"Firearms," I nodded and continued: "The land in the north of our Song Dynasty has been occupied for a long time. Therefore, I don't blame you for joining the Mongolian army. I have said so much to you today, but there are two reasons. First, I will definitely take back the north, because it was originally the land of our dynasty; second, you Han people in the north can only live a decent life in a country that truly belongs to the Han people. I and you The same, we are all Han people, so naturally I will not kill my compatriots for no reason. After the meeting, you can change your clothes, collect the road signs and travel expenses, and go home,"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, can you really go home, little ones?"
"Once I open my mouth, can I still deceive you?"
Luda and Wu Liu looked at each other, then suddenly knelt down and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Immediately afterwards, all the prisoners of war in the room knelt down and said, "I would like to thank the emperor for your kindness."
I smiled and accepted the thanks from these prisoners: "I won't ask you to do anything after you go back. Even if you join the Yuan army again after you go back, I won't care. There is only one thing you should remember. , live well and wait for me to lead my army to regain the mountains and rivers lost by our Song Dynasty,"
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty,"
In the following days, I ordered the release of the Han prisoners of the Yuan army who were detained in the Lumen Mountain camp. When these prisoners left, everyone looked happy and shouted from time to time: "Go home, you can go home."
When the Mongolian prisoners of war in the camp learned that all the Han prisoners of war had been released, they were furious and envious at the same time. Yes, they can go home. Go home. The Han people are like this, so why not the Mongolians.
In early August, a large number of projectiles, muskets and artillery ammunition arrived in Xiangyang together with the officers and soldiers of the Lin'an Base of the newly formed Third Division of the Royal Forest Army. Almost on the same day, Meng Zhang from Ezhou also sent more than a hundred soldiers to Meng Tianxiang. , these soldiers were mostly friends of the Meng brothers in the world and some martial arts enthusiasts from the surrounding area. They were proficient in martial arts, so they only received a brief training. After being equipped with all the war horses, they were sent to Xiangyang by Meng Zhang. In this way, Zhongshun The number of soldiers in the army increased to more than 600.
As for food and grass, Xiangyang City already has a large stockpile, and with the continuous delivery of combat supplies from various bases, it is enough.
What made me quite excited was that before the expedition, the Royal Academy of Sciences sent me a pocket watch and a pair of binoculars. This pocket watch was just developed by the Academy of Sciences. It was several times larger than the pocket watches of later generations. It seemed like The accuracy of an alarm clock can be controlled within five or six minutes a day, and the magnification of the telescope is about twice. Although the effect is far from ideal, it is a full 340 years ahead of the world's first telescope.
In 1608, the Dutchman Hans Liebersch invented the first telescope. In 1609, the Florentine Italian Galileo Galilei invented the 40x double-mirror telescope. This was the first practical telescope put into scientific applications. From the appearance From the looks of it, the telescope developed by the Academy of Sciences is not much different from the common binoculars of later generations. It is just that it is much larger and heavier. Of course, the effect is also much worse.
According to the plan, Jia Sidao, Lu Xiufu and Zhao Shunsun stayed in Xiangyang to form a temporary military and political center to serve as a transit hub for liaison between the front and rear.
In the early morning of August 15th, gusts of autumn morning breeze blew through, refreshingly cool. I mounted my horse and, surrounded by a group of personal guards, arrived at the temporary base of the North Expeditionary Pioneer Battalion outside the north gate of Xiangyang.
Wu Songhan and Meng Tianxiang, who were the vanguards of the Northern Expeditionary Army on the middle route, rode up to five meters in front of me and said loudly: "Your Majesty, our army is ready. Please give your order,"
"Okay," I looked at all the soldiers of the Pioneer Battalion who were ready to go, clapped my horse forward, raised my Dantian, and said in a loud voice, "Fellow soldiers, today is the occasion of our army's official Northern Expedition. All the soldiers in the second wing of Lin'an Military Region Soldiers, all the soldiers of the Zhongshun Army, as the vanguard of the Northern Expedition, you will be the first batch of warriors of our country to fight northward in more than 30 years. I am proud of you. More than a hundred years ago, our country was defeated by the Jin people. , resulting in the regret of "Jingkang Shame". Now, the north is occupied by the Mongols again, but no matter who invades our territory, as long as it is the territory of our dynasty, I and my people have the responsibility and obligation to move forward Go and take back, whether it is Bianjing, the capital of our dynasty, the mausoleum of Emperor Xuanyuan, the Great Wall, and the Yellow River, they are all left to us by our ancestors. How can this large piece of homeland be allowed to be occupied by foreigners again? As the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, and as a member of the Chinese clan, I Leaders, you should be brave enough to move forward regardless of your own safety. Even if there is an abyss ahead, even if there are thorns ahead, I will never back down. You are all good men of my court. Do you have the confidence to defeat the Yuan army and return my country?"
As if after a rehearsal, the soldiers of the Pioneer Battalion shouted in unison: "Our army will win, the Song Dynasty will win,"
The voices of more than 10,000 people were heard at the same time, which was deafening and resounded through the sky.
I waved my hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then said: "Heroes of the Song Dynasty, let's go."
Following my order, more than 10,000 soldiers from the Pioneer Battalion, led by Wu Songhan and Meng Tianxiang, left the north of Xiangyang City.
A few hours later, the armies began to move north one after another.
The next morning, under the farewell of Jia Sidao, Lu Wende and others, I left Xiangyang City with more than 4,000 Chinese escorts composed of the Guards, the Black Carbon Regiment and the Revival Army, and embarked on the Northern Expedition. road.
Along the way, the Pioneer Battalion cleared roads through mountains, built bridges over water, and annihilated the Yuan army in Xindian Town and Mengjiapu at the junction. Fifteen days later, the army successfully arrived at the town of Dengzhou, thirty miles south of Dengzhou City in Henan Province. Shangying Village.
Dengzhou is located in the west-central area of the Nanxiang Basin in southwest Henan Province. It is the first important town entering Henan from Hubei. The terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. There are few mountains and many plains. Especially from Dengzhou As far as Nanyang, it is almost all plains.
Shangying Village is located in a hilly area and is not large in size. The people in the village mainly grow cotton. Because they often interact with businessmen in Xiangfan, it was developed by Lu Wende as a contact point for the Xiangyang Military Region a few years ago. , is also the only secret base established by Lu Wende in the north since I proposed launching armed work behind enemy lines.
After entering the village, I rested for a while, then summoned the generals to listen to Xu Sanquan's introduction to Dengzhou City from Shangying Village Baozheng (equivalent to Li Zheng in the Southern Song Dynasty, the village chief in later generations). Xu Sanquan seemed quite shrewd. , he doesn’t look like a farmer at all, he looks like a businessman.
"Your Majesty, generals, since the battle of Xiangyang, the Mongolian Middle Route Army has retreated to Dengzhou and Nanyang. Although Dengzhou City is not big, it is one of the few fortified cities in Henan. It can even be said that it is the strongest city in the entire north. Countless of them, after driving away the Jin people, the Mongols were not interested in building cities and forts. I had heard from Mongolian soldiers in the past that the Mongols had always advocated attack. In their opinion, there was no city that could not be conquered. Dengzhou City was built by the Jin people with great efforts in order to prevent the attack of the Yue Family Army. Its main walls were made of whole stones, and they were continuously reinforced to reach today's scale. Even compared with Xiangyang City, it is smaller than Dengzhou City. No need to give in too much, according to the news I heard, there are currently about 30,000 troops in Dengzhou City, and the guards are Zhang Hongfan and Ata Hai, and the rest of the Middle Route Army has returned to Nanyang Camp."
While listening, I looked at the map spread on the table and said, "Xu Baozheng, is it all plains from Dengzhou to Nanyang?"
"Back to the emperor, it is true that the northeastern part of Dengzhou and the border of Nanyang are almost all plains, which is very suitable for the cavalry to launch large-scale operations."
"Well, no matter how strong Dengzhou City is, it can't withstand the rounds of bombardment from my artillery. We just want to attack Nanyang. This road is full of plains. It should attract our army's attention. How to defeat the Yuan army's cavalry in the wild. The army was defeated,"
Xie Daolin smiled and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, our Royal Forest Army now has three divisions and 20,000 muskets, and it will definitely defeat its cavalry."
"It's not that simple. The terrain along this road is wide. If the Yuan army attacks from all directions, once the 20,000 muskets are scattered, even if they are divided into three places, there will only be six or seven thousand. Then use three-stage shooting. Each time Just two or three thousand rounds of ammunition per round may give the Mongolian cavalry an opportunity to take advantage of it,"
Wen Zhang then said: "Your Majesty, our army still has throwing bombs available,"
"The effect of throwing bombs is naturally not small, but the number is limited after all," I said seriously, "I don't want our army's musketeers to have close combat with the Mongolian cavalry. Gongsun Xiaochen, Xiuyan, tomorrow you and Xu Baozheng Go to the northeast of Dengzhou for an on-the-spot investigation to see how our army will advance after capturing Dengzhou. In a war, most of the factors that determine the outcome are actually decided before the war."
"Yes, Your Majesty,"
"Xu Baozheng, you in Shangying Village are in Cao Ying and your heart is in Han. You are really a role model for the people of our court. I will record your merits. After the war is over, I will judge the merits of Shangying Village and you personally. Reward,"
Xu Baozheng knelt down and thanked him: "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."
"Get up,"
"Thank you, Your Majesty,"
"General Wu, General Meng, where is the vanguard camp stationed?"
"Go back to the emperor, at Taizi Gang, about ten miles away from the south gate of Dengzhou City,"
"Okay, take me there,"
After stopping briefly at Taizi Gang, I continued heading north, and after walking about six or seven miles, I reined in my horse, took the telescope from the guard, and looked at Dengzhou City from a distance. Generally speaking, people My naked eye sight can see an apple more than 400 meters away. With the help of a telescope, I can basically see clearly the defenders on Dengzhou City two miles away.
I looked at it for a while and handed the telescope to Fang Ling next to me. Then, all the generals also took turns to look at it.