Chapter 607: The Mature King
Zhao Yulin smiled and shook his head and said: The road ahead is smooth, there is no danger at all.
At this time, in the New Song Dynasty, scouts of the Shenwei Army frequently attacked from Gansu Road to Shaanxi Road and then to the border of Zhending Prefecture in Hebei Province. The intensity of the spying was suddenly increased, and there were scouts running everywhere. The Khan Mengge and his younger brother Hubili of the Grassland Empire were both busy collecting intelligence, not knowing where the Shenwei Army would attack.
Soon, news came from the direction of Taiyuan Prefecture that Lai Chuanfang's Shenwei Army was gathering troops and was about to go out of Yanmen and head north, intending to attack Yunzhou Datong Prefecture.
Mengge Khan was enjoying the rare good weather in the city. He said to Tachaer beside him with disdain: It has only been a short time, and the little southern barbarians dared to come to the grassland and act wildly. How are our men trained?
Tachaer reported to him that he had organized and trained 100,000 cavalrymen, 50,000 Han soldiers to guard the city, and many princes and nobles led their tribal people to roam around, so there was nothing to fear.
Da Meng took a sip of horse milk tea and said contemptuously: Let them have a taste of what it feels like to be trampled by our grassland cavalry, so that the little southern barbarians will never dare to set foot on the grassland again.
In the New Song Dynasty in the south, the Ministry of Rites activated the country's powerful propaganda machine. Newspapers from all over the country were reporting on the barbaric acts of the northern barbarians who wantonly invaded the border, burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of atrocities. The Shenwei Army could no longer tolerate this and had to fight back strongly.
Zhao Feiyan returned to Chengdu with her ministers on vacation and was holding a meeting in the Privy Council. She solemnly told all the adults: After careful planning, the Privy Council decided to fight against the Mongolian army and recapture Datong Prefecture.
All the officials were shocked, especially veteran officials like Du Fan, who knew that it would be extremely dangerous to go out of Yanmen and fight on the vast flat prairie, and it was not as easy as telling stories or watching actors perform plays.
The heavy casualties suffered by the Yang family during their battle at Yanmen is a living example.
The old man trembled and said: We must be cautious in military and national affairs.
Zhao Feiyan said confidently: Don't worry, gentlemen. You must believe that the Shenwei Army can fight, and believe that our New Song can support this war after nearly ten years of accumulation.
Hua Yue saw Zhao Feiyan handling state affairs skillfully and admired the king for becoming more and more mature.
When Feiyan first took the throne, she looked around at a loss as soon as the ministers spoke. Now, Zhao Feiyan calmly handles military affairs and handles state affairs with ease, without any sense of urgency. She must be a rare talent.
Hua Yue followed suit and agreed with the Privy Council's decision to use military force against the northern grassland empire. He believed that the New Song Dynasty had vast territory and abundant resources, and a large population. As long as the whole country was united, they would be able to defeat the grassland empire, recover the territory of the New Song Dynasty, and restore the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties.
Zhao Feiyan was delighted to hear this. She raised her hand to applaud Hua Yue and asked the Ministry of Rites to publicize in the newspapers that the Shenwei Army would attack and recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
The war machine of the New Song Dynasty began to operate rapidly.
In Hengqu Town at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain, the emperor and the empress dowager were still spending the summer. Shi's son was reading newspapers to the emperor like a close eunuch. After reading about the turmoil on the northern border, he sensitively realized that the court was going to send troops to the north.
The emperor tapped the armrest of the chair and said: Fight, fight. In the past few years, our Song Dynasty has suffered a lot and been humiliated. Now it is time to take revenge.
The Queen Mother, who was sitting next to the Emperor, said disdainfully that the officials of the Central Court were still enjoying the coolness in Jianfu Palace, so what was there to fight about? And Zhao Qi'er didn't even know which concubine he was hugging and having fun with.
Shi's son shook his head and said: "Grandma Xie doesn't understand this aspect. Mr. Zhao's judgment is absolutely accurate. The Central Government officials went to Qingcheng Mountain for summer vacation in front of the Northern Empire. It is said that Commander Zhao went to Xinshi to recuperate and did not vacation in Jianfu Palace. Commander Zhao may have already arrived at the border to command the battle."
The queen said carefully: "Seriously, this is a huge secret of state."
The emperor laughed and said that they were all idlers, just drinking tea and joking here to speculate on the court's decision. Let's make a bet. If Mr. Shi is right, Madam will treat you to a drink. If Mr. Shi is wrong, how about treating you to a beggar's chicken?
Haha, this literary and artistic emperor wins on both ends of the bet, and he has wine to drink on both sides.
Shi's son was delighted to be recognized by the emperor, and nodded with interest: Based on his understanding of Commander Zhao over the years, he knew that this man was definitely not a playful person . It was said that he had dug a 100-foot-deep fire well in Qiongzhou some time ago, and his fire was extremely strong. His second son opened three salt workshops, but he still had more than enough fire to use, so he wanted to use the fire to open a winery and build a blast furnace to refine fine iron.
The Queen Mother neither read books nor newspapers, so how could she know these things? She said disdainfully: You are just bragging. Where in the world can you find such a good fire well? I have never heard of it.
The emperor said unhappily that what was published in the New Song Newspaper could not be false. The Ministry of Works also wanted to conduct a pilot project in fire wells to allow the people to use natural gas. Would the court make up such a story without verification?
The Queen Mother shut up and began to doubt her own judgment.
Shi's son immediately continued: "Sir, you are right. I am also curious. How can Commander Zhao make so many new things? If he were not commanding the battle at the border, he would definitely make new things in Xinshi. Healing is definitely a cover."
The emperor jokingly told them not to be so confident, as they had already made the bet.
Shi's son immediately said with a big smile on his face: "I admit defeat." He picked up the tea bowl and invited the emperor to have tea.
Three days later, the Shenwei Army marched out of Yanmen and advanced towards Yunzhou with great fanfare. The army moved forward quickly, and the garrison troops immediately followed behind to build roads and erect stable bridges to ensure the army's continuous advance.
Tachaer in Datong Prefecture found out immediately and reported it to Mengge at once.
Da Meng was also surprised after hearing the report. The Shenwei Army was marching on ox carts and horse carriages, and their advancement speed was extremely fast. The forts along the way could not resist at all and opened their gates to surrender one after another.
The most crucial point is that the Shenwei Army massively recruited civilians along the route to join in building bridges and roads, and did not avoid the advance of the army at all.
This gave his staff at least three pieces of information: First, the Shenwei Army had built a large number of horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts suitable for traveling on the grasslands. The wheels were equipped with bearings, and any oxen or horses could run faster than the carts on the grasslands. The army was like sitting on the carts. In two words, the speed of advancement was "extremely fast."
The second is that the Shenwei Army is constantly repairing and widening the road along the way. Note that this is the Shenwei Army widening the road on the way forward, which means they are sure that they can win the battle and occupy the grassland and Yunzhou.
Otherwise, aren't they helping our grassland empire by going to so much trouble to build roads and bridges?
The third is that the Shenwei Army was winning people's hearts. They drove the civilians along the way to build the road, and transported food from the interior to ensure that they had three meals a day. They were also paid for their work, and the untouchables were given brand new New Song coins.
This is not easy. The New Song currency is a hard currency with a strong reputation. These untouchables have food to eat and money to earn, so they will definitely remember the kindness of the New Song.
Da Meng was a little confused. Damn, it seems he has to go forward to meet the enemy.
It turned out that Da Mengge and Tachaer planned to intercept the Shenwei Army at Yinshatan, less than 100 miles south of Yunzhou. Now the enemy is advancing straight ahead, and there are still large troops behind to build roads and bridges. When the Shenwei Army completes these, with fast and convenient transportation to support logistics, his wishful thinking of stretching the enemy's transportation line to tire the enemy will fail.
However, Tachaer reported to him: It's too late, and they can only fight against the Shenwei Army at Yinshatan.
Because they had to plan all the matters such as assembling their troops, transporting food and military supplies, and calculating the time, the army could only go there.
Only then did Da Mengge truly realize that his country's overall national strength was backward.
When it comes to light cavalry galloping on the grassland, his empire's cavalry is definitely the fastest. However, to plan a battle, a decisive battle, it is not enough to rely on a charge of light cavalry.
Mengge waved his hand and issued an edict to fight the New Song army at Yinshatan, and ordered all places to come to the rescue, saying that he would lead the army in person.
Tachaer immediately mobilized all the forces of Datong Prefecture to prepare for war, and all usable jars and pots were moved to the battlefield.
Zhao Yulin also made a public appearance at the front line, summoned all the generals to hold a meeting, and formally announced the decision of the Central Council of the New Song Dynasty to attack outside the Great Wall and start a war to recover the country.
The generals were excited and shouted in unison: "Recover our country , recover our country."
After Lai Chuanfang announced the deployment arrangements for the three armies of left, center and right, Zhao Yulin told everyone: The previous emperor of the Song Dynasty left a legacy that whoever recovers Yanyun will be crowned a king. Our new Song Dynasty is a republic where everyone is equal. Although we no longer use the term "crown king", there must still be a rule.
Afterwards, he would report to the Central Court in Chengdu that all those who participated in the battle outside the border would have their salaries increased by 10%, and military officers at all levels would be promoted by one level according to the regulations.
All the generals shouted in unison: The Shenwei Army is mighty, the Shenwei Army is mighty.
Lai Chuanfang Geng immediately ordered to set off.
Two days later, the vanguard of the Shenwei Army arrived at Silver Beach.
When Tachaer learned that Zhao Yulin was personally commanding the 20,000-strong vanguard of the Shenwei Army to approach lightly armed, he immediately flew into a rage. Damengge also thought that Zhao Yulin did not take the Mongolian army seriously enough and actually led his own army deep into the grassland. He immediately ordered the cavalry to attack, to surprise attack the Shenwei Army and give Zhao Yulin a heavy blow.
The Battle of Datong Prefecture thus began.
Zhao Yulin and Liu Zheng led the Sixth Column to Yinshatan, a wide river valley that was conducive to the enemy's cavalry charge but greatly disadvantageous to the infantry's defense.
However, the enemy has arrived.
Scouts urgently reported that a large number of Mongolian cavalry were on their way.
Zhao Yulin asked Zhang Dabiao, the commander of the new third battalion, expressionlessly, how should the machine gun position be best set up?
Da Biao had checked the terrain long ago and thought that this place was flat and there was not even a protruding high ground. It was a dead end. However, there was a protruding high ground in the valley five miles back that could be used. If two positions were selected on both sides of the valley and horses were placed there, the valley could be blocked.
Zhao Yulin glanced at Liu Zheng and said: Then let's listen to Da Biao and the army will retreat five miles and set up formation.
Liu Zheng immediately ordered the front team to become the rear team and retreat.
The brothers in the team immediately retreated in an orderly manner.
Some leading soldiers were muttering, what kind of new battalion is this, and how the commander could convince the third young master to retreat.
You know, the third young master came back to face death.
