Chapter 287 The Zhao Guan family meets Zhou Yafu of the Song Dynasty
Zhao Ji's trip to the northwest did not go to the barracks of veteran Guo Cheng first. He had foresight. If the emperor came to the front line in person, veteran Guo Cheng would be bound to be constrained in commanding military operations, and he would even deploy heavy troops.
Used to protect the driver.
Since Zhao Ji and Guo Cheng had already planned the Song Dynasty's strategic layout for Xixia in the capital, the specific military operations should be left to professionals like veteran general Guo Cheng and famous general Han Shizhong!
During Zhao Ji's trip to the northwest, he was going to inspect the Zhongshi Dao Department, Liu Yanqing Department, Zhejia Army and other Western armies of the Song Dynasty stationed on the northwest border;
Finally, he will decide whether to inspect his headquarters and reward the three armies based on the results achieved by the two armies of veteran generals Guo Cheng and Han Shizhong in their attack on Xixia in the "positive and strange" way.
And he came to the various stations of the Western Army of the Song Dynasty. The main purpose was: if the battle between Song Dynasty and Xia Dynasty required multiple armies such as Zhongshi Dao Department, Liu Yanqing Department, Zhejia Army, etc. to participate in the war, he, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, would be at the helm.
After visiting their departments in person, blowing wind and air on them in advance;
Then, among these generals, there will no longer be a failure like the five-pronged army's expedition to Xia during the Shenzong period of the Song Dynasty.
The traveler Zhao Ji knows that the world he has traveled to is the same as the long-term war between Song and Xia in history that he is familiar with. As early as the fourth year of Yuanfeng during the Song Shenzong period (i.e. 1081 AD), the Xixia Liang Dynasty
The Empress Dowager imprisoned the young emperor Li Bingchang (also known as Xia Huizong in history), which led to political chaos in Xixia. Song Shenzong believed that a good opportunity to capture Xixia had arrived, and took advantage of this to launch a five-pronged army to conquer Xia.
Song Shenzong deployed Li Xian's troops to go out of Xihe Road, Zhong'e's tribe to go out to Fuyan Road, Gao Zunyu's tribe to go out to Huanqing Road, Liu Changzuo's tribe to go out of Jingyuan Road (Liu Changzuo was controlled by Gao Zunyu), and Wang Zhongzheng's tribe to go out to Hedong Road, in order to conquer Xingxing in Western Xia in one fell swoop.
, Ling Er Prefecture. According to the battle plan, the Jingyuan and Huanqing Routes combined to attack Lingzhou, Hedong and Yanyan Routes first joined forces with Xiazhou, then Huaizhou, and finally the four routes jointly attacked Xingzhou. Song Ting also invited Tubo
Send troops across the Yellow River to capture Liangzhou to contain the forces on the right side of Xixia...
The five-pronged army conquered Xia, with a total strength of 350,000, and a total of 560,000 civilians, which was 150,000 more soldiers than Song Taizong's Yongxi Northern Expedition. This was the largest military operation since the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Traveler Zhao Ji lamented that as early as forty years ago, the biological father of the original owner of his body, Song Shenzong, spent almost all his capital on that war.
Shenzong's five-pronged expedition against Xia, with thunderous momentum,
He started with a series of victories, but in the end he fell short!
Song Shenzong ordered the Five Route Army to conquer Xia, and the situation was very good at the beginning. However, later, looking at this period of history from the perspective of the time traveler Zhao Ji, he believed that because at that time, there were many conflicts among the commanders of the Five Route Army.
They advanced rashly in order to strive for merit, and some were afraid to advance in order to preserve their own strength and did not contribute their strength. As a result, the five armies of the Song Dynasty, with a total of 350,000 elite soldiers, did not form a powerful fist to attack the enemy, but instead seemed to
He stretched out five fingers of uneven lengths to rub Xixia, which made the five-way army's expedition to Xia end in failure...
In addition, now, the reason why Zhao Ji wants the veteran Guo Cheng to find an excuse to send troops to attack Xia is to force the Xixia Kingdom to participate in the Song Dynasty's war to aid the Liao and resist the Jin Dynasty, and not to sit on the mountain like the Xixia Kingdom did in history.
The way of watching the tiger fight is to watch the Jin Kingdom destroy the Liao Kingdom and then destroy the Northern Song Dynasty, and profit from it.
According to Zhao Ji's plan, even if the Xixia Kingdom was forced to participate in the war to aid the Liao and resist the Jin proposed by the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty would still have to send troops into the Liao territory, which would involve the temporary recruitment of a large number of generals.
Where can these troops be recruited to have the most combat effectiveness? Undoubtedly, they must be recruited from the northwest armies that have been fighting Xixia for many years to have the most combat effectiveness.
If troops are recruited from the Western armies of the Song Dynasty, we must also consider ensuring that the defensive force on the northwest border is sufficient, and that we must be able to prevent the Xixia Kingdom from being attacked in the northwest border of the Song Dynasty...
…
Also, in the past six months,
Although Zhao Ji, the time traveler, asked Xiang armies everywhere to train quickly and strengthen their military preparedness, he also selected in advance such as Yue Fei, Wu Jie, Wu Lin, Wang Gui, Zhang Xian, Yang Zaixing, Niu Gao, etc. by opening additional martial arts examinations.
Hundreds of outstanding martial arts scholars,
However, these future famous generals are still too young, have not experienced more baptisms of war, and have not truly grown into a generation of famous generals.
At this time, if you want to successfully aid the Liao Dynasty in the fight against the Jin Dynasty, or even destroy the powerful Jin Dynasty in one fell swoop, and then devour the Liao Dynasty and break the Xia Dynasty, then only use these newly grown young generals, combined with those newly developed and mass-produced by the Song Dynasty.
The limited gunpowder weapons are still far from enough.
The most direct and good way to solve these problems is to select more outstanding talents from the generals of the Western Army who have been stationed on the northwest border of the Song Dynasty and have been fighting against the Xixia Kingdom for many years...
The above are the main purposes of Zhao Ji Yujia's personal visit to the Western armies on the northwest border of the Song Dynasty.
The Emperor of the Song Dynasty personally visited the northwest to comfort the troops, which made the Western army generals happy and boosted their morale...
Zhao Ji felt that during this trip, wherever he went, the loyalty of the generals and soldiers of the northwest armies rose sharply. This was much better than sitting in the palace in the capital and issuing an edict or imperial edict.
…
Two days ago, Zhao Ji led his trusted minister Zongze and the two princes Zhao Kai and Zhao Gou. Under the protection of a thousand imperial city ministers and subordinates, they traveled all the way and arrived without prior notice.
Arrive directly at the headquarters of Zhongshi Dao...
Zhong Shidao heard that the imperial chariot of Zhao Guan's family had arrived outside the military camp and was blocked by guards. He couldn't believe what he said when he reported the incident to the primary school.
He hurriedly left the camp to welcome me personally...
Chong Shidao, courtesy name Yi Shu, was the grandson of the famous general Chong Shiheng. His original name was Chong Jianzhong, but he changed his name to Shiji because he avoided tabooing the reign name of Jianzhong Jingguo, Emperor Zhao Ji of the Song Dynasty.
He first served as a civil servant because his ancestors had been serving as generals in the northwest for their meritorious service in resisting the Xixia. He later changed his position to a military position. He was well-versed in strategy and led troops to resist the Xixia. He became a famous general in the world and was named "Shi Dao" by Emperor Zhao Jiyu of the Song Dynasty.
The world respects him as "Laozhong", or "Laozhong Jinglue Xianggong".
Zhong Shidao had met Emperor Zhao Guan's family before. He heard the news and hurried to the military camp. Sure enough, he confirmed at a glance that it was really the Emperor of the Song Dynasty who had traveled thousands of miles to come to his military camp.
Zhong Shidao was surprised and delighted to see that the Zhao family and thousands of imperial attendants who had come all the way were defeated by his own 500 armored and sharp-edged soldiers on duty, as well as 300 bowstrings with arrows drawn.
The crossbowmen on board were blocked in the open space in front of the military camp.
Zhong Shidao secretly said: "I hope that like the recent rumors, since October last year, the Zhao Guan family has suddenly turned from mediocre to a wise king!
Since Zhong Shidao always had his armor with him whenever he was in the army and was ready to fight at any time, he stepped forward, bowed his hands and said:
"We are wearing armor. Please allow me to use military salutes to visit Zhao Guan's house!"
After Master Zhong finished speaking, he bowed, clasped his fists, and bowed deeply.
He knew that Zhao Guan's house was intercepted outside by his soldiers who were on duty at the camp. He continued to plead for his soldiers:
"The officials were intercepted outside the camp by the officers and men under Wei Chen, and they hoped that the officials would calm down. This is not because they blame the soldiers on duty.
These are all military orders issued by the ministers when they were in charge of the army: 'No one is allowed to enter the military camp without the order of this general, and anyone who disobeys the order will be killed without mercy...'"
Zhao Ji looked at Zhong Shidao, a loyal minister in armor and with gray hair, and listened to his words. He was deeply moved, his face became solemn, and he said loudly:
"You are not guilty!"
Zhao Ji personally stepped forward to help Zhong Shidao, who was bowing and clasping his fists in a military salute, and said happily:
"Today I have seen how strict the old master, Mr. Zhong, is in running the army, just like 'Zhou Yafu's army is thin with willows'!"
Zhong Aiqing is my Zhou Yafu!"
Zhongshi Dao Wen listened to the holy words and did not blame him and his soldiers for blocking the emperor in front of the military camp, but gave him such a high evaluation!
The veteran general Zhong Shidao not only made numerous military exploits in the northwestern border garrison of the Song Dynasty, he was also a famous general capable of both literary and military skills. He naturally knew the allusion of "Zhou Yafu's army is thin with willows".
After listening to Zhao Guanjia's words, Zhongshi Dao felt warm in his heart, heat surged up, and his eyes were moist.
"Weichen thanks the officials for their holy praise! The officials' sage is comparable to Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty!"
…
General Zhongshidao welcomed Zhao Guan's family and others into the military camp.
Zhao Ji reviewed the Western Army of Zhongshi Dao Institute that day...
The famous generals of the generation were very strict in cultivating teachers and running the army. Their troops were neat and orderly, their soldiers and horses were strong, their generals were all in high spirits, and their armors and weapons were shining brightly...
At the request of Zhao Guan's family, the Imperial City Secretary's subordinates randomly selected 400 soldiers and generals of the Western Army from the Zhongshi Dao Army and conducted drills on the school grounds. Zhao Ji was very satisfied with the results.
Zhao Ji took the hand of the seventy-year-old veteran Zhong Shidao and sighed:
"It has been nearly three years since the peace negotiations between Song and Xia in the northwest border. During this period, there has been no war. I am so relieved that Qing Zhong can still pay close attention to the training of soldiers and generals. All the soldiers and generals are well-trained!
The Western Army commanded by Zhong Aiqing is worthy of being the most prestigious elite army in the world today!"
Zhong Shidao was moved and said: "I would like to express my gratitude to the officials for their praise! We must always pay close attention to the training of soldiers, because it is for the duty of a general..."
"Hahaha..." Zhao Ji laughed heartily and said:
"If all the generals in the Song Dynasty loved Qing Qing like this, why would the world worry about injustice?!"
…
After Zhao Ji inspected the three armies, he was invited into the Chinese army's tent by Zhong Shidao. Zhao Jiping withdrew the rest and others, leaving only Zhong Shidao, Zongze, Zhao Kai and Zhao Gou in the tent.
Zhao Ji said frankly to Zhong Shidao: "I am inspecting the armies in the northwest just to remind the generals not to be fooled by the illusion of temporary peace. The war is approaching, and the western armies should be ready for war. Training must be constant and unremitting.”
Zhong Shidao seemed to hear the deep meaning of Zhao Guanjia's words, but he did not get an accurate answer and could only echo Zhao Guanjia's words.
Zhao Ji smiled and said: "Zhong Aiqing's training of the soldiers is very good, I am very pleased. I tell Zhong Aiqing the truth. Within a few days, the Xixia army betrayed the alliance and robbed the Song merchants, and the Western Army of the Song Dynasty, Guo Chengbu and Han Shizhong, sent troops The military information of the expedition against Xia will spread to all the Song armies in the northwest..."
"Ah?!" Zhong Shidao exclaimed, he was a little unsure, but Zhao Guanjia was the emperor of the Song Dynasty, and he kept his word, and there was no storm without fire!
After a moment of reflection, he felt that Zhao Guan's family must have come to the northwest with a purpose. He had previously heard that Guo Cheng had been recalled to Beijing for a period of time. So, what Zhao Guan's family said was probably because Guo Cheng had conspired with the emperor when he was in Beijing. It's over.
Zhao Ji looked at Master Zhongdao with a look of astonishment and threw another bombshell...