Wanyan Zonghan led 30,000 cavalry to go deep into Zhongmu County, and accurately intercepted the 100,000 new troops returning from Yingchang Prefecture. At the same time, Dong Ping also led 80,000 new troops from Caizhou to the north and rushed towards Zhongmu County. A battle of annihilation in the Central Plains was quickly beginning.

In the Zhizheng Pavilion Conference Hall, Bai Shizhong, Wu Min, Sun Fu, Li Bangyan, He Li, and Tang Ke, who had just replaced Zhang Bangchang as prime minister.

The negotiations broke down and all the envoys of the Song Dynasty were taken hostages. Only Geng Nanzhong was released and sent an ultimatum, requiring the Song Dynasty to pay another five million taels of silver to avoid war silver, otherwise the Jin Dynasty would completely destroy the Song Dynasty.

Six prime ministers are voting on the proposal for the battle, which was initiated by Tokyo Defense Commander Sun Fu.

The Jin soldiers did not go south as expected, but only came down with a cavalry of 30,000 people, which inspired Sun Fu's ambitions. He wanted to wipe this lonely army into the 30,000 Jin soldiers into Kaifeng Prefecture, and stimulate the morale of the soldiers and civilians of the Song Dynasty to resist the Jin Dynasty.

"The Jin soldiers are arrogant and arrogant, and they go deep into the army alone, committing a taboo in military strategists. The latest news I have received is that there is no main force of Jin soldiers gathering over the Yellow River. So far, there are only this Jin soldiers of 30,000 people in Kaifeng Prefecture. In addition to the newly recruited troops of 180,000, there are also 70,000 city guards. This is the 250,000 army. I propose to participate in this battle with 200,000 troops and wipe out 30,000 Jin soldiers in Zhongmu County. This will be a war to reverse the situation and a battle for our Song Dynasty to be completely proud."

Sun Fu Kang was passionate and excited, and soon infected all the participants. In addition to the five prime ministers, there were also ministers from various ministries, senior officials of the Privy Council, etc., a total of more than ten people were discussing matters together.

"Master Sun, who is the chief general in this battle?" asked Li Qi, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War.

"I personally serve as the chief general, General Dong Ping and General Yao Pingzhong are the left and right deputy generals."

"What should I do if the guards of the city are leaving the city?" This is the question of Zheng Wangzhi, a co-minister of the Privy Council.

"The city guard army will be temporarily led by the deputy defensive envoy He Xiangguo. There are 50,000 troops to defend the city, so that the city can be safe."

When Sun Fu saw that Bai Shizhong had something to ask, he said, "What are the questions about Xianggong Bai?"

Bai Shizhong said slowly: "I just want to know, what is the attitude of the official?"

"This decision was made by Zhizhengtang. After the proposal was approved, the He Xianggong and I reported to the official and asked the official to approve it."

This time, Sun Fu learned from the previous lessons and no longer allowed Zhao Huan to participate in the early stage of the decision-making process. Instead, it was agreed by Zhizheng Hall, the six ministries and the Privy Council, and then reported to Emperor Zhao Huan for approval.

Bai Shizhong nodded, "I fully agree with this plan. Only considering defending the city is not a way to be a soldier. Soldiers should be both offensive and defensive, while attacking is the initiative, and attacking is the defensive only if they are unable to defeat. For example, those who only know how to defend blindly are inferior, their morale is sluggish, and their morale is poor. So what if there are millions of troops?"

Bai Shizhong couldn't help but sarcastically mocked Li Yanqing. Li Yanqing strongly advocated defense against the city and firmly opposed the confrontation with the Jin soldiers on the plains, which made many officials dissatisfied. In the past, the military strength was inferior to the other party, and it was reasonable to defend the city without fighting. Now the Song army is almost ten times that of the Jin soldiers, and they also emphasized defending the city, which made the ministers deeply despise his cowardice.

Therefore, Sun Fu's plan for annihilation was unanimously agreed by the participants, and the five prime ministers of Zhizhengtang passed Sun Fu's proposal unanimously.

Sun Fu and He Li immediately rushed to the imperial study room and submitted the Zhizhengtang resolution to Zhao Heng.

After reading the resolution, Zhao Heng pondered for a moment: "Have you ever asked Li Shaobao's opinion?"

When talking about Li Yanqing, Sun Fu and He Li's faces became gloomy at the same time. Of course, Sun Fu asked Li Yanqing, and Li Yanqing only gave him four words: "Talking about war on paper", which made Sun Fu very angry.

Sun Fu and He Li looked at each other, and He Li shook his head and said, "Li Shaobao has reservations about this plan."

"Why?" Zhao Huan frowned. He also agreed with this plan, but why did Li Yanqing not agree?

Sun Fu said coldly: "If you are not in his position, you will not do your own affairs. Li Shaobao is the Minister of Rites. Of course, it is not easy to interfere with the military decision of Zhizhengtang. If he serves as the defensive envoy, the Wei minister believes that he will be the first to advocate leaving the city to resist troops."

He Li said again: "This is not only the decision of Zhizhengtang, but we have solicited opinions on the six ministries and the Privy Council, and everyone agreed to fight with the Jin soldiers."

Zhao Huan looked at the proposal again, and his passion was also ignited by the battle resolution. He punched the table hard and said sternly: "The enemy is weak and I am strong. This battle is feasible. If you don't give the Jin soldiers some color, do they really think that I, the Song Dynasty, are a fat sheep to be slaughtered?"

Zhao Huan wrote a red pen and approved a big word "quasi-" in his resolution.

"I look forward to good news from Mr. Sun!"

Li Yanqing was in Zong Ze's mansion at this time. Zong Ze was implicated by the Li Gang case and was demoted to a free position and was idle at home. However, due to the failure of the Jin Dynasty and the negotiations broke down, Zhao Huan gradually became a dominant war faction. He was also appointed as the military envoy of Jingdong and the horse army in charge of Jingdong and replaced the Xiang army in Zhong Shizhong.

Zong Ze had packed his luggage and was about to set off, so Li Yanqing came to see him off.

"Li Shaobaozhen is not optimistic about this battle?" Zong Ze asked in a deep voice.

Li Yanqing shook his head, "Sun Fu is a typical scholar who ruined the country. He doesn't understand soldiers but thinks he understands soldiers. He treats Jin soldiers as targets, thinking that Jin soldiers will squat there waiting for him to dispatch troops to surround him, but he doesn't know that this is a Jin people's plan to lure soldiers, and deliberately shows weakness and leads the Song army to the bait."

Zong Ze also sighed, "The Jin soldiers are 30,000 cavalry! How could they really fight the Song army? They maneuvered at high speed. When the Song army assembled, they had already jumped out of the encirclement and disappeared."

Li Yanqing pondered for a moment and said, "I'm afraid that the old general Zong still underestimated the Jin soldiers."

Zong Ze was stunned, "What does this mean?"

"I think this is a heart-killing battle carefully planned by the Jin Dynasty. The most elite 30,000 Jurchen cavalry were used to completely destroy the will of the Song Dynasty to resist. I know Wanyan Xie very well. This person often uses a saying: siege the city as the lower, attack the heart as the upper. This battle is the concrete embodiment of his words."

Zong Ze suddenly became a little anxious, "Li Shaobao, why not let us jointly write to the official and ask the official to cancel this battle!"

Li Yanqing still shook his head, "The reason why Sun Fu brought the six ministries and the Privy Council to participate in the discussions of Zhizheng Hall was to get the widest support. In fact, he also realized his plan. Almost no one opposed his battle plan, and the officials also approved it. Not only does our opposition have no meaning, but it will make the Song Dynasty less than two people who clean up the mess.

I have figured it out that the phoenix can only be reborn when it is fired. The accumulated problems of the Song Dynasty in a hundred years must be completely broken down before it can stand again. This is the inevitable trajectory of history. We don’t need to interfere too much. As long as we have a heart to rebuild mountains and rivers, it is enough."

Zong Ze nodded silently, and he suddenly looked up at Li Yanqing and said, "Yanqing, go to Beijing East and West Road with me! Stay in the capital and you will become the final scapegoat. If Sun Fu is defeated, the surrendered faction will definitely make a comeback. I am worried that you will be handed over to the Jin people for peace."

Li Yanqing said lightly: "I have thought of all these things. I have already kept a backup plan and will never let them succeed."

"I'm afraid that the officials will agree with their bastards!"

"My backhand is not an ordinary backhand, and it will be useless even if the official promises them."

Zong Ze vaguely guessed Li Yanqing's backup plan, but he didn't say it out loud, and then smiled and said, "Since you said that, I'm relieved!"

At this time, a large group of people hurriedly passed by the gate with grain trucks. Zong Ze looked at these people and couldn't help but sigh, "The war is at the end, and the poor people are all!"

Li Yanqing was silent for a moment and said, "The reason why I decided to stay in the capital was not for myself, but for the 700,000 people in the capital. As long as I, Li Yanqing, stay in the capital for one day, I will never let them become fish slaughtered by the Jin people."

Zong Ze patted Li Yanqing on the shoulder heavily, "The country is broken, and as you said, the Song Dynasty still needs those of us who are willing to stand up and clean up the mess, take care of yourself!"

After saying that, Zong Ze walked out of the gate, turned over and said to more than a dozen subordinates: "Let's go!"

Zong Ze and his followers rushed to run towards the east gate. Li Yanqing watched him silently, clasped his fists and bowed deeply to his back.

At the fifth day of the next day, Sun Fu personally led 20,000 troops out of Xinzheng Gate to the west and rushed towards Zhongmu County. The 80,000 troops led by Dong Ping also arrived in Xianping County, 120 miles south of the capital, and was speeding up towards Zhongmu County.

According to Sun Fu's plan, this battle will be centered on Baicang Town, west of Zhongmu County. Behind the Jin soldiers is the Bian River, so they are not afraid of going north to break through. Yao Pingzhong's army is responsible for the west and south, and himself and Dong Ping's army are responsible for the east and south. In this way, attacks on three sides, the Jin soldiers will not be able to show the advantage of cavalry in a narrow range.

Sun Fu was confident that he would wipe out all 30,000 Jin soldiers in one battle.

The 20,000 troops led by Sun Fu were the original Yao Pingzhong's army, originally the Xiang army of Chenzhou, Caizhou and Kaifeng Prefecture. During the first Tokyo Siege, Yao Pingzhong was named the Four Walls Inspection Envoy, leading 30,000 troops to be responsible for public security and maintain order in the city, and did not participate in the city defense battle. The city defense battle was responsible for Li Yanqing's Jingzhao Army and Dong Ping's New Taipei Army.

This time, Yao Pingzhong led 10,000 troops to Yingchang Prefecture to train new recruits, and the other 20,000 were led by his general Zhang Qu and stayed in the city. He happened to be taken out by Sun Fu to participate in the Battle of Zhongmu.

The 20,000 troops rushed all the way. At noon, thirty miles away from Zhongmu County, the earth suddenly shook. The sky in the distance had turned yellow and black, like a sandstorm coming. The soldiers slowed down and looked at a black line in the distance in horror and rolled quickly towards this side.

Sun Fu suddenly understood, "Oh my God!" He couldn't help but scream, turned around and shouted: "Prepare for the fight! Fight!"
Chapter completed!