Seeing that Meng Zhang was still working hard at such an age. Regardless of whether he had selfish motives or not, I was quite moved: "Thank you for your hard work, old sir."
Meng Zhang smiled and said: "The emperor is polite. The common people are old and can contribute a small amount to the emperor and the country. The common people feel very happy in their hearts."
I nodded and said, "Okay, old sir. If the people of our Song Dynasty were like you, why worry about the country not being prosperous?"
"Your Majesty's reward."
"Haha." I laughed loudly. "Mr. Meng, your ancestors of the Meng family have followed Commander-in-Chief Yue to conquer the east and west since a hundred years ago. Generation after generation they have been role models for our army in the Song Dynasty. In recognition of your Meng family's contribution to our dynasty.
I shall commend him. Meng Zhang will accept the award."
Meng Zhang quickly knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, the common people are here."
"Meng Zhang, as the current head of the Meng family, I will confer you the title of Captain of Shang Qing Chao and Captain Meng Ying. I will grant you a gold medal. If anything happens in the future, you can go directly to the palace to see me with this gold medal.
This gold medal is hereditary and can be passed on to your descendants of the Meng family."
Meng Zhang kowtowed three times and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."
Captain of the Qingqing Chariot and Captain of the Mounted Cavalry are both titles of honorary officers. They do not have the actual power to command troops. They are equivalent to the honorary titles of later generations. The title of "honorable officer" began in the Northern Dynasties. It is an honor specifically awarded to military generals. "Mulan Poetry"
"" There is a sentence "Twelve rounds of honors", which refers to honorary officers. It is slightly different from the honors of later generations. Honorary officers in the Song Dynasty can receive monthly salary according to their level.
The honorary officers are divided into twelve ranks. Captains of the light carriages and captains of the cavalry are ranked in the fifth and seventh ranks respectively.
Most of the 500 soldiers brought by Meng Zhang were Meng Gong's former subordinates. These young men had been practicing bows, horses, spears and sticks with their fathers since childhood. They were skilled in martial arts. As long as they put on the uniform of the Song army, they could immediately go into battle to kill.
The enemy. With the reputation of the loyal and shun army back then, the military exploits of these young people in the future will definitely not be inferior to those of the Polu army.
"Mr. Meng, please get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Everyone, come with me to see these five hundred new generation loyal and shun army officers and soldiers."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
On the afternoon of June 15th, in the Shenggong Cave in the back mountain of Bangyuan Village, all the top leaders of the Tiandao Alliance were holding a secret meeting. Fang Chenqian, who was sitting in the chair, first said: "Elders, the war between Song and Meng has ended.
It took several months. There are less than 20,000 troops left in Lin'an. This morning, our leader received instructions from Lord Shenzun to send troops to Lin'an to destroy the Song Dynasty's fire.
Drug Prison. According to the information obtained by Lord Shenzun, the Gunpowder Prison is located outside Lin'an City. The total number of guards will not exceed a thousand. As long as we are fast enough, we can break in and ignite the gunpowder stored inside.
Chengcheng retreated. After that, our Tiandao Alliance immediately started an uprising. The defenders of Lin'an City will not leave the city easily. There are no soldiers to handle other places. Our space is naturally very wide."
Great Elder Wang Shangyuan said: "Leader, I have finally waited for this day."
"Yes. The Holy Spirit will protect us." Fang Chenqian laughed. "High Priest Yang Lianzhenjia, you will arrange a specific action plan."
"Yes. Alliance leader."
For Fang Chenqian, who has been practicing the art of changing pulses for several years, every time the width of a meridian is expanded, his gratitude to Yin Tianya increases by one point. Although after all the meridians are expanded, Yin Tianya still needs to personally teach the art of changing pulses.
The last formula. But the frequency of backlash in Fang Chenqian is already very low.
After receiving the order from Tianya God to seal Tianya, Yang Lianzhenjia and Fang Chenqian joined together. The second elder Fang Heping was left behind, and the new fifth elder Fang He was stationed at Shenggong Cave and was responsible for recruiting troops. The remaining six elders accompanied the two Thousands of elite soldiers will travel in batches and are scheduled to assemble at the foot of Daci Mountain in the southwest outside Lin'an City on the night of June 28.
That night, under the leadership of Yang Liazhenjia and Fang Chenqian, two thousand people quietly left Shenggong Cave, divided into dozens of groups, and headed towards Lin'an City.
The terrain in Yunnan is complex and the roads are winding and rugged. The distance from Kunming to Dali City is about eight to nine hundred miles. Many of them are mountain paths. There is even no path to be found. Fortunately, Duan Donglou, who is familiar with the terrain, leads the way. Without much trouble, tens of thousands of troops successfully arrived outside Taihe Town, about ten miles away from Dali City, in the early morning of June 17.
Dali City is located in the west-central part of Yunnan Province. It was the capital of the original Dali Kingdom. It is now the administrative seat of Dali Road in the Yuan Dynasty. It has a vast territory, rich resources, beautiful mountains and rivers, and spring-like weather all year round. There are more than ten people living in the city, including Bai, Yi, and Han nationalities. a nation.
The ancient city of Dali seen in later generations is not a building from the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty. It was restored and built on the basis of Yangju City (the old city of Dali City) in the early Ming Dynasty.
Taihe Town is an ancient town. It is located at the northern foot of Cangshan Mountain. It has a long history. It is older than Dali City. Before it became the capital of Nanzhao, it was already a considerable Heman city. Nanzhao was the capital of This place was named Taihe City. It was later destroyed by war. Only Taihe Town remained.
"Commander Gao, General Tian. Up ahead is Taihe Town." Duan Donglou reined in the reins and said. "There are no invincible troops in Taihe Town. According to the plan, our five hundred soldiers lurking in the Cangshan area should have controlled Taihe Town." It’s peaceful.”
After Duan Donglou sent out the signal, the same echo came from Taihe Town. Immediately, the town gate opened and a dozen men in black with red cloth belts on their arms came out.
The leader said: "The last general Duan Yun has met the great general. Taihe Town is under the control of our army."
Duan Donglou got off his horse and said, "Duan Yun. Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard. General, please."
"Okay." Duan Donglou turned around and said to Gundam and others. "Commander Gao, please."
Duan Yun brought Duan Donglou, Gundam and Tian Xiuyan to the center of Taihe Town. He walked into a brick house and said, "General. This is our army's temporary command post. Please."
After sitting down, Duan Donglou first said: "Duan Yun, please introduce to the generals the current situation in Dali City."
"Yes, General." Duan Yun took out a simple map from his arms and said. "Generals, please take a look. This is the map of Dali City. Currently, there are 23,000 troops stationed in Dali City, including 5,000 Mongolian troops. .Commanded by Hudun, the captain of ten thousand men, the Dali army consisted of 18,000 people, commanded by Duan Qing. Last night, about a thousand more people entered the city from the west of the city. The leader seemed to be Hudu. Hudun He and Duan Qing were both highly skilled in martial arts and both had courage beyond measure. Let’s look at the layout of Dali City. Dali City is divided into a new city and an old city. The old city is Zhjumea City. The new city is to the west of the old city and the two cities are connected. More than ten years ago, after the Mongols came in, the gates of the new city were changed from the original six gates to four. They were divided into four gates, southeast, northwest and northwest. Each gate was guarded by about 2,000 Mongolian and Dali troops. The old city still has only two gates, the south and the north. The same troops are stationed there. To the west is Cangshan Mountain and to the right is Erhai Lake."
Gundam said: "The walls of Dali City are solid. Our army does not have long-range weapons such as trebuchets. What should we do?"
Duan Donglou said: "Commander Gao, although our troops in Dali City are not as strong as in Kunming City, and the Mongols know that our army has captured Kunming, they will definitely strengthen their vigilance. Therefore, our troops who remain in Dali City should basically It has no effect. However, the city guards Hudun and Duan Qing are both brave and foolhardy. The general suggested that after our army rests for a day, early tomorrow morning, the general will lead the revival army in the name of Sariwei. Go to the north gate to challenge. Gao Shuai is hiding on Yongping Slope five miles away from the north gate. He will wait for an opportunity to be defeated and draw him in. Gao Shuai will command the army to attack from both sides of Yongping Slope, encircle and destroy it. If the enemy army If you don’t come, then it won’t be too late to try again slowly.”
"Yes. That's feasible." Gao Dao said. "Xiuyan. Send an order to all armies to set up camp on the spot. And ask General Fan Wenhu, General Long Zaitian, and General Hong Sheng to come here. Let's discuss tomorrow's battle together. Duan Yun General, please send more scouts to inquire about the situation."
"Yes. Gao Shuai."
About half an hour later, the generals gathered in the temporary command post to discuss the plan to attack Dali City.
Gundam said: "My generals, although our army outnumbers the enemy, Dali City has been in operation for a long time and is easy to defend and difficult to attack. According to common sense, our army can adopt a siege method to force the enemy to fight a decisive battle with our army. However, Your Majesty has an order. Our army must make a quick decision. Everyone can speak freely and see if there are any good strategies."
Early the next morning, before dawn, Dali City coach Hu Dun, who was used to getting up early, called Hu Du and Duan Li to the commander's residence.
"Kudu. Shanchan City's over 10,000 troops were defeated overnight. What crime do you deserve?"
Hu Du hurriedly said: "Brother, ah, no, Marshal. It is actually because Sariwei was in the city as an internal response. Our army was caught off guard. In addition, the Song army was so large in number that we were defeated like this."
"Yes, Marshal." Duan Li also agreed. "The Southern Dynasty's army, no less than 50,000 men, rushed in. Although our army resisted desperately, the relics had no choice but to open the city gate. It was really helpless. I hope Marshal can learn from it. "
Hu Dun scolded: "Nonsense. The Southern Dynasty's army is fighting with our Dynasty on its border. There can be as many as 50,000. Is it possible that the demon monk Sariwei is causing trouble again? There are a small number of Song troops among them."
Hu Du said: "Commander, he should be the Song Army. His accent sounds like the Sichuan Army in the Southern Dynasties. The leader seems to be named Tian."
"The Sichuan Army's surname is Tian." Hu Dun snorted. "The Sichuan Military Region of the Southern Dynasties only had more than 60,000 people in total. 50,000 troops came at once. Is this credible? Besides, the Southern Dynasty Sichuan Army's first-level commander and above It seems that none of our generals have the surname Tian."
"Commander. This..."
"There are more than 10,000 soldiers. Now there are less than 2,000 left. How should I explain to the emperor?"
Duan Li said cautiously: "Commander, judging from the enemy's combat effectiveness, they are far superior to our Dali army. They are indeed not Sariwei's rebels."
Hudu said: "Commander, give me another five thousand troops and horses. I will go and take Shanchan City back."
Hu Dun sneered. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a rush of footsteps outside the door. Then he heard the guard captain Longshan say outside the door: "Report, Commander. There is an enemy situation outside the north gate."