Chapter 24 Open the bow without turning back the arrow
Youzhou City.
The news that Luo Youdu had captured Youzhou City spread throughout the entire army instantly.
Guo Rong, Zhao Kuangyin, Han Lingkun, Han Tong and others who were all waiting for the result of the attack were dumbfounded.
They also knew about the situation in Youzhou City, but they never expected that Luo Youdu would succeed so easily.
Just an hour, right?
Youzhou City was captured?
Many people are still waiting to get a piece of the pie. After all, no matter how small the army is in Youzhou City, it is still one of the few fortified cities in the world.
It was a bit stronger than the original Shouzhou. Luo Youdu didn't have many available troops, and they were still a bunch of new recruits.
It is necessary to both defend the stronghold and attack the city.
Ask them for help,
That is also natural.
As a result, the battle was resolved in less than an hour, and an attack by an army of ten thousand people was repelled.
Zhao Kuangyin, who knew the details, had to sigh with emotion and said: "Luo Youdu's ability to recognize people is beyond compare to you and me."
Yuyingsi is an organization that was established less than a year ago.
It is called the Third Division Imperial Army, but most of the people in the Palace Front Division and the Guards and Military Division did not take it seriously.
Luo Youdu is indeed powerful, they admit this.
But the formation of a new army,
It's not that easy.
The bodyguard of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Chief Military Officer,
It originated from the powerful army of Zhou Taizu Guo Wei.
The Palace Chief was an old pawn selected by Guo Rong from all the military governors in the world.
He has a certain amount of combat experience, coupled with Guo Rong's tilt in resources, so it took shape very quickly.
However, the Yuying Division truly expanded after the Battle of Huainan, and the 15,000 soldiers were all the latest recruits.
Is this new army really qualified to be compared with the Imperial Palace Division and the Imperial Guard Division?
Not many people believe it anyway.
After all, when he expanded his army, Luo Youdu didn't even have any decent generals.
But in this Northern Expedition, the combat effectiveness displayed by Yuyingsi is really eye-catching.
Zhao Kuangyin was well versed in military strategy, paid a lot of attention to Luo Youdu and his Imperial Camp Division, and saw the fishiness in them.
Cao Bin, Pan Mei, Li Chuyun, Chang Side, Dang Jin, etc. under Luo Youdu's command who are responsible for leading the troops, as well as Song Qi and Zhao Pu who are responsible for administration are all unique talents.
The small Yuyingsi can be called a hidden dragon and a crouching tiger.
Generals with extraordinary abilities have supported the current Imperial Camp Division.
Zhao Kuangyi had nothing to say and could only say sourly: "His luck is so good..."
When he said this himself,
There is no confidence at all.
The rebellion of Li Qiang and Zhang Wen was indeed an accident and accelerated the fall of Youzhou City.
But without Luo Youdu’s series of methods,
This caused panic among the people in Youzhou City, forcing Shi Fang to be ruthless and make the decision to drive the people into the city.
How could Li Qiang and Zhang Wen rebel easily?
Youzhou government office.
Luo Youdu met Song Xiong, the key hero in capturing the city.
"Mr. Song! I have long admired your name! Our army was able to capture the city this time, all thanks to Mr. Song, who went deep into the tiger's den."
Luo Youdu bowed respectfully to Song Xiong.
Song Xiong said with sincerity and fear: "What if we can bring Youzhou back to the Central Plains even if we give up this life?"
After prompting Xiao Siwen to leave the city with a large number of troops, Song Xiong estimated the time and found an excuse to leave the Xiao family.
Xiao Siwen regarded Song Xiong as an honored guest, but others did not care much about this elegant scholar and paid little attention to him.
It wasn't until Youzhou City was besieged that Xiao Hunian vaguely realized that Song Xiong might have a problem.
But at this moment, although Song Xiong could not leave the city, he had already hidden himself under Tang Fuyao's arrangement.
There were hundreds of thousands of people in Youzhou City, and Xiao Hunian was already short of manpower, so it was naturally impossible for him to search from house to house, so he had to give up.
It was only today, after Luo Youdu took the city, that Song Xiong showed up to ask for an audience.
Looking at the upright and upright Song Xiong in front of him, he thought about how huge the gap between the room and the room was: "This is what scholars of our generation should be like."
Luo Youdu said,
Pointing to Song Qi behind him, he said, "You haven't seen each other for a long time!"
"Brother Chu Bao!"
"Brother De Fang!"
Separated for more than ten years,
Yan, Ji and Song also gathered together.
The two of them bowed deeply and did not want to get up for a long time.
Luo Youdu smiled and said: "Two gentlemen, there is no rush to reminisce about the past. We can have a full night chat later. I have entrusted you with an important task."
Song Qi and Song Xiong bowed in unison: "I am willing to listen to your husband's instructions."
Luo Youdu said loudly: "This land of Yanyou has been owned by thieves for many years. Among them are righteous people like you who care about the Central Plains. There are also some who regard themselves as Khitan's lackeys. But most of them are innocent people who follow nature in order to survive.
The two gentlemen have made Yanyou famous, and I want to use the hope of these two gentlemen to calm the people's hearts, persuade the uncertain people to surrender, restore Yanyou's old land, and drive the Khitan back to the grassland."
Song Qi and Song Xiong both looked excited and said loudly: "I am willing to listen to your arrangements, sir."
News came from outside the government office that Quan Xu asked for an audience.
Luo Youdu said: "The two of you jointly write two lists and post them everywhere in Youzhou City. One is to calm the people, and the other is to denounce the numerous crimes committed by the Khitan invaders when they invaded Youzhou, in order to show that we, the Central Plains, are responsible for the land of Youyan.
sovereignty, stating that any compatriots who are willing to return home are welcome to surrender.”
Song Qi and Song Xiong responded in unison and left.
It doesn't matter whether this method is successful or not, the important thing is to attack the mind.
Gu Fu
The Khitans controlled the military sovereignty of Youyan, but most of the lower-level generals were Han Chinese like Li Qiang and Zhang Wen.
Quan Xu walked into the government office and reported the situation of the Xiao family.
"Commanding the army, my subordinates searched the Xiao family, but did not find Xiao Siwen's family members. After interrogation, it was learned that Xiao Siwen's family members left at night shortly after our army besieged the city, and none of the maids and servants at home were missing."
Luo Youdu frowned slightly.
Quan Xu observed his words and said hurriedly: "Do you want to be tortured? Maybe you can ask where you are going."
Luo Youdu asked: "Are they just the family members, or did you take away some maids and servants?"
Quan Xu said: "Not even my confidant maid."
Luo Youdu smiled and said: "Then there is no need. They left decisively and calmly, and they will not leave a few insiders for us to know. I guess we can't find anything if we ask. Thank you for your hard work. Let your people withdraw."
To untie the bell, the person who tied the bell must also be tied.
Regarding the whereabouts of Xiao Chuo, one has to ask Xiao Hunian or Xiao Kuiyin who is imprisoned in Waqiao Pass.
Luo Youdu was about to ask someone to bring Xiao Hunian, but he got the news that Guo Rong had entered the city.
Luo Youdu put the matter aside for the time being and went to the North City Gate to greet him.
Wherever Guo Rong went along the way, the elderly people on the street knelt down and knelt down to worship, cried loudly, and shouted: "Long live Emperor Guo."
Young people grew up under the rule of Khitan and could not understand the hatred deep in the hearts of their elders.
The older generation looks at the young people talking about "China", and they only feel a sense of sadness and anger in their hearts.
I really want to tell them that your "China" is different from our China.
But in an enemy country, apart from hiding this hatred in their hearts and putting it in a coffin, what can people like them do?
Now that the Emperor of Central Plains has arrived, the emotions that have been hidden in my heart for decades have been released.
The two met in the middle of the street.
"See Your Majesty!"
Guo Rong is still wearing the handsome golden Mingguang armor, looking majestic and majestic.
Having captured Youzhou, the first step of the Northern Expedition has been accomplished.
The Emperor of Zhou Dynasty was full of energy and high spirits. He raised his whip and said: "Sir, there is no need to be polite. You and I will come to the government office to talk."
The two of them walked into the Youzhou government office one after another.
Guo Rong looked at the government hall for a long time and said, "I really want Master Feng to see today's scene."
Luo Youdu grinned.
Guo Rong strode up to the main seat and sat down, saying: "With these days of defense, all the generals in the army are holding back their breath and asking for battle again and again. It's time to fight."
Luo Youdu laughed secretly in his heart.
Historically, few Zhou generals were willing to confront the Khitan.
But now that the Imperial Guards Division had almost taken over most of the military exploits in this expedition to the north, the Guards, Military Divisions, and the Palace Front Divisions naturally couldn't sit still and asked for battle one after another.
Luo Youdu knew that now was not the best time to attack.
But some things don't just work out the way you want them to.
I have taken the lead in this Northern Expedition. If I blindly restrict the Guards and Military Division, the Palace Front Division will go out to fight and make meritorious deeds.
The generals of the two divisions will definitely have their opinions. If the military is not aligned, the harm will be even greater.
So Luo Youdu said: "It's time. It's meaningless to only capture Youzhou. Since our army is going north, we must capture Jizhou and Gubeikou, and take the whole land of Youyan, otherwise it is better not to capture it."
Youzhou City is only the center of Youyan Land, not a fortress.
The gateways to Youyan are Jizhou and Gubeikou.
To the west of Jizhou are Yingzhou and Pingzhou in Liaodong.
The route from Jizhou to Yingzhou and Pingzhou is very bad. There are two feasible roads, one is the Yanshan Lulong Road, starting from Jizhou, taking Xifengkou and Baitan, passing through the upper valley of Luanhe River to reach Bailang Mountain.
Liaodong.
This road was the route that Cao Cao took during his northern expedition to Karasuma. Needless to say, it was dangerous. Cao Cao's life hung by a thread twice during the expedition.
One road is the Haihai Road, which runs from Jizhou to Jieshi and then to Liucheng.
No matter how you take these two roads, you cannot avoid Jizhou in the end.
As for Gubeikou, that's even more true.
The Gubeikou section of the Great Wall is the most complete defensive system in the history of the Chinese Great Wall. It is the throat of the Liaodong Plain and Inner Mongolia to the Central Plains. It has always been a battleground for military strategists.
Starting from the Western Zhou Dynasty and extending to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the State of Yan built piers and fortifications at Gubeikou. In order to prevent the Huns from the north from invading and disturbing the border, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che ordered the defenders to build a city and deploy troops at Gubeikou, making Gubeikou a gateway between the Han and the Huns.
A battleground that has been the subject of repeated battles.
Until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the strategic significance of Gubeikou had not changed for two thousand years.
As long as Jizhou and Gubeikou are still in the hands of the Khitan, Youzhou City will be an isolated city.
At any time and at any time, Khitan soldiers coming from Jizhou and Gubeikou will invade Dacao Valley.
The area around Youzhou City is vast and there is no danger to defend it.
We can't always station a large force in Youzhou for defense, right?
So after taking Youzhou, there is no room for turning back.
We must fight to the death, otherwise we will abandon Youzhou and retreat to the three defense lines like the Song Dynasty.
Or simply move all the people near Youzhou City southward and treat Youzhou City as a frontline defense stronghold.
No matter which point, it is a forced choice.
Therefore, at this point, there is no turning back when the bow is fired.