The camp, which had been silent for many days, suddenly became busy. Many soldiers were packing their bags, obviously the expedition was about to begin.
Yao Pingzhong and Liu Qi came all the way and were very excited.
The three of them have prepared good horses, one person with three horses, and no followers. They have already thought of the name of the story. The three horses crossed the border. In a few days, they will become famous all over the world.
As for the possible encirclement and interception by Xixia soldiers and horses, the three of them did not take it seriously. They could break through if they could not finish the killing, and no one could stop them.
As they entered Han Shizhong's tent, Yao Pingzhong held his hand and said impatiently: "When will we set off?"
As soon as Yao Pingzhong came out of the prince's tent that day, he wanted to spar with Han Shizhong. Naturally, Han Shizhong was not afraid of him and agreed immediately. The two fought for dozens of times, and Han Shizhong defeated Yao Pingzhong. Liu Qi knew Han Shizhong when he was suppressing the Rong army.
My martial arts and archery skills are very good, so naturally I won't challenge him again.
Han Shizhong said helplessly: "The prince's soldiers just came to inform us that we don't need to go to the border."
"Why?"
The two of them looked at Han Shizhong in disbelief. He was clearly about to go on an expedition.
Han Shizhong thought for a while and said: "The prince is preparing to raid Xingqing Mansion and wipe out Xixia. Naturally, there is no need to spread the word to the outside world. This news cannot be spread to the outside world. Only the captain and above know about it."
When Yao Pingzhong heard this, he immediately smiled and said: "So that's it. It's not bad to attack Xingqing Mansion. Kill the Western Bandits by surprise."
Han Shizhong said speechlessly: "Have your troops received the general order to set off?"
"No."
Yao Pingzhong immediately reacted and asked: "You mean the prince is not planning to use us?"
Han Shizhong nodded and said: "Since it is a surprise attack, we must have selected elite soldiers, and they should be the ones who are active in the camp."
Yao Pingzhong said anxiously: "How can we miss such a big battle? No, we have to go see the prince."
Han Shizhong also nodded and said, "I'm about to go find the prince. Does General Liu want to go?"
"certainly."
In the main tent of the Chinese army, Chao Yong was studying the marching route with Zhong Shidao. When he heard the three people begging to see him, he smiled and said: "Let them come in."
"At the end of the day, I will meet the prince, the father-in-law."
Chao Yong looked at the three of them and said with a smile: "What can you do with the three generals?"
Han Shizhong smiled and said: "The last three generals asked for orders to accompany the prince to raid Xingqing Mansion."
Chao Yong smiled and said: "I plan to march hundreds of miles every day and arrive at the gate of Xingqing Mansion in four days at the latest. Can your troops and horses do it?"
When Yao Pingzhong heard this, he immediately said: "Okay."
Han Shizhong and Liu Qi did not dare to say so. The soldiers and horses under their command were all left over from the Zhenrong Army battle. Although they were all elite soldiers, they were not sure whether they could continue the rapid march.
Zhong Shidao looked at the three people's reactions and could see their depth. Han Shizhong and Liu Qi were steady and thoughtful, while Yao Pingzhong was a little aggressive and exaggerated.
You don’t need to try it. Anyone who knows how to do it knows that it doesn’t work. Although the Western Army is strong in combat, it does not mean that it has strong marching ability. In the military system of the Song Dynasty, all troops marched on the road. They rested for ten miles, dry food for thirty miles, and food and lodging for sixty miles.
The Western Army is also accustomed to marching in this way. Occasionally, it may be possible to march a hundred miles a day, but if it marches for four consecutive days, I am afraid that more than half of them will fall behind.
On the contrary, the Liangshan veterans under Lu Junyi had often marched hundreds of miles since the Liangshan era. It was not difficult for them to attack Xingqing Mansion.
Seeing that the two of them didn't respond, Yao Pingzhong also blushed a little.
Chao Yong also knew that the three men were brave and said with a smile: "You can go, you don't need to lead troops, just be a private soldier under my tent."
However, Han Shizhong and the other three wanted to participate in this war. Whether they would bring troops or not was not that important to them, so they agreed immediately.
Chao Yong smiled and said: "Then you go down and prepare. We will set off tomorrow morning to suppress the Rong army, and then enter Xixia along the Hulu River."
Han Shizhong was about to retire, but Liu Qi said: "The Zhenrong Army still has dozens of large and small ships. I wonder if they can be used?"
Zhong Shidao was surprised and said: "The Hulu River was previously controlled by the Xixia people, right? Where did the Zhenrong Army hide their boats?"
Liu Qi said with a smile: "It's not that we hid it, it was used by the Xixia people to transport grain. When the Xixia people retreated, they didn't have time to drive them all away, leaving some ships behind, including several warships of our army.
"
Master Zhong said happily: "With ships, it will be faster to raid Xingqing Mansion. If you go north along the Hulu River and merge into the Yellow River, you can go directly to Xingqing Mansion. Moreover, it can be reached in two days at most by going down the river.
Xingqing Mansion.”
It's not like Zhong Shidao has never thought of taking the water route, but the Hulu River was previously controlled by Chage and all the ships were collected by Xixia. He subconsciously thought that the Zhenrong Army had no ships, and it would not be possible to build ships in a short time.
, so he only considered the land route.
Chao Yong was delighted to hear that he could reach Xingqing Mansion in two days by water: "How many people can the ship carry?"
Liu Qi said awkwardly: "I haven't seen those ships either. I just heard from my officers that there are these ships."
Chao Yong smiled and said: "We were walking in a hurry that day, and we didn't have time to carefully check the trophies. But there are dozens of boats, which can carry at least several thousand people, which is enough."
Zhong Shidao looked at the map and said: "If we want to take the water route, there are two more places that need to be attacked."
Chao Yong said: "Is there a checkpoint on the water?"
Zhong Shidao shook his head and said: "There are no checkpoints on the water, mainly Wuyan Gorge and Qingtong Gorge. The Xixia people set up forts at the strategic points of these two canyons. The river is below the fort, and the fort guards can block the river with trebuchets, so
When the Song Dynasty attacked Xixia, they generally did not use waterways. Of course, this was also related to the fact that the Western Army was not good at taking boats. General Lu’s men should be able to take boats, right?"
Chao Yong thought for a while and said: "Most of the people are near the water park of Liangshan. In the past, you had to take a boat to get in and out of Liangshan, so there shouldn't be a big problem. However, Li Jun and others are not familiar with the Yellow River, so the breeder will lead the way."
It’s not a problem for people to walk by water, right?”
Zhong Shidao nodded and said: "Over the years, they have disguised themselves as merchants and traveled by water and land. They have also met some Xixia people in forts along the way. Some forts may be able to make money from them."
"Okay, then according to the plan, Lu Junyi and I will lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to cross Liupan Mountain to suppress the Rong army. Yao Gu will lead 20,000 soldiers and horses to the west to recover Xihe Road, and Lu Zhishen will go north to Xi'an Prefecture. One day later,
The breeder then led a large army and came later."
Xixia and the Song Dynasty had been fighting for decades, and the two sides' secret operations had already spread all over the country. In order to prevent the Xixia people from seeing through, Daliang divided its troops into three groups and released the news that the troops would take over the state capitals left by Xixia to confuse Xixia's operations.
Yao Gu led 20,000 people, but it was Chao Yong who handed over Sun Li's ministry to Yao Gu, and added Li Congji's ministry, and Sun Li stayed with Chao Yong.
Prince Longqi also stayed in the central army, and one day later he announced that his troops would return to the court. After marching eastward for two days, they divided their troops and moved northward. Although they would be exposed by then, Chao Yong's troops had already invaded Xixia territory by then.
Lu Zhishen's troops also marched eastward from Xi'an Prefecture, and joined Dong Ping, Yang Zhi, Wu Song, and Mu Hong, who were led by Zhong Shidao, to attack Xixia to support them. Li Ying's troops stayed behind with Huaide's army.