In three days, it advanced more than 300 li and nearly 400 li, and although the vanguard troops of the "Jingnan Army" were either cavalry or mounted infantry, and the artillery had completely realized pack horse indexing and transportation, it was quite rare for the "Jingnan Army" to have such a marching speed under the premise of ensuring horsepower. As a matter of fact, the fact that the vanguard units of the "Jingnan Army" were able to achieve such speed was not only due to the organizational ability of the Beiping Army, but also inseparable from the "cooperation" of the Zhaoyi Army's Jiedu envoys and the Yicheng Army's Jiedu Envoys.

In order to speed up the march of the troops, shorten the time for Kaifeng City to experience the war, and reduce the losses suffered by it due to the offensive and defensive battles of the city, the logistics department of the crossing team, with the cooperation of the military department, the Ministry of commerce and trade, the Ministry of agriculture and other departments, adopted a new supply mode for the logistics supply of the vanguard troops led by Qian Yuanshan and Mutel.

Taking advantage of the favorable conditions that the southward movement was of the nature of the internal struggle of the Central Plains regime, the Logistics Department proposed a new logistical support model of pre-pre-provisioning, one-time limited reserves, and local employment. That is, according to the marching route of the vanguard troops of the "Jingnan Army", a number of locations were selected in advance as temporary supply points for logistical materials, and the Beiping Army and the Later Zhou Imperial Court were still in a state of peaceful coexistence and mutual exchange before the war. As well as some of the weapons and equipment used to replenish the loss and replenishment, they are transported to various logistics temporary supply points for preservation, and secretly stationed there with a certain number of troops to ensure the safety of materials. When the day of the southward movement is approaching, each temporary supply point will hire nearby women and village girls who are healthy, quick with hands and feet, and good at cooking, and concentrate on making a corresponding amount of meals for the soldiers of the vanguard troops to supply and eat. In this way, in addition to their personal weaponry and clothing, the soldiers of the vanguard unit only need to carry with them up to one day's worth of dry rations, which can not only save the large number of baggage transport units organized in the past to ensure marching operations, but also greatly increase the marching speed of this purely combat unit. In addition, since each temporary supply point only provided one-time supplies for the vanguard troops of the "Jingnan Army", it was abandoned after completing the task, and all kinds of cooking tools, transportation tools and other utensils would also be sent to the village girls and women who participated in it. Therefore, even if it is discovered by the local government, the most that the other party can see in the end is some empty temporary warehouses and traces of someone using fire, and will not find any valuable remnants

However, in consideration of the fact that the scale of the temporary supply points should not be too large, so as not to attract the attention of the local government, this mode of supply was only suitable for the vanguard units of the "Jingnan Army" with a small number of troops and tight requirements for marching time, while the main force of the "Jingnan Army" led by Wang Kunjun still adopted the traditional logistical supply method -- in fact, since the military supply of the main force of the "Jingnan Army" could be transported by water using the Yongji Canal, the transportation pressure was much smaller and much faster than that of the pure land route. The demand for this new type of supply was far less than that of the vanguard troops of the "Jingnan Army".

Of course, although the new logistical supply method can free the vanguard troops of the "Jingnan Army" from the fetters brought about by logistical supply and greatly increase the speed of their march, if the magistrates and defenders of the various armies, prefectures, and counties along the way deliberately obstruct their advance, it will not be possible for them to pass through the areas under the jurisdiction of the Zhaoyi Army and the Yicheng Army all the way. The reason why Qian Yuanshan and Mutel's troops were able to enter Weizhou so quickly was inseparable from the cooperation of Li Yun, the envoy of the Zhaoyi Army, either intentionally or unintentionally.

In fact, not long after the troops of Qian Yuanshan and Mutel left Qinzhou and entered the territory of the Zhaoyi Army, Li Yun, the envoy of the Zhaoyi Army in Luzhou, received a quick report from the generals stationed in the border area of the two states. Moreover, when he heard that the other side only had about 30,000 soldiers and horses, Li Yun once planned to set up his own troops and horses to give this "invading enemy" who had invaded his army head-on, and teach this group of guys who came out of nowhere and didn't know how thick the sky was. Fortunately, just before he was about to give the order, he was persuaded by his son Li Shoujie in time. Although this Li Shoujie is not as experienced in a hundred battles as his father, he is also a young general who is well versed in military affairs and has a strong ability to accept new affairs.

When he first heard the news, Li Shoujie did not rush to send troops as soon as he heard that there was a "foreign enemy invaded the territory" like his father, but felt that under the situation of Zhang Yongde's rebellion, Zhao Kuangyin's rebellion, Li Chongjin's imminent move, and the turbulent political situation in the Great Zhou, this army of unknown origin suddenly appeared in the Zhaoyi army, which was not far from the capital and far away from the counterinsurgency battlefield of Lanzhou, and there must be something strange in it. Therefore, while persuading his father to postpone the dispatch of troops, he carefully inquired about the situation of this "invading enemy" to the messenger who had come to report the news.

After learning that the other side was coming from the northwest, and that the 30,000 soldiers had horses, and were armed with a large number of firearms, especially a lot of artillery, a name that made all the political shili in the whole world, especially in the Central Plains, very fearful, appeared in his mind almost immediately--the Beiping Army. Looking at today, an army with such a scale of cavalry and a large number of firearms can be other than the Beiping Army. After all, although the Great Zhou Forbidden Army also has a "divine army" that is not small in scale and equipped with firearms, it can be said that it will take out more than 30,000 war horses at once, but I am afraid that it will not be easy for Zhao Kuangyin to lead the army to fight abroad. What's more, the imperial court soldiers and horses should come from the east, how could they run to the northwest of their own military state.

After listening to his son's analysis, Li Yun nodded again and again, but frowned again. As the saying goes, "those who come are not good, and those who are good do not come", the Beiping army, which has always lived in peace with itself and does not interfere with the river water, suddenly invaded the territory, and Li Dajiedu couldn't help but speculate about what the other party's intentions were, whether it would be to seize his own Zhaoyi army.

In this regard, Li Shoujie is not worried. Because, according to the messenger who came to report the news, after this unidentified army entered the Zhaoyi army, it did not attack the city and plunder the land, and did not deceive the people, but just blindly hurried away. What's more, what's even more strange is that when it encounters a county seat or a slightly larger town store, it will take the initiative to avoid and detour, and it doesn't show the slightest intention of encroaching on territory, but it is more like borrowing the road. As for where the Beiping Army is going to borrow the road, it is actually easy to speculate. Just by looking at the topographic map of the mountains and rivers, it is not difficult to make the judgment that its destination is likely to be the capital Kaifeng. Therefore, after comprehensively analyzing the situation in all aspects, Li Shoujie came to a conclusion that he himself could not believe -- the Beiping Army was only borrowing the road this time, and its goal was to open the capital city nine out of nine.

Although I agree with my son's analysis and judgment, this is just speculation after all, and there are still many variables about what the Beiping Army is trying to do before getting the exact news. Second, for Li Yun, who had always been fiercely loyal to the Later Zhou court, if the Beiping army really intended to open the capital this time, he could not stand idly by under any circumstances - especially when the other party wanted to pass under his nose. Therefore, after listening to his son's analysis and speculation, Li Yun immediately changed the Jihua who ordered troops to go out to fight and give the "invading enemy" a head-on blow, and on the one hand, he ordered all the soldiers and horses around Shangdang to be mobilized on the road to the capital, and on the other hand, he also planned to immediately send people to the capital to warn, so that the Later Zhou court could be prepared.

As a result, his decision was again opposed by his own son. In Li Zhijie's view, although the Beiping Army entered the Zhaoyi Army without warning, it seemed very domineering and rude, which was completely unreasonable. But as a result, he has not committed any crimes since he entered the country, and there has not been a trace of any intention to annex the Zhaoyi Army or become an enemy of the Zhaoyi Army. Second, with the strength of the Beiping Army, if you want to compete in the Central Plains and enter Kaifeng, although it is not easy, it is not a difficult thing. If the other party really has this intention, I am afraid that after the battle of Youyun, he would have taken advantage of the defeat of the Khitans to take advantage of the defeat of the Khitans, and in one go, he waved his army south and took Kaifeng, so why wait until today.

Seeing that his father was a little moved by his own words, he was still hesitant there. Li Shoujie, who knew very well that the time he had to think and weigh was actually very limited, immediately stepped forward to ask his father for permission to take people to reconnoiter and investigate, so as not to cause conflicts between the two sides due to miscalculation, and eventually affect his family's foundation in the Zhaoyi Army - after all, in the face of the Beiping Army, which has the same number of soldiers and horses as his own side, is far better equipped than his own soldiers and horses, and has killed and captured nearly 400,000 Khitan soldiers and horses in the past few years, the Zhaoyi Army, which also has only 30,000 elite main forces, obviously has no chance or grasp of victory. Even if you want to keep the other party, you don't have the ability to do that.

Although Li Yun didn't want his son to take risks, the only way to do this now was to let him go and find out reliable information, so that he could properly deal with this emergency. After all, if the other party is really the Beiping Army, it is far more appropriate and effective for Li Shoujie to negotiate than ordinary generals. So, just an hour after receiving the news that "foreign enemies are coming," Li Zhijie left Shangdang City with 300 pro-troops and galloped away in the northwest direction along the official road -- originally according to Li Yun's intentions, he planned to order 5,000 soldiers and horses for his son to follow. But considering that there are too many people, it is easy to cause misunderstanding among the other party, and at the insistence of Li Shoujie, only the three hundred pro-army of Jiedu Mansion set off with him in the end.

As it turned out, Li Yun's worries were unnecessary. When Li Shoujie met the vanguard troops of the "Jingnan Army" who were resting at a temporary supply point 50 miles away from Shangdang City, not only did the latter have no hostility towards them, but after finding out their identities, the commanders of the vanguard troops, Qian Yuanshan and Mutel, invited them to the camp for a meeting, and behaved very friendly. It was precisely this meeting in an atmosphere of frank friendship that made the Zhaoyi Army, who were originally confused and quite puzzled and wary of the sudden appearance of the 30,000 troops of the Beiping Army in their defense area, thoroughly understand the true intention of the other party's dispatch of troops -- Zhao Kuangyin and his henchmen were plotting against each other, and the people of the Beiping Army, as courtiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty, naturally could not tolerate their ingratitude and usurpation. Therefore, after getting the news through secret channels, he immediately ordered troops to go south to cut off traitors for the imperial court.

When he first heard that Zhao Kuangyin intended to rebel and usurp Zhou instead, Li Shoujie was naturally surprised, but he really didn't expect that Zhao Dianzhen, who had always shown loyalty to Da Zhou, would do such an unfaithful and unrighteous thing. However, Li Shoujie did not forget the purpose of his visit, and his father who was anxiously waiting for his return in Shangdang City. Therefore, after receiving the assurances that the Beiping Army's transit of the Zhaoyi Army was only a way and would never attack the place and harass the people, Li Zhijie rushed back to Shangdang non-stop to return to his father. And Li Yun, who got the news, was still a little worried about the conspiracy of the Beiping Army's "false Dao Defeat", and was worried that just opening one eye and closing one eye to let the Beiping Army pass would make other feudal towns laugh. But he was loyal to the Later Zhou court, and he would not obstruct the Beiping army that went to the capital for the sake of his own fame and fortune. In addition, he knows that he has no chance of winning against the other party. Therefore, Li Yun finally chose to pretend to be deaf and dumb, as if there was no such army in his defense area, and sent the other party out of the country very cooperatively and tacitly, as if the "Beiping Army transit" had never happened.

It was precisely because of the cooperation of the Zhaoyi Army and the acquiescence of the envoys of the Yicheng Army, who had the same idea and took the same measures as Li Yun, that the road from Qinzhou to the Yellow River crossing in Weizhou, which Jihua had originally taken five to eight days to complete, was successfully completed by the vanguard of the "Jingnan Army" in only four days.

Just when the vanguard troops of the "Jingnan Army" successfully crossed the Zhaoyi Army, the Yicheng Army, and the soldiers approached the Yellow River, Zhao Kuangyin had a big closed door under the Chen Bridge Gate in the north of Kaifeng City.

First of all, when Zhao Kuangyin arrived outside the Chenqiao Gate at the beginning of the Shen Shi at the end of the time, he found that not only were the court officials who were supposed to go outside the city to greet him outside the city according to the etiquette system, but also the city gate that was supposed to be closed at the end of the Youshi was locked early, and the drawbridge outside the city gate was also raised high.

Secondly, when Zhao Kuangyin took out the holy decree of the imperial court ordering him to return to Beijing to receive the reward, and asked the guards of the city to open the city gate quickly and let him enter the city, in exchange for the guard of Chen Qiaomen, he accused him of disobeying the holy decree and not following the order of the imperial court to let him and his generals ride into the city, but led a large army into the capital.

Seeing that he was easy to talk about, the guards of Chen Qiaomen refused to let him enter the city, and even threatened that if he did not retreat thirty miles with the army and set up camp, and led his generals to return to Beijing to ask for guilt, he would treat Zhao Kuangyin as a rebel and thief, and ordered his subordinates to fire cannons and arrows. At this time, Zhao Kuangyin, who did not want to have a head-on conflict with the defenders in the city, although he was also a little anxious, he was not angered by the defenders in the city, but ordered the army to move to Fengqiumen, which was guarded by his confidants and cronies, in order to enter the city as soon as possible and complete his dream of changing the dynasty as soon as possible.

Although Fengqiu Gate has also been closed at this time, unlike the defenders on the side of Chen Qiaomen, who are facing a great enemy and the generals guarding the gate do not give themselves a chance to convince the other party, the defenders of Fengqiu Gate are obviously much more lax and courteous to themselves, which makes Zhao Kuangyin feel a lot more stable, and his self-confidence in being able to enter the city smoothly and sit on the dragon chair in the palace has also greatly increased.

On the evening of the seventh day of the third month of the ninth lunar calendar of Xiande, Xu Xinsheng, who had been transferred to guard the Fengqiu Gate only a few days ago because of Li Chongjin's rebellion, finally appeared on the city wall in the call of a group of Zhao Kuangyin's henchmen and cronies outside the city gate. It's just that before Zhao Kuangyin, who was already a little impatient, stepped forward and ordered him to open the door, Xu Xinsheng in the city had already pointed to Zhao Kuangyin under the city and scolded loudly: "Bold Zhao Kuangyin, the imperial court ordered you to lead a cadre of generals to return to the capital lightly to receive the reward, why don't you obey the order." Now, you lead thousands of soldiers and horses to the foot of the capital, what is your intention? ”