Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 250: Listening to String Songs Everywhere (5)

Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice: "With the sea as the road, it can only be 'harassment'. The real long-term solution must be to consolidate the foundation on land. 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 the whole army collapsed, leaving only one out of ten, and then fled 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."

Sixth brother Zhang snorted, and was about to refute him, Han Ningshuang said first: "Mr. Over the years, the Liao Kingdom regarded me as a thorn in the flesh, and they almost wanted to get rid of it quickly. Although they finally persevered through hardships, the strength of the Han army was not as good as before, and the Han people in Liaodong were also extremely discouraged. Thanks to Mr. Zhao’s guidance, Ning Shuang's rebuilding of the Shuai Mansion is to boost the hearts of the Han people in Liaodong. The Liao court's scruples about the Han people will definitely attack them soon. And our army has yet to recover its strength, so the position of the Shuai Mansion must be easy to defend and difficult to attack. And if you want to build momentum in Liaodong, you can't hide in the mountains, you have to be close to the main roads. The advantages and disadvantages of the pros and cons, Ningshuang and the generals have repeatedly considered, and finally chose this place in Guannan, Suzhou."

She glanced at Zhao Xingde, wondering, "General Zhao also knows that the arrangements for these 10,000+ soldiers and civilians to relocate to the camp are intricate and complicated. The military order has already been issued. If it is to be changed, there may be many twists and turns, and it may even cause danger to the enemy." Take this opportunity..."

Zhao Xingde nodded, his tone slowed down, but he still insisted on his own opinion: "Master Han, nothing is perfect in this world. Just because the Han army is still weak, if we put more forces in Guannan, Suzhou, then with Taibai Mountain as our back, The strength of the Yalu River has been weakened by one point. Now Liaodong can barely be counted as a third of the power, and there are still people in Bohai who are ready to move, and the Communist Party is coveting. If the Han army is too weak on the Taibai Mountain and the Yalu River, it will be experienced in a short period of time. It won't come out."

"All parties in this place want to reach out, so it's hard to call it a consolidation." Sixth Brother Zhang whispered dissatisfied.

Zhao Xingde shook his head and said: "The Liao Kingdom and the Jurchen have no time to care about each other because of the confrontation between the two tigers, while the Liao Kingdom is cautious and dare not take advantage of the fire. Now the Liao Kingdom, the Jurchen and the Jurchen forces are not yet It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to truly control the southern part of Taibai Mountain and the banks of the Yalu River. Once one of the parties withdraws its hand, and the Han army is not strong enough to resist it in this area, it will definitely be uprooted. It’s too late to regret. On the other hand, looking back at Guannan in Suzhou, the Liao court has always ignored it. As long as we don’t touch this place with great fanfare, after three or four years, the Khitan people will not add an extra soldier there. On the contrary, it may be because Let go of the pressure from the east. As long as we stand firm in Kaizhou, Baozhou, Dingzhou, and Xuanzhou, we are connected to the Kingdom of Jin in the north, Xiasong in the south, and backed by Taibai Mountain and the Yalu River. At that time, a partial division will be sent to pass through the Suzhou pass by water. If we want to build a strong town, echoing Kaizhou east and west, and threatening Liaoyang, it is all right. Here we compare the two, which is important, which is light, and which is urgent. Isn't it very clear what should be slowed down?"

Han Ningshuang listened to him quietly, her eyes flickered slightly, and finally, Zhao Xingde sighed and said: "I will forget my home on the day I am ordered, since I have been ordered to come to aid the Liaodong Han Army, I am naturally thinking about the Liaodong Han Army. If you think about your own calculations, the Han army will guard the south of Suzhou Guan, and use the navy to continuously harass its heartland. Even if it is not enough to achieve great things, it will be more than enough for our dynasty to contain the Liao and Jin countries. The benefits of our dynasty, although not ten It can be done, but [-]% to [-]% will be there, and my military achievements are indispensable. The final idea is for everyone here to get it."

Gao Bolong, Zhang Liuge and other Han generals felt that what he said was somewhat reasonable at first, but when they heard him say that the Han army was "not enough to accomplish great things", they secretly cursed, "A dog can't spit out ivory." Han Ningshuang slightly frowned, Xu Detai was about to smooth things over, but Zhao Xingde stretched out his hand, picked up the picture of Nanshan City, and pointed out: "The outside of this city should not be covered with bricks and stones. The broken bricks and stones hurt more people than cannonballs. We have suffered a lot." He was benevolent and began to help the Han army improve the defense of Nanshan City.

Wang Xuansu was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses, and said repeatedly: "That's right, Wang was negligent." He was slightly surprised, Xia and Liao had never fought in recent years, and they had never been bombarded by Liao's heavy artillery. Zhao De said, "I have suffered a lot."The other generals of the Han army didn't realize it.Han Ningshuang glanced at him and nodded slightly. Only she knew that Zhao Xingde had participated in Song Liao's Battle of Hejian.

"Besides, there are many shooting dead spots in this city, and the distance between the horse's face and the horse's face is too close. If you use the cannon to flank the thieves attached to the city wall, it is easy to hurt your own people. The distance between the horse's face is according to the shooting of the bow and crossbow. It's planned by Cheng, it's still too close, um, yes," Zhao Xingde said thoughtfully, looking at Wang Xuansu, "You have carefully considered the firing range of the city's artillery and crossbows before you come Did you design the pattern of the city?"

"The shooting range of bows and cannons?" Han Ningshuang was taken aback, "Aren't the horse faces on the city walls as dense as possible?"

"That's not necessarily true," Zhao Xingde gestured, "You see, the horse face was originally intended for crossbowmen to 'shoot' the thieves attacking the city with ants, but if we turn the muzzle of the cannon around and attack the ants with siege A single attack from the enemy's flank, and only one cannon shot out, can hit hundreds of bows and arrows, and the shells are so powerful that they can't resist the enemy's siege vehicles, shields and the like. But if there are too many horses If you don’t, it will block the firing of the artillery. If you use artillery to defend the city, you have to tie your hands and feet, and it’s better to open a few holes in the place where the horse’s face is shorter,” he said, gesturing, “the artillery Put it on the head of the city, at a slightly higher position, and fire downwards. The trajectory of the shells is too inclined to hit a few people. If the trajectory is straighter, it can directly sweep through the dense enemy troops, or cause the projectiles to hit the ground. Only by continuously rebounding on the ground and blasting the enemy's formation can the maximum power of the artillery be exerted."

None of the generals of the Han army had experienced formal siege warfare, and Wang Xuansu was not proficient in fortification techniques, but he drew a new city pattern based on the works of the predecessors and the ancient city. Although Zhao Xingde had not studied the fortification technique, he had The experience of defending the city in Hejian and familiarity with artillery, so after careful consideration, he pointed out the impracticality of the city's design.There were not many loud voices, the truth was clear, and all the generals of the Han army suddenly realized, thinking, there is indeed something wrong with building the city like this.

Wang Xuansu showed embarrassment on his face and said: "Wang's talking about military affairs on paper almost delayed the big event. Fortunately, Mr. Zhao." He hesitated for a moment, and then said to Han Ningshuang, "Since Mr. Zhao is proficient in artillery and fortification, why don't you invite him?" He drew a picture of the new city for us, what do you think, Miss?"

Several generals of the Han army looked over, Han Ningshuang had a pleading look on her face, she lightly opened her white teeth and said in a low voice, "Please Mr. Zhao to help us."

Zhao Xingde frowned and said: "I don't know how to build a city, just now I just got something from the perspective of artillery attack and defense." He waved his hands repeatedly, without any intention of hiding his clumsiness, but others thought that he deliberately avoided it, Wang Xuansu's face was embarrassing, and he thought to himself: "Zhao De was originally opposed to the management of Guannan in Suzhou, so naturally he refused to help us build this Nanshan city as strong as it can be. Otherwise, when this side becomes prosperous, it will appear that he doesn't care about it. "Most of the other generals of the Han army thought so, and their faces sank.

The atmosphere in the Chinese army's tent was tense for a while, Gao Bolong said angrily: "Leader Han has already opened his mouth, but you push back..." Before he could scold Xingde again, Han Ningshuang's pretty face was slightly cold, and he shouted: "General Gao." Gao Bolong just stopped talking.

Zhao Xingde smiled wryly and said, "I don't chatter in front of the True Buddha, I'm just familiar with artillery and city defense, I don't mean to shirk."

Han Ningshuang nodded, and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Zhao's virtue of guidance and Ningshuang's heart are just a little bit of Suzhou Guannan. It is the hard work of the Han army for several years. Many preparations are already in place and cannot be changed. Mr. Zhao said that this matter has mixed advantages and disadvantages. Now that we have reached this point, why not help us to reap the benefits and eliminate the disadvantages. The wealth and lives of 10,000+ soldiers and civilians are tied to this Nanshan city. Please don't hesitate to Mr. Zhao Teach me, this kindness and this virtue, Ningshuang will never forget it." She looked at Zhao Xingde with clear and bright eyes, and her voice was melodious, but she still thought that he was dissatisfied with his opinions not being accepted, and she didn't believe that Zhao Xingde didn't know how to build a city.

Speaking of this, Zhao Xingde couldn't push it any further. He secretly hated the people in the Han army for being suspicious at every turn, so he deliberately made things difficult for them. He looked at Han Ningshuang and said, "In this case, Zhao will try his best, but can the leader of the Han army agree? One condition?" Because of impromptu thoughts, his tone was somewhat contemptuous.

"What conditions?" Han Ningshuang was used to being able to detect other people's thoughts, and felt that he seemed to be joking, so she couldn't help but feel annoyed.Wang Xuansu followed her all the year round, noticed something, and thought to himself, could it be that Zhao De had a frivolous intention to offend the eldest lady?The mature and prudent Xu Detai frowned, Gao Bolong and Zhang Liuge glanced at each other, Gao Bolong thought in his heart, this Xia Guoren really has selfish intentions, thinking that rare goods are a good place to live.

The atmosphere that had just calmed down suddenly became a bit chilly again.Zhao Xingde also had some regrets. It was not easy for the Han army to survive among the Huns in Liaodong. Untrustworthy, cruel and ruthless temper, passed down from generation to generation, not like the Song or Xia people who are generous and open-minded, and can't make jokes at will.

"Ah," Zhao Xingde sighed, pondered for a while, and finally said seriously: "East Liaodong has been in the hands of the Hu people for a long time, and the Han people have lost the education of ritual and music in the Central Plains. They are close to the barbarians and far away from China. It is a pity. Since you want to revive the Han Dynasty, you should revitalize China's ritual and music education, so that the stringed songs will continue." He fell to the ground with all the generals of the Han army present, and said earnestly: "Please recruit teachers vigorously to teach Han. The common people in the army learn Chinese characters and read Chinese books, so that the Han people in Liaodong not only have my Chinese blood, but also have my Chinese heart."

The tent became quiet again, Zhang Liuge thought: "You can't finish the battle, what kind of rites, music, strings and songs, you are an idiot." Doubtful, Xu Detai murmured silently.Wang Xuansu secretly said: "This General Zhao is a man of 'temper'. However, the cultivation of etiquette and music is not without benefit for us to consolidate our foundation."

Han Ningshuang looked at Zhao Xingde with a complicated expression, thinking, she really is a stubborn person by nature.No wonder a group of scholars actually wanted to bring down Tong Guan and offend Cai Jing.Although she has been busy with the revival of the Han army all year round, she has been paying attention to the affairs of the Xia, Song and Liao countries. After Chen Kang explained Zhao Xingde's identity to her, he also made a special effort to learn about the Neo-Confucianism Society, Zhang Bing, Chen Dong and others. Also a little sad.

After a moment of silence, she nodded slightly, and agreed: "This is what we should do. It seems that we have been negligent if Mr. Zhao brought it up." Thinking of those rumors in the Song Dynasty, Han Ningshuang did not doubt that Zhao Xingde's proposal was justified. What kind of selfishness is hidden.