This battle was easy to fight. Liu Ling's Han army was to contain the Khitan army, while the party members who had reached an agreement with Liu Ling sent troops out of the Qilian Mountains through the vast grasslands and went straight to Beijing. In order to prevent the Khitans from discovering
The real intention of the party members is that Li Hunu's hundreds of thousands of troops in Lanzhou still want to maintain their offensive against Wang Banjin's troops.
This is a game, a game that Liu Ling and Wei Mingxiao made together.
Xixia, Swan City.
Swan City is a military fortress built only three years ago. It is located south of the Qilian Mountains, where Liu Ling massacred a Xixia military camp when he led the Shura Battalion to train. This place can defend the Khitans from the north and Datong.
Attack from any direction. Swan City is very strong and wide, and can garrison 200,000 troops. This is a purely military fortress built by Wei Mingxiao with several years of effort, and its role is not just to defend against the Khitans.
Three hundred miles southeast from here is the territory of the Han Dynasty. Three hundred miles away, the Xixia general Li Hunu is leading his army to fight against the Han general Wang Banjin.
Swan City is a large city with four squares and four squares. There is not a single residential house in the entire city. It is completely composed of military camps connected one after another.
The first general in command of Swan City was Chen Ziyu's father, the veteran general Chen Tiaoxian. The Dangxiang people have been integrating Han culture since the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It can be said that, especially in areas close to the Central Plains, the people's lifestyle is almost the same as that of the Han culture.
The Han people are no different. The name Chen Tiaoxian comes from the meaning of half a day's leisure, which shows that Chen Tiaoxian himself is a person who loves and appreciates Chinese culture.
Swan City is divided into two cities: inner and outer. The inner city covers an area of more than a thousand acres. It is the residence of the general who commands the army in Swan City. It is stronger than the outer city in terms of defensive capabilities. The inner city wall is more than 20 meters high, and there are only two
City gate. If it is said that even if there are millions of troops besieging Swan City, it will be extremely difficult to break through the outer city, then facing the inner city with almost no flaws, no matter how many people there are, it will be useless.
It seems that Swan City is impeccable.
But there has never been any absolute defense in this world, and no city is absolutely immune to being breached.
Swan City, inner city.
The soldiers on duty at the gate of the city turned out to be Daxia Cejun. The Tiance Army was the personal army of Daxia Emperor Weiming Xiaoxiao. Apart from the Daxia Emperor, they did not have to obey anyone's orders. Even the Ministry of War
The tiger talisman has no effect on the Tiance Army. The Tiance Army represents the majesty of the Daxia royal family.
Today, the soldiers and horses guarding the inner city have been replaced by people from the Tiance Army, so there is only one possibility. The emperor of Great Xia, His Majesty Wei Mingxiao, is in Swan City.
At the entrance of the tall and majestic hall, four rows of Tiance Army soldiers with bright armor stood on each side of the aisle. Outside the door, there were 800 Tiance Army archers and 800 Pu swordsmen.
The bright yellow Daxia national flag was erected outside the main hall, and at the same height as the Daxia national flag was a large flag with the character "Li".
"Your Majesty, I am willing to go on an expedition to the Khitan. Please sit in Swan City and wait for news of the victory of the Khitan. Your Majesty's body of thousands of gold, how can I leave lightly? This place is thousands of miles away from Shangjing. It is a vast sea of grass, and there are many dangers in going deep into the hinterland of the Khitan.
Moreover, Liu Ling is a cunning person. If he suddenly withdraws when my army is deeply alone, my Northern Expedition army will immediately be in trouble. I beg your Majesty not to conquer it yourself!"
Old General Chen Tiaoxia knelt down on one knee and said sincerely.
Wei Mingxiao, who was sitting on the handsome chair, smiled and said, "I understand the old general's intention. Haven't I not yet decided whether to go on a personal expedition?"
Wei Mingxiao is about thirty years old this year, which is when he is full of energy. This man conquered countless countries and tribes in the Western Region through campaigns in the north and south, and established a powerful and unified empire. Everyone in the world says that Wei Mingxiao is
He was a hero of his generation, and in the hearts of party members, he was regarded as a god.
It's just that this man is not very tall, barely over 1.7 meters tall. But he is extremely strong, and his bronze face shows a sense of determination. Although he is not tall, he has an excellent figure. Today he does not have
He wears a dragon robe instead of a black regular suit. His eyes are big and bright, and his nose looks relatively high. His forehead is very broad, and he has two strong sword eyebrows. Although he does not look very handsome, he exudes a sense of beauty all over his body.
A powerful aura that only an overlord possesses.
He gently rubbed his hands on the armrests of the chair carved with tiger heads, looked at the generals standing upright on both sides of the hall and said: "Old general, Liu Ling is cunning, but he will never dig his own grave.
"
He stood up, walked down the stairs, helped Chen Touxian up and said, "Liu Ling doesn't dare to play tricks at this time. If he doesn't abide by the agreement and withdraws from Youzhou, unless King Banjin of Lanzhou and the more than 200,000 Han troops
He is willing to treat him as an abandoned son. Furthermore, if he broke his trust with me this time, can I let him go? This man is very scheming and can provoke me to fight the Khitan people for several years, but he won the great Zhou Dynasty for nothing.
Such a big bargain. Isn’t he afraid that I will join forces with the Khitans in anger to destroy the unstable empire he built?”
He smiled and said: "I want to go to Beijing, just to see what Yelv Xiongji's golden tent looks like. Everyone says that the dome of the golden tent is made of pure gold and is inlaid with countless shining stars.
Gemstones. Also, it is said that there is a fist-sized diamond on Yelv Xiongji’s throne, which is unparalleled in the world. I want to see if the legend is true. If so... I will snatch it."
His tone was calm, with a hint of ridicule, but everyone knew that His Majesty the Emperor was not joking. His Majesty wanted to build the largest empire in the world. And the Khitans were the biggest and toughest people standing in the way of His Majesty's progress.
That stone, Your Majesty's ambition, what he believes in will not be given up easily.
"Your Majesty, this trip is dangerous, and I do not approve of your Majesty's personal expedition."
The speaker was Li Tiannan, the Prime Minister of Daxia. He was over sixty years old and was the clan uncle of Wei Mingxiao. He had a very high status among the courtiers of Daxia. It could be said that he was lower than ten thousand people in Daxia.
Wei Mingxiao had great trust in him, and whenever he went on an expedition, Li Tiannan would be in charge of state affairs.
"Prime Minister, I have already said it, but I haven't made a final decision yet."
Wei Mingxiao said calmly: "I haven't made a decision, not because of the danger you said, but because it's hard to decide whether to really agree to Liu Ling's proposal or to join forces with the Khitans to destroy Liu Ling's Han Dynasty."
The country was destroyed. After all, compared to the Khitans, the Han Kingdom is easier to defeat. If I join forces with Yelu Xiongji to defeat Liu Ling alone, my chances of winning are better than joining forces with Liu Ling to attack the Khitans."
While pacing, he said: "I have mobilized the army to Swan City. The Liao can be conquered here, and the Han can be conquered in the south. No matter which side is conquered, it will win without a doubt. It is difficult for me to choose between the two. Dear ministers,
Workers, please help me examine the details. Should we attack the Liao Dynasty or the Han Dynasty?"
Chen Tiaoxian said: "Wei ministers advocated that the army go out to the southeast to conquer the Han Dynasty. Liu Ling's ambition is capricious. If this person is retained, he will be a powerful enemy of our Daxia in the future. Why not take advantage of his unstable foundation and kill him in one fell swoop!" etc.
With the stability in the southeast, Your Majesty is raising troops to attack the Khitan in the north. This is a safe plan."
Wei Mingxiao narrowed his eyes at Chen Touxian and said, "Ziyu... is now the concubine of the King of Han, so the old general doesn't care about him at all?"
Chen Touxian lowered his head and said, "If there is an evil son in our family, please punish him."
Wei Mingxiao waved his hand and said: "I don't mean to blame you. I personally approved Ziyu's going to Taiyuan in the first place. If you really want to say it, my fault is bigger than yours as a father. I
I'm just curious, what clever tricks did my adopted brother use to deceive Ziyu? Hunu pursued Ziyu for several years but was rejected by her. From this point of view, my adopted brother is indeed a person.
Ha ha."
Judging from Wei Mingxiao's tone, he didn't seem to care about this matter.
Chen Touxian sighed: "How can I blame Your Majesty? It's all because of my poor upbringing. If I were to lead the army in the Eastern Expedition, if I saw that evil son, I would kill her with my own hands!"
Wei Mingxiao advised: "Girls always have to get married. Marrying Liu Ling, the king of Han Dynasty, does not mean that you have insulted the Chen family's face. It's just because the tiger slave is incompetent that he doesn't have a good life. I will give you a gift today.
If you grant me a pardon, if there is a war with Han in the future, and if Ziyu is willing to come back, I will let the past go."
Chen Touxian knelt down again: "I thank your Majesty for your kindness."
Wei Mingxiao smiled and said: "Originally, I asked you to help me make a decision, but how come we are talking about the old general's family affairs? Don't be so depressed. You can say whatever you have to say."
He looked at Li Tiannan and asked: "Prime Minister, what do you think?"
Li Tiannan pondered for a while and said, "I agree with what General Chen said."
Wei Mingxiao smiled and said: "Oh? Then tell me, what are the advantages of the Eastern Expedition compared with the Northern Expedition?"
Li Tiannan said: "The Han Kingdom has been fighting for years, and its national strength and soldiers are exhausted, and Liu Ling has not yet fully occupied the land of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It will take Liu Ling at least two years to completely pacify the Central Plains. The Han army is still weak.
Moreover, the foothold is unstable, and relatively speaking there are not as many as the Khitan people. The Central Plains are splendid and prosperous, far richer than the Saibei grassland. Moreover, the Liao Kingdom still has no less than a million armored men, and all men can go into battle, so it is stronger than the Han Kingdom.
If we join forces with Han to attack Liao, the outcome is only 50-50. But if we join forces with Liao to attack Han, it is a sure win."
Wei Mingxiao hummed and said, "The Han is weak and the Liao is strong. It does seem easier to defeat the Han."
He slowly walked back to the chair and sat down, and suddenly asked: "After conquering Han, will Liao become weaker or stronger?"
Everyone was stunned.
Li Tiannan and Chen Tiaoxia glanced at each other, and then said at the same time: "Stronger!"
"Then if I and the Han conquered the Liao, honestly speaking, would it be possible to destroy the Liao in one fell swoop?"
"cannot?"
"Then when the Han conquers the Liao, will it become stronger after that?"
Chen thought for a moment and said, "Unknowable."
Wei Mingxiao smiled and said: "Joining forces with the Liao can destroy the Han. But the Liao must be stronger. If I want to destroy the Liao again, do I have a 100% chance of winning? If we join forces with the Han, although the Liao will not be destroyed, both the Liao and the Han will suffer.
, I am the only strong one in Daxia, which one is better and which one is worse?"
Li Tiannan sighed: "Your Majesty has already made a decision in his heart... I, I will obey your Majesty's orders."
Wei Mingxiao said: "This battle is bound to be fought. We just need to plan carefully how to obtain the greatest benefits from this battle. As the old general and the prime minister said, our army has penetrated deep into the hinterland of the Khitan.
If you are careful, you will end up with the entire army annihilated. Therefore, the specific method of marching, the route to be taken, the target of attack, and when to return need to be discussed in detail, and there can be no mistakes."
Chen Tiaoxian said: "I would like to ask your Majesty not to go to war personally."
Wei Mingxiao sighed and said: "Why should the old general insist on this? Well... now let's discuss whether I should go on the expedition myself."
Li Tiannan and many generals' expressions froze, and they smiled bitterly in their hearts.
Wei Mingxiao asked: "Well, if any of you feel that you are qualified for the position of commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, and feel that... you are better than me, I will be willing to give up this position. I am a fair person,
I won’t do anything headstrong.”
Chen Touxian opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. He couldn't say that he was stronger than His Majesty, could he? And to be honest, there were so many famous generals in the Great Xia Dynasty nowadays, and there were so many people who were good at conquering and fighting, but in real terms,
The biggest and most powerful famous general, isn't His Majesty himself? Your Majesty has conquered dozens of countries in the Western Region without a single defeat in these years, and established the powerful Great Xia Empire. Even those vicious Uighurs in the south
They don't dare to go north easily. In terms of martial arts, who in Daxia can compare with His Majesty?
Wei Mingxiao smiled and said: "I will count to five. If no one of you feels that you are stronger than me within five times, then I will occupy the position of commander-in-chief of the Northern Army. One, two,
Three, four, five! Okay, now let’s discuss the details of the Northern Expedition route and logistical supplies.” (To be continued)
