Died of old age, and you tell me this is a life simulation?

Zhao Ji was extremely panicked when he heard this: "The rebels are extremely powerful. How can we fight them?!"

The previous 100,000-strong army was wiped out in one day!

Can the imperial court now dispatch a more elite army?

The northern border troops are indeed elite, but how can they be mobilized now?

Unless we ignore the threats from Liao, Jin, and Xixia...

Zhao Ji was slightly startled, and suddenly a thought flashed through his mind: Can we negotiate a peace alliance with them and borrow troops to suppress the rebellion?

Thinking of this, he spoke out his thoughts, and the hall was suddenly in an uproar. All the officials looked at Zhao Ji in shock...

no......

Mr. Zhao, how did you come up with such a ridiculous operation?

The southern rebels are indeed coming in with great force, but do you think it's easy to deal with the northern barbarians?

Most of the ministers directly expressed their opposition.

"The northern tribes are brutal and cunning. Acting like this is like trying to get the skin of a tiger. It's a recipe for disaster! Absolutely not acceptable!"

Zhao Ji's expression turned grim. "What should we do then? How many troops does the imperial court have now?"

An old official replied, "Although the army that marched south was defeated, there are still 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers left. Add to that the troops drawn from various places and the militia that have assembled on their own. The total number of troops in the capital region now is 120,000!"

Zhao Ji felt even more chilled by this, and felt no sense of security at all. "Of the 120,000 strong, only the 30,000 or 40,000 central imperial guards can be considered elite, and those are just remnants. How much fighting power can the local garrison troops and militias really have? 120,000 is a large force, but I'm afraid it's still far inferior to the previous 100,000. Even the 100,000 were defeated by the 5,000 rebels. What can these 120,000 do?"

It has to be said that Emperor Daojun, who originally knew nothing about military affairs, learned some common sense after being stunned by the rebel army. At least he would not make the fallacy of determining combat effectiveness by the number of people.

The ministers were naturally aware of this and were all silent for a while.

Because I have no idea how to deal with this matter. I have tried every trick I can, but nothing works. What can I do?

When Zhao Ji saw this, he felt both resentful and angry.

If he had successfully abdicated before, he wouldn't have to worry about it. Now he is forced to stay here, like waiting to die. It is really extremely painful!

However......

Just when the court meeting was about to end quietly, urgent military information suddenly came from outside.

After completely capturing the northwest road of Xiajing, the rebel army suddenly slowed down its offensive.

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Chapter 492: Illusion! Occupy the entire southern part of the Song Dynasty! Three-fifths!

Upon hearing this news, not only was Zhao Ji stunned, but even the ministers were extremely surprised.

They had all lost hope, but things suddenly took a turn for the better at the most critical moment?

Apart from anything else, most of the ministers felt a sense of relief at this moment.

At least I can take a breath.

The feeling of oppression given by the rebels is really terrifying!

It took Zhao Ji a while to react. For a moment, he was both surprised and delighted: "Could it be that the previous measures have finally paid off?!"

He said it! How could anyone in this world resist the temptation of being crowned king? It was even more impossible for the rebels, who were just peasants!

It must have been because the time was too short that it didn't show up before.

Many ministers had the same idea as Zhao Ji about this result.

But there were also some thoughtful ministers who frowned secretly, feeling that something was wrong.

If the wanton conferring of titles on kings could really cause chaos within the rebel army, it shouldn't have been effective until now. It's been nearly half a month.

With various emotions, Zhao Ji and his ministers15 all asked for the detailed reasons.

Unfortunately, the military intelligence that was sent back only revealed that the rebel army's offensive had been delayed, but the reason for the delay was unclear, and they did not have the ability to investigate the details.

The people in the court were helpless about this and could only urge the front line to find out the news and obtain intelligence through various channels.

but......

In any case, the delay in the rebels' offensive is good news for the Song Dynasty. Although the situation is still precarious and has not changed substantially, by taking this breathing opportunity and concentrating all available forces, perhaps some changes can be made.

In such a tense atmosphere, the ministers handled government affairs while paying close attention to daily intelligence information.

Several days passed like this, and finally more accurate news came.

But it was not good news, but completely bad news. After the officials of the Song Dynasty learned about it, they felt like they had fallen into an ice cave and completely lost their composure.

because......

The so-called delay of the rebel army's offensive was actually just a facade. Urgent military intelligence reports were coming in from Huainan East Road, Jingdong West Road, and Hebei West Road. Large rebel forces were now swarming these three locations. This wasn't a delay in the offensive at all! It was clearly an attempt to completely encircle the Song Dynasty's central government and the surrounding areas! A blockade!

Upon hearing the news, Zhao Ji was horrified and pale. In his terror, he fell seriously ill again! Within two days, he looked emaciated. He cried to the ministers who came to visit him, "The rebels are really going to attack Bianjing and capture me alive!"

The indignant words spoken back then now sound more like a curse!

Not to mention Zhao Ji, all the ministers who heard this were also deeply worried.

It is really hard not to think too much because of the rebels' actions.

The northwest road of Beijing is only one or two hundred miles away from the city of Bianjing. Given the strong force of the rebel army, even if the capital area has 120,000 troops defending it layer by layer, it would be difficult to resist.

However, the enemy did not attack Bian Jing directly, but instead took a detour to the north, secretly surrounding the surrounding areas of the capital.

In this way, the connection between the capital area and the Bian Jing court and the outside world will most likely be cut off by the rebel army. Not only will the transmission of intelligence information become much more difficult, but the mobilization of various materials will also be seriously affected!

There is a huge risk of food shortage at any time.

You must know that there are over a million people in Bianjing City! The capital area is also densely populated. With such a huge population, the annual, monthly, and daily consumption is extremely huge. It can only be sustained by the support of the world.

Add to that the population of the surrounding capital area and the consumption of 120,000 troops. If there is no local resource supply, it will not take long, within one or two months, before they run out of resources and reach their limit.

In the past, it might have been possible to hold out for three or four months, but since the Jiangnan and Liangzhe regions were occupied by the rebel army, the water transport system has been basically paralyzed. Without the supply of materials and financial resources from these two key areas, it is really too difficult to rely entirely on the supply from all over the north. If it were not for the previous storage accumulation, I am afraid that chaos would have occurred long ago.

But now that the connection between the center and various places is severed, and there is no local transportation, and people can only rely on the accumulation of materials in Bianjing City and the surrounding areas to survive, you can imagine what will happen!

and......

At this point, I guess even escaping is impossible.

I'm trapped here and can't escape!

The more Zhao Ji spoke, the sadder he became. He was very angry at the ministers who forced him not to abdicate or leave, but besides being sad and angry, he had no intention of doing anything.

What else could he do at this point? Besides waiting to die or be captured alive by the rebels, what else could he do?

The situation became increasingly dangerous. The court officials did not dare to leak the news, fearing that chaos would break out in the city or that the army outside the city would mutiny.

However, a few days later, the arrival of a piece of intelligence directly caused the court officials to lose all their spirit and they were no longer able to hold on.

But the rebel army had completely wiped out the southern part of the Song Dynasty three days ago! The Jiangnan East and West Roads, the Jinghu North and South Roads, the Liangzhe Road, the Fujian Road, the Kuizhou Road, the Zizhou Road, the Chengdu Road, and the Guangnan East and West Roads were all under the control of the rebel army!

In addition to Huainan West Road, Jingxi North Road, Lizhou Road in the north, as well as parts of Jingxi South Road and Huainan East Road, 033 also includes the surrounding areas of the capital...

Now, let alone half of the country, more than three-fifths of the territory of the Song Dynasty has been seized by the rebels!

In just four months since the Jiangnan Uprising, everything has changed dramatically!

After hearing the news, Zhao Ji was extremely distraught, but he became relatively calm. He just looked dazed and said nothing.

It describes a person who looks increasingly haggard, as if he or she has aged ten years overnight.

Not to mention him, even the court ministers were devastated by the news and were in a state of panic all day long.

They were in no mood to care about state affairs, or rather, apart from being able to make movements in the capital region and Bianliang City, they had no so-called state affairs to deal with. They were all blocked and isolated from the inside and outside, so where did the political affairs come from?

The ministers' mentality soon affected the entire court. Various rumors gradually grew, and the court fell into a semi-shutdown state. Because of the chaos at the top, the officials and people in the city gradually discovered clues and learned all kinds of news, and people's hearts were completely confused.

The 120,000 troops stationed in the capital area mutinied and countless deserters.

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Chapter 493: The nations are suspicious! Strategic escalation!

The people of the Song Dynasty court had lost their morale.

After a long time, other countries also learned about the various news from the Song Dynasty. When they learned that the rebels had completely seized more than half of the Song Dynasty's territory, they were also in disbelief! They were shocked and horrified!

A month or two ago, the intelligence they received was simply that the rebel army had completely occupied the Jiangnan region and was expanding into the surrounding areas. However, they did not expect that just two months later, the rebel army would grow to such an exaggerated extent!

It's simply horrifying!

Although they were wary before, they still had a condescending attitude.

They looked down on the Southern Song Dynasty, and the rebel army attacked the Song Dynasty because the reference object was the Song Dynasty. Although the other countries were shocked by the sweeping momentum of the rebel army, at least they would not think that their own army was inferior to the rebel army.

In addition, the rebel army at that time had never fought a decisive battle with the real regular army of the imperial court, and lacked the most important reference for combat power. Although they were wary, they were more concerned about how to take advantage of the turmoil in the Southern Dynasty to massively invade the territory of the Song Dynasty, and they began to make actual large-scale military mobilizations.

However, the news that kept coming from the territory of Song State made them more cautious, especially when they learned that the rebel army was able to charge head-on with only 5,000 soldiers and horses and defeated the 100,000 imperial guards of Song State. With such a record and such combat power, could they still be defined as a simple righteous army or rebel army?

This can be called the most powerful army in the world!

At this point, the leaders of various countries no longer dared to have any contemptuous attitude, but at the same time, because they knew how powerful the rebel army was, they became more and more urgent and eager to invade the south.

If they did not take advantage of the war between the Song Dynasty and the rebel army to directly bite off a piece of fat meat, when everything settled down, the dynasty in the Song Dynasty would really change and the rebel army would take over. With their strong military strength, it would be relatively difficult for them to invade the south again.

Therefore, the large-scale military mobilization and preparation of various materials of Liao, Jin and Western Xia were accelerated a lot, so that they could move south as soon as possible. At the same time, they also accepted negotiations with the envoys sent by the Song court, and they all used threats and tests against them.

One is to take advantage of the situation and ask for too much. If the Southern Song Dynasty agreed to their harsh conditions, that would be perfect. At the very least, they would gain huge benefits. Later, they would invade the south on a large scale and continue to seize greater benefits. It would kill two birds with one stone and eat two birds with one stone. Although the probability of success is very low, who knows if the Song court would try any possible means in desperation?

Second, they hoped to obtain specific information about the rebel army through the State of Song.

Although their spies could gather a lot of information, they certainly had no detailed intelligence on the battles with the rebels. They could only roughly guess at the rebels' elite strength and military system based on their battle records.

To be honest, the first one was fine. Although a lot of favorable conditions were negotiated, the Song State was not a fool and it was impossible for it to cede land to them in advance. In the end, they still had to go south to seize it themselves. As for the second one, the more they knew about it, the more they feared the rebel army.

The rebel army was not only powerful in field battles, but also invincible in crucial siege battles! They even had a terrifying record of conquering dozens of cities in just half a month, something they could hardly achieve.

Or rather, it is impossible to do it at all!

In their previous invasions to the south, although they could rely on their cavalry advantage to greatly suppress the Song army in field battles, once they encountered a siege, it would be difficult for them to be as invincible as in field battles.

But the righteous army was able to do both at the same time. Facing the Song army, they were invincible in field battles and also in sieges!

This discovery caused the fear of the rebels among the top leaders of various countries to rise to a very high level.

But even so, after hearing that the rebel army had completely seized the southern part of the Song Dynasty, it seemed as if it was about to swallow up the northern part of the Song Dynasty. In just four months, it started from the south of the Yangtze River and swept across the north and south!

This is simply...horrible!

The feelings of the top leaders of various countries now are not just fear, but also a kind of horror and fear.

It is really hard to imagine that the military force is so powerful!

and......

The information gathered by the spies and the intelligence from the Song Dynasty corroborated each other, indicating that the rebels had established so-called new barracks in various locations! Logically speaking, given the current strength of the rebels, given their usual combat capabilities, they should have no problem swallowing up the Song Dynasty. It could even be said that it was more than enough.

So what are the rebels planning to do with the new barracks they've set up in various places and the massive manpower they've built?!

Although they didn't know the total number of recruits in the camp, the sheer number of troops they knew was enough to make their scalps tingle.

These new recruits don't have to be as strong as the elite rebels. Even if they are one-third as strong as them, they would be an extremely terrifying force.

It can't be just to suppress bandits, right?

What kind of banditry would require so many troops to suppress?!

Moreover, is it just to suppress bandits to devote such huge resources and support such a large force?

When the leaders of various countries realized this, they couldn't help but feel a shadow of worry in their hearts.

To a certain extent, militarism means outward expansion.

And since they border the State of Song, they are naturally likely to become one of their targets.

As a result, the countries' vigilance against the rebels increased sharply.

They even considered relaxing the Song State's conditions for peace and alliance and even supporting it.

More or less, there is a vague judgment, that is: