Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 523

Due to the bitter cold in the north and the proximity to the sea, after the 10 old Han soldiers moved northward, they could not make a living relying on farming alone. Therefore, the Shuai Mansion formulated a survival strategy of making use of strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and facing the mountains and the sea.Relying on Nanshan City and a small number of elite soldiers on land, they guarded the cavalry of the Liao Kingdom from going north to loot, and the Shuaifu invested most of its manpower and material resources on the navy.Just after the Battle of Nanshan, the Han army salvaged the sunken iron cannons of the Fourth Battalion of Chengying, and imitated several ships according to the style of the sunken ship, and lined them with iron keels and ribs to make the warship extremely strong.

Liaodong is rich in good wood necessary for shipbuilding, and the Han army itself has a navy, which is doing timber business with Xia Guo. Therefore, the strategy of backing the mountains and facing the sea is certain, and the expansion of the navy is extremely fast.In addition to doing business with Dongying, Japan, and the Song Dynasty, when encountering unsuspecting merchant ships at sea, they occasionally do some robbery, even people and goods are captured.Han's firm used to have a sea-going ship business. Over the years, sea-going ships have sailed as far as Nanyang, and the business has grown bigger and bigger, gradually becoming a situation where land is light and sea is heavy.

After the Han army rebelled, the Han people in Dongdong Road either died or fled, leaving either Khitan people, Bohai people, or Jurchens.Except for the area around Subinfu, which is bitterly cold in the north, the villages of the original Han people were empty.Some people in the commander-in-chief of the Han army even suggested that in the future, when the Liao army would attack on a large scale, except for a few strong fortresses like Nanshan City, hundreds of thousands of old and weak people could all move to small islands on the sea to take shelter, and return after the Liao army retreated. You can move to the southern islands by boat.The navy and maritime interests became more and more important to the Han army.This trip to aid Ezhou, on the one hand, is to accept Zhao Xingde's favor, on the other hand, the Han army also hopes to have a good deal with the Guangzhou Shipping Department.

"I heard that Jiangzhou was victorious," Zhou Guangzong asked. "The Liao dog was beaten to the bum?" Zhou Guangzong was not in Nanshan at the time, but Jin Changtai appreciated him leading Bingang in the far north.Later, the Han army moved to the northern border in a large scale. With the logging, iron smelting and trade of Dongmuhang as the link, the Chengying Eighth Battalion and the Han army cooperated and blended smoothly, and Zhou Guangzong was promoted to be a centurion.Zhou Guangzong was transferred to the gunboat again.The official rank on the gunboat is one level higher than ordinary ones, so Zhou Guangzong can be regarded as a commanding officer of the first level.He is an old man in the navy, and he has Tong Yunjie's trust. In the future, when a new ship is launched, he may lead a warship alone.

"En." Tong Yunjie nodded, "It's the same as Nanshan City. Jiangzhou killed more than [-] people, and General Han Shizhong succeeded in attacking Shuzhou. Now, Liaogou is hurt." His face lit up, knowing Zhao Xingde is Zhao De, happy to be different from others.

"That's a good thing, after this battle, the Liao thieves should be finished." Zhou Guangzong laughed, "The last general bought a lot of land deeds."

"The Liao dog is almost dead in the south, let's go to his old lair in Liaoyang." Tong Yunjie looked around, the bottom cabin was very dark, but it was very stuffy, and he was sweating profusely when he did a little work, and the gunners and sailors were all naked With their backs bent, they were busy scrubbing iron cannons, carrying ammunition, and even scrubbing the deck if nothing happened.The secret of the navy is not to let people idle for a moment, otherwise there will be chaos, and Zhou Guangzong has three flavors.

Tong Yunjie asked, "The heat in the south is very poisonous, brothers have no complaints?"

"It's okay." Zhou Guangzong frowned, "There are several people with rashes on their bodies, but we are better than Liaogou." He paused, and laughed, "It's just that we have been in the cabin for too long. After this battle is over, my lord will allow my brothers to go ashore to play, and I will guarantee that everyone will be alive,...well, alive and well, no need to take 'medicine', and all diseases will be cured. If you have money in your pocket, you can't keep it. I don't know where it is Do you accept Dongmu ticket?"

"Let's talk about winning the battle," Tong Yunjie didn't think it was disobedient, and said meaningfully, "After winning the battle, maybe there will be great things."

"Great thing?" Zhou Guangzong was amazed.Among the generals in the commander's mansion, Tong Yunjie has always been unsmiling, and he seldom played charades with his subordinates like this. He said it was a "great thing", Zhou Guangzong was blind and could see it, it was really a great thing.

"Yes," Tong Yunjie patted him on the shoulder to show his kindness, and said with a smile, "I'll know when the time comes." After speaking, he leaned on his wooden legs and "da" "da" "da" walked to the door of the gun window Stepping forward, he stretched out his hand to 'touch', and the belly of his thumb was not stained. Tong Yunjie nodded with satisfaction, and praised, "Not bad!" But he was thinking in his heart, if these bastards don't scold their skin for three days, next time they will take a piece of white cloth Come check it out?

............

"General Wu!" Chief Shi Gao Gongmao shouted loudly, "Yelü Dashi has dispatched troops!"

"Really?" Wu Jie raised his head and murmured, "The timing is good. Cao Di sent troops ten days ago, and it's too late even if he wants to send troops back. What's more, he has to At the risk of a field battle with the cavalry of the Liao army. Hehe," Wu Jie's eyes flickered slightly, and he returned to the marching map. He tapped Ezhou with the end of a pencil and said with a smile, "The front is the 'empty' Ezhou, and the back is the The Liao soldiers are like tigers, Cao Di is fighting with his back this time, and he must take Ezhou."

"Then, when are we going to send troops?" Gao Gongmao asked. As the commander of the army, once he decided on the date of sending troops, he would have a thousand and one things to prepare for.At the same time, tens of thousands of soldiers have been holding back in Fangzhou for a long time, and they are already like tigers in a cage, eager to try their minions.

Wu Jie's eyes were slightly cold, and he said slowly: "Don't worry, don't worry, just wait..." He closed his eyes slightly and stopped talking.Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, there has been almost no success in unifying the world without bloodshed.The only difference between a virtuous ruler and a tyrant is that who should bleed?How much blood?The strategy of the Eastern Expedition to Win Two Tigers with one blow has been planned for a long time, and I don't know how many people, how much effort, and how many years it took to arrange it.Fangzhou's ambush was just one of them.If Yelu Dashi was in Bianliang, all the Song Dynasty clan would be captured, and the Song Dynasty would have no master in the world, and they might have sent troops long ago.Now that I have waited so long and watched so much blood flow in Guandong, I don't hesitate to wait a little longer, until the pillars of the Song Dynasty are completely destroyed and the imperial line is cut off, and then simultaneously activate the undercurrents everywhere.After unifying the Kanto at the lowest cost, there are still many follow-ups inside and outside.

Gao Gongmao only vaguely guessed something, and when he thought of the young Chang Shi who had a good impression, he felt a little regretful.He hesitated for a moment, and reminded: "Since Xiangyang and Liao troops have launched successively, should we inform Zhao Dujian first so that he can prepare early. Wouldn’t it be good for Bing and I to hunt the chieftains of the Northern Captives between Xiangyang and Ezhou?” Gao Gongmao is also a long-time veteran, he has a considerable status in Anton and the Marching Army Division, and he is of the same generation as Wu Jie. He emphasized this statement, It is also a heart of love.

Wu Jie shook his head and said: "Gongmao, if we cherish talents for the country, it's better to let him stay out of it at this time." He was silent for a moment, his eyes became a little dark, "I think that after Di Qing was captured, Emperor Weiyuan tried to kill him. Because of his arrogance, he was restrained in the scholar's mansion, and he had to change his family. As a result, this person will not be used by our court for the rest of his life. If you go to Anxi or Anbei, give him a thousand hussars, and he will have a large number of Hu people's heads at his disposal. After that, we will be indistinguishable from each other." Wu Jie sighed, "I heard that Emperor Weiyuan also regretted it later, but it was just that he was riding a tiger, and the Guandong court responded appropriately. Not only did Song Mingzong not be suspicious of this, but he sent envoys to greet him every year, and rewarded the descendants of the Di family even more generously. Li Suo, hehe, I buried a peerless famous general, so that everyone can only make mistakes. People are not sages, and no one can be ruthless. I want to rule the world with heroes. Sometimes, people don’t have to make choices. Sometimes , It's not good to make it too clear. So..., it's rare to be confused."

Gao Gongmao was taken aback, recalling the past, he couldn't help sighing: "Emperor Weiyuan established his country with strength, and those who offend me will be punished even if they are far away, how can they tolerate such a muddle-headed approach? —”

Zhao Xingde's reputation in the Kanto region and his general talent in this war of the Liao Kingdom's invasion of the south have already attracted the attention of the Marching Army Division. According to Wu Jie, this person will probably be able to appease the Kanto region for the Xia Kingdom in the future. In Kanto, if he can’t, he will be transferred to Anxi to fight against the Ross people. It just so happens that he also made his debut in the Lumei Kingdom, so he can be placed in the Anxi Military Division without delay in accumulating military merits and being promoted.Those who were transferred to Anxi together were probably some other newly emerging famous generals from the Kanto region. Perhaps in the future, the world will be peaceful and people will no longer miss Song, so they may return to their homeland.The general died in a hundred battles, and the strong man returned after ten years. For soldiers, this may be a better ending.

Gao Gongmao was old in the military, and Wu Jie leaked some secrets, and he guessed the truth, and he felt a little regretful, but he didn't try to persuade him any more.The northern captives have been a disaster for the Central Plains for a long time, and now the most important thing is to take advantage of the deep invasion of the Khitan to thoroughly bleed the Khitan people, so that none of their horses can return. , and then the Northern Expedition to destroy Liao is just around the corner.

............

On the official road of Huangzhou, more than a thousand riders are busy with travel and dust.After traveling a long distance, the war horses were already crumbling. From time to time, some horses fell to the side of the road, foaming at the mouth and dying, and they seemed to be dying.And the cavalry was also staggering on the horse, as if dozing off at any time.The scorching sun was burning above their heads, and the men and horses were sweating profusely, as if they had bathed in water.The cavalry surrounded the man in the middle, the robe was covered with mud spots, the collar of the robe was turned up and the hood was covered on the bun, covering it tightly from head to toe.

"I'm on my way in this hot weather, isn't it hot for General Zhao to wear this?" Yang Zaixing asked.

"Get used to it," Zhao Xingde said with a smile, "this kind of robe is most suitable for marching under the scorching sun, don't believe me, try it?"

These thousand riders are the vanguard army, and another [-] infantry sailed up the river by boat. Here are all the troops that aided Ezhou from the west.The rest, under the leadership of Yue Fei, fought with Han Shizhong to defeat the Liao army under the fleeing Temuge.From Jiangzhou to Shuzhou, the south is the torrential river, which has been suppressed by Han Shizhong's navy, and the north is the Dabie Mountains, which is extremely unfavorable for cavalry operations. The bloody road can only be ventured into the mountainous area, but when marching in the mountainous area, the cavalry cannot gallop at all. Once the Song army is trailing, the Liao army will undoubtedly be defeated.