Chapter 401: Waterways

The battalion, which had been silent for many days, suddenly became busy, and many soldiers were packing up, obviously leaving for the expedition soon.

Yao Pingzhong and Liu Qi came all the way, and they were also very excited.

The three of them had prepared good horses, one man and three horses, without an attendant. They have all thought of the name of the story, and the three horsemen will break through the border pass, and in a few days, they will be famous all over the world.

As for the possible encirclement and interception of the Western Xia soldiers and horses, the three of them didn't pay attention to it, they could break through if they couldn't finish killing, and no one could stop them.

When Han Shizhong entered the big tent, Yao Pingzhong arched his hand, and he couldn't wait to say, "When will you leave?" ”

As soon as Yao Pingzhong came out of the prince's tent that day, he had to learn from Han Shizhong. Han Shizhong was naturally not afraid of him, and immediately responded to him. The two fought dozens of battles, and Han Shizhong defeated Yao Pingzhong. Liu Qi knew that Han Shizhong's martial arts and archery skills were very good when he was in the Zhenrong Army, so he naturally would not challenge again.

Han Shizhong said helplessly: "The prince's personal soldiers have just come to inform us, so we don't need to go to the border gate." ”

"Why?"

The two looked at Han Shizhong in disbelief, and it was obvious that he was going to go on an expedition outside.

Han Shizhong thought for a while and said, "The prince is preparing to raid Xingqing Mansion and sweep away Western Xia, so naturally there is no need to pass on the first borders." This news is not to be disseminated, and only to the commander and above. ”

When Yao Pingzhong heard this, he immediately smiled and said: "So that's the case, it's not bad to attack Xingqing Mansion, but it's not bad to kill the Western Thief by surprise." ”

Han Shizhong said speechlessly: "Your ministry has received the order to open the general?" ”

"Nope."

Yao Pingzhong reacted immediately and asked, "You mean the prince is not ready to use us?" ”

Han Shizhong nodded and said: "Since it is a surprise attack, it must be the elite soldiers who are selected, and it should be the ones that are mobilized in the battalion." ”

Yao Pingzhong hurriedly said: "How can we miss such a big battle." No, we have to go to the prince. ”

Han Shizhong also nodded and said, "I'm about to go to the crown prince, is General Liu going?" ”

"Of course."

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Chao Yong is studying the marching route with the seed master. Hearing the three of them begging to see them, they smiled and said, "Let them come in." ”

"At the end, I will see the prince and the seed prince."

Chao Yong looked at the three of them and said with a smile: "Is there anything wrong with the three generals?" ”

Han Shizhong said with a smile: "The three generals asked the prince to raid Xingqing Mansion with the prince. ”

Chao Yong said with a smile: "I am going to march a hundred miles every day, and I will arrive at the city of Xingqing Mansion in four days at the latest, can the soldiers and horses under your command do it?" ”

When Yao Pingzhong heard this, he immediately said, "Okay." ”

Han Shizhong and Liu Qi didn't dare to say this, the soldiers and horses under their command were all leftovers of the Zhenrong Army, although they were all elite soldiers, but they were not sure whether they could march continuously and rapidly.

The seed master Dao watched the three of them react. It can also be seen that the depth of the three people. Han Shizhong and Liu Qi are steady and thoughtful, while Yao Pingzhong is a little aggressive and exaggerated.

You don't have to try, you know that it can't be done. Although the Western Army is strong, it does not mean that it is strong on the march. The military system of the Song Dynasty, where the army marches on the road, ten miles of neat rest, thirty miles of dry food. Sixty miles of room and board. The Western Army is also accustomed to marching like this, and occasionally it may be possible to travel 100 miles a day, but if it runs for four days in a row, I am afraid that more than half of them will fall behind.

On the contrary, it is a veteran of Liangshan under Lu Junyi. Since the Liangshan era, they have often marched hundreds of miles, and it is not difficult for them to rush to Xingqing Mansion.

Yao Pingzhong saw that the two of them did not respond, and he also blushed a little.

Chao Yong also knew that the three of them were brave. smiled: "If you want to go, you don't need to bring troops, be a personal soldier under my account." ”

Han Shizhong and the three of them are going to participate in this war. It didn't matter so much to them whether they brought troops or not, so they agreed immediately.

Chao Yong smiled and said: "Then you go down and prepare, start pulling out the Zhenrong army tomorrow morning, and then enter Western Xia along the Hulu River." ”

Han Shizhong was about to retire, but Liu Qi said: "The Zhenrong army still has dozens of large and small ships, I wonder if they can come in handy?" ”

The seed master Dao was surprised: "The Hulu River was controlled by the Xixia people before, where did the Zhenrong army hide the boats?" ”

Liu Qi said with a smile: "It's not that we hid it, it was used by the Tangut people to transport grain." When the Tanguts were defeated, they didn't have time to drive them all away, leaving behind some ships, including a few of our warships. ”

The seed master said happily: "With the ship, it will be faster to raid Xingqing Mansion." Go north along the Hulu River and join the Yellow River, you can go directly to Xingqing Mansion, and they are all downstream, Xingqing Mansion can be reached in two days at most. ”

It was not that the Planter Dao did not want to take the waterway, but the Hulu River was controlled by Brother Cha before, and all the boats were collected by the Western Xia, so he subconsciously thought that the Zhenrong Army had no ships, and it was not possible to build ships in a short time, so he only considered the land route.

Chao Yong was also happy to hear that he could reach Xingqing Mansion in two days by water: "How many people can the boat only carry?" ”

Liu Qi said embarrassedly: "I didn't see those ships either, but I just heard from the soldiers under my command that there are these ships." ”

Chao Yong smiled: "I was in a hurry that day, and I didn't have time to carefully check what loot there was. However, dozens of boats can carry at least a few thousand people, which is enough. ”

Seed Master Dao looked at the map and said, "If you want to take the waterway, there are two more places that need to be attacked." ”

Chao Yong said: "Water related card? ”

The seed master shook his head and said: "There are no checkpoints on the water, mainly Wuyan Gorge and Qingtong Gorge, and the Xixia people have set up forts at the dangerous places in these two canyons. The river is below the fortress, and the defenders of the fortress can block the river with a stone-throwing machine, so the Song Dynasty attacked the Western Xia, and generally did not take the waterway, of course, it was also related to the Western army's poor boating. General Lu should be able to take a boat, right? ”

Chao Yong thought for a while and said: "Most of the people are near Liangshan Shuibo, and they used to need to take a boat to enter and exit Liangshan, so there shouldn't be too much of a problem." However, Li Jun and the others are not familiar with the Yellow River, and there is no problem for the people under the command of Chonggong to take the waterway, right? ”

The seed master nodded and said: "Over the years, they have pretended to be merchants, traveled by water and land, and also got to know some Xixia people from the fortresses along the way, and some of the fortresses may be able to earn money with them." ”

"Okay, then according to the plan, I and Lu Junyi's 10,000 soldiers and horses crossed Liupan Mountain to Zhenrong Army, Yao Gu led 20,000 soldiers and horses to the west to recover Xihe Road, and Lu Zhishen went north to Xi'an Prefecture. A day later, the second army followed. ”

The Western Xia and Song dynasties fought for decades, and the meticulous work of both sides had already spread all over the place. In order to prevent being seen through by the Tangut people, Daliang divided his troops into three routes, and released the news that he divided his troops to take over the state capital left by the Tangut to confuse the Xixia Xizuo.

The 20,000 people led by Yao Gu were handed over by Chao Yong to Yao Gu, and Li Congji was added, and Sun Li stayed by Chao Yong's side to listen.

The crown prince's dragon banner also remained in the Chinese army, and a day later announced that the division would return to the DPRK, and after two days of eastward marching, he would divide his troops to the north. Although it will be exposed at that time, Chao Yong's troops have already invaded the territory of Western Xia at that time.

Lu Zhishen's troops also marched eastward from Xi'an Prefecture, and joined Dong Ping, Yang Zhi, Wu Song, and Mu Hong, who were led by the division of the Dao, to attack the Western Xia together, and Li Ying's troops stayed behind to defend the Huaide army. (To be continued......)