Outlaws of the Marsh

Chapter 825 Burning Fire Stick (Please Subscribe!)

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Ordinarily, after the Dingxi Army attacked the Sichuan-Shanxi line, the soldiers should be given a rest, and they should not have sent troops to attack the Longyou area hastily. After all, the Sichuan-Shanxi War has been fought for more than half a year, and the soldiers of the Dingxi Army need to take a good rest one time.

However, after analysis, Xu Guanzhong, Zhu Wu and others came to the conclusion: now that they send troops to the Longyou area, it should be easy to capture it and complete Dazhong's strategic expansion of the Northwest region.

The analysis of Xu Guanzhong, Zhu Wu and others is well-founded.

In the current Longyou region, the Remnant Song Dynasty, Xixia, Tubo, Khotan, and Gaochang Uighurs are all in one pot of porridge there, but the real dominators in the Longyou region are actually the local forces, that is, the Remnant Song Dynasty forces and the local Tubo people.

Of course, the Tubo people wanted to take advantage of the Song Dynasty's demise to recover the Longyou area. Therefore, shortly after the Jingkang battle, the Tubo people in Longyou rebelled.

However, the rebellion of the Tubo people was resolutely suppressed by the remnants of the Song Dynasty, that is, the Songxi Army in the Longyou area, and the local Han officials and people.

If the Remnant Song Dynasty forces are not resolutely suppressed, it won’t work—after the Battle of Jingkang, the Remnant Song Dynasty forces were trapped in the Longyou area. At this time, if the Tubo regained the Longyou area, they would not even have a place to go No more, maybe they all have to become slaves of barbarians such as Xixia, Tubo, Khotan, and Gaochang Uighurs.

but--

Although the remnant Song forces temporarily suppressed the rebellion of the Tubo people, their life was not easy.

At the beginning, when the Song Dynasty occupied the Longyou area, it had to transport food, armaments, and daily necessities from the Central Plains to the border every year. After conquering the barbarian land, it had to allocate troops, build forts, and send officials. , Calling the Xiang army, let's put it this way, the Song Dynasty occupied the Longyou area, which required a lot of manpower and material resources, which could not be compensated by the meager taxes in the newly occupied area. If the Song forces want to occupy the land of Longyou, they must have the Central Plains Dynasty as the backing of the remnant Song forces in the Longyou area, and provide continuous support for the remnant Song forces in the Longyou area. The power was given up by the Song Dynasty, lost contact with the Central Plains Dynasty, and thus could not get any support. The situation naturally went from bad to worse. In addition, Xixia, Tubo, Khotan, and Gaochang Uighurs invaded the Longyou area in turn. It's no wonder that the remnant Song Dynasty forces in the right area are doing better.

Let's put it this way, if Dazhong does not accept the Remnant Song Dynasty forces in the Longyou area, then the Remnant Song Dynasty forces in the Longyou region will be a group of rootless weeds, which will be annexed by other forces sooner or later.

From the perspective of the unspoken rules of dynasty change, the current orthodox dynasty of the Central Plains, Dazhong, is eligible to receive all the properties of the Song Dynasty, including the Longyou region and the remnant Song forces in the Longyou region.

The key is that the two sides still have the strong bond of the same race.

Therefore, as long as the Chinese army can seize the Xining area occupied by Xixia and get in touch with the forces of the remnant Song Dynasty, Dazhong will probably be able to recover the Longyou area without much effort.

Although the Longyou area is sparsely populated and not rich in resources, it has its special value—great regional value.

The Hexi Corridor has always been the only way for the communication between China and the West, and it is also the only way for the Silk Road.

But in fact, the specific route of the Hexi Corridor changes from time to time.

In the early years of the Song Dynasty, caravan travelers often traveled from the Central Plains to the Western Regions via Lingzhou, and caravan travelers from the Western Regions also often came to the Central Plains via Lingzhou.

But after the rise of Xixia, this route began to face the threat of Xixia people. After Xixia completely controlled the Hexi Corridor, Xixia not only imposed high customs clearance fees on passing business travelers, but also indulged the army to plunder tax-evading caravans.

For the safety of their lives, business travelers had to turn south in Ganzhou, and went to the Song Dynasty through the Qingtang, that is, the Longyou area. Merchants from the east and west were forced to choose the more southern Qinghai Road as a new transportation route, and the Longyou area became the east-west region. It is a transportation hub in the north. Merchants passed through here to go to the Western Regions or the Song Dynasty. Not only did envoys from Yutian and other Western Regions need to go to the Song Dynasty through the Longyou area, but even the envoys from West Asia and Central Asia had to divert to the Longyou area after arriving in the Western Regions. , to go to the Song Dynasty.

Having said so much, the main thing I want to say is that as long as Dazhong can get the Longyou area, they can reopen the Silk Road without Xixia.

In this way, Dazhong can cut off the main artery of Xixia's finances and sanction Xixia economically.

More importantly, after Dazhong won Longyou, he could cut off Xixia's flanks, and then he could eliminate the party regime and completely relieve the troubles in the northwest frontier.

In addition, after winning the Longyou area, it can also solve the problem of lack of war horses for Dazhong.

The lack of enough war horses has always been a problem that plagued the Central Plains dynasty.

Although the situation of the Dazhong Dynasty that regained the Yanyun area was better than that of the Song Dynasty.

But this is still far from enough for Dazhong's needs - the Jin Kingdom, Xixia and Mongolian tribes are not fools, how could they not control the flow of important strategic materials and horses to Dazhong?You must know that once Dazhong got enough horses, Dazhong might follow the Han and Tang dynasties and attack the grassland. At that time, for these grassland forces, it might be a disaster.

Therefore, Dazhong can no longer count on the war horses in the north.

However, the Longyou area, which is dominated by nomadic economy, has more good horses.

At the beginning, the Song Dynasty set up official horse farms in Qin, Wei, Yuan, Mu, Huan, Qing and other border states and counties. At its peak, the Northern Song Dynasty was able to obtain nearly [-] good horses from the Longyou area every year.

If Dazhong can get the Longyou area, then Dazhong can trade with the grassland tribes in the northwest region, and there may be no shortage of war horses in the future.

What's more, the current Tubo regime has also declined, and it is falling apart, and there are even constant internal struggles. After seizing the Longyou area, you can find an opportunity to recover it, at least make it a vassal area of ​​Dazhong, and solve the border troubles there. .

There is also the Remnant Liao area.

Different from history, because Yelu Dashi was captured by Li Yan and thrown into the Indochina Peninsula, so that the Xiliao, which should have been unified by Yelu Dashi, is still in a state of fragmentation—the eastern part is the remnant of the Northern Liao Dynasty, and the central part is the Rhubarb Shiwei . There are a large number of tribes of different sizes, such as Musi, Xide, and Juerbi, while the west is the Gaochang Uyghur Kingdom, the East Karakhan Dynasty, the West Karakhan Dynasty, the Khwarazmo Kingdom, and the Kangli tribe. The forces are fighting each other and fighting for hegemony, which is extremely chaotic.

Therefore, here Dazhong also has the opportunity to integrate and make it Dazhong's territory.

In other words, as long as Dazhong can win the Longyou area, Dazhong's expansion space will be greatly deepened.

As for the problem faced by previous dynasties in areas too far away from the Central Plains, it is no longer a problem for the Dazhong Dynasty, which has developed trains, at least not an unsolvable problem.

Of course, the reason why Dazhong sent troops to Longyou was mainly to weaken Xixia, so that he could find an opportunity to wipe out Xixia in one fell swoop in the future and never suffer any future troubles. In addition, it is not difficult to capture the Longyou area now, at least it is the most labor-saving time.

That's why the Dazhong imperial court ignored the exhaustion of the veterans of the Dingxi army division and asked Zhang Xian to lead an army of [-] troops out of Longyou.

Zhang Xian led his troops westward, and the first stop was Xining, which had been occupied by Xixia.

At the beginning, when China and Xia formed an alliance, Xining was still under the control of the Song Dynasty and was not occupied by Xixia. Therefore, Xining did not belong to the territory of Xixia, at least Dazhong did not admit that Xining belonged to Xixia.

But now, the Dazhong Dynasty destroyed the Song Dynasty, took over everything from the Song Dynasty, and became the orthodoxy of the Central Plains Dynasty. It insisted that Xining, which originally belonged to the Song Dynasty, was its own, and there was no problem at all.

In fact, Dazhong also used this excuse.

Before the Chinese army dispatched troops, Xixia never thought about it. Dazhong had just recovered the Sichuan-Shanxi line, and even before completely recovering the Shu land, he sent troops to Longyou, let alone Zhang Xian would order Guo Hao to lead a surprise attack on Xining with [-] cavalry .

As a result, Xining was lost in the first battle, and the Chinese army opened the door to the Longyou area...

……

Knowing that Xining was captured by Dazhong, and the Chinese army moved westward to recover the Longyou area, Li Qianshun hurriedly called Brother Li Cha, Li Renzhong, Li Renli and others to discuss countermeasures.

Li Renzhong obviously knew the reason why Li Qianshun was looking for him. As soon as he arrived, he asserted: "The Great Central and Western Advances must be coming for our Great Xia!"

Li Renli said: "It's needless to say, all fools know that when Dazhong captured Longyou, the drunkard's intention was not to drink, but to our Daxia. The question now is whether Dazhong will capture Longyou after he captures Longyou. , to directly attack our Great Xia?"

Li Renzhong pondered for a while, shook his head, and said: "The Chinese army sent troops to Longyou this time, probably just want to take this opportunity to open up Longyou, and then cut off our main source of income for Daxia."

Brother Li Cha said: "There is also a flank to cut off our Great Xia militarily."

Li Renzhong nodded and said: "Yes, there are also the flanks that cut off our Daxia." Then he said: "However, Dazhong has just annexed Dasong, and it is impossible to completely digest Dasong in three or two years. Yes, moreover, Dali Kingdom must be the first to be conquered by Dazhong, and that is the wedge that blocks Dazhong's development. Therefore, I still stick to the original point of view, as long as Dazhong doesn't anger Dazhong, and doesn't attack Dazhong Our excuse, Dazhong will not attack our Daxia in a short time."

Li Renli echoed: "I think so too. Dazhong's strategic goal this time should only be the Longyou region. As long as the Longyou region is captured by Dazhong, Dazhong should suspend the war in the northwest."

Li Qianshun looked at the map and said, "Dazhong's strategic intentions are not difficult to guess. The question is, how should our Daxia deal with it? In the battle of Xining, our Daxia killed and injured nearly [-] people. We can't pretend that this didn't happen, right? "

Li Renli was silent for a while, and said: "In ancient times, there were people who were invaded, but it was nothing more than fighting and forbearance. Today's war is invincible, and the only way is forbearance."

As soon as Li Renli said this, Brother Li Cha and Li Renzhong fell silent!
Unexpectedly, Li Qianshun said in a deep voice: "I want to join forces with Tubo and fight the Chinese army in Longyou!"

As soon as Li Qianshun said this, Li Renzhong and Li Renli said at the same time: "No!"

Li Qianshun looked at Li Renzhong and Li Renli, and asked, "Why not? Throughout the ages, peace has never been begged for. If we don't show our military strength to Dazhong, Dazhong will only make progress."

Li Renzhong and Li Renli looked at each other, and then Li Renzhong said first: "Tubo is no longer the powerful Tubo in the past. Since Tubo was divided into four royal families, Tubo has declined, and there are many internal conflicts, even internal fighting. It is really unwise to continue to attack the powerful Chinese army with such a Tubo allied army. Besides, our Great Xia suffered a great loss of energy during the period of the Two Empresses. Our Xia army has been fighting east and west, and has not been able to develop well. If we are caught in a long-term war with Dazhong at this time, we may be in danger of subjugation."

Li Renli then said: "Once this battle starts, we can say anything if we win. Once we lose, our Great Xia will give Dazhong an excuse to start a war. With the tough character of the middle master, it will probably take several years to break out." The war was detonated ahead of schedule."

Li Qianshun really wanted to fight this battle!
Dazhong is really a bully—they Xixia are constantly trying to please Dazhong. It has not been four years since the founding of Dazhong, and their Xixia has sent ambassadors dozens of times, just for the beauties sent by Li Yan. There are already hundreds of them, and in the end, Dazhong is still pressing hard on Xixia!
More importantly, Li Qianshun, who is also a hero of a generation, clearly realizes that now is the best time to start the war, and it may also be the only chance to win-now, Dazhong has just annexed the Song Dynasty and has not had time to digest it, so , Now is the time when Dazhong is weak. In this case, as long as Xixia and Tubo can persist for a year or two, they may be able to drag Dazhong down and win the victory. You know, Li Qianshun is not dreaming, but Longyou is too far away from the Central Plains, and it is also sandwiched between Xixia and Tubo. The Chinese army can fight, but Xixia and Tubo have the best geographical advantage, and they can attack the long supply line of Dazhong at will. Therefore, there is every chance to win this battle. On the contrary, if the Song Dynasty is digested by Dazhong, and then occupied by Dazhong, Longyou cuts off Xixia's economy and cuts off Xixia's flanks, then Xixia should be dragged down by Dazhong At that time, Xixia will completely become fish and meat, and will be slaughtered by Dazhong.

Before Li Renzhong, Li Renli and others came, Li Qianshun had told Brother Li Cha what he thought.

Seeing that Li Renzhong and Li Renli did not agree to fight this battle, Li Qianshun looked at Brother Li Cha, hoping that Brother Li Cha could support him in this battle.

But what Li Qianshun didn't expect was that after Brother Li Cha was silent for a while, he said, "I don't agree to start a war with Dazhong either."

Li Qianshun looked at Brother Li Cha in puzzlement.

Brother Li Cha didn't directly say why he disagreed, but first shouted at the door: "Bring the things in."

After hearing Brother Li Cha's words, someone came in with a strange looking "fire stick".

After the man came in, he directly sent the "fire stick" to Li Qianshun.

Li Qianshun picked up the "burning stick" very puzzled, and examined it carefully.

When Li Qianshun was inspecting the "burning fire stick", brother Li Cha said: "This is a musket, a sharp weapon newly equipped by the Chinese army. In the Battle of Xining, our Daxia warriors were very brave and fearless, but they were still held by three thousand soldiers." The soldiers of the Chinese army with muskets and thunder from their waists were defeated..."

Afterwards, Brother Li Cha told Li Qianshun and others about the battle of Xining in detail...

……

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PS: This is a two-in-one chapter, so that's it for today.

(End of this chapter)