Chapter 893 Diplomatic Mediation!

"Zhang Ye, you must always remember that those who are not of our race must have different hearts..."

"We must support Jamukha to take the throne and become the Great Khan of Luobi, but we must also be on guard against him. We must plant a nail for him within Luobi and create conflicts for him within Luobi so that he cannot control Luobi as he pleases!"

"It doesn't matter whether Jamukha knows that we rescued Nurjiang or not, because no matter whether he knows or not, he will definitely pretend not to know for the sake of the overall situation!"

"His becoming the Great Khan is not the end. Luo Bi is no longer the same Luo Bi as before. He has to face the powerful Golden Horde. Jamukha knows that he needs us. Only we can help him at this time!"

Gao Shen's expression became more determined when he said this. He hesitated for a while and continued to say to Zhang Ye:

"After the Sarger Conference is over and Jamukha becomes the Great Khan, I will go to the Luobi Royal Court to meet Jamukha!"

"Zhang Ye, tell Nurjiang that I am going to the court of King Luobi this time to mediate the relationship between him and Jamukha. As long as he pleads guilty and acknowledges Jamukha's throne, I can ask Jamukha to pardon his crime and let him continue to lead his people!"

Zhang Ye was shocked when he heard this. After hesitating for a moment, he said to Gao Shen:

"High Commissioner, I'll tell Nurjiang that it's OK, but will Jamukha agree?"

Gao Shen nodded confidently and said:
"As long as we exert enough pressure, I believe Jamukha will be willing to compromise..."

"Although the Marshal had promised Jamukha that he would provide another batch of supplies to Luobi as long as he became the Great Khan of Luobi, he did not promise what specific aid he would provide!"

"I will go to the court of the King of Luobi next. On the one hand, I will represent the Marshal to congratulate Jamukha on becoming the Great Khan of Luobi. On the other hand, I will also discuss the specific list of aid for Luobi. The Marshal has given me the discretion to provide aid, which is one of the bargaining chips for me and Jamukha in the negotiation!"

"In addition, I have also talked with the Solon tribe in the past few days. We have reached an important consensus on unity and peace within the Robe. We all don't want to see killings within the Robe again. The Robe should unite to fight against the Golden Horde. At the Sarge Conference, the Solon tribe will express their opinions to Jamukha!"

"The Solon tribe is one of the important powerful factions in Luobi. Jamukha must listen carefully to their opinions. Together with Nurjiang's previous supporters, I believe Jamukha will seriously consider our proposal for peace and make a choice that is in the interests of Luobi!"

Gao Shen's words immediately brightened Zhang Ye's eyes, and he immediately said:

"Commissioner Gao, rest assured. I will do a good job in persuading Nurjiang and make him grateful to our army!"

Hearing this answer, Gao Shen nodded with satisfaction. As Ye Mingsheng made changes to his policy towards Luobi, the diplomats of the Fengwu Army had to use more means to win over and divide the various forces within Luobi, intensify the conflicts between them, and make them more dependent on the Fengwu Army, so as to complete the task assigned by the Marshal...

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Pingyang, at the foot of Eryang Mountain

It was still the traditional routine of the Fengwu Army. After hundreds of heavy artillery had bombarded for half an incense stick of time, tens of thousands of Fengwu Army soldiers launched a charge towards the mountain.

In the past half month, the Fengwu Army successively captured Lanjiaopo and Helong Town, the last two strongholds of the Imperial Army outside Pingyang City, and wiped out more than 10,000 enemy troops. This marked that the Fengwu Army had completed the encirclement of Pingyang City and could officially start the siege.

Pingyang City is a city built on a mountain. Next to the city is Eryang Mountain. This also means that Pingyang City can be attacked from a high position on Eryang Mountain.

This means that the simplest and most effective way to capture Pingyang City is to capture Eryang Mountain. Once Eryang Mountain is captured, Pingyang City will naturally be undefendable.

At that time, the more than 10,000 infantrymen of the Third Army fought with the Imperial Guards on Eryang Mountain seven times. Finally, they were forced to abandon Eryang Mountain due to heavy casualties. Then, Pingyang City was captured just three days later.

Therefore, after completing the encirclement of Pingyang, Yuan Song made the capture of Eryang Mountain his primary goal. As long as Eryang Mountain was captured, the Fengwu Army's artillery could be set up on Eryang Mountain and bombard the city from a high position. The imperial guards in the city could only passively take the beating and could not fight back at all.
Yuan Song, who was attacking, knew the importance of Eryang Mountain. Yang Chongqing, who was defending, was also very clear about it. Therefore, he arranged 35,000 of his 65,000 imperial guards to Eryang Mountain.

In addition, he changed the style of Huangfengling, Lanjiaopo and Helong Town, and ordered the defenders to fight to the death with the Fengwu Army in Eryang Mountain without giving an inch.

During the attack on Eryang Mountain, the Fengwu Army was able to capture some mountain passes by taking advantage of artillery fire during the day, but at night they would often be attacked by the Imperial Guards, and some positions would be lost to the enemy. This also made Yuan Song feel Yang Chongqing's determination to resist.

Seeing that the offensive of the Fengwu Army was repelled by the enemy troops guarding the mountain peak, Yuan Song put down the telescope with a serious expression. Seeing this, Ye Tao, the general of the Eighth Division in charge of this offensive, said with some shame:
"Master Yuan is giving us a chance. This time I will lead the team myself and we will definitely take this hill!"

Feeling Ye Tao's determination to succeed or die, Yuan Song turned his head to look at him, then shook his head and said:

"Sound the horn to call off the troops. Let's stop here for today and let the soldiers have a good rest!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Tao said anxiously:

"Master Yuan, please give us another chance..."

Yuan Song turned a deaf ear to Ye Tao's request and walked down the watchtower. Seeing that Yuan Song had made up his mind, Ye Tao was very annoyed and helpless, but he could only obey the order to call back the troops. As the horn of the Fengwu Army camp sounded, cheers of victory suddenly rang out in the Imperial Army camp on the hilltop. They used the most vicious language to mock the powerlessness of the Fengwu Army soldiers. However, before they could be arrogant for a while, the Fengwu Army's heavy artillery roared again, turning the hilltop into a sea of ​​fire with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

Seeing this scene, Ye Tao, who had issued the order to fire, looked much less angry. Yuan Song only asked him to call off the troops, but did not say to stop the attack on the hill. The artillery attack could still teach these bastards a profound lesson!

At this time, Yuan Song had returned to the camp and began to think about countermeasures.

Although the Fengwu Army had an absolute firepower advantage over the Imperial Guards at this time, Yang Chongqing also understood this point, so the Imperial Guards did not waste any time in Eryang Mountain. They built many solid fortifications on some key mountain passes of Eryang Mountain, especially against the artillery of the Fengwu Army, and they built many bunkers.

When the Fengwu Army bombarded, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard hid in the bunkers. When the bombardment ended and the Fengwu Army charged, the soldiers of the Imperial Guard came out of the bunkers to meet the enemy. Because of the existence of these bunkers, the artillery of the Fengwu Army could only cause very limited damage to the soldiers of the Imperial Guard during the attack...

However, as the destructive power of artillery, the most powerful weapon, was restricted, the Fengwu Army continued to advance, but the speed of advancement was very slow and the casualties were heavy.

To be honest, facing this kind of tough battle, the traditional way is to use several times the number of troops to attack fiercely. Yang Chongqing used this method to capture Pingyang. He assembled nearly 100,000 main forces of the imperial army to attack the three battalions of the third division of the Pingyang Fengwu Army. The difference in the number of troops between the two sides was more than eight times, which allowed Yang Chongqing to capture Pingyang in half a month.
After a series of battles, the total enemy strength in Pingyang is still about 60,000, and the Fengwu Army has about the same number. The artillery advantage is not very ideal in the face of enemy fortifications and bunkers, so Yuan Song has no good solution now.

After thinking it over, Yuan Song believed that the most effective way in the current situation was to transfer troops from the rear. With the addition of new forces, the speed of attacking would be much faster.

But should we draw troops from the 9th Division in Jinyang, the 10th Division in Jinzhong, or should we draw parts from both divisions?
Just as Yuan Song was thinking about this question, his new captain of the personal guard, Lin Musen, came in and reported:

"Sir, Captain Zhang from the Coordination Office came to see you. He said he has important intelligence to report..."

Upon hearing the news, Yuan Song's expression suddenly became serious. Then he nodded at Lin Musen, and Lin Musen immediately took the order and left.

Soon, Zhang Xiaojie, a centurion of the Coordination Office, came to Yuan Song. After greeting Yuan Song, Zhang Xiaojie directly reported:

"Master Yuan, our Coordination Office has received intelligence that an eagle division deployed by the Kipchaks on the Yongliang border is heading towards Yunbing. It is expected that they will launch an attack on Yunbing in the next five to ten days!"

Yuan Song was also very surprised to hear the news. Although he knew that Zhang Xiaojie must be very confident to come to report to him, because the matter was of great importance, Yuan Song had to be more cautious and asked:
"Zhang Xiaojie, how confident are you about this information?"

Zhang Xiaojie said without hesitation:
"Sir Yuan, we have verified this news through multiple channels in the Coordination Office. We are almost 100% sure that the Golden Horde's Eagle Division will go south to Yunbing!"

At this point Zhang Xiaojie hesitated for a moment, but still spoke in a low voice:
“Sir Yuan, there’s news from Yijing that the Great Khan of the Golden Horde, Asdogan, wrote a personal letter to our Marshal some time ago. He was very arrogant and made many rude requests, which were severely criticized by our Marshal. So according to the character of the Golden Horde, they must have been angry and humiliated, so they invaded the south…”

After hearing what Zhang Xiaojie said, Yuan Song nodded slightly and no longer doubted the authenticity of the news. He pondered for a moment and asked again:
"How many people are there in the enemy's Eagle Division? What's the name of the commander? Where will they enter Yunbing from?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaojie immediately said:

'The enemy's commander is called Taiyak, and he used to be a personal guard of Esiduoan. Esiduoan promoted him to the general of the Eagle Division when he became the Khan of the Golden Horde. The Eagle Division under his command does not have many soldiers, only about 10,000, and the combat effectiveness is not particularly strong. As for which direction they will enter Yunbing from, our coordination office is working hard to investigate! '

Hearing what Zhang Xiaojie said, Yuan Song nodded in approval:
"I know what happened. The army will be ready. Thank you brothers in the coordination office for your hard work. If you have any new information, please send it to me immediately!"

Zhang Xiaojie nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, and then retreated, not daring to waste too much of Yuan Song's time. After he left, Yuan Song came to the sand table in the tent.

Although Yuan Song was surprised and shocked by the news that the Cumans intervened in the civil war in the Great Zhou, he also had new insights when looking at the situation on the sand table.

Although Yang Chongqing did not have much room to make surprise attacks during the attack on Pingyang, Yuan Song knew that with the current situation of the Imperial Guards, the probability of the Imperial Guards winning the war by fighting openly was very small. A smart man like Yang Chongqing would not fail to understand this.

At this critical juncture when the Luoan court was facing internal and external troubles and was in a precarious situation, the Luoan court could no longer afford to lose····························

In order to win this war, Yang Chongqing can only resort to unexpected tactics. Therefore, Yuan Song firmly believes that Yang Chongqing will not accept defeat and he must be ambushing something in secret!
Therefore, Yuan Song has been wondering what other tricks Yang Chongqing has. Although he couldn't think of it, Yuan Song did have a trick up his sleeve. He arranged the 9th Division in Jinyang and the 10th Division in Jinzhong. This was to prepare for a rainy day, just in case!

But today, Zhang Xiaojie's intelligence report solved Yuan Song's confusion.

It turns out that Yang Chongqing was waiting for the appearance of the Cumans!

Although he couldn't believe that Yang Chongqing, the god of war of the Great Zhou Dynasty who had killed countless Cumans, would actually collude secretly with the Cumans, the facts were before him and Yuan Song had no choice but to believe it.

However, Yuan Song still had a doubt. Since they had already colluded with the Cumans, why didn't they let the Cumans send more troops south to Yunbing?

For example, if a Tiger Division or several Eagle Divisions totaling 40,000 to 50,000 troops were transferred southward, the Fengwu Army in Pingyang would then be attacked from all sides and there is a high possibility that it would be defeated!
Now, the Eagle Division, whose combat effectiveness is not particularly strong, is heading south, and it can't play a particularly big role. Even if the Fengwu Army operates properly, it is not impossible to consume most of the Eagle Division's strength!

Although he was still a little confused, a plan to lure the snake out of its hole was gradually taking shape in Yuan Song’s mind...
(End of this chapter)