Kaifeng Mansion.
"Even if the Red Coat Army joins forces with Guo Ning, we are not completely unpredicted. We have a marshal, two captains, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the east, and two powerful cities that have been in operation for several years! It has only been a few days, but the troops and horses have been defeated? The city has been lost?"
"Wanyan Bi lost his army and lost his territory, so he should be executed for his crime!"
"No need to kill him. According to the news reported by Tan Ma, he is already dead, along with Wanyan Wuli and Nahe Herun."
"Where are the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Guide Mansion and Xuzhou? Aren't more than half of the troops there transferred to Wanyan Saibu's command to fight with the Song people! As for the crime, I believed the news from the Southern Dynasty. Nonsense, what kind of crime should those who think they can relax their vigilance and go to the Southern Dynasties to plunder should be punished!"
"Is this the time to blame others? To the west of Guide Mansion is Suizhou. Who is stationed there? How many troops and horses are there?"
"Who knows how many people there are in Guide Mansion now? If you can't know yourself and the enemy, how will you deal with it next?" The noisy voice in the hall made Tian Zhuo feel a little irritable.
In the past six months, so many Jurchen nobles and important court officials have fled from Zhongdu and Hebei. I thought this was a sign of Guo Ning's unpopularity, and these people just enriched the newly established Kaifeng court.
Who would have expected that these people were simply the pus flowing out of the Zhongdu imperial court. Their role was to turn the Kaifeng court into another Zhongdu court, completely losing the decisiveness and liveliness they had when operating in Kaifeng.
The words they were talking to each other at the moment were just to pursue Tian Zhuo, Hou Zhi and others who were in charge of the court.
It's just that these people who fled King Sui had deep roots in Kaifeng. They didn't dare to say it clearly, so they just went round and round.
It's really ridiculous. With Guo Ning's ferocity, he will overturn the situation once he takes action. Do you think he is only satisfied with grabbing a few pieces of territory?
For more than half a year, everyone has been deceived by Guo Ning. Now that he has taken action, the life and death of the Kaifeng court will be at stake!
Fortunately, the emperor of Daikin is not like these things and is much more reliable than anyone else. Tian Zhuo bowed slightly: "Your Majesty?" The emperor pretended to be listening to everyone's discussion and whispered: "How do you say it?"
"Since Guo Ning has risen, his target is not just Guide Mansion and Xuzhou. Now that he has arrived at Guide Mansion, the power of the entire Dinghai Navy will pour in immediately. Suizhou does not have many troops. If he cannot stop it, the battlefield will be We are in Kaifeng. The top priority is to immediately recall all the troops involved in the Southern Expedition, and then send an order to the generals of Hebei and Hedong to send tens of thousands of troops to the south for rescue." The emperor did not hesitate: "I will issue an edict."
"As long as the northern and southern armies can return reinforcements in time, we will definitely be able to defeat Guo Ning under Kaifeng City. Their family resources may not be that strong. If we persist until the autumn harvest and the busy farming season, we will have to turn around. However, Your Majesty must also be prepared. If anything happens, retreat to Henan Mansion or even Jingzhao Mansion." The young emperor suddenly clenched the armrests of his chair, and after a moment, he said: "Okay." Xuzhou.
Monk Luo jumped twice on the pontoon bridge, and the bridge board made a loud noise as his heavy body hit him. However, this weight is almost nothing compared to the carrying capacity of the pontoon bridge and the impact of the turbid waves of the Yellow River, and the entire pontoon bridge does not move at all.
Monk Luo curiously stretched out his hand to touch the giant rope connecting the ship. This rope was about wrist-thick and made of pure hemp tendons, soaked in tung oil purchased from the Song Dynasty. It could be used as a cable or sail rope on a sea-going ship.
After being tightened by the force at this moment, it is as strong as iron and a little more flexible than an iron chain. The entire pontoon bridge was restored based on the old Wanhui Bridge site three miles east of Xuzhou City, using 80 boats.
In addition, the Yunji Bridge in the northeast of the city was repaired, and eighty boats were also used. Because the Yellow River has many forks that divide the water, the water potential near Xuzhou is smaller than that upstream, so the scale of the two floating bridges is not very large.
It took six days to repair the two pontoons, which was very fast. This was mainly due to the fact that Dinghai Navy prepared a large amount of materials in advance and mobilized 3,000 engineers responsible for building the pontoon bridge. In addition, it also surveyed the water depth, flow speed, and width of the river in advance and made adequate preparations.
The location of Wanhui Bridge is more suitable for setting piles and tying ropes, so the boats used are basically large boats with a width of more than one foot, and the bridge deck is also wide.
While Monk Luo was stamping his feet on the west side of the bridge, a large group of cavalry had already jumped onto the bridge from the east and crossed the Yellow River.
Monk Luo took two steps back, stood on the ground, and got out of the way of the bridge. He saw that the first cavalrymen to cross the river lined up in strict accordance with the regulations and sent several teams of light cavalry to go further to check the hydrological trends of the river.
Xuzhou is already under our firm control, and there are no enemy soldiers nearby who can threaten to cross the river. However, since military law stipulates it, it must be implemented in a down-to-earth manner. The cavalry has not neglected this, which shows that daily training is very particular. .
Monk Luo nodded with satisfaction and waved to the cavalry on the bridge to speed up. The total number of cavalry is more than a thousand. Each person has a spear and a spear hanging next to the saddle. Bows and arrows are hung on both sides of the saddle bridge. The knights themselves hang long-handled straight knives or short-hand soldiers such as iron bones on their waists.
On their horses, they have dry food and armor. Some knights who are good at archery also carry longbows and multiple spare quivers for dismounted fighting.
This is the Kaizi Horse Cavalry. After they pass by, they will be followed by Tie Futu who can wear heavy armor and stand firm in battle.
The horses of the Tiefutu cavalry were generally taller and more powerful, and the horses carried heavy loads. After running for a long distance, traces of mud splashed all the way to the horses' bellies, and the Alixi soldiers were even more disgraced.
For the sake of safety when crossing the river, all the knights led their horses on foot. Even so, the sound of hooves on the bridge was still thunderous.
Monk Luo waited for the Tiefutu cavalry to step onto Gaofu on the west side of the river before waving. Among the cavalry, a general flashed out.
"I have met Master Huifeng." Guo Alin solemnly performed a military salute.
"Where's your brother?"
"Brother lent his horse to the sick man, and he and the infantry marched together, and they should have crossed the Yunji Bridge." This style of sharing the joys and sorrows with the grassroots soldiers is indeed Guo Zhongyuan's true character.
If you don’t love your soldiers like your own children on a daily basis, how can you use them like clay in wartime? Monk Luo turned around and looked at Yunji Bridge. He saw that the soldiers who had crossed the river earlier were arranged in horizontal and vertical square formations. The formations were as solid as rocks, but the people in the formations stood upright, not talking to each other.
There were people hurriedly walking on the embankment along the river. It was Guo Zhongyuan who saw Jinghui behind Monk Luo and came with a few subordinates.
Monk Luo didn't say much and directly handed over the military document: "The lord has already captured Guide Mansion. Yin Chang's troops marched 200 miles along the river to join the lord and defeated Wanyan Wuli and Nahe Heyun. More than 10,000 people are mopping up the remnants of the surrounding enemies. The Lord has an order for your troops to continue marching urgently and rush to Guide Mansion within five days to form a heavy army group and attack Kaifeng." After defeating Genghis Khan, Guo Zhongyuan's troops were in a peaceful mood. The fighting spirit has been aroused, and everyone from top to bottom prides himself on being the first strong force in the navy that can fight tough battles.
However, Guo Ning has never given them the appointment to go out to guard, but allows them to adjust the fields belonging to the army with peace of mind, and arranges for the soldiers to return to their hometowns in turns to visit relatives.
After recuperating for more than half a year, the generals under Guo Zhongyuan have also been continuously enriched, including many key personnel who have experienced military academy training.
In the end, the number of troops reached more than 10,000, including 7,000 infantry, 1,500 light and heavy cavalry, and more than 4,000 Alixi who accompanied the army in charge of baggage and logistics.
It wasn't until Yelu Chucai summoned Guo Zhongyuan twenty days ago and showed him Guo Ning's warrant that he knew what bold actions his side would take.
Previously, Guo Ning stayed in Haizhou, under the banner of protecting maritime trade routes, urging the expansion of ports such as Qushan and Donghai, and building large-scale warehouses within the ports.
As a result, after the completion, the first group to arrive in Haizhou in large numbers was not the Nanchaohai Merchant Fleet, but Guo Zhongyuan's troops who set out from Tianjin Prefecture.
Guo Zhongyuan spent three days in Tianjin to assemble troops and horses, organize supplies and supplies, and prepare for long-distance marches.
The sea route from Tianjin to Haizhou took ten days. The soldiers and horses immediately marched after disembarking from the ship. While marching, they restored their organizational structure. Those who could not keep up with the laggards would never stop and wait.
It took them six days to travel four hundred miles from Haizhou to Xuzhou. Next, it was three hundred and fifty miles from Xuzhou to Guide Mansion, and Guo Ning gave them five days.
Many of the strongest soldiers since ancient times were good at rapid marches. However, a short-term attack can be achieved by discarding the baggage and pressing the soldiers' strength.
The journey from sea to land in twenty days, and then a long journey of more than 700 miles, places extremely high demands on the army's training level, support level and morale, as well as the general's command ability.
Guo Zhongyuan opened the military document and read it, then closed it and handed it over to Meng Cong: "Don't worry, sir, Guo will arrive in time. However, when marching here, a lot of food and supplies will be consumed; in addition, each ministry needs experienced rural guides to guide the way. .”
"Half of the reserves in the city of Xuzhou have been allocated. The mules, horses, vehicles, and entourage are all ready, and a number of medical officers are also arranged to wait at Qiligou in the north of the city." Monk Luo said this and looked around him.
Liu Erzu had previously obtained Guo Ning's promise to serve as deputy commander-in-chief along with Monk Luo. But after the entire system of Ding Haijun came into operation, he understood that compared with the military force of Ding Haijun, the situation he was operating around Mount Tai was far behind in all aspects. After capturing Xuzhou, the remnants of the Red Coat Army became increasingly weak. It's like a supporting role.
So in the past few days, he became more and more a spectator. People who are not familiar with Second Patriarch Liu just think that Monk Luo is accompanied by an old farmer.
Although he was just a spectator, arranging local village guides and the like was not a problem. At this time, Liu Erzu waved his hand, and dozens of strong men immediately flashed out: "These are real ghosts from the ground. They can come and go with their eyes closed." Guo Zhongyuan said to him. The Second Patriarch Liu nodded, ignored each other's greetings, and asked Monk Luo: "The Jin army in Hao, Su, Shou, Si and other places will turn back soon. Who can resist?"
"I take it upon myself."
"In that case, I won't delay any longer...Master, I'll take my leave now!" Guo Zhongyuan gave Monk Luo a military salute, called the village leaders, then turned around and left in a hurry.
After he stepped into his own column, the rapid sound of horns sounded one after another. Officers from all departments rushed to the central column to take orders, and then rode their horses back to their headquarters.
Another group of messengers with flags on their backs rushed out from the ranks of the Chinese army. As they ran wildly, they blew sharp copper whistles to urge them.
As orders were issued one after another, the entire army that was about to cross the river suddenly moved. The light cavalry beat their horses repeatedly and rushed to the front of the road.
The infantry and heavy cavalry followed the officers' instructions and merged into the road one after another. Under the bright sun, the footsteps of the men and horses instantly filled the ground with smoke and dust.
Under the smoke and dust, the formation could not be seen clearly from a hundred paces away, only the military flags raised high one after another. The soldiers who had marched long distances followed the flag of their own team closely, either trotting or walking quickly, and the order of the ranks was not disordered at all.
