Han Shizu

Chapter 1270 North and South Navy
When Emperor Liu was worried about gains and losses in Xijing, with the edicts full of affirmation and support sent to the front, the Northern Expedition officially entered a new stage, a more intense stage.

Although the Liaoxi Corridor is narrow and long, thanks to the opening of the former army general Ma Renyu, after more than half a month, the main force of the Eastern Route Army with 23 troops has successfully arrived at the city of Jinzhou.

The soldiers approached the city, still maintaining the previous style, resting and preparing, but compared to before, they were more imposing, showing their sharpness, sharpening their swords and rushing towards the city gate, intending to pull out the number one obstacle to advance into Liaodong.

Although Jinzhou City is tall and strong, it is difficult to resist the attack of the big Han lion, and Zhao Kuangyin also has absolute confidence in breaking it.

But before the official attack on Jinzhou City, the Liaohai Sea to the east was already full of ups and downs and raging waves.People are old and not old, they pursue the title of title, and they seek to make progress in their positions. Therefore, Guo Tingwei also showed a vigorous and resolute style in the execution of the army.

After the camp was ordered, Guo Tingwei returned to the navy camp in Wuqing Port overnight. Early the next morning, without any delay, he ordered the anchor to be pulled and set sail, sailing through the waves, and headed straight for Liaodong.

The navy of the Han Dynasty is divided into the river navy and the navy, with a standing force of more than 70,000 people, which is naturally incomparable with the hundreds of thousands of horse infantry troops, but it is not easy to maintain such a large navy.

With the long-term construction of the navy, the main elite soldiers and generals have also been placed in the navy, and a group of naval families have also been born from this.

Among them, the most influential one is naturally the Guo family. It has been nearly 18 years since they returned to the big man and took charge of the construction of the navy.During these 18 years, Guo Tingwei's greatest achievement was the development of the two main naval forces of Mizhou and Laizhou on the basis of the original Jingjiang Army, with a standing force of 30,000 people.

However, after so many years, the two most powerful navies of the Han Dynasty have not made much achievements.The most recent big move was Pingnan back then, but it was just a formality. When the then king of Wuyue, Qian Hongchu, took the initiative to join him, he led the navy to go south for a military trip.

Although he participated in the attack on Jiangnan, Li Yu was too useless and surrendered without too much resistance, which also made Pingnan's achievements not so dazzling. attention.

However, this is not completely fruitless, at least it has the effect of training soldiers.More importantly, Guo Tingwei knew very well that from the very beginning of its establishment, the largest and most important target of the navy on the East China Sea was the Liao Kingdom in the north, that is, Liaodong.

After so many years, Emperor Liu called Guo Tingwei to talk every time, without concealing it, repeatedly emphasizing this matter, and in the process of the development and growth of the East China Sea Navy, Guo Tingwei always upheld this idea.

During the first Northern Expedition, Floating Sea attacked Liao. Although the success failed, it was only a small test. Emperor Liu did not blame him, and Guo Tingwei was looking forward to the next time.

However, as time passed, as he was over fifty years old, a sense of urgency began to grow in Guo Tingwei's heart, and he was afraid that he would not be able to wait for the day he expected.After all, seventeen or eighteen years of preparation, if it was finally abandoned because of age, how could it be reconciled.

On the other hand, within the navy, Guo Tingwei is not without challenges, such as another general in the navy, Zhang Yanqing.As a descendant of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yanqing's reputation was not as resounding as Guo Tingwei's, but he was not weaker than Guo Tingwei in terms of talent.

The difference between the two is that when the Han Dynasty went south, Guo Tingwei led the troops to resist the enemy and confronted Chai Rong, which caused a lot of trouble for the Han army. In the end, Emperor Liu personally surrendered and became famous.

In contrast, Zhang Yanqing defended Haizhou by himself, and did not submit to the Han army until the Han and Tang Dynasties negotiated peace.However, after returning to the Han Dynasty, Zhang Yanqing's official career went smoothly. He first won the attention of King Pu of the Yan Kingdom, served as the governor of Chuzhou, and then transferred from the army to the government and commanded the Yangtze River Navy.

Compared with Guo Tingwei, Zhang Yanqing also has one more real achievement, that is, following Zhao Kuangyin to go back to Sichuan, pacify Sichuan and Shu, and make military exploits.

Of course, what really threatened Guo Tingwei was the South China Sea Navy established in the south after the reunification, and Zhang Yanqing was in charge of it.

Although the South China Sea Navy has been established for a short time, in recent years, there has been a lot of movement and a lot of achievements. The recovery of Liuqiu is real.

And as the maritime trade in the South became prosperous, the status and role of the South China Sea Navy became more and more prominent. In recent years, there have been many achievements in the eradication of pirates reported every year. Although not great, they have always made their own voices in the court.The standing force of the South China Sea Navy has also expanded to 20,000 people today.

In comparison, the Donghai Navy, which has been in the army for a long time, seems a little quiet. Above the northern waters, the Han Navy has long dominated the situation.And compared to the bustling Maritime Silk Road in the south, Korea and Japan have frequent exchanges in the north.

Under such circumstances, it is naturally difficult to achieve results, after all, it must obey the overall strategic situation of the imperial court.Back then, when the relationship between the big man and Goryeo became delicate, he couldn't wait to send a division to teach the Goryeo people a lesson. Such a positive attitude may not have been due to the development of the South China Sea Navy.

However, although the waiting was difficult, it finally made him wait.As soon as the Northern Expedition started, Guo Tingwei knew that he was waiting for the opportunity to come, and the opportunity to justify himself and the East China Sea Navy in one fell swoop came.

Therefore, as early as the end of February, when Emperor Liu urgently ordered him to prepare for the Northern Expedition, Guo Tingwei, who was overjoyed, made various preparations in a hurry and methodically, and earnestly followed and implemented the imperial edict.

In fact, as early as mid-March, the East China Sea Division led by Guo Tingwei had completely entered a state of war.At the same time, in order to enrich the reserve force, an emergency call-up was made to the sailors who had retired in the past, and several major shipyards were urgently speeding up warships, transport and other sea-going ships.

Therefore, despite the fact that only 30,000 people were involved in the Northern Expedition, the navy was full of reserves. It was a surprise that at the last moment, the imperial court could even transfer the South China Sea Navy to participate in the war.You must know that when the Northern Expedition was in progress, Zhang Yanqing had already led the army to the north and was temporarily moored at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

It can be said that Guo Tingwei can put down most of the burden and carry out cross-sea operations to completely release the attack power of the Han Navy.

Simultaneously mobilizing troops with the battalion, Guo Tingwei's actions were also exceptionally sharp, without any hesitation, the army went straight to Liaosu Port.The Dahan navy has long been familiar with the sea area of ​​Liaohai, and the routes are also very mature, so while maintaining surveillance on the enemy, there is no delay in action.

In contrast, the naval forces in the Liao Kingdom seemed at a loss. Facing the menacing Han navy, even if they were prepared to deal with it, they were powerless.

The order from Yelu Xiezhen in Liaoyang was to let them defend Suzhou to the death, so as to consume the Han army. In Yelu Xiezhen's view, the Han army attacked across the sea. Once you gain a foothold, you can do a job with ease.

Moreover, Yelu Xiezhen gritted his teeth and sent [-] troops to the south to support him when his troops were weak.In his planning, even if the navy could not resist and let the Han army land on the land, it would still have to be fought on land, delayed, delayed, and consumed.
It's just that Yelu Xiezhen doesn't know what commanding the sea is, and he doesn't know that the navy of the Han Dynasty has the ability to deploy a large number of troops across the sea.

With the "cooperation" of Yelu Xiezhen, Guo Tingwei led the army to the north, and the journey was calm and unimpeded. When they arrived at Suzhou Port, they laughed heartily when facing the Liao army, which was hunkered down in the military port, with a defensive attitude.

In his eyes, the adoption of such tactics by the Liao Kingdom is tantamount to abolishing their martial arts. If the Liao army can go to sea to fight, even if they can't resist, it can cause some losses to the Han army.

However, he was trapped in a cage. How could Guo Tingwei be polite about this?

(End of this chapter)