Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 249: Listening to String Songs Everywhere (4)

Zhao Xingde looked forward, and Han Ningshuang rode slowly in front of her. The black hood covered her face, so she couldn't see her expression clearly.

The Han army traveled fast all the way, and when they passed Liuhe Village, Gao Bolong's subordinates joined in.Liuhe Village is different from other cottages, there are almost no old or weak, but there are more than 500 heavily armored cavalry hidden.The cavalry is selected Han army children, one man and two horses, both are good horses from Mobei, equipped with well-made armor and weapons.As a result, Han Ningshuang's men became more and more powerful.

The Han army had accumulated such elite soldiers, but the military intelligence department hadn't realized it. Zhao Xingde was surprised, but also had some hidden worries.Chengying camp hangs alone in Liaodong, but the Han army is always hiding and hiding, and they cannot trust each other.That evening, after camping by the boiling water, Xu Detai came to invite Zhao Xingde to meet him.

Wang Xuansu, Gao Bolong, Zhang Liuge and other generals were already surrounded by the detailed map of Liaodong, and the expressions of several Han army generals were also a little strange.Wang Xuansu coughed and explained: "General Zhang proposed to place the Han army commander's residence in Guannan, Suzhou, so I invite Mr. Zhao to come and discuss it." Zhao Xingde's name in the Han army changed from "General Zhao" to "Zhao Sir" was also a while ago.

Zhao Xingde's eyes fell on the map, he was silent for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "The plan of the Han army's concentration to the south has already been determined, and the location of the commander's mansion is suddenly moved, and the troops and people who have moved to the village have to be rearranged. I'm afraid it will not be easy." Han The plan for the army to move to the village involves 10,000+ people. The distant villages have to travel hundreds of miles, avoiding powerful enemies along the way, and storing food and grass in advance.Stakes are all troublesome things, and they have to be secretly prepared months or even years in advance.Transportation and communication in this era are extremely rudimentary, and it is almost impossible to change course.

Wang Xuansu smiled and said: "It doesn't bother Mr. Zhao, we will arrange it properly." Zhao Xingde said coldly: "General Wang, I'm afraid the arrangements have already been made." The generals looked at them one by one, Gao Bolong, Xu Detai and others were usually on good terms with him, but now they just lowered their heads to avoid his gaze, while Zhang Liuge, the leader of Chenzhou Water Village, looked at the side as if nothing had happened.

Han Ningshuang's eyes moved slightly, and she said apologetically, "If you want to make a surprise attack on Suzhou Pass, you can't let the news out, so I didn't inform you in advance, and I hope Mr. Zhao will forgive me." It is difficult for people to pursue.

Seeing that Zhao Xingde stopped talking, Wang Xuansu pointed to the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula with a thin wooden stick and said, "This place faces the sea on both sides, and only one narrow road leads to the hinterland. 10,000+ soldiers and civilians can be placed on the south side. As long as elite soldiers guard the isthmus, the Khitan The cavalry will be unable to turn around and attack. Our army can use the navy to harass all parts of Liaodong." Speaking of this, he glanced at Brother Zhang Liu and said in a deep voice: "At that time, the navy under General Zhang will not only patrol the sea To guard against sneak attacks by the Liao people, we also need to send our Han warriors to attack the Liao army along the coast." Sixth Brother Zhang's Chenzhou water village can make the Liao Kingdom have to ban the sea to deal with it. At this moment, he is more confident: "Leave this to Zhang. yes."

"For nine to ten months every year, the Liao soldiers cannot bypass the isthmus to attack us, but we rely on the navy to 'harass' everywhere. After the autumn harvest and before the sea water freezes, the old and the weak can be evacuated to the outer islands in advance, leaving It is not a problem to hold on to the stronghold for two months. The Khitan people are not good at attacking the city, and they can't last long in the cold weather. As long as Suzhou Guancheng is not lost, it will penetrate into the Liao Dynasty in the south of the Guanzhou during the midwinter season. People naturally have to retreat, otherwise we will give him a catch once the sea ice melts." He took both hands and made a gesture of catching a turtle, and the generals of the Han army beside him laughed, and Wang Xuansu said again, "Once If you stand firm, you will be in an invincible position. Go west along the coast to Fuzhou and Chenzhou, and attack Zhenhai Prefecture and Baozhou to the east, and even join forces with Kaizhou. When the power is strong, the camera goes north Go ahead and take Liaoyang Mansion directly."

The generals of the Han army nodded frequently, obviously Wang Xuansu's plan had already been discussed many times within the Han army, and even made detailed preparations.Zhao Xingde listened expressionlessly, he was sure that the Han army must have come to ask for something when they revealed this plan to him at this time.

"The Liao people used to have a Guancheng in Suzhou Guan, with a wall of more than ten miles. If they want to manage Guannan as a confidant, it seems weak. There is a hill named Nanshan here, and we plan to build a strong city on Nanshan. Set up fortifications, block the main roads, and form a corner with Suzhou Guancheng and Jinzhou City. These three cities are very important, and the iron barrel cannons used by the Khitans to attack the city are very powerful." Speaking of this, Wang Xuansu raised his head and smiled at Zhao Xingde: "Mr. Zhao is a master of artillery and is also good at observing the sky and the earth. Please give me some pointers."

As he spoke, he unfolded a picture scroll next to him, and said in a deep voice: "This is the Nanshan City to be built, please take a look at it, Mr. Zhao." Zhao Xingde looked at it, but it was a finely drawn picture of the city.It can be seen that in order to resist the bombardment of Liao's siege heavy artillery, the Han army spent a lot of thought.The city is square, with a circumference of about six miles and two hundred steps. The wall is three feet high. The inside of the wall is rammed with earth, and the outside is covered with two feet thick bricks. thick.Every ten feet or so, a horse face protrudes from the city wall. In order to prevent heavy artillery bombardment, the horse face is basically solid. There are crenels drawn on the city wall and the horse face, and the forts are evenly distributed.A trench five feet wide and two feet deep was prepared to be dug outside the city.

Zhao Xingde frowned and looked at the picture without saying a word, while Xu Detai smiled and said: "The city pattern was drawn by General Wang himself, Mr. Zhao didn't know about it, General Wang once stayed in the scholar's mansion and the general's mansion in your country, this city Although it is small, it gathers all the leaders of the world's cities." Wang Xuansu waved his hands, and said humbly: "I, Mr. Zhao, is good at observing the sky and looking at the earth, and I am also a great expert in using artillery. The most elite artillery battalion in Xia Kingdom He was the one who taught me the training, but I was the one who got the job done." He said while looking at Zhao Xingde nervously.Seeing that what Wang Xuansu said did not seem to be hypocritical and polite, Xu Detai and Zhang Liuge stopped talking, and quietly waited for Zhao Xingde's opinion on the new city.

Han Ningshuang's eyelashes moved slightly. She knew Zhao Xingde's true identity. Not only was he good at artillery, he was also in command of the Fire Gun Battalion in the battle between Song and Liaohe.Liao's heavy siege artillery fired countless stone bullets under Hejian City. Later, Zhao Xingde's Fire Gun Battalion broke through the defense of the Khitan Iron Wall Battalion, and was finally blown up by the Song people.If you talk about your understanding of Liao's artillery and siege techniques, it is second to none in the world.Therefore, when Wang Xuansu asked Zhao Xingde for advice on how to build a city, Han Ningshuang agreed without hesitation.

The land of Guannan in Suzhou is the heartland of the Han army in the future.Behind this city that controls the pass, the most elite main force of the Han army will gather. The reclamation of tens of thousands of acres of wasteland is more than the land that can be reclaimed on all overseas islands. From spring to summer, the Liao people cannot "harass". With intensive cultivation, the grain produced is enough to feed tens of thousands of people.

Zhao Xingde has been looking at the pattern of the city, and has been silent for a long time, Han Ningshuang and the generals of the Han army did not disturb him.He finally raised his head, Wang Xuansu was a little nervous, but he heard Zhao Xingde's deep voice, saying word by word: "It seems that there is something wrong with the Han army commander's residence being located in Guannan, Suzhou."

As soon as this remark came out, all the generals of the Han army showed strange expressions, Zhang Liuge and Gao Bolong were even more angry.Where is the commander-in-chief's residence? To actually make irresponsible remarks about this suddenly made people angry.Han Ningshuang's face turned cold, and she looked at Zhao Xingde with dissatisfaction.Xu Detai has always been on good terms with Zhao Xingde, and secretly complained in his heart: "You are invited to counsel the newly built city sample, but you have to be involved in the arrangement of the commander's mansion. Is it because I didn't inform you before, so I feel resentful and insist on Let our Han army follow the order of Xia Guo?"

After an awkward silence, Wang Xuansu cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "Dare to ask Mr. Zhao, what's wrong?"

Zhao Xingde showed a look of thought on his face, and slowly explained: "First, a tunnel going out is easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, the Khitan people can also easily attack the land passage for the Han army to attack, which has mixed advantages and disadvantages. Second, the commander's mansion must be surrounded by elite soldiers and generals. It is too passive to put it in a place surrounded by water on three sides and assume a defensive posture. Third, although there is a hinterland, the room for development is limited. Although there are several Tens of thousands of acres of wasteland, but the resettlement of civilian households is only a few thousand, no more. Fourth, the law of war says that good defenders hide under the nine lands, and the enemy does not know what they are attacking. Putting the commander's mansion here will We have to fight the Khitan people to the end."

When he said one thing, he stretched out a finger, and the face of the general of the Han army became gloomy.After he finished speaking, Wang Xuansu immediately said: "Mr. Zhao seems to be over-concerned. It is true that it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but even if the Khitan invaded the land, our army can also use the sea as a road, and land from other places to attack the Khitan. Fortified city. Since it has both offensive and defensive capabilities, there is room for elite soldiers and strong generals." Before he finished speaking, Gao Bolong sneered and said, "The good defender hides under the Nine Lands, it's just a metaphor. Could it be that the commander's mansion is placed in other places? , the Khitans can’t find it? Then we should not go down the mountain at all.”

Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice: "Using the sea as the road can only be 'harassment'. To really expand the territory, it is necessary to rely on the army to establish a solid foundation. Otherwise, it will be difficult to penetrate deep and cannot last long. The famous city of Liao Most of the important towns are deep inland. Even if a boat division is used to carry an army elsewhere, can it be used for a long-distance raid and then storm the city? Where is the food and grass stored, and how is the luggage transported? How to cover the rear of the army, the left and right wings? The Walled City resisted steadily, or did the whole army break up, leaving only one out of ten and then fleeing from the sea? Besides, the people of Liaodong are here, here, here,” he casually pointed to several inland places on the map of Liaodong, They are all far away from Suzhou Pass, "Our army is huddled here, but because we can't go deep into the inland, we can only fall into the hands of the enemy and be beyond our reach. This is really not worth the loss."