Became a feudal lord in the late Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 221 Come to Yanyun, I’ll give you a head

A lost Song army.

If we put aside the Han army armor on their bodies and the Han army flags on their heads, most of them, from the bottom soldiers to the middle-level officers to the high-level generals, were indeed Song people, but some things were different.

Liu Ling usually leads his own troops when conditions permit, but leaves the use of troops to those with experience and ability. During the battle, he basically hands off all his powers. He is only responsible for maintaining logistics, so that the frontline troops have no worries.

However, Zhong Shidao had experienced decades of severe social beatings in the Song Dynasty. When he first led the Han army, he was very cautious. He had to submit handwritten letters to messengers sent to the rear every two days, write down every step of the plan in detail, and finally make a request. Liu Ling agreed.

As a result, the marching efficiency is greatly reduced.

The exchange between the two people probably went like this:
Master Zhong said: The last general has marched to the Yellow River, (followed by a long description of the scenery of the Yellow River), and the sentry cavalry has explored twenty-five miles to the north, (here is a detailed introduction to historical allusions and local customs).

After almost eloquently writing thousands of words, he started writing deployment and military strategy. The most frustrating thing is that only the last few hundred words of the whole article are the most useful, and they are indeed coherent.

Liu Ling’s reply: Only the end is well written, don’t write so much next time.

Two days later, the same letter arrived. Zhong Shidao was probably inspired by the last reply, so he greatly expanded the previous article.

Because most of the former army were the elite of the Song Army from the Northern Expedition. After experiencing the baptism of the previous battles between the grasslands and the Jin people, these Song Army soldiers quickly integrated into the Han Army system. In addition, the Han Army generals are always capable of fighting. , enough money and food are provided, there is no shortage of soldiers and armor, everyone is united, and their combat effectiveness is very high.

But the most worrying thing was Wu Lahai City, because local prisoners said it was a fortified city.

After several letters and replies, Liu Ling could only maintain the most basic qualities. Zhong Shidao probably also figured out the temper of the King of Han, and then he dared to slowly let go and do things.

Liu Ling's reply: Don't write so much next time. The last few hundred words will be enough. The strategy is very good. It can be implemented after being approved by the generals of the former army. It's OK to send someone to report, but you don't need to wait for my approval before taking action. Be careful. Don't waste your opportunity.

The weather in March was lifeless. Although this area was known as the Jiangnan River in later generations, the ever-changing Yellow River and the wars that broke out in successive years caused the faces of the locals to change like the weather.

Along the Yellow River all the way north, you can often see tribes belonging to the Xia Kingdom, some small towns and even fortresses along the way. Qu Duan led the front army to pull out nails as they walked. The Xia army in the city surrendered faster than Qu Duan's advance. .

Furthermore, even if Wu Lahai City is captured, the Xia people's King Jin will most likely lead his troops to arrive in a short period of time.

Master Zhong said: The former army reported that they had arrived at Wu Lahai City, and the sentry cavalry found out that the Xia army had left the city (a lot of nonsense, description of scenery, local customs and customs), (then more nonsense, nonsense, nonsense), and finally the plan to send troops .

Originally, the momentum of the Han Army's Northern Expedition was very strong, and there were voices everywhere in the army that they wanted to cross the Great Wall and attack the Jin Kingdom. However, because there were so many fortified cities and passes around Zezhou and Zhongjing, the Han Army dispatched troops in advance.

"Report!"

Liu Ling put down his pen, rubbed his sore eyebrows, and reached out to take the military report. In addition to reporting on the march of the army, it also added some details about Wu Lahai City.

Wulahai City is an ancient city. In the Han Dynasty, it was called Shoujiang City. In the Tang Dynasty, it was the seat of the Yanran Protectorate. Today, it is the residence of the Xia Heishan Weifu Army. "Good minister, come." Liu Ling waved, and Han Shizhong, who was sitting next to him to help process military documents, immediately stood up and walked over.

"What is the king's order?"

"The city wall of Wu Lahai City is made of rammed earth. It is solid and has four sides. Each wall is more than a mile long. The wall is extremely wide and easy to defend but difficult to attack." Liu Ling described it based on the contents of the military newspaper and asked casually. He said: "If a similar city is built on the grassland, can it have the same effect?"

Han Shizhong had experienced most of the grassland wars, and he already knew the grassland people quite well. He answered slowly after thinking about it.

"The surrender cities of the Han Dynasty and the three surrender cities of the Tang Dynasty actually have similar functions. The ancients were always smarter than today's people, and both the Han and Tang Dynasties were built. In my humble opinion, I think it is useful, but after all, I don't have the capital now. .”

This Western Expedition directly postponed the plan to build new cities in the three states of Yingping, Pingluan and Luan for several years. If the city was to be built on the grassland, more manpower and material resources would definitely be used, but money and food were either available or not. Can't you ask grandpa to tell grandma to make a lot of money and food now?

Liu Ling nodded and leaned back in his chair without saying a word. After a moment, he slowly said: "Actually, many people below have already begun to remonstrate during this Western Expedition."

Most of the officials who remonstrated may indeed have public motives - although Yanyun was absorbing troops and a massive population at a crazy speed, after all, the casualties in each battle were elites, and even the main force of the enemy country was in a stalemate with the Han army. , but the early advance and the later division of troops to harass can directly cause great damage to Yanyun.

There are actually more and more holes in the books, but there is always progress, so life can still go by vaguely.

"Good minister, you started your career with me. You also know that in the first year after the fall of Liao Dynasty, the Jin people could pass through the Great Wall to go south at any time, and the Song people could cross Baigou and Hebei at will. When we finally captured the Yunzhong Empress , there is an extra Xia man in the west."

Yanyun is a veritable place of four battles. At the beginning, only the east side was the sea, so there was barely anything to worry about.

"So in the past two years, I first conquered the Song Dynasty and annexed six states and one prefecture in Hebei. Then I asked the Xia people to attack the east of Hedong and capture eight forts and Yanmen Pass."

Most of the northern passes of the two rivers are in Liu Ling's hands. From Hebei to the south, you can threaten Daming Prefecture. From Hedong Yanmen Pass to the south, you can directly attack Taiyuan Prefecture, and you can easily attack the Yellow River and Shaanxi Province.

In this way, the strategic advantage over the Song people was maintained. The Song people had difficulty in going north, but the Han army could switch and go south at any time.

Then there was another war against the Jin people;
In fact, the original intention of this battle was to conquer the grassland, and to look for opportunities to see if they could seize the entire Hetao area from the Xia people. Who knew that the Jin people suddenly came out and wanted to interfere, but were immediately interrupted by Liu Ling. Legs.

At this point, almost all of the Great Wall in the north has fallen into Liu Ling's hands. Coupled with the defense lines of Bei'an Prefecture and Tanshan outside the Great Wall, the Jin people will encounter natural chasms that are enough to make them despair when they go south.

The two powerful enemies in the north and south had lost all their strategic advantages, so the next step was to take advantage of the situation and march in, completely breaking the Xia people's legs.

Just as he was talking, a new military report was delivered. Liu Ling reached out to take it and read it hastily, with a smile on his face.

"The bastard took the bait."

(End of this chapter)