed now."

Tong Guan grinned and flattered Hui Chunjun, it's hard to say whether he deliberately left the bandages exposed to stir up trouble.

"Alright, enough with the formalities. We're all family now. I heard from Ma Ling that you've left over 100,000 men here? And they're all men willing to fight the Liao Kingdom?"

Ren Yuan looked at Tong Guan and said.

"Yes, Your Highness, but now it's estimated that there are only eighty or ninety thousand left, but those who stayed are all courageous!"

"Emperor Huizong was a scoundrel, and Cai Jing, that old dog, was also a scoundrel, but none of us who joined the army are cowards!"

Tong Guan knelt down and spoke well of his soldiers:

"Your Highness, our brothers are all thinking about recovering Yan and Yun and bringing glory to our nation. As long as Your Highness can forgive past grievances, the lives of so many brothers are yours!"

"Get up. As long as you sincerely join my Dayi Army, then we are all brothers. All soldiers of the Dayi Army are good brothers who can entrust their backs to each other in times of war!"

Ren Yuan gestured to Tong Guan that he did not need to kneel. If these nearly 100,000 people were truly willing to surrender, they would undoubtedly be a vital force. Now that it was a siege, who would complain about having too many people?

"Your Highness, then I..."

Tong Guan seemed somewhat embarrassed to speak, which was understandable, since he and Ren Yuan had once been rivals. Although Tong Guan had reached an agreement with Ren Yuan at Liangshan after his defeat, he hadn't been as humble as he was now.

Now he has nowhere to go and has lost all his remaining strength, so he has no choice but to seek refuge with Ren Yuan. Tong Guan is worried that Ren Yuan will look down on him.

"Old Tong, you fought tough battles in the Western Army back then, and you even dared to defy imperial orders. How come you're so subservient to my brother now?"

Seeing Tong Guan's current state, Qin Ming couldn't help but speak up.

"This is... Commander Qin Ming?"

Tong Guan looked at the person who was speaking, thought for a moment, and then recognized Qin Ming.

"It's me. We met back when I was inspecting the troops in Tokyo."

Qin Ming nodded to Tong Guan as well. After many years, their statuses had changed drastically since they last met.

"Commander Qin is following the Prince, so he's sure to be successful. Unlike me, I've been misled and wasted so much time, only now coming under the Prince's command. I wonder..."

Tong Guan is now the subject of every other sentence, so Ren Yuan waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to say anything more.

"Old Tong, alright, I know what you want to say."

“I told you before that if one day I were to besiege Tokyo and you opened the gates for me, I would make a mark on history and let you be remembered.”

"Yes, His Highness said that back then."

Tong Guan perked up; all that preparation he'd been doing was for this!

“The situation has changed now. Although you did not have the merit of opening the gates to surrender the city, you were able to lead 100,000 troops to hold the front line, fight to the death and never retreat, and only wanted to recover Yanyun. This behavior is more than just a righteous act. Even if you do not surrender to me today, it is enough to leave a mark in the history books.”

"So you can rest assured that when Yan Yun returns, the credit will be yours, and I will give you every penny of it. Moreover, the credit for leading 100,000 troops to surrender is no less than that for opening the gates and surrendering the city."

Ren Yuan's words undoubtedly reassured Tong Guan.

After all, their positions used to be relatively close, but now they are worlds apart. Tong Guan was worried that Ren Yuan might go back on his word.

But he was overthinking it. Ren Yuan knew that after Tong Guan's death, all he wanted now was a good reputation. Given what he had done in his life, what difference would it make if he were given a good reputation?

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Tong Guan bowed again, and with this bow, he completely bound himself to Ren Yuan's chariot!

"Brother, what do we do next?"

Seeing that Tong Chuan had completely submitted, Qin Ming no longer cared and took the initiative to inquire about the next plan.

"That grandson of Yelü Zongyun will definitely hold the line; he probably won't go out of the city to meet the enemy again."

Ren Yuan thought about it and made his own judgment.

"So this kid is using cavalry like infantry."

Qin Ming shook his head. This was truly a waste of resources!

"If we don't take Nanjing, Yanyun will definitely not be able to return, so taking Nanjing is of paramount importance now."

Ren Yuan tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table, deep in thought.

"Brother, why don't we use our cavalry as infantry as well? We've done sieges before. The Liao people dared to use their cavalry as infantry, so why can't we?"

Qin Ming said that he was not incapable of serving as an infantryman; he would simply follow his brother's orders.

"Tong Guan, you've been fighting in Nanjing for a long time. Tell me, where are the best places to fight here?"

Ren Yuan thought for a moment and suddenly realized that since Tong Guan had been fighting the Liao people here for so long, he must have some experience. Why not listen to what he has to say?

Tong Guan was taken aback when he was suddenly called on. He had thought that he was done with the task, but he didn't expect to have to answer questions.

After regaining his senses, he could only reply with a wry smile:

"Your Highness, Nanjing is the most impregnable city I have ever conquered. Compared to it, the cities of those bastards from Western Xia are nothing but mud!"

"Back then, we had 300,000 men. Although Zhao Ji's first command of the siege was a mess, the fact that we had 300,000 men is still undeniable!"

"But with so many people, they couldn't even get onto the walls of Nanjing. Besides Emperor Huizong's incompetence, another important reason was that Nanjing was too difficult to attack! A direct assault was absolutely not advisable!"

Tong Guan expressed his opinion, while Qin Ming disagreed.

"Old Tong, to put it bluntly, firstly, my brother is not Zhao Ji, and secondly, although your soldiers are commendable for their courage, their individual combat strength is indeed lacking."

"Commander Qin, I know that the Dayi Army is based on the original Liangshan soldiers, and I also know the fighting strength of the Liangshan Army. But the problem is, we can't just go head-to-head and end up getting bloodied just because we have strong fighting strength!"

Tong Guan said, "Qin Ming, are you a brute?"

"I didn't say anything about a head-on confrontation."

Qin Ming jumped up and prepared to stand up, but after standing halfway, he sat back down. He decided to just pretend he hadn't heard anything, since it was Tong Guan's first day here and he was in front of his brother.

"So, do you have any good ideas?"

Ren Yuan understood Tong Guan's meaning and wanted to test him.

“Your Highness, Commander Qin, to be honest, I did come up with a plan before, but I couldn’t implement it. Today, Your Highness has captured so many Liao cavalry, so this plan can be put to use.”

Tong Guan remarked that he truly had a plan! Don't underestimate those who have been tempered on the battlefields of Western Xia!

"Expand and tell me."

"As the art of war says, the best strategy is to win hearts and minds, while the second best is to conquer cities. Your Highness, in this situation, why not launch a 'Song of Liao' from all sides?"

……