Chapter 169 I Hate that the Song Dynasty Doesn’t Have Huo Huqi

New Year's Eve has just passed, and Jingyou's fourth year has come.

Although it is the beginning of spring around the time of Chinese New Year, the temperature has not yet warmed up, and the fresh wind from Hebei still fills the air with a slight chill.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, the Constitutional Yuan issued an edict signed by the emperor and accepted by the Constitutional Yuan, summoning Fan Yong, the transfer envoy of Shaanxi Province, to know Henan, and Fan Zhongyan, the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, was ordered to serve as the economic and strategic envoy of Shaanxi Province, in charge of the military and civil affairs in Guanzhong.

In addition, Wang Deyong, the official of the Privy Council, was ordered to sign a letter as the chief general. He transferred 20,000 elite soldiers from the imperial army stationed on Gyeonggi Road to march to the northwest and garrison at the border.

According to the current intelligence, Li Yuanhao's troops are by no means more than 150,000, but at least more than 200,000. The Song Army only had about 200,000 troops stationed at the northwest border, and they were stationed in dozens of cities on six routes and four fronts, so their mobility was very poor.

In this case, the Song army could only mobilize tens of thousands of troops for each battle. Therefore, in history, the scale of the Battle of Sanchuankou, the Battle of Haoshuichuan, and the Battle of Dingchuan Village was not large.

The Song army at Sanchuankou had more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry. In the battle of Haoshuichuan, Ren Fu's troops were less than 20,000, and in the battle of Dingchuanzhai, there were only 9,000.

On the other hand, Li Yuanhao's side, although the total force was slightly less than the Song army, due to the proactive attack and the high mobility of the cavalry, the number of each dispatch could reach 100,000. Each time, more troops were attacked and fewer troops were attacked, and the enemy was surrounded and annihilated by sneak attacks, and achieved victory. Three big wins.

Therefore, Wang De used to bring only 20,000 forbidden troops, which was obviously not enough to support the war.

But there is nothing we can do.

There are a large number of imperial troops stationed in the garrison. It was not difficult to mobilize 100,000 troops in the past. What is difficult is that more than 100,000 troops will be added to the northwest. The logistics pressure will be very great. There will be a shortage of food in the border areas, which will put a great burden on the national treasury.

Therefore, since Li Yuanhao will proclaim himself emperor next year and the war will not officially begin until the year after tomorrow, it is better to send Fan Zhongyan and Wang Deyong there first.

Fan Zhongyan could use this period of time to reorganize the military and civil affairs in the northwest, build water conservancy facilities, and store grain in the rear. On the one hand, fortresses were built in Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Weizhou and other places, and they set up camp step by step to prevent the enemy from entering the country.

These places were later Yan'an in Shaanxi, Qingyang in Gansu, and Guyuan in Ningxia. They were the northwest barriers of the Song Dynasty. They were also the places where the Song Dynasty would face the Battle of Sanchuankou, the Battle of Haoshuichuan, and the Battle of Dingchuanzhai in the future.

As long as these places are defended, war can be expected.

On January 8, the fourth year of Jingyou's reign, after the edict was issued, the Privy Council urgently transferred 20,000 elite troops from Gyeonggi Road to the west of Bianliang City. Two days later, Fan Zhongyan and Wang Deyong officially set off to guard the border.

Zhao Zhen originally wanted to send them out of the city in person, but Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others dissuaded him and did not allow Zhao Zhen's Luan Jia to go out in person.

The main reason is that they are worried that the Xixia and Liao spies in the city will learn the information.

Because under normal circumstances, it is common for border troops to rotate, but if the emperor goes to deliver it, then it means that this operation is very important. It is obviously irrational to go out of the city personally when knowing that the other party has spies in the city. .

This would make Li Yuanhao and Yelu Zongzhen alert, thinking that the Song Dynasty might make big moves on the border, which would cause unexpected situations and cause unnecessary trouble.

So in this case, Zhao Zhen could only regret not leaving and let Zhao Jun reward the army and send them out of the city.

On January 8, Zhao Jun had already sent the food and drinks given by the emperor to the army camp, and personally arranged the manpower to distribute the fifty guan of money rewarded to each soldier, and at the same time gave them A day off to allow them to organize their affairs.

When the army regrouped on January 10, some of the soldiers spent their money drinking and drinking, some left it to their families, and some simply took the money with themselves and secretly vowed to go home and get married after guarding the border.

At least these soldiers didn't know that the war was about to start in the future. They thought it was just a normal rotation between the imperial troops stationed on Gyeonggi Road and the border troops, just like in previous years.

20,000 troops gathered outside the West City. All kinds of baggage, food, carriages and horses were ready. The government hired another 30,000 civilians, but the money was not much because they were only sent to Xijing of the Song Dynasty, which was Luoyang. Then Luoyang organized manpower and sent them to Tongzhou.

In this way, people from all over the country only need to travel three to four hundred miles, and they can go back and forth in more than ten days. The government can save a certain amount of money, and the people can use less people's energy to prepare for the upcoming spring plowing.

In the early morning of the 10th, when the sky was just getting dark, Zhao Jun's carriage slowly left Wanshengmen and arrived at the western suburbs of Bianliang.

There is a wilderness in the western suburbs, with farmland, mountains, forests, villages, and rivers. The water of the Bianhe River flows slowly outside the city and into Tokyo. On the wide official road beside the river, it is endless, as if the edge cannot be seen at a glance. Army soldiers.

Fan Zhongyan and Wang Deyong were riding on horseback. The middle and lower-level officers below were scolding and directing the soldiers to line up. Since they had never queued up before, Wang Deyong had to arrange their marching positions first and then send them out again. formation, otherwise it will be a mess.

When the sun had not yet risen, Zhao Jun, Lu Yijian, and Wang Zeng's motorcade slowly approached. He had to come to Lu Yijian this time, because it was Fan Zhongyan who was recommended by Lu Yijian, and it was also to eliminate the influence of Fan Zhongyan's hundreds of official plans.

At this moment, Zhao Jun got off the carriage, and using the gray light between the sky and the earth, he saw the military formation in the distance that was still in a slightly chaotic arrangement, and couldn't help but frowned.

"I've met Zhiyuan and Tongzhi!"

Fan Zhongyan and Wang De rode their horses to greet them, then dismounted and saluted them.

Zhao Jun nodded slightly and said, "You two don't need to be so polite."

The two looked up.

Lü Yijian said in a deep voice, "The war in the northwest is approaching, and Zhao Yuanhao is still determined to be evil. This time, you two are going to the battle. Your Majesty has entrusted you with a heavy responsibility. Please do your best."

"Yes."

The two bowed again.

Although they are also in high positions, and Fan Zhongyan is still the deputy co-governor of the Political System Council, which is comparable to the deputy prime minister and concurrently serves as the governor of Shaanxi. He is the top military and political leader in Shaanxi.

But it is obvious that Lü Yijian and others are prime ministers after all, and their status is much higher than theirs, so now they are not as casual as in the Political System Council.

Just as Lü Yijian was about to speak, Zhao Jun waved his hand and said, "Okay, no more polite words."

He then said to the two of them with a serious face, "The military system of the Song Dynasty has led to no connection between the commander and the officers and soldiers below. The command is seriously out of sync. This is an extremely important problem. You can see for yourself."

Fan Zhongyan also looked back. Wang Deyong did not even look back, but said in a solemn tone, "What the court taught me is that I must train these soldiers well."

"Yeah."

Zhao Jun was quite satisfied with his serious and pragmatic attitude and said, "After going to the northwest, you don't have to worry about the Privy Council's military and political affairs. You train the soldiers yourself, lead the soldiers well, and make sure to complete the reorganization of the soldiers as soon as possible."

"Yes."

Fan Zhongyan and Wang Deyong both responded.

Zhao Jun walked in front. At this moment, he has become more and more like a prime minister. He is often serious and rarely tells jokes about the Song Dynasty.

Although jokes about the Song Dynasty are ironic, it is not a good thing to always embarrass Zhao Zhen and others.

CPU's great cause still needs both offensive and defensive capabilities, and it is best to give a blow and then a jujube.

Several people came all the way to the pavilion, Linchuan Pavilion outside the west city of Bianliang, and the pavilion was next to the Bian River.

Although it was the beginning of spring, the weather was slightly cold, and the north wind blew gently, making the sleeves of everyone's wide robes rustle.

Everyone walked into the pavilion, and outside was Di Qing with his battalion of horses, guarding the entire pavilion.

Zhao Jun noticed that Di Qing was also riding on horseback. He was still the commander of the battalion, and he was not promoted.

Historically, Di Qing was also transferred to the northwest this year, and was the commander of Yanzhou. He was an officer of the battalion commander type, with three or four hundred men under him.

But Di Qing was able to fight because of his heroic performance among the middle and lower-level grassroots officers.

If he was promoted rashly, without the combat experience of grassroots officers, and directly became a commander, it would not be a good thing.

"Han minister."

Zhao Jun waved to him, motioning him to come over.

Di Qing was stunned for a moment, then he quickly turned over and dismounted, trotting all the way over.

"Zhiyuan."

He said respectfully.

"You just listen to the side."

Zhao Jun said.

"Yes."

Di Qing stood aside.

Zhao Jun walked into the hall, where there was a stone table in the pavilion.

He took out the northwest map, looked around, and said to Fan Zhongyan: "Old Fan, do you remember what I said?"

"Yes."

Fan Zhongyan nodded.

Zhao Jun had already mentioned the problems of the war between Song and Xia, such as too long peace, lax military preparations, corrupt military system, unclear ideas, lack of mobility, strategic passivity, etc.

Since Wang Deyong and Di Qing were also present, these reasons for failure will not be mentioned.

Zhao Jun pointed to the map above and said: "Li Yuanhao is about to establish a country, and the war between the two sides is inevitable. I have analyzed the disadvantages between us, so I won't go into details. Let's talk about the advantages this time."

"Advantages?"

Everyone looked at each other. In fact, this issue had been discussed repeatedly before, and the advantages were also obvious. On the one hand, they had prepared in advance and were well prepared. Secondly, it is the advantage of military strength, which can be deployed in advance.

Are there any other advantages now?

"I have repeatedly observed the terrain and found that our advantage lies in the geographical advantage. On the northern side of the Hexi Corridor, the Qilian Mountains separate Xixia, the Song Dynasty, and Tubo; there is a vast desert between the Yellow River and the Hexi Corridor; the Liupan Mountains and Hengshan Mountains in the south form the Shaanxi-Northern Mountains, which separate the Guanzhong Plain from the Shaanxi-Northern Sandy Desert."

Zhao Jun drew a circle on the map and said: "So when we use troops between the Song Dynasty and Xixia, we should focus on the four areas of Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Weizhou and Xizhou. Because if we fight in other places, we must cross a series of mountains and deserts, and the cost and efficiency are too high."

"Yeah."

Fan Zhongyan nodded slightly. He actually had not been to the northwest, but he had repeatedly studied the map of the northwest in recent months, and he also asked the generals who had been stationed in the northwest about the situation, so he was naturally clear about this aspect.

Zhao Jun had said before that the three battles with Xixia took place in this area.

For example, the Battle of Sanchuankou took place in Yanzhou Yan'an Prefecture, west of Yan'an City in later generations. The Battle of Haoshuichuan took place in Anhua area of ​​Weizhou, northwest of Longde County in later generations in Ningxia. The Battle of Dingchuanzhai took place in Zhenrong, north of Weizhou, Guyuan in later generations in Ningxia.

To the north is the Ningxia Plain, which is the area of ​​Yinchuan City in later generations. It is an endless plain area. To the south is a hilly mountain area with loess high slopes, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

From the strategic layout of the Song Dynasty, the deployment in this area is a bit like the Nine Border Defense System and Guanningjin Defense Line of the Ming Dynasty.

Use fortress defense and take a defensive posture to prevent the northern nomadic people from moving south.

Zhao Jun said in a deep voice: "Since we occupy high slopes and hills and guard various passes and arteries, it is obviously impossible for them to complete the strategic goal of Kou Lue Pass. The logistics will definitely not be able to keep up, so the best way is actually to It’s just a defensive counterattack.”

"Yes, this is exactly what we discussed at the beginning."

Fan Zhongyan said.

They had studied the northwest strategy many times before, and finally clarified the defensive counterattack style.

But at this moment Zhao Jun said: "There is no problem with this strategic idea, but have you noticed that just because we occupy mountainous and hilly terrain, the Xixia army cannot keep up with the logistics when it goes deep, so we can only use mobility to carry out operations A sneak attack cannot shake the foundation of Shaanxi, but for us, isn’t it the other way around?”

"What does Zhiyuan mean?"

Wang Deyong looked at the other party in surprise. He had vaguely guessed Zhao Jun's intention.

"Offense is the best defense!"

Zhao Jun said categorically: "Our terrain advantage is that it is easy to attack and defend. If we retreat, we can return to the pass, and if we attack outward, we can directly break through the grasslands of Xixia. If we in the Song Dynasty have an elite cavalry with ten days of dry food, we can take advantage of Li Yuanhao." When the army moves south, Li Yuanhao will definitely suffer heavy losses if he attacks the various tribes in the north!"

Take the initiative?

Fan Zhongyan was stunned for a moment, as were Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and others around him.

This has never happened since Taizong.

Because Yongxi's Northern Expedition to Zhao Guangyi was defeated and the donkey cart escaped, the Song Dynasty never dared to take the initiative again.

The current situation in Xixia is due to Li Yuanhao's hard work. Xixia's military strength is very strong. If he attacks at this time, he may not be able to gain favor.

But Fan Zhongyan did not think that Zhao Jun was a scholar, so he nodded and said: "After going to the northwest, I will carefully investigate the terrain to see if I can gather a group of elite cavalry to complete the commission from the Imperial Academy."

"I don't know how to command remotely. I'm just giving you a suggestion. I hate that without Huo Qiaoqi in the Song Dynasty, eight hundred people can run rampant in Mobei!"

Zhao Jun sighed, then looked at the crowd and said: "But I still say that, it is not wise to be beaten passively. Sometimes taking the initiative is also a strategy, but the prerequisite is to detect the intelligence well and not blindly use guerrilla tactics. The meaning is to use mobility and intelligence to catch them off guard, and this is also the method Li Yuanhao will use!"

Do you hate me for not having Huo Huoqi in the Song Dynasty?

The speaker has no intention, the listener has intention.

Di Qing, who was standing next to him, suddenly remembered the secrets of the art of war that Zhao Jun had taught him, and he thought deeply about it for a moment.

I see.

It was for this reason that Zhiyuan first spread his guerrilla warfare methods.

Di Qing felt for a moment that he had a heavy responsibility. The Imperial Academy actually compared him to Huo Qiaoqi, and he felt the pressure coming towards him.

The time was quickly approaching Chen hour.

Seeing that it was getting late, Zhao Jun didn't elaborate any more. What needed to be said had already been said.

The Song Dynasty's passive defeat would only encourage Li Yuanhao's arrogance. He hoped that Fan Zhongyan could achieve certain results in the northwest, not just repel the invading enemies.

But it is a pity that with the armament situation of the Song Dynasty, it is obviously difficult to achieve the effect of Huo Qubing of the Han Dynasty.

So Zhao Jun could only mention it this way.

Whether it can be achieved depends on whether Fan Zhongyan can seize the opportunity keenly.

I hope Lao Fan can succeed.

Zhao Jun waved goodbye to everyone and gave him wine before leaving. Looking at the retreating figure of the army, he thought to himself.