Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

It wasn't until the next day that Liu Yanqing finally came back.

All the generals looked at him with resentment in their eyes. This man had escaped from battle more than once.

But since he had connections in the court, it didn't matter if he attacked Liao and destroyed nearly a hundred thousand troops. How could he be rewarded when he returned to Tokyo?

The generals were reconvened for a meeting. Liu Yanqing first praised Wang Yuan and noted his great contribution in holding the camp.

Wang Yuan said: "I have a fierce general named Han Shizhong under my command. He once led troops to capture Fang La, and also made meritorious service during the expedition against Liao. He also contributed a lot to defending the camp this time."

"Well, I've taken note of this person." Liu Yanqing said perfunctorily and stopped mentioning Han Shizhong.

In fact, after Han Shizhong killed Fang La, his military achievements were corrupted by Xin Xingzong, and his reputation had already spread throughout the Western Army. Firstly, his military exploits were too great, and secondly, he was robbed of his merits and received sympathy. This kind of news spread very quickly.

However, Xin Xingzong was Tong Guan's absolute confidant, and the generals of the Western Army did not dare to mention this matter publicly for fear of being jealous of Tong Guan.

Yang Weizhong, who had a broken calf, was sitting crookedly in the tent at this time: "The thieves definitely don't know any magic or magic. From my perspective, they must be a kind of artillery cart, and they can shoot as far as three or four miles."

In fact, the maximum range of the four artillery pieces in the main camp is less than three miles.

The reason why we could go so far was because the village was located on a mountain. From a high position and shoot upward at a 45-degree angle, the impact point of the shell is far beyond the normal range.

Liu Yanqing's face looked a little ugly. He would rather the thieves knew magic. It would be too embarrassing if they were artillery vehicles.

Liu Guangshi took over the conversation: "The thieves have this weapon, how can they break the thieves' stronghold?"

Yang Weizhong said: "It is not easy to make such a sharp weapon. It took almost a year since the Zhu Tie army started, and they only built a few. But we can tell all the soldiers that although the thieves' artillery carts are powerful, it takes a long time to launch them once, and only a few can be fired each time." It can hit only a few people. Let them not be afraid of any magic or magic, so as to prevent the whole army from panic."

Liu Yanqing became even more angry instantly. If this matter spread throughout the army, where would he put his face?

The dignified general along the way was so frightened by several artillery carriages that he abandoned his army and ran away.

Yang Weizhong said: "Now the morale of our army is low, there are not many foot soldiers left, and most of the divine arm crossbows have been lost. We must boost morale and encourage the warriors to attack the traitor stronghold with heavy rewards."

That said, how many people are willing to sacrifice their lives?

The terrain is so disgusting that none of the passages from Shaanxi to Hanzhong is easy to get through.

The degree of difficulty of the Tangluo Road is second only to the Ziwu Road in the east!

In the next half month, Liu Yanqing set up the Chinese army's position farther away, so that the bandit's "artillery carriage" could not attack.

However, many attacks organized by the Western Army were met with artillery attacks. Although there were not many direct casualties, it greatly affected morale. Every time they attacked, they did not even get close to the mountain stronghold. They were defeated halfway up the mountain by falling rocks, rolling logs, and bows and arrows.

Liu Yanqing had no choice but to appease the soldiers: "Don't be discouraged. Before I sent out troops, I asked scholars who knew history. In all dynasties, no one could win quickly from Hanzhong and go south along the Tangluo Road. At least it would take a lot of fighting. Months, if more, we will have to fight for another year or two. We are less than a month away, we have just begun, there is always a chance to break through the bandit stronghold."

The generals were even more speechless after hearing this. How could anyone inspire the soldiers like this?

Liu Yanqing suddenly said: "I know that there is an old road on the Tangluo Road. It has been in disrepair and is more difficult to walk. We didn't take the old road when we came here, but when we got here, we could also go along the mountain. Maybe the bandits' stronghold there would be better to attack." .”

Yang Weizhong said: "The army cannot be temporarily transferred, otherwise our army's food routes will not be guaranteed. Even if we want to go west, we can only send two to three thousand elites for a surprise attack."

The two of them were talking about a surprise attack on Huaishu Pass and the old Tangluo Road that led directly to Huaishu Pass, which even the smugglers disliked.

From the late Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty, Huaishu Pass had not been repaired. When Zhu Guoxiang took over, only the foundation of the wall remained. It took several months to re-ram the soil and repair it. Now there are only 3,000 rebel troops stationed.

If the Western Army captures Huaishu Pass, they can follow the river and penetrate directly into Zhenfu County.

After occupying Zhenfu County, it can threaten Yangzhou City to the west and cut off Yang Zhi's food route to the east.

But when fighting in a foreign land, unless absolutely necessary, we generally do not take risks by surprise.

Because success or failure is not in your own hands, but depends on the enemy's negligence. Even if Huaishuguan can be captured by surprise, Zhenfu County must be captured by surprise again.

Zhenfu County is now a material transfer station for the Yangzhou Rebels. Not only are a large amount of military rations hoarded here, but there is also a reserve force on standby at any time. If Yang Zhi is in danger, he will support Yang Zhi, and when encountering officers and soldiers at Huaishu Pass, he will go to rescue Huaishu Pass.

On the contrary, Yangzhou City's military strength was very empty, with only some government officials maintaining law and order.

Liu Yanqing could not make up his mind and planned to take another look at the situation.

…

The pursuit battle that day further strengthened Yang Zhi's determination to persevere.

A large number of broken troops attacked the camp, but the Western Army was still able to hold on. This shows that there are capable people among the enemy generals and the morale of the Western Army is pretty good.

Yang Zhihe's generals were naturally afraid of the Western Army and had no confidence in winning the field battle.

So he couldn't get out.

This move disgusted Liu Yanqing. He even sent his elite to feign attack and set up ambushes in the hilly areas, but it had no effect at all.

Because Yang Zhi is too cautious, or too timid.

If the main stronghold pursues and defeats the defeated troops, they will not cross the river. If the rebels from the two sub-strongholds pursue them down the mountain, they will also be recalled by Yang Zhi's order with gold medals.

The confrontation continued like this for another month. If we start counting from Yuxi, it would have been more than two months since Liu Yanqing led his troops south.

Not even an inch of progress has been accomplished, and everything is stuck here.

A messenger came from Fengxiang, but it was sent by the eunuch supervisor army, asking why Liu Yanqing had no news.

Liu Yanqing could only answer that the terrain of the Thieves' Stronghold was difficult to break, but he had already achieved several small victories and it was only a matter of time to capture the Thieves' Stronghold.

After finally sending away the envoy, Liu Yanqing summoned the generals for a meeting again.

Yang Weizhong said: "We can only attack by force regardless of casualties."

In a word, use human lives to pile up.

And whether it will work or not, we can only leave it to fate. This is even more difficult than attacking a city.

At least you can use a variety of equipment when attacking a city. You can also dig tunnels, pile mountains of earth, or use giant flat cannons to smash rocks.

But this place is full of copycats, no equipment can be used, and the flat cannon is difficult to use.

Liu Yanqing murmured in a low voice: "Can the Western Army in our hands still be able to attack by force?"

Yang Weizhong was momentarily speechless.

The Western Army is a collective term consisting of the Forbidden Army, the Xiang Army, the Fan Army, and the Xiang Army.

The Forbidden Army and the Xiang Army are regular troops, but their numbers are relatively small.

Both Fan soldiers and rural soldiers were temporarily recruited, among which Fan soldiers were ethnic minority armies.

There are a large number of ethnic minorities in the Shaanxi-Gansu region. They probably belonged to the Han ethnic group in the Tang Dynasty, but they have gradually become tribal since the end of the Tang Dynasty. Either out of force or out of livelihood, they served as soldiers in the Song Dynasty and Xixia.

The Fan soldiers on the Song Dynasty were often beheaded by friendly forces and took credit for their success.

So the imperial court specially set a rule that Fan soldiers must tattoo their faces so that those who kill friendly troops and take credit cannot succeed.

There are many rural soldiers in the Western Army because the border areas are barren and military food supplies are very difficult, making it impossible to support a large number of troops for a long time. So when there was a war, men were drawn as soldiers in Shaanxi. In principle, one out of three strong men would be drawn.

Therefore, even if the Shaanxi men in the Northern Song Dynasty were farmers, they were most likely to have been on the battlefield.

When fighting against Xixia, the Fan soldiers were often used as cannon fodder first, and then the rural soldiers were used as cannon fodder. At critical moments, the Forbidden Army and the Xiang Army were thrown in.

This combat system gradually developed a strong army after hundreds of years of war between Song and Xia.

At its peak, the temporarily recruited Shaanxi rural soldiers did not need any training at all. They could put down their hoes, pick up their weapons, and go to the battlefield to fight against Xixia.

However, after Song Huizong ascended the throne, he frequently used troops against Xixia and was in arrears with food and wages for a long time, resulting in fewer and fewer elite Western troops.

The defeat of the Liao Dynasty resulted in countless deaths.

Many of the Shaanxi rural soldiers being recruited now have never fought in a war. They were recruited after their fathers and brothers died. As for the regular armies such as the Forbidden Army and the Xiang Army, there were also very few left. Many of the rural soldiers who fled back from the Liao Kingdom directly joined the regular army to replenish the number.

No energy left!

We can no longer fight a tough battle!

Even regular troops will flee once they encounter a setback.

In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Western Army was able to hold on, thanks in fact to Zhang Jun.

At that time, a large number of Shaanxi people fled south. Zhang Jun used Sichuan money and food to organize and train Shaanxi rural soldiers to rebuild the Western Army. Although the name of the army has changed and is no longer called the Western Army, the composition of its generals and soldiers has not changed significantly.

And in this time and space, how can there be money and food from Sichuan to use for military training?

"Straight bitch!"

Liu Yanqing was so depressed that he slapped his thighs: "These thieves and their son are so good at serving as officials, why do they want to rebel? The thieves occupy a favorable location, and our army has to fight for an expedition. How can it be easy to defeat them? The eggless supervisors came again to urge them, This is putting you and me on the fire!"

Yang Weizhong said: "It's better to delay it a little longer. Hanzhong may be in chaos. Or the rebels may be short of food and grass. It won't be too late to attack by force at that time."

Liu Yanqing smiled bitterly and said: "Our grain road is hundreds of miles long, and it is all supported by new wheat. We will be the only ones who are short of food and grass."

Without the urging of the eunuchs and supervisors, Liu Yanqing would have continued the confrontation, but now he had to make a decision.

Liu Yanqing said: "Select 3,000 elite troops to surprise Huaishuguan. If we can defeat it, the situation of the war will turn around. If the surprise attack fails, let the whole army attack the stronghold. Sooner or later, we will have to attack by force, otherwise we will not be able to report to the officials." . Instead of delaying and lowering morale, it is better to attack early and still have a two-point chance of winning. Who is willing to lead troops in a surprise attack?"

No one spoke.

Wang Yuan said: "I have a fierce general named Han Shizhong."

Liu Yanqing immediately remembered this man: "Let him go and give him three thousand soldiers!"

Han Shizhong was robbed of credit by Xin Xingzong, who was afraid that the matter would be "exposed" and refused to be promoted. When this person dies, he dies, and he gives Tong Guan an explanation.

If Han Shizhong was lucky enough to make a great contribution, he would just take the credit when the time comes.

Wang Yuan went back to talk to Han Shizhong: "You have always wanted to perform a meritorious service, and now the opportunity has come. But the danger is unpredictable. If something goes wrong, just run away. Don't try your best to show off your strength. If you perform a miraculous service, Yang Dutong and I will try our best to protect it for you. Some."

"There's no way to fight without fighting tooth and nail!" Han Shizhong held the knife and smiled.

He seemed very impatient before, but now that the opportunity to make meritorious deeds came, he became calm and relaxed.

(PS: The thunder cannons of the Song Dynasty were not artillery, but catapults that dropped incendiary bombs.)

(Lao Wang was brainwashed by "Future Negatives". He feels uncomfortable if he doesn't listen to it for a day. He has a new understanding of the lyrics every day. Highly recommended!)