Chapter 1016 Destroy Xixia and defeat the Liao army
"Dad!"
Zhou Bai was cautious, with a look of fear on his face. He stood upright in front of Zhou Chen and called softly.
Zhou Bai is the first son of Zhou Chen and Gao Hui. He has never liked writing and writing since he was a child. He only likes to dance with swords and guns. He is also the tallest and strongest among all the children.
Among all Zhou Chen's sons, Zhou Bai was the one who looked and built the most like Zhou Chen. In addition, he had a wild personality and was good at wielding swords and guns, so Zhou Chen handed over Chunyang Jue to Zhou Bai early on.
Zhou Bai's talent is really good. Over the past few years, he has developed a sense of energy and internal strength.
The eldest son Zhou Ye has been a little genius since he was a child. As expected, he will definitely inherit Zhou Chen's title in the future. Therefore, Zhou Chen also trains his other sons in their own way, and Zhou Bai focuses on training military generals.
But no matter what, Zhou Bai was only fourteen years old this year, not yet fifteen, yet he had the audacity to sneak into his personal guard without consulting him.
"Have you told your mother about your coming out?"
"I left letters to both my mother and my mother-in-law."
Zhou Bai also knew that he had made a mistake and lowered his head and did not dare to look at Zhou Chen.
Zhou Chen was not surprised. If Zhao Pan'er and Gao Hui knew about this, it would be impossible for Zhou Bai to escape from the Hou Mansion, let alone sneak into the Guards.
Although the little guy is a little smart, he is still a little too young compared to his two mothers.
"Qin Yi is very kind to you."
Zhou Bai was startled and hurriedly explained: "Dad, it's none of Uncle Qin's business. I forced Uncle Qin. Uncle Qin..."
"Okay, don't explain anymore. The more you talk, the more confusing it becomes."
Qin Yi has followed Zhou Chen for more than 20 years, and Zhou Chen knows him very well.
Qin Yi got married, but they only had one daughter. Although Zhou Chen passed on Zhou Bai's Pure Yang Technique, Zhou Bai basically learned martial arts from Qin Yi, so the two of them also had a master-disciple relationship. Qin Yi was very good to Zhou Bai, otherwise it would not have been possible.
Ask Zhou Bai to follow.
"Follow me when you come, but you are not allowed to mess around without my order. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Dad."
Zhou Bai hurriedly nodded in agreement. He has been practicing martial arts since he was a child and has been eager to go to the battlefield. Now that he has this opportunity, he will do whatever his father asks him to do.
Zhou Bai's appearance surprised Zhou Chen, but he was not too worried. Sooner or later, the eagle will have to learn to fly. Zhou Bai is a bit young, but with him watching, as long as he is not at the forefront of the battlefield, he is still safe.
Guaranteed.
But Qin Yi kept it secret from him and asked Zhou Bai to follow him, so he would naturally have to punish him.
Zhou Chen had stayed at the Song-Xia border for several years. Although he hadn't been here for a long time, he was still very familiar with it. As soon as he arrived at the border, he immediately took control of all the military forces of the border defense.
The predecessor of Xixia was the Dingnan Army. If the emperor had not restricted him before, he might have destroyed the Dingnan Army long ago, and there might not be the current Xixia.
Zhou Chen has been leading the world of Langya Bang for decades and dare not claim to be the God of War, but he really doesn't take Xixia's 100,000 troops seriously.
After he arrived at the border, he effectively prevented Xixia's offensive, but he did not rush to counterattack, but waited patiently.
His real goal is still the Liao Kingdom. As long as the Song Dynasty and Xixia remain in a stalemate, he does not believe that the Liao Dynasty will remain indifferent.
The facts were just as he thought. When he had a stalemate with Xixia on the border of Xixia and gradually won victory, the Liao Kingdom finally couldn't bear it anymore and directly tore up the Chanyuan Alliance and launched an offensive against the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty was really used to being weak. When Liao Ting launched the war, the first thing they thought about was not to send troops to resist and resist. The first thing they thought about was to send people to Liao Ting for peace talks and beg Liao Ting to stop their troops.
When Zhou Chen heard the news, he was also shocked. The bones of this Song Dynasty were really broken, and there was no backbone at all.
But the problem is that the Liao people are extremely ambitious. They are not satisfied with Song Fang's conditions. They still mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to launch an offensive on the border. The northern border does not have the natural barrier of Yanyun Sixteen States and is completely unable to withstand the Liao people's attacks.
During the cavalry offensive, we could only watch helplessly as the Liao troops were heading straight towards Bianjing.
But for Zhou Chen, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so how could he let it go.
So he led the border army with overwhelming force, defeated Xixia and retreated steadily. He directly reached the Xixia imperial capital, captured the Xixia emperor alive, and destroyed the Xixia regime.
After overthrowing Xixia, Zhou Chen immediately reported this great victory to the court and wrote a memorial to the official Zhao Zhen, requesting to be transferred to the north to counter the Liao army.
Zhao Zhen was originally uneasy because of Liao Ting's offensive and couldn't sleep all night. Once he received the information about Zhou Chen's victory in Xixia, he was overjoyed.
Especially after seeing Zhou Chen's memorial, I was extremely happy.
His temperament is relatively weak, but no matter how weak he is, he is still an official today. He was bullied to death by the Liao people. His civil servants still wanted to ask for peace. Some even suggested doubling the annual currency and giving some money to send the Liao people away.
.
But this time the Liao people not only wanted the coins, they also wanted the land of the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Zhen did not want to be a subjugated emperor, so after seeing Zhou Chen's memorial, he quickly made a decision to transfer Zhou Chen to the north. As the commander-in-chief of the north, he must resist the invasion of the Liao people.
It can be seen that Zhao Zhen is still very conservative. He only expected Zhou Chen to defend the north and resist the Liao people's horseshoes. He never thought that Zhou Chen could counterattack Liao Ting.
After receiving the order, Zhou Chen immediately led tens of thousands of elites from the border and headed straight to the north, preparing for a decisive battle with Liao Ting.
He had been waiting for this day for more than ten years. For such a great opportunity, if he could not regain the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun, it would be difficult for him to have another chance in the future.
When Xixia was overthrown, Zhou Chen planned and waited. It took him more than a year to annihilate Xixia and capture the Xixia emperor alive.
This achievement is definitely a brilliant achievement that is rare in the history of the Song Dynasty, but Zhou Chen is not proud of it because he knows very well that Xixia is just a small country, while the Liao Kingdom is not weaker than the Song Dynasty in terms of territory and military strength.
What's more, it is much more difficult to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun from the Liao Kingdom than to destroy the Xixia Kingdom.
This is indeed the case. When Zhou Chen arrived in the north with tens of thousands of troops trained on the Song-Xia border, the north was being ravaged by Liao soldiers.
It took Zhou Chengguang more than a month to integrate the northern armies, but the Liao army had already invaded the hinterland of the Song Dynasty.
In their first fight, Zhou Chen saw how ferocious the Liao army's cavalry was. The Khitan clan was able to suppress the Central Plains for hundreds of years because of their powerful cavalry.
The Liao Kingdom was located in a harsh environment. The iron cavalry they trained was indeed not comparable to the cavalry of the Song Dynasty. Moreover, the Khitan people were naturally fierce. When fighting alone, the Song people were basically no match.
Therefore, when fighting against the Liao army in the past, the armies of the Central Plains Dynasty relied on numbers to win.
Zhou Chen's goal was to defeat the Liao army, not to show off his bravery, so he was also prepared to win with numbers, gather the troops scattered by the Liao army, and begin to encircle the Liao army.
Although the Liao army was powerful, there was one thing: they were far inferior to the Song Dynasty.
That is, they were unable to sustain a protracted war. As an invading party, they did not bring enough dry food. They relied on fighting to support war and robbing the Song people's food to ensure their survival.
Therefore, after the Liao army entered the hinterland of the Song Dynasty, they basically would not attack large cities, because large cities are easy to defend but difficult to attack. The Liao army simply did not have that much time and energy to attack cities, and instead plundered small ones.
towns and villages.
The Liao army moved too fast, and it was not easy to encircle and suppress them.
Zhou Chen had rich war experience, but even so, it took a long time to block the Liao army's offensive routes one by one, and then began to counterattack.
Officials and civil and military officials far away in Bianjing learned that Zhou Chen had blocked the Liao army's offensive in just over three months, preventing the Liao army from advancing and relieving the danger in Bianjing. The government and the public were immediately shocked, and Long Yan was delighted.
.
Especially after learning that Zhou Chen had annihilated a large number of Liao troops, he was even more ecstatic, and then an extremely ridiculous thing happened.
The imperial court once again sent peace envoys to the Liao Kingdom for peace talks, and was willing to stop the war on the condition of annual coins.
I have to say that the thinking of the civil servants of the Song Dynasty was really weird. If they lost the peace talks, they would still negotiate for peace if they won. The key is that if they won, they would continue to pay tribute to the peace talks. This is really weird.
What's even more amazing is that as the emperor, Zhao Zhen actually agreed. He was the one who asked Zhou Chen to go, and now he is the one who asked Zhou Chen to stop the war. This emperor was really kidnapped by the civil servant group.
Zhou Chen was preparing to launch a counterattack when he suddenly received an order from the capital, asking him to guard the border and wait for the peace talks to end.
"boom!"
Zhou Chen smashed the table in front of him with a slap.
"father."
Zhou Bai nervously picked up the imperial edict among the crumbs, wiped it, and then started to read it.
Zhou Chen calmed down after a slap and looked at his son, who had been on the battlefield for more than a year.
"Any ideas?"
After reading the contents of the imperial edict, Zhou Bai suddenly showed an expression of disbelief on his face.
"Dad, the officials asked us to have a truce? And also asked us to prepare to return the prisoners?"
Zhou Bai was young and energetic. After learning about the result, he found it incredible. He was on the front line and clearly knew the bloody battles of the soldiers. As a result, they won the battle. Officials and officials far away in the capital actually let them
He really couldn't accept the truce and the release of the Liao people who had killed countless people in the Song Dynasty.
"Very unwilling?"
"Of course, we fought bloody battles and lost countless brothers. How could we let the Liao people go so easily? What's more, under your leadership, we are invincible. Why should we cease the war?"
Zhou Chen said calmly: "Because we are not the ones who can make the decision."
"It's that simple?"
"Yes, it's that simple."
Zhou Bai gritted his teeth. He was a passionate young man who wanted to protect his family and country and expand his territory. This was his dream.
The past year or so has been like a dream to him. Although it is difficult and dangerous, it has ignited his passion and he longs for such a life.
As a result, when he was at the peak of his ambition, the imperial court's orders and imperial edicts poured down on him like cold water, extinguishing his passion.
"Dad, what should we do? Is there really a truce?"
Zhou Chen sneered and said: "Stop, of course you have to stop, it is an imperial decree after all."
"But……"
"Nothing but."
Zhou Chen directly interrupted Zhou Bai. His son was still young and had limited experience, so he couldn't understand many things.
Now that he has received the imperial edict, if he disobeys it, it will be disobeying the edict, which is a serious crime. His family members are all in the capital and are out of reach, so of course they will not do such stupid things.
Of course, these are what Zhou Chen and Zhou Bai said, secretly, he had other instructions.
Because the Liao army was defeated by Zhou Chen and suffered heavy losses, although the Liao State was angry, it had to agree to the Song Dynasty's peace talks.
As a result, both sides sent peace negotiators and started negotiations in a safe place.
However, negotiations cannot be successful overnight. Both parties have already made preparations, and you will come and go to raise conditions.
It was clear that the Song Dynasty was the victor this time, but as they talked, they actually became the weaker side. Instead of taking advantage, they were pressed harder by the Liao Kingdom.
What's even more strange is that in the face of the Liao's pressing pressure, the Song Dynasty actually compromised step by step. In addition to being unwilling to cede the city and land, it also agreed to pay various tributes and annual coins to the Liao.
This is not a peace talk at all, it is simply a unilateral offer of warmth by Song Fang.
Zhou Chen had always sent people to keep an eye on the outcome of the peace talks, but when he learned about the process and conditions of the peace talks, he was dumbfounded.
Sure enough, reality is sometimes more exaggerated than imagined. The victor pays the loser. No matter what era it is placed in, it is very explosive.
"You want peace talks, have you asked me?"
Zhou Chen sneered in his heart, of course he could not just sit back and watch the Song-Liao peace talks succeed. If they succeeded, what would happen to his mission?
After doing side missions for so long, he knows very well that the more difficult the side missions, the better the rewards will be. He has been waiting for so many years just to complete the side mission of regaining the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun. Who dares to hinder him?
, is his enemy.
As for how to stop the peace talks, he had already made preparations.
Just when the negotiation between the envoys of Song and Liao was about to succeed, a piece of news suddenly came, which instantly interrupted the negotiation between the two parties.
It turned out that news came from the front line that tens of thousands of captured Liao troops suddenly rioted in the military camp, killing countless Song troops and trying to escape.
Zhou Chen, the commander-in-chief of the Song army, was also assassinated by the Liao people and was injured. His generals had no choice but to order the execution of the Liao prisoners.
At the critical moment of the peace talks, something like this happened suddenly, and the peace talks naturally could not go on. The Liao envoy even became furious, clamoring to make Song pay the price, etc., and then left angrily.
When the news reached the capital, the government and the public were shocked, and the official Zhao Zhen was also shocked.
Originally, he had been gradually relieved because the peace talks were about to succeed, but unexpectedly, such a situation suddenly appeared, which made his heart suddenly lift again.
"What's going on with this Zhou Chen? He's invincible on the battlefield and invincible. Why can't he even see some captured Liao people?"
Zhao Zhen was furious. As an emperor, he did not want to fight, nor did he have much ambition. He only wanted peace in the world and the return of all people.
However, this prisoner uprising directly destroyed the peace talks between Song and Liao. According to the wishes of the Liao people, this war is inevitable.
There were many officials who had the same idea as Zhao Zhen, especially those civil servants who were already dissatisfied with Zhou Chen. They immediately took the opportunity to attack and criticized Zhou Chen, as if Zhou Chen was not a hero who protected his family and country, but an unforgivable sin.
The minister is ordinary.
Naturally, the nobles and the officials who supported Zhou Chen could not be outdone. They excused Zhou Chen one after another, supported the war, and proposed that Zhou Chen lead the army to counterattack the Liao Kingdom, etc.
The quarrel between the two sides was serious, and a good court meeting ended in this quarrel.
Zhao Zhen, an official who had been educated by civil servants since he was a child, was different from the late emperor Zhao Heng. As Zhou Chen destroyed Xixia and defeated the Liao army, his reputation became more and more popular and his military power became more and more powerful. He could not help but feel towards Zhou Chen.
Chen Sheng felt a little wary.
In particular, the civil servants around him kept instilling sharp words in him, such as "yellow robes", military men causing chaos in the country, etc., which made him even more wary of Zhou Chen.
Therefore, he favored the civil service group and did not want to continue the war, and Zhou Chen's behavior undoubtedly disrupted his plan.
Although he is dissatisfied in his heart, he has no choice now. The Liao Kingdom has stopped negotiating with you and has made it clear that he wants to start a war. He can't cut off Zhou Chen's head and send it over to let the Liao Kingdom go out. So this battle is destined to be
Unavoidable.
And once the war starts, the one he can rely on is Zhou Chen, so he has no choice.
