Zhongshi Dao, a veteran who has been on the battlefield for a long time, frowned slightly and began to think deeply as he listened to the holy words.
During the period of conquering Xia, after he got along with the Zhao Guan family, whose temperament changed greatly, he knew that the Zhao Guan family's intelligence and strategy were beyond the reach of ordinary emperors, so he became more cautious in his answers.
"Your Majesty, Zhe Keqiu and Zhe Yanzhi led the two vanguard armies in Fuzhou. They have defeated the Xia army on the east and west banks of the Yellow River outside Jingzhou City, achieved a great victory, captured the Yellow River ferry, and allowed our army to march northward along the Yellow River.
No hindrance; that’s really gratifying!”
Zhao Ji nodded slightly. He was used to it that ancient people like Zhong Shidao liked to pave the way for expressing their opinions.
Zhong Shidao continued: "I would like to lead my troops to take a boat down the Yellow River and send troops to the Northern Expedition! This will reinforce the Fuzhou Pioneer Army, consolidate the crossing and prevent the Xia army from counterattack."
"The veteran minister and his troops can also cooperate with the prefectural magistrate Zhe Keqiu troops to occupy the key point of the Yellow River crossing to ensure that our army can advance and retreat freely."
Zhao Ji nodded. This was also the purpose of his inspection of the military camps of the Song Dynasty today. It was a mobilization before launching a general attack on the capital of Xia Kingdom.
"Old Aiqing Zhong, if I allow you to lead your troops on an expedition, apart from the battle plan you mentioned above, what else can Aiqing do?"
Master Zhongdao immediately responded:
"I can lead my troops and horses to join forces with the soldiers and horses of Fuzhou, concentrate the superior forces, capture Jingzhou City first, and then form a camp step by step, attack city by city, consume the Xia army's troops, weaken the enemy's morale, and gradually advance to Xingqing Fucheng, the capital of Xia Kingdom
outside."
"In my humble opinion, in this way, we can not only avoid the danger of our army going deep alone, but also ensure that our army can advance to the outside of the enemy's capital city steadily and without any worries."
Zhao Ji was not satisfied with Zhong Shidao's answer, so he spoke leisurely:
"If I follow Aiqing's plan, when can I conquer the capital of Xia Kingdom?"
Zhong Shidao was a little unhappy when he saw Zhao Guanjia's face, but he, a loyal minister, still insisted on his own views on the military.
For more than a hundred years, the Song Dynasty often sent troops to conquer Xia. Two of the current generals of the Northwest Army, Zhe Keqiu, and the ancestors of many generals such as Yao Gu, also participated in the battle against Xia. Zhong Shidao also participated.
Several battles against Xia, but what was the result?
The history of the Song Dynasty's wars against Xia often started well, but in the end it was either because the lone army went deep in, or because the Song Dynasty officials and troops from different groups had different combat ideas. Some wanted to rush forward, and some wanted to preserve their strength.
As a result, the advance was slow, and in the end, every battle against Xia in the past hundred years was unsuccessful.
The veteran Zhongshi Dao knew this very well, so he advocated a steady and steady attack in the summer expedition.
Because, in the eyes of many Northwest Army generals such as Zhong Shidao, the Zhao Guan family, whose character had changed greatly, went on a personal expedition. The Song army won every victory and occupied Xijing of the Xia Kingdom. The Zhao Guan family created the great achievements of the ancestors of the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, from Zhong Shidao's point of view, he advocates seeking stability and must preserve the great victory achieved by occupying the enemy's Xijing.
In fact, in the subconscious mind of Zhong Shidao and other northwest army generals, did they really hope that the Song Dynasty would quickly destroy the Xia Kingdom?
Their answers may differ.
In their subconscious mind, they have been accustomed to guarding the northwest of the Song Dynasty for generations. They dare not say that they are "nurturing the bandits to respect themselves", but at least with the existence of a powerful enemy, the Xia Kingdom, they have their current status. Among their descendants,
The better ones can also be hereditary generals and lead troops to guard a certain state in the northwest, comparable to the military governors of vassal towns in the Tang Dynasty.
When Zhong Shidao answered the question from Zhao Guan's family, he may not have so many complicated thoughts, but there was still something in his subconscious that "Xia Kingdom cannot be destroyed easily" was causing trouble.
Zhong Shidao relied on his own experience in fighting against Xia and the lessons learned from his ancestors’ failure in several battles against Xia, forcing him to firmly believe in his heart that he should never be too hasty when conquering Xia, and must be steady!
…
"Wei Chen has led his troops to guard the northwest of the Song Dynasty for many years. He knows the party well, the people are fierce, the soldiers are brave, and they are good at riding and shooting. The Xia soldiers like to fight quickly, but they are very afraid of attrition wars!"
"I have also heard that Xingqing Mansion, the capital of the Xia Kingdom, has strong city defenses and sufficient troops and supplies. If our army forces an attack on the city, we will surely lose many troops, and we may not be able to capture Xingqing Mansion!"
Zhao Ji was a little impatient and asked:
"In my opinion, how should I conquer Xia? How should I conquer the capital of Xixia?"
"Wei Chen suggested that our Song Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops in the expedition against Xia should attack steadily, step by step, and slowly advance to the outside of Xingqingfu, the enemy's capital, to encircle instead of attack and consume the enemy's troops..."
Zhao Ji frowned when he heard this, interrupted Master Zhong's words, and asked again:
"I want to know, according to Aiqing's plan, when can the capital of Xia Kingdom be conquered?"
Zhong Shidao saw Zhao Guanjia's gloomy face. Although he was a little frightened, he insisted on his opinion and answered truthfully according to the time he calculated in his mind:
"In this way, if you want to capture the capital of Xia Kingdom, it will take at least three months, and at most half a year."
Zhao Ji shook his head slightly, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said coldly without being angry:
"Although the plan of planting old love is stable, it fails too slowly."
When Zhongshi Dao heard the holy words, he was not convinced in his heart, but on the surface he still showed fear and sincerity.
"I know very well that the people of Dangxiang are fierce and the soldiers of the Xia Kingdom are very dedicated. Because of this, if our army attacks city by city, it will surely fall into a protracted war of attrition. At that time, the tribes in the Xia Kingdom who are still waiting to watch will see me personally conquering the country.
Xia, but could not conquer the capital of Xia;
"Several local tribesmen came long distances to aid the Xia capital. Wouldn't I and the hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty who were marching against Xia be in danger of being attacked from both sides?"
After listening to the sacred words of Master Zhong, a chill ran down my spine.
"My intention is to use blitzkrieg to attack Huanglong!"
"Huh?!" said the mature and solemn master Zhong. When he heard the new word "blitzkrieg" suddenly popping up in Zhao Guanjia's mouth, he couldn't help but be surprised and asked in confusion:
"Although I am stupid, I have been familiar with military books for decades. I have never heard of any military book that contains blitzkrieg. Please teach me..."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhao Ji suddenly realized that Zhong Shidao couldn't understand the blitzkrieg he blurted out!
He recalled that when he was in modern society, whether it was when he was studying world history in high school, or when he was borrowing war books from college, or when he was watching videos on his mobile phone, he had witnessed the famous Blitzkrieg more than once.
In World War II, Heinz Wilhelm Guderian, the famous general of Nazi Germany, created a brand-new strategy and tactic - blitzkrieg.
It is also known as blitz warfare. When implementing this strategy and tactics, it is necessary to make full use of the speed advantages of aircraft, tanks and mechanized troops to quickly cut off the enemy's main force and strike the enemy with lightning speed at a speed that exceeds the opponent's reaction, that is, a surprise attack.
Defeat the enemy and win...
What Zhao Ji remembers deeply is that in the early days of World War II, Nazi Germany created a blitzkrieg (blitzkrieg) with a fierce offensive. It conquered Poland in 27 days, Denmark in 1 day, Norway in 23 days, the Netherlands in 5 days, and Belgium in 18 days.
Conquer France, known as "the strongest army in Europe", in 39 days.
Now, although Zhao Ji does not have the fast-moving modern war tools such as German aircraft, tanks, armored vehicles, and motorcycles during World War II;
However, he realized that after he personally conquered Xiping Prefecture in Xijing, Xia State, the surging Yellow River on the western outskirts of the city was directly upstream of Xingqing Prefecture, the capital of Xia State.
The shipbuilding and shipping industries of the Song Dynasty were developed. Furthermore, many Xia ships were captured from the Yellow River ferry on the outskirts of Xijing, Xia State.
If tens of thousands of the Song Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of elite officers and soldiers took boats, carrying cannons and other gunpowder weapons, sailed down the Yellow River and landed at the Yellow River dock east of Xingqing Prefecture, they could still achieve the speed advantage of a blitzkrieg.
Of course, what Zhao Ji was thinking could not be told directly to the doubtful planting master in front of him.
He could only pick out the core elements of blitzkrieg and use vivid metaphors to explain them to teachers.
"Old dear, have you seen the lightning and thunder in the sky?"
Zhong Shidao nodded in confusion and said: "Of course Wei Chen has seen lightning and thunder."
Zhao Ji smiled and said: "Have you ever heard or seen that thunder and lightning can split a towering ancient tree and scorch it?"
Zhong Shidao immediately replied: "Wei Chen has seen..."
Zhao Ji nodded slightly and said: "The purpose of the blitzkrieg I am talking about is to have lightning speed and to concentrate a large number of superior forces to suddenly launch a surprise attack on the enemy!"
After hearing Zhao Guanjia's explanation, Zhongshi Daowen, who had been on the battlefield for many years, immediately made analogies and seemed to understand immediately, but he was also very confused.
He asked: "What the officials say is to attack the enemy with lightning speed and surprise. I can understand it."
"However, looking at the battles in history, no matter how good the surprise attacker is, it does not depend on the number of soldiers. The surprise attacker often uses light cavalry to concentrate a large number of superior troops!"
"Nowadays, the officers and soldiers of the Song Dynasty led by the official imperial commanders are still mainly infantry. How can they mobilize a large number of infantry to travel long distances and quickly rush to the outside of Xingqingfu, the capital of the Xia Kingdom?"
"Haha..." Zhao Ji laughed and said, "Why did I send Zhe Keqiu and Zhe Yanzhi to lead the Fuzhou vanguard army to clear out the Xia troops stationed at the northward ferries on both sides of the Yellow River?"
Zhongshidao immediately suddenly realized: "The official is a sage!"
"The official plan is to let our officers and soldiers from the Song Dynasty take boats, go down the Yellow River, and land at the Yellow River Pier in the east of Xingqing Prefecture City, so as to achieve a concentrated advantageous force in a blitzkrieg so quickly that the enemy cannot react, and then carry out the
A crushing surprise attack!"
Zhao Ji smiled and nodded.
Zhongshi Dao praised: "Now, our army occupies the Yellow River ferry in Xingzhou, which is upstream of Xingqing, the capital of Xia's enemy.
The officials were able to make clever use of their location in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and pioneered lightning tactics for our army to conquer the Xia Dynasty. They were able to attack Huanglong directly, and they were able to determine the outcome in one fell swoop! This is so great!"
Zhao Ji said leisurely: "I will send a fast horse to give Zhe Keqiu and Zhe Yan hostage, and let them leave the two infantry units that are rushing to guard the newly captured Yellow River crossing to ensure that our army has no way to retreat."
worry."
"And let the Fuzhou infantry from Zhe's rear group pretend to attack Jingzhou City to give Xia Emperor Li Qianshun a false impression that the Song Dynasty official army was attacking Xia Hui along the way."
"And I will give secret orders to lead two teams of vanguard cavalry to continue the northern expedition along both sides of the Yellow River and clear obstacles along the way."
When the teacher listens to the holy words, he nods his head in agreement.
"However, I know very well that the ones who can really carry out the blitzkrieg against Xingqing Mansion, the capital of Xia Kingdom, are not the 10,000 cavalrymen who were reduced by 20%, but the elite troops and horses of the Western Army of the Song Dynasty such as Qing Dynasty, as well as the artillery battalion and engineer demolition company that I mobilized.
!”
Zhong Shidao felt that his eyes were suddenly enlightened and he sincerely admired Zhao Ji's courage and strategy.
He felt deeply that he, a battle-hardened commander of the Northwest Army, was really not as far-reaching as Zhao Guanjia in terms of strategic vision.
Master Zhong bowed deeply and said sincerely:
"The officials are wise, I admire them! I am willing to lead my troops, obey the orders of the officials, and serve the country to the death!"
"Okay!" Zhao Ji stretched out his right hand and patted Zhong Shidao on the shoulder.
"Old beloved Qing Zhong, please immediately select five thousand of your elite troops, prepare enough dry food for three days, and with my personal token, leave the west city and rush to the 'Xingzhou' ferry of the Yellow River. There are more than a hundred large ships that I have arranged in advance.
Your troops can take the first ten ships, which is more than enough!"
"Subsequently, I will also go to Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, Guo Cheng, Liu Yanqing, Yao Gu, Zhongshi Zhongzhong, and ask them to recruit elites respectively. After Zhong Lao Aiqing, they will rush out of Xicheng to the Yellow River's 'Xingzhou' ferry, and bring them with them.
Go up to the artillery battalion and engineer demolition company, implement lightning tactics, go down the Yellow River, quickly arrive at the Yellow River ferry outside the east city of Xingqing Prefecture, the capital of the Xia Kingdom, and land at the Yellow River Ferry for a general attack on the enemy capital!"
Zhong Shidao asked doubtfully:
"Officials, at the military meeting yesterday, didn't our army go out in full force tomorrow?"
Zhao Ji said seriously: "War must be judged by the situation. Yesterday, when I and the generals of the Western Army held a military meeting, we found that the Fuzhou Pioneer Army Zhe Keqiu and Zhe Yanzhao had just set out for the battle. At that time, they had not yet reached Jingzhou. The Yellow River ferry outside the city."
"Er Zhe is indeed the best of the two generations of Zhe clan's generals. They are very capable of leading troops in battle. I really made the right choice!"
"Zhe Keqiu and Zhe Yanzhi led their troops as the vanguard of the Northern Expedition, and unexpectedly captured the ferries on both sides of the Yellow River outside Jingzhou City so quickly with a small cost of casualties. This set the stage for our army's subsequent Northern Expedition along the river. Assure."
"The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. If we don't seize the opportunity at this time, we will use a blitzkrieg to attack Huanglong and attack Xingqing Mansion, the capital of Xia Kingdom. When Xia Emperor Li Qianshun orders all the gates of Xingqing Mansion to be built with masonry If we block the city with bricks, block it tightly, and hold on to the city until we wait for the troops of King Qin from the various local tribes in Xixia, then even if I have an artillery battalion and an engineering and demolition company, it will be difficult to blast open the enemy's city gate!"
"What the officials said is absolutely true!" Master Zhong said in admiration:
"Although Wei Chen did not go to the Xia capital in person, Wei Chen heard the confessions of captured Xia army prisoners more than once:
'Xingqingfu, the capital of the Xia Kingdom, is an excellent defensive place. It has the stronghold of Helan Mountain in the west, the natural danger of the Yellow River in the east, the desert in the north, and Xiaoguan in the south.'
'Xingqingfu, the capital of the Xia Kingdom, has a circumference of eighteen miles, and the east-west is twice as long as the north-south. The city wall is three feet and five feet high, and the wall is about eight feet thick, which can be used for horse racing. The city is made of bricks and stones, and is cut all around... ...easy to defend but hard to attack!'”
When Zhong Shidao mentioned this, he seemed to be looking at the ocean and sighing, and then he suddenly became enlightened and said:
"The officials are very good at predicting things. If we don't use blitzkrieg and don't get there before Xia Emperor Li Qianshun orders the gates of his capital to be piled with bricks and stones as thick as the city walls, even if our army has artillery, it will be extremely difficult to blast the Xia capital." The gate of the city!"
Zhao Ji saw that the cultivation method was very good and he could understand it with just a few words, so he asked:
"My beloved, Mr. Zhong, remember the essence of the blitzkrieg - to concentrate a large number of superior troops of our army and launch a sudden surprise attack on the enemy at lightning speed!"
Master Zhong nodded solemnly and said:
"Wei Chen, please remember..."
"Good!" Zhao Ji praised.
He had read a joke. If you want the donkey to run and grind quickly, you can hang a handful of delicious grass in front of the donkey's head so that the donkey can see it but cannot eat it...
And the time traveler Zhao Ji also knows how to draw a big pie.
Of course, Zhao Ji has the confidence and the courage of a great man. If the civil servants and generals under him really work hard, are loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and achieve great achievements, he really will not be stingy about giving real cakes.
At this time, Zhao Ji stretched out his right hand and took Zhong Shidao's big hand covered with calluses from years of holding weapons;
He raised his left forearm, clenched the four fingers of his left hand into a fist, and only the index finger was vertical, pointing to the long sky, and vowed:
"In the battle of conquering Xia, I love you dearly and take the greatest credit!"
"I swear to the sky: After destroying the Xia Kingdom, I will divide the three states of the Xia Kingdom, and I will lead the old Aiqing Zhong from a distance! And I will choose the outstanding ones among my descendants to take up the post. The old Aiqing Zhong will take the lead.
From descendants to descendants, the position of guard general of the three states will be hereditary!"
A "plop" sound.
Upon hearing the holy words, Zhongshi Dao was so frightened that he knelt down in front of Zhao Guanjia.
He knew that Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty had promised that the descendants of the Zhe family would guard Fuzhou for generations, and that the governor of Fuzhou would be inherited by the descendants of the Zhe family. It was just a state in the northwest of the Song Dynasty!
But now, he was promised by the Zhao Guan family in front of him that he could inherit the land of the three states.
Zhong Shidao was very frightened. Zhao Guanjia's words were to test whether he and the Zhong family's descendants were suspected of supporting the military and respecting themselves.
"Wei Chen Shi Dao, thank you for the great love of the officials! However, even if Wei Chen Shi Dao died, he would not dare to accept this great favor from the emperor..."
Zhao Ji helped Zhongshi Dao up and said with a smile:
"Whatever I give you, feel free to accept it!"
"What's more, the Xia Kingdom has not yet been destroyed. Whether Mr. Zhong will accept my grant or refuse it will have to wait until Xia is destroyed."
"Now, I am going to leave this camp and go to Han, Yue, Guo, Liu, Yao, and Xiaozhong to manage Xianggong's tribes. Mobilize them to immediately lead their elite troops and generals today, and follow Lao Aiqing Zhong to quickly board the ferry.
Ship, go down the Yellow River, use blitzkrieg, go straight to Huanglong, and capture the enemy's capital!"