"Don't wait for the infantry, bring dry food, mount the horse, then find a horse to load the armor, and the whole army will go north!"
"Throw away those pots and horse spoons! Once you enter Taihangxing, Zezhou is so big, you won't need a horse spoon!"
On the afternoon of the fourth day of the first lunar month, just a few days after the tenth year of Jianyan, the ice and snow have not yet melted, and the rivers have not yet opened. On the north bank of the Yellow River, east of Wangwu Mountain, and south of Taihang Mountain, countless cavalry are marching eastward in a hurry. The scene is
Make a mess.
"I wonder what year it is today in the palace in the sky?"
But in this chaotic scene, surrounded by several knights, on a hillside somewhere in the north, there was a majestic armored general astride a particularly majestic war horse, speaking absurd words.
Of course it is absurd.
After all, at this moment, it is the official time of the year. This situation and this scene are clearly a war and chaos. This place and this division are obviously the old place of Hanoi and the current boundary of Meng and Huai.
No matter from any angle, this poem is too inappropriate.
However, many high-ranking officers around the general seemed to understand the deeper meaning of their own poems... Most of the imperial cavalry now don't know what year it is in the palace in the sky.
'?
That's right, the person who recited this sentence was Qu Duan, the commander of the Imperial Cavalry Army. Many of the people who agreed with him were also officers of the Imperial Cavalry Army.
Therefore, the recognition of this sentence is nothing more than the fact that the situation of the Imperial Cavalry at this moment is indeed in line with the artistic conception of the poem "Da Su Xue Shi".
In addition, in order to prevent the main force of the Jin army from crossing the Yellow River from Hunnan, the heavy cavalry of the Imperial Cavalry and some of Li Qiong's eight-character army, a total of more than 30,000 people, were thrown on both sides of Zhiguanxing as a defense.
Participating in the key battles between Daming Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture, the imperial cavalry was very dissatisfied at that time.
But now, with the two loud noises a year ago, Daming Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture opened the city together, and the situation completely changed. In a few days, good news came from the north, and the imperial cavalry simply received the news passively. Naturally,
More dissatisfied.
It was as if someone had left him behind, and he seemed to have been isolated from the core battle. Anyway, there was a fearful feeling of being abandoned.
As I said before, it is much rarer for the senior officials of the imperial cavalry to have both civil and military skills. How could they not know the military and political implications of the change of hands between Taiyuan Mansion and Daming Mansion? And how could they not know that those Jinshi who had accompanied the army under Taiyuan City and stayed there?
How would the "preparatory consultants" at Queshu Valley, including the Xianggong, Mige, and Gongge in Tokyo, exaggerate these two great victories in the newspapers?
But what then?
And this big victory has nothing to do with them!
The Daming Mansion was commanded by Yue Fei, and Zhang Rong and Tian Shizhong were all nestled in that big village. Their merits could not be hidden, and others could not take advantage of them even if they wanted to. And when Taiyuan City was destroyed, who would
Everyone is present, but you and the imperial cavalry are hundreds of miles away, and you can't even get together if you want to!
At this time, wouldn’t this poem by Bachelor Da Su be suitable for the occasion?
However, no matter how dissatisfied everyone is, they must not complain about the officials and the central government's arrangements, so they can only point it out through poetry and quickly change the topic.
"Is it too late?" After a period of silence, Liu Qi, the deputy commander of the imperial cavalry, looked at the hastily marching troops down the hillside, obviously feeling uneasy.
"It's hard to say." Commander Zhang Zhongfu frowned. "It's true that we are cavalry, but the people in the north knew about it two days earlier than us. Zezhou must be ours. It's hard to say about Longde Mansion."
"If that's the case, isn't this battle a waste of time for us?" Liu Qi couldn't help but let out a long breath when he heard this.
"What did the deputy commander say?" Zhang Zhongfu obviously misunderstood and tried to console him. "We are cavalry, we should be used for field battles, seizing cities and so on. It's good to have merit, but we just suffered a loss in grabbing these white areas, so why bother?" Care too much? The decisive battle in Hebei Wild Land is about to take place with all your heart!"
"It may not be possible to fight in the field." Liu Qi whispered a piece of news that was only known at the level of the capital. "The logistics cost is much more than the previous plan, and it will last for another three months at most... This is why Qu Dutong would rather The reason why you have to give it a try even if you are whipped by the officials... You said that if the Jin people were decisive in retreating and directly gave up all the land east of Hebei and Hebei and retreated to the city of Yanjing, then considering spring plowing, what if the officials What if we just go with the flow and stop for a while?"
Zhang Zhongfu's expression did not change when he heard this, but he was shocked in his heart. He immediately reined in his horse and took a few steps forward, came to Qu Duan's side, and looked at him with his eyes, as if seeking confirmation.
After all, he is his direct descendant from Xifu, and Qu Duan, who is riding on the new 'Iron Elephant', has no choice but to nod slightly: "What Deputy Dutong Liu said is the truth... But according to me, Qu Da, the decisive battle still has to be fought... ...Because the war has reached this point, the officials have no reason to stop. If we stop, let the Jin Army brigade go, and send troops again after two years, it will be a waste of military resources and manpower."
Zhang Zhongfu nodded slightly, but after thinking for a moment, he asked seriously: "Capital, no matter what, it is always right to advance to Longde Mansion as soon as possible... The Jin Army lost Daming Mansion and Taiyuan Mansion, and Longde Mansion was caught in the middle. It’s a dead place, there’s absolutely no reason to hold on, it’s always a credit to be able to capture it… How about I personally supervise the army?”
Qu Duan thought about it for a while, but couldn't refuse, so he immediately nodded: "Let's go... come back soon, but be careful!"
Zhang Zhongfu immediately responded, then rode downhill and galloped away with a few of his trusted officers.
As soon as the people left, except for Liu Qi, Qu Da only had Xia Houyuan and a few guards. He couldn't help but turn around and complain: "Why bother telling the people below... It was already a mess, isn't it even more messy now? Moreover? It’s not like the Jin army lost its fighting strength after losing two cities. If it encounters someone who is stupid and loses another battle, who’s fault will it be?"
"Why should the Commander-in-Chief blame me?" Liu Qi shook his head repeatedly. "It's like this. If I don't say anything, wouldn't it be chaotic? Besides..."
"Besides what?" Qu Duan stared at the commotion of the army below and responded perfunctorily.
"Besides..." Liu Qi sighed from behind. "Du Tong, let's be honest. Based on what Kansai did that day, it's really difficult for you to get a big banner, but you can't stop the people below if they want to go further. ?It’s just me, although I don’t expect to live in peace, why don’t I want to make meritorious deeds so that I can ask for grace in front of the officials and let my brother have a good result? He is just a pardoned white body now and feels that he is a shame to the family. .And, is it just our cavalry army that is like this? I don’t believe that Wang De doesn’t want his eldest son to have a bright future, and he doesn’t want his second son to return to the army and get a favor! Although you are difficult, everyone is ordinary of!"
Qu Duan sighed when he heard the words, knowing that what the other party said was the truth, so he stopped talking, while the cavalry below continued to advance in confusion.
Not to mention Qu Duan, who was thousands of miles away and quickly dispatched troops after receiving the message, but in Taiyuan City, Zhao Guan's family, although they were relieved of military responsibilities due to Wu Jie's arrival, they were still very busy in the next few days after the year.
First of all, you still have to participate in military discussions, and you still have to talk about war on paper.
Secondly, in addition to the military discussion, Zhao Guan's family has been constantly talking to the ministers in the past few days, "in preparation for consultation", going around to comfort the army.
For example, on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhao Guanjia, who had washed his hands, had a meal with the wounded who were placed in the city. Not only that, in the afternoon he sent Wang De to lead his army to attack Dingxiang and Yanmen in the north.
He gave up the inner city and returned to live in the camp outside the city.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, he went to the city again and participated in the city defense repair activities, carrying earth and repairing the city together with Yang Yizhong.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, he personally inspected the camp of the civilian husbands, expressed condolences to the former civilian husbands, and even wrote a letter in Chinese for a veteran Dangxiang soldier, telling his wife to be careful about the cow tripe at home.
calf inside.
There are all kinds of behaviors.
Of course, all of this was accomplished under the watchful eye of countless courtiers, guards, and many southeastern "preparatory consultants" who were good at writing stories... Wherever he went, he carried more people than a full command camp.
Entourage.
All I can say is that as long as the Zhao Guan family is not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed.
"The battle must be lost."
Back to the present, on the afternoon of the fourth day of the first lunar month, after walking around the military camp, Zhao Jiu got the news and entered the city to attend the military meeting. When he saw Wu Jie, Han Shizhong and others, he blurted out something shocking.
"Why do officials say this?"
In a strange silence, Wu Da, who was still yellow-faced, bravely answered the call to the official.
"Taiyuan City was destroyed too quickly, and the army was arrogant." Zhao Jiu avoided the main seat and sat aside, speaking calmly.
"It is true that there is such a concern." Wu Jie laughed when he heard this. "But please let the officials make a clear decision... Arrogance is arrogance, but it is true that Taiyuan City is so easy to win, and the overall situation is controlled by your Majesty. Arrogance is a reality.
Because... Besides, in this kind of national war, victory or defeat is normal. As long as it does not affect the overall situation, some things are just like that."
Zhao Jiu thought about it for a moment and found that there was no refutation. Besides, he had always trusted Wu Jiu and his ministers in military affairs. He stopped talking about the matter and just asked about the military situation seriously: "I heard that
Yelu Mawu refused to surrender even after seeing his reduced head?"
"So that the officials will know." Wang Yan turned from one side and responded with a serious look. "Not only was he unwilling to surrender, he also had the envoy's head converted into a decapitated one and returned."
"He is a Khitan, what does he want?" Zhao Jiu sneered. "With the capital in his hands, after going to Xiliao, Yelu Dashi could make him the king of Beiyuan, which is only half a head shorter than a few people named Xiao.
, is stronger than Yelu Yujian! But if he stays in the Jin Kingdom, can the Jurchens truly treat him?"
"It's hard to talk about this kind of thing. As long as you hold on for one breath, you don't care about life or death." Li Yanxian, who was standing with his hands tied, couldn't help but interject. "The war is like a tidal wave, the waves are rolling into the sky, and the mud and sand are falling. The difference between people is this tone...
…”
"It makes sense." Zhao Jiu was also thoughtful, but for some reason, he just said this and didn't say much.
Let us also say that Wang De led an army of 20,000 to the north to attack Dingxiang and Yanmen, while Yan'an County King Han Shizhong and others, Li Yanxian, Ma Kuo, Wu Jie, and Wang Yan all stayed in Taiyuan City to take charge.
They were all in front of the emperor, and it was obvious that the officials were speechless. Although the hall was full of people, it was difficult to answer the conversation for a while.
After a while, Zhao Jiu, who realized that he had affected the atmosphere, shook his head and stopped expressing any emotion. He just continued to ask about the military situation: "Yelü Mawu is unwilling to get out of the way, so what about Sa Lihe who is in a dead end?"
"Report to the official." This time it was Li Yanxian who came to report... Obviously, there is a tacit understanding between these commanders, and they have their own responsibilities and division of labor in front of the emperor. "Sa Lihe remained silent and closed the city to defend.
.”
"He doesn't believe that Taiyuan has fallen?" Zhao Jiu frowned.
"There is no reason not to believe it." Li Yanxian said sternly. "The heads of several meng'an and dozens of Mou Ke in Taiyuan City were sent to him, as well as reinforcements sent to replace Deputy Li Dutong Party Xiang Qingqi's siege of the city. He
You shouldn’t disbelieve it…”
"That's just pretending to be dead." Zhao Jiu didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. "Such people are also common... plug their ears, refuse to surrender or fight, sit and wait to die... knowing that this continues.
, no matter what the result is, I can't spare him, and Wu Shu can't spare him, but I still dare not move...is this what you mean?"
"I'm afraid that's the case." Li Yanxian's words were concise and to the point.
"It's also a trouble." Zhao Jiu was also a little helpless. "What else? What about east, west, south and north?"
"Longde Mansion in the south has asked Vice-President Li to lead the army to advance carefully..." This time it was Ma Kuo who answered.
"Is it to save face for Qu Duan and the imperial cavalry?" Zhao Jiu shook his head in reply, but was too lazy to say more. "How about the north?"
"So that the officials know that the defenders of Xinzhou in the north do not believe that Taiyuan has fallen and are resisting tightly. However, Wang De's fellow is still a good man after all. After leading his troops, they fought five fierce battles in two days and won one after another. Baijing
Zhai, Chitang Pass, and Shiling Pass have all been captured. We should be approaching Xiurong, the capital of Xinzhou, by now. If Xiurong is captured again, Dingxiang will be right in front of us..." This time it was Han Shizhong who came to report. "Get it.
If we are in Dingxiang, we can attack Yanmen and threaten Datong."
"In this way, it can be considered that the progress is going smoothly." Zhao Jiu nodded, noncommittal, but looked at Wu Jie with some doubts.
Without him, the city of Taiyuan, according to the current progress, is in a state of sweep in all directions, and this sweep cannot be swept away in a short time. As for the postures of Wanyan Salihe and Yelu Mawu, although they are a bit unexpected,
But it’s not unusual in the war years, just say it... So, what exactly do you want to say when you specially call him to come to the city for a military meeting this time?
Of course Wu Da understood, and immediately raised his hand and told the fundamental reason for inviting Zhao Guan's family to participate in this military meeting: "So that the officials know that there are generals talking about it... Yanmen and Datong are of course wanted, but since
Xinzhou's advance is going smoothly, but Yelv Mawu on the other side of Jingxing is unwilling to surrender. Can we send an army from the north of Wutai Mountain, go to Puyinxing, and leave Pingxingzhai (Pingxingguan)... If we can succeed, the Jin army will definitely be in chaos.
The Jingxing area must be secured immediately... Besides, our army is concentrated in Taiyuan and has a huge military surplus, so there is no reason to throw away military supplies here."
Zhao Jiu was silent for a moment, then asked: "Who exactly is this 'general'?"
"It's Wang Sheng, deputy commander of the imperial camp's left army." Wu Jie didn't dare to hide it.
Zhao Jiu nodded. It was natural for this person to ask for a battle, but he was still unconvinced: "Do you think this is feasible?"
This sentence is still nonsense. If these people thought it was not feasible, they would not call him here.
"After some discussion, I thought it was feasible." As expected, Wu Jie bowed his head and responded.
"In that case, let a few bachelors make the decree." Zhao Jiu's expression remained unchanged, and he nodded in agreement, but said a little. "Whether Wang Sheng or Wang Sheng will go, and how many people will be brought, you will discuss it yourself, and Wu Jie will make a decision.
, just report to me... However, just as I entrusted the rear to the ministers because they could not use private interests to abolish public affairs, you must also put the military first and not delay the military strategy."
This was not a serious statement, nor could it even be called a warning, but Wu Da still hurriedly agreed, and the other Jiedu also expressed their disapproval.
But Zhao Guanjia just smiled and didn't care. Then, after the military meeting was over, he left calmly.
However, after transferring out of the inner city of Taiyuan, Zhao Jiu did not go all the way south out of the city and transfer to the south camp. Instead, he asked most of his close officials and entourage to go back directly, while he, Yang Yizhong, and Liu Yan led some of the imperial squad.
He reined in his horse and walked out of the west gate, arriving at the bank of Fen River, and then slowly drove his horse southward.
By the way, it is already after the Chinese New Year, and logically the freezing period should end at any time, but this kind of thing still depends on God, and Fenshui is actually still frozen, as if waiting for a specific spring breeze.
Zhao Jiu walked south along the river bank. As far as he could see, he could see many soldiers busy on the bank... That was normal activities such as fetching water, fishing, communicating across the river, transporting supplies, etc... So, let's go
Arriving at the southwest of the city, which was the gap left after the explosion a few days ago, the official dismounted his horse again and chatted with the soldiers who were fetching water. He learned that the ice layer had indeed become somewhat thinner, so he talked for a while again.
I urge these people to be careful about turning into ice clouds.
It does seem to be a hassle.
After the conversation, he walked further north and came to the place where he had stationed his horse when he arrived at Taiyuan City. Seeing the camp in front, Zhao Jiu didn't know why, but he just sighed slightly on his horse, and then he stationed his horse on the bank just like that day.
Bian, motionless... Only this time, he turned his back to the city, looking at the glacier and the military camp in the opposite direction.
Of course, we can definitely meet each other. No matter where we are facing, there should be no Jurchen cavalry coming to break out the formation this time.
Yang Yizhong and Liu Yan knew the temperament of Zhao Guan's family, so they didn't take it seriously at first. They both followed each other and had no words to say.
However, seeing the sun setting in the west and setting straight down, leaving only the light, the Zhao Guan family remained motionless... Moreover, the two of them could see clearly that the official family had no intention of watching the sunset... and they felt somewhat helpless.
So after waiting for a while, Yang Yizhong and Liu Yan looked at each other and then tacitly agreed on the division of labor - Liu Yan turned around and rode away, entering the camp to find more manpower to make necessary preparations, while Yang Yizhong took the initiative after hesitating for a moment.
Come forward and ask for a moment.
"It's nothing... I just don't want to join the camp." Zhao Jiu was honest. "I don't like the atmosphere in the camp these days."
Yang Yizhong, who had noticed something from the subtleties, was not surprised: "The officials are still worried that because it is too easy to break the city, the arrogance in the army cannot be concealed, will there be a defeat?"
"Absolutely!" Under the setting sun, Zhao Jiu finally turned around and smiled. "But the atmosphere in the army is actually not just arrogance. What worries me is actually not just the defeat of the arrogant soldiers."
Yang Yizhong thought for a while on the horse and said something: "Excuse me for being stupid, but I just saw that the atmosphere in the army was not simply high morale. When the armies asked for battle, they thought the situation was good and were blindly relaxed...
…I can’t think of unnecessary things.”
"Of course you can't notice it." Zhao Jiu smiled easily. "The redundant part of the bad atmosphere I mentioned actually refers to the fact that after the city was breached that day, everyone from top to bottom was more blindly afraid of me.
...I am afraid that only I can detect this atmosphere more clearly."
"Isn't it a good thing to be afraid of the officials?" Yang Yizhong hesitated and asked in a low voice.
"I can't tell whether it's a good thing or a bad thing." Zhao Jiu turned his eyes to the military camp under the setting sun, and then sighed slightly. "Logically speaking, whether the Northern Expedition succeeds or fails, after the war, I still want prestige.
I came here to do great things. At this time, it is certainly a good thing that everyone in the army is in awe of me. Even my behavior when I broke into the city that day was a bit smooth, intentionally or unintentionally, I wanted to use the incident to gain some prestige... But
, The fear I want is not this superstitious fear!"
"I'm stupid." Yang Yizhong seemed to understand, but he understood something in his heart, but he didn't know what appropriate words to use to express it.
"What kind of stupidity?" Zhao Jiu laughed again. "If you don't even know my thoughts, then you are really alone... What I want is that they know that it is gunpowder, but also understand that it is hundreds or even thousands.
It was only after this experiment that we obtained the best formula of gunpowder. I know that it took four or five years of accumulation and forbearance to make me feel so frightened by this news!"
At this point, seeing Liu Yan arriving with a few close ministers and a group of civilians carrying torches and the like, the official paused for a moment, then turned around and added: "To put it bluntly, I think they treat me as
Be respectful as an adult, not as a god."
Yang Yi suddenly realized...this was exactly what he thought.
Only in this way is it difficult to say this... It is difficult to say it to a minister, and it is also difficult to say it to an official.
"Let's go, it's so cold, don't let so many people freeze by the river." Zhao Jiu said something for a while, then headed back to camp to meet Liu Yan.
Under the setting sun, Yang Yizhong hurriedly followed.
It can only be said that no matter what the so-called overall situation is, the ninth year of Jianyan has passed, and the Zhao Guan family does not miss it. The tenth year of Jianyan has arrived, and the Zhao Guan family does not particularly welcome it.
PS: Thanks to Mr. Salted Watermelon for the cute post.
Happy May Day everyone... By the way, if there are extras for official events, what content would you like to see?