Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 882
"In short, including the proclamation, the purpose of the western expedition to the Hexi Corridor is to win all the forces that can be won, and to reduce or even weaken the enemy's strength as much as possible without fighting. Or in other words, the right time, the right place, Renhe, we shall strive for 'renhe'."

Everyone said yes again.

Ye Chen finally said: "Therefore, the appeal is of great importance, and Han Xizai is fully responsible for it. According to the request I just said, write it within three days, print [-] copies in two newspapers, and send them to Hexi by the Ministry of Security. Corridor, and spread out, and strive to allow everyone in the Hexi Corridor to see or hear this statement."

Han Xizai and Hu Sanguang immediately went out of class and bowed to say yes.

Ye Chen said again: "Okay, after the military headquarters is down, it will issue a military order and start dispatching troops. Ma Wentao, Jia Xian, and Yu Wen will do a good job in the transportation and supply of food, grass, ordnance and weapons."

Everyone stood up, bowed solemnly, and said loudly: "The ministers will follow His Majesty's will."

...

...

In the second year of Tianding, on the 21st of May, when Duanmu Zhongren returned to Guazhou for a month, more than [-] copies of the "Referral to the Hexi Corridor" were published by the Zhengshitang and handed over to the Ministry of Security. The spies were distributed to various parts of the Hexi Corridor in Kuaima.

"The Hexi Corridor, the ancient road is like a dragon, and it has been broken by an inch. The desert is windy, Guazhou is away from the sect, and outside the Yumen Pass, the horses and horses are withered. I would like to declare to the world with sincerity that the first emperor Ye Chen, the great sage of civil and military affairs of the country, is angry. , Zhi'an Sheji. Now seeing the withering of Hexi, I feel the responsibility of the whole body. Lead a dignified teacher, put an end to the thieves and calm the people, rebuild the ancient roads, and make things peaceful. Those who rebel against me will perish. They may disobey and reject the heavenly soldiers, and the nine clans will be punished without pardon. The help of the heavenly way will surely lead to the return of all spirits; With the heart of transformation on his shoulders, he is suitable for the road of rebirth. If you dare to judge my life, why do you regret it..."

On the same day, Ye Chen issued an edict, with Yang Jiye, the general of the Zhu Kingdom, as the commander of the Xiduxing Battalion, General Guang Huang Dongqiu, the head of the Volunteer Corps, as the deputy commander, Yao Chengguang, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Military Law, as the supervisor, and Jia Xian, the minister of the household department, to equip Minister Yu Wen served as the transport envoy for the Xidou camp capital, and Ma Wentao, the left minister, took personal control and was in charge of grain, grass and ordnance respectively.Tang Xingwu, the envoy of the Intelligence Analysis Department of the Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Security, is the chief intelligence staff officer with the army, and is mainly responsible for contacting the Western Region branch of the Ministry of Security.

At the same time, the entire Xiangfu country declared martial law.

May 23.Ye Chen wore military uniform and inspected the Volunteer Army in person.

On the same day, each of the four regiments of White Tiger, Suzaku, Qinglong, and Zhelan had an infantry brigade, each of the three regiments of Xuanwu, Black Wolf, and White Wolf had a cavalry brigade, as well as the Special Battalion of the Special Battalion, and more than 1000 soldiers had been persuaded to surrender and assigned The prisoners of the Liao army assigned to the above-mentioned brigades set out from various garrisons and rushed to Shunzhou.After them, the Volunteer Corps, which was inspected by Ye Chen, also marched towards Shunzhou under the leadership of Yang Jiye and Huang Dongqiu.

War is imminent.

This is a war that is destined to determine the fate of the country.

This is also a war in which Xiangfu Kingdom has completely risen in the northwest and has the real power to compete with Song and Liao. This is a battle to change its own national destiny.

...

...

Amidst the sonorous and forceful proclamation, Yang Jiye's banner unfurled, and 7 troops left Shunzhou, crossed Hanhai, crossed Shatuo, walked along the ancient Great Wall Road, and headed straight for Liangzhou, the first stop of the Western Expedition.

Liangzhou, the gateway of the Hexi Corridor, borders Shunzhou and Jingzhou in the east, Xining Prefecture in the south, Lanzhou in the southeast, and Suzhou in the northwest.The folk customs are fierce and fierce, and they are not afraid of death.Since ancient times, Liangzhou Jingqi has been running rampant in the world, and it is called "Liangzhou big horses run rampant in the world" in history.Liangzhou is flat and vast, and it is the largest accumulated plain in Hexi. Yangxiong Liangzhou Proverbs of the Western Han Dynasty said that every time he was in Jiwang, he often lost his mind.God was restless and ordered the Han to cool down.Since ancient times, Liangzhou has been a fertile land full of people and dense mulberry trees, an important commercial port in the Northwest, and one of the nodes of the Silk Road.

From Shunzhou to Liangzhou, it is about 270 miles away.In the military regulations of the Xiangfu Kingdom, there are clear regulations on marching. All troops marching on the road should rest neatly for fifteen miles, dry food for 35 miles, and board and lodging for seventy miles.This includes pure cavalry units. If you want to maintain a strong combat effectiveness while marching, or hope that when you reach your destination, the soldiers who fall behind will not reach an unacceptable level. Act in accordance with the Xiangfu National Marching Regulations.

What's more, the Western Expeditionary Army led by Yang Jiye still carried luggage.In general, if the more than 7000 Western Expeditionary Forces are not counted, if the more than 2 Liao troops who have completely surrendered are not counted, cavalry and infantry account for half and half.

Xiangfu Kingdom has fought against foreign enemies for more than a year since its founding. According to Ye Chen's instructions, the military headquarters organized bottom-up summaries, discussions, research, and actual military performances, etc., and finally came to a conclusion. The role of cavalry In fact, there are great limitations.Because of Ye Chen's consistent style of work, the top executives of Xiangfu Kingdom are all very pragmatic people, and it has become a habit for the military to be more pragmatic.So after summarizing the research, they all clearly know that the protagonists of the war are infantry.Therefore, according to the requirements of the latest training regulations promulgated by Xiangfu Kingdom's military headquarters at the beginning of the year, all the cavalry in Xiangfu Kingdom have received the most basic infantry training in the three to four months since the beginning of this year!
Therefore, for the cavalry of Xiangfu Kingdom, they are cavalry when they are on horseback; they are mounted infantry when they are off horseback!Especially for this conquest of the Hexi Corridor, the main battle is to siege the city. It is impossible to bite and smash the city wall with the teeth of the horse and charge, no matter how elite cavalry is.

Yang Jiye's prudence in employing troops is well known throughout the world.Therefore, although from Yang Jiye down, the officers and soldiers of Xiangfu Kingdom looked down on the army of local overlords like Liangzhou from the bottom of their hearts, but Yang Jiye would not make any mistakes that were taboo for military strategists no matter what the situation was.

"Struggle for profit for a hundred miles, and get on the general; fight for profit for fifty miles, and the army is halfway." This famous saying can be used to describe the cavalry of Xiangfu Kingdom.The training department of the military headquarters has accumulated experience in this area through many military exercises. When the sprint reaches more than [-] miles a day and one night, even the elite cavalry like Xiang Fuguo will account for at least one-third of the soldiers who fall behind. One, and the soldiers who keep up will be exhausted, and most importantly, you will not see any formation at all.Unless it is really unexpected and the enemy is not prepared at all, otherwise, whether it is an ambush halfway or waiting for work at the end, what awaits this army is the fate of defeat.

Since the rise of Xiangfu Kingdom, it has defeated the invading armies of Song and Liao successively, and has long been famous all over the world.Liangzhou is next to Xiangfu Kingdom, and Yang Jiye absolutely does not believe that Liangzhou will not send spy agents to keep an eye on Xiangfu Kingdom's movements. He can even guarantee that when various armies gather in Shunzhou, Liangzhou will know about it.What's more, the Ministry of Security has long had intelligence that the ruler of Liangzhou has some relationship with the Holy Church, the sworn enemy of Xiangfu Kingdom.For this reason, during the battle with the Liao army years ago, Xiangfu Kingdom had been very worried that Liangzhou would take the opportunity to send troops to invade Shunzhou under the influence of the temple.In addition, the Ministry of Security also inquired about the news that the Song Dynasty and Song Wei Mansion suspected that as early as a month ago, they sent people to the Hexi Corridor to spread the news that the Xiangfu Kingdom would send troops to the Hexi Corridor.

Therefore, before the expedition, Yang Jiye already knew that the Liangzhou side, which is dominated by cavalry, would never sit still. If there was an ambush on the road or something, Yang Jiye would not be surprised at all.

On the first day, Yang Jiye abided by the requirements of the "March Regulations" and asked the Western Expeditionary Army to maintain a formation and march in formation. The distance between the two cavalry in front and behind was forty steps, and the distance between the left and right cavalry was four steps. , The distance between battalion and battalion, brigade and brigade is also strictly in accordance with the usual training.Every fifteen miles, Yang Jiye ordered the whole army to rest and tidy up.At the same time, he sent several groups of scouts to search for the enemy within ten miles, front, back, left, and right sides and within five miles, and strictly ordered the forward troops to keep a distance of one mile from the main force.

With such a cautious march, it is indeed difficult for any accidents to occur.

Although there was a slight discrepancy between theory and practice, the time to arrive at the scheduled camping place was half an hour late, but the first day passed peacefully, and there was no sign of a large-scale Liangzhou army along the way. Report.On the way, the several villages under the jurisdiction of Liangzhou seemed to have heard the news, and when the Xiangfu Kingdom's Western Expeditionary Army arrived, they had all run away.The explorers only found a small group of Liangzhou cavalry watching the army ten miles away, which is of course normal.If there is no sign of the Liangzhou army, it will be abnormal. Anyway, as long as the Liangzhou army is not an idiot, it should react a little bit.

What made Yang Jiye slightly dissatisfied was that the Western Expeditionary Army failed to arrive at the camp on schedule.It wasn't such a big deal.Before the advent of timekeeping tools as precise as clocks in later generations, it was not easy to control the speed of marching. Even experienced generals would inevitably have errors.But Yang Jiye is famous for his rigor in leading troops, even this little error still makes him feel dissatisfied.

According to Ye Chen's personal participation, the security department and the general staff jointly drew up the military map. The accuracy of this map has been fully proved, and it is worth an excellent guide.35 miles northeast of the main city of Liangzhou, there is a small village called Jiazhuang Village.It is the only way from Shunzhou to Liangzhou City.Yang Jiye decided to camp in Jiazhuang Village tomorrow night.

On the second day, Yang Jiye still marched cautiously in strict compliance with the "March Regulations".Every fifteen miles he walked, he would still stop the whole army and rest for a while.

At noon, Tang Xingwu suddenly came to Yang Jiye and reported to him: "Report to Commander, according to the regulations of the Ministry of Security in this Western Expedition, every day, no matter whether there is any change in the enemy's army, there must be at least one report of safety." The intelligence was delivered, but now the spies of our security department in Liangzhou have not sent any intelligence for a day and a half. I suspect that the Liangzhou side sent a large army to block the main road."

(End of this chapter)