Chapter 1203 Hillside Goat (two updates combined into one)

"Lu Duanming is over!"

Wang Hou took the report from his residence and spoke to the deputy general You Shixiong and the supervisor Cai Bian.

You Shixiong was silent for a while.

Lu Gongzhu repeatedly opposed Zhang Yue's idea of ​​sending troops to Liangzhou from Xihe Road, trying to avoid direct hostility between Song and Liao. In the end, Zhang Yue dismissed him as prime minister and changed the sentence to Heyang Prefecture.

Lu Gongzhu was Zhang Zhi's father-in-law and Zhang Xiang's in-law.

Since he and Zhang Zhi defended Mingsha City together, You Shixiong left before the city was destroyed, and only Wang Fan and Zhang Zhi stayed at the end.

You Shixiong also made up many reasons to explain to Zhang Zhi and Zhang Yue afterwards, but an imperial edict arrived... Ping transferred You Shixiong to his fellow official.

You Shixiong believed that his success in holding on to the last moment in Mingsha City should not be undone by his last hesitation, so he felt a little resentful in his heart.

Later, Zhang Kai wrote a letter to forgive himself and expressed that he still trusted him. You Shixiong was very grateful.

Now Zhang Zhi's father-in-law, Lu Gongzhu, has also been dismissed as prime minister, and Zhang Zhi has been idle until now. He doesn't know why Zhang Yue did this. With his current rank, he can't ask, and he doesn't dare to ask. He can only think that the prime minister's move must have deep meaning. Come and relieve yourself.

Peng Sun, who had rescued Zhang Zhi, was promoted all the way to Wang Fan. Peng Sun ordered General An to be the deputy envoy of Jingyuan Road Economics, and Wang Fan was promoted along the way, and now he is under the jurisdiction of Xihe Road.

The ambition of the army is unbalanced. The most incomprehensible thing is that the general who commanded the main force to attack Liangzhou on Xihe Road is neither Zhang Zhi, who has won the hearts of the soldiers, nor Zhang Kai, who is a natural general, nor even the most knowledgeable eunuch among the soldiers. Li Xian, but Wang Hou, who is mediocre in all aspects of his talent and abilities.

You Shixiong thought of this, and with the idea of ​​​​preferring his future, he wrote a long letter to Zhang Yue questioning this arrangement.

The letter accused the imperial court of having problems in selecting generals. They should either ask the Zhang family's two strategic ministers or Li Xian to lead the army. If there was no candidate, Zhang Yue himself would be asked to go to Lanzhou to lead the army in person as prime minister and preside over the attack on Liangzhou.

You Shixiong gave a long speech, and finally attached bold and direct advice on numbers.

You Shixiong was very anxious after writing this letter to Zhang Yue. He believed that he had the right to say this as he had come from Zhang Yue's shogunate. At the same time, he also had plans to lose his official position... As a result, You Shixiong was waiting for him again. An edict.

Jiayou Shixiong is the deputy general manager of the Qinfeng Road Soldiers and Horses Mansion, and is the deputy general who sent troops to Xihe Road this time.

What is this? Not only was his direct advice not criticized, but he was promoted... and he was promoted before the war.

Needless to say, the meaning of promotion after the war in the officialdom is very meaningful, but promotion before the war seems to be very meaningful, and even has some meanings of both rewards and punishments.

This is somewhat similar to how You Shixiong insisted on leaving Mingsha City before the last moment. You Shixiong now works with Wang Hou, who was looked down upon, but Wang Hou seems to be unaware of this, and instead accepts him happily.

Wang Hou's name is just like his person - he is kind and honest.

Now Lu Gongzhu was dismissed for his direct remonstrance, and he himself was promoted because of his direct remonstrance. Thinking of Zhang Yue's methods, You Shixiong couldn't help but feel sad.

You Shixiong said to Wang Hou: "Commander Jie, the eight generals on Xihe Road. Now Wang Fan on the west road leads the fifth general; Miao Shue on the east road leads the second and seventh generals."

"This route consists of the first general and the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth generals. The eighth general is a new one. Not only does it lack troops and horses, it also lacks training. Among the troops of this route, it is the most adept at fighting and the most powerful.

The first general is the center of the army and must not be taken lightly. In this way, the responsibility of advancing will fall on the third general."

"A certain person who is willing to rank third will be the forward!"

Wang Hou and Cai Bian were somewhat thoughtful after hearing this.

The first three generals were appointed at Xihe Road in the Art of War. The first general was Jing Sili, the second general was Miao Shuo, and the third general was Wang Junwan.

Jing Sili died in battle, Wang Junwan was demoted, Wang Houbu was promoted to the first general, and Zhongshi Daofu was promoted to the third general.

These are the soldiers who started their careers on Xihe Road, and are also the three most powerful generals. Later, Zhang Kai became the military envoy and expanded to five generals. After he captured Huangzhou, it was expanded to seven generals and eight generals.

However, the first three generals are old troops, with the strongest combat effectiveness and the largest number of soldiers and horses. The remaining generals have a strength of about 5,000 to 10,000, but only the first three generals have a full strength of 10,000.

It should be noted that these 10,000 people are full-time regular soldiers, not auxiliary soldiers and local archers.

The three generals' troops and horses are placed in the entire Western Army, and they are also in the ace sequence in the entire world.

The middle route army that left Lanzhou had its first general and third general.

You Shixiong took the initiative to ask Ying to lead the third general as the forward as deputy general. Wang Hou and Cai Bian both readily agreed.

…

The scorching sun is high, scorching the Zhuanglang River Valley.

The Song cavalry passed by like a whirlwind, and thousands of Song cavalry chased thousands of Party cavalry.

Among the cavalry of the Song Army and the Han Army, horses are generally no longer used. Horses are more expensive, and the Ordnance Supervisor issues standard weapons.

The cavalry of the Song Army mostly used long-handled axes and blunt objects, while the cavalry of the Fan Army made good use of hidden spears.

Both the Han and Tang Dynasties used cavalry to defeat the barbarians. Although Zhang Yue used the method of shallow attack and fortification, he also paid attention to the training of cavalry. Unfortunately, for the Song Dynasty, the lack of horse herding land made cavalry too expensive, and the horse administration in the later period was ruined.

Therefore, in the early days of Zhang Yue, he had to focus on forts and fortresses, supplemented by cavalry.

But after the Qing and Tang Dynasties completely surrendered to the Song Dynasty, the Song Army's cavalry could finally be deployed in an organized manner. After the Song Army had large-scale cavalry, the Song Dynasty's infantry no longer feared cavalry like tigers.

After Dangxiang's cavalry failed to attack the Song army's infantry formation just now, when their momentum was frustrated, You Shixiong ordered the cavalry to counterattack.

In the past, the Song Army only had two types of cavalry, which made Dangxiang fearful, but now the Xihe Army's cavalry is also the same.

"Deputy Commander, I didn't expect to break Zhucheng before. I didn't expect that even Dangxiang's Luozhuo Supervisory Army Division would be defeated in one battle!" Gao Yongneng, the third general of Xihe, said this.

Gao Yongneng followed Zhonge during the two-pronged expedition against Xia. After the disastrous defeat, although Gao Yongneng was not punished, he lost all his troops. He was recommended by Li Shunju to Li Xian. He made many military exploits under Li Xian and was promoted to the Xihe Road Military and Horse Command.

Jian, the third general in charge.

Seeing this scene, You Shixiong sighed with emotion: "It's not that the party is weak, but... General Gao is running the army well!"

Gao Yongneng was a seventy-year-old veteran. Historically, he and Xu Xi died in battle at the gates of Yongle City.

When the city was destroyed, others advised Gao Yongneng to escape. Gao Yongneng said: "I have been engaged in the Western Qiang, and I have never been defeated. I am seventy years old this year. I have received great kindness from the country and I have nothing to repay. This Yongle City is where I will die."

.”

In this time and space, Gao Yongneng was a martyr in his twilight years and full of ambition.

Before leaving for this attack on Liangzhou, the old general told his descendants that if Liangzhou was defeated, death would be enough.

At the moment, he saw the vigorous Dangxiang cavalry being defeated by the Song army. Gao Yongneng said: "When Marshal Zhong disappeared in the desert, I thought that there was no hope of competing with Dangxiang in this life. But I didn't expect that Prime Minister Zhang would not be able to govern.

Two years later, the offensive and defensive momentum has changed. Zhang Xiangzhen is a heavenly being!"

You Shixiong laughed and said: "After taking Liangzhou, with the power of Zhang Xiang, this party can be destroyed within five years."

Gao Yongneng clicked his tongue when he heard this, as if he couldn't believe it, but then said: "But Prime Minister Zhang will retire in three years."

You Shixiong said: "How can a prime minister last long? This will also block the way for future generations to make progress. Old general, this is not something you and I can say."

"Exactly." Gao Yongneng thought to himself, making arrogant remarks about the replacement of the prime minister. This is not what they should say.

You Shixiong said: "It is not difficult to defeat Zhuo Luo Military Supervisor, but it is difficult to cross the Gulang Gorge."

Gao Yongneng said: "Deputy Commander, I will finally have a plan to drive the nearby troops to pile up the city!"

You Shixiong's eyes were sharp and he thought, there really aren't many good people as generals.

However, in the past, Dangxiang also used this trick to attack the Song Dynasty.

"Old General, just go ahead and do it, just pretend I don't know about it."

After defeating the Luozhuo Military Supervision Division, the Song army attacked the Gulang Gorge Pass. The veteran general Gao Yongneng led tens of thousands of party members from the valley to attack the pass.

Under the pressure of the Song army's strong bows and crossbows, the people of Fanbu who were driven to Dangxiang had no choice but to attack the pass with their bare hands.

There were many soldiers from the local tribe in the pass. Seeing that their tribesmen were forced by the Song army to attack the pass, they rushed to abandon their weapons and leave regardless of the strict orders of the general.

The forwards of the Song Army, under the command of You Shixiong and Gao Yongneng, easily broke through the dangerous Gulangxia Pass, and then broke through several cities and went north to attack Jisang, the last entrance to Liangzhou.

The Song Army's navy, which descended from the Huang River and set off from Lanzhou, used the water transport of the Yellow River and Zhuanglang River to continuously transport grain and grass to the depths of the valley.

…

Nearly 100,000 civilians were recruited from Xihe Road to carry grain bags from the grain boats docked along the river and put them into chicken carts, mule carts, and donkey carts.

Yang Datou is also one of them.

He was a commoner in Qinzhou back then. At that time, Xihe Road was opening. He heard that Xihe Road recruited people for resettlement and paid resettlement allowance.

He bought a pair of shoes with his settlement allowance and gave the rest to his family, so he went to Xihe Road alone. At first, the court promised him that he would be given food, drink, clothing, and land to reclaim wasteland. After two years, he would be granted ten fields.

Or take the money and leave.

Two years later, Yang Datou received ten acres of land and settled down on Xihe Road. Within a few years, he continued to purchase fields in Xizhou.

The soil on Xihe Road is cheap, and so are the cattle and horses.

Many of the recruits who followed Yang Datou to Xihe Road bought fields, cattle and horses. Yang Datou was worried about being promoted to a higher household by the government, so he did not dare to buy fields or even build a house. He just bought a mule, except for himself.

He could live a comfortable life by renting the remaining ten acres of land and farming it. Later, he married a mute girl and gave birth to several children.

For Yang Datou, starting a family was something that he never expected in his life.

However, later on Xihe Road was filled with troops every year, and Yang Datou was drafted into labor force several times.

He remembered that his ancestors were relatively prosperous in Qinzhou, but in the end they were ruined due to the imperial court's annual corvee levy. The family had a large number of young people, so he had to come to Xihe Road.

Xihe Road also collects corvee every year, builds forts and cities on Xihe Road, and transports grain and goods. His life is often difficult. In the past two years, he has driven his own mule cart in the Huangshui River Valley alone.

I walked no less than three times.

But whenever he felt that life was going to be difficult, the court would issue an order to reduce service and waive taxes, which allowed him to take a few breaths.

When he was doing corvee service, the court did not give him any money. If his oxen and horses were damaged, they would be damaged as well. His life was in danger if he was not obedient. He had to endure the oppression of subordinate officials on the road.
To be continued...