Father, I really don’t want to be the emperor

Ning Fan personally presided over the funeral and recited the memorial in person. Grief and guilt were written on the faces of all the soldiers.

The dead have gone to sleep, but the living will live in guilt forever.

What happened last night was a completely avoidable tragedy, but it actually happened. It undoubtedly sounded the alarm for everyone. Ning Fan could see the pain in everyone's face. .

This time is the coldest time of the year. The bodies of the Jurchen soldiers under the city were completely frozen and covered in heavy snow because no one had restrained them.

"The Jurchens will probably retreat quietly tonight."

Ning Fan stood on the city wall and looked at it. Smoke was still coming from the Jurchens' tents in the distance, but Ning Fan concluded that the Jurchens would definitely retreat tonight.

After repeated tests, Ning Fan's words came true almost every time, so when Ning Fan came up with an almost impossible conclusion, everyone doubted it at first, but then chose to believe it.

Retreating was the best time to attack, so Chen Yuanqing immediately asked for a fight in order to get rid of his merits. In Chen Yuanqing's eyes, Ning Fan saw the desperate madness.

Although this general was not punished by Ning Fan, he blamed himself so much that he almost went crazy. Ning Fan knew that there must be a hearty battle in order for Chen Yuanqing to wash away the guilt in his heart.

Otherwise, if he carries too much guilt, the young general will have a mental breakdown sooner or later.

"The Jurchens will not leave us a chance to pursue. What they are best at is mobile warfare, and the Jurchens' horses are much faster than our horses, so don't try to attack them while they are retreating. That will cause us heavy losses, and we may even be caught off guard when they turn around."

Ning Fan did not support Chen Yuanqing's request for a fight, but rejected it expressionlessly.

Chen Yuanqing stood there, letting the heavy snow cover his entire body. He stood in Ning Fan's tent for two full hours. Two hours later, Chen Yuanqing, whose body was frozen, was carried into the tent.

After taking another sip of warm mutton soup, Chen Yuanqing quickly woke up, but he didn't speak and stared at Ning Fan blankly.

"Don't make any decisions when you are angry. Any decision you make now will be wrong."

"If you can chase the Jurchen army by yourself, then I will let you go without any doubt, but you will have to bring a lot of Dragon Scale Army's disciples with you. These people will probably be taken out by you, and they will never be seen again. Can’t come back…”

Ning Fan didn't explain too much, but just a few words made Chen Yuanqing lower his head in complete dejection.

"Your Highness, I will only listen to you from now on. I will do whatever you ask me to do. Even if you ask me to die, I will not blink an eye."

Chen Yuanqing learned from the pain and completely recognized the reality.

Since my brain is not working well, I will just listen to Ning Fan from now on.

Ning Fan would do whatever he was asked to do, because this way he would never go wrong.

"I guess that the Jurchens' retreat at this time is not to return to Jianzhou, but to take another detour and choose to bypass Jiangguan and enter Jiangzhou."

In front of all the staff, Ning Fan expressed his conclusion.

"But the Jurchens only have fifteen days of food and grass. It's almost ten days now. They only have five days of food and grass. Where can they enter the customs to get enough food for them?"

Several staff officers spread out the map and began to search for the Jurchens' most likely attack route on the map.

In the end, everyone turned their attention to the only place called Liangshan. It was also the only passage where Jurchens could bypass Shanhaiguan and enter the pass.

"We also need to prevent the Jurchens from killing a counterattack. If the Jurchens conclude that we will definitely go to Liangshan to set up defenses, we will probably turn around and attack Jianghaiguan again."

Ning Fan drew a circle on the map and frowned into a knot at the same time. The biggest problem facing Jiangzhou now was the lack of troops. Ning Fan only had less than 50,000 troops left.

If we still divide our troops, they will probably be defeated one by one by the Jurchens.

Liangshan is a place with difficult mountain roads, difficult to defend and difficult to attack. According to Ning Fan's estimation, 30,000 soldiers and horses should be able to stop the 150,000 Jurchen army.

But if Jianghaiguan wants to ensure that the Jurchens can still hold on safely even if they fight back, then at least about 15,000 people must be left behind.

In this case, the Dragon Scale Army can just deploy defenses in two places and be able to defend it.

But what Ning Fan is worried about is the Liangshan defense line. Once the Jurchens attack Liangshan regardless of the consequences, it is very likely that the troops will continue to be depleted. As the Dragon Scale Army defenders continue to be depleted, they will eventually be breached one day.

According to Ning Fan's estimation, the Jurchens should only have five days of food and grass left. In these short five days, they will conquer Liangshan. Then Liangshan will definitely face an extremely crazy situation. Thirty thousand Can the defenders really resist the 150,000 crazy Jurchens? This is also an unknown.

It is only one day's journey from Jianghai Pass to Liangshan Pass, which means that the Jurchens should be able to reach Liangshan tomorrow evening. If the Longlin Army does not arrive at Liangshan in advance, the situation they will face is that the Jurchens will directly bypass Liangshan. Enter Jiangzhou.

One reason why the Jurchens did not choose to enter Jiangzhou directly from Liangshan was that the road to Liangshan was difficult, and many military supplies could not be transported into the pass through Liangshan.

But now that Jianghaiguan's attack is blocked, the Jurchens have no choice but to choose Liangshan.

"Luo Yong, I will give you 15,000 men, and you will defend Jianghaiguan for me. No matter what happens, I must defend this place."

Ning Fan looked at Luo Yong intently.

Luo Yong is not a general-type talent. On the contrary, Luo Yong's army commanding ability is far inferior to Chen Yuanqing's.

But the good thing about Luo Yong is that he is very cautious and never does anything that is not sure of the outcome. It should not be a big problem for Luo Yong to guard Jianghaiguan.

Unless all the Jurchens' 150,000 troops are able to fight back, this will pose a real threat to Jianghaiguan.

"Your Highness, unless I, Luo Yong, die, this Jianghai Pass will be an insurmountable place for the Jurchens."

Luo Yong said with confidence.

After these days of fighting with the Jurchens, Luo Yong is very confident in the strong city of Jianghaiguan.

In other words, the Jianghaiguan Pass is a divine punishment that the Jurchens cannot overcome. As long as the defenders do not make the same mistakes as before, even if another hundred thousand Jurchens come to attack the Jiangguan Pass, it will be a fool's errand.

The city defenses made of cement are almost impossible to destroy, and the high city makes it exponentially more difficult for the Jurchens to climb the city wall. Coupled with the low temperature and heavy snow cover at this time, the Jurchens have very little food and grass left.

Considering various reasons, leaving only 15,000 people to guard Jianghaiguan is not a problem at all.