A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 997: Dongchuan fully accepts Chengdu's proposal, and the shortage of military supplies leads to Baxia

The tenth year of Xia Chengqian, the third year of Changxing in the Later Tang Dynasty
New Year
The Xia army finally wiped out Dongchuan, and the seven prefectures east of the Fu River, including Mian, Guo, Lang, Ba, Peng, Bi and Ji, were all conquered one by one by Jie Chi and Bai Hengtao.

More than 2,000 people were injured and more than 20,000 were captured.

After leaving two thousand men to guard Jiameng Pass, the two generals led six thousand Xia troops, escorting twenty thousand prisoners and countless baggage back to Huizhou.

The twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month
Xie Chi and Bai Hengtao led their troops to the northern suburbs of Chengdu and joined the main army.

At this time, the total strength of the Xia army under the city of Chengdu reached 26,000 people.

Compared with the 30,000 people under Meng Zhixiang's command in the city, it is still very few.

However, the Xia army was well-trained, and most of its soldiers were recruited. The youngest had five years of military service, and 80% of them were central imperial guards near Kaifeng. They were far from comparable to the local soldiers under Meng Zhixiang's command.

During this period, Meng Zhixiang also sent people out of the city to challenge the enemy, but they all ended in failure and resulted in the loss of thousands of people.

After that, Meng Zhixiang never sent anyone to fight in the field again, but just defended the city tightly.

Anyway, there is enough food and grass in the city, enough to sustain the army for several years.

The Xia army had no way to deal with this as their number of men was simply too small. They could fight in the field but not in the city.

Are we going to use the lives of these elite soldiers to fill the trenches?
If this were true, His Majesty the Emperor in Kaifeng would definitely be the first to execute them all without waiting for a mutiny in the army.

In the central army tent, the chief recruiting envoy Kang Yanxiao, the deputy recruiting envoy Zhao Lianglong, the field commander Dong Guangsi, the chief commander Jie Chi, Bai Hengtao, the governor of Hezhou Liu Yan and other generals and officers gathered together to discuss how to capture the fortified city of Chengdu.

"General, didn't Commander Jie collect more than 20,000 surrendered soldiers in Dongchuan? Why not send them over here to make up for our lack of manpower?"

The speaker was the surrendered general Liu Yan. After surrendering, he was still appointed as the governor of Hezhou, but was taken away by Kang Yanxiao. Now Hezhou is no longer under Liu Yan's control.

Although they were Dong Zhang's former generals, they were not from Shu. The implication was that these surrendered soldiers would be used to fill the city.

Liu Yan felt no psychological burden in exchanging the lives of the people of Shu for his own official title.

Even Dong Guangsi did not stop it, but agreed with Liu Yan's suggestion and tried his best to make it happen.

This is the tragedy of not having locals at high levels, as they may be used as cannon fodder by others at any time.

Kang Yanxiao knew very well what Dong Guangsi and Liu Yan, uncle and nephew, were thinking. They simply wanted to use the lives of these surrendered soldiers to show their determination to be loyal to Daxia.

But he didn't care, and was even very satisfied with their attitude.

This shows that Daxia’s prestige has made them try every possible means to squeeze into this system.

However, Kang Yanxiao is a vested interest holder in this system. The more people who want to come in, the more it demonstrates his wisdom and status.

But this does not mean that the solution they proposed is good.

"No, we have a small army and cannot completely control these people. If we drag those 20,000 people to the battlefield and mix them with our army, not to mention their combat effectiveness, if they are instigated by the enemy and attack our army, it will be more trouble than gain."

Dong Guangsi scratched his head. This was something he had not expected.

"But Sima Dong's idea is worth promoting. Since our lack of soldiers is a disadvantage, why not increase our number of soldiers?"

"what do you mean?"

"I have decided to write to His Majesty and ask for more troops."

Finally, Zhao Lianglong spoke. He was at the core and naturally knew why His Majesty only sent 20,000 people this time.

Because according to the calculations of the military ministers of the Privy Council, the mountain roads of Daba Mountain, plus the long-distance food routes, can only accommodate a maximum of 20,000 troops.

No matter how many people there are, the logistics will not be able to supply enough food and there will be a risk of food shortage.

This is not to say that Kaifeng’s grain reserves are insufficient, but that the upper limit of the grain supply cannot accommodate an army of more than 20,000 people fighting outside for a long time.

In recent years, Daxia has had few wars and has used most of its time to rectify administration, reform the tax system, open up sea routes, and establish the official system.

Without these large-scale domestic reforms, how could Daxia support long-term, large-scale foreign wars?

It can be said that Daxia was able to carry out such large-scale campaigns many times because of its country's financial health.

Daxia was able to become the world's first-class country, and the elite army was only one of the reasons. The most important thing was money. Because Baijian attached great importance to farming, built water conservancy projects, and strengthened the Yellow River embankments, the several state-level granaries in Kaifeng Prefecture and the Changping Offices in various places were full every year.

In addition, the Bai family was good at business, and trade with the Korean army, Japan, and even southern Wu, Yue, Fujian and other countries also made the Xia Kingdom earn a lot of money.

"I also know that these troops are the largest that the court can send out now."

"Since there is no way to get through Bashan, why don't we open up the Three Gorges Pass?"

"With the Yangtze River waterway, are we still worried about not having enough troops?"

Zhao Lianglong immediately stood up and said, "Please, Marshal, give me this mission. I will definitely take Kuizhou and lead the army into Shu."

February 6
Bai Jian received Kang Yanxiao's request for reinforcements.

Without hesitation, he immediately ordered the Privy Council to send reinforcements to Jiangling, and ordered the Ministry of War to go to Xiangyang to gather enough food and fodder to sustain 100,000 people for two years.

April
Xia general Zhao Lianglong led 6,000 people and took two months to capture Yuzhou, an important transportation hub on the Yangtze River.

Zhang Ye, the governor of Wutai Army in Qianzhou, was afraid of the might of the Xia army, so he fortified his city and cleared the fields, kept his troops stationed in Wulong County, and waited to see the situation.

May 6
Zhao Lianglong conquered Fuzhou and approached Fengdu.

On the same day, Jiangling Governor Tong Ce sent General Ying Hui to take Xiazhou.

Li Zhao, the military governor of Zhenjiang, was attacked from all sides and decided to withdraw his troops and meet the enemy in Kuizhou.

May 28
Zhao Lianglong successively captured Zhongzhou and Wanzhou, arrived at Kuizhou, and joined forces with Ying Hui's troops to attack Fengjie City.

June
The two armies joined forces and surrounded Fengjie City. The Xia State's newly formed Yangtze River Navy blocked the river and completely pinned the Zhenjiang Army's navy in the water fort, preventing them from leaving the fort.

June th

The Xia army, with 20,000 soldiers and sailors, captured Fengjie City. Li Zhao, the general of the Shu army, was captured by Ying Hui, the general of the Xia army, and the eastern gate of Shu was wide open.

June 23
Zhang Ye, the governor of Wutai Army, surrendered to the Xia Kingdom.

Bai Jian appointed him as the governor of Qianzhou and ordered him to lead his troops to join the army entering Shu and attack Chengdu.

However, the central government has not yet prepared the logistics for an army of 100,000.

Therefore, the Kaifeng court decided to officially send 70,000 troops into Sichuan in the early spring of next year to assist Kang Yanxiao in taking Chengdu.

August 9
Kang Yanxiao ordered his men to carry Li Zhao's head to Chengdu to persuade him to surrender.

"Li Zhaoye of your army has been captured by Daxia. Now that the east gate of Shu has been opened, Daxia can lead its army westward. By then, a million troops will gather in Chengdu. I wonder if Lord Meng can stop them?"

When Envoy Xia said this, everyone in the room was shocked. Even Meng Zhixiang was sweating profusely, not knowing how to answer.

"Your Excellency is wrong. Although your army has many soldiers and strong horses, it is a long and tiring expedition. How long can you stay in Chengdu? One year or two years?"

"With Chengdu being so strong and the army and people being so united, I'm afraid your main force will be trapped here and Kaifeng will no longer belong to you."

The person who was speaking was the Chief Clerk of Chengdu Prefecture, a talented native of Shu, Du Boyan of Jianzhou.

Envoy Xia looked intently and saw a young man. He asked, "Who are you?"

Du Boyan stood up, saluted and said, "Du Boyan from Jianzhou."

"I have been in Shu for a long time, how come I have never heard of you?"

"Humph, Shu has been a beautiful land since ancient times, with so many talented people and heroes. How can you know them all?"

Envoy Xia was speechless and looked unhappy.

This actually made Meng Zhixiang feel relieved.

But what Envoy Xia said next made Meng Zhixiang feel very uneasy.

(End of this chapter)