Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Fanzhen soldiers and Central Forbidden Army are two completely different military systems, and the relationship between them is very weak. In theory, the emperor can command the Fanzhen Army, but he must have the power to command, and the emperor's power is guaranteed by the Central Forbidden Army. Yes, so it can also be said that the Fanzhen Army and the Forbidden Army have a certain degree of opposition.

The Ya Army is the personal soldiers of the Jiedu envoys stationed in the vassal town government, such as Weizhou where the Tianxiong Army ruled, and the elite of the Xiong Army was stationed in Weizhou that day.

The Foreign Ya Army is also the army of the Jiedushi, but it is not stationed in the government office, so it is not as elite as the Ya Army, but Bozhou is an exception. The Tianxiong Army used to be called Weibo Town. In order to prevent the two states from separating, Wei Bobing also rebelled.

The status of Weizhou and Bozhou is very important. Although Weizhou is the township of the Tianxiong Army, the army in Bozhou will not be far behind. , so the conditions put forward by Shi Congyun are actually much more excessive than Zhao Shijian.

The state soldiers are the soldiers in charge of the governors of each state, which can also be roughly understood as the police armed in each state, which is incomparable with the internal and external tooth troops of the Jiedushi.

Shi Congyun's request for Zhang Zhengtao to be an officer is to enter the administrative system of the Tianxiong Army, and Zhang Zhenghai is a general of the Neiya Army, which is to enter the Tianxiong Army's personal series.

Guo Ting said that to take charge of the Bozhou Foreign Ya Army is to take over the strongest of the Foreign Ya Army, and the conditions are much harsher than Zhao Shijian's.

Although the Tianxiong Army guards several states, Weizhou and Bozhou are the two most elite soldiers.

He wasn't sure if the Fu family could agree, and he didn't force it if he didn't agree, because next year he would lead an army of tens of thousands to Hebei!

At that time, the officials will appoint him as the recruiter to the north, and all the troops and Jiedu envoys in Hebei will obey his orders. At that time, the Fu family will have no right to bargain with him.

Shi Congyun immediately felt refreshed. At the beginning, he was still a lowly figure in front of the Fu family, but now after several years of hard work, the situation is completely different.

In the next few days, I played some small games such as mandarin ducks playing in the water, water and milk blending with the three beautiful wives, and the whole person also recovered from the Southern War and returned to normal state.

Afterwards, he also began to summon his father Shi Yanchao from time to time, and his subordinates Luqiu Zhongqing, Guo Tingwei, Pan Mei, Wang Zhong, Shao Ji, Dong Zunhui, Luo Yanhuan, Wang Shenqi, Gao Huaide, Wang Quanbin, Murong Yanzhao, etc. Let's study the issue of the Northern Expedition.

Of course, he didn't reveal that the officials were going to go to the Northern Expedition, but he just told everyone about it in the form of a discussion.

The Khitan was the number one enemy of the Great Zhou, and everyone didn't find it strange.

And because Shi Congyun is now inspecting the front of the palace, the chief of the imperial army, it is logical and reasonable to call everyone to discuss this matter, and the generals should obey his orders.

There is no need to go to the restaurant specifically, but directly summon everyone in the official office in front of the palace outside the north wall of the imperial city.

But the officials were very happy when they heard about this incident, and even came to Conggong several times to participate in their discussions.

In the future, Li Gu who came back from the front, Wei Renpu, Wang Pu, Wang Pu and others from the court will also come to participate.

What Shi Congyun did was to arrange the tables in a circular shape, so that everyone could speak freely regardless of their status when they sat down, and there were also many psychological hints in the setting of the environment.

He also did a good job. He never revealed his own views, nor did he offer any opinions, and let everyone speak.

In this way, everyone became active in their speeches, and also brought up many things that Shi Congyun had never thought of.

Everyone's opinions are varied and difficult to unify for a while, but everyone agrees on one point.

To attack Youzhou, some rivers in Hebei, especially the waterways near Cangzhou, must be dredged first, so as to provide reliable logistical support for the army.

Shi Congyun agreed with this point.

Most cities are built near rivers, and rivers are also an important logistical force for the army to march.

It is more convenient to fight in the south. The rivers in the south are wide, the water network is dense, and the water flow is sufficient. Almost everywhere the army goes, they can find rivers to guarantee logistics.

Therefore, the need for logistics personnel to fight in the south will be much less. For example, to fight in Huainan, a 20 army only needs about [-] logistics personnel.

But if they go north, a 40 army needs at least [-] logistics personnel or more, because there are few rivers, the water network is not as developed as the south, the water flow is generally small, and the transportation volume depends more on people and livestock.

This is also one of the important reasons why the South has always been difficult to resist the North's attack. The more the North fights south, the less logistical pressure it is; the more the South fights north, the greater the logistical pressure.

Therefore, building the river channel first, so that more ships can go north with the army, can effectively relieve part of the logistical pressure. Although it is still far from the convenience of going to the south, it can at least reduce a lot of workload.

The total number of soldiers and horses dispatched by the imperial court this time will be about [-].

The main force is about [-], [-] are needed to block the flank of the Northern Han Dynasty, [-] to sit in Chanzhou, plus the accompanying Jiedushi army.

Therefore, everyone believes that it is conservatively estimated that 25 civilian husbands and state soldiers will be recruited in Hebei to provide logistical support for the army.

Li Gu believes that 40 is needed, and a reserve team is needed.

Li Gu's words are very convincing. He has rich experience in logistics. Li Gu was responsible for the logistics supply in several battles in Gaoping, Huainan, Nanping, and Wuping.

So he put forward his own professional opinion: the rivers in Hebei are too narrow, water transportation is not completely reliable, and the main force still needs people and livestock.

Li Gu also gave an example, in case a large ship gets into an accident and blocks the river course, it is impossible for you to stagger the boat in the wide rivers like the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River, but it will be blocked directly.

At this time, the reserve team is needed to rescue, otherwise it may affect the battle ahead. If the random water transportation is not blocked, the only way is to let the ship go directly into the Bohai Sea.

So no matter how he thought about it, he felt that if there were no accidents, he had to completely exclude the influence of water transportation and only consider human and animal power.

What Li Gu said made sense, but the statement was also extreme.

After careful consideration, everyone felt that Li Gu's words were reasonable.

Finally, after deliberation, Shi Congyun decided that at least 30 civilian husbands and state soldiers should be conscripted to ensure the supply of the army.

At the same time, about 10 people were requisitioned half a year before the start of the war. Before the start of the war, the rivers in Hebei were quickly repaired and widened, so that large ships could enter the Bohai Sea and go northward, or go northward from the river, reducing the logistical pressure during the war.

As for who would do the job of dredging the waterway, everyone thought of one person—Han Tong.

......

The first ten days of discussions made Shi Congyun a little frightened, and what was frightening was the consumption of the war.

This is the attrition war that Shi Congyun is worried about, which is completely different from fighting the south.

This is only in the north of Henan. At least there are still a lot of farmland here, and there are many people. The annual grain production has begun to be inferior to that of Jiangnan and Shu due to decades of war, but it is still a lot.

If everything goes smoothly and wins all battles, it will be profitable.

And like the Han Dynasty, they crossed the Yanshan Mountains and went deep into the grasslands and deserts to launch an attack, let alone how much money, food, manpower and material resources would be consumed.

This is actually what Shi Congyun is most worried about. This battle is not only concerned about whether it can be won, but also about whether the current Great Zhou can afford it. After all, the current Great Zhou can only be regarded as a slightly larger separatist regime. That's all.

At the end of the Jin Dynasty, many people scolded him for exploiting the people and not being popular with the people. In fact, he also suffered. He relied on his small territory to fight against the huge Liao Kingdom.

There are winners and losers in the war, but the Jin Dynasty can't afford it at all.

Khitan once lost in the south can come for the second time, and if they fail to please the second time, they can come for the third time. Anyway, they can lose, but the Jin Dynasty can't afford to lose. In the end, the Liao Kingdom invaded Daliang City and wiped out the Later Jin Dynasty.

It is impossible for one or two wars between major powers to determine the final victory or defeat, although only the most critical ones will be recorded in history books.

There is not a military gap between the Liao Kingdom and the Later Jin Dynasty. Although the Later Jin and Liao Kingdoms fought on the defensive and suffered greater losses, they still won and lost each other.

The gap lies in the territory, population, and comprehensive national strength of the two countries. The huge and unified Liao Kingdom can be consumed slowly, but the later Jin Dynasty, which has not unified China, cannot afford to consume one side separately.

What Shi Congyun is most afraid of is that Da Zhou will fall into the predicament of the Later Jin Dynasty.

Once the high-level leaders of the Liao Kingdom made up their minds to fight them to the end, the Zhou Dynasty could only passively follow them. The separatist regimes such as Houshu, Southern Han, Southern Tang, Northern Han, and Wuyue, which were lying beside them, would be powerless take into account.

However, the current situation is that the arrow is on the string and has to be launched. This battle must be fought. If the determination is made, he must go all out and strive for the best. He can no longer think about the future, and can only comfort himself. There is a way.

Shi Congyun felt unprecedented pressure. It has been more than five years since he came to this world, and he has never felt so anxious now.

Chapter 215: The Battle of Hebei between Dazhou and Khitan

At the head of the city of Cangzhou, the cold wind howled, and the guards at the head of the city shivered from the cold and hid behind the walls.

Wearing armor, Zhao Kuangyin blew into his palms and then rubbed them together, staring into the distance from time to time.

In front of the city wall is a two-foot-wide moat, and in the distance there is a small stream with dead grass reaching ankles, cut marks, and covered with hoarfrost.

The surface of the water was sparkling, and white mist floated from time to time under the sunlight, and the withered forest in the distance stretched its teeth and claws at the end of the avenue, and nothing could be seen.

Zhao Kuangyin kept looking into the distance. He followed the Khitan soldiers all the way from the south to Cangzhou.

As winter approached, a small number of in-depth Khitan soldiers began to retreat northward, and Zhao Kuangyin led his troops to follow, in order to drive them all the way out of the border.

But after arriving near Cangzhou last night, the Khitans were temporarily lost because of the darkness. Zhao Kuangyin did not dare to camp in the wild for fear of being attacked by the Khitans in the middle of the night, so he entered the city.

He is very familiar with the combat style of the Khitan people. The Khitan people seldom fight head-on battles. In a big battle, they are best at fighting if they can get past it, and retreating if they can't. Khitan people.

But the most cunning thing about them is that once the situation is a little unfavorable, they will retreat to lure their own troops to pursue them. If they don't pursue them, they will use their horsepower to distance themselves, and after recuperating, they will launch the next attack again. The soldiers were exhausted, and then launched a general attack.

If they pursue, they will mostly retreat in the direction of the main force of the army, and then set up an ambush behind them.

Generally speaking, once an army is defeated and disintegrated, it is difficult to regroup and fight again, but for the Khitan army, reunion is the norm, and it is also very troublesome and a headache.

Moreover, Zhao Kuangyin's long-term contact with Liao soldiers also allowed Zhao Kuangyin to observe many characteristics of their combat.

Liao soldiers mainly use cavalry and archery, and they like to use cavalry in a concentrated manner.

During the battle, a reconnaissance cavalry team of more than ten people was sent to carry out activities within a range of about [-] miles from the forward troops.If you find a small group of enemy troops, you will capture them. If your combat power is insufficient, you will ask for support from the forward troops. If you find a large-scale enemy army, you will report to the commander of the Liao Army and do not attack rashly.

When the vanguard army encountered a small county or town, it would try to capture it directly. If it was a large state or city, the Liao army would choose to capture or evacuate according to the situation. They would try to attack, but in most cases it would not last more than three to five days.

Once unable to defend, the Liao army would burn, kill, and loot the houses, gardens, and sangzhe they passed along the way.

If the soldiers from the prefectures and counties take the initiative to fight, they will lure the enemy away by riding, shooting and insulting, lay an ambush in the middle of the road, or suddenly turn the horse's head to kill them. This is a very common tactic of the Khitan people.

If the city is closed and defended, they will divide their troops to plunder the surrounding area, leaving the attacking state city isolated and helpless.

Most of the large and small cities that they pass through, most of the time, hundreds of cavalry go to the place with more than a hundred steps to the left and right of the city gate to prepare for war and provocation.If the enemy goes out to battle, and more than a hundred cavalry cannot defeat them, if they can lure the opponents to pursue them, they will lure them to pursue them;

When they attacked the city, they would also drive the young and old who came to the front to resist the arrows and weaken the morale of the defenders.

Facing the Zhou army forming an army formation, they will ride in teams on all sides in front of the formation, conflicting formations.

If you can successfully break through the enemy's formation, the infantry and cavalry teams engulfed in the rear will take the opportunity to rush forward;

If it fails to break through, the first team will retreat to rest, and the second team will continue to attack in turn.If it doesn't work after several rounds, use the cavalry to surround the enemy from all sides as much as possible. After two or three days, the soldiers are tired and horses are exhausted before attacking.

If there are too many enemy troops to encircle them, they will retreat immediately with the help of horses. This is a common fighting method used by the Khitan people, and Zhao Kuangyin kept it in mind.

This style of play of the Khitan made them very passive.

They are indeed large in number, about [-] troops deployed throughout Hebei, but they must be stationed in various cities, otherwise the people there may suffer.

And once they disperse and deploy their troops, they will also disperse, and the Khitans will probably be defeated one by one when they take the initiative to attack.

This is almost a big problem that cannot be solved. Without Yanyun Sixteen States, all the passes in Hebei would be difficult to defend.

Slowly, Shi Congyun saw a figure in the distance approaching the city quickly. The horseshoes rumbled and splashed a large amount of water. After that, they rushed across a small stream in the distance and rushed to the city. More than a hundred Khitan cavalrymen carried short bows, With a saber, he rushed to the city with a spear in hand.

Stopping sixty or seventy steps away from the moat, you can tell that they are Khitan people by their hairstyles. Khitan people have different hairstyles, but most of the time they shave the top of their heads and have various styles.

They yelled and yelled below the city, speaking in a language they didn't understand, and then they took three heads off their horses and threw them near the moat, a blatant act of provocation.

Zhao Kuangyin was almost certain that this was the Khitan soldier they lost last night, and the people nearby were murdered by them.

The soldiers at the top of the city were filled with righteous indignation and scolded them, some people asked for orders to go out to fight and exterminate them, there are more than a hundred Khitans in this group, and they are absolutely sure of dealing with them.

Zhao Kuangyin was a little worried. He knew the habits of the Khitan people best. There were hundreds of Khitan soldiers following them, and there might be ambushes behind them. What he was most afraid of was that they would merge with other troops, otherwise they would not come to pick them for no reason.

The Khitan people are very cunning, if they ran away early, how dare they come here to provoke?

So he resolutely refused to let everyone go to battle, even though the group of Khitan people provoked them, all the soldiers were outraged.

Until the afternoon, the Khitan people who had been yelling and cursing for a whole day at the bottom of the city finally had nothing to do, and began to rein in their horses and retreat.

A mile behind, in the dead woods on both sides of the hills, a large number of moving figures began to appear. From a distance, there were signs of human figures moving in the woods on both sides of the hills. It was estimated that there were at least a thousand people, obviously Khitan people. Ambushes.

Only then did the crowd wake up, sweating from fright, and praised Zhao Kuangyin for his foresight. If he had chased him before, he would have been fooled by the Khitan people.

Zhao Kuangyin chuckled, accepted everyone's praise, and explained his doubts to everyone. The Khitans have always used small cavalry to lure the enemy in battle, and he often used it to send large troops behind.

The Khitan people they followed to Cangzhou last night were only 300 to [-] people, and it is only right that [-] or [-] people dare not come here to provoke, but they dare to blatantly shout and curse in front of the city.

It is very likely that when they fled north last night, they met a large army of other Khitans who joined together. After they became stronger, they wanted to kill the carbine before leaving and scam a wave.

Everyone was convinced by his analysis, and then Cangzhou sent scouts to follow the Khitan army.

It was found that there were more than 2000 of them, and the ambush plan failed. They might be afraid that Cangzhou would mobilize reinforcements from nearby cities to encircle and attack them, so they went north without stopping and fled out of the country.

Everyone was more convinced by Zhao Kuangyin. He smiled and dealt with it, but he was a little absent-minded.

When he was still in Beizhou, he got the news that Shi Congyun had pacified Nanping and Wuping in two months. Because of Zhang Yongde's meritorious service in fighting against the Khitan in the north, the officials added Zhang Yongde but removed him from the post of inspector in front of the palace. Shi Congyun was in charge of inspecting the capital in front of the hall.

When the decree arrived in Hebei, Zhang Yongde was still quite happy. The inspector Taiwei Jiatong Zhongshumenxia Pingzhang was indeed an official and a nobleman, but Zhao Kuangyin knew very well that this was Mingsheng and secretly descending...

But he didn't say much, but felt a little melancholy in his heart. He might have gone the wrong way.

Zhao Kuangyin went out to work hard since he was a child. He is a very ambitious person. He has made a lot of efforts to get to where he is today. At the beginning of Gaoping, and later in Huainan, he came from the edge of life and death several times. dead.

But he also understands that hard work and ability are one aspect, and following the right person is also very important.

He chose to go north at the beginning, he chose Zhang Yongde...

Slowly recalling what the third younger brother said to him that day, I felt a little different. Shi Congyun had invited him...

But it's useless to think about it now.

Looking at the lone geese in the distance, the Liao Kingdom's offensive this year is also over. The losses of the states and counties are actually very small, and the Khitan people also have a lot of losses. Especially near Beizhou, a large-scale battle broke out between the two sides with a total strength of more than 8000 people. .

Zhou's army was backed by Beizhou, so the Khitans did not take advantage of it, and the two sides fought each other for more than seven days.

The Khitans still used the old method, trying to exhaust the Zhou army through continuous harassment and uninterrupted attacks, and then launched a general offensive.