Seeing him actually leave like that, the Jurchen generals who had been expecting him to step up were suddenly dumbfounded.
Han Qinghe, as the commander, would definitely not escape responsibility. However, it didn't seem easy for the rest of them to completely evade punishment...
It wasn't until almost noon that Han Qinghe finally opened his eyes again.
"The rear camp, how is the rear camp?"
Although his face was still bloodless, Han Qinghe couldn't care about that anymore. The first thing he asked was about the situation in the rear camp.
"General, the fire broke out at such an unfortunate time last night. By the time we stabilized the situation, the fire in the rear was already out of control..."
After a moment of silence, Shao He replied truthfully.
"How much grain do we have left? And how many troops?"
After hearing his words, Han Qinghe felt dizzy, but he still endured the discomfort and asked again.
"The loss of manpower was not significant, but we only have less than 5,000 shi of grain left..."
"How dare this brat bully me like this!"
Upon hearing this news, Han Qinghe became agitated. Their army of tens of thousands was stationed here, yet a small unit of the Song army had managed to sneak close and burn their provisions.
To him, this was an utter disgrace!
"General, our remaining provisions are not enough to support us in continuing the siege. According to my subordinate, why don't we temporarily retreat north, and then return for revenge after we have gathered enough provisions?"
Although Shao He knew that speaking now was inappropriate, he had no choice but to brace himself given the situation.
"Retreat north first? I am the vanguard general. If the marshal finds out that we have retreated without authorization, do you know the consequences? Issue an order: all officers above the rank of corporal who were on night duty last night will be beheaded! The rest of you will be divided into three groups to collect materials and build siege engines. We will attack the city the morning after tomorrow!"
Driven to a corner, Han Qinghe became ruthless. If he couldn't take Zhen'an City, even if Wanyan Zongwang didn't kill him, this incident would become a stain on his life forever!
"But General, what if we attack and fail?"
After hearing his command, Shao He quickly knelt on the ground. After all, this was still the Song territory.
If their grain supply was insufficient, there would be major problems!
If anything went wrong, the entire army could be wiped out!
"The morning after tomorrow, I will personally oversee the battle! If we fail to capture Zhen'an City, then I shall die on the path of the assault!"
Han Qinghe spoke, his gaze full of murderous intent as he looked at Shao He.
"Yes..."
Under the pressure of his fierce gaze, Shao He finally shut his mouth.
Watching the remaining Jurchens busily get to work, the Song soldiers on the city walls immediately became tense.
"Sir, General Liu, it looks like these Jurchens are preparing to fight us to the death!"
Seeing the siege engines taking shape in the Jurchen camp, even though they were still two to three li apart, Wang Yuanji could feel the scent of gunpowder in the air.
"It seems that General Liu's fire last night directly destroyed most of their provisions, causing these fellows to go mad!"
Although he was a little worried, Li Mao also understood that this was good news for them.
As long as they could withstand this wave, the Jurchens would have no choice but to retreat without enough provisions!
"I surveyed the situation in the city this morning. With our current manpower, it's likely not enough!"
Although Liu Xu had brought back two thousand men last night, even so, the total number of combat-ready soldiers they had was only a little over 4,000. It seemed difficult to deal with the Jurchens outside the city.
"I will have people issue a notice and recruit another five thousand able-bodied men from the city!"
As soon as Liu Xu finished speaking, Li Mao immediately interjected.
"Thank you, Sir!"
"There's no need to thank me. At this time, we can only share the same fate. I will find solutions for the grain and personnel issues, but the matters on the city walls will depend on the two of you!"
Looking at Liu Xu standing before him, Li Mao felt a little more confident.
Compared to Wang Yuanji, Liu Xu was clearly superior in terms of strategy and courage.
"General Liu, this subordinate is willing to obey your command!"
Although Wang Yuanji had been in charge of all the soldiers in the city in Liu Xu's absence, he knew his own capabilities. Now that Liu Xu had returned, he unhesitatingly handed over his military authority.
"The nation is in crisis, I will not say any more superfluous words! The pressing matter now is that we must make preparations. The entire Zhen'an City has become a place of contention. Relatively speaking, the southern city's defenses are weaker. You will immediately gather civilian laborers and begin building a barbican!"
With the situation so critical, Liu Xu did not hesitate and began to issue orders.
"Yes!"
Upon receiving his command, Wang Yuanji replied and immediately turned towards the south city.
"General Liu, everything is entrusted to you!"
"Sir, rest assured, Liu Xu is willing to perish with Zhen'an!"
After the two looked at each other, they saw determination in each other's eyes.
"Just do your best in everything. In times of national crisis, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate!"
After helping him up, Li Mao turned and headed towards his official residence.
A city wall separated the inside and outside of the city into two worlds. To ensure the safety of their wives and children, ordinary, kind-hearted men in Zhen'an City took up knives and spears and entered the military camp.
Outside Zhen'an City, the civilians captured by the Jurchens were forced to help them build siege engines under the threat of their whips and steel swords.
Under the same sun, both sides were making their final preparations.
A gentle breeze blew, and seeing the plumes of cooking smoke rising from the city, Liu Xu finally couldn't help but look up towards the east of the city. He figured that at this time, Huan Niang must be preparing lunch for those two little rascals...