Grenade Fears Water
Chapter 224 Shaanxi People
Of course, the most important thing was to make certain military arrangements before the personal expedition.
As a passive defender, how to deploy troops and generals was always a huge problem... Thinking about it, it was almost no different from the last response. Zhang Jun needed to defend the Huai River and Jingdong. Yue Fei needed to be stationed in Kaifeng Prefecture to confront the Jin army head-on at Daming Prefecture. Otherwise, what if the forty to fifty thousand troops of the Eastern Route Army gathered at Daming Prefecture and then went south?
The troops that could be mobilized in the short term seemed to be the same as last time. The number of these troops and the speed at which they gathered in Guanzhong had already been fully ascertained by Wanyan Lou Shi through the last strategic reconnaissance... This was a conspiracy in plain sight, an unavoidable conspiracy in plain sight. The terror of Wanyan Lou Shi had begun to show.
Of course, neither Zhao Jiu nor the entire Song Dynasty court could sit idly by and wait for death.
Therefore, as Zhao Guan Jia officially started his westward journey after the grand court meeting, the order to transfer the Southeast Imperial Camp's Rear Army to the north was immediately issued. At the same time, the court also issued rewards for recruiting 'righteous armies' and 'militias' in Guanxi, the Central Plains, Lianghuai, and even Bashu and the Southeast, offering official ranks, titles, and quotas for Imperial College students to encourage wealthy families to contribute men, resources, and money.
And these were the contents of the court gazettes that Liang Jiaying, the fellow Jinshi who accompanied the army, had been reading in the past few days.
As for the current first day of the fourth lunar month, Secretary Liang watched the Jin Wu flags arrive, and Guan Jia and the Imperial Guards entered the camp. After reporting his identity and completing the handover, he still received the task of reading the gazettes from his fellow graduate, Yu Yunwen, a recording official who was also a Jinshi... According to Yu Yunwen, Guan Jia had repeatedly instructed that this was the most important task of the Jinshi accompanying the army, and no one should neglect or misinterpret it... But when Secretary Liang received today's gazettes, he was stunned as soon as he read them, and then felt dizzy and flustered.
However, this time it was not because Liang Jiaying from Guangzhou had little experience. All the proper Jinshi who were directly accompanying the imperial court were also panicked. Some burst into tears on the spot, some were shocked, some beat their chests, and some even wanted to break into the tent to see the emperor, but they were stopped by the Imperial Guards who were prepared.
For no other reason than that this time, the court gazettes directly recorded Zhao Guan Jia's entrustment of the young prince at Yiyou Gate!
The article was written personally by Yu Yunwen, the recording official who was a witness to the event, and then submitted to his old friend Hu Quan, the compiler, and all parts were recorded except for the part where he scolded the Supreme Daoist Emperor... Faced with such a serious political event with strong emotional color and concerning the foundation and destiny of the country, it was normal for these young political elites to have these reactions.
They didn't even know that when the Imperial College students were copying the gazettes, this supplement had caused chaos in the Imperial College. Fortunately, Chen Gongfu, the chancellor of the Imperial College, had some courage and directly led the Imperial College guards to physically block the gate. Otherwise, these Imperial College students might have burned down Zhao Huangshu's residence, given the fact that Zhao Guan Jia had already set out on an expedition the day before!
As for the extremely innocent Grand Clan Elder Zhao Huangshu's family, they had immediately dismantled their gate two or three days earlier after receiving the news. Then, the whole family, with several sons, slept in the courtyard day and night, enduring mosquitoes and dew, and did not dare to return to their rooms.
However, returning to the present, after venting their emotions, everyone was speechless - with a great battle imminent, the Son of Heaven had made such a decision, so what could the courtiers do?
Therefore, after making a fuss for a while, the Jinshi accompanying the army had no choice but to take the gazettes to read to the officers in the army... The Imperial Guards were different from others, because there were many accompanying civil officials and literati, so it was truly 'Jinshi entering the capital', and every soldier had to be read to.
"Guan Jia, forgive me for speaking frankly, but is this really useful?"
Entering the summer, the sky was getting dark later and later. At the central army tent, Liu Ziyu, the director of the Privy Council who was accompanying the army, looked at the open tent door for a long time. When he turned around, he couldn't help but step forward to advise Zhao Guan Jia, who was standing in the dark and also looking at the situation outside with his hands behind his back. "The matter of entrusting the young prince concerns the foundation of the country. It is already a bit shocking to let officials, scholars, and Imperial College students know about this kind of thing through the court gazettes. As for ordinary soldiers... Sufficient military pay, clear rewards and punishments, and a combination of kindness and power are enough. Telling them these things, they may not even understand what is called great righteousness!"
Qu Duan in the tent instinctively sneered and was about to mock him, but when he saw Guan Jia stop peeking out after hearing the sound, he forcibly held back.
"Lord Liu is right."
Unexpectedly, Zhao Jiu, who had turned back to his seat after hearing the sound, did not directly refute the other party. "If you want soldiers to give their lives, military pay, rewards, punishments, kindness, and power are the most fundamental things. Without these, it is ridiculous to try to inspire soldiers with empty words of great righteousness... But since the Imperial Camp troops were formed, the court can be said to have been using the power of the entire country to support the soldiers and ensure military pay. Although there are still many drawbacks and chaos in it, it is really impossible to do more in this regard for a while. At this time, it is a last resort to boost morale before the battle."
Seeing Guan Jia turn around, several guards in the tent immediately lit the candles. Liu Ziyu also personally lowered the wide tent door and then turned around.
"As for whether the soldiers understand great righteousness?" Zhao Jiu continued to smile as he unfolded the map. "Do they understand it or not? It's best if they can understand it. It doesn't matter if they don't understand it. Everyone is giving their lives. It's not good for the accompanying literati to be idle. As long as one out of a hundred can understand it, then it's not in vain for these Jinshi to use their tongues for a few days."
Liu Ziyu was even more speechless, but he could only nod his head.
At the same time, as the lights in the tent were lit one by one, they reflected the bonfire outside the tent and illuminated the faces of many senior officials accompanying the army. Among them was the Grand Councilor Wang Boyan... Below the Grand Councilor, there were many counselors and compilers from the Ministry of War's Office of Personnel, academicians of the Hanlin Academy, attendants, and recording officials with the duty of accompanying the emperor, and military generals of the Imperial Camp and Imperial Guards, numbering no less than twenty or thirty people. The central army tent was already crowded.
In such a state, Zhao Jiu began to have the recording official Hu Hong lay out the map.
"Guan Jia, it is actually more appropriate to enter Guanzhong..." The guard general of Sishui Pass, who came out to welcome them, was actually a literati and came from a famous family. He was a newly appointed commander of the Eight Character Army, named Fan Yihong, and he couldn't help but be careful when he saw this. "There are big houses in Guanzhong, and it's easier to eat there."
"I have already entrusted the young prince, so how could I think about big houses?"
Zhao Jiu didn't even look up and said while stroking the simple map. "Putting that aside, today we received military intelligence that Wanyan Lou Shi sent his son Wanyan Huonv to launch a surprise attack on Danzhou (southeast of Yan'an, next to the Yellow River, now Yichuan). Wu Jie hurriedly left Luochuan to support, but was defeated again by Lou Shi and his son. Danzhou was without support and surrendered directly. With the loss of Danzhou, Fuzhou (southwest of Yan'an, the main route of the North Luo River leading to the Guanzhong Plain, now the area around Fuxian County) was attacked from both sides. In addition, Wu Jie suffered heavy losses. What do you think we should do? Should we defend or withdraw?"
"Let's not talk about this first!" Qu Duan was just about to open his mouth, but Liu Ziyu stepped forward again and said solemnly. "Guan Jia, although only Lou Shi's department has revealed its intentions at this time, and the military situation in other places is still unclear, even Grand Commandant Han is probably still on the way. Since the imperial court is about to enter Luoyang, and the military situation in all places is based on speculation, then I think we should decide on the overall strategy for this westward journey as soon as possible, so as to avoid unpredictable changes in the military situation ahead. We must have a plan in mind!"
"What kind of strategy?"
Zhao Jiu said solemnly. "Does the Privy Council have any ideas?"
"Yes." Liu Ziyu replied loudly. "The current situation is gradually becoming clear. The Jin army is attacking the west and drawing away the east. The east and west armies have nearly two hundred thousand troops... More than fifty thousand troops, together with the puppet Qi troops, are trying to use Daming Prefecture as a hub to connect Jingdong in order to contain the Imperial Camp's Forward Army and Imperial Camp's Right Army; while one hundred and fifty thousand troops are joining forces to the west, intending to annex Guanxi..."
"This is nonsense!" Qu Duan couldn't help but interrupt and scold. "The Privy Council is in charge of the country's key military affairs. These things have already been known to everyone a month ago. Now you're presenting them to the imperial court as important military intelligence... Is this how the Privy Council does things?"
"Deputy Commander Qu!" Liu Ziyu was also a notoriously bad-tempered person, so how could he tolerate Qu Duan? He immediately scolded back. "Today is the first day of the fourth month. How many days ago was a month ago? Besides, there was the matter of Yiyou Gate, the matter of the grand court meeting, and then the march here! Moreover, military intelligence is serious, and some news must be confirmed again and again..."
"Confirming it like this, you would have sent Guan Jia to his death long ago!" Qu Duan was not afraid at all and sneered directly. "Don't think I don't know, you have personal grudges with Ma Kuo, the chief manager of Taihang Mountain. You always judge the information he sends with personal bias, so that you abused your power for personal gain last time in Nanyang! I only ask you, what did you confirm again and again? Did Ma Kuo ever deceive you? He was thrown into prison by your father and son, and the Jin people released him, but he abandoned his family to resist the Jin. Such a loyal and righteous man, why would he deceive you? Just because he has a grudge against you? Even if he has a grudge against you, he has no grudge against Guan Jia, and he has no grudge against the people of Hebei, Guanxi, and the Central Plains! In my opinion, you kind of civil official official's sons, even if you wield knives and guns and learn some military skills, you're just pretending. The Jingkang Incident was because state affairs were controlled by people like your father and son..."
Liu Ziyu had been enduring it before, but when he heard the other party mention his father who died for his country, he was completely unconcerned and even suddenly sneered. Then, he recited word by word in the tent with his hands behind his back:
"Not turning to Guanzhong to start a career, but coming to the river to row a fishing boat."
The tent was silent for a moment, and Qu Duan's face was flushed.
At this moment, Zhao Jiu, who had been quietly listening to the two of them tearing each other apart, suddenly smiled: "Yang Yizhong."
"Your subject is here." Yang Yizhong stepped forward after hearing the sound.
"Roll up the tent door again." Zhao Jiu calmly ordered. "Let the officers and soldiers outside, as well as the Jinshi officials accompanying the army, see the movements here clearly, so as to avoid curiosity."
Yang Yizhong was stunned for a moment, but he still stepped over the embarrassed Qu Duan and Liu Ziyu and personally rolled up the tent curtain.
"You continue." After the tent door was reopened, Zhao Jiu pointed to Liu Ziyu casually.
"Yes!"
Liu Ziyu took several deep breaths, suppressed the anger in his chest, and continued to report to Guan Jia. "To let Guan Jia know, the Privy Council believes that whether we want to defend or fight, the most important thing to win this great battle is to isolate."
"How do you mean?" Zhao Jiu's spirits were slightly lifted.
"It means to do everything possible not to let the Jin army gather in Guanzhong." Liu Ziyu's breath gradually calmed down. "The Jin army is divided into three, but in the end, we only have to fight with all our might against the army entering Guanzhong, so..."
"Therefore, the most urgent task is to try to block the enemy from Taiyuan from reinforcing Lou Shi." Zhao Jiu suddenly understood and spoke directly. "But Danzhou has been lost. What if the Jin army supports across the river from Yan'an and Danzhou?"
"It won't happen." Qu Duan explained before Liu Ziyu. "Guan Jia doesn't know, on both sides of the upper reaches of the Yellow River, starting from Longmen, there are many mountains and narrow roads. If the Jin people want to gather from northern Shaanxi, they can only use the Yan River within Yan'an Prefecture as a grain route between Hedong and Hexi, and then they have to go around Yan'an Prefecture City before going south... Even if the Jin people have already collected grain nearby in Yan'an Prefecture, Jinning Army, and the three prefectures outside the river, it is already the limit to supply five or six thousand people. There can't be too many! The Five-Route Campaign against Xia failed because they didn't care about logistics. Lou Shi must be three times stronger than the civil officials of this dynasty."
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly: "I understand what you mean... It's not that Lou Shi didn't want to gather a large army at the beginning, but the use of troops in northern Shaanxi is limited. He still has to rely on the Jin army in Hedong to support him from Hezhong Prefecture, so you want me to deploy heavy troops between Shanzhou and Tongzhou to try to cut off Pujin and Fenglingdu and block most of the enemy in Hedong?"
"That's exactly what we mean." Qu Duan still answered first.
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly, but shook his head again for a moment: "Can Li Yanxian's troops in Shanzhou defend two prefectures?"
"Not enough!" Qu Duan replied immediately. "The enemy has one hundred thousand troops. Even if they defend across the river, they need sixty to seventy thousand, and this must be with elite troops..."
Zhao Jiu was silent for a moment, because he immediately understood what Qu Duan meant. When he looked at Liu Ziyu again, the director of the Privy Council, who had just argued with Qu Duan as if they had killed his father, was silent.
At this moment, Zhao Jiu knew that there was no second strategy to respond: "Han Shizhong must go to Tongzhou?"
"Grand Commandant Han is the only one who can do it."
Liu Ziyu also spoke seriously again. "Guan Jia... Tongzhou is bordered by the lost Danzhou to the north, the Luo River to the west and south, and the Yellow River to the east. Although the Pujin pontoon bridge on the Yellow River has been burned down, the ferry is still there. It is the only place for the Jin army to cross the river from Hedong."
"This place is surrounded by water on three sides and mountains on one side." Wang Yuan, the commander of the Imperial Camp, who had been silent, also interjected. "With this terrain, tens of thousands of elite troops led by a great general can defend it, and maybe there will be miraculous effects. But conversely, if you cherish troops here, once the enemy takes advantage of it, you will be wiped out... Guan Jia, at this time, you can't hesitate, and you must not be stingy with elite troops or great generals! We are weak after all. We should try our best to trade."
Zhao Jiu nodded heavily and looked at Wang Boyan, the Grand Councilor accompanying the army who had been silent. Wang Boyan also bowed immediately. Seeing this situation, Guan Jia looked at the Little Lin Academician next to him again.
The Little Lin Academician understood and directly lowered his head to write the imperial edict with the assistance of the recording official Hu Hong.
"But if Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, Li Yanxian, Zhang Jun, and Zhang Rong cannot be moved lightly, can I only use the Imperial Camp's Central Army and the troops from all over Guanxi to fight Lou Shi?" Even though he knew that he had issued an absolutely rational and correct decree, Zhao Jiu's face still looked unusually ugly.
"Guan Jia, forgive me for speaking frankly, this is the reason why Lou Shi attacked from Yan'an... That place is the northwest of the country, and it is difficult for the Imperial Camp's army to go there. If we can finally combine the entire Imperial Camp's Central Army and the troops from the six routes of Shaanxi to resist Lou Shi, it would already be a great fortune." Liu Ziyu replied proudly. "However, no one knows where the war will go!"
Zhao Jiu nodded repeatedly... Isn't that the truth?
Wanyan Lou Shi had been planning for years, even going south with tens of thousands of troops for strategic reconnaissance, wasn't it to find out the strength, support speed, and support range of the troops from all over the country?
It would be ridiculous if there were no such calculations this time.
And from the current point of view, this arrangement is the most rational and correct.
But...
"What were we talking about at the beginning?" Zhao Jiu came back to his senses and was momentarily恍惚.
"Danzhou has been lost, Wu Jie has been defeated twice, and now there are not many troops in Fuzhou. Should we defend or abandon it?" Qu Duan stepped forward and carefully reminded him.
"Then should we defend or abandon it?" Zhao Jiu asked Qu Duan, staring at him.
"Both defend and abandon!" Dusk was approaching outside the tent, the soldiers had already gone to eat, and under the lights, Qu Duan stared at Zhao Guan Jia's expressionless face, his eyes burning brightly for a moment.
In response, Zhao Jiu didn't say a word and looked at Liu Ziyu, Hu Hongxiu, and others again.
Liu Ziyu first glanced at Qu Duan's serious face, and then stepped forward and said solemnly: "The Privy Council also believes that we should both defend and abandon!"
"What do you mean?" Zhao Jiu's expression did not change, he just raised his head to signal.
"Reporting to Guan Jia, this is exactly what I was going to say on behalf of my colleagues in the Privy Council..." Liu Ziyu seemed to have had this idea for a long time. "If Guanzhong wants to be defended, the first thing is to try to isolate the Hedong army as much as possible, so that the Jin army in Guanzhong does not become too powerful; the second thing is to try to rely on the terrain of the hills and mountains in northern Shaanxi, to resist layer by layer, but there is no need to fight to the death or have a decisive battle with them. Instead, we should try to make their elite cavalry consume and become exhausted in the mountains of northern Shaanxi, and at the same time have to divide their troops to guard various places. When the hot summer comes, when they are exhausted, we will release them, either seeking battle in the mountains or luring them under strong cities..."
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly and looked at Qu Duan again.
"I also see it this way." Qu Duan quickly replied. "Northern Shaanxi is the key to this battle. If we can defend it, we will defend it. If we can't defend it, we will abandon it, but we must resist and harass, we must protect the useful troops. When the enemy's strength is exhausted and our army is gradually becoming sharp, we will either fight or defend depending on the situation."
Zhao Jiu nodded heavily and was about to speak, but then closed his mouth again.
At this time, Qu Duan directly knelt down in the tent and kowtowed: "Guan Jia! If Guan Jia still uses Wu Jie to defend Fuzhou, I'm afraid it won't be enough!"
Unexpectedly, in the face of Qu Da's actions, no one in the tent had any extra reaction except for Fan Yihong from Sishui Pass, who was stunned for a moment, as if they all knew he would do this.
"How do you mean?"
Zhao Jiu's expression also didn't change, but he just seemed curious. "I heard people say that Qu Da is both civil and military, and Wu Da is both brave and resourceful... Wu Da is as famous as you. Although he has lost two battles, it's just that he is not good at field battles. Can't he even defend Fuzhou?"
"Guan Jia," Qu Duan on the ground said with a sincere face, anxiously. "The saying 'both brave and resourceful' is just to make up the number of words to compare with me... If Wu Da was brave and resourceful, why would he have been defeated like this?"
Zhao Jiu finally sneered.
"Guan Jia, that's not what I meant." Qu Duan quickly explained. "Actually, if it's just defending a prefecture, any of the Wu brothers can do it. If it's fighting bravely in the field, even I am somewhat inferior to Wu Da. But the problem is that, from the current point of view, Fuzhou will inevitably fall, and after Fuzhou falls, we should gather troops to retreat in an orderly manner, and then rely on Jingyuan Road and Huanqing Road to continue resisting step by step... How to deploy troops from three routes and several prefectures? How to lure the Jin people to the west? How to harass the Jin army from many sides? Wu Jie is somewhat insufficient, because he has always been my subordinate and does not have this prestige!"
"Then who has this prestige?" Zhao Jiu asked coldly without hesitation.
Qu Duan opened his mouth to speak, but across the flickering candlelight, under the gaze of Zhao Guan Jia behind the table, he could not speak several times... After nearly a year, the opportunity to return to his dream home to regain military power and participate in the war was right in front of him, but he did not dare to speak under the gaze of this Guan Jia.
People were eating outside the tent, which was the busiest time in the military camp before the sky completely darkened, but the large tent under the dragon flag was already silent.
Everyone was looking at Qu Duan.
And Qu Duan was also thinking about it:
"Not turning to Guanzhong to start a career, but coming to the river to row a fishing boat."
Now that I think about it, with this poem, Zhao Guan Jia, whose personal authority is at least unshakable, could have killed him long ago, and could have denied his request that was about to come out of his mouth... Even if he wasn't bragging this time, the soldiers and civilians of Huanqing Road, Jingyuan Road, and Yanfu Road would all obey him, because after all, he had protected the roads of northern Shaanxi during the previous several Jin army invasions.
But then again, why didn't he kill him?
Why did this Guan Jia just keep looking at him and not directly deny it?
There was only one answer.
"Guan Jia!" I don't know how long it had been, Qu Duan had almost used all his strength to speak, and once he spoke, he completely lost control, and tears streamed down his face. "Your subject was wrong! Please give your subject a military assignment, and your subject will do his best for the country!"
Behind the candlelight, Zhao Jiu first nodded slowly, but then shook his head slightly, then sighed softly, and then remained silent for a long time.
Seeing this, Qu Duan was uneasy, but gradually disappointed, even to the point of despair.
But unexpectedly, after waiting for a moment, Zhao Guan Jia, who was still wearing his armor, got up silently and went to the corner of the tent behind him, took a bow and arrow, turned around and placed it on the table, and then said to Qu Duan:
"Qu Da... This bow and arrow is the one I'm used to. You take it... If you disobey orders again, privately punish your subordinates, or fail to rescue friendly forces, you either use this bow to shoot at me, or find an acquaintance among your old comrades to use this bow to strangle you to death... There is no third way for us as ruler and subject!"
Having said that, Yang Yizhong took the bow and arrow and handed it to Qu Da on the ground. At the same time, Zhao Jiu turned to the Little Lin Academician on the side: "Let Hu Yin take charge of the military and political affairs of the three roads in northern Shaanxi with the identity of the Pacification Commissioner of Yanfu Road, add Wu Jie as the Pacification Commissioner of Jingyuan Road, add Wu Lin as the Military Commander of Yanfu Road, and dismiss Qu Duan from his position as the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Camp, and transfer him to the Pacification Commissioner of Huanqing Road... The military situation is urgent, give him an imperial decree and a golden token, and let him set off immediately tonight!"
Hearing these words, Qu Da was overjoyed. He took the bow and arrow and felt relieved.
As the saying goes, after twenty years of military service, he has returned home today. The burden of a year has fallen away in an instant.
ps: Thanks to student Seventh-eighth萌蹁跹乌鸦 (Meng Pian Xian Wu Ya)... 含吐缃缥之上，翩跹樽俎之侧 (Han Tu Xiang Piao Zhi Shang, Pian Xian Zun Zu Zhi Ce)... is this the source? So it means the crow can dance?