Feng'an Army under the moonlight, the bright moonlight shines on the river and desert, making the scenery even more mesmerizing.
However, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Xichong and others had no intention of seeing these scenery. Instead, they hung up a topographic map in the Feng'an Army's military fortress and were studying it carefully.
In fact, Zhang Liecheng brought Zhang Xichong back to Hexi last year with the intention of meeting Zhang Zhao, but Zhang Zhao never set off.
First, the development of Hexi is complicated and he really cannot leave.
Second, Zhang Zhao did not understand Zhang Xichong's character and did not dare to take the risk to join the Feng'an Army as he did now. Given Zhang Zhao's current status, it was better to play it safe.
If you send out a large army, you will definitely not be able to keep it secret. If you don't send out a large army, you may be taken advantage of.
Only after finding out who Zhang Xichong is now, will Zhang Zhao choose to come to Feng'an Army to spend some time with him.
"Please see, Your Majesty, during the Tang Dynasty, Shuofang Jiedushi had jurisdiction over eleven prefectures including Ling, Yan, Xia, Sui, Yin, and Feng.
However, since the end of the Tang Dynasty, Yinxia and other prefectures have been assigned to the Dangxiang people, forming the Jiedu Envoy of the Dingjun Army. So far, only the three prefectures of Ling, Yan and Feng are left."
As he spoke, Zhang Xichong let out a long sigh, "Actually, Lingzhou is the only place left now.
In the sixth year of the Zhenming Dynasty in the former Liang Dynasty, the Khitan leader Yelu Abao led a Khitan army of 30,000 to capture Fengzhou. Song Yao, the Jiedushi envoy, was forced to surrender and rebelled the next year, but was soon captured by the Khitan.
The 20,000 people in Fengzhou City were moved by the Khitan to Daqing Mountain. Today, there are only a few thousand Khitan tribesmen in Fengzhou who are nomadic and it is basically abandoned.
Although Yanzhou is still under the jurisdiction of the Lingwu Army, it has actually been completely infiltrated by the Pingxia Division of the Dingnan Army.
The defense envoys of the Lingwu Army in Yanzhou were also bribed, and the generals and generals were all Party members. They even passed through Yanzhou and continued to reach out to Lingzhou."
Zhang Zhao nodded to express his understanding. In other words, the Shuofang Jiedushi of Tianbao Ten Jiedu, which originally had a vast territory, now only has the Yinchuan and Wuzhong areas where the Ningxia Plain is located.
Fengzhou in the front, where the Yellow River forms a zigzag shape, has been occupied by the Khitan people.
The Li family, who is located in the southeast of Lingzhou, has been using party tribes to encroach on Lingzhou in an attempt to control Lingzhou.
"How many Han people are there in Lingzhou now? How is the morale of the Lingwu army?" Zhang Zhao then asked.
Zhang Xichong's face became even more bitter, "The Han people in Lingzhou are now less than 2,000 households, not even 10,000, while there are more than 100,000 in Dangxiang, Shatuo and Tuyuhun.
The number of Han soldiers and generals in the Lingwu Army is even more pitiful. There are less than a thousand people who have been recruited as Ya soldiers, and the remaining more than 7,000 people are all Fan soldiers."
Good guy! Zhang Zhao finally knows why Zhang Xichong is so anxious?
It turns out that in the huge Ningxia Plain, there are less than 10,000 Han people, and the Lingwu Army only has one-eighth Han soldiers, and the rest are Fan soldiers.
And I'm afraid there is one thing Zhang Xichong didn't mention, that is, the Khitans and Dangxiang people must have begun to infiltrate the Lingwu Army.
Taking a step back, even if there is no infiltration, the Lingwu Army only has 8,000 people left, which is definitely a disaster.
With such a small number of people to guard the entire Lingzhou subordinate cities such as Huaiyuan, Anjing, Lingwu, Lanchi, etc., it has long been stretched.
The Khitans have already occupied Fengzhou. As long as twenty or thirty thousand people come, Lingzhou will be in danger.
"Your Majesty, now you know why you said that Lingzhou is already dead, right?
The current leader of the Khitan Kingdom, Yelu Deguang, just wanted to swallow up Lingzhou at the lowest cost, so he did not take action directly.
If one day he gets impatient and only needs 30,000 people to cut off the connections between cities, it will be good if Lingzhou can hold on for half a year."
Zhang Zhao stood up and looked at the map of Lingzhou again and again, "I wonder how many Lingwu troops the Taiwei can fully control now?"
Zhang Xichong glanced at Zhang Zhao appreciatively. The King of Han really knew the importance of this and did not think that Zhang Xichong could send the Lingwu Army back to Hexi with just one word from Zhang Xichong.
"Currently, I can mobilize about 2,000 people. Although the rest of the people are taking orders from me, when it comes to going into battle, I really don't dare to say what they will do."
"It's not enough! It's definitely not enough!" Zhang Zhao muttered to himself.
Lingzhou is the fat hanging on the lips of the hungry wolf of Khitan, and the Khitan people are waiting to eat it at the minimum cost.
Now it seems that there is no intention to attack Lingzhou, but that is based on the fact that the current situation remains unchanged.
If Zhang Zhao dares to touch Lingzhou, or if Zhang Xichong reveals his intention to hand over Lingzhou to Zhang Zhao, the Khitan army will definitely attack immediately.
Whether they come from Fengzhou along the Yellow River, or bypass the desert and attack through the gap in Helan Mountain, the current strength of the Lingwu Army cannot resist it.
Zhang Zhao thought for a moment, and in all the previous wars between the Khitans and the Central Plains, the number of troops dispatched was more than 30,000. Generally speaking, it is no problem to dispatch 50,000 to 70,000.
Especially with the addition of the Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture, the siege capabilities and heavy armored infantry have been greatly supplemented, and now it is estimated that a hundred thousand people can be dispatched.
Even though Lingzhou is located in the west and cannot be compared with Hebei and other places close to the Khitan hinterland, it is still no problem to dispatch 30,000 to 50,000 people.
As for the fighting power of the Khitan people, it has been tested in the battle of Taiyuan when they helped Shi Jingtang.
When the Khitan cavalry numbered about 10,000, they were on par with the Central Plains cavalry. If there were more than 10,000, they should be above the Central Plains cavalry.
In the Battle of Taiyuan, Gao Xingzhou, An Shenqi, Fu Yanqing and others were all quite famous cavalry officers, but they were defeated by Yelu Deguang one after another.
In terms of infantry, Jizhou native Han Zhigu, the famous grandfather of Han Derang in history, has trained the Bazhou Zhangwu Army for the Khitan people. This Han family heavy infantry army with very good combat effectiveness has complemented the Khitan people.
the other leg.
In addition, Yelu Deguang's commanding ability was good. If 50,000 Khitan people arrived in Lingzhou, even if they had to be wiped out, it would be impossible without an army of 20,000 people.
No! Thirty thousand men are needed, because ten thousand fine cavalry must be used to protect the Xinquan Army and Feng'an Army on the waterway from Lanzhou to Lingzhou, so as to prevent the Khitans from running out of food before they are gone.
And this is still based on consuming the Khitans instead of truly solving the problem. If we want to defeat the Khitans and stabilize the situation in Lingzhou, at least 50,000 people will be needed.
As for Zhang Zhao, currently, it is very good to be able to dispatch 20,000 people. He can also dispatch 50,000 people, but that is a one-shot deal. If he loses, the foundation may be overturned.
"My lord, don't forget, it's not just the Khitans who are keeping an eye on Lingzhou, the Li family of the Difficult Army is also keeping an eye on it.
And based on the child's understanding of the Emperor of Tokyo, if we have a conflict with the Li family of the disaster-stricken army, he will definitely support the Li family from behind."
Murong Nobunaga couldn't help but remind Zhang Zhao that he knew enough about his brother-in-law.
He may have been a brave and heroic man when he was young, but now, he has become a shameless man who will do anything for power.
"Yes! Yes!" Zhang Zhao nodded repeatedly, unable to forget about the Li family, the army in trouble.
Since the fourth year of Changxing in the Later Tang Dynasty (933), Li Yichao defeated Yao Yanchou and An Congjin, making Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty unable to do anything to them.
People from the surrounding parties began to gather around the Li family of the disaster-ridden army. The history books even called this battle the foundation battle of Xixia.
The current Jiedushi of the Dingnan Army is Li Yiyin, who is also a ruthless character. In addition, the Li family of the Dingnan Army already has the strength to mobilize an army of 40,000 to 50,000 people.
It would be really dangerous if they got Shi Jingtang's support and stabbed Zhang Zhao in the back when he took over Lingzhou.
Zhang Xichong couldn't help but show a hint of disappointment on his face. He understood that with Zhang Zhao's strength, it would not be difficult to deal with the Khitan's partial army or the Li family of the troubled army alone.
But it is definitely impossible to face these two parties at the same time, but the situation in Lingzhou is already very dangerous.
Zhang Xichong was extremely anxious, but Zhang Zhao, who knew the historical process, was not anxious.
Because historically the Khitans have been fighting in Hebei and the Central Plains, and have no concerns about going to Lingzhou. As long as they don't provoke him, the Khitans will not come over and go crazy immediately.
As for Xixia's capture of Lingzhou, it would be at the hands of Li Yiyin's fourth-generation grandson Dijinze War God Li Jiqian, at least sixty-seven years later.
Therefore, as long as Zhang Zhao does not disturb the historical process, the Li family of the Difficult Army has no reason or courage to take Lingzhou. After all, they are just a vassal town in the Central Plains, not an independent country.
But thinking of this, Zhang Zhao suddenly broke into a cold sweat. Yelu Deguang in history made a mistake!
What if he was not eager to enter the Central Plains to become the emperor of the Han people, but instead spent all his efforts to conquer Lingzhou and occupy Shuofang and Yanyun.
Then Tuyuhun and the Dangxiang people who drove Daibei continued to pull and bribe them. With the strength of the Khitan people, it was really possible to conquer the Central Plains.
Not bad! Not bad! Zhang Zhao secretly rejoiced that he would not attract Yelu Deguang's attention to Lingzhou when he was not strong enough.
We still have to let him go directly south to the Central Plains, and then be made into Emperor Huan. When the Khitans lose such a hero, it will no longer be possible to unify the Central Plains.
With this thought, Zhang Zhao's vision also broadened. He must not rush into Lingzhou without solving either the Khitans or the Li family of the Dingnan Army, otherwise he would definitely be attacked by both parties.
So in order to win Lingzhou, the best way is to defeat one party first.
Uh..., as for who to deal with first? Zhang Zhao had no choice at all.
Because the Khitans now have at least 7 to 8 million people under their rule, and they can mobilize an army of hundreds of thousands if they go out in force.
Coupled with the fact that the hero is in his prime and many war horses come and go like the wind, Zhang Zhao may be able to defeat the Khitan's partial army, but there is absolutely nothing he can do against the Khitan Kingdom.
It seems that only the Li family of the Dingnan Army is a soft persimmon.
At this time, the Dingnan Army only had four prefectures: Xia, Yin, Sui, and You, with a population of about 400,000.
However, since all the people are soldiers, it is not difficult to mobilize 50,000 people, but it will not last long. Normally, only about 10,000 to 20,000 people can be mobilized.
However, although the population of the Dingnan Army is only one-fifth of Zhang Zhao's, its control and mobilization capabilities are stronger than Zhang Zhao's.
The territory is not large, and there is no need for many troops to be stationed, so the number of troops is slightly more than that of Zhang Zhao.
But the Dingnan Army had a fatal weakness, that is, the number of armors was not as good as Zhang Zhao's.
Zhang Zhao has now accepted all the property of Cao's Guiyi Army, plus the capture and looting of Mianjia and Guanzhong.
There are five to six thousand sets of cotton armor and iron armor alone. Counting leather armor and other types of armor, there are seventeen to eight thousand sets.
As for the Li family's army, they should not have more than 3,000 sets of iron armor. Even if Shi Jingtang supports them, a few hundred sets would be enough.
Moreover, Zhang Zhao's horses are better than those of the Dingnan Army. The Dingnan Army is famous for its cavalry. Among the infantry, the Hengshan Buzi has not yet taken shape and cannot be said to have strong combat effectiveness.
Isn't that a coincidence? The Guiyi Army happened to be also known as the Hexi Iron Cavalry. Their armor and horses were stronger than those of the Dingnan Army, so they hit them on the head.
It will take time to completely swallow up the trouble-making army now, but it shouldn't be difficult to defeat the Li family and send them to Xiazhou to shrink.
Six thousand sets of iron armor versus three thousand sets of iron armor, I have the advantage!
It’s you who will rule the Li family in trouble!
Zhang Zhao immediately told Zhang Xichong the plan.
Although he did not remember that Zhang Xichong would die of depression this year in history, he could feel the despair in Zhang Xichong's heart.
Only by trying to stabilize Captain Zhang and let him try to buy time for Zhang Zhao can the plan be successful.
This chapter has been completed!