December of the fifth year of Xining
Zhang Yue led the main force of the Song army to Ninghe Village (Xiangzi City).
This was the second time Zhang Yue arrived at Xiangzi City. When he first attacked Hezhou, he led 800 troops and horses to garrison here and was surrounded by the Fan Army, but there was no news about Wang Shao in front.
Zhang Yue remembered that there were more than 2,000 fan tents in the north of the city at that time. Wang Shao advised him to kill them all, but he refused. After the Fan army resumed the siege of the city, these people not only showed no gratitude to the Song army, but instead assisted the Fan army in attacking the city.
Zhang Yue had specially managed Ninghe Village before, not only strengthening the city but also increasing military supplies. Although Wang Shao led his army to attack Minzhou, he did not dare to withdraw his troops here, leaving a way for Wang Hou to retreat.
Therefore, although Jing Sili was defeated, Wang Hou and his remaining troops retreated to the city to stabilize the situation. Otherwise, the situation in Hezhou would have been too dilapidated to deal with.
Now that he has arrived at Ninghe Village again, Zhang Yue's mood has changed compared to half a year ago.
Zhang Kai, Wang Junwan, and his disciples, Xi Qi, and Bao Shun also arrived with 30,000 Tibetan cavalry to join forces with Zhang Yue.
After Zhang Yue heard Zhang Kai say that he not only defeated the Xixia reinforcements and the Eljin tribe, but also defeated the Eljin tribe, a well-known tribe in Hezhou that was capable of fighting, he gently scolded Zhang Kai.
Zhang Kai then reasoned that it was because the Tibetan cavalry below were unable to control themselves, and it would not be the case if he was leading the Han army. Zhang Yue listened and accepted Zhang Kai's opinion, and the matter was reduced to a minor issue.
Later, Zhang Yue gathered generals at Ninghe Village. The main force of the Song army had arrived, and famous generals gathered.
Among them were the envoy of the Imperial City, Han Cunbao, the governor of Wenzhou, Hao Jin, the envoy of Zuozangku, Lin Guangqian, the envoy of Liuzhai, Xu Kedao, the governor of Guozhou, and Yao Si and Yao Lin, the generals of the Yao family in the northwest.
Yao Si, Yao Qi is known as the second Yao. Even among the Dangxiang people, they have a bad reputation. Especially Yao Si is the bravest in the three armies.
When he was a general on Huanqing Road, he killed the vanguard general who commanded Xixia with one arrow.
Dangxiang invaded again, and Yao Si shot and killed hundreds of Dangxiang's cavalry alone.
When the officials heard about Yao Si's reputation, they expressed their doubts and summoned him to the capital for an interview with him about riding and shooting. As expected, he was always on target, and he was promoted to the governor of Jingyuan Road.
The officials knew that Er Yao was capable of fighting, so they assigned Zhang Yue to attack Hezhou.
In addition to Yao Si, Yao Lin, Yao Gu, the third generation of Yao family generals, and Yao Xiong also joined the army.
The newly arrived generals were in great momentum and thought that Guizhang and Mu Zheng were vulnerable, while Er Yao was even more eager to try and show off his skills from the other side.
However, Zhang Yue did not agree, and still followed the strategy formulated by Zhang Kai to first clear the outer perimeter and then relieve the siege of Hezhou.
So Zhang Yue divided his troops into many groups in Ninghe Village, reaching as far as the Yellow River in the north and Nanshan in the south, sweeping away the tribes in the mountains and rivers of Hezhou.
Zhang Yue said to the generals: "Those who are willing to surrender from the Tibetan tribes in Hezhou will be selected as archers. At the same time, they will set up strongholds, select Tibetan officials to manage them, and grant them fields."
"Each village selects three or five commanders, with a quota of 250 people. The archers are given one hectare of land, the Tibetan officials are given two hectares of land, and the big Tibetan officials are given three hectares of land. Han officials and Tibetan officials are allowed to collude, in order to avoid Han officials from interfering with each other. If the army kills the Fan army and takes credit, each Fan army can stab the word "Fan army" in front of his left ear."
Wang Junwan heard clearly that this was exactly what Wang Shao had proposed to Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue does not use his people but does not abandon his strategies, which shows that he has a broad mind, which will never be matched by Wang Shao.
However, the newly recruited Fan Army did not receive the benefits of salt banknotes as the Xizhou Fan Army, and they were only granted land.
"As for the disobedient tribes... they will all be destroyed!"
The generals loudly said yes.
After the military meeting, Cai Jing said to Zhang Yue: "Don't drive Wang Shao from Chengzhou to send a letter!"
Cai Jing is now Zhang Yue's confidant, and all letters and official documents have been read by him before being presented to Zhang Yue.
Wang Shao is now in charge of the affairs in Chengzhou. Although Zhang Yue does not allow him to sign documents, he does not deprive him of the right to read official documents.
Wang Shao can know the battle reports of Hezhou and Xizhou.
Wang Shao's letter also gave advice and suggestions, asking Zhang Yue to provide generous compensation to the soldiers who died in Hezhou in order to regain the morale of the army, especially the family records left on Xihe Road should be properly settled.
Zhang Yue felt that Wang Shao's suggestion was very pertinent.
In addition, Wang Shao put forward many opinions on Hezhou's use of troops and generals.
At the same time, Wang Shao also apologized to Zhang Yue in the letter and admitted his mistake, saying that he was blinded by lard and ignored Zhang Yue's original promotion and recommendation, and then scolded himself severely.
Zhang Yue asked Cai Jing, "What does Yuan Chang think of Wang Zichun's letter?"
Cai Jing said: "Wang Zichun is like Han Xin. He is not humble and modest, but he criticizes his own achievements and is jealous of his own abilities. Han Xin can not forget the kindness of Piao's mother and earn a fortune, but he forgets that his wife in the pavilion has given him food for several months, and he does not know his great ancestor. With grace, appreciation and recommendation, he was plucked out of a humble place and made to wear the three seals of Qi around his waist."
"Although Wang Zichun seems to know his mistake now, in fact he only regrets it when he sees our army's achievements."
Zhang Yue smiled after hearing Cai Jingzhi's words. Everyone knew that Han Xin gave Piao's mother a fortune. The reason for this was that the pavilion chief's wife had allowed him to eat for several months, but because she didn't provide him with food once, he was so angry. Han Xin was angry and never went to the pavilion chief's house for dinner. As a result, he was so hungry that he couldn't go fishing by the stream. He met Piao Mu and gave him a meal.
It can be seen that after Han Xin became famous, he gave Piao's mother a thousand pieces of gold, but did not repay the pavilion chief.
Zhang Yue said: "If ten merits are not equal to one evil, we cannot deal with him. Yuan Chang's words make sense."
When people interact with each other, even if you treat them well ten times, they will not be hostile to you, and the other party will break up with you because of your lack of thoughtfulness once. Don't associate with such people.
After a pause, Zhang Yue said to Cai Jing: "However, I will not invalidate his words because of his failure. You can discuss the suggestions in Zichun's letter with everyone and then report them to me."
"Yes." Cai Jing was very happy to see Zhang Yue's trust, and then said, "Deputy General Gao has written again asking for help."
Zhang Yue felt very cold after hearing Gao Zunyu's letter asking for help.
However, this time it seems that Xixia knew that the main force of the Song Army was leaving Hezhou, so it stepped up its offensive on Dingxicheng, seemingly wanting to cut off the Song Army's retreat and force the main force of the Song Army to return for reinforcements.
Zhang Yue said to Cai Jing: "Besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao is a common strategy in the art of war, and the Western thieves are also accustomed to this tactic."
Cai Jing said: "The tactics of the Western thieves cannot be hidden from the commander-in-chief."
Cai Jing knew that the news on the front line was complicated. General Zhang Yueying received countless such messages every day, but it was not easy to get a clear and calm understanding from so much information.
"But Dingxi City must not be lost. Yuan Chang will polish the ink for me."
Zhang Yue immediately took the pen and paper, while Cai Jing polished Zhang Yue's ink.
Official documents drafted in the Department of Economics and Strategy were written by others for Zhang Yue. For example, general texts were written by Xu Xi in the Jiyi style, and if they were more important, they were written by brothers Cai Jing and Cai Bian.
Zhang Yue himself only gave a rough outline or he read it after they had written it, and then sent it out in the name of the Economic and Strategic Department.
Zhang Yue personally wrote that this matter must be handled with great caution.
Zhang Yue wrote a letter to Gao Zunyu in his own handwriting, in which he was extremely humble to Gao Zunyu.
Zhang Yue had some issues with Gao Zunyu at the beginning, but now Zhang Yue has the emperor's command and can deal with all the generals in Xihe Road, including Gao Zunyu.
Its power is far from what it was before.
No matter how crazy Gao Zunyu is, no matter how much he relies on the backing of Empress Dowager Gao, he must restrain himself in front of Zhang Yue.
What's more, Zhang Yue wrote such a complimentary letter to Gao Zunyu?
Zhang Yue said in the letter that the victory or defeat of this attack on Hezhou does not depend on Hezhou, but on whether Dingxi can block the reinforcements coming from the Xixia direction.
The victory or defeat depends on this battle. This time I came to Xihe to lead the troops under the imperial decree. The officials were very concerned about the war in Xihe, and so were the two empresses. Only by winning this battle could they live up to the emperor.
Therefore, Gao Zunyu's success or failure in Dingxi is crucial, and the success or failure of the battle depends on this. At the beginning, Wang Shao was arrogant and did not take General Gao seriously, but I, Zhang Yue, have always known your abilities. Now that Wang Shao has been demoted, the entire Xihe war situation depends entirely on you, Gao Zunyu.
I, Zhang Yue, am a scholar and I don’t know how to lead an army. I can only rely on you from now on. I hope you can help me a lot.
After Zhang Yue wrote the letter, he said to Cai Jing: "Gao Zunyu is famous and enjoys merit. You should give him his fame and merit, and don't compete with him for it. In this way, he will do his best to defend Dingxi and will not ask us for troops or food." "
"In addition, send ten jars of fine wine to Gao Zunyu."
Cai Jing was deeply impressed by the letter.
It is said that Gao Zunyu and Zhang Yue were very at odds at the beginning, but it was very rare for Zhang Yue to put down his dignity and write such a letter to Gao Zunyu.
Zhang Yue finally said this: "In the end, it is all official business of the court, there is no need to engage in personal disputes of temper."
After this letter was delivered to Dingxi City, Gao Zunyu was really delighted.
Gao Zunyu raised the letter and said with a smile to General Miao Shi: "Now the Prime Minister knows how much he relies on me, Gao."
Professor Miao also knew how to praise Gao Zunyu and said: "The general manager is guarding the 50,000 Western bandits in Dingxicheng alone so that the other party does not dare to go south. Of course, the manager also understands that the victory in this battle depends entirely on the general manager."
Gao Zunyu smiled, nodded and asked, "Is there any movement among the Western thieves outside the city?"
Miao Shudao: "We have always been making small fuss, but our army's fortress cannot be breached, and a lot of lives have been lost. Now it seems that we have sent some troops to bypass Dingxi City and explore the way to Qinfeng or Xizhou! "
Gao Zunyu clapped his hands and said: "Then how can we let the Western thieves go around the city? We must let them all stay in Dingxi and be in a dilemma. Old Miao! You lead more than a hundred elites to ride out of the north gate, and I will send troops and horses to attack from the left and right. , Bao teaches you how to break the thief this time!"
Professor Miao was overjoyed when he heard this.
After the Xixia people came to attack, Gao Zunyu used the method of shrinking back. No matter how provocative the Xixia people were, they just refused to fight.
Even though the Xixia people formed a loose team, Gao Zunyu decisively saw through it and thought it was a Xixia trick and refused to fight.
But Mr. Miao was jealous when he saw that he could not win so many military honors. In the past month, he had repeatedly asked for battle, but Gao Zunyu always pushed him back by saying "defend the city cautiously."
Now that Miao had received Gao Zunyu's instructions, he still hesitated. He went back and ordered more than a hundred fine cavalry to open the north gate and kill him.
As expected, the Xixia people were completely unprepared, and Miao Tuo trampled several camps. When Gao Zunyu saw that the Xixia people were unprepared, he immediately led his troops out of the city and followed Miao Tuo, making noises to cover up the killing, and defeated the Xia army.
Gao Zunyu reported this battle as a great victory, and reported the annihilation of more than 10,000 Xixia troops to the imperial court.
At the same time, Zhang Yue launched an all-out attack from Hezhou, destroyed the Qinbal and other clans, burned their clan tents, and comprehensively swept all the tribes in the south and west of Hezhou, cutting off the reinforcements of Gui Zhang and Mu Zheng.
As for Guizhang who surrounded Hezhou City, Mu Zheng was worried that Zhang Yue would cut off the return route to Nanshan, so he retreated to Tabaicheng overnight.
In January of the sixth year of Xining, a heavy snow suddenly fell. Zhang Yue, who had been stationed in Ninghe Village for more than a month, suddenly led his army northward.
Recovered Hezhou City, which had been besieged for several months!
