Outlaws of the Marsh

Chapter 459 Western Army (please subscribe!)
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Regarding the recovery of Yanjing by the Northern Expedition, Zhong Shidao disagreed and even resisted.

He reiterated his point of view, "Instigating a war first is invincible." "What we are doing today, for example, is that a robber enters a neighbor's house. We cannot save it, but instead take advantage of the fire to rob and share the spoils with the robber. How can we do that?"...

In order to persuade Zhao Ji to give up the Northern Expedition, Zhong Shidao even sent his old partner Zhao Long, chief of the general staff of the Western Army, to Bianliang, Tokyo, in an attempt to persuade Zhao Ji, Wang Fu, and Tong Guan.

Ran and egg.

All this is in vain.

Ma Zheng, the father of Ma Kuo, who was from the Western Army, was sent by Zhao Ji to the Weizhou Western Army Command to convey the mobilization order.

After that, within ten days, Zhao Ji issued seven gold medals in a row, conveying the same order, and his tone became stricter each time. In the last one, he even said, "The army will not be able to reach Xiongzhou by the due date, which will delay the military opportunity. The way to control the species is to ask" and so on.

The gold medal, also known as the wooden plaque with golden characters before the Imperial Palace, can only be used when passing the urgent military news. It takes six hundred miles to travel in a day and night, and people hold gold and vermilion plaques. Every time they pass a post station, they have to change to a better horse and gallop However, the momentum is like lightning.

Zhao Ji's eagerness to use troops can be imagined when the imperial court fired seven shots in a row within ten days.

In this regard, although he was unwilling, Zhong Shidao did not dare to neglect, and hastily made deployments for dispatching troops and emergency mobilization.

There used to be 30 to 11 Western Army, but now there are actually only [-] left.

Someone may ask, where did the nearly 20 Western troops go?
A few years ago, Tong Guan had been using troops against Xixia, so there were naturally some casualties. In the battle of Tong'an City alone, the Western Army suffered tens of thousands of casualties.

Two years ago, when Tong Guan conquered Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Fang La, he mobilized 15 troops from the Western Army, mainly the Huanqing Army and the Fuyan Army.

During the two-year battle, more than half of the 15 troops were killed or injured.

For the rest, after suppressing the Fangla Uprising, except for a small number of Fanbing (mainly the Zhejia Army) who returned to the northwest, the rest stayed in Beijing Northwest Road, which is Huaining Mansion (or Chenzhou Mansion). Nor did they return to the Northwest.

There is nothing wrong with the Western Army being able to fight well, but the Western Army also has a big problem, that is, it is extremely xenophobic, and even the people sent by the emperor can't integrate into it, and it seems a bit obedient to the announcement.

There are many reasons for this situation:

For example, the Song Dynasty's consistent attitude towards generals made the soldiers of the Western Army distrust the court.

For example, the Song Dynasty emphasized civility over military affairs, and always let a group of civil servants who did not know how to fight to command their generals who knew how to fight.

For another example, the Western Army has always been passed down from family to family, from father to son, and from son to grandson. The army is the home and life of the soldiers of the Western Army. How can they give their family and life to outsiders they don't trust?
and many more……

In short, the imperial court did not trust the Western Army, and the Western Army did not trust the imperial court either.

As a result, the Western Army seemed to listen to the tune but not to the announcement.

For this kind of thing, no emperor can bear it.

But the Song Dynasty had to use the Western Army to defend Xixia, and it had to use the Western Army to put out fires everywhere.

Therefore, the relationship between the Western Army and the Song Dynasty court slowly continued.

However, although this relationship can continue, it does not mean that the emperor does not want to resolve it.

Coincidentally, Tong Guan dispatched half of the Western Army to suppress Tian Hu, Wang Qing, and Fang La, and also caught up with the commander of this half of the Western Army, Liu Yanqing, who is a rare "traitor" among the Western Army and is willing to listen to Zhao Ji and Tong Guan. at the mercy of.

Therefore, this part of the Western Army was renamed by Zhao Ji-Sheng Jie Army.

The Shengjie Army is still under the control of the Western Army Command in name, and the imperial court did not expressly stipulate that the Shengjie Army should be separated from the Western Army's organizational system.

However, the Shengjie Army has obtained the designation of "Shengjie Army" separately.

Moreover, different from the Western Army, the supplies and military pay of the Shengjie Army were all allocated directly by the Privy Council, and the treatment was much better than that of the other armies in the Western Army Headquarters.

The leaders of the Shengjie Army are Liu Guangguo, Liu Yanqing's eldest son, Xin Yongzong, Xin Xingzong's brother, Wang Ting and other Tong Guan's absolute cronies.

In addition, the Shengjie Army never returned to the northwest, but went directly to Huaining Mansion to rest.

In short, the imperial court completely separated the Shengjie Army from the Western Army, and the general public of the Western Army was unwilling to admit that the Western Army that originally belonged to the Huanqing Army and the Yanyan Army was still the Western Army.

The imperial court issued a decree that the victorious army should follow the army in the northern expedition.

Considering that the Shengjie Army was originally an army under Liu Yanqing's command, Zhong Shidao ordered Liu Yanqing's second son, Liu Guangshi, to go to Huaining Mansion with a military order, and urged this army to go to the front line as the first wave, that is, the former army. Can't be wrong.

Considering the poor combat effectiveness and lax discipline of the Shengjie Army, Zhong Shidao did not assign the important task of selecting the vanguard (pioneer), but handed it over to Yang Keshi, a famous brave general of the Western Army. Leading the elite Jingyuan Road main force of 5000 people as the vanguard, set off quickly.

In the previous mobilization orders issued by the imperial court, according to Zhao Ji's instructions, there is a sentence "it is easy to defend against the Hebei army, and the whole division will go out".

However, the Hebei army has already existed in name only, and there are not many troops that can be easily defended, and those that come are useless.

Therefore, if the Western Army really "goes out with all the troops", it would be treating national defense as a trifling matter.

Moreover, the State of Song wanted to lock Li Yan in Yundi. How could it be possible to do so only by transferring the Hebei Forbidden Army who was no longer able to fight?

Therefore, Zhong Shidao resolutely made a decision to let Xihe Road Jinglue envoy Yao Gu command a total of 3 troops to stay behind at the discretion of each military region, and take full charge of the defense of the Northwest. At the same time, he also left some seeds for the Western Army. After all, this It's a national war, who can guarantee that those who went out will definitely come back?
Yao Gu was lazy to take action, and he didn't want to be restrained by the teacher's way. This decision was completely in line with his wish.

On the contrary, Yao Gu's son, Yao Pingzhong, has always regarded himself as brave and determined to go to the front to fight.

Zhong Shidao met Yao Pingzhong's request and asked him to lead the Xihe Army to Hebei with 1 people.

Xihe Road is the farthest from Hebei. Zhong Shidao estimated that this group of troops would be the last to reach the front line. Therefore, Zhong Shidao took it as the rear army and gave him the task of supporting the entire army. In fact, he wanted the Xihe army to do it. The general reserve of the army.

Zhong Shizhong led the Qin Feng Army, and Liu Yanqing led the rest of the Huanqing Army and the Huan Ting Army as the left and right armies respectively, starting later than Yang Keshi.

Zhong Shidao himself led the headquarters and the remaining Jingyuan Army as the Chinese army.

Considering that after the army set off, the supply and replenishment of food, supplies and other military supplies would inevitably have to deal with the imperial court and local transshipment departments, so Zhong Shidao specially appointed Tong Guan's relative Wang Yuan and Tong Guan's beloved general Xin Qizong to protect him. Liang generals—named Huliang, in fact, Zhong Shidao is to use their relationship with Tong Guan to ensure the supply of military supplies for the entire army.

Due to the hasty date of the expedition, various practical difficulties arose, which led to complaints from the soldiers.

And because some orders were issued improperly, some contradicted each other, and some were inconsistent, resulting in constant conflicts between certain people or certain troops.

In short, it was a bad start, and most soldiers were negative or even resistant.

To put it bluntly, the Western Army has stayed in the Northwest for too long, too long, and they have already regarded this land as their home. It's fine to fight or die, as long as you don't go out, and there are examples of the Huanqing Army and the Yanyan Army who never came back after going out, so they are as different as the commander of this army, Zhong Shidao. Willing to go to Hebei to fight.

Even so, the disciplined discipline of this army has overcome all kinds of negative factors. After receiving the order of Zhong Shidao, the troops were ready to go out as soon as possible, and generally they were able to follow the orders. The very hasty schedule left the front line on time.

The [-] Western Army, which has been silent for three years, with a deep attachment to the Northwest, traveled through the vast Northwest wilderness, passed through the mountains, and gathered towards the front line of Hebei...

……

(End of this chapter)