Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 131 Weird Things in the Capital

The most serious crisis since the defense of the city was resolved.

All the soldiers in the city, including civil and military officials, felt relieved. Notices were posted everywhere in the city to publicize the benefits of the recent war in order to reassure the people.

Yue Ling also breathed a sigh of relief and didn't notice anything unusual.

But from this day on, something was wrong.

On the thirteenth day of the winter month, Yue Ling was at Dongzhimen, and the northern barbarians attacked Xizhimen.

On the seventeenth day of the winter month, Yue Ling was at Desheng Gate while the northern barbarians attacked Zhangyi Gate.

On the twenty-second day of the winter month, Yue Ling was at Anding Gate while the northern barbarians attacked Chongwen Gate.

No matter where Yue Ling was, the Northern Barbarians would often attack the gate in the opposite direction of him, which was the city gate with the weakest military force.

This left Yue Ling puzzled. Was it a coincidence, or was there really a spy who could communicate with the Northern Barbarians in real time?

Yue Ling couldn't help but wonder if there were other time travelers who came with an intercom jade pendant that could enable real-time communication like the green bubble on a cell phone.

There are definitely not so many strange and supernatural things in this world.

But the daily deployment of troops, except for the generals, was changed by Yue Ling every day. How did the Northern Barbarians know about it?
If it is done through tunnels or carrier pigeons, it will never be possible to achieve real-time information and it will be very easy to be exposed. The most likely possibility is to use some kind of secret code to guide the northern barbarians in the direction of attack.

"Could it be that someone secretly marked the city wall?"

The twenty-seventh day of the winter month,

Yue Ling was stationed in the center of the city, while the Northern Barbarians attacked Chaoyang Gate, where the defenders were the weakest and had no heavy artillery support.

The military situation on this day was the most dangerous. Due to the long-term resistance for half a month, the soldiers were a little exhausted, but the Northern Barbarians were still as strong as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and the infantry even almost broke down the inner city gate.

It was Yue Ling who led the cavalry and armored infantry to block the city gate and slaughter all the northern barbarians in the city.

Although our army won victory after victory, the situation became more and more critical each time. Although the Northern Barbarians failed to break through the city gates time and time again, their morale was getting higher and higher, and they always thought that they would be able to break through the city next time.

As of now, the Northern Barbarians still have more than 70,000 mobilizable cavalry.

This forced Yue Ling to reflect seriously.

On the twenty-ninth day of the winter month, at noon,
Privy Council, Council Chamber,
It was a calm day and the Northern Barbarians also stopped fighting and rested. Yue Ling invited all the generals on the city wall to leave the city gate and summoned all the ministers to discuss important military and political matters together.

Yue Ling sat in the main seat and looked around at the ministers who had been working hard for days and looked very unhappy. He shook his head and sighed, saying: "The situation in the city is becoming more and more dangerous. The key is that the initiative of the war is in the hands of the Northern Barbarians, not us."

"We have to be careful every day and keep our guard up at all times, while they fight when they fight and rest when they rest. Even if they lose, they can adjust to the best condition and fight again another day."

“This is very disadvantageous to us.”

"Therefore, I want to raid the camp at night and catch the northern barbarians off guard."

Hearing this, the originally drowsy ministers all woke up and felt a chill down their spines, thinking that Yue Ling's idea was too bold.

At the Duke of Liguo's Mansion, Liu Fang, the guard of Fucheng Gate, was the first to ask, "Who does the Grand Commander want to send to rob the camp?"

Everyone stared at Yue Ling intently, waiting to hear a name from his mouth.

Yue Ling said slowly: "I, I will take charge."

"no!"

Liu Fang immediately stood up to object, saying, "We have been able to defend the city walls these days, not only because of the strength of the Grand Commander, but also because of his efforts to put out fires everywhere. If the Grand Commander fails to launch a night attack and is surrounded by enemy cavalry, what will happen? Who can be the commander in chief in the capital?"

Lu Yuan, the head of the Privy Council, also advised: "Yue Ling, don't be impulsive. The northern barbarian cavalry is stronger than us. Even if you succeed in attacking the camp, how can you escape the pursuit of the northern barbarians? A night attack is still a risky move. You have to be safe when defending the city and don't take risks."

The words of the two people represented the opinions of most of the people present, and none of them wanted Yue Ling to take the risk of leaving the city.

Seeing that the officials who once didn't want him to take the position of Grand Commander were now unwilling for him to take risks, Yue Ling couldn't help but feel a little sad.

At the right time, Jia Daihua stood up and said, "I agree with the Grand Commander. Now is the time to take risky moves. If we don't make some changes to the formation and just keep defending the city, the city will be breached sooner or later. But the commander needs to be discussed."

"I am already guilty of a crime, so it is appropriate for me to lead my soldiers to attack and set fire to the Northern Barbarians' camp at night. I do not ask to be reinstated, but to die on the battlefield is my greatest wish."

Everyone sighed again after hearing this.

King Zhongshun stood up and said, "This king also supports Yue Ling's tactics."

Glancing at Jia Daihua, King Zhongshun shook his head and said, "But General Jia, you are really not suitable for the selection of a commander. Let me make it clear in advance. It's not that I look down on you, but the old general is really old, so things like raids should be handed over to the young people. The old general's heart to serve the country is admirable, but if he can't produce results, isn't it just sending himself to die in vain?"

"Besides, if the first attack fails, the Northern Barbarians will be on guard, and it will be more difficult to rob the camp again."

Jia Daihua's eyebrows jumped, and he said angrily: "Lian Po of Zhao State, at the age of 80, was still leading troops to fight. What's wrong with me being only 70? Liu Zisheng, do you want to go out and fight with me?"

Jia Daihua's hot temper was a headache for the equally straightforward Prince Zhongshun, "Of course that's not what I meant." The two of them pretended to quarrel, which really gave Yue Ling a headache.

The Minister of State Affairs Dongfang Zhi said, "You two are so energetic, why don't you use them on the battlefield?"

Looking at Yue Ling again, Dongfang Zhi said: "I also agree with Mr. Yue's tactics, and I also support him to lead the cavalry out of the city. Mr. Yue is a smart man, not a reckless man!"

Dongfang Zhi glanced at Prince Zhongshun and Jia Daihua intentionally or unintentionally, making them fuming with anger, and then he said, "When Young Master Yue proposed this tactic, he must have thought of a way out for himself. Therefore, it is safest to let Young Master Yue lead the troops out of the city."

When everyone heard this, they all thought it made sense.

Deputy Privy Councilor Chai Pu asked in confusion, "I can't think of any clever plan that Grand Commander Yue can come up with to ensure that we can go there and come back."

Yue Ling looked around and said with a smile: "It's not that I don't trust you all, but please allow me to keep you in suspense. I will explain it to you when I return victoriously."

General Feng Tang said, "Forget it. You are the Grand Commander now. We will execute whatever decision you make. If you need me to be your deputy, I will be your deputy and follow you out of the city."

The left prime minister An Jingzhong also said, "That makes sense. It is not right for us to interfere with the important officials entrusted by His Highness and His Majesty. I hope that General Yue can be more cautious and return safely. Even if the raid fails, the capital city can be defended for a while with the general in it. Things may turn around."

Yue Ling nodded, "Thank you, Prime Minister Zuo..."

Everyone finally reached a consensus, and this combat meeting went quite perfectly.

After everyone left, Yue Ling started drawing on the paper again, sorting out his thoughts.

"If there are spies among these ministers, and they have the means to secretly collude with the enemy, then my night attack tonight will naturally not be successful. If there is no means to secretly collude with the enemy, then they are in contact with the northern barbarians, so there must be something fishy on the city wall. And it is in the daytime, and only in the daytime will the northern barbarians start to attack."

Yue Ling made up his mind and paced back and forth in the hall.

"grown ups."

A clerk appeared at the door, interrupting Yue Ling's thoughts.

"come in."

The clerk bowed first, then said, "I just heard from the Ministry of Revenue that the war in the capital has been severe recently, and the prices of goods in the city have become somewhat out of control, especially food. I don't know who is spreading the word, but now the capital will have to defend for another half a year, and most people's winter rations can only last until the beginning of spring. After the beginning of spring, the winter crops will be confiscated, and we will have to find a way to dig wild vegetables to fill our stomachs."

"But if the city gates are still closed by then, people will starve to death on the streets. The people who have migrated into the city are panic-stricken and are selling everything they have to buy food."

Yue Ling frowned.

"Is there still such a thing?"

The clerk hurriedly handed over a document.

Yue Ling read it through and clasped his hands together, wishing he could immediately find out who was behind the incident and disrupting the order in the capital.

But right now he has more important things to do. He has to make full preparations for the night attack. This is a matter of life and death.

Yue Ling said angrily, "Go and ask the Ministry of Revenue to open the warehouses and release grain. All civilian families can receive ten days of rations. Then set up porridge stalls in the four corners of the city for ten days. After the release, post notices in the city that the capital has abundant grain and all imperial merchants' shops will sell grain at a fair price and purchase according to the household quota."

"I'll just see what those thieves who hoard goods will do."

"He's going to be in a hurry!"

The clerk nodded repeatedly, "Yes, sir, I will go right away."

……

at the same time,

Liaodong, Ningyuan Town,

Yin Taihe attacked Guangning City for several days, but each time he achieved little success, causing widespread complaints in the army.

Because the war was going badly, his competitive spirit was aroused even more. Even if he failed once, twice, three times or four times, he would still fight for the fifth time.

But the morale of the army had already been greatly reduced.

When he led his troops out of the city again and attacked Guangning City from the fort, he could not even get close to the city. Eyidu had predicted the battle plan and had set an ambush on the way of the army.

Due to the superiority of the Jurchen cavalry, the Dachang army failed to deploy its defensive formation in time and suffered a great defeat this time. However, when they gathered the remnants and wanted to retreat back to the city, their retreat was cut off. They could not go from the fort to Ningyuan Town for a while and could only wait for Ningyuan Town to come to their rescue.

At this moment, something unexpected happened in Ningyuan Town.

The soldiers guarding the city saw from afar that the Goryeo ships that were supposed to return home were docked at the shore again, with teams of people disembarking from the ships. They didn't know why.

The large warehouse in the city, which should have been guarded with the most careful care, suddenly caught fire like a fire dragon passing through, burning all the food and supplies in the city.

There was a panic in the city, and the news was quickly reported to King Qin.

(End of this chapter)