eurekapd Chapter 793: Qian Kingdom’s Defense Deployment
Chapter 793: Qian Kingdom’s Defense Deployment
In terms of surrendering to the State of Yan, Wenbo and Gongyang Zhan were on the same front. Although they belonged to different factions in the court, they had to speak for each other at this time.
Wenbo continued,
"Your Majesty, the Emperor of Yan has indeed made moves to persuade the two of us to surrender."
Hearing this, Emperor Qian narrowed his eyes and said,
"Oh? And you two agreed, and then returned to Qian Country to act as their spies?"
Hearing this, Wen Bo and Gong Yang Zhan fell to their knees.
Wenbo immediately said,
"Your Majesty, I am deeply wronged. Initially, the Emperor of Yan tried to persuade Lord Gongyang to surrender, and even invited Gongyang Ge to act as a lobbyist, hoping to persuade Lord Gongyang to rebel.
But he was sternly rejected by Lord Gongyang, who said that a loyal minister should not serve two masters. The Gongyang family had already produced one loyal minister and must not have a second one.
A son is a son, a father is a father. Gong Yang Zhan said that he would never do anything that would bring shame to the family.
Later, the Emperor of Yan again tried to persuade me to surrender, but I sternly refused. I said, "Even if I were to be cut into pieces by the Yan army, I would never betray the Emperor or the country."
Gong Yang Zhan also said immediately,
"Yes, Your Majesty. Whether on the road or in the Yan army camp, Lord Wen and I always eat, live, and sleep together, and supervise each other. Even if the Emperor of Yan summons one of us alone, the other will follow closely and listen, not giving her the opportunity to persuade us to surrender alone.
Although Lord Wen and I have disagreements on many other issues, we are in agreement on this matter, that is, we will never surrender to the State of Yan.
"Our Great Qian Empire is the Celestial Empire. How could our ministers stoop to the level of barbarians and kowtow to them?"
Emperor Qian still had doubts in his mind about what they said, and naturally could not believe it completely.
The two people's statements are so consistent that it is unlikely that one surrendered and the other did not. It is very likely that both of them surrendered, or neither of them surrendered.
But he could not produce any evidence in this matter, nor could he prove that they had surrendered to the enemy, let alone imprison them.
After all, these two people appear to be loyal and honest people.
Emperor Qian pondered for a long time and asked again,
"My two beloved ministers, you said you saw the Yan army in action with your own eyes. So, in your opinion, which is stronger, our Daqian army or the Yan army?"
Gong Yangzhan and Wenbo looked at each other, and then said in unison,
"I don't know."
"You don't know, or you don't dare to say it?"
"I am a civilian official and do not understand military affairs. However... whether in terms of manpower, morale, or weaponry, our army... does not have any advantages."
"That's the truth!"
Emperor Qian snorted coldly.
"If you don't even dare to tell the truth, what's the point of this court meeting? Let me ask you one more question. Tell the truth. Are Gong Yang Ge willing to be our internal supporter?"
Hearing this, Gong Yang Zhan said,
"Your Majesty, I have failed to educate my son properly. Please forgive me. Gongyang Ge has been blinded by his own ignorance. I don't know what kind of bewitching potion the Emperor of Yan and Prince Lanling have been using to deceive him. He refuses to be an accomplice, saying that he has already betrayed Daqian and cannot betray Dayan again. He is a despicable villain who keeps changing his ways.
I scolded him and said that he was a shameless villain.
I was furious, and when I returned, I announced that he would be expelled from the family and his name would be removed from the family tree."
Emperor Qian snorted coldly and said,
"You are not the head of the Gongyang family, so what qualifications do you have to remove Gongyang Ge from the family tree?
Shouldn't the head of your Gongyang family make the decision on this matter?
Master, what do you think?"
Emperor Qian looked at Prime Minister Gongyang Chun.
Gong Yangchun smiled slightly and said,
"Your Majesty, you are joking. When brothers grew up, they separated into different families. There is no such thing as a head of a family. Everyone is the master of his own family.
Your Majesty, please issue an order to remove Gong Yang Ge from the family tree."
"Whether or not to include it in the family tree is your family affair. I have no right to interfere. Let's not waste time talking about it. Let's discuss military affairs.
Nowadays, in addition to recruiting local troops from various places, the main central army still has 800,000 people left.
Of these 800,000 people, 400,000 were in the capital and 400,000 were on the northern border.
It was stationed at the junction of Lingling City in my country and Yongzhou County in Chu State.
According to intelligence, the Yan State's Eastern Army has 900,000 troops and the Western Army has 350,000 troops, and they are about to join forces.
After the meeting, it will definitely be time for them to march south in large numbers.
Everyone, tell me, how should we fight this battle?"
All the ministers fell silent and kept silent.
In this situation, who would dare to speak? It doesn't look like they can win the fight.
"Captain, you are in charge of military affairs, you decide what to do."
Hearing this, the Taiwei had to stand up and said,
"Your Majesty, it is unrealistic to rely on only 400,000 people to resist the Yan army of over one million.
However, it is even more unrealistic to transfer all the troops in the capital to the front line. After all, we don’t know whether the Yan army will split into two groups to attack Yugui.
Therefore, the 400,000-strong army in the capital cannot be moved lightly. This is our last resort."
"Then let the Yan army defeat us one by one?"
Emperor Qian asked in a cold voice.
Another minister stood up and said,
"Your Majesty, I believe that dividing our forces will only allow the Yan army to defeat us one by one. Allowing the enemy to constantly use their superior forces to attack our weaker forces will only lead to a complete defeat.
I believe we should gather all our forces to meet the Yan army and fight to the death. Success or failure depends on this one move!"
The general immediately said,
"No, the Yan army is strong, with 150,000 cavalry. A legionary battle would be a dead end. We must rely on the terrain for defense.
Your Majesty, the Yan army is heading south to attack Yugui and will inevitably have to pass through Guilin.
Our army can set up a defense line.
The 400,000 troops in Lingling City on the northern defense line stayed behind to fight a decisive battle with the Yan army, relying on the city defense to fight, but not to fight to the death. They had to preserve their manpower, fight a war of attrition and guerrilla warfare, and slow down the Yan army.
The second line of defense is the defense line in the Guilin area, which includes the Longhu Gorge defense line in the north of Guilin and the Sanguan defense line in the northeast of Guilin.
That is Qingshui Pass, Yong'an Pass and Leikou Pass.
The three passes run through the north and south, with canyons on both sides. They are easy to defend but difficult to attack because of the narrow terrain. No matter how large the enemy's army is, the number of troops that can be deployed at a time is very small.
The situation in Longhu Gorge is the same.
For these two lines of defense, Yugui can send 100,000 central troops and 100,000 local troops to defend them respectively.
In this way, Yugui still has 200,000 central troops left.
I have received a memorial stating that one hundred thousand local troops can be sent to the area south of Yugui in two months.
These 300,000 people formed the last line of defense to fight the enemy."
After hearing what the general said, Emperor Qian nodded in satisfaction and said,
"What is a good strategy? This is the good strategy! It's not like you guys, who only talk big and shout about fighting to the death. We must fight, but the key is how to fight!"
"Convey my order. Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Army, Jin Haoqian, will continue to lead the 5678th Legion in stationing defense. If defeated, they may withdraw to the Guilin defense line."