In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 596 Race against time
Wang Anjie hesitated for only a few minutes and immediately ordered the entire army to assemble and march to Shenzhou.

Because Zhao Xie was very smart, he did not let him go to fight, but only let his troops move forward to Shenzhou.

The court did not issue any order. If Wang Anjie had to listen to one of the telegrams from Zhao Yi and Zhao Xie, he would obviously prefer to listen to Zhao Xie's.

It was at the same time that Wang Anjie gathered his troops and prepared to go to Shenzhou.

Lv Wenhuan in Shenzhou was also looking at the distance on the map.

Zhao Xie asked him to send troops immediately. While he was looking at the distance between himself and the capital, he sent a telegram to Fan Wenhu, asking him to send troops immediately.

He now had two options. One was to take the land route, with the entire army riding horses from Shenzhou to the capital without any baggage, a journey of 200 miles day and night, which would take six or seven days.

Another way is to go to Yingkou first, which is more than 300 miles and can be reached in a day and a half.

Then take a boat from Yingkou to Tianjin, which takes about two and a half to three days.

This will take four and a half days, and then it will only take half a day to get to the capital.

The whole journey can be completed in five days.

The fastest way is to go by water, but Yingkou does not have a large number of naval vessels.

He needed naval ships from Lushun to come and pick him up.

The Lushun Navy was also under the management of the Governor-General of Liaodong. Lu Wenhuan immediately ordered the Lushun Navy to send a large number of ships to gather in Yingkou within 36 hours and wait for his troops to arrive and board the ship.

The Lushun Navy was only a day and a half away from Yingkou. After receiving the telegram, the local navy commander Hu Hai immediately gathered the ships and requisitioned a large number of civilian ships, heading to Yingkou as soon as possible.
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Guangdong.

Li Tingzhi and Bian Juyi received Zhao Yi's telegram one after another at the first opportunity.

Zhang Gui and Zhao Xie were plotting a rebellion?
Li Tingzhi was shocked and couldn't believe it at all.

But he had not received any information from the court before, nor did he know that Zhao Yurui's ship had just been sunk near Yashan.

While Li Tingzhi was sending a telegram to the capital to confirm the news, he also called Bian Juyi.

Bian Juyi was the commander of the Guangdong Navy, whose headquarters was in Chaozhou.

At the same time, Bian Juyi also called and asked Li Tingzhi what to do. He also received it.

Li Tingzhi immediately said: "Don't act rashly, and follow the orders of the court first."

On that day, Li Tingzhi was also waiting for feedback from the court, but there was no news from the court.

Normally, telegrams from the capital were being sent everywhere, so how could there be no feedback? Li Tingzhi immediately felt something was wrong.

Li Tingzhi did not sleep well that night. The next day, like Wang Anjie, he received a telegram from Zhao Chen, saying that Zhao Yi and Kublai Khan had rebelled.

He also said that Zhao Yi's ship might go to the capital via Guangdong, so he asked him to send the navy to intercept it.

Li Tingzhi, like Wang Anjie, was in a dilemma.

Should we arrest Zhang Gui or stop Zhao Yi?
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Let’s go back to the third day of April.

Zhang Qi took three of his subordinates with him, and the four of them rode towards Jiangmen on horseback.

Jiangmen controls the Yashan waterway and is only a hundred miles away from Guangzhou. It is an important local garrison and the imperial court stationed a battalion of navy here.

The naval commander was Qian Peng.

Qian Peng graduated from the military academy in the 35th year of Yuanzhen, and was promoted to naval commander within a few years. In addition to his military academy background, his father's contribution was also evident.

His father, Qian She, followed Liu Zheng in his campaigns and retired home two years ago as a general.

Qian She was only 55 years old when he retired. In Qian Peng's opinion, it was a bit early to retire and he could still work for another five years.

But the court regulations are like this, only those who have been promoted to generals and above can retire at the age of 60.

Early in the morning of that day, the soldiers in the camp came out for drill, and Qian Peng was watching on the playground.

"Jia" suddenly saw dust flying in the distance, as if a war horse was galloping towards them.

"Who is riding a horse in the camp? What a bastard." Qian Peng was furious and immediately sent someone to check.

The Song army is no longer the same as before. In the past, each soldier in the Song army rode two horses and had to carry a lot of baggage when going to war.

Now the Song army only needs to carry bullets and guns when they go out, and war horses are gradually being eliminated.

Because Qian Peng's side is close to the sea and inside the Song Dynasty, there are not many wars. Apart from a small number of horses used for communication in the camp, many young soldiers have rarely ridden a horse.

Not long after the troops went down, they came running over with two cavalrymen.

"Report, it is Liu Zhen (the second son of Liu Zheng), the general of Guangzhou, who has sent an envoy here."

Liu Ken was Qian Peng's direct superior, and his battalion was under the command of General Liu Ken.

There was no telegraph in Qian Peng’s camp because he was not stationed on the front line, so telegrams had to be sent to Jiangmen City.

The other party did not send a telegram, but instead sent someone on fast horse to his garrison camp.

"Oh." Qian Peng was very surprised. Usually, if there was any military order, Guangzhou would send a telegram to Jiangmen. There were sergeants and messenger soldiers from his camp stationed in Jiangmen, who would come back specifically to inform them.

There is no war here, so it often takes a long time before we receive some telegrams.

This time, his communication soldier stationed in Jiangmen did not come back, and two cavalrymen came directly from Guangzhou.

"Commander Qian." The man who came was a sergeant, a sergeant, and he stepped forward and asked, "Do we have a secret order from General Liu?"

"Please come in." Qian Peng quickly invited the person into the tent.

Seeing that there was no one around, the sergeant took out a sealed fire seal and a rolled-up document.

Qian Peng took the document, first made sure the seal was intact, and then opened it in public.

After just one look, his face changed drastically.

Liu Shen called and asked him to capture the rebels Zhang Gui and his son and not let them enter Jiangmen.

It is not known whether Zhang Gui was really a rebel or not. The military communication did not have the seal of the commander-in-chief or the signature of the general government. It was completely illegal. If he dared to mobilize troops, it would be almost the same as treason.

After reading it, Qian Peng slowly closed the secret order without saying a word, with something spinning wildly in his mind.

"Commander Qian, did you see it clearly?" the visitor asked.

"I've seen it clearly, but this - seems to be illegal -" Qian Peng said with a stiff upper lip.

"What do you mean by compliance?" The sergeant asked solemnly, "Does Commander Qian intend to disobey General Liu's secret order?"

"I dare not." Qian Peng said stiffly.

"What are you waiting for? Gather the troops immediately, send out a notice, and arrest Zhang Gui and his son."

"Let me ask the Governor's Office and the Chief Commander first about this matter?" Qian Peng asked tentatively.

"Commander Qian, have you forgotten your position today? Who gave it to you?" The other side sneered.

Qian Peng's face turned red. Liu Shen did indeed promote the Qian family.

He was speechless for a moment, and the scene became quiet.

The atmosphere was also extremely weird.

"Report." Just when Qian Peng was in a dilemma, another voice came from outside.

"Come in." Qian Peng said loudly.

Someone outside came in and reported that the camp's communicator stationed in Jiangmen had returned and said that he had received two telegrams from the Dusi and the Governor's Office, asking Qian Peng to go in person to communicate.

"Okay, I'll go right away." Qian Peng was overjoyed, finally finding a reason.

The two people from Guangzhou had no choice but to follow Qian Peng.

The military camp was only four or five miles away from Jiangmen. The few of them quickly entered Jiangmen and found the telegraph office.

Li Tingzhi and Bian Juyi called one after another, asking each department to take responsibility and not to move without orders from the commander-in-chief or the governor's office.

But Li Tingzhi also said that if he met Zhang Gui and his son, he could invite them to Guangzhou to explain what happened?

Just saying "please" here is still quite polite.

Qian Peng said, "The superiors have given the order, and it's really difficult for me to do it." The other side was relentless: "Commander Qian, think about it carefully. You only have one chance to choose a side. If you choose the wrong side, it will be too late to regret it."

What he said later was even more reckless and lawless: "Your Majesty has already been in trouble. The king is popular and will definitely ascend to the throne. Commander Qian has to think about his family and children, if not himself."

Qian Peng stood there, hesitant and very conflicted.

Just when he was in a dilemma again.

"Gee." The sound of horse hooves suddenly came from outside.

Then someone rushed in: "Get out of the way."

"Where's the telegraph?"

Everyone turned around and saw several soldiers rushing in in a panic.

The two sides met each other instantly.

Although they were all military attachés, they had never met before and did not know each other.

The person who rushed in was naturally Zhang Gui's son Zhang Qi.

Zhang Qi rushed in with three of his subordinates to look for the telegraph machine, and unexpectedly saw Qian Peng and others.

There were also military attachés on the opposite side. Qian Peng was lucky enough as he didn't bring any weapons with him, but the other two and the people around Qian Peng were carrying guns.

Zhang Qi and his three subordinates also carried guns.

The two sides suddenly met in a small space and looked at each other.

Zhang Qi had no experience and did not expect to meet a military attaché suddenly.

Qian Peng on the other side immediately reacted: "Are you Zhang Gui's people?"

"Who are you?" Zhang Qi asked cautiously, "We need to use a telegram, please move aside."

"Kill the traitors." At this moment, the two people behind Qian Peng drew their guns at the same time.

Zhang Qi and others on the opposite side drew their guns at the same time.

"Fuck." Qian Peng subconsciously shrank back and almost rolled to the back of the counter.

Bang, bang, bang. There was a burst of gunfire in the room and both sides fired one after another.

After the gunfire stopped, Qian Peng showed half of his face tremblingly. He felt mixed emotions and even wanted to curse.

There were people lying all over the ground.

Liu Shen's two subordinates and his two subordinates all fell in a pool of blood, and Zhang Qi and his four men on the opposite side also fell down.

There were intermittent wailing and screaming sounds at the scene, and only two people were alive.

One is Zhang Qi, and the other is Liu Qian’s man.

The man spat out blood and looked at Qian Peng: "Qian - Commander - things have come to this - please - think carefully -"

He said raising his hand.

Zhang Qi on the opposite side was also raising his hand.

Bang bang, the two men shot at each other and died at the same time.

Qian Peng waited until they were all dead before coming out. Looking at the corpses on the ground, he couldn't help stamping his feet.

After a moment, he finally came to his senses, hurriedly left the telegraph office, and rode back to the camp at full speed.

"Come here, gather the men." Qian Peng gathered his men and told them loudly that someone was plotting a rebellion and intended to assassinate the Emperor.

During this period, all officers were to go out into the streets and into the city and arrest any military officers or soldiers they did not recognize, and kill anyone who dared to disobey.
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Jinzhou.

As an important town of Song army in Liaodong, Jinzhou had a local garrison of one general and 3,000 men.

This is a relatively powerful military force, especially since Jinzhou is only more than 800 miles away from the capital.

Early in the morning of that day, the local general Fan Wenhu received a telegram from Yan Wang Zhao Xie, Governor-General Lu Wenhuan and the Dusi, asking him to immediately lead his troops westward and drive directly to the capital.

"What?" Fan Wenhu was happily hugging his mother when he suddenly received an urgent call from outside. At first he thought he had misheard.

"Read it again."

After hearing it clearly, Fan Wenhu's face changed drastically.

What happened?
With his rank of general, he was not qualified to receive Zhao Yi's telegram at this time. Besides, he was not Zhao Yi's man, so he had no idea what was going on.

Although Fan Wenhu was shocked, military orders were as heavy as mountains. The Prince of Yan, the Governor-General, and the Commander-in-Chief had all given orders. He had almost no time to hesitate and immediately ordered the army to be ready to go.

The telegram also asked them to do it as quickly as possible.

Because Liaodong was developing slowly and was still mainly based on cavalry, Fan Wenhu immediately required each man to ride two horses, carrying guns and ammunition. Except for more than 500 people and a battalion who stayed behind, the rest of the army of more than 2,500 people and more than 5,000 war horses quickly left the base.

On April 6, Fan Wenhu led the vanguard into Jianchang.

That morning, with a rumble, a group of cavalry appeared in front and headed straight for Fan Wenhu.

Fan Wenhu quickly ordered a fight, and then found that there were only dozens of cavalry on the opposite side.

After a while, the two met directly.

The other party said he was from Tianjin and his name was Dai.

Fan Wenhu was very confused, as Tianjin was hundreds of miles away from here.

"General Fan Zheng, do you know that something earth-shattering has happened outside?" Commander Dai came straight to the point.

Fan Wenhu remained calm and said, "Commander Dai, if you have anything to say, please tell me now. I'm in a hurry."

"Yan Wang Zhao Xie and Zhang Gui rebelled and assassinated Your Majesty. Now the Ming Wang is returning to the capital to take charge of the situation. Please ask General Fan Zheng to lead the troops back immediately."

"General Fan Zheng can only defend Jinzhou well, which will be a great achievement."

"Damn." Fan Wenhu now finally understood what had happened.

He was thinking about this question all the way, what happened in the capital at that time.

If the emperor was present, the Prince of Yan would not dare to mobilize troops without authorization. Unexpectedly, he guessed right.

"Get out of the way." Fan Wenhu said in a deep voice: "Military orders are as heavy as a mountain. Fan Mou is under the command of Liaodong Dusi, so he can only obey military orders."

Commander Dai said anxiously, "General Fan, think it over. Once an arrow is shot, there is no turning back. If you stand on the wrong side, you are a traitor."

"Stop talking nonsense to me." Fan Wenhu immediately drew his gun, and Commander Dai turned around and ran away in fear.

Damn, bitch, Fan Wenhu cursed inwardly, then thought for a moment and waved his hand: "Let's go."

The army continued to move forward.

As a result, as he continued to move forward, he met several groups of people, both civil and military officials, who all tried to persuade him not to rush forward.

This made Fan Wenhu think of something. Prince Zhao Yi of Ming was near the capital and was unable to mobilize a large number of troops?

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be dozens of riders coming to stop us.

As long as he enters the capital first, he will surely achieve great success.

Of course, the hundreds of thousands of defenders in the capital are no pushovers. What should we do next?
He kept moving forward, thinking about his worries.

On the seventh day, his army arrived at Kuancheng. The local garrison again advised him to stay and wait for the court's orders, but Fan Wenhu refused to listen and continued to move forward.

That night, Zhao Xie called and asked him to immediately send his confidant to dress up smartly and go to the capital to contact Zhang Ping.

Zhang Ping was the commander of the garrison in the capital and also the deputy commander of the palace.

He is the top officer of the Beijing Camp.

Fan Wenhu immediately sent his son Fan Lifeng and two of his subordinates to travel day and night to the capital.

But Fan Wenhu was also very puzzled. Now we could all communicate by telegram, so why didn't the Prince of Yan contact by telegram but sent someone to contact? Could it be that the telegram couldn't contact Zhang Ping?
(End of this chapter)