Wanyanchang and Wanyanhelisa hurriedly greeted them, and saw a group of cavalry coming outside, guarding a skinny old man in his fifties. Wanyanchang recognized him at a glance. He was Tang Kuochagan, the uncle of the state, and the queen.
The younger brother of Tang Kuo and Wan Yanchang's ally.
A glimmer of hope suddenly ignited in Wan Yanchang's heart. The Wolf Lord sent Tang Kuocha Gan here, which would probably bring him good news.
He greeted him with a big smile, and the two of them hugged tightly. Wanyan and Lisa stepped forward and saluted, and the crowd gathered around Tang Kuo Chagan into the Supervisory Army Mansion like stars holding the moon.
In the back hall, Wanyanchang drank all the servants out, and only he, Wanyan and Lisa, and the special envoy Tang Kuochagan were left in the back hall.
Tang Kuocha took a sip of tea and said slowly: "The wolf master's health is not good, you should know it!"
Wan Yanchang's heart sank and he asked urgently, "How serious is it?"
"The imperial doctor said it will take up to half a year."
"Ah!" Wanyanchang and Wanyanhelisa were both shocked.
Wanyan shouted anxiously, "In that case, why is the Wolf Lord still unwilling to send more troops to Shaanxi Road? What on earth is he thinking?"
"Drink Lisa!"
Wan Yanchang's face sank, "Don't be so rude!"
Tang Kuochagan sighed slightly and said: "I understand Helisha's impatience. Although Zongpan is extremely fierce for Khulubo and nominally holds the power of the government, the real power is in the hands of Zongqian and Zonghan. The two of them are one
It was Zuo Bo Jilie and You Bo Jilie, who not only controlled the power, but also controlled the military power. Without the consent of the two of them, no one could mobilize the 200,000 troops who came to Beijing. The ministers also agreed one after another, and the 200,000 Jurchen troops came to Beijing.
It is the foundation of the Kingdom of Jin, and no one can touch it. The Wolf Lord’s decree cannot leave the palace, and Zong Pan has been ignored again. Now you understand the situation in Beijing!"
Wanyan Jiulisa was about to speak, but saw Wanyanchang's stern eyes, so he had to consciously close his mouth.
Wan Yanchang said calmly: "Cha Qian traveled thousands of miles to come here to tell me these things, right?"
"Of course not. After all, Zong Pan is Khulu Bojilie. He still has some capital in his hands, but he can't leave Shangjing. Zong Pan wants to change the Du Supervisor Army to Marshal Zuo Du and be in charge of Hedong Road and Shaanxi Road."
Wanyanchang immediately understood that this should be the arrangement of the Wolf Lord, allowing him to command the 80,000 Jurchen army on Hedong Road and Shaanxi Road. Currently, Wanyan Zonghan firmly controls the 100,000 Jurchen army in Hebei and Yanjing, and Wanyan Wu
Shu Ze controls the 100,000 Jurchen troops in Henan and Jianghuai. They all have their own territories and have confidence.
Although the Wolf Lord was unable to send more troops to the Shaanxi Road, he assigned Hedong Road and Shaanxi Road to himself, giving him 80,000 Jurchen troops, which could be considered as indirect support for him.
Of course Wanyanchang was willing to change his position to Marshal of Zuodu. His position as the supervisor of the capital was in name only. Neither Wanyan Zonghan nor Wanyan Wushu would buy into his fault. He could only manage Shaanxi Road.
Wan Yanchang immediately nodded in agreement, "Of course I am willing to serve as Marshal of Zuodu, but when will it be implemented?"
Tang Kuochagan smiled slightly, took out a golden wolf head order and five tiger charms from the bag he carried and put them on the table, "I still have the imperial edict, I just need you and me to go to Taiyuan!"
Wanyanchang was overjoyed, "Are you going now?"
"As soon as you arrange the road to Shaanxi, we will set off!"
Wanyanchang pondered for a moment, and then immediately told Wanyan that he was going to retreat: "Order Wanyan's Jurchen army in Ahuli to withdraw to Fengxiang, and the 15,000 Qi army to withdraw to Jingchuan County, under the command of Han Chang. As for the attack on Chengji
The county's arrangements will be discussed after I return from Hedong Road, but you still have to continue to prepare for war."
"I humbly obey orders!"
...........
Both sides were preparing intensively for war. By the end of March, the outer city wall of Chengji County had been successfully completed, and the troops moved to the outer city to station. The original military camps and training grounds began to be converted into Cangcheng, a warehouse complex originally built by the Wei River.
They also began to migrate into the city.
Chen Qing stood on the chain bridge to the north, looking at the open and flat land, and said to Jiang Yanxian next to him: "It's a pity that such a large area of land is empty. Can we use it all?"
Jiang Yanxian smiled slightly and said: "Don't worry about the land being useless. Once the war breaks out, a large number of refugees will flee to Chengji County. These open spaces can be used to set up tents and resettle refugees."
Chen Qingruo realized something, thought for a while and said: "When you mentioned setting up tents, I thought about whether we need to build another separation wall to separate the war buffer zone from the useful land behind it."
Zhang Xiao also said: "It is indeed necessary to build a wall. I will go back and tell Hu Yanyun about it and ask him to build another separation wall about a hundred steps away from the outer city wall."
After walking across the chain bridge, Chen Qing came to the outer city wall. The outer city wall was very wide and thick, up to three feet thick. It could carry six carts simultaneously. A medium-sized trebuchet could also be installed directly on the city head, which could throw a gunpowder barrel weighing twenty kilograms.
Two hundred steps away.
At the top of the outer city, there were already thousands of soldiers patrolling and standing guard. The moat was very wide, as wide as five feet. It was actually a water flowing around the city. Chen Qing looked at the moat: "If the enemy uses two thousand stones to fight,
If the ships come to attack the city, will the things we worry about happen?"
Zhang Xiao is the designer of the outer city. He quickly explained: "Last time I reported to the capital, I didn't mention the moat. In fact, we have considered the impact of the warships. Lord, please look at the gap between the city wall and the moat."
The distance is as far as ten feet, and warships cannot build a ten-foot-long wooden bridge to go up to the city. This is one of the reasons. Second, we have made the Shuimen River narrower, and only ships with a maximum of five hundred stones can sail in.
If it comes to war, we will set up obstacles directly in the river so that the enemy cannot get close to the water gate."
Chen Qing nodded happily, "If this is the case, the possibility of using the moat to attack the city is indeed relatively low."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Qing looked up and saw an eagle flying slowly from the east, and finally landed on the eagle tower in the city. Chen Qing smiled and said: "It seems that important information has arrived!"
Not long after, I saw a soldier running across the chain bridge, running directly in front of Chen Qing, kneeling on one knee and saluting: "Report to the capital, urgent information about Jingzhao City!"
After saying that, the soldier presented a red mailbox, and Chen Qing took it. The red color indicates the most urgent importance. He shook out a scroll, slowly unfolded it and read it again. He said to Jiang Yanxian and Zhang Xiao: "The special envoy from Shangjing has arrived.
, Wan Yanchang was appointed Marshal of Zuodu, and then Wan Yanchang followed the special envoy to Taiyuan."
Zhang Xiao said with a smile: "It seems that Marshal Zuodu has real power. He is not only in charge of Shaanxi Road, but also Hedong Road. Calculating, he should have 80,000 Jurchen troops in his hands. Once he leads a large-scale attack on Chengji County with 80,000 troops,
It’s really a big trouble.”
Chen Qing said calmly: "The 80,000 troops are Wan Yanchang's capital. He will not easily use them to attack the city. Even if he attacks the city, it will be the puppet Qi army, just like they attacked Pingliang City. Once Wan Yanchang comes back from Taiyuan City,
, even when the enemy marches westward, we must step up our war preparations."
Chen Qing turned around and asked Zhao Xiaoyi: "Is there any news about Liu Qiong?"
Zhao Xiaoyi quickly bowed and said: "Not yet, he is walking through the inner circle of Xiaoguan, which is deserted and inhabited, and there is no way to deliver news. Even if there is news, it should be sent back from Pingliang City."
Chen Qing nodded, he was really worried about Liu Qiong's expedition!
...........
On the Loess Plateau north of Shaanxi Road, an army was winding eastward in a huge ravine. The army consisted of two thousand cavalry and carried two thousand camels. The camels carried water and food. This army was composed of
The expeditionary force led by Liu Qiong aimed at Yanzhou and attacked the kerosene warehouse in Yanzhou.
Chen Qing received information that there were currently only a thousand puppet Qi troops in Yanzhou, and there was a large amount of kerosene in the warehouse that had not been transported. Chen Qing immediately made a decision and sent Liu Qiong to lead 2,000 cavalry to Yanzhou.
Of course Chen Qing did not make this decision by slapping his forehead, but the current situation in Xixia made him see this opportunity.
During the hundreds of years of confrontation between Song and Xia, the Song Dynasty and Xixia were bounded by Hengshan, which is today's Baigan Mountains. However, after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Xixia army broke out of Hengshan and occupied all the land within a hundred miles south of Hengshan.
.
Including the northern part of Zhenrongzhou, the northern part of Huanzhou, the northern part of Huanqingzhou, the northern part of Qingyangfu and the northern part of Yanzhou, a large number of forts built by the Song Army became the garrison areas of the Xixia Army.
However, due to the outbreak of the civil war in Xixia, all the troops south of Hengshan were transferred back, and the Jin soldiers and the puppet Qi army were busy attacking Hanzhong, and did not pay attention to these desolate Loess Plateaus. As a result, there were no troops stationed in the entire northern part of Shaanxi Road.
Chen Qing seized this opportunity and sent Liu Qiong to lead an expedition of 2,000 troops to Yan'an Prefecture to seize the strategic resource of kerosene.
The army marched at night and day, heading west along the desolate Loess Plateau. To the north could be seen the vast Hengshan Mountains. Not only did they not encounter any army, they did not even encounter ordinary people along the way. When the Xixia people came and killed them, all the people who originally lived here were
Fleeing south, unwilling to become a slave of the Xixia people.
So we encountered many villages along the way, all of which were deserted and deserted.
Ten days after Liu Qiong led his army, they entered Yanzhou territory that night. The guide took them southeast. Sixty miles further southeast, they reached Fushi County, which is rich in kerosene.
