Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 359: Bei Ming Enters the Territory (Special thanks to book friend 2021…3214 for the 2 monthly tickets!)

After twelve days of fierce fighting, the 7th Corps led by Jingsheng, a force of men, and the th and th Corps, with only men left on the city walls, worked together to destroy the "Huiyi Cannons" of the Xingxing Sect coalition with more than a thousand "Yansu Cannons". After annihilating more than men of the Xingxing Sect coalition, the enemy finally collapsed and fled. The war between the Great Zhou and the Xingxing Sect entered the strategic stage of the Great Zhou's counterattack.

Jingsheng and five other major corps immediately rushed to Central Asia to join the war. Relying on the elite troops and numerous firearms of the Zhou army, they immediately reversed the war situation in favor of the Great Zhou.

The siege of Bekara was lifted. After consultation, the commanders of the seven corps immediately sent envoys to Bian Jing to report the good news to Emperor Chai Zongxun. On the other hand, they decided that the Fourth and Eighth Corps, which had fought for a long time and suffered heavy losses, would continue to stay in Bekara to rest, while the remaining five corps would advance westward into the territory of the Samanid Empire, with the goal of first capturing its capital, Bukhara.

The Star Religion coalition led by the Samanid Dynasty put up an extremely tenacious resistance, and each country mobilized large armies from their own countries to fight against the Great Zhou Empire together.

The two sides entered a fierce battle for every city and state.

On November 5, the 27th year of Kaixi, the First, Second, and Sixth Corps, which had been on the expedition to the North Sea for three and a half years, returned to Bianjing.

Chai Zongxun personally went to the Altar of Land and Grain to reward the three armies.

After the whole army knelt three times and kowtowed nine times and shouted "Long live the emperor", Chai Zongxun said:
"The soldiers lived up to my expectations and, after more than three years of hardship, brought the Northern Ocean into China's territory. This is a great achievement for the country!

Although these three years are only a moment in the long river of history, they will surely become a great feat in the history of China and will be recorded in the annals of world history, with their achievements lasting forever!"

All the soldiers said loudly:
"Your Majesty is the eternal saint of China. The fact that you have included the Northern Ocean into your territory is all due to your foresight and strategic planning!"

Chai Zongxun nodded slightly and said:

"All the soldiers have done such a great service for me, I will reward you handsomely!

Now in my Great Zhou, the countries of the Star Religion have jointly invaded the Central Asian land. This war concerns the status and future of my Chinese civilization in the world! My Great Zhou will win!
All the soldiers will rest for a while, then go to Central Asia to defeat the Star Religion coalition for me!"

All the soldiers shouted:
"I swear to wipe out the evildoers of the Star Sect for your majesty! Great Zhou will win!"

As rewards came down, the soldiers who went on the expedition to the North Sea were rewarded with a minimum of 50 taels of silver each, and all were promoted three levels. Many soldiers were able to serve as officers at various levels in the newly formed 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th Corps.

Each martyr who died for the country will be given a pension of 500 taels.

Huyan Zan and Zhe Yuxun had already been dukes, and both had been given an additional fief of 5,000 households, so both of them had fiefs of more than 20,000 households.

Lin Renzhao was granted the title of "Duke Yongyi" and his fief was increased to 10,000 households.

The whole army is given a month's leave.

During the conquest of Beiming, the biggest enemy of the Longxiang Army was the severe cold weather, as the area was vast and sparsely populated. Although the Ministry of Works had made fox fur and mink fur winter uniforms for each soldier before the expedition, more than 3,000 soldiers still died for their country in the cold wave at night in Beiming.

The land of Beiming is as vast as 13 million square kilometers. Currently, except for the Khitan which occupies about 1 million square kilometers of land in the southwest corner, all of it belongs to the territory of Da Zhou.

On November 6, Chai Zongxun held a celebration banquet in the imperial palace and the Bian Jing military camp to entertain the entire army.

During the banquet, the generals told the emperor about the expedition to the North Ming.

Hu Yanzan said:

“Your Majesty, the land of Beiming is vast and rich in resources, with many rivers and lakes. The only bad thing is that the climate is too cold.

The summers here are quite pleasant, but the winters last for eight or nine months. When camping in the wild, even if you burn a big coal fire in winter, if a cold wave suddenly hits in the middle of the night, the soldiers sleeping by the fire may freeze to death.

Lin Renzhao said:

"That's right. Your Majesty, when our Longxiong Army first entered the heart of the Northern Ocean, it was winter, and over the past few months, many of our brothers were killed in the cold.

Later, the soldiers brainstormed and dug caves on the frozen hillside of Beiming every time they were stationed, and then lit coal inside. In this way, even without a door, the temperature in the cave was warm enough to not be afraid of the cold current. "

Chai Zongxun said:

“The soldiers’ journey to conquer the North Sea over the past few years has been very hard.

Are the barbarians of the North Sea easy to tame? Have you ever fought a war with them?"

Zhe Yuxun said:

“Reporting to your majesty, the barbarians of Beiming are all in clan tribes, and their customs are simple.

Whenever our Longxiang Army arrived at a place, we would give them some of the prey we had shot and would receive warm hospitality from the savages.

We, the ministers, have followed your majesty's orders and have not disturbed them too much, allowing the barbarians to govern themselves."

Chai Zongxun nodded slightly and said:

"In the future, as castles are built in various parts of Beiming, the population living here will also increase accordingly."

In Chai Zongxun's plan, he would first send migrant workers to reclaim wasteland in the Northern Ming for a few years. After castles were built in various places and the area became more livable, he would then move some people from the inland areas to develop the Northern Ming.

Thinking of the western border mountains of the Northwest Underworld, the "Ural Mountains" of the previous life, Chai Zongxun asked:
"Which of you three was the first to lead troops to discover this great mountain range in the westernmost part of the Northern Ocean?"

The three people at the table looked at each other, and Hu Yanzan said:
“Your Majesty, this mountain range stretches from north to south for thousands of miles. I was the first to discover it when I led my army westward last July.

At present, I have led the soldiers of the First Corps to build a city at a strategic location on the east-west passage of this mountain range. The city can accommodate 200,000 people.

Although the local barbarians have names for these mountains and cities, they are crude and uncultured, so please give them names, Your Majesty."

Chai Zongxun pondered for a moment and said:
"To commemorate the achievements of the Longxiang Army and all of you, my dear ministers, this mountain is named "Longxiang Mountain", and this city is named after you, my dear minister Huyan, and is called "Huyan Zan City".

The rest of the Beiming cities are also named after the generals and soldiers in the army!"

Huyan Zan and other generals were overjoyed and quickly stood up and bowed to Chai Zongxun to express their gratitude.

In the following days, the Ministry of War distributed rewards and supplemented the organizational structure of the three major corps that were on the expedition to the North Sea, while also working on military supplies and preparing the three major corps to go to Central Asia to fight against the Star Cult coalition.

On November 20th of the 27th year of Kaixi, the battle report from the city of Bekara in Central Asia was reported back. Chai Zongxun was overjoyed to hear that the Longxiang Army had won a great victory and lifted the siege of Bekara.

The next morning at court, the chief eunuch Tang Qi read out the good news of Bekara's victory to all the officials.

The Prime Minister and Minister of War Zhang Qixian came out and said:
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Jingsheng and the other Longxiang troops lived up to expectations. In the Battle of Bekara, they annihilated more than 700,000 enemies, laying the foundation for the victory of our Great Zhou in the war with the Xingxing Sect!
The crisis in Central Asia of our Great Zhou has been overcome.

In my opinion, the combat power of our Great Zhou army is far superior. Jingsheng and other five corps can still crush the more than one million-strong coalition forces of the Star Sect. The battle situation has tilted towards our Great Zhou.

The three armies that went on the expedition to the North Sea have been on the expedition for a long time. It would be better to let them rest in the capital for a while. When the two armies that went on the expedition to Tubo return to the capital, Your Majesty will send five more armies to go on the expedition together."

(End of this chapter)