Half an hour passed, and nearly half of the soldiers in the city took off their clothes and armor, left their horses and weapons, and left the team, leaving about 10,000 people.

After the decision, those who remained were the soldiers who wanted to join the Song army.

Then, the main general entered the city with four cronies, presented the military seal to Li Senjun and General Chen, and officially surrendered to the Song army in Taigu City.

The main general entered the city and was willing to set an example, and his subordinate soldiers naturally did not have too many rebellious emotions, after all, they were all for food and survival.

The whole process of surrender was very smooth.

The surrendered ordinary soldiers disrupted the existing establishment and reorganized, some of which were incorporated into the Song army, and some of which were still under the command of the surrendered generals.

As for the grain and grass materials they left in the camp, they were all moved into Taigu City, and after all the materials were integrated, the Song army had the power to go north to Taiyuan City.

But whether or not to go north, and when, they still have to wait for orders from their superiors.

Before that, all they could do was to stay in Taigu and Qi counties to train their troops, and that was to send battalion-based troops to occupy all other prefectures and counties in the south of Taiyuan Prefecture.

In order to exterminate the rebellious people in Taigu and Qi counties, almost all the troops in the prefectures and counties were mobilized, and at this time, there were basically not many troops in various places, so it can be said that they were all empty cities.

A few days after the army was dispatched, good news came back from all over the country.

Wherever the soldiers arrived, it was effortless, and the prefectures and counties successively announced that they would belong to the Great Song Dynasty, rejoin the rule of the Great Song Dynasty, respect the edicts of the Song court, and abide by the laws of the Great Song Dynasty.

The official positions and salaries of the attached state and county officials remained unchanged, and the granary county treasury was temporarily under the care of the Song army to prevent the loss of grain and grass materials.

On July 27, the eighth year of Beiding, the Song army in Taigu County received a military order, requiring them to go north within five days to join the main force of the Song army's Northern Expedition, which had just entered the territory of Taiyuan Prefecture, and take over Taiyuan City.

On July 29, 3,000 troops were left behind in Taigu, Qixian and other places, led by Li Shen's army, and the rest of the troops under the leadership of General Chen went north to join the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

On the third day of August, General Chen led a reorganized army of nearly 8,000 to meet the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army fifty miles south of Taiyuan City.

That night, the whole army camped forty miles away from Taiyuan City.

The next day, more than 50,000 people of the whole army were divided into three armies, the front, the middle and the rear, and went straight to Taiyuan City.

On the fourth day of August, the front army of the Northern Expeditionary Army entered the city and took over Taiyuan City from Xia Chengjie, and the Chinese army and the rear army camped in the north of the city to rest.

In the evening of the same day, the commanders and commanders of the various armies held deliberations in the commander's camp in the city.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this Northern Expedition to Hedong is not easy, but fortunately, Taiyuan Mansion and Xinzhou have the help of soldiers and horses secretly arranged by the imperial court, and our Northern Expedition army can come to Taiyuan City without bloodshed. But taking Taiyuan City is only the first step, and then we have to recover the whole of Hedong, and assist the Sichuan and Shu armies to recover Guanzhong, and then plan for the imperial court to recover Yanjing. There is a long way to go, I hope you will make persistent efforts, make new contributions, and serve the court! ”

"Lord Xin, I will be offended, from Luzhou and Liaozhou to Taiyuan Mansion, the road is tortuous, and the march is still difficult, not to mention the supply of grain and grass materials, because of this, we have not been able to mobilize more troops to Taiyuan Mansion. And with this point of strength, it is necessary to recover Xinzhou in the north, Pingyang Mansion in the south, and also go south to Guanzhong, and go east to Yanjing, which is really unrealistic, beyond the reach of our ability, and the final general thinks that it should be fought steadily, first defend Taiyuan Mansion, wait for more troops and grain and grass materials to arrive, and then concentrate troops to the south or north, it is not appropriate to attack from all sides. ”

As soon as Xin Qiji's words fell, some commanders raised objections, and the other commanders present at the meeting also seemed to have their own thoughts.

"Vice Marshal Xin, the last general also thinks that we should rest in Taiyuan Mansion for a while, and when the follow-up grain and grass are delivered, it is more appropriate to go north or south. If we have no firm foundation in Hedong and rush north or south, and are copied by the Jin army from Pingyang Mansion or Xinzhou, our years of preparation will be in vain. The last general felt that it was more appropriate for us to divide our forces to defend Taiyuan City and Jiexiu, and wait at least three months before launching an offensive. ”

Without waiting for Xin Qiji's response, another commander immediately seconded the proposal.

"Where did you hear that we're going to attack right away?" Xin Qiji looked at the unconvinced commanders in the camp and asked loudly.

Almost all the commanders came from the grassroots level, and they were very unconvinced in the face of the young deputy marshal who had parachuted in.

As soon as Xin Qiji's question was asked, a commander immediately replied: "Who doesn't know, Xue Shuai has mentioned to us the plan to attack Hedong before, after taking Taiyuan City, we will recover Xinzhou within ten days, and regain Pingyang Mansion within a month, otherwise when Datong Mansion reacts and sends a large army into Hedong, the Northern Expedition plan will be disrupted, and then we will be attacked by the Jin Army from the north and south, and the Northern Expedition will be difficult to achieve, we can only win Taiyuan City after a quick battle!" ”

"Since Xue Shuai told you before that it would take a quick battle to recover Hedong, why did you suggest that you hold it and wait for three months before attacking?"

Xin Qiji knew that they were not convinced, but the Northern Expedition should focus on the overall situation, and it was definitely not a good thing to openly tear and oppose each other.

As soon as this question came out, all the commanders looked at each other, and no one answered, after all, some words were really difficult to say.

"If you don't say it, I'll say it for you. In your opinion, the plan to recover Hedong was originally formulated by Xue Shuai, and you have also been preparing for many years in Luzhou and Liaozhou, so this merit of recovering Hedong should be enjoyed exclusively by Xue Shuai and you, and I, an official in Jiangnan with no qualifications and no military merits, is not qualified to intervene in the battle to recover Hedong, let alone serve as deputy marshal. So, you'd rather not take this feat, or let me participate, right? After Xin Qiji finished speaking, he raised his eyes and glanced at the commanders, taking in the expressions on their faces.

was told by Xin Qiji, and the faces of the commanders were slightly hot, but no one spoke.

"Ten years in Shaoxing, I was born in Licheng County, Jinan Prefecture, and I know that that place is ruled by the Jin people. In the thirty-first year of Shaoxing, the Jin army of one million invaded the south, I led 2,000 people to participate in the righteous army in Shandong, gathered 100,000 troops and fought fiercely with the Jin people for half a year, and fought hundreds of battles with them before and after, and then the righteous army had a problem with grain and grass, so I proposed that the righteous army belong to the Great Song Dynasty, and since then I have crossed the Yangtze River to become an official of the Great Song Dynasty. After the annexation, the Song army was preparing for the Northern Expedition, and I served as a grain supervisor in Bozhou to raise grain and grass for the Northern Expeditionary Army. I am telling you this today, just to let you know that I am not a scholar who is powerless, nor am I a civilian official who is pedantic and timid, ignorant of military affairs, and drags down the front-line soldiers. ”

Xin Qiji paused a little when he said this, saw the changes in the expressions on everyone's faces, and then said: "In addition, I want to tell you one thing, the entire plan to recover Hedong is determined by me and Xue Shuai, whether it is to go south or north, there is a plan, and we also have our own division of labor, so you don't have to worry about the general strategic direction, the armies only need to defend and attack according to the plan." Do you still have questions? ”

The commanders who have been fighting from the grassroots level are very familiar with Xue Shuai and the robes around him, and they don't have the slightest understanding of Xin Qiji, who suddenly appeared in Luzhou and Liaozhou, there is no legend of him in the army, and there is no name in Bianjing.

Regarding his sudden appearance, the commanders were more inclined to regard him as a supervisor sent by the imperial court, and they had a very bad impression of the supervisor, except for making trouble, it would not do much good for the war, and even drag down the whole army.

Now Xin Qiji suddenly explained his origin and experience to everyone, and everyone was surprised.

They had never heard anyone say anything about Xin Qiji's origin, and even if they inquired, no one except Xue Shuai might know his origin, and even Xue Shuai might not know it so clearly.

Now that they heard Xin Qiji personally talk about his origin and experience, the disbelief and worry in the hearts of the generals have dissipated a little, at least they already know that this Vice Marshal Xin is not completely inexperienced in the army, and they should not give orders indiscriminately if they think about it, as for whether they are here to grab credit, they are not sure for the time being.

For a moment, no one spoke.

"Since there is no doubt, let's discuss the capture of Xinzhou next." After Xin Qiji finished speaking, he turned his eyes to look at Xia Chengjie, and then asked: "General Xia, you are most familiar with the situation in Xinzhou, how do you think we should capture Xinzhou?" ”

Xia Chengjie, who was sitting among the generals, hurriedly said: "Back to the marshal, the last general led the army from Xinzhou to Taiyuan Mansion before, and has taken away most of the garrisons in Xinzhou, and now there are not many troops in the entire Xinzhou. But Xinzhou is close to Datong Mansion, something happened in Taiyuan Mansion, and Datong Mansion got the news early in the morning, I am afraid that now Datong Mansion is already mobilizing troops and preparing to enter Xinzhou and go south to Taiyuan Mansion. Almost all of the elite of the Jin army are near Datong Mansion, and they have been fighting with Wan Yanyong in the north all these years, and they have very rich combat experience, if they enter the customs and come to Xinzhou, I am afraid that it will be difficult to capture Xinzhou in a short period of more than 70,000 people. ”

"General Xia doesn't have to be so scrupulous, in my opinion, if the elite Jin army of Datong Mansion enters the customs, there are not too many, as long as there are 30,000 elite soldiers, I am afraid it will be difficult for us to enter Xinzhou, if 40,000 come, we will have to withdraw from Taiyuan Mansion. I heard that over the years, Wan Yan Liang has gathered tens of thousands of elite cavalry in various departments of the northern Mongolian steppe, and they have fought like the wind, fighting when it is advantageous and leaving when it is unfavorable, and they have hardly suffered losses. ”

As soon as Xin Qiji's words came out, the generals couldn't help but be worried.

Although they have been fighting, they have never fought with the elite cavalry of the Jin State over the years, and they don't know what the strength of the other party is, but none of them know the strength of the heavy cavalry of the Jin Kingdom.

"Although the cavalry of the Jin Kingdom is powerful, but after all, the number is limited, they still have to finish Yan Yong in the northern embankment, even if they will send to Xinzhou, it will not be too much, and it will not be delayed for too long, so you don't have to worry. Also, it is not so easy for the Jin Army of Datong Mansion to enter the customs, if everything goes well, Yanmen Pass should be in the hands of the Song army at this time! ”

As soon as Xin Qiji's words came out, the generals were surprised.