The camp, which had been silent for many days, suddenly became busy. Many soldiers were packing their bags, obviously the expedition was about to begin.
Yao Pingzhong and Liu Qi came all the way, and they were also very excited.
The three of them have prepared good horses, one person and three horses, without any followers. They have already thought of the title of the story. The three cavalrymen broke through the border. In a few days, they will become famous all over the world.
As for the possible encirclement and interception by Xixia soldiers and horses, the three of them did not take it seriously. They could break through if they could not finish the killing, and no one could stop them.
Entering Han Shizhong's tent, Yao Pingzhong cupped his hands and said impatiently: "When will we set off?"
As soon as Yao Pingzhong came out of the prince's tent that day, he wanted to compete with Han Shizhong. Han Shizhong was naturally not afraid of him and agreed to him immediately. The two fought for dozens of rounds, and Han Shizhong defeated Yao Pingzhong. Liu Qi knew that Han Shizhong was very good in martial arts and archery when he was suppressing the Rong army, so he naturally would not challenge him again.
Han Shizhong said helplessly: "The prince's soldiers just came to inform us that we don't need to go to the border."
"Why?"
The two of them looked at Han Shizhong in disbelief. He was clearly about to go on an expedition.
Han Shizhong thought for a while and said: "The prince is planning to raid Xingqing Mansion and wipe out Xixia. Naturally, there is no need to spread the word to the outside world. This news cannot be spread to the outside world. It is only known to the captain and above."
Hearing this, Yao Pingzhong immediately smiled and said: "So that's it. It's not bad to attack Xingqing Mansion. Kill the Western Bandits by surprise."
Han Shizhong said speechlessly: "Have your troops received the general's order to set off?"
"No."
Yao Pingzhong immediately reacted and asked: "You mean the prince is not planning to use us?"
Han Shizhong nodded and said: "Since it is a surprise attack, we must have selected elite soldiers, and they should be the ones who are active in the camp."
Yao Pingzhong said anxiously: "This is such a big battle. How can we miss it. No, we have to go see the prince."
Han Shizhong also nodded and said, "I'm about to go find the prince. Does General Liu want to go?"
"certainly."
In the main camp of the Chinese army, Chao Yong was studying the marching route with Zhong Shidao. When he heard the three people asking to see him, he smiled and said: "Let them come in."
"At the end of the day, I will meet the prince and the father-in-law."
Chao Yong looked at the three of them and said with a smile: "What can you do with the three generals?"
Han Shizhong smiled and said: "The last three generals asked for orders to follow the prince to raid Xingqing Mansion."
Chao Yong smiled and said: "I plan to march a hundred miles every day and arrive at the gate of Xingqing Mansion in four days at the latest. Can your troops and horses do it?"
Hearing this, Yao Pingzhong immediately said: "Okay."
Han Shizhong and Liu Qi did not dare to say so. The soldiers and horses under their command were all leftover from the battle between the Zhenrong Army. Although they were all elite soldiers, they were not sure whether they could continue the rapid march.
Seeing the reaction of the three people, Zhong Shidao could tell how deep they were. Han Shizhong and Liu Qi are steady. Yao Pingzhong was thoughtful and thoughtful, but Yao Pingzhong was a little aggressive and exaggerated.
There¡¯s no need to try, anyone who knows the way of cultivation knows that it won¡¯t work. Although the Western Army has strong combat power, it does not mean that it has strong marching ability. In the military system of the Song Dynasty, every army was on the right track. Ten miles of rest, thirty miles of dry food, sixty miles of food and lodging. The Western Army is also used to marching in this way. Sometimes it can cover hundreds of miles a day, but it can be done for four consecutive days. I'm afraid more than half will be left behind.
On the contrary, he is a Liangshan veteran under Lu Junyi, starting from the Liangshan era. It is not difficult for them to march hundreds of miles often and attack Xingqing Mansion.
Yao Pingzhong blushed a little when he saw that the two of them didn't respond.
Chao Yong also knew that the three men were brave, so he smiled and said: "You can go, you don't need to lead troops, just be a private soldier under my tent."
Han Shizhong and the other three wanted to participate in this war. Whether they would bring troops or not was not that important to them, so they agreed immediately.
Chao Yong smiled and said: "Then you go down and prepare. Tomorrow morning we will set off to suppress the Rong army, and then enter Xixia along the Hulu River."
Han Shizhong was about to resign, but Liu Qi said: "The Zhenrong Army still has dozens of large and small ships. I wonder if they can be put to use?"
Zhong Shidao was surprised and said: "The Hulu River was previously controlled by the Xixia people, right? Where did the Zhenrong Army hide their boats?"
Liu Qi said with a smile: "It's not that we hid it, it was used by the Xixia people to transport grain. When the Xixia people retreated, they didn't have time to drive them all away, leaving some ships behind, including several of our warships. "
Master Zhong said happily: "With ships, the raid on Xingqing Mansion will be faster. Go north along the Hulu River and merge into the Yellow River, and you can directly reach Xingqing Mansion, and it can be reached in two days at most by going down the river. Xingqing Mansion.¡±
It's not like Zhong Shidao has never thought of taking the water route, but the Hulu River was previously controlled by Chage and all the ships were collected by Xixia. He subconsciously thought that the Zhenrong Army had no ships, and it would not be possible to build ships in a short time. , so he only considered the land route.
Chao Yong was delighted when he heard that it took two days to reach Xingqing Mansion by water: "The shipHow many people can be transported?¡±
Liu Qi said awkwardly: "I haven't seen those ships either, I just heard from my officers that there are these ships."
Chao Yong smiled and said: "We were walking in a hurry that day, and we didn't have time to carefully check the loot. But dozens of boats can carry at least a few thousand people, which is enough."
Zhong Shidao looked at the map and said: "If we want to take the water route, there are two more places that need to be attacked."
Chao Yong said: "Is there a checkpoint on the water?"
Zhong Shidao shook his head and said: "There are no checkpoints on the water, mainly Wuyan Gorge and Qingtong Gorge. The Xixia people set up forts at the strategic points of these two canyons. The river is below the fort, and the fort guards can block the river with trebuchets, so When the Song Dynasty attacked Xixia, they generally did not use waterways. Of course, it was also related to the fact that the Western Army was not good at taking boats, so General Lu¡¯s men should be able to take boats, right?¡±
Chao Yong thought for a while and said: "Most of the people are near the water park of Liangshan. In the past, you had to take a boat to get in and out of Liangshan, so there shouldn't be a big problem. However, Li Jun and others are not familiar with the Yellow River, so the breeder will lead the way. It¡¯s not a problem for people to walk by water, right?¡±
Zhong Shidao nodded and said: "Over the years, they have disguised themselves as merchants and traveled by water and land. They have also met some Xixia people in forts along the way. Some forts may be able to make money from them."
"Okay, then according to the plan, Lu Junyi and I will lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to cross Liupan Mountain to suppress the Rong army. Yao Gu will lead 20,000 soldiers and horses to the west to recover Xihe Road, and Lu Zhishen will go north to Xi'an Prefecture. One day later, The breeder then came with his army."
Xixia and the Song Dynasty have been at war for decades, and the two sides' elaborate wars have spread all over the country. In order to prevent being seen through by the Xixia people, Daliang divided its troops into three groups and released the news that the troops were divided to take over the state capital left by Xixia to confuse Xixia.
Yao Gu led 20,000 people, but Chao Yong handed over Sun Li's ministry to Yao Gu, and added Li Congji's ministry, and Sun Li stayed with Chao Yong.
Prince Longqi also stayed in the Chinese army. One day later, he announced that his troops would return to the court. After marching eastward for two days, they divided their troops and marched northward. Although it would be exposed by then, Chao Yong's troops had already invaded Xixia territory by then.
Lu Zhishen's troops also marched eastward from Xi'an Prefecture, and joined Dong Ping, Yang Zhi, Wu Song, and Mu Hong under the command of Zhong Shidao to attack Xixia to support them. Li Ying's troops stayed behind with Huaide's army.