I will never be Renzong

Chapter 214 Di Qing Takes Command
In order to speed up the transmission of military information, Zhao Zhen will set up a sentry station every [-] kilometers along the road during every battle. The sentry station will be paired with fast horses and communication cavalry.

Under normal circumstances, in order to ensure that the speed of the horses is about 50 kilometers per hour, each outpost is equipped with excellent Northwest horses, and when transmitting information, one person and two horses change rides in turn, so rush to the next The time at the outpost is about one hour (two hours).

It is about 1500 kilometers from Qingtang to Kaifeng, so it only takes a day or two for the front-line military report to be delivered to Kaifeng. It is a cement road.

Although there is still a gap between the cement road and the cement road of later generations, there will be no wind and rain, and the road will become muddy, which will delay the military report.

In Qingtang City (now Xining), in the camp of the Chinese Army, after Cao Wei passed away, in order to appease the morale of the army, Di Qing, Yang Wenguang and other generals decided not to hold the funeral after discussion, and waited for Zhao Zhen to appoint a new army commander before making a decision.

If this was done in the past when marching and fighting, by the time the new order came, the commander's body would have rotted away, but it is still March and the weather is still a bit cold. The last three or four days is not a big problem.

In addition, people in the Song Dynasty had already mastered saltpeter to make ice, so when the army went out, they would carry some saltpeter to make ice coffins for the generals who died in battle.

The three generals Di Qing, Yang Wenguang, and Zhang Kang can be said to have been single-handedly picked up by Zhao Zhen. When they were generals in Beijing, the three had a good personal relationship, but later, Di Qing was sent to Qinzhou, Gansu Road as the general soldier. Zhang Kang was sent to Bazhou, Hebei Road as the commander-in-chief, while Yang Wenguang stayed in Beijing to serve.

The army of 10 troops on the left conquered the west, and under the leadership of Cao Wei, defeated Tubo in the Qingtang Dynasty. In just half a year, they conquered Longxi, Taozhou, Xizhou, Hezhou, Huangzhou, Qingtang and other cities one after another. There are more than 60 Tubo tribes, big and small.

As of February of the ninth year of Tiansheng, before Cao Wei's death, the Song Dynasty had reorganized nearly 5 Tibetan soldiers. According to common practice, the reorganized soldiers of each tribe were scattered to various camps and armies of the Song Dynasty.

Of course, in order to invade the hinterland of Tubo, most of the reorganized tribes sent cavalry soldiers.

As the saying goes, if you want a foreign race to obediently work for you, then you have to pay the corresponding price.

The warriors of the various tribes in Tubo are undoubtedly outstanding in physical fitness, so Zhao Zhen not only issued them all the equipment of the Song Dynasty, but also gave them the same military salary.

In addition, the slave system in Tubo was abolished, freedom was given to the vast number of Tubo slaves, and officials were dispatched to register them and compile them into the register.

Of course, this also offended a group of Tubo nobles. However, for the Tubo nobles who were close to the Song Dynasty, Zhao Zhen gave them official positions, and the treatment was very generous. The mines were slaves, or they were expelled to the hinterland of Tubo.

In addition, Zhao Zhen also moved some people from the Central Plains to Qingtang, Xizhou and other places to break them up, in order to play a certain role in assimilation. Of course, this is a very long process, and it will not be seen for a while. works.

In Qingtang Hou's mansion, Di Qing was discussing the next marching route with Yang Wenguang, because no matter who Zhao Zhen sent as the commander, the two of them were still the deputy commanders of the army, so they needed to discuss the marching route in advance.

"Brother Zhongrong! Our army currently has a total of 12 people, including more than 6 heavy cavalry, 5000 light cavalry, and [-] infantry. One-third of the soldiers suffered from altitude sickness, and it took several days to get used to it. According to His Majesty's will, let us use cavalry to attack the hinterland of Tubo, and then finish the battle quickly. I wonder what Brother Zhongrong thinks?"

Di Qing looked at the military sand table in front of him and said to Yang Wenguang.

Yang Wenguang glanced at the sand table, and then said: "Hanchen! There are many cavalry in Tubo, and they are best at cavalry battles. They are familiar with the terrain and occupy the right time, place and people. Therefore, I agree with Your Majesty's intention to attack with cavalry corps, and then fight quickly."

Di Qing frowned and said: "If you want to fight quickly, you must wipe out all the main forces of Tubo in one battle, but now there are [-] tribes in Tubo, plus the Qingtang tribe that evacuated earlier, there are [-] tribes in total. If we Let's go and wipe them out one by one, I'm afraid that this battle will end at some point, if only they could gather together."

Yang Wenguang thought for a while and said: "I heard that the various tribes in Tubo were fighting for the throne before, so they attacked each other. If our army goes straight in and takes Luoxie City directly, as long as we take Luoxie City, those Tubo The tribe will definitely send envoys to submit to our court."

"Report!"

Suddenly a messenger hurried in, and then said: "There is a secret report from the front-line scouts. The various ministries of Tubo have formed a coalition army in Luoxie City, with a total of 15 people, and they are marching towards Qingtang!"

Di Qing and Yang Wenguang looked at each other, both a little surprised. They didn't expect that the various tribes of Tubo would form a coalition to attack the Song army on their own initiative. Then the defeat of Tubo in the First World War would not be a matter of war on paper, but the most urgent task now is to quickly select the commander of the three armies.

Suddenly, one of Yang Wenguang's personal soldiers walked in quickly, and then said: "Vice Marshal Yang, Vice Marshal Di, Your Majesty's order has arrived!"

Seeing this, Yang Wenguang hurriedly said: "Hurry up! Beat the drum and order the three armies to gather in the martial arts arena!"

On the martial arts arena, Yang Wenguang read Zhao Zhen's will in public. First, he praised Cao Wei for his loyalty to the country, commended him, and so on.

It wasn't until this time that the soldiers under the ground learned that the coach Cao Wei had already died of illness, so there was no lack of crying in the whole martial arts arena. When Yang Wenguang said that Zhao Zhen ordered Di Qing to be the coach, the whole army was in an uproar again.

Because whether it is Yang Wenguang or Zhong Shiheng who is about to lead the army, both in terms of military exploits and qualifications are higher than Di Qing, but what is unexpected is that His Majesty appointed the vigorous Di Qing as the commander-in-chief.

After Di Qing completed the imperial decree, he used all his strength and shouted loudly: "Silence!"

The noisy army immediately quieted down, because the first rule of the Song Dynasty's military regulations is that soldiers should obey orders as their bounden duty. Although everyone has doubts in their hearts, they will still obey the orders of the new commander.

Cao Wei's body was carried on a special coffin, and then several generals personally carried Cao Wei's coffin onto the carriage.

Di Qing took the lead in kneeling on one knee towards the carriage and said, "The last general, Di Qinggong, will be sent to the commander!"

"Congratulations to the handsome!"

Then first all the generals, and then the three armies spontaneously saw Cao Wei off.

(End of this chapter)