Chapter 476: After a few days, the situation deteriorated
Chapter 476: A few days later, the situation worsened
"how so?"
Shen Tang asked in disbelief.
"Furthermore, how many troops did the Tubo tribe send?
The soldiers and horses in Lizhou should not be fake, and if you want to intercept and kill an army of 20,000, you should also need a lot of troops."
"One hundred and fifty thousand!"
Zhang Jun took a deep breath and then highlighted a shocking number.
When Shen Tang heard this, he also took a breath! With an army of 150,000, and Shao Hongyuan not having much preparation at all, no wonder he fell into the trap and was defeated so quickly.
"How is the situation in Chengdu now?"
Shen Tang asked anxiously.
"Hey! Tubo's 150,000 troops were divided into three groups to attack Chengdu Prefecture. Now, except for a few important towns, most of the entire Chengdu Prefecture has fallen into the hands of Tubo.
Moreover, Shao Hongyuan can only hold on to these important towns now, and he cannot even leave the city."
"Then what happens next?
Do we need to send troops immediately?"
Shen Tang frowned and asked.
Zhang Jun shook his head, "Today, we have been arguing and discussing in the court for a whole day, but there is no conclusion."
"Your Majesty naturally wants to send troops, but as you know, we went through a big battle in Sizhou and our troops are quite sufficient, but the supplies and ordnance at the rear cannot keep up.
To put it bluntly, the imperial court has no money to fight this war now."
"If there were tens of thousands of soldiers, the imperial court could barely support it, but now that Tibet has sent 150,000 troops, the number of troops is so small that it makes no sense at all.
If we want to send more than 100,000 troops, it is simply impossible."
"so what should I do now?"
Zhang Jun sighed, "What else can we do? Today, at my strong request, we sent 30,000 soldiers and horses again. I just hope that we can temporarily stabilize the situation in Chengdu.
Some people even suggested that the Tubo tribe's previous request was for a marriage. In this case, it was better to agree to them.
However, the person who made the suggestion was directly demoted by the furious Holy Emperor."
"Okay, let's rest first. Tomorrow morning, I will go to court to continue discussing this matter with His Majesty..." Zhang Jun sighed lightly, his face full of solemnity.
Shen Tang nodded slightly and returned to his room again.
However, it was obvious that Shen Tang was not too sleepy and was still thinking about the affairs of Chengdu Mansion.
Chengdu Fu Road is located in the far west of the Song Dynasty and south of Lizhou Road. It is regarded as the gateway to the west of the Song Dynasty.
The terrain of Chengdu Prefecture is complex, easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the road to Shu has been difficult to travel since ancient times. This is why, although there are not many troops deployed on the western border, it has always been stable.
Moreover, there is actually another reason why there are not many soldiers and horses deployed on Chengdu's road, and that is, since ancient times, the independence of Shu has happened quite a lot.
The land of Chengdu is known as the land of abundance. It is rich in food and grass, and many other ethnic groups are a rare place for soldiers. If a strong local official is placed with military power in his hands, no one knows what will happen. what happened.
After all, it only takes a period of savings, and when the time comes to have the will to be independent, with the current Song Dynasty, it may not be easy to take over Chengdu.
It is also for this reason that although the terrain of Chengdu Prefecture is important, there are not many soldiers stationed there.
Fortunately, the terrain here makes it difficult for the Tubo clan to invade, but I don't know what happened this time that caused the Tubo clan to directly invade most of Chengdu.
In addition, the location of Chengdu Prefecture Road also means that once this location falls, the Yingzhou Prefectures hidden behind it, such as Tongchuan Road, Bianzhou Road, etc., will become in danger.
Although Chengdu is far away from Lin'an, it was an important grain producing area in the Song Dynasty.
Once this place is invaded, it will undoubtedly make matters worse for the current Song Dynasty.
The loss of the Chengdu Mansion Road is, in a sense, no less than when Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun to the Khitan people.
By then, the western border of the Song Dynasty will be undefendable. Not only will it be under the military front of the western countries, but even a real defense will require a large amount of troops.
"It seems that Chengdu Prefecture must rescue."
Shen Tang said to himself, "It's just that there are really not many soldiers and generals that can be mobilized in the Song Dynasty now, but there are fewer of them, and they are not of much use.
So, how can we solve the crisis in Chengdu Mansion?"
Thinking about Chengdu Fulu, Shen Tang's heart was full of worries, and after a long time, he fell asleep.
In the early morning of the next day, Shen Tang got up not too late, but even so, Zhang Jun had already left the house early and headed to the palace! Also, things on Chengdu Fulu Road were like a sharp sword hanging high, and there must have been a lot of them. People will be extremely uneasy.
Shen Tang simply had nothing else to do, so he asked the slaves on the side to find county annals, landform atlases, etc. in Chengdu Prefecture. While thinking about the situation in Chengdu Prefecture, he looked through the topography, landforms and other books in various places in Chengdu Prefecture.
In the next few days, Zhang Jun would leave early and come back late almost every day! Until the sixth day!
At noon, Shen Tang, who had been sitting in the house for a long time, suddenly saw the slave girl who had been by his side coming hurriedly.
"Sir, there is an adult from the palace who wants to see you."
"oh?"
Shen Tang was slightly startled, he was actually someone from the palace?
Immediately, Shen Tang stood up and followed the slave towards the guest room.
When he entered the guest room, Shen Tang found that it was an old acquaintance who came.
"Master Wang, why are you here at Zhang Mansion?
Shouldn’t Prime Minister Zhang be in the palace?”
Shen Tang asked in surprise, the person coming was none other than Wang Quan.
Seeing Shen Tang coming, Wang Quan quickly stood up and said, "Hey, my Lord Shen, go quickly, go quickly! Prime Minister Zhang is indeed in the palace, but our family is here to find you.
His Majesty ordered you to enter the palace quickly."
Shen Tang was startled, then hurriedly followed Wang Quan out, and then hurried towards the palace.
"It seems that something happened in Chengdu Mansion again."
Shen Tang said secretly in his heart.
As the two of them were walking quickly, Wang Quan suddenly spoke in a low voice and said to Shen Tang, "Master Shen, there is an urgent report from Chengdu Prefecture in the morning. Our court sent tens of thousands of soldiers and horses a few days ago. They have just entered the boundaries of Chengdu Prefecture. He was directly attacked and killed by the Tibetan army and suffered heavy damage! The specific situation is still unclear now, but if we want to stabilize the situation in Chengdu Prefecture as we thought before, I'm afraid it won't be possible."
"After the morning court today, Prime Minister Zhang and others did not leave, and have been discussing countermeasures with His Majesty.
However, it has been to no avail until now.
Therefore, Prime Minister Zhang suggested that you come and prepare early."
This is the advantage of having someone close to you in the palace! You only need to let out a little bit of information to know the purpose of going, and with preparation, it will not be difficult to please the Holy Emperor.