Chapter Twenty-Eight: Datong Opens to Traffic, Western Expedition Plan

The opening ceremony of the Datong Railway was very grand, including the acting king, almost all the people from all walks of life in Datong came. Datong was originally a pass for the tea and horse market, and it also created many wealthy merchants. They are not unhappy about the opening of the railway, which brings too many business opportunities for Datong. With this railway, Datong is no longer a remote border pass, where cattle, horses, and skins can be easily transported out, and goods from outside are also easily transported in. With the status of Datong and the Mongolian steppe as a pass, it was difficult for merchants not to get rich. So the Datong people almost all went out to attend the opening ceremony of this train.

At the opening ceremony, the prince personally cut the ribbon. After cutting the ribbon, the train from Datong to Yaogang started, heralding the official opening of the train. There are many Datong people who bought tickets early in order to catch the first direct train to Yaogang.

The ceremony was over, and the train departed. Huang Yukun and the other women returned to Datong City and began to shop. Shopping and shopping is an activity that women never get tired of. But Zhang Zhimu and the others returned to the palace with the acting prince, and Jiang Ji accompanied Zhou Yuji to the palace together.

Everyone sat down and drank a round of tea, and spoke on behalf of the prince, "Zhang Dongjia, the heroes of Yaogang, I have a question I want to ask while I am happy today, which is also a common problem for the military and the people of Datong." If it is convenient, please tell Zhang Dongjia the truth. ”

"Lord Wang! You're welcome," Zhang Zhimu arched his hand and said, "If you have any orders, just say it." ”

"We all know that today, it is none other than you kiln people who can influence the situation in the world. We Datong people are also fortunate to be able to make friends with you, because of you, we Datong was saved from the war of thieves, today I because of you, we Datong on the train, telegraph and telephone. Therefore, the matter of your kiln is always on our minds. Last year, you completed the reorganization of the army, and we would very much like to know where you will go next. If so, see what we can do if we need to? ”

Zhang Zhimu didn't expect that the acting prince would raise this question first. This acting king is really not an ordinary person, and like King Zhou, acting prince is a very wise person. It seems that the princes of the Zhu family are not all stupid people like King Jin and King Fu.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Today, we came to attend the opening ceremony, but I didn't expect the acting prince to attach so much importance to this matter and personally attend the ceremony. On behalf of our Yaogang people, I would like to thank the acting prince. Actually, the prince said that we will send troops next, the prince doesn't ask, we will also give the prince a breath this time. For this matter, the emperor also issued several orders urging us to send troops to suppress thieves. Just as the prince said, we will complete the task of expanding the army before the end of last year. However, after the expansion of the army, it is not necessary to be able to fight immediately, and the training of recruits takes time. In particular, the training of our riflemen takes time. But we have been preparing to send troops, and this dispatch requires not only preparation, but also opportunities. I can tell the prince and you that there are two directions in which we will send troops, one is the Central Plains of Henan, and the other is Shaanxi. So far, we have been preparing, but we have not yet decided which direction to go. Therefore, the timing and direction of the troops need to depend on our preparedness and the conditions at that time. However, we now have a tendency, and that is Henan. This is also what the emperor wants. Because there is a great threat to the imperial court, Shaanxi is not a big threat to the imperial court because of our obstruction. ”

Dai Wang, Zhou Yuji, and Jiang Ji all knew that Zhang Zhimu would not tell the specific situation of sending troops here now. Now, Zhang Zhimu can only say ambiguously.

Jiang Jian interjected: "Zhang Dongjia, we Datong and Ningwuguan together still have more than 100,000 horses, what do you need us to do?" ”

"I was about to talk about this," Zhang Zhimu said, "after we send troops, you need to pay special attention to the rear. So that the Manchus and Mongols would take advantage of the opportunity to our disadvantage. However, after the opening of our railway, it will be much more convenient for various places to mobilize troops and support each other. We thought that as long as it wasn't for a large-scale attack by the Manchus and Mongols, we shouldn't worry too much about the north. But if such a thing happens, as long as you can block it for a few days, we can completely end the attack and return to Shanxi. There is also a great possibility that after we send troops, it is very likely that we will not be able to control the scale of the war at once, or encounter better fighters, and we will not have enough troops, and we will really need your troops to help at that time. Of course, if you send troops to cooperate with us, we will provide food and other military supplies, so that the brothers will not have to worry about the future. ”

"Huh! Zhang Dongjia, we are all looking forward to the opportunity to send troops with you to suppress the thieves. Jiang Zhuang said, "The brothers all know that at least they will not worry about eating and drinking with you. Hehe! ”

Zhou Yuji also said: "Zhang Dongjia, our soldiers have been eliminated after several rounds, and although the rest cannot be compared with your kiln soldiers, they are all elite soldiers. I hope you can give us a chance and let us go out and open our eyes to you. ”

"Good! With the support of the prince and the two chief soldiers, we will have more confidence to send troops. Zhang Zhimu said, "Before we send troops, we will definitely notify you in advance." When the time comes for you to take action, we're welcome. ”

Zhang Zhimu didn't expect this matter to go so smoothly.

On the way back to Yaogang, Zhang Zhimu was in his box and said to Zhou Yuji: "General Zhou Bing, I'll give you a bottom in front of you." We're going to send troops next year, and you'll need 20,000 men to go out with us. In this case, the relationship between us will not be hidden from the imperial court. If you want, after the war, we will reorganize your army on the front line of Ningwu. We also have a place for you in the military, what do you think? ”

"I'm just waiting for your words. In fact, the imperial court would not be unaware of our relationship, they would have stopped paying us food for a long time, and if you hadn't provided food, our soldiers would have starved a long time ago. Zhou Yuji said, "We don't have anything else to do here, just leave a few people to watch a few passes, and there is no problem with going out for 40,000 people." ”

"Good! From now on, we will provide your food. But don't make it too clear to the brethren that you are still an official soldier. We ask you to send troops, and it is best to get the emperor to agree, in which case the court will not be able to control it. Zhang Zhimu suggested.

"Okay!" Zhou Yuji said excitedly, "It's still Zhang Dongjia who thinks thoughtfully." I'll streamline my troops when I get back. In the past few years, I have also been aggrieved, but I can be regarded as surviving. ”

"Alright! Mr. Zhou, it's good that our words are thorough," Zhang Zhimu said, "Mr. Chen and Ouyang He are still waiting for us!" ”

Zhou Yuji understood that Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He were waiting for the result of his conversation with Zhang Zhimu. Although they are sure of themselves, they still arrange things very safely, and Zhang Zhimu finally made it clear to himself. These people are very sophisticated, and it seems that joining them is a very wise choice.

Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He were drinking tea in the dining car, and when they saw Zhou Yuji and Zhang Zhimu coming to the dining car with a smile on their faces, they knew that the outcome of the matter was the same as expected, and Zhang Zhimu and Zhou Yuji had already negotiated.

Zhou Yuji came over and bowed his hand to Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He, saying, "This time we are really a family." ”

"Huh! Mr. Zhou, we have never treated you as an outsider. Ouyang He smiled and said, "Come on!" We sat down and chatted over tea. ”

"Good!" Zhou Yuji sat down and said, "It seems that there are many things that have to be listened to by Mr. Chen and Mr. Ouyang." Just now, I asked Mr. Zhang about my specific task, and Mr. Zhang said that this matter is not in his charge. Tell me, about the kiln gang, is there anything that Mr. Zhang doesn't care about? ”

"Huh! Do you think Chiki is joking? Chen Yufeng said, "He really doesn't care about a lot of things." You also need to get used to it slowly. You are responsible for the things assigned to you, and no one else cares about you. ”

Zhou Yuji couldn't help but lower his voice and asked, "Tell me what I do?" ”

Ouyang He waved his hand and said, "I can't say anything now." After you return to Ningwuguan, arrange the affairs of the family, and then go to the kiln gang, and we will gather together to arrange this matter. Now only a few people know how to arrange it, and even our commanders and division commanders are not clear. Hope you understand! ”

"Understand, understand!" Zhou Yuji said, "The more secret this kind of thing is, the better!" ”

When he returned to Yaogang, Ouyang He ordered to notify all the chief officers of the Yaogang People's Army at or above the division level to gather in Yaogang to attend the meeting. Ouyang He and Chen Yufeng wanted to make the final arrangements before the freeze. Then, according to the situation, a military exercise will be conducted to test the readiness of the army. At the same time, the cadres who were originally assigned to various parts of Shanxi were replaced by newly trained cadres. Originally, it was planned to directly transfer the original cadres back, but now the number of cadres recruited for training is far greater than originally expected, and in particular, the removal of cadres from all over Shanxi at once will also affect the work. In the end, it was decided to transfer the original cadres back and replace them with new cadres, leaving the new and old cadres for two months to carry out the work handover. The original cadres must rush back to the kiln to accept new tasks before the end of the year. Yan Boju's police are also rotated, but their police officers can be rotated by half of the number, because they have more police. The performance of these policemen was also appraised by the cadres sent by the kiln gang, and those who performed well were indeed good after investigation, and they were all promoted to first-class officials, so as to prepare for entering Shaanxi as cadres in the future.

The officers were all in place by 15 October, according to the regulations. This time, the high-ranking officers who came to Yaogang for a meeting were all gathered in the Yaogang Hotel, and the entire floor was contracted. The most obvious difference between this floor and other places is that the floors and elevator entrances are guarded by soldiers, and non-officers and outsiders are exempted.

The meeting was held in the hotel's large conference room, which was guarded by soldiers far away, and outsiders were not allowed to approach. Qin Peng and his staff officers made full preparations for the meeting.

These officers are also staying in the Yaogang Hotel for the first time, otherwise let them pay out of their pockets to live in such a hotel, he really can't do anything. However, this also let them know that this meeting was not ordinarily important, and they also knew that this was a pre-war mobilization.

In addition to the officers, the main leaders of the kiln gang also attended the meeting. Li Zhi and Li Yunhe also participated.

This is also the first time that the meeting was chaired by Chen Yufeng himself.

Seeing that everyone had arrived on time, Chen Yufeng cleared his throat and said, "Everyone is here, let's have a meeting." Needless to say, everyone knows that there is a war coming soon. Today's meeting is the pre-war military conference. I would like to make a request that the meeting not be recorded and that the content of the meeting be kept strictly confidential. It is not allowed to talk about it after the meeting, and those who leak secrets will be severely punished. Next, Mr. Ouyang will introduce the battle plan. Chen Yufeng's words were not much, but they were very shocking. Everyone also felt a little oppressive under Chen Yufeng's majestic gaze. Zhang Zhimu knew that this was the aura of the so-called general.

Ouyang He walked lightly to the front of the stage, held the microphone, and said: "Our military operation is referred to as the Western Expedition, and the battle plan is called the Western Expedition Plan." The purpose of the Western Expedition was to occupy the entire territory of Shaanxi and its surrounding areas, and the start time of the operation was to open the Yellow River in the Ming Dynasty. The time frame for action is planned for five months. ”

Finally having a clear plan of action, the officers had been looking forward to this day for a long time, and the officers felt a little excited. In the past, everyone has analyzed and judged the direction of the future attack many times together, but they are all guesses below, and the high-level of the kiln gang has been secretive about this matter, and there is no accurate statement. Today, Ouyang He said a few words concisely and clearly. How can everyone not be excited, but excitement is excitement, and no one dares to talk about it below.

Glancing at everyone, Ouyang He smiled slightly, and then gave a detailed introduction to the military geography of Shaanxi.

Shaanxi is a vast area dominated by the Guanzhong region south of the Hetao and north of the Qinling Mountains. The most strategically important is the Guanzhong Plain. The Guanzhong Plain is located in the central part of Shaanxi, between the Qinling Mountains and the Laolong Mountain, Saga Mountain, Yaowang Mountain, Yaoshan Mountain, etc. in Weibei. From Baoji in the west to Tongguan in the east, it is about 300 kilometers long. The width of the north and south is different, the widest in the east is up to 100 kilometers, about 70 kilometers near Xi'an, only 20 kilometers in Meixian, and gradually closes into a canyon in Baoji. Because it is located between Hangu Pass, Dasan Pass, Wuguan and Xiao Pass, it is called "Guanzhong" and is known as "Eight Hundred Miles of Qinchuan".

Because there is a famous Qin Siguan Gongwei in the Guanzhong area, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are abundant products here, and there is also a saying that Guanzhong is in order to seek the world in the past. However, because we occupied Tongguan very early, the role of Hangu Pass was cut off. Li Zicheng got Guanzhong, and he couldn't live in peace. They are in front of us, like a shelled turtle.

At this point, everyone at the meeting smiled.

In order to solve the Shaanxi issue militarily as soon as possible, our plan is to march to Shaanxi by three routes: east, west, and south.

The deputy commander of Ningde served as the commander-in-chief, and Li Kui served as the deputy commander-in-chief. Zhao Jinli, commander of the First Infantry Army, followed the western route with his whole army; The Second Cavalry Army, in addition to leaving one cavalry division to guard the Baotou line, was led by the army commander Wang Meng and the other two divisions and their affiliated troops to march along the west road. In addition, the West Road was equipped with a heavy artillery division, an engineer regiment, two speedboats, and four tugboats, which followed along the Yellow River with barges.

The army on the western route must wait until the Yellow River blooms, cross the Yellow River to the south, go west along the Yellow River, clear all the fortress obstacles of the Dashun army along the way, and then go south along the Yellow River.

Ouyang He pointed to the map and continued to introduce:

After conquering Ningxia (Yinchuan), leave an infantry battalion to defend Ningxia (Yinchuan), continue to attack and advance southward, capture Lingzhou (Wuzhong City), and then divide troops all the way to the east to capture Ningxia Rear Guard (Yanchi). Continue to the south along the Yellow River, enter Ningxia Zhongwei, and then divide the troops all the way to the southeast to occupy Guyuan. This way, after our southern army occupied Pingliang, we attacked Xiaoguan before and after. The West Road Brigade continued south along the Yellow River and captured Jinglu (Jingyuan County) and Lanzhou. Remember to ensure the integrity of the Lanzhou Yellow River pontoon bridge. Then wait for the opportunity to seize Lintao (Lintao County), Taozhou (Lintan County), and Minzhou (Minxian County).

After completing these tasks, the West Road Brigade will make corrections, and after meeting with the South Road Army in Lanzhou, the next step will be carried out as appropriate.

When the western route marched, it had to carry another mission. That's why you have a regiment of engineers. You need to clean up the Yellow River along the Yellow River while continuing to build roads. In this section of the Yellow River, there are many strange rocks and shoals. Along the way, you'll need to blast the rocks that stand in your way to facilitate the passage of ships. Those shoals, after we have solved the Shaanxi problem militarily, will be dredged with dredgers. I think those slender men can use the rope to pull the boat up the current to reach Lanzhou. Our tugboat should be able to go up as well.

Ning De and Li Kui, as well as the officers of the First Infantry Army and the Second Cavalry Army, heard that Ouyang He had given them such a great task, and their palms were sweating with excitement. However, several division commanders of the First Infantry Army were a little nervous, because they had all heard about Ouyang He. The cavalry wanted to leave a division, and none of them wanted to stay. Before they were sure about it, they were all beating drums in their hearts.

Now Ning De didn't have the heart to think about this, he heard that Ouyang He had just mentioned the matter of dredging the river, and then said, "Mr. Ouyang He don't have to worry. In the past few days in Baotou, I have learned about the water transportation of the Yellow River over there. I also know some good sailors who run boats there all year round, and I can take them with us when we march. As long as it's not dry season when we're marching in, our tugboats should be able to go up after blasting those particularly treacherous reefs open. Even if it is a little bit, we can also use livestock and manpower to pull fiber. In the future, we will find a way to completely open up this section of the river. In that case, our ship will be able to go all the way to Qinghai. ”

"That's good," Ouyang He thought to himself that Ning De was worthy of being an old general, and he was thoughtful about things, "I also want to remind you to pay attention." While your army marched in, our takeover cadres and police officers followed you. After you have taken down a place, you have to leave some troops behind as appropriate to assist our cadres and police to take over the place. When the situation is calm, with the consent of our cadres, your troops will be able to return to the team. ”

"Mr. Ouyang, please rest assured about these things," Ning De said, "We all know that we are fighting down for governance." Otherwise, we wouldn't have to do so much. ”

Regarding several nodes on the way to the West Road, Ouyang He also gave them some introductions through slides, so that Ningde and them had a little intuitive impression of these places. This was also something they didn't expect, but they understood that Ouyang He had done a lot of preparations.

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Mt. Fuji erupted, Japan was earthquaked. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".