Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 897 Sending troops to Suzhou
In the second year of Tianding, after resting in Ganzhou for five days, on June 23, Yang Jiye asked Huang Dongqiu to lead [-] cavalry and [-] infantry of the Volunteer Army to sit in Ganzhou City to frighten the Uighur ministries.And he continued to lead an army of [-] to Suzhou.Among them was the [-] Uyghur army led by Kurban, who was appointed by Yang Jiye as the commander of the Ganzhou brigade.

Leaving Huang Dongqiu on the one hand deterred the Uyghurs who had just surrendered, and on the other hand, considering that the distance from Ganzhou to Suzhou was far away, and most of them were in the desert Gobi, the grain and grass were easily cut off by the enemy, so he was asked to take care of the grain road.

However, with the arrival of officials sent by Xiangfu Kingdom to govern and rule Ganzhou City and the Uyghur tribe, the situation in Ganzhou soon basically stabilized. role.Of course, the premise of this crucial role is that the yellow-headed Uighurs no longer have strong force.

Suzhou, the city lord's mansion, the head of the Long family, Dragon King Long Xiaotian knelt on the futon, surrounded by his brothers, sons, nephews and trusted generals of the Long family. They just received the news that the army of the Xiangfu Kingdom had arrived Suzhou came here, although everyone had already thought that this day would happen more than ten days ago, but people always took chances before the event was imminent.Therefore, after receiving the news, everyone was still taken aback, with heavy hearts and ugly faces.The strength of the Ganzhou Uighur Khanate is much stronger than their Suzhou Long family. In terms of military strength, Ganzhou has more than [-] troops, while their Long family has only [-] soldiers.If it hadn't been for the alliance with the Guiyi Army in Guazhou and Shazhou to fight against the Uyghurs in Ganzhou in recent years, they might have been wiped out by the Uyghurs long ago.

"Father, we will fight to the death with them. We will continue to fight. Our Long family has been in business for many years, and finally we have a place of our own. If Suzhou is lost, where else can our Long family go? Fight them to the end, They are working hard on the expedition, the soldiers are not enough, and the cost of food and grass is even greater. As long as we grit our teeth and persist, we will be able to survive until Ye Chen retreats." Long Xiaotian's eldest son, Long Dingwu, who is known as the number one general of the Long family, was impassioned said loudly.

Long Dingwen smiled coldly and said: "Brother, what are we going to fight with others? The Tubo people in Liangzhou and the Uyghur people in Ganzhou are more than two or three times stronger than ours, but they couldn't hold on in front of the Xiangfu army. More than ten days. We can last for a few days."

Long Dingwu shouted: "I still have [-] elite soldiers in Suzhou, a city to defend, and more than [-] people to rely on. Besides, the Guiyi Army in Guazhou and Shazhou and our Long family are very good at this time." Their lips and teeth depend on each other, they will never sit back and watch our Suzhou be taken by the Xiangfu Kingdom, the three states join forces, and the Xiangfu Kingdom's army is going on an expedition, we will definitely be able to beat them."

Long Dingwen interrupted and said: "Brother, don't forget, in the battle of Liangzhou, how the nearly [-] troops of Liangzhou King Panluo, Qingtang, and Ganzhou's three allied forces were defeated. The reinforcements sent by our Suzhou and Guiyi Army were at most But about [-], how can we be the opponent of Xiangfu Kingdom, once the city is destroyed, my whole family of Long family may be wiped out, and then there will be nothing left."

Long Dingwu blushed and wanted to refute, but he was not good at arguing, so he didn't know what to say for a while, but Long Dingwen stopped his eldest brother, turned to his father Long Xiaotian and said in a deep voice: "Father, people are under the eaves How can we not bow our heads? Before the Xiangfu Kingdom sent troops, we had already learned about the strength of the Xiangfu Kingdom and the legendary deeds of the Emperor of the Xiangfu Kingdom through the merchants. The most important thing was that the Xiangfu Kingdom had defeated the Great Song and A big Liao. We all know how huge the Song and Liao countries are. They are not the opponents of the Xiangfu Kingdom. One time proof. Father, in my child's opinion, it is better to call it surrender. Our Long family surrendered to the rebels in Shazhou and the Uighurs in Ganzhou, and now we surrender to Xiangfu Kingdom, why not?"

Long Xiaotian's expression was always gloomy. At this time, he sighed and said, "Dingwen, as you said, my father has also heard about some situations in Xiangfu's country. People, Fuzhou Zhejia, and the two princes Yelu Hanye and Yelulu of the Liao Kingdom surrendered to the Xiangfu Kingdom with more than 1 people and an army of more than [-]. The military power is ruled by the court of the Xiangfu Kingdom. If we surrender, we are afraid that we will be the same, and we will lose the foundation of my Long family!"

Long Xiaotian's younger brother, Long Xiaoyun, thought for a while and said, "I think whether it's fighting to the end or surrendering, you have to fight first."

Long Dingwu echoed: "That's right, we have to fight before we talk about it. I don't believe how powerful the thieves in Xiangfu Kingdom are."

Long Dingwen still wanted to speak, but Long Xiaotian nodded and said, "That's right, it's too early for us to discuss at this time. After the Xiangfu Kingdom army arrives, it's not too late to say whether to surrender or fight." At this time, the third brother must have arrived in Shazhou and Guazhou, as long as the Guiyi army sends reinforcements, we will have a fight with the Xiangfu army."

…………

…………

The distance from Ganzhou to Suzhou is because there are a large number of siege equipment and luggage, and the weather is hot and dry.Therefore, at the marching speed of the Xiangfu Kingdom's army, it would take at least five days.

On the evening of the first day when the army set off from Ganzhou, they camped at a place called Yuquanpo in the scheduled camp.

After dinner, in the camp of the Chinese army, a routine combat meeting was held normally.

It was still Tang Xingwu who reported the relevant information first: "...So, after the Long family was driven out of Ganzhou by the Uighurs, they retreated to Suzhou, and in order to survive, they paid tribute to the Jinshan Kingdom Guiyi Army and became vassals. However, later Jinshan Kingdom was defeated in the hegemony struggle with Ganzhou Uyghurs, and was beaten all the way to the city of Shazhou by the Ganzhou Uyghurs, forcing Zhang Yichao’s descendants, and the emperor of Jinshan Kingdom signed an alliance under the city. The two sides formed a father-son kingdom, and Jinshan Kingdom was renamed Dunhuang Kingdom. Since then, the Long family in Suzhou has been separated from the control of the Guiyi Army. The current situation is that the Guiyi Army regime inherited by the Cao family occupies Shazhou and Guazhou, and Suzhou is controlled by the Long family. The three families sometimes have large and small wars, and sometimes they go back and forth. The in-laws are friendly. When they encounter a strong foreign enemy, they are unanimous. When there is no foreign enemy threat, they often conquer each other for some interests. Now Cao Yushuang, the wife of Long Xiaotian, the head of the Long family, is the biological sister of Cao Xuefei, the head of Guazhou. Long Xiaotian and Cao Yushuang’s son, Long Dingwen, have been studying under Duanmu Zhongren, a great scholar in Guazhou, for five years.”

Since the dispatch of troops, the generals have become accustomed to Tang Xingwu's intelligence introduction at the combat meeting after dinner every day, and they are also deeply impressed by the intelligence intelligence capabilities of the Ministry of Security, especially Yelulu, the deputy head of the Volunteer Army who joined Xiangfu Kingdom, and the Liangzhou Brigade. The brigade commander Pan Luoajiu, and the Uyghur brigade commander Kurban who had just led the [-] Uyghur cavalry to surrender were even more deeply moved. The intelligence capabilities of the Ministry of Security have already given the Xiangfu army the upper hand.

Yang Jiye nodded at Tang Xingwu, and said: "Although Your Majesty has arranged in advance the two wonderful moves of Duanmu Zhongren and Master Yunyue, the Cao family who ruled Guazhou and Shazhou is not easy. Now that we have captured Liangzhou and After Ganzhou, we will definitely send troops to support Suzhou. We won Liangzhou and Ganzhou mainly by relying on gunpowder. When we deal with Suzhou, Guazhou and Shazhou, the enemy will definitely take precautions. What's more, we don't have much gunpowder in this Western Expedition. Without gunpowder, our siege is not much different from the usual siege. There will be a lot of casualties. In addition, so far, our Western Expedition has never revealed that our army is best at field warfare, and most of the troops in the Western Regions are field warfare, and they are used to field warfare and prefer field warfare. In this case, the enemy The army will inevitably despise our field strength. Therefore, we must find a way to fight the enemy in the field, and the Guiyi army from Guazhou and Shazhou came to help, which hits the heart of the commander. The field battle will be returned to the rebel army. Even if the army does not go out of the city, they will lose the support of the Guiyi army and know that we will defeat the disabled Guiyi army. They will be defeated without a fight, and Suzhou will naturally collapse without attack."

Speaking of this, Yang Jiye paused, glanced over the generals, and found that from the eyes of everyone, it could be seen that all of them were full of fighting spirit and full of confidence. So far, Xiangfu Kingdom has not lost a field battle.

At this moment, a staff officer made a report, walked in and saluted, and said, "Commander, the sand table has been piled up."

Yang Jiye nodded to the staff officer, stood up and said, "Follow me to compare the sand table and decide on a strategy."

Plotting maps, stacking sand tables, analyzing and judging the enemy's situation, formulating operational plans, and assisting commanders in commanding and coordinating troops are the basic duties and capabilities of Xiangfu National Army staff officers.Among them, it is required to complete the small sand table in wartime against the map within an hour.

Yang Jiye led all the generals to a large tent with a rectangular sand table two feet long and one foot wide in the middle.The seven staff officers were sweating profusely by the side, holding some rulers and other tools in their hands. They looked a little nervous. This was the first time since the Western Expedition that they had made a temporary sand table.If the commander-in-chief is dissatisfied, it is their serious dereliction of duty.

There was a map hanging on one end of the sand table. Yang Jiye brought in the crowd, and they sat on both sides of the sand table according to their ranks and official positions. Pan Luo Ajiu and Kurban, who saw the sand table for the first time, were amazed.

Yang Jiye first compared the map and carefully checked every part of the sand table. After a long while, he nodded his head to express his satisfaction.

(End of this chapter)