Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 407 Open the door to accept the evil (1)

"The Liao army has invaded Henan, Bianliang!"

This news shocked the entire Huguo Mansion. For hundreds of years, the Liao cavalry invaded Hebei more than once, and once attacked Chanzhou, but they were all deterred by the natural danger of the river.The Khitans were not good at water warfare, and if they crossed a big river, they were in danger of being cut off by the Song army.Therefore, all the heroes and generals of the Liao Dynasty were afraid in front of the surging river.Who would have expected that when there were more than [-] Song troops in Daming Mansion, the brigade of Liao troops crossed the Yellow River.The Liao cavalry seemed to be everywhere, and even Xia Qingsi couldn't figure out how many Liao troops were outside Bianliang City.Rumors abounded in Song State, and countless people instinctively fled to Bianliang every day. However, Bianliang City closed its gates tightly during the day, and did not let any people enter the city on the grounds that they were worried that "traitors" from the Liao Kingdom would sneak into the city. , These people had no choice but to walk around the city, helping the old and the young to continue fleeing south.

Under the threat that the balance of power might lose its balance in an instant, the Colonel Guanzhong who was opposed to intervening in the Liao and Song Dynasties almost all changed his attitude.

Compared with other school captains, the shock in Zhao Xingde's chest was huge. "It's the second year of Jingkang." He clenched his fists tightly. Zhao Xingde only remembered the three words "Jingkang Shame", but he didn't know which year it was. Just thinking of these three words makes people feel extremely excited Anger and humiliation.After the discussion was over, many captains greeted Zhao Xingde, but Zhao Xingde didn't care about politeness.When he came out of the Huguo Mansion, he immediately went to the General's Mansion and asked to meet General Zhang Shanfu.

There was a tense atmosphere in the entire General's Mansion.The so-called misfortunes never come singly, the old enemies from the east and west of Xia Kingdom seem to have made an appointment together.The Roma Turks and the Rus fought north and south in the river, and the Liao State attacked the Song State with great force.On the other hand, the Army Division, Supplies Division, and Military Intelligence Division sent military letters like flowing water. Various files piled up like a mountain. After Zhang Shanfu's instruction, a detailed strategy will be made.Despite being very busy, Zhang Shanfu summoned Zhao Xingde immediately.

"General Zhang," Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice after entering the door to salute, "The Huguo Mansion has decided to send troops to Kanto, and the general will call for battle."

"Oh?" Zhang Shanfu closed the file he was flipping through.The decision to send troops to Kwantung had not yet been sent to the Marching Army Division. However, Zhang Shanfu did not feel that this decision was sudden at all.If the Liao and Song Dynasties cannot be annexed, the balance between the two countries must be maintained. This is the consensus of the five prefectures.The state of Song was in danger, so it was necessary to intervene.The Huguo Mansion is only concerned with making major decisions.How to intervene and which troops to send to the expedition will all be proposed by the Marching Division in detail.That's why Zhao Xingde immediately came to Zhang Shanfu for a fight.

Zhang Shanfu was silent for a while, and said slowly: "Although the general plan for sending troops to the Kanto region has been decided, how to send troops is the most beneficial to our dynasty, and we still need to weigh the pros and cons. The main force of the hundreds of thousands of imperial troops in the Song Dynasty is still intact, and the situation in the Liao and Song Dynasties is still unclear. , the Dragon Tooth Army should not go out easily." He looked at Zhao Xingde thoughtfully.

"Can the last general be transferred to another army?" Zhao Xingde immediately said, "There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Liao and Song Dynasties, and I will have many troops to march eastward. Work for the shogunate." With the military system of the Xia Kingdom, the centurion and above are all elected by sergeants, and it is absolutely impossible for the military camp to arrange a leading officer out of thin air, so Zhao Xingde is willing to give up leading the army and follow the army eastward as an aide. sign.Among the staff is the marching commander Shi, who is also considered to be the marching secretary.

"You voluntarily transferred from the Dragon Tooth Army to be Marching Commander Shi?" Zhang Shanfu's eyes flashed a strange color. Although Marching Commander Shi was comparable to a lieutenant in terms of salary, he had neither military power nor the honor of the Huguofu.He is one level shorter than the school lieutenant general of the Dragon Tooth Army.Many marching Sima with both wisdom and courage would rather become a centurion and strive to be elected as a school lieutenant by a sergeant than be promoted to a marching commander.Therefore, most of the chiefs and officers of the Marching Division belong to sergeants who are resourceful but slightly less brave.There are very few people like Zhao Xingde who have both courage and strategy.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Shanfu said lightly: "Lieutenant Zhao, I will consider your request. Step back first."

"General..." Before Zhao Xingde could speak, Zhang Shanfu said in a deep voice, "Back down—"

Zhao Xingde could only bow down and say: "The last general will leave." He turned around and retreated with his aura of self-prestige without anger.

Zhang Shanfu looked at his back, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, thoughtful.He opened the dossier in front of him again, and it turned out that it was the Eastern Expedition Strategy made by the Marching Army Division. He planned to contact the Song Dynasty court. If the Song Army was defeated and Bianliang fell, he would send elite troops eastward to help the Song Army stabilize the situation. Stockpile supplies and prepare to mobilize retired sergeants and regiments for training.After the war in the west is over, and the Liao and Song countries in the east are almost done fighting, then a steady stream of troops will be sent to the Kanto.The Longya Army Firearms Battalion under Zhao De's command is a place where firearms officers are trained for regimental training.Although it is not necessary to personally participate in the Eastern Expedition, the role is extremely important.Zhang Shanfu thought over and over again, circled Zhao De's name, and changed it to the military commander.In the evening, several strategies for marching troops were presented to Prime Minister Liu Yi.

Liu Yi first roughly read the general strategy of the Marching Army Division.The Marching Army Division is going to gather [-] troops in the west to fight against the rebellion, and Guanzhong will send [-] troops to Hangu Pass to help Song State support the situation.He also petitioned the Huguo Mansion to recruit [-] retired sergeants in Hezhong and [-] retired sergeants in Guanzhong, and allowed Guanzhong to expand the red firearms training camp.After closing the file, Liu Yi groaned for a moment, and asked: "The Ross rebellion is obviously weaker than the Liao army. But the arrangement of the Marching Army Division is to prioritize the west over the east. Why?"

Zhang Shanfu explained: "Prince Ross colluded with the barbarians of the western barbarians. I am afraid that the trouble will become bigger and bigger. In the end, the court will have to pay a double price. In addition, the Roma Turks did not treat me well in the south of the river, so we must solve it quickly. Therefore, victory is more important than longevity. The west must gather heavy troops to cut off the disaster with a thunderous force. However, Song Guo still has doubts about us. If there are more soldiers and horses coming from the east, I am afraid that Song Guo will probably not agree. If you agree, you will also take precautions against our army, which will not be conducive to uniting the Song Dynasty to fight against the Liao Dynasty. In the future, our war in the west will be settled, and I will have no worries. The national power of Liao and Song will be consumed by each other. The army is advancing eastward, and neither of these two countries can stop it."

Liu Yi nodded.He has always been aware of the plans of the Army Division.The situation in the Liao and Song Dynasties took a turn for the worse, and the Huguo Mansion decided to send troops to help Song fight the Liao Dynasty because they were worried that Khitan would easily obtain Song's land, manpower and wealth, and would do more evil and bring disaster to Guanzhong.Liu Yi looked through the military pay and supplies calculated by the Supply Department, recruiting [-] sergeants, and spending more than [-] million guan in one year's salary alone, and the corresponding addition of supplies, horses, food and grass, and more than [-] million guan.The Prime Minister's Mansion had to find a way to do this. Most of the materials captured by the enemy were distributed by the victorious sergeants, and the mines and land in the rebellious areas were put up for auction, which could probably cover the cost of the expedition.Let Song Guo pay some remuneration for borrowing soldiers?The Guanzhong Huoba battalion has gradually increased its training, hoarding the military supplies for the future army to go out, it is more like a bottomless pit, if it cannot dominate the world, I am afraid it will not be able to fill this large sum.While Liu Yi was thinking, he suddenly saw that at the end of Fanglue, Zhao De was relieved of his position as a lieutenant of the Longya Army, and changed to a commander in charge of the marching division, but he had no specific responsibilities.

"Zhao De is a talent." He frowned and said, "Why did you throw him away?"

"He would rather be transferred from the Dragon Tooth Army to be the Chief of the Marching Division than to go to fight in the Kanto." Zhang Shanfu sighed, "How honorable is the captain of the Dragon Tooth Army, can it be difficult for others to do so? It's just that the leader who led the Eastern Expedition The general hasn't decided yet, and we can't arrange the commander of the army right now." Liu Yi was a little stunned, he closed the file, sighed, and didn't speak again.

In the wilderness outside the Daming Mansion, countless Liao army cavalry appeared, but in general, the number of Liao troops falling in the eyes of the Song army at the head of the city was getting smaller and smaller.However, just tens of miles away, more than [-] Liao troops gathered in the big camp, and groups of cavalry patrolled around. When they saw the people of the Song Dynasty, they chased them on horseback, or shot them on the spot, or captured them back to the camp. Serve as a signing army.

In the imperial account, Yelu Tiege, the privy envoy of the Northern Court, the Han army is in charge of Yelu Baoyi, the palace tent army is in charge of Yelu Yanshan, the left army is in charge of Yelubijie, the right army is in charge of Urgon, and the infantry is in charge of Xiaocha Ah, they all stood around respectfully.In the middle of the big tent, the light from the opening of the dome was shining on the huge map, and Yelu Dashi was leaning over to look at the positions of the troops of the Song Dynasty.His face was sinking like water, and when his eyes fell on the Liyangjin pontoon bridge, his expression was rarely moved, and his eyes moved slightly.These days, instead of strengthening the defense of Liyangjin, the Song army has shrunk the Song army in Henan to Bianliang as much as possible. Now it is still Zhang Shuye's [-] troops defending the north of Liyangjin bridge.

"Your Majesty, do you want to send troops to capture Liyangjin?" Yelu Yanshan asked.Looks of anticipation also appeared on the faces of the other generals.

"No hurry," Yelu Dashi shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Leave this pontoon bridge to Wang Yan."

"But..." Although the generals did not dare to question Yelu Dashi's decision, they were worried.Will the Hebei battalion army really come out of the Daming Mansion to help Bianliang?Yelu Dashi has restrained more than [-] elite soldiers and fierce generals in the camp for more than ten days.The Liao army fought all the way to the bank of the Yellow River. Henan was known as the most affluent place in the Song Dynasty. Bianliang seemed to be within reach, but the army stopped its advance.Not to mention the huge daily consumption of food and grass by more than [-] horses, the Khitan, Xi, Jurchen, and Mierbo people came to the world of flowers and flowers in the Southern Dynasties, and they could not go out of the camp to hunt grass, and they were extremely uncomfortable in the camp every day.