Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 498 93 Midnight Navy Comes - 3

"Do you still need to inform General Zhao about the strategy of the Eastern Expedition?"

This simple question made Wu Jie slightly startled and fell into deep thought.Zhao Xingde's identity is the Prime Minister's Chief Shi, the Firearms Superintendent of the Eastern Expedition Army, who has full authority in the southeast to represent the Xia Kingdom court in dealing with the Song people.When the [-] Eastern Expeditionary Army sneaked into Fangzhou secretly, they cut off all the roads leading from the valley to the outside of the mountain. The specific combat operations were hidden from even the Huguo Mansion in Xia Kingdom.But the army is about to go out, and it seems inappropriate to hide Zhao Xingde's words.However, he is a Song person after all.

Wu Jie recalled that when he was parting, he admired that person's advice very much: "Jinqing's expedition to the Kanto this time, the first battle is the mantis catching the cicada, the oriole is behind, and our army is even behind the oriole. It took a long time to achieve success This situation of driving tigers and wolves away. After all the territory of the Song Dynasty, the army will be reorganized into the Northern Expedition, and the Khitan children will be wiped out. As long as the situation is opened in this battle, the Huguo Mansion and the Zhu Guo Mansion will naturally agree to use large-scale troops in the Guandong. With more food and grass, hundreds of thousands of regiments in Guanzhong are training troops, and there will be a steady stream of reinforcements. Jinqing can also show his ambitions, even a million troops, chasing death and chasing north, sweeping thousands of miles. The key to this battle, the first is to grasp The second is to attack the enemy unprepared and by surprise. Although Zhao Xingde is a talented person, he was born in the Kanto region and has a close relationship with Chen Dong and others. Don't announce the strategy of the army rashly, so as not to miss a major event. Jin Qing only needs to be cautious , the first achievement in dominating the world is none other than you!"

"General?" Shi Gaogongmao, the marching commander, asked again.He was just afraid that Wu Jie would neglect to forget the reminder.

"It's a pity." Wu Jie shook his head, and said with some regret, "There is a lot of good and evil around Zhao Dujian, and it's easy to leak the news. Don't notify him of the dispatch of troops, and notify him quickly after our troops are dispatched." To Zhao Xingde, Wu Jie appreciated it a little, but that person's farsightedness was a hundred times better than his own, so Wu Jie would not follow Lin's special instructions.Although Zhao Xingde was someone His Royal Highness valued, he was not ignorant and narrow-minded.At this time, it's just a matter of hiding it from him and explaining it euphemistically in the future.

"Follow orders." Gao Gongmao questioned without doubt, and said again: "General, the Prime Minister's Office asked, how long will it take to defeat the enemy after the army moves?" Even the Huguo Mansion did not know about the decision made.Although the previous actions were carried out without anyone noticing, correspondingly, in order to prevent Liao Song from being aware of it, the two governments also spent a lot of thought.All the troops on the expedition are active-duty sergeants and regimental trainees, and retired sergeants are not recruited from the people.The roads for troop deployment had been surveyed and cleared in advance by the Military Information Department, and all the military supplies for the [-] Eastern Expeditionary Army were dispatched from the warehouses of the Logistics Department.The Prime Minister's Mansion originally planned to use the warehouses of the Shu Kingdom, but the General's Mansion finally refused due to the need for secrecy.Therefore, before the reinforcements come up one after another, the Eastern Expeditionary Army must make a quick decision, and it is best to use the food in the Song Dynasty after the victory.

"Ten days," Wu Jie groaned for a moment, then repeated affirmatively, "Ten days is enough."

The Eastern Expeditionary Army in Fangzhou, including the White Feather Army, has four cavalry armies with a total of [-] cavalry, in addition to four infantry armies with [-] infantry, and the newly trained [-] battalions of firearms troops.In contrast, the five armies under the Anton Army Division have only [-] active sergeants. "Fifty thousand army." Wu Jie couldn't help squinting his eyes, "A man who is good at fighting is dangerous and short." He looked into the distance, looking at the mountains to the east, feeling a little urgent about the upcoming battle …

In Shuzhou, officers kept coming in and out of the Chinese camp of the Baoyi Army, and there was an atmosphere before the war.Among the three Song armies gathered in Shuzhou, the Zhen army can be called as disciplined as iron, while the Baoyi army and Henghai army are not satisfactory.The news that the three generals decided to attack the Liao army was leaked out early.In the past few days, the mood of the whole army has been unusual.Fortunately, Zhao Xingde's military orders followed one after another, from the battalion commander, the capital, the captain, to the soldiers below, everyone was busy making preparations before the battle, and there was not much time to think about miscellaneous thoughts.

"Is the morale of the army okay?"

Seeing the commander's questioning, Lu Mingyu smiled and said: "You guys are gearing up, just waiting for this big battle." Luo Xianshi also nodded and said: "Let the gang of suppressors take a look too, let's They also fought big battles." With the two of them taking the lead, the battalion commander Zhang Wudi, Xia Mao'er and other generals below all clamored loudly, and their morale was very strong.

Zhao Xingde looked at these subordinates with a smile.Ever since the Hengjun navy invaded Dajiang, the Baoyi Army's left and right armies took turns to attack and harass the Liao army's grain roads, which was very effective.Over the next month, the Liao army at the frontier of Baozhou saw a shortage of food and fodder, and the signing army became more and more distracted under the hunger. Some people even secretly surrendered to the Song army, claiming that they had no choice but to join the Liao people. As long as the two sides fight, they are willing to immediately Turned to the Song army. Another gain from the 'harassment' of the Liao army's food roads is that the soldiers of the Baoyi army overcame their vague fear of the Liao thieves.The Great Song Dynasty had been founded for more than a hundred years, and when fighting against the northern captives, it was often a big loss and an advantage.According to folk rumors, most of the northern captives rode and shot like flying, killing people without blinking an eye.Even the water bandits, who claimed to be brave, had a mysterious sense of timidity when talking about the northern captives.However, in the "harassing" battles one after another, the soldiers of the Baoyi Army became familiar with the Liao army, and they no longer regarded the Khitan people as monsters who were accustomed to fighting.

Luo Xianshi asked: "Does Privy Yue have any clever plans for this decisive battle with the Liao army?" The faces of the generals also showed a look of concentration.Everyone knows that this battle is extremely important, and Zhao Xingde has always been confidant to the generals of the Baoyi Army, and rarely pretends to be mysterious.Although the generals performed their own duties, they knew the strategy of the Privy Councilors to use troops early on, and they also had a bottom line in their hearts.

Zhao Xingde looked around, was silent for a while, and told the truth: "Private Yue is determined to defeat the enemy with regular soldiers."

"Soldier?" Luo Xianshi was a little surprised, and nodded thoughtfully.The generals also looked at each other.

"It's the regular soldiers." Zhao Xingde nodded, "The leader of the enemy army, when the cavalry come and go, gathers and disperses, it is not easy to annihilate. The leader of our army is in a dignified formation. Moreover, suppressing the army and the northern captives After a stalemate for several months, you harassed the enemy for a long time. Although brother Tiemu is illiterate, his mind is very careful, and the defense of the Liao army at the front is already impenetrable." He pointed to the map, the mountains and the river In the narrow plain area between, the Song army camp is in the west, and the Liao army camp is in the east.In this narrow place, 10,000+ troops from both sides were crowded. The Liao and Song armies were like two mice meeting in a pothole. To defeat their opponents, they had to fight forward and defeat the main force of the enemy.This is true for the Liao army that was blocked in Shuzhou, and it is also true for the Song army that is now turning from defense to offense.

Therefore, the strategy of the Privy Council to make Yue Fei defeat the Liao army can be said to be extremely simple.The township army and the Baoyi army were the backbone, and tens of thousands of southeast Song troops attacked from the front, trying to defeat the Liao army under Timuge in a short time.Meanwhile, more than [-] elite soldiers of the Henghai Navy were patrolling the river to support them, bombarding the Liao army barracks by the river with artillery boats, and the Henghai Navy had to prepare to block possible reinforcements.

"Why can't we win by surprise?" Zhang Wudi complained, "Let the Zhen army go forward, and we rush to the rear of the Liao army. Wouldn't it be better to have a front and back attack?" All the generals agreed.Since the Battle of Fangzhou, the generals of the Baoyi Army have long been accustomed to the tactics of ambushes and sap.The southeast is densely covered with water, and the Baoyi army often "harassed" the enemy's food roads by boat, and they were familiar with the rear of the Liao army.

"That's the way to seek death." Luo Xian said with a smile.He looked at Zhang Wudi, shook his head, and said, "This battle is not something that can be done just by taking advantage of it. We, together with Zhen Gong and Heng Haijun, are only slightly better than the Liao Army. If we win by one point now If it is two, it is most likely to be defeated by the Liao army one by one. Imagine that you have [-] to [-] cavalry, and the enemy army is automatically divided into two halves, what would you do?"

"This?" Zhang Wudi was at a loss for words for a moment.It seems that this time they have to fight the Liao army head-on, and the casualties will never be light.The faces of the generals showed disappointment, only people like Xia Mao'er who are fierce in nature are eager to try.Zhao Xingde had a panoramic view of the expressions of the generals, he sighed secretly, what the Baoyi Army lacked was this kind of determination to fight hard, compared with the suppressing army, he just took this opportunity to temper the head of the battalion .Although the situation on the battlefield is already very clear, only by defeating the Liao army's defense line head-on can a quick victory be achieved, but the generals feel a little disadvantaged when you look at me and I look at you.

Just at this moment, a "bang" was heard suddenly, which startled all the generals.

"Courage is what counts!" Zhao Xingde slammed his fist on the desk, "Put away all opportunistic thoughts, the current situation is that the two armies meet and the brave wins!"

The elite drills, formations, and formations of the Baoyi Army Headquarters were all carried out with the expectation of a frontal battle.After arriving in Shuzhou, Zhao Xingde didn't want these elites to be lost too quickly, so he politely declined Yue Fei's request that the Baoyi Army take up half of the defense line, but took the initiative to undertake the military affairs of harassment behind enemy lines, which the water bandits are good at.Who would have thought that at the same time as using battles as substitutes for training, the various departments of the Baoyi Army would like to skid the first battles and not want to fight tough battles.However, when the two armies confront each other, fierce battles and tough battles are unavoidable.Now that the generals are still like this, the emotions of the soldiers below can be imagined.

Since taking charge of the Baoyi Army, Zhao Xingde has rarely spoken so harshly to his subordinates.Everyone's heart immediately trembled, some bowed their heads in silence, and some looked ashamed.After being silent for a while, Lu Mingyu said: "Don't worry, general, the town has fought tough battles, and the brothers in the Baoyi Army are not cowards!" I haven't frowned." With these two leaders, the other generals said that even if they were shrouded in horse leather, they would have to compete with the suppressor to see who could fight the toughest battle.