The Song Dynasty has been deliberate for 16 years, only to know that it is the Water Margin

At the border where Wei Sheng's army and Taiyuan Prefecture met, Zhao Tong divided his 120,000 troops into three groups.

Of the 120,000 troops, 100,000 were from his own family, and the remaining 20,000 were troops brought by the Zhe family.

No matter how local the Zhe family is, these two thousand people are basically the Song Dynasty's army, so Zhao Tong will naturally use them.

Among them, there were 80,000 men and horses along the way. He led it himself, followed by four fierce men. There were also a thousand iron pagodas in the army.

The Thousand Iron Pagodas were temporarily formed, and the Jurchens' 10,000-strong armored army was annihilated. All their armored weapons became war trophies and were captured by Zhao Tao.

There are more than 6,000 pieces of heavy armor available inside, and more than 3,000 sets of equipment that horses can use.

Although based on these equipment, it is theoretically possible to equip at least 3,000 iron pagoda cavalry, but although the equipment is available, the men and horses suitable for heavy armor are not available.

Heavy armor has extremely high physical requirements for cavalry, and the same applies to war horses. Both of them must meet the requirements. Given the current situation in the army, it is really impossible to accomplish this.

The people came second, mainly the war horses. When I formed the Iron Kites in Hexi, everything was ready. In the end, I was stuck with the war horses. I couldn't get enough, so I had to go to the city of Ketun to seize the horses. Yang Zhi is still there today. Border guard.

As for the original war horses of Iron Buddha, none of them were useless. They were dead and injured, and they could not be harmed by hooks, sickles and spears.

Finally, after picking around, a thousand were selected to form this iron pagoda.

He divided this heavy armor of only a thousand men into four teams, led by the four fierce men, Lu Da, Qin Ming, Suo Chao, and Li Kui. Each of the four led 250 iron pagoda cavalry.

Zhao Tong thinks this number is very good and sounds very fierce. It is suitable for four people.

The other 30,000 troops and horses along the way were handed over to Zhang Xian, and Zhu Wu was assigned to him. Zhang Xian had almost the same experience in the past few years, but he was still young and some scheming people were not as good at it, so he assigned Zhu Wu, who was good at The strategist drives with him.

In the end, Xu Ning was asked to lead the way, with Hu Yanzhuo and Hua Rong as his assistants. He had no infantry, but just 10,000 fine cavalry.

Zhao Tan led a main force of 80,000 troops to attack Taiyuan, while Zhang Xian's 30,000 troops went around to Lanzhou, Xinzhou and other places to the north of Taiyuan to ambush in order to prevent the Jin soldiers stationed in Fuzhou, Linzhou and other places from returning to support, and at the same time cut off the Jin army in Taiyuan. retreat.

According to Zhe Hanmei, there were originally about 30,000 troops in Taiyuan City, but with all the soldiers and civilians defending the city, including militiamen and other services, the number was feared to be no less than 100,000, which provided the conditions for a pincer attack from both inside and outside.

When the time comes, as long as there is a fight outside the city and a banner is raised, the king in the city will definitely come out of the city to cooperate.

Taiyuan is not like Tokyo. There are many people with many different opinions. Emperor Daojun is hesitant and arbitrary, and his ministers are timid and afraid of death, making it difficult to grasp the timing of the battle.

Wang Zhen has the final say here in Taiyuan. Wang Zhen has the status of a general and was once his subordinate. He acts decisively and sees that it is his banner. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he will attack directly from both sides, so there is no need to send a special letter to make an agreement.

Xu Ning's 10,000 troops went to join Zhejia's horses, and with his handwriting, he mobilized all the opposition troops on Hedong Road to surround Taiyuan Prefecture with a net.

This is why he gave Xu Ning all his elite cavalry. On the one hand, he told the Zhe family and other troops in the field to see that one of his own soldiers and horses was as strong as ten of them. On the other hand, this kind of thing needed to be done quickly, and fast horses were needed to do it.

It's summer now, but the weather is still cool on Hedong Road because of the Taihang Mountains.

Zhao Tong divided the scouts in front into ten levels, one level every thirty miles, and the furthest was three hundred miles. They would report back when they reached the specified distance, and they could not go any further.

His army and horses advanced towards Taiyuan, while Zhang Xian led 30,000 people to the east and took a detour.

In addition to Zhang Xian and Zhu Wu, this team also includes Fan Rui, Xiang Chong, Li Gun, Huang Xin and Guo Sheng.

These 30,000 people are all veterans of Longyou. They are not troops integrated in the capital. They have participated in the Battle of Xixia, the Battle of Uighurs, and the Battle of Eastern Karahan. They were specially allocated to him by Zhao Yan.

Before setting off, Zhao Tong called Zhang Xian and Zhu Wu to the camp and gave them detailed instructions. Zhang Xian's army was the most important among the three routes and had the heaviest task.

He was responsible for cutting off the Hedong Road battlefield, isolating the Taiyuan Jurchen Army from the border Jurchen Army, preventing the two armies from converging, and cutting off the Taiyuan Jurchen Army's retreat.

The trip will only be considered a success if we can persist until Xu Ning joins the Zhejia army and the opposition army to outflank the center.

Zhang Xian was riding on his horse and said to Zhu Wu next to him: "Military advisor, last night you heard what the prince said about Wanyan Lou's good soldiers. What do you think?"

Zhu Wu smiled slightly when he heard this. He felt quite relaxed and happy at the moment. He looked at the mountains and rivers on both sides, the beautiful scenery, the sky high and the clouds wide, and his mind was open.

I haven’t felt this comfortable for a long time, five years? Or ten years? In short, I have never been relaxed since I went to Shaohua Mountain. Later I went to Liangshan, and it was even more heavy and depressing. It was as if there was a big stone covering my heart every moment. I was careful in everything I said and acted cautiously.

Now that the haze has disappeared, I have received my first military position given by His Majesty.

Since he and Song Jiang fled to Hexi a year ago, he has been idle like a staff member. Your Majesty has not asked him to do anything, not even his enemy Wu Yong, who just stayed there.

He usually played chess and chatted with An Daoquan, Huangfu Duan and others. Although he felt at ease, he was a little unwilling to do so.

What I learned was delayed after I fell into the grass in Shaohua Mountain, and it was even more useless to enter Liangshan again. I originally thought about letting go of the heavy burden in my heart, and if I just live my life like this, I didn't expect that I would be taken by His Majesty on this expedition, and he would also take on such an important person. Position.

It is indeed an important position. As soon as he heard that His Majesty sent Zhang Xian on an errand yesterday, he understood the importance of this position. This is to use this army as the center, and then coordinate the north and the south to set off a vigorous Hedong battle!
Their army must not only connect the south and the north, but also resist the south and resist the north. The south prevents the Jurchen army besieging Taiyuan from escaping. The northern Jurchen army comes down to support the border and goes to Xu Ning to join the scattered local soldiers and horses to form a large army. The task is completed by grabbing the net and copying it in the middle.

This is a very difficult task, and Zhang Xian is His Majesty's brother-in-law, so he sent himself to assist the other party. It shows that Your Majesty thinks highly of him, otherwise why would he be given the position of military advisor.

Is there really a chance to get up? Win the title of a marquis and become the prime minister, and the wife of Yinzi!

At this time, when he heard Zhang Xian's question, his mind was spinning again and again. Zhu Wu said: "Young General, the army is unpredictable, the battle is irregular, and the manpower is sometimes poor. No matter how good the Wanyan Lou family is, they will not be able to defeat the enemy." But he has to be surrounded by everyone, but he is not in the Taiyuan army, but is stationed in Fuzhou, which shows that he is unwilling to stick to Han. "

Zhang Xian thought for a while, and it was indeed true. If according to His Majesty's statement, this person was simply described as the number one general in the Jin Kingdom, but why didn't he participate in the siege in Taiyuan and instead stationed in the rear?
"What the military advisor means is that no matter how powerful he is, if no one uses it, his own efforts will be in vain?"

Zhu Wu nodded: "That's right. If you want to borrow arrows from Zhuge Wuhou's straw boat, but without Lu Zijing's cooperation, what's the use of clever calculations? How can Zhou Gongjin succeed in the battle of Chibi without Sun Zhongmou's trust?"

Zhang Xian said: "What the military advisor said is true. Although Your Majesty specifically mentioned that this person is powerful, I'm afraid he didn't think about it. We should be cautious and treat him carefully, but we don't need to take this person too seriously."

Zhu Wu looked at Zhang Xian, smiled slightly and shook his head: "Major General, you don't understand what His Majesty really means."

"What does your majesty really mean?" Zhang Xian was stunned: "What else does your majesty mean?" Zhu Wu stretched out his hand and touched his beard and said: "The first of your majesty's meanings is to tell the young general to be careful about this person, and the second is to take advantage of the opportunity. Let’s see if this person can be ostracized at the moment and let’s see if we can… keep him in Hedong forever!”

"Stay in Hedong forever?" Zhang Xian raised his eyebrows when he heard this. Yes, since this person is so capable, why not take advantage of the fact that he is not being reused at the moment and find a way to kill him!
"Exactly, depending on what your majesty means, Wanyan Lou's military skills should be stronger than those of Nianhan, Wushu and others. Now that he is out of power, we must find a way to destroy him."

Zhang Xian nodded and said: "Miss Zhe said that there are about ten thousand people in Fulin and Linzhou, one is guarded by Wanyan Loushi, and the other is Wanyan Balisu. If these two people are as your Majesty speculates, they will abandon the city. Leading troops south, while the Jurchen army of 150,000 to 60,000 from Taiyuan in the south returns north, even if they are defeated by half, they still have 80,000 troops. Adding these 10,000 troops, it will be 90,000, three times our army, but how can we defeat the enemy?"

Zhu Wu couldn't help but think deeply after hearing this. This was something he had been thinking about since last night. Is it difficult? It's hard! But precisely because it is difficult, if you can do it, it will be a great achievement.

He said slowly: "Show the enemy weakness, lure the enemy deep, lay an ambush, and catch them unprepared. Major General, our best chance of winning now is to bet that both sides will not arrive at the same time."

"What if they come at the same time?" Zhang Xian looked serious.

"If they arrive at the same time..." Zhu Wu closed his eyes slightly: "Then we must intervene in advance to prevent them from coming together!"

Zhang Xian took a deep breath: "I do have an idea."

"Major General, please speak."

"When I was young, I studied the Art of War with Your Majesty. There is a chapter on formations in the book, and there are all kinds of ancient formations. I also created some large formations of my own according to the prevailing conditions and current warfare methods. I used them in the battle of Xixia. I think the terrain east of the river has mountains and water, which is suitable for setting up formations..."

"Formation? The young general can actually set up a large formation?" Zhu Wu's eyes sparkled when he heard this. He was good at arranging military formations. He didn't expect that Zhang Xian could also do it.

"It's just a superficial understanding." Zhang Xian asked doubtfully: "Why does the military advisor have such a tone?"

Zhu Wu put his hands on his hands and laughed: "Young General, I don't know that my subordinates are also good at forming formations. I have been immersed in the formation method for half my life, forgetting to sleep and eat, and I am addicted to it and can't extricate myself."

"The military advisor is actually good at formations?" Zhang Xian couldn't help but be happy when he heard this. Although he had been in the army for many years, he had never met anyone who was setting up formations with him.

In fact, it has been a long time since ancient times, and many things have been lost. In today's world, battlefield tactics have changed. Unlike in ancient times, formations were still the mainstay, so it is rare to discuss it with a close friend.

Zhu Wu nodded heavily, naturally feeling happy in his heart. Like Zhang Xian, he had not met anyone who knew the formation for many years. In excitement, the two of them immediately started discussing...

Zhao Tao's army and horses were not advancing as fast as Zhang Xian's team, let alone Xu Ning. They had to stop almost every step of the way and listen to the scouts' reports before deciding to continue moving forward or change the route.

We had two head-to-head encounters with the Jurchen army outside Tokyo. Once, they were led by the Four Fierce Soldiers, who had similar strength to the other side and won the battle.

Another time, the force was twice the opponent's, and the opponent had the Iron Pagoda, which was also better than the opponent's.

But right now, we only have 80,000 troops here, and our opponent, Taiyuan City, has 150,000 to 60,000 troops, twice as many as we have. It seems a bit difficult to continue to win.

Zhe Hanmei asked beside the horse: "What are you thinking about, Your Highness?"

The two brothers Zhiwu and Zhigang went with Xu Ning to recruit Zhe's army, but Zhe Hanmei did not follow and stayed here.

Zhao Tong took a breath and said with a smile: "This title sounds more pleasant to my ears. These days, everyone calls me Your Majesty. It's really annoying to death."

Zhe Hanmei smiled and said, "You shouldn't call your Majesty the right one. Calling me that way is already deceiving you."

"You are not a king." Zhao Tong waved his hand: "Do you think I really want to be this king?"

Zhe Hanmei pursed her lips and looked at him. Didn't she understand Xiao Zhaotong yet? She was trying to show off again.

Zhao Tong didn't pay attention to Zhe Hanmei's expression, and said in a showy manner: "If the world is peaceful, the world is stable, the court is clean, the people are rich, the people are well fed and clothed, have housing, transportation, and cars, then I will not care about doing this." What's the point of being a king? Not only is it hard work, but you're stuck in the capital, it's not as good as being an idle prince, or even wandering around, enjoying the mountains and rivers, and being proud of the clouds, it's a hundred times better than being a king."

Zhe Hanmei covered her mouth when she heard the words, her thin eyebrows curved.

Zhao Taohu frowned: "Why are you laughing?"

"No, I'm not smiling..." Zhe Hanmei turned his head, his shoulders shaking slightly.

Zhao Tong's face turned dark immediately: "You don't believe it?"

"Believe, believe, when have I not believed what His Highness said?" Zhe Hanmei turned her cheek and looked serious: "Since I was a child, what Your Highness has said has not been realized. Your Highness does not care about this position. Naturally, civilian girls do not believe it. suspect."

Zhao Tong looked at her expression suspiciously, and after a long time he said: "It's over here, take me to see the old general."

"Huh?" Zhe Hanmei was stunned when she heard this: "Why do you, Your Highness, go to see my father?"

"The old general is a pillar of the country. He has been in the army for half his life. I haven't seen him for more than ten years. It's time to say hello. By the way..." Zhao Tong touched his chin.

"By the way?" Zhe Hanmei suddenly felt nervous for some reason.

"By the way, I would like to propose a kiss." Zhao Tong showed a proud smile on his lips.

"Ah, Your Highness..." Zhe Hanmei's cheeks were red and her face was panicked. She immediately did not dare to look at Zhao Tong anymore and gently pinched the horse's belly, and the horse rushed forward.

Zhao Tong looked at her back, shook his head, and said to himself: "You are already a grown-up, so there is nothing to be ashamed of. If I hadn't proposed marriage, I might not have been able to get married."

At this time, the army and horses in front slowly stopped, and another scout rushed back to report.

Zhao Tong called him forward. The scout had a dusty look on his face and said with a half salute on his horse: "Your Majesty, I have three hundred scouts from 300 miles away to report the news."

"Three Hundred Miles Scout..." Zhao Tong nodded. The Three Hundred Miles Scout had reported back several times before, but this time it should be different, because based on the distance, this time the scout should have explored about a hundred miles away from Taiyuan. The place is...

(End of this chapter)