Chapter 503 Who is the Lord of the Horse?

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Zhang Zhao's original intention was to enter the village secretly and not shoot anyone.

After building another hundred large ships in Hezhong Prefecture, they went straight down the river and rushed directly to the Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo for a decisive battle with Yelu Deguang.

But who said the Khitans were too arrogant? Zhang Zhao led his army out of Tongguan without seeing a single enemy. Zhao Kuangzan and Hou Renbao came back from the important town of Hezhongfu.

Then the Shaanzhou Baoyi army stayed behind and Zhao Hui killed the Liao soldiers and surrendered.

Later, the Ningguo army's capital, Yuhou Wu Xingde, killed more than 2,000 Xi people's infantry and came to surrender again.

At this time, the main force of Yong's army has not yet reached Hezhong Prefecture, but everyone west of Shaanzhou has surrendered, and they can't hide even if they want to.

Zhang Zhao could only leave Cao Yanming to supervise the construction of warships, while he personally led the main force down the river.

While going down the river, Zhang Zhao summoned Zhao Hui, Zhao Yanjin, Wang Yan, Hou Zhang, Wu Xingde and others, and gave high officials generous salaries.

At the same time, after hearing about Zhao Yanjin’s past events of robbing books and his conclusion that Zhao Kuangzan was seeking refuge,

Zhang Zhao was overjoyed and felt that he had discovered a talent. He immediately brought Zhao Yanjin to him for evaluation and found that this guy did have unique insights and perspectives, as well as very good abilities.

Zhao Yanjin immediately hit the snake and put it on the stick, saying that he had admired Zhang Zhao for a long time and was willing to serve Zhang Zhao with his son's courtesy.

You asked Zhao Hui how he felt? Of course he was overjoyed!

This man is fifty-seven years old and is a well-known fertility machine. He has nine sons alone, among which the three brothers Zhao Yanjin are extremely rare triplets.

With so many sons, what’s the point of giving one away? Zhao Hui even wanted to give the triplets to Zhang Zhao as adopted sons.

Zhang Zhao touched his chin, looked at the handsome young man with a longing expression in front of him, and nodded with satisfaction.

This guy's ability to seize opportunities is really strong! Moreover, he is also a martial artist who is willing to study. He is an all-rounder! Take it! Take it and train him carefully.

So Zhang Zhao immediately accepted Zhao Yanjin as his adopted son. Now, King Zhang Tian's five adopted sons have become seven.

The eldest brother is Zhang Liecheng, the second child is Murong Nobunaga, the third child is Li Cunhui, the fourth child is Zhe Deyuan, the fifth child is Zhao Yanjin, the sixth child is Li Congyi, and the seventh child is Yang Linggong Yang Jiye.

This..., except for Li Congyi's incompetence, this is a solid star cast!

In Shaanzhou City, Zhang Zhao held a simple military meeting here. The topic was very simple and important, that is, where to start the decisive battle with the Khitans.

Now the traitor Geng Chongmei was defeated by Wu Xingde and ran downstream in a small boat. It would be too late to pursue him.

From Shaanzhou down to Zhengzhou, the boat goes down the river and it takes more than a day.

No matter how hard Zhang Zhao rushed, he could not stop the Khitan army at the mouth of the Bianhe River before Yelu Deguang knew the news.

Therefore, the original plan of locating the battlefield at the mouth of the Bianhe River and the Guangwu Mountain area when setting out will definitely not be used, and must be re-planned.

Zhao Yanjin got it right and became the adopted son of King Yong. Zhao Yanjin was very excited and qualified to attend Zhang Zhao's internal meeting.

He first listened for a long time, and then observed it on the sand table and map for a long time before he mustered up the courage to speak to Zhang Zhao.

"My lord, the Liangzhou cavalry is the most elite in the world. Why not send the elite as the vanguard, double the route to bypass Luoyang, seize the Sishui Pass, and use the natural dangers to block the Khitans east of Xijing.

If we can have a thousand hussars as reinforcements, I will personally carry five hundred of my own, and I am willing to occupy this natural danger for you."

Zhang Zhao nodded, this was originally one of the second set of plans.

But there is a problem, that is, Luoyang, Xijing, is in the hands of the Khitans. If you want to seize Sishui Pass, you have to bypass the entire city of Luoyang, which is very risky.

Moreover, Sishui Pass cannot be defended against the east but cannot be defended against the west. If the Khitans come faster than Zhang Zhao's army and attack Sishui Pass from east to west first, and then wait for work outside Luoyang City, the trouble will be big.

Before Zhang Zhao expressed his position, Zhao Yanjin rolled his eyes and immediately understood that Zhang Zhao didn't want to take risks. He was about to speak when Li Cunhui stood up and said.

"I have a hundred thousand troops, all equipped with foot and cavalry, and many warships. We can sail down the river with a majestic division, and we can defeat the northern captives.

And if we fail to seize Sishui Pass and damage the elites, then the gain will outweigh the loss."

In this world, there are people who like to push in a dignified formation, such as Yan Jin and Li Cunhui.

But there are also those who like to be surprising. The historical champion Hou Huo Qubing is a typical example, and in Zhang Zhao's case, Murong Nobunaga, Ma Yaozi, and Ma Shacai are all like this.

Zhao Yanjin is young and smart, and he is both civil and military. He actually likes to make surprises.

But this surprise does not mean to just rely on imagination, but to be fully prepared, and there must be at least a 50% possibility. He thought for a while, and suddenly thought of a person.

"Sir, Li Jianchong, who had left troops in Heyang of the Jin Kingdom, was honest and prudent, and many of his soldiers were convinced. If he could change his mind anyway and thought that he was acting internally, Ma Da, who was left behind in Xijing of the puppet Liao Dynasty, would definitely be unable to resist.

In this way, if we go to Luoyang first and then seize Sishui Pass, half of the battle will be won first."

Zhang Zhao became interested. If he could drive away the Liao army from Luoyang, Xijing, then even if he could not defeat the Khitans immediately, he could still confront them at Sishui Pass and slowly bring them down.

"Then how can I get Li Jianchong to do anything?" Zhang Zhao asked encouragingly.

Zhao Yanjin smiled smartly, "If we want to convince Li Jianchong, we only need two people to take action.

Zhao Jieshuai had been working with Li Jianchong back then, and he knew very well that Zhao Jieshuai was a good person, and if they could meet and talk honestly, they would definitely be able to impress him.

In addition, Emperor Mingmiao was very kind to Li Jianchong in the past. They served together as soldiers under Emperor Wu, and they also had the kindness to support him after he became emperor.

If your Excellency asks Brother Yi to write a letter and move it with emotion and reason, Li Jianchong will definitely raise an army even if his clothes are stained with blood."

Zhao Hui on the side listened to Zhao Yanjin talking about Zhao Jieshuai, and his eyelids twitched. If Zhang Zhao hadn't been in front of him, he would definitely want this traitor to know how powerful he was.

What Zhang Zhao didn't know was that people like Zhao Yanjin who loved reading, people like Huangfu Yu and Wang Qing who were loyal and loyal were very rare among the Five Dynasties warriors, but people like Li Jianchong were simply endangered.

Because this king was an honest man, and was evaluated in history books as loyal, kind-hearted, not good at words, and not good at political tactics.

This is the fifth-generation Yashou! He is the only one who can be praised as honest and honest.

This young man Li Jianchong followed Li Keyong, started as a soldier, participated in all battles from the Jin Dynasty to the Later Tang Dynasty, and followed several generations of emperors including Li Keyong, Li Cunxu, Li Siyuan and Shi Jingtang.

Each generation of emperors had meritorious deeds in front of them, and they had a lot of merits and wounds all over their bodies. They couldn't even be considered as governors.

This means that he can't camp or cry, so naturally he can't win over the tooth soldiers and can't form his own power.

When emperors from all walks of life arranged official positions, they must first appease the thorny head. By the time Li Jianchong came, there would be nothing left.

He was able to be promoted from a tooth general to a governor and defense commander because Mingzong Li Siyuan knew his character and promoted him specifically.

That's why Zhao Yanjin said that with Li Congyi's autograph letter, Li Jianchong would definitely buy it.

Zhang Zhao didn't know about Li Jianchong's deeds, but now there were many Daibei Wu people around him, so others would naturally tell him. After understanding the situation, Zhang Zhao said to Li Congyi.

"Brother Yi, then you should write a letter of divorce. After you finish writing it, give it to He Weng to polish, and tell Li Jianchong that if you kill the northern captives and surrender, you will not lose your position as a prince."

Li Congyi hurriedly came out and crossed his arms to answer. Now that he had been hanging out with Zhang Zhao for a long time, he was not so scared anymore, because he felt that Zhang Zhao really did not regard him as a threat.

Although it is inevitable that the adoptive mother will sleep in Zhang Zhao's bed sooner or later, she has become Zhang Zhao's son. Isn't it normal for father and mother to sleep in the same bed?

After giving instructions to Li Congyi, Zhang Zhao turned around and looked at Murong Nobunaga, "Since it is your father-in-law who is kind to Li Jianchong, then you should go there yourself and travel day and night to Luoyang with Zhao Jieshuai, Jin Geer and others."

After saying that, Zhang Zhao looked at Li Congyi and Qiongre Duojin again, "Cunhui'er, you allocate five hundred elite cavalry from the right feather forest guard to Nobunaga, Duojin, you choose three hundred elite cavalry from the hussars in Hanshandu.

Let’s go together too.”

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Zhang Zhao was mobilizing troops and generals, and as he expected, the drastic changes in Hezhong Prefecture and Shaanxi Province soon spread to Yelu Deguang's army.

At this time, Brother Guang's army had just passed Zhongmou and was still dozens of miles away from Zhengzhou.

However, this cannot be blamed for the slow movement of the Khitan army. In fact, more than 70% of the Khitan people are cavalry, and they will move very quickly.

It's a pity that their enemy this time, Zhang Zhao's Yongliang army is also famous for its large and powerful cavalry, but it is not the Jin state that relies on cobbling together ten thousand cavalry.

Yelu Deguang did not dare to let the cavalry go wild. If they were caught by the Yongliang cavalry, it would become a simple cavalry duel.

Of course, cavalry duels are nothing special. Men on the grassland should fight in this way.

But a big problem is that Brother Guang is already forty-three years old this year, and his wealthy life has been over ten years. He is no longer the horse owner who could endure the bitter cold and stay on the horse for dozens of days.

On the contrary, his opponent, his good brother Zhang Zhao, was not only ten years younger than him, but also a muscular man who could fight for thousands of miles continuously.

If Yelu Deguang had chosen a pure cavalry duel, the most likely result would be that Zhang Zhao would personally lead the army and overthrow Yelu Deguang's Khitan cavalry who could not move with the army.

Therefore, in order to be safe and not let Zhaodi have such an opportunity, Brother Guang chose to advance on foot and on horseback, using the armies of Jin and Liao to defeat Zhang Zhao with a majestic division.

But there is also a problem, that is, the Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo at this time is actually not on the edge of the Yellow River.

At this time, the Yellow River, after passing Luoyang, went directly north to pass through Xinxiang and Huaxian in later generations, without passing through Kaifeng.

The connection between Kaifeng and the Yellow River is through the Bianshui River, which is the Tongji Canal built by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty in the past.

After the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Bianhe River was repeatedly damaged. Zhu Liang dredged it once, but it was destroyed again in the Later Tang Dynasty. After the establishment of the Later Jin Dynasty, Kaifeng was again the capital, and dredging began again.

However, the national power of the Later Jin Dynasty was limited after all. Since the founding of the country, wars had been going on everywhere and corrupt officials were rampant. Therefore, the dredging of the Bianhe River was not in place.

This put Yelv Deguang in a terrible situation. The Khitans were digging grass and valleys everywhere, leaving the mouth of the Bianhe River from Kaifeng to the Yellow River uninhabited. There was no way to get supplies. The army could only rely on water transportation from the Bianhe River to Kaifeng.

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This is equivalent to marching while dredging the Bian River. It's amazing how fast you can go.

The river workers who were forcibly recruited also died or escaped because of the Khitan people's cruelty.

It had been six days since the army set out from Kaifeng, and it barely marched to Zhongmou, covering only a dozen miles in one day.

Although the distance from Shaanzhou to Luoyang is about the same as the distance from Kaifeng to Luoyang, if Yelu Deguang continues to move at his speed, Zhang Zhao might actually be able to block him at the mouth of the Bianhe River.


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