Chapter 345: A great victory for the family army on both sides! Who is stronger, Yanzhi or Keqiu?
"Report..."
"The governor of Fuzhou, Zhe Keqiu, led his troops to the Northern Expedition and achieved a great victory!"
Zhao Ji and Zhong Shidao, who accompanied him during the inspection of the military camp, were all overjoyed when they heard the report.
Zhao Ji asked hurriedly: "Tell me the details."
"Let me report to the officials. Yesterday at noon, Zhe Keqiu, the magistrate of Fuzhou, led 7,000 elite cavalry from his headquarters. The troops were divided into two groups."
"We went all the way from Fuzhou to Zhizhou and asked his relatives to lead us. From outside Lingzhou City on the east bank of the Yellow River, we used dozens of official ships to cross to the west bank of the Yellow River, and then sent our troops all the way north!"
"Another group of three thousand Fuzhou cavalrymen joined the military force from Zhimi Pavilion. The Fuzhou general magistrate Zhe Yanzhi led the cavalry and marched northward along the east bank of the Yellow River. These two groups of Fuzhou vanguard armies echoed each other along the east and west banks of the Yellow River.
, marching all the way north..."
“The follow-up infantry and baggage supplies of the Fuzhou Pioneer Army were either transported by ship along the Yellow River, or took the land route along the Yellow River, and followed them to the north..."
Zhao Ji listened to the report and nodded with a smile. These were all things he had discussed with Zhe Kaqiu in advance.
The purpose of Zhao Ji's use of his army was to clear out the Xia army's garrison at the crossings on both sides of the Yellow River, and finally to follow up the Song army's large forces, starting from the occupied Xijing of the original Xia Kingdom and now Lingzhou of the Song Dynasty, to set out for the Northern Expedition and go down the Yellow River.
Prepare to attack Xingqingfu, the capital of the Xia Kingdom, on the west bank of the Yellow River, one hundred and forty to fifty miles away.
And Zhao Ji knew that using Fuzhou soldiers and horses (i.e. the Zhejia army) as the vanguard was the best choice. On the one hand, it could clear out the Xia army on both sides of the Yellow River, and on the other hand, it could also consume the foreign soldiers and horses and the Zhejia army.
Zhao Ji, who was familiar with the history of the two Song Dynasties, knew that after the Jingkang Incident in the future, the Zhe family army would be attacked by Zhe Keqiu, a man who rebelled against the Song Dynasty and surrendered to the Jin Dynasty because Fuzhou was besieged by the Jin army and was deprived of aid and food. Zhe Keqiu surrendered the gold.
, it was not that he surrendered the gold alone, but brought tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from all prefectures (i.e., the Zhejia Army) under his command to surrender the gold and rebel against the Song Dynasty.
Of course, nowadays, no one dares to publicly call the soldiers and horses of the Fuzhou of the Zhe Keqiu Department the Zhejia Army, because the soldiers and horses of every state in the Song Dynasty belong to the official family!
Who dares to publicly name an army with a certain surname?
Then he will be labeled as wanting to rebel!
Of course, some ignorant civilians may privately call their army a certain army based on the surname of the commander of a certain route army. In this case, the court may not know about it, or it may know about it but it is too troublesome to hold them accountable.
Turn a blind eye and close one eye.
However, its commanders and generals would never dare to call themselves "a certain army".
For example, the Zhe family army and the future Yue family army were actually called so publicly by the later generations who changed dynasties.
At that time, even the commander-in-chief of his department, as well as any civil servants, generals and soldiers in the Song Dynasty, did not dare to call them the Zhe Family Army.
…
Zhao Ji heard the news officer mentioned Zhe Yanzhi, and he knew that he was the son of the late famous general Zhe Keshi and the cousin of Zhe Keqiu, the current magistrate of Fuzhou.
Zhe Yanzhi is in his forties this year. Although he is Zhe Keqiu's nephew, he is ten years older than his cousin Zhe Keqiu.
Yesterday, when Zhao Ji inspected the temporary residence of the Zhekeqiu Ministry, he also specially met with Zhimi Pavilion to join the military, and Fuzhou Tongjian Zheyan was held hostage.
Zhao Ji knew that in history, Zhe, the governor of a prefecture in the Song Dynasty, could be relied upon. However, this former famous general in the northwest was besieged by the Jin army and was cut off from aid and food. In addition, Wanyan Lou, the head coach of the Jin army, used his son and Zhe family to support him.
With blackmail, Keqiu was forced to pay money to the three states of Lin, Fu and Feng.
Most of the Zhejia army followed Zhe Keqiu and surrendered gold. However, there were also many loyal and brave Zhejia soldiers who did not surrender gold. They remained loyal to the Song Dynasty and resisted the Jin for the rest of their lives.
Among them, the famous general in the Zhejia army who has not paid gold is Zhe Yanzhi.
Historically, in the seventh year of Xuanhe, the Jin soldiers captured Emperor Tianzuo, the leader of Liao Dynasty, marched to Yanjing, besieged Taiyuan, and approached Kaifeng. People in the Song court were panicked...
In the first month of the first year of Jingkang, Zhe Yanzhi led his troops and Zhong Shidao, Yao Pingzhong, and Yao Gu led their troops to the king of Qin, and fought several bloody battles with the Jin soldiers in Nanguan, the Yellow River and other places...
Therefore, Zhe Yanzhi, who went south, escaped the treasonous crime of Zhe Keqiu, who was later in the northwest prefecture.
In June of the first year of Jingkang, the imperial court appointed Li Gang as the governor of Hedong, and Zhe Yanzhi went to rescue Taiyuan, which was besieged by the Jin soldiers.
After four days of bloody fighting, the Jin failed in the end because of additional troops.
However, the general Zhe Yan pledged was recognized by the imperial court and promoted to deputy envoy of Xuanfu in Hebei and Hedong.
During the confrontation with the Jin soldiers, Zheyanzhi led his troops and communicated with the commander of the Jin soldiers, Nianhan, many times. He wanted to cease the war and make peace, which would benefit the people of the two countries, but this was just his wishful thinking.
In November, the imperial court asked Zhe Yanzhi to lead his troops to guard Pingyang Prefecture (now Linfen, Shanxi) and Fenzhou.
Pingyang was the headquarters of Fen, Xi and other commanders, but Lin Jiren, the prefect of Pingyang, had no intention of holding on, and Liu Rui, the commander-in-chief appointed by the imperial court, refused to serve. In the end, Pingyang fell, and Weisheng, Longde, and Zezhou fell one after another.
The Jin army commander drove south, Zhe Yanzhi led 120,000 troops as deputy envoy of Xuanfu, and guarded the Yellow River with Li Hui, the Privy Councilor of Tongzhi, but the Song army was defeated before the battle. Zhe Yanzhi was therefore appointed deputy envoy of Haizhou Tuanlian
, Yongzhou resettlement...
In June of the second year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty, Zheyan was detained as a bachelor of Fulongtuge and ordered to return to the capital immediately. He had already spent five years in the Southern Wilderness.
At this time, Yang Yao in Dongting Lake was in rebellion, and Zhe Yanzhi, who was still in Guangxi, was entrusted with the important task of serving as Hunan's pacification envoy and knowing Tanzhou.
Zhe Yanzhi, with the cooperation of Wang Xie, Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, and Liu Guangshi, suppressed Yang Yao's rebellion in February of the fourth year of Shaoxing.
Because Zhe Yanzhi was at odds with Wang Xie, he changed his name to Jingjiang (now Guilin, Guangxi). In September, Jin Lianhe and the puppet Qi invaded from Huaiyang to the south, which shocked the whole court.
Dr. Zuo Zhong, who knew Zhao Ding, the minister of the Privy Council, recommended Zhe Yanzhi to be the staff officer of the governor's office of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Jing, and Xiang. The privy ministers all agreed. Zhe Yanzhi went to the post at night and at night, which alleviated the military invasion of the puppet Qi Dynasty from Huaiyang to the south.
crisis.
In the fifth year of Shaoxing (i.e. 1135 AD), Zhe Yanzhi returned to Lin'an and served as minister of the Ministry of Industry and military staff of the Dudu Mansion, and as minister of the Ministry of War.
In the sixth year of Shaoxing, Zheyan signed a letter to the Privy Council. Soon he also had the power to participate in political affairs, and he was in charge of the government together with Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun. In December of the same year, due to the fight between Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun, Zhao Ding was dismissed from the prime minister, and Zheyan
Zhao Ding of the Zhi Department strongly recommended him, so he was dismissed from his post and deposed from Zhizhi Hongzhou (now Nanchang, Jiangxi).
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! In the seventh year of Shaoxing, Zhao Ding returned to the prime minister, and Zhe Yanzhi also came to know Fuzhou.
But more than a year later, Zhao Ding dismissed the prime minister again, and Qin Hui took over the government. As an old friend of Zhao Ding and a representative of the anti-Jin faction, Zhe Yanzhi was strongly excluded by Qin Hui. Zhe Yanzhi was dismissed from his post and lived in Xinzhou without work...
In the fifteenth year of Shaoxing (1145), Wang Bo, the imperial censor, went to Qin Hui's favor and said, "Yan Zhi was appointed to the Privy Council a short time ago, and he harbored treachery and harmed the country. Now that he is living in a strategic place, Wu Shuo, the minister who is assigned to guard the country, has private discussions with each other.
and the imperial court", and once again emphasized that he was a comrade of Zhao Ding, so he was demoted to Chenzhou and resettled.
Zhe Yanzhi lived in Chenzhou for ten years, and it was not until Qin Hui died of illness in the 25th year of Shaoxing that he was able to leave.
In December of the 25th year of Shaoxing, the seventy-five-year-old Zhe Yan was detained and allowed to live as he pleased. He was immediately reinstated as a bachelor of Duanming Palace, and Zuo Chao invited a doctor.
In the spring of the 26th year of Shaoxing, Zhe Yan was appointed as the magistrate of Guangzhou, and soon afterwards he was moved to Hongzhou.
At this time, Wan Qixi, a member of Qin Hui's party, was in power and wanted to use the discord between Zhe Yanzhi and Wang Xie to frame Zhe Yanzhi; but fortunately, he was stopped by Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty.
In December of the 27th year of Shaoxing, Zhe Yanzhi asked for promotion to the Taiping Xingguo Palace in Jiangzhou.
In November of the 29th year of Shaoxing, Zhe Yanzhi became an official in Zuozhong.
In August of the 30th year of Shaoxing, Guichou, 80-year-old Zhe Yanzhi died of illness in Tanzhou.
…
Zhao Ji recalled this point and lamented the bad character in history. He had ups and downs and was repeatedly criticized, but he never changed his original intention of being loyal to the emperor and serving the country. It can be said that he upheld the family tradition of being loyal and courageous.
Zhao Ji mentally wrote down the name of Zhe Yanzhi.
He wanted to wait until the Song army destroyed the Xia Kingdom. If Zhe Keqiu was lucky enough to survive the battle against Xia, then he would not give Zhe Keqiu, who had a history of treason and paying gold, a chance to gain military power.
We can ask for the half way, I can first adopt the strategy of ascending and descending secretly, and then learn from Emperor Taizu's way of releasing military power over a glass of wine...
In order to appease the hearts of the Zhe family army in Fuzhou, I still have to fulfill the promise made by Song Taizu. The most suitable candidate for the governor of Fuzhou is of course Zhe Yanzhi, who has been loyal, brave and patriotic throughout history.
What Zhao Ji was thinking was actually just a breath away.
At this time, the reporting officer continued to report:
"We, the Song Dynasty's vanguard army and two groups of Fuzhou cavalry, marched north along the east and west banks of the Yellow River and reached the Yellow River ferry ten miles outside the south city of Jingzhou in the Xia Kingdom. We were met by two groups of Xiangqing's troops from the Xia Kingdom who fought hard to stop them..."
"The two Fuzhou vanguard armies fought fiercely with the enemy for an hour, suffering casualties on each other, but failed to capture the enemy's ferries on the east and west banks of the Yellow River outside the south city of Jingzhou..."
"In the end, both the Zhekeqiu and Zheyan Zhibu used the firearms battalion given to them by the government. After using gunpowder weapons, they killed and wounded many of the enemy defenders. Only then did the remaining enemy troops become frightened and abandoned them.
Camped at the ferry and fled..."
Zhao Ji asked anxiously: "What are the casualties of the two Fuzhou vanguard armies? What are the gains?"
"I am reporting to the officials: I will ask my troops to kill the enemy if I surrender to the prefecture, more than 1,500 of them will be killed; I will suffer 800 of my own losses!"
"Orihiko Shibu, killed two thousand enemies and suffered seven hundred losses!"
When Zhao Ji heard this, a hint of joy flashed in his eyes. He took the battle report and read it carefully, and it turned out to be exactly what the reporting officer said.
Looking at the words written on the victory report, he seemed to see two groups of pioneers of the Zhe family of the Song Dynasty, led by Zhe Keqiu and Zhe Yanzhi respectively, fighting fierce battles with the enemy for the ferries on the east and west banks of the Yellow River outside Jingzhou City.
Scenes……
The military flags of the Song Dynasty, with soldiers and horses on both sides of Fuzhou, rustled in the morning wind.
In front of the ferry on both sides of the Yellow River outside Jingzhou City, the sons of the Zhe family were wearing iron armor, holding spears in their hands, and carrying bows and arrows on their backs. They were riding on war horses. Accompanied by the sound of the rushing waves of the Yellow River, they broke through the morning fog and charged forward bravely.
, desperately launching rounds of attacks on the enemy's camp...
Arrows are like rain, horses' hooves are like thunder, dust is flying, the two armies are fighting, and the sound of killing is loud...
The cavalry of the Zhe family army were well-trained and well coordinated. With their superb riding skills and brave fighting spirit, although they had the upper hand on the battlefield, they were the attacking side after all.
As for the Xia army guarding the barracks at the ferry crossings on both sides of the Yellow River outside Jingzhou City, they could hold on to the dangers, occupy the favorable location, and use their bows and crossbows to kill the Zhejia troops who were attacking one after another...
Facing such a powerful enemy, the Zhe clan's vanguard armies on both sides of the Yellow River realized that they might not be able to win by relying solely on cavalry to attack with cold weapons, even at heavy casualties. They had to make use of the gunpowder weapons given to them by the Zhao Guan family.
Although the artillery was left in the rear infantry several miles away and dragged and transported by animals, the cavalry of the Zhejia Army was equipped with grenades and explosive packets given to them by the Zhao Guan family.
Although Zhe Keqiu on the west bank of the Yellow River and Zhe Yanzhi on the east bank of the Yellow River are separated by the roaring Yellow River several miles wide, they are temporarily unable to communicate with each other;
However, their uncle and nephew, as the best of the two generations of famous generals of the Zhe family, both realized that even if the gunpowder weapons given to their troops by the Zhao Guan family were limited, they could no longer treasure them. They had to use them quickly on such a stalemate battlefield.
Gunpowder weapons break the deadlock and try to win by surprise.
Both Zhe Keqiu and Zhe Yanzhi gave decisive orders and used trebuchets to throw rounds of explosive packets and grenades at the enemy...
Explosions occurred one after another on the battlefield, causing heavy casualties to the Xia army;
Even more so, the Xia army guarding the ferries on the east and west banks of the Yellow River outside Jingzhou City was demoralized, collapsed, and abandoned their camps and fled...
Subsequently, Zhe Yanzhi and Zhe Keqiu on the east and west banks of the Yellow River led their cavalry respectively to pursue and kill the fleeing enemy troops...
…
Zhao Ji also saw in the victory report that both Zhe Keqiu and Zhe Yanzhi acted according to the secret orders they had received in advance.
They dug pits on the spot for the bodies of the sacrificed Song soldiers and simply buried them;
But they threw the bloody corpses of the Xia army generals they killed into the Yellow River...
The entire Yellow River is in the shape of "ji".
It flows from Xijing of the Xia Kingdom, which is now outside the west city of Lingzhou in the Song Dynasty, to the outside of Jingzhou City in the north, and then flows north through the suburbs of the east city of Xingqing Mansion, the capital of the Xia Kingdom;
The above river basin is exactly the first stroke of the character "ji", that is, the middle part of the "skip" shape.
The Zhejia army threw all the 3,500 Xia army corpses killed on the battlefield outside Jingzhou City into the Yellow River. They flowed down the river, and many enemy corpses drifted downstream to Xingqing Fucheng, the capital of Xia Kingdom.
On both sides of the Yellow River.
This will bring great panic to the soldiers and civilians in the capital of Great Xia. It will also intimidate the Xia army, shake the morale of the Xia army and weaken their morale...
Zhao Ji read the victory report.
He handed this good news of the eight-hundred-mile journey to Master Zhongdao who was accompanying him.
"I would like to ask you, my beloved, to read this good news."
"Wei Chen Shidao, thank you Lord for your kindness!"
Zhong Shidao was flattered, took the good news with both hands, and started reading excitedly...
Zhao Ji leisurely asked: "Although the two vanguard armies I sent to Fuzhou achieved a great victory in the first battle, I am also worried that if the lone army goes deep, it will be easy to be attacked from both sides!"
"Old dear, Mr. Zhong, who has been on the battlefield for a long time, do you have any insight that can help the two vanguard armies in Fu and Zhou succeed and complete the important task I entrusted to clear out the Xia enemies along the river, without causing the entire army to be annihilated due to the deep penetration of the lone army?
"
Teacher Zhong thought for a while and then immediately asked:
"Weichen Shidao, please lead your headquarters to follow the soldiers and horses of Fuzhou and march north along the river to reinforce the vanguard army to aid Fuzhou..."
"Hahaha... That's very good." Zhao Ji laughed, confident, but asked the veteran Zhongshi Dao:
"But if Aiqing Zhong leads his troops to the north, can he quickly defeat Xingqing Mansion, the capital of the Xia people?"