Chapter 663: Deng Guo’s Martial Plan

On June 18, in the ninth year of Tiantong, in the Yuyang County District, Yuyang City, and in the General's Mansion, Li Rubing was bored and drinking in the yard. In recent years, the political situation of Zhao State has changed too much. Three years ago, the sudden death of Prime Minister Zhuang Ping made Li Rubing lose one of the most important ally in the court. Lin Qingfeng and Zuo Sheng, the old ministers led by Lin Qingfeng and Zuo Sheng, began to suppress Li Rubing. However, at that time, because the ruler of Zhao State's Empress Dowager Song was still alive, in order to balance the political situation, Song properly protected Li Rubing, which made Li Rubing not isolate and helpless in the court.

However, less than a year after Zhuang Ping's death, the leaders of the two old ministers, Zuo Sheng and Lin Qingfeng, also passed away one after another, causing the power of the court to be imbalanced. Among the five auxiliary ministers of Zhao State, Zhuang Ping and Li Rubing were the same, Lin Qingfeng and Zuo Sheng were the same, and the power of Zhao State was basically in the hands of these two factions. As for Zhang Ying, the representative of the royal family, his abilities and strength were limited, so he had little impact on the court. However, because of this, Zhang Ying was valued by the Song family to balance the harmony between the two factions so that the situation in the court would not be imbalanced.

When Zhuang Ping passed away, the old ministers' faction surpassed Li Rubing's faction, so under the acquiescence and instruction of the Song family, Zhang Ying gradually stood with Li Rubing, confronting the old ministers' faction and maintaining the balance of the court. Now the pillar of the old ministers' faction, Zuo Sheng and Lin Qingfeng were gone. In order not to let Li Rubing's family dominate, the Song family began to vigorously support the royal family headed by Zhang Ying, and the court also formed a balance between the foreign ministers headed by Li Rubing and the royal family headed by Zhang Ying.

However, this balance lasted less than a year. A year ago, the Song, the actual ruler of Zhao State, passed away. According to the will of the late emperor Wen of Zhao State, Zhang Xian, after Zhang Xian, after Zhang Xian's death, given that his heir was still young, Zhao State was regent with the empress dowagers of the two palaces and five auxiliary ministers, until the young emperor turned 18 years old.

The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces refers to the Song family, the mother of Emperor Wen, Zhang Xian, and the Empress Meng family, the Empress of the Zheng Palace. However, since the Song family received support from all the court officials, especially the five auxiliary ministers, the power of Zhao has always been in the hands of the Song family from the third year of Tiantong to the eighth year of Tiantong. Although he was the regent of the two palaces, the Empress Dowager Meng family was just a decoration.

But now the situation has changed drastically. Song passed away a year ago. At that time, the young emperor Zhang Yuan was only twelve years old, far from the age of taking power. According to the will at that time, the Empress Dowager Meng, who had always been used as a decoration, became the most natural ruler in Zhao State. So Meng took over the authority left by Song State, formally regent, and took charge of Zhao State.

However, Meng's family has been in the harem for many years and has no knowledge of the government affairs. Moreover, there is basically no power of the Meng family in the court, which makes it difficult for Meng family to exercise their power even though she is regent. At this time, Zhang Ying, the representative of the royal family, took the initiative to move closer to Meng family. With the support of the royal family, Meng family has a certain right to speak in the court.

After slowly taking over the situation in the court, Meng turned her attention to the military. To be precise, the royal family's attention was on the military.

Since the Lang Meng Incident, the military power of Zhao State has been controlled by General Li Rubing. As the main supporter of Zhang Xian's throne, Li Rubing also received great support and power, which also led to dissatisfaction among the royal family. However, because of Emperor Wen Zhang Xian and Empress Dowager Song's trust in Li Rubing, the royal family has never been able to get involved in military power. After Meng's throne came to power, the opportunity for the royal family to get involved in military power finally came.

Since the royal family was the greatest support of the Meng family, Meng was very supportive of the decision to divide Li Rubing's military power. Although the Meng family did not understand the government and military affairs, they also knew the way of balance. The concentration of Zhao's military power in one person was not conducive to Meng's control of Zhao. Therefore, at Zhang Ying's suggestion, Meng family vigorously promoted the generals of the royal family, but the strength of the generals was not enough to compete with Li Rubing. Therefore, at Zhang Ying's suggestion, Zhao Kuo, the son of Zhao Xin, the god of Zhao State, was appointed as the Grand Marshal, and used the influence left by Zhao Xin to divide Li Rubing's military power.

Facts have proved that this decision made the Meng family and Zhang Ying's plan a great success. Due to the death of the Song family, Li Rubing lost support in the court. Zhao Kuo's identity also received the support of a large number of Zhao Xin's old subordinates in the past, and gradually gained the strength to compete with Li Rubing. Especially as the Grand Marshal, Zhao Kuo had the power to open a government office, and also gathered a large number of young generals to officially divide Li Rubing's military power.

The court was isolated and helpless. Zhao Kuo, the military was pressing forward step by step, making Li Rubing difficult in Jinyang. In desperation, Li Rubing had to leave the political whirlpool of Jinyang and go to the northern border, controlling the 150,000 elite troops in the northern border of Zhao State, giving himself the strength to protect himself. Relatively speaking, since Li Rubing went north to Yuyang, the Meng family handed over the military power of Jinyang and Hebei to Zhao Kuo. At this point, Zhao State's military power was officially divided into two parts.

Zhao State currently uses more than 400,000 troops, while Li Rubing controls the most elite 150,000 northern army, and the remaining 200,000 is nearly 300,000, but Zhao Kuo is in control.

Since he arrived in Yuyang, Li Rubing found that his influence on Jinyang was getting smaller and smaller. After Li Rubing left, Zhao Kuo suppressed Li Rubing's old subordinates. At the same time, a large number of royal generals entered the army, weakening Li Rubing's influence as much as possible.

When Li Rubing thought of this, he was filled with grief and anger. He picked up the wine glass in his hand and drank one cup after another. He thought of him, Li Rubing, who has made countless contributions to Zhao State since his army. Zhang Xian and his son were able to take up the throne, and Li Rubing was also the one who contributed the most. Without Li Rubing's support, just with Zhuang Ping, a civil servant and Zhang Xian, the powerless prince, how could he seize the throne? But now, Li Rubing has become a desperate suppression by the rulers in Jinyang.

Just as Li Rubing was mourning and sighing, General Le Ting, who followed Li Rubing to the north, hurried in and said, "General, half a month ago, Emperor Deng declared the world in Luoyang. The Deng army is scheduled to go north to attack our Dazhao in March next year!"

"How many troops have Deng State mobilized?" Li Rubing asked.

Le Ting shook his head and said, "I don't know. Until now, Deng State has shown no sign of troops being mobilized."

Hearing this, Li Rubing stopped the movements in his hand, then sighed, put down the wine glass in his hand, and said, "In the past, Deng State had mobilized troops first and made complete preparations before it would be announced to the world. However, this time, Deng State threatened to go north without any preparation. This was a must for me, Dazhao, but it was normal. With Deng State's current strength, even if we told us and we were prepared, Deng State had a great chance of victory. Is there any response to the court?"

Le Ting said: "Since Emperor Deng declared the world, the court became nervous. Zhao Kuo personally went to Yecheng to supervise the army, and at the same time concentrated all the troops of Hebei to Wei County. The estimated force was around 150,000. In addition, the court also ordered Chen Ping as the old general and Zheng Xuan as the deputy general to lead a 100,000 army into Gaodu City to intimidate Deng's new capital Luoyang."

"Haha, Deng State had no action yet. He just shouted empty words and the court mobilized more than 200,000 troops. He was really a frightened bird." Li Rubing shook his head and sighed.

Now, Deng State only means that he went north in the year and had not even started to mobilize one soldiers and one soldiers. He didn't know where the main attack direction was. Zhao State mobilized a total of more than 200,000 troops on the road, which made Li Rubing feel a little moved.

"General, if the Deng army really goes north in large numbers next year, how should we deal with it?" Le Ting asked. Since the fall of Qin, people in the entire Zhao State knew that it was only a matter of time before the Deng army went north, so Zhao State had made countless rehearsals to deal with the Deng army's large-scale attack. The leader of the rehearsal was the general of Zhao State in front of him. So Le Ting knew that Li Rubing must have a solution.

Li Rubing said: "If you want to block Deng's army, you mainly look at the defenses of Shangdang County, Wei County and Hanoi County. In general, there are two defense lines. Shangdang County is one, Wei County and Hanoi County are the same. As long as you defend these three points, the Deng army will not be able to threaten the hinterland of our Great Zhao, so we have more room for maneuver. Zhao Kuo is also a soldier, so he went to Yecheng to supervise the army and sent troops to Shangdang County at the same time. But it was obvious that it was two different things. The specific victory and defeat would have to be fought before we could know."

After saying that, Li Rubing slowly stood up, looked at the cloudless sky, and murmured: "The storm is coming. If Da Zhao can continue, it depends on this battle."

On June 20, in the ninth year of Tiantong, in the official office of the General General of Luoyang, a group of famous generals from Deng State gathered here. Deng Sheng also brought Deng Hao here. So many people gathered to make up the combat plan to attack Zhao.

"Your Majesty, according to the news sent back by Mingjing in Zhao, the total force of Zhao State is around 430,000 to 450,000, of which 50,000 elite troops guard Jinyang City for many years, 150,000 soldiers and horses guarding the northern border, and 20,000 elite troops in the four counties of Liaodong all year round. The remaining troops are basically in Hebei. Now the Zhao State's troops are two-part, and the northern troops are all in Li Rubing's hands. The elite troops in Liaodong have always been controlled by the Gongsun family. The Gongsun family is a descendant of the famous general of Zhao State. Since Zhao State pacified Liaodong, the Gongsun family has been responsible for guarding Liaodong. The remaining troops are basically in the hands of Zhao State's new Grand Marshal Zhao Kuo." Xue Rengui introduced the basic situation of the Zhao State's military to Deng Sheng.

However, Deng Sheng had known these situations long ago through Mingjing, so he had no expression. In order to balance the military power, the royal family of Zhao strongly supported Zhao Kuo and suppressed Li Rubing. If it were in a peaceful era, this approach was necessary. However, the pressure faced by Zhao is so great that a commander who can coordinate all parties is urgently needed to take charge of the troops. However, Zhao State was at this critical moment, and the military power was divided into two parts, which undoubtedly gave Deng the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

"Half a month ago, Your Majesty, in front of all civil and military officials, decided to go north in March next year. This news was also learned by Zhao State. Therefore, in the past half month, Zhao State has mobilized troops on a large scale, and Zhao Kuo has personally gone to Wei County to take charge. At the same time, the veteran general of Zhao State Chen Ying led a 100,000 army to Shangdang County. This was to prevent our army from attacking Shangdang County. The second was to threaten the safety of our Luoyang and let our army throw ourselves into the arms of the rat." Xue Rengui continued.

"I have considered this before moving the capital, but I can't miss the opportunity to move the capital because of worrying about this. However, I believe that my soldiers of Deng will never let the capital be in danger. Xue Qing, continue talking." Deng Sheng said with a smile.

"Here!" Xue Rengui responded, then walked to the map and said, "Although Zhao State still has more than 400,000 troops, due to the two divisions of military power, the first thing we have to face is Zhao Kuo, who is in charge of Wei County. And I believe that as long as Zhao Kuo is undefeated, Li Rubing's northern army will not go south easily, and Zhao Kuo will not give them a chance to go south. Therefore, this time the direction of our lord is Wei County, and Zhao Kuo has also assembled more than 100,000 main army in the Wei County area during this period."

"Your Majesty, after many days of consultation, the General General Office decided to mobilize a total of 300,000 troops of the six guards of Jinwu, Shenxing Guard, Longxiang Guard, Lingshe Guard, Tiger Wing Guard, and Yingyang Guard. The commander of the ministers was to attack the main force of the Zhao army in Wei County. The General of Cheqi and Cavalry Murong Ke led the Shence Guard, and the Shenwu Guard attacked the Hanoi County and supported the battlefield of Wei County. The General of Cavalry Li Siye led the Yulin Guard and the Tianwu Guard to guard Luoyang to protect His Majesty. In addition, the Fu Jiao Guard was mobilized to go north to the Yellow River to ensure the supply of materials for the army to attack Zhao." Xue Rengui said.

Deng Sheng nodded repeatedly when he heard this. According to Xue Rengui's plan, the Deng State mobilized a total of 550,000 troops, which was less than the attack on Qin State. Moreover, the Yulin Guard and Tianwu Guard were stationed in Luoyang. If there were no special circumstances, the two guards would basically not move. The Nu Jiao Guard was an amphibious guard. The Nu Jiao Guard was mainly to ensure the supply of Deng's army during the Yellow River flood season, so it would basically not be put into the battlefield. Therefore, the Deng State actually went north to only 400,000 troops, but this was just the early troops. If the war was anxious, Deng State could continue to increase its troops.

Xue Rengui also obviously considered this issue, so he said: "In addition, Yongning Guard, Yongping Guard, Tianning Guard, and Anguo Guard will also gather in the Central Plains. Once the war is anxious, these soldiers will reinforce the battlefield at any time. As for the other soldiers and horses, they will not move for the time being."

Deng Sheng glanced at the map and was very satisfied with the march plan of the General Governor's Office. At this time, Xue Rengui said: "Your Majesty and others have arranged Wudangwei to Hedong County, but this army can only be activated after our army laid the foundation for the battle situation in Hebei."

"Oh? What's the point?" Deng Sheng asked.

Xue Rengui replied: "This time our army goes north, we need to defeat Zhao Kuo's main army first, and then deal with the northern army led by Li Rubing who goes south. When our army defeats the main forces of the two Zhao army, Jie Shi ordered the Yulin Guard and Tianwu Guard to advance Shangdang County and restrain the Zhao army of Shangdang County. At this time, without the guards, you can dispatch troops from Hedong County and attack directly at the capital of Zhao Jinyang!"

Deng Sheng nodded with satisfaction when he heard this. This is a stroke of genius. Once Zhao Kuo and Li Rubing defeated one after another, the Zhao court will be in panic. At this time, Wudang Guards are at the city, and Zhao's king and ministers will likely open the city to surrender. Although the demise of Zhao's country after defeating Zhao Kuo and Li Rubing's main army is already a foregone conclusion. Wudang Guard's actions seem to be the icing on the cake, this move will undoubtedly greatly shorten the time of battle. After all, the centipede dead and not stiff. Even if you can defeat the main force of the Zhao army, it is not that simple to fight to the city of Jinyang. Therefore, if you can force Jinyang to surrender, it is very beneficial to quickly pacify Hebei and reduce combat losses.

"There are only 50,000 troops in Wudangwei. As far as I know, Zhao has stationed 50,000 troops in Jinyang all year round. Even if the Hebei War begins, Zhao needs to draw some troops, but the troops left in Jinyang will never be less than 30,000. It is probably not that easy to force the king and ministers of Zhao to surrender." Deng Sheng turned around and thought about it and said.

As the capital of Zhao State, Jinyang City is the most solid city in the entire Zhao State. Even if there are only 30,000 defenders, it is not something that 50,000 Wudangwei can shake. Therefore, it is probably not that easy to use 50,000 Wudangwei to force the king and ministers of Zhao State in Jinyang City.

Xue Rengui smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, even if Wudangwei cannot force the surrender of the king and ministers of Zhao, Wudangwei is at the city. In order to protect Jinyang City, Zhao will definitely summon all armies to return to rescue. Since our army can send Wudangwei to attack Jinyang City, we can continue to send troops. Therefore, Zhao's king and ministers dare not gamble. In this way, Zhao's king and ministers will first open the city to surrender, and the second is to summon the troops from Hebei and Shangdang County to return to Jinyang. In this way, it will definitely disrupt the layout of the Zhao army and our army can easily take down the land of Hebei."

When Deng Sheng heard this, he suddenly realized that this was an open plot. No matter what Zhao State did, it would not be able to escape the end of destruction. If he refused to surrender, it would not be so simple to summon all the troops back to rescue. Even if the Zhao army wanted to withdraw, the Deng army would not let the Zhao army run away so easily. It is still unknown how many soldiers the Zhao army could have returned to Jinyang under the pursuit.

If Zhao State does not surrender or summon reinforcements, he plans to hold on with the 30,000 troops from Jinyang. It is true that it is almost impossible to capture Jinyang City with the strength of Wudangwei, but Deng State can continue to increase its troops. Longwu Guard, Taishan Guard, and Feipeng Guard are still ready to go. Deng State can send them to Jinyang City at any time. If they do not surrender, I will fight directly.

"Okay, very good!" Deng Sheng nodded with a smile and said, "Since that's the case, let's follow the plan of the General Governor's Office. Does the General Governor's Office have any ideas for the specific time to send troops?"

Although it has been decided to send troops in March next year, it still takes a specific time, because this time the attack on Zhao was the last battle for Deng to unify the world. Hundreds of thousands of troops were required to prepare a lot, so there must be an accurate time.

Xue Rengui thought for a while and said, "Go back to Your Majesty, it's June now. I plan to gather the guards and horses before the beginning of winter. In addition, the imperial court needs to prepare the required food, grass and supplies, and the army is scheduled to officially set off in mid-March next year."

Deng Sheng thought about it and found that there was still plenty of time, so he said, "Okay, then it will be in mid-March next year. For the specific time, I will order the Ministry of Rites to choose a good day. After the sacrifice to the Taimiao, the army will officially start!"
Chapter completed!