The World Online

Sanhe City, Kehan Tent.

The tied-up Zhang Hongfan was finally able to meet the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan.

“Speak, what exactly happened last night?”

Kublai Khan had already calmed down from his anger. He was a mighty Lord and would not let his emotions dictate his actions. If not, Zhang Hongfan would not be able to survive till now.

Zhang Hongfan relaxed a little. He did not dare to hide anything and descriptively told everything that had happened. Whilst describing it, Zhang Hongfan did not add in his personal emotions and gave a true picture.

Kublai Khan had his own judgement, which was why Zhang Hongfan did not dare play any tricks. One had to say that Zhang Hongfan had a great understanding of Kublai Khan.

Listening to his words, Kublai Khan continued and asked, “What plan do you have?” These words were in truth pardoning Zhang Hongfan’s death sentence and giving him a chance to atone for his sins.

Zhang Hongfan suppressed his emotions and simply said, “The defeat yesterday was due to our military unity, but it did not really affect the core of our army. As long as we plan well, with your majesty personally leading and raising their morale, we would definitely breakthrough.”

Looking at the situation, Zhang Hongfan was not dejected at all and appeared to be really confident.

“Be more specific.”

“Through these few days of battles, I have realized that the enemy has a fatal weakness.” Zhang Hongfan used his killing method and slowly said, “During the earlier period of time, we sent the Chinese to build the castles, but the South Song troops did not stop them. Through this, we can see that they are soft and unwilling to attack their own kind.”

“You’re saying?” Kublai Khan was slowly getting more and more interested.

“As long as we gather a batch of Chinese people and chase them to the frontlines, and then force them to charge at the city gates whilst shooting at them, Lin’an will open up,” Zhang Hongfan said.

“Once the city gates open, Lin’an city would definitely fall.”

If there was a Chinese person standing here, he would definitely want to skin and boil Zhang Hongfan alive.

“This person was simple too evil.”

For his personal honor, Zhang Hongfan was actually going to sacrifice the lives of numerous Chinese. One must not forget that although Zhang Hongfan did not grow up under South Song rule, his blood was pure Chinese blood.

Kublai Khan was really happy, as Zhang Hongfan’s suggestion was exactly what he wanted. He had already decided that after taking down Lin’an City, disregarding the opposition from the Han officials, he would massacre the city for three days.

There was no one who does not pay a blood price for killing Mongols.

Kublai Khan let the men untie Zhang Hongfan and spoke, “You are in charge of this matter. If you take down Lin’an, not only will you be pardoned, but you will even be promoted!”

“Yes, your majesty!”

Zhang Hongfan’s face turned red.

“Go and prepare. Three days later, I’ll personally lead the expedition to Lin’an.”

“Yes, your majesty!”

…

18th day of the Battle Map, Lin’an City.

Two days had passed since that siege attack. From yesterday onward, the six Mongol Army Camps were broken, and they once again gathered up on the frontlines.

After the sneak attack ended, the north camp gathered 250 thousand Mongol troops. The six camps, including the soldiers that had escaped, numbered at around 450 thousand men.

This also meant that during the sneak attack, from a total of 300 thousand men from the three Mongol camps, 100 thousand escaped while 200 thousand died.

In just one night, the Mongol army had lost twice the number they had lost in the war so far.

At this point, only 700 thousand men remained from the million men army.

Even so, South Song was a tall mountain that was difficult to climb over.

Last afternoon, they had finished tabulating the casualty report.

After the huge war, 290 thousand players were left from 340 thousand. Amongst which, 150 thousand were cavalry and 140 thousand were infantry. The 150 thousand Great Song Guards troops were even worse, with 50 thousand left.

Logically speaking, Lin’an city had 340 thousand troops defending it. Facing the 700 thousand troops, lasting for 12 days would not be a problem. After all, the Mongol army’s surrendered troops, support troops, and random units were all used up. Even their Xiangyang Cannon suffered heavy casualties ,and it would be hard for them to replicate the siege tactics they used at the start.

A head on siege was one that the Mongol army did not have much of an advantage in.

As a result, after the sneak attack, it was like a huge storm had rose up within Lin’an city, and even Chun Shenjun and the others had an optimistic attitude.

However, Ouyang Shuo felt uneasy.

After the battle ended, under the insistence of Ouyang Shuo, the Grand Council did not lower their guard. They sent out men to patrol to investigate the Mongol army actions.

Very quickly, the matter of the Mongol army catching Chinese was reported to the Grand Council.

“What are they planning, sending Chinese to build castles again?” Ouyang Shuo did not understand. Without the prisoners charging at the front, the Mongol cavalry would not dare to siege.

If that happened, Ouyang Shuo would not be afraid. With the grain they had obtained as something to rely on, Lin’an city could defend itself till the month deadline was reached.

In the hall, the expressions of Zhang Shijie and Wen Tianxiang suddenly became solemn.

“The situation is not that simple.” Wen Tianxiang’s face was really ugly.

Ouyang Shuo’s eyes froze, “Did you all think back to something?”

Xiong Ba and the others looked over.

Wen Tianxiang and Zhang Shijie exchanged glances and said in a low tone, “Based on Mongol military habits, they do not capture civilians to only to build castles and get oil. There’s also another strategy, which is to force us to open the city gates and allow the people in. The moment the gates open, the Mongol army would use the chance to strike.”

Xiong Ba asked, “Since that’s the case, why did not they not do so earlier?” No matter how they looked at it, it was more effective than the previous strategy.

Zhang Shijie replied first, “Normally, the defending side would rather look on at the civilians being shot by the Mongols and would not open up. Hence, this strategy might not be effective and is not their top choice. Only because we did not shoot the civilians when they built the castles did the Mongols see through our weakness.”

“….”

The atmosphere in the hall was really weird.

Zhang Shijie’s words showed that he did not support being too merciful to the civilians. When they voted to attack the castles, Zhang Shijie had voted yes.

Seeing that Lu Xiufu had become a sacrifice, and there were only six members left in the Grand Council. Ouyang Shuo, Guo Ziyi, and Wen Tianxiang would not refuse the civilians from entering. Hence, no matter how they voted, Zhang Shijie would lose.

The best outcome would be a draw.

Who knew that Xiong Ba would step out, “Since we have already done it, we must stick to it. If they use such a despicable method, we have to have a final battle against them within the city.”

Zhang Shijie looked at Xiong Ba in surprise, and his face became even uglier.

With Xiong Ba’s support, there was no way they would reject the civilians. Thinking about the 700 thousand Mongol troops charging into Lin’an city, Zhang Shijie felt pained.

Ouyang Shuo was really calm, and he smiled, “There’s a way to defend, and there’s a way not to. We have crushed them once, and we can do it twice.”

“Easily said, but if we do not defend, how will we fight?” Zhang Shijie was not that optimistic.

Seeing that Zhang Shijie was not making things easy for his king, Jia Xu stepped out, “General Zhang, do not give up hope, I have an idea.”

“Please speak!”

Everyone knew about the fame of Jia Xu, and they all held high hopes for him.

Jia Xu said, “My king is right, there’s a way not to defend. Since we know that the enemy will use such a tactic, let’s just open a gate and let them in.”

“What should we do after that?” Zhang Shijie asked.

“Very simple, while we open up a gate, we will position an army outside to act as a human wall to prevent the enemy from entering.”

Jia Xu’s idea was fresh.

Zhang Shijie was a little hesitant, “I’ve calculated, if the troops outside are big enough not to be wiped out, we would need at least 200 thousand men. Then, wouldn’t Lin’an city be empty? How would we defend?”

When Ouyang Shuo saw that, his expression turned solemn. Although he did not raise his voice, it was filled with killing intent, “How to defend Lin’an city is not only a military matter and is not only the concern of the player forces.”

“We need to make it clear to the civilians that if Lin’an is broken into, the Mongols will kill everyone. If they don’t want to be killed, they have to fight for themselves.”

“For one to live, one will still have to depend on themselves in the end.”

When Zhang Shijie heard that, he felt ashamed. That’s right. The Lin’an people and even the entire South Song were too reliant on the players. They had forgotten that the players were the guests, and they were the true owners of the city. How could they ask the guests to charge at the front whilst they did nothing?

Ouyang Shuo did not mind and continued, “Although there are not enough troops, we can recruit teens and healthy men. No weapons? They can find some from the battlefield outside of the city. No defensive resources? They can demolish their own houses. No fuel? They can use their cooking oil. No iron to make arrows? They can use their own bowls and pots.”

“We must let them realize that this is not a simple city defense and is a life or death battle that concerns the survival of their civilization. For victory, we must go all out and gamble everything.”

Ouyang Shuo’s words riled up everyone and made everyone realize that this was his true feelings.

South Song was wiped out because the people lacked the determination to go all out.

If it were Han or Tang, it would not be that bad.

This battle had given Ouyang Shuo many thoughts, which was why he said those words. He believed that only by using the power of the entire city would the victory in this battle have meaning.

If not, it was just a passing cloud.

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