Great Han Empire

Chapter 468
After lunch, the Empress Dowager left Xiao Yu in Yongle Palace, and the emperor took Li Hong to Jiade Palace to discuss matters.

The two monarchs and ministers walked and chatted.Li Hong followed the emperor and found that he was much thinner than two years ago.The emperor's thin body is like a bamboo pole, and his neck becomes more and more slender, as if a gust of wind could blow it off.Thinking of the fact that the Son of Heaven barely had a mouthful of lunch, Li Hong couldn't help being very worried, and whispered, Your Majesty must take care of the dragon's body and don't get too tired.

"I had a little too much breakfast, so..." the emperor smiled, "Don't worry, Aiqing, I'm fine."

The Son of Heaven immediately asked about the various preparations for the Northern Xinjiang War. Li Hong replied respectfully one by one, and then said cautiously: "Your Majesty, I believe that the army can go out of the fortress in the middle of next month. Now that the Xiliang rebellion has basically been put down, Qing The ant thieves in the Xu area are also about to be defeated, and the conditions for going out to fight are basically met, except..."

The emperor glanced at him and asked, "Except for what?"

"Except for the emperor's order." Li Hong whispered, "For the matter of the emperor's order, I think that your Majesty should be quick rather than slow. You should confer the crown prince as soon as possible and tell the world..."

The emperor waved his hand and said lightly: "This matter should not be too hasty. If you are anxious, there will be chaos. It is better to slow down. The same is true for fighting outside the fortress. Take your time and don't worry."

Li Hong was speechless.

===

When they arrived at the Jiade Hall, Li Hong and all the ministers greeted them one by one.He hasn't been back to the court for two years, and things have changed in the court. Not only have he never seen many people, he has never even heard of them.Wei Wei Liu and the monk ordered Lu Zhi to accompany Li Hong and introduce him one by one.The hall was very lively.Grand Changqiu Zhao Zhong and Zhongchang Attendant Zhang Rang also participated in the court meeting today, the two old middle-ranking officials chatted affectionately with Li Hong, and Zhao Zhong repeatedly invited Li Hong to sit at the mansion when he had time.

According to the order, Li Hong first reported the recent situation in northern Xinjiang to the emperor, then detailed the specific process of the Youzhou War, and finally reported the preparations for the reorganization of the army and the battle outside the frontier.He talked eloquently for a long time, and after the report, he took the trouble to answer many questions raised by the ministers.

Lu Zhi said: "General, can you explain in detail the specific strategy of the Northern Xinjiang War?"

Li Hong nodded, then walked to the map of northern Xinjiang hanging on the side of the main hall, faced the emperor and ministers and said: "The purpose of going out of the fortress to fight is to recover the four northern counties, recapture the cities occupied by the Hu people, and rescue the cities occupied by the Hu people." In order to achieve this goal, we must wipe out the Hu people's army as much as possible, and wipe out the Hu people to the south of Yinshan Mountain, so as to prevent them from escaping Yinshan Mountain and continuing to harm the border counties in the future."

"Currently, in the four northern counties there are the armies of Xukui from the Eastern Qiang, the armies of the Hun rebels Xubuguduhou and Baimatong, and the army of Tuobafeng from the Xianbei. Among them, the Xiongnu rebels accounted for more than 12 people. If the war started, the Hu people would recruit all the men from the tribe who could mount horses and fight, so that their army would expand to about 8 people in a short period of time.”

"There are so many barbarians?" Taiwei Ma Rixun asked in surprise, "If the war starts and the Xianbei people stop fighting among themselves and make peace, how many troops can they gather to go south to support Tuobafeng?"

Li Hong thought for a while, and said: "Now Danhan Mountain Royal Court doesn't have many troops. The most powerful Xianbei people are Murong Feng, Lord Xianbei in the middle, followed by Lord Xianbei from the west, and Mi Jia, Lord Xianbei from the east. , if they respond to the call of the leader and rush to Danhan Mountain to assemble, they can gather about 10 to [-] troops. Of course, this already includes all the males of the Xianbei who can ride horses." Li Hong explained, "The Xianbei people were defeated by Xijiang and Yanmen Pass in a row. Coupled with the casualties on the Youzhou battlefield in the past few years, they lost at least more than [-] troops. So if they can still gather [-] people, then Xianbei Except for women, children, old and young people, everyone else has already joined the battle. That is to say, even if Tuoba Feng took the initiative to surrender to Danhan Mountain, it is impossible for the king of Xianbei to recruit all the tribes of the prairie to go south for support. A few pieces of land in the south will pay for the entire Xianbei country."

"Our losses are due to the Huns. Last year, due to various reasons, we failed to kill a large number of Huns rebels in the Henan area (now the Hetao area). This would not have affected the battlefields of the four northern counties, but Then an unexpected thing happened, Xubuguduhou abandoned Meiji and led the entire right tribe of 10,000+ people to cross Hebei. The Huns were called to help Tuobafeng, and they took the opportunity to control the four northern counties , They took the four northern counties as their own without any effort. Tuoba Feng didn't care about this in order to get the help of the Huns to defeat the leader when he was at a loss. But I think Tuoba Feng might have wanted to The four northern counties were given to the Huns, and the Huns blocked him to the south of Yinshan Mountain, which will be of great benefit to his recovery and comeback in the future."

"After the Xiongnu rebels went north, they immediately reversed the unfavorable situation of the Hu people in northern Xinjiang and completely destroyed the strategy of the northern Xinjiang war we made last year. Now the Xiongnu rebels gathered in the four northern counties, the Xianbei people and the Dongqiang people An alliance has been formed, and the strength of the Hu people has increased dramatically. Under the current situation, the difficulty of our attack has doubled. It is impossible to easily capture the four northern counties. The situation in northern Xinjiang today is far from Exceeded our expectations last year.”

===

"Considering the purpose of the battle in northern Xinjiang and the strength of the Hu allied forces, after careful planning, we plan to conquer the General's Mansion of Peking University. We plan to attack from three directions and encircle the allied forces of the Hu people. We will strive to win the four northern counties in the shortest possible time and completely annihilate the Hu people. The coalition forces will end the war in northern Xinjiang." Li Hong pointed to Yinshan Mountain on the map, and continued: "The best way to wipe out the Hu nationality coalition forces is to encircle the Hu nationality coalition forces in Wuyuan and Yunzhong and wipe them out. But there is only one way to encircle the Hu coalition forces, and that is for us to rush to the foot of Yin Mountain first and cut off their retreat."

"The shortest path to Mount Yin is to cross the Yellow River from Heyin, and then our army will fight a bloody road from Jiuyuan City straight into Manyi Valley, and then quickly go north from Manyi Valley to occupy Yangjiao Mountain, Weique and Qingyue Canyon in sequence, thus Completed the encirclement of the Hu allied forces." Li Hong pointed to Jiuyuan City in Wuyuan County on the map and said, "At present, the Shan Yuting of Xubu Guduhou is in Jiuyuan City. The Huns considered that we would cross the river to attack, so They deployed heavy troops along the north bank of the Yellow River in the cities of Xi'anyang, Chengyi, Yiliang, Jiuyuan, Linwo, and Chouyang, and it is almost impossible for us to cross the north from Jiuyuan city."

"Then how can we successfully cross the river from the direction of Jiuyuan?" Li Hong pointed to the Juzhu fortress on the map and said, "We used a group of troops to go north from the direction of Yanmen Pass, and launched a fierce attack on the two counties of Dingxiang and Yunzhong to lure out the Xiongnu rebels. The main force. The second group of troops pretended to cross Hebei from the direction of Duliao River, and made a gesture of attacking Yunzhong with the first group of troops. As long as the main force of the Xiongnu stationed in Wuyuan County was lured to Yunzhong County for support, this group of troops would You can then turn around and rush west to Heyin and forcefully cross the river."

Li Hong pointed to Helan Mountain on the map, and said, "The third group of people started from Lingwu Valley in Beidi County, crossed Helan Mountain, went straight into Shuofang County, crossed the Gongxian Desert (today's Kubuqi Desert), and quietly rushed to Yangshu Lake. (today's Wuliang Suhai), and then suddenly launched an attack from behind the Xiongnu rebels. This action must be hit with one blow. After the third group of troops occupies Jiuyuan, they can cover the second group of troops and quickly cross the river."

"As long as the crossing of the river is successful, the two groups of troops will meet up, and the army will immediately go north to Yinshan with superior forces, cut off the retreat of the Hu people, and force the Hu people's allied forces to fight us in Wuyuan or Yunzhong. If the decisive battle is successful, the four northern counties will be recovered."

Li Hong then gave a detailed explanation on the specific details.

The hall was quiet, only Li Hong's passionate voice echoed in the empty house.The ministers of Sangong Jiuqing and Shang Shutai all looked solemn and listened attentively, lest they miss something.

===

"How will the general's troops be deployed?" Situ Dinggong asked.

"In Yanmen County, there are currently three battalions of iron cavalry from Yan Rou, four battalions of infantry from Yushi, and then my sixth battalion. This is the first line of main attacking troops. There are a total of 4000 people from the 4000th Battalion. Including Shangguwu The 8000 iron cavalry at Loulu of Wan Dawang is [-] people." Li Hong pointed to Meiji on the map and said, "There are currently Xu Rong's four battalions of infantry in the Henan area, Qu Yi's third battalion of cavalry, and Yang Feng's four battalions of cavalry. The battalion infantry will also rush to Duliao. This is the second attacking force, led by Xu Rong. This is the most important force. Whether the Northern Xinjiang War can achieve the expected goal depends on them. This force is The eleventh battalion has [-] soldiers, plus the [-] cavalry of Zuo Xianwang Liu Bao, a total of [-] people."

"At present, Zhao Yun, who is currently stationed in the Great Wall Fortress, will lead 100 cavalry out of Lingwu Valley alone, cross Helan Mountain, cross the desert, and attack Jiuyuan from the direction of Yangshu Lake. Whether his attack will be effective will directly affect the ability of the second group of troops Can you successfully cross the river?" Li Hong pointed to the desert in the middle of Shuofang County on the map, and said slowly with a worried look on his face, "This desert is called the Bowstring Desert. Please look, my lords, this curved Yellow River is like the bow of a giant bow. Arched back, and this desert that is more than [-] miles long is the bow string, so the Hu people call it the bow string desert. There is a lake area in this desert called Qixing Lake. As long as Zhao Yun's cavalry can get replenished with water from the lake in time, they will be able to walk out smoothly Desert, and rushed to Yangshu Lake quietly. The Xiongnu rebels would never have thought that our iron cavalry would come out of the desert. As long as Zhao Yun's surprise attack is successful, Jiuyuan City will be captured and the river crossing will be successful."

"Considering the safety of Gyeonggi and the defense of the counties and counties in Bingzhou, Xian Yufu and Zhang Yan will stay in Bingzhou. The left behind troops are 4 infantry troops from the eighth battalion, stationed in Longshan and Yanmen Pass in Jinyang." Li Hong sighed and said, "If these 11 people can also go out of the fortress, then our frontal attack force will reach 4000, which can completely lure the main force of the Hu coalition forces to Yunzhong and Dingxiang..."

"Using [-] troops to attack the Hu coalition army from the front is indeed a little less in terms of strength. If there is no absolute advantage to defeat the Hu coalition army, it will be difficult for us to completely lure the main force of the Hun rebel army out of Wuyuan County." Lu Zhi said, "I think the general can ask Zhang Yan to follow up."

Li Hong shook his head, pointed to Gaoliu City of Daijun in Youzhou on the map, and said: "At present, Youzhou's troops are insufficient, and the Karasuma people from Daijun and Shanggu Commanderies have been recruited again, so there must be a large army staying behind in the Juzhu fortress. Will the leader know?" Support, we don’t know, but if the leader suddenly led his troops to capture Gaoliu City from Danhan Mountain, and then quickly attacked our grain transportation along the road, it would be a huge threat to the army.”

Lu Zhi shook his head and sighed, "It would be great if there were [-] troops attacking from the front."

What Li Hong said was the truth. The 10,000+ army split up to attack outside the Great Wall. The stability of the rear and the safety of grain and grass transportation are the top priorities. No matter what, there must be a large army staying behind at the pass.

===

The emperor suddenly asked: "The general thinks it will take a few months to go out and recover the border counties?"

Li Hong thought for a while and said: "In April, the army goes out of the fortress and starts to attack from the front. It will only take about two months until the rainy season comes in June. If we want to attack thousands of miles in two months, we can recover the four northern counties." , In fact, it is impossible, so, counting the rainy season in June and July, the war in northern Xinjiang will end at least until September or October."

"If the army starts attacking from August, and everything goes well, it will take us about four to five months to recover the border county. In the early days, we also proposed to start the attack from May, but now it is impossible, because our The combat strategy has been completely revised, and considering the rainy season on the grasslands, it is very unfavorable for the army to attack at this time."

"So, August is the best time to go out and attack." The emperor said, "Not only is the weather good, but it can also save a lot of military resources."

Before Li Hong could speak, Shangshu Han Fu said: "Your Majesty, I think it is better to attack the fortress in mid-April as proposed by the general. Although going to the fortress in mid-April will waste two months of military resources, there is a risk of going out in August. Big worry. The general just said that if the attack goes well, it will take four to five months, but what if the attack doesn't go well? If it doesn't go well, the battle will be delayed until the snow season, which will be troublesome. One of the main reasons why Sunset Plain was defeated in the sixth year of Xiping was the early arrival of heavy snow. We must not forget this painful lesson. Taking a step back, even if the army is safe and secure, it will have to wait until next spring if it wants to resume the war. The military resources are even more astonishing.”

The emperor frowned slightly, and looked at Li Hong.

Li Hongzou said: "Your Majesty, I think Master Han's words are very correct. I have repeatedly advanced the time of attacking out of the fortress. It is precisely because of this concern. There are several considerations why I want to start attacking out of the fortress in mid-April."

"One is that if Zhao Yun's iron cavalry set off from the Great Wall Fortress at the end of March and travel a distance of more than 2000 miles, it would take at least a month. That is to say, he would start attacking Jiuyuan at the end of April. In order to cooperate with his surprise attack, we must In the middle of the month, the army stormed Dingxiang and Yunzhong counties in half a month in order to lure out the main force of the Xiongnu rebels."

"The Hu coalition forces consider that our offensive will be forced to stop after the rainy season comes, and the situation in northern Xinjiang may change after the long rainy season, so they will concentrate their main force to block our offensive anyway in order to hold on The rainy season will come in June. If the situation is still unfavorable to them in August, they will also have plenty of time to retreat through the Yinshan Mountains. Therefore, the main force of the Xiongnu rebels will definitely leave Wuyuan County and rush to Yunzhong and Dingxiang to stop us. "

"Secondly, after Zhao Yun captured Jiuyuan and Xu Rong led his troops across Hebei, there were nearly 9 soldiers and horses, and the amount of grain, grass, and luggage supplied to the army was very large. Once the rainy season came, the river surged, and the transportation of grain, grass, and luggage became a big problem. Therefore, we have to send enough grain and supplies across the Yellow River before the rainy season comes. This is the main reason why I gave up attacking the fortress in May. Without enough grain and supplies, it is difficult for Xu Rong's army to persist until after the rainy season."

"Thirdly, I am worried that the attack will be blocked. The Xianbei tribes proceeded from the safety of the Xianbei country. If we join forces to go south again, we will fall into a bitter battle. The war will be delayed again and again. If it is delayed until the snow season, the northern Xinjiang war may come to naught. , Therefore, I think the best way to avoid these disasters is to go to war in advance.

===

Sikong Liu Hong asked: "General, you are fighting on two battlefields at the same time. Although there is no need to worry about food, grass and supplies, are there enough civilians to accompany the army? I remember that General Xu once said that he would not be able to recruit enough civilians until after the spring plowing in April. , Does the general have a solution now? With 20 troops out of the fortress, at least 60 to 80 people are needed. If the general recruits the people of Bingzhou in advance, what will happen to the spring plowing in Bingzhou?"

Li Hong sighed and said: "Since the refugee riots broke out in Qingzhou and Xuzhou, more and more victims have fled to Bingzhou, especially in the past two months, almost flooding. We have no way to resettle them, so we have to do everything we can. More than 40 disaster victims were sent to the Great Wall Fortress. Now, from Chang'an to the Great Wall Fortress, and then to the Henan area, these people are transporting food, grass and luggage. The most important thing is to be able to fill our stomachs. Although we don’t have enough money for disaster relief, we have wars to fight. As long as there is a war, they will have something to do. As long as they have something to do, they can temporarily solve the problem of food. This is probably the most unique thing in my Han country. It's disaster relief."

The emperor and the ministers were stunned and couldn't believe their ears.In Li Hong's mouth, war turned out to be the disaster relief strategy of the Great Han Kingdom.The influx of disaster victims not only solved the problem of hundreds of thousands of civilians, but also solved the problem of disaster relief by the way. Does war have such a magical effect?
"The people who moved to Bingzhou last year were not 60 disaster victims, but 80." Li Hong said with a wry smile, "This is still the result of our approximate calculation, and the real number may be far more than that. Jizhou Prefecture has given me a problem. But Because of this, Jizhou escaped a catastrophe, and Yang Qi is considered to be far-sighted. Last year, there were disaster riots in Qingzhou, Xuzhou and Yanzhou, but there was no riot in Jizhou. Although there was chaos in Jizhou later, it was mainly because of the ant thieves in Yanzhou After crossing the Yellow River and mixing with the Yellow Turban Army from Heishan, it is not considered a riot by the victims of Jizhou. This Master Yang has caused us a lot of trouble. We managed to arrange 20 people in Xihe County, and the other 60 victims have already left the customs. Some of these people acted as civilian husbands, and some went to Pingcheng to farm, and they can basically have enough food for the time being."

"My lords, do you know the current population of Bingzhou?" Li Hong smiled uglier than crying, "According to Mr. Zhao Qi and Zhao, if you count all the captive population in Bianjun, it is about 300 million. 300 million? What does Bingzhou feed these people? I remember that when Bingzhou was at its peak, there were only 220 million people. Do you adults know if Bingzhou can’t support them? What will happen if they can’t be fed? Northern Xinjiang is likely to collapse in an instant.”

"The general must have a solution." Taiwei Ma Rixun forced a smile, "The general is in northern Xinjiang, and the general will definitely solve such matters that affect the safety of the country."

Li Hong shook his head again and again, facing the emperor, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the solution is to fight."

===

"The farming of Bingzhou has just started, and there is no effect, but the imperial court and the states and counties seem to regard Bingzhou as the largest granary in the world. I heard that there are announcements in various states and counties, saying that Bingzhou has land and grain, and is richer than the capital. , calling on all victims of disasters to go to Bingzhou. I don’t know what they mean, but I know that there will be more and more victims of disasters in Bingzhou. Calculated based on the influx of about 400 victims per month, the population of Bingzhou may exceed [-] by the end of this year [-]. If there are still disasters this year, or victims from Qingxuyan and other places cross Hebei, they will swarm into Bingzhou with the call and help of Mr. Yang in Jizhou, and Bingzhou will become the largest refugee gathering place in the Han Dynasty. As a result, the situation in northern Xinjiang will become more and more critical." Li Hong waved his hands excitedly, "Bingzhou is overwhelmed, and there is a possibility of riots at any time. In order to resolve this crisis, there is only one solution now, and that is to fight. Stop fighting."

"Wars can seize land, deplete the population, plunder wealth, allow the Han Kingdom to resettle the victims at the least cost, stabilize the northern border, and even quell the continuous rebellions caused by too many refugees, and can completely eradicate the root causes of these rebellions. This is something that no amount of money from Han Guohua can do.”

"Currently, several places in Bingzhou that can be used to farm are overcrowded. Taiyuan, Shangdang, both sides of the Yellow River in Xihe River, and Pingcheng in Yanmen County, only the land in Henan is left. The land in Henan is now the territory of the Huns. When this place is taken back to resettle the victims of the disaster, we must go out to fight as soon as possible.”

"Fighting out of the fortress is not only to recover the border counties, but also to kill a large number of barbarian people. What's more, we must make the land with lush water and grass outside the Great Wall the pastures of our big man people, so as to accommodate more and more people as much as possible, but The four border counties outside the Great Wall are far from enough, we still need more land and territory, we want to go to the north of Yinshan Mountain, we want to take advantage of the civil strife in Xianbei, when Tuobafeng's strength is greatly damaged, occupy all the northern Xianbei territory."

"After seizing the territory to the north of Yinshan Mountain, we drove the Xianbei people deep into the prairie, so that we could move the Huns to the north and south of Yinshan Mountain, and the Henan area could farm fields, and Xiliang Beidi County was also driven by the Hu people. From then on, the faraway land will be protected from invasion, and the fields can be farmed on both sides of the Yellow River in Beidi County. There were 80 people farmed in the Lingzhou area during the reign of Emperor Wu, and it was a huge granary."

"Your Majesty, I beg your Majesty to immediately order the troops from the northern border to go out to fight, to recover the frontier counties, to go on an expedition to the prairie, and to expand the territory for the Great Han Kingdom."

The emperor and ministers were shocked.The general who conquered the North also wanted to conquer the north of Yinshan Mountain?

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(End of this chapter)