As soon as Zongze arrived, Murong Fu planned to directly delegate power to him to take charge of the entire army. Zongze could not help but be frightened by Murong Fu's boldness.
He was just here for the first time, how could the other party dare to hand over the power of the entire army to him?
But seeing that the other party was not joking, nor was he deliberately trying to make concessions to himself, Zongze hurriedly said that he had done nothing and did not dare to take on this important task.
After some pushback, Zongze was only willing to take over Murong Fu's position as the leader of the Golden Flag, and he would continue to be responsible for controlling the entire army.
Murong Fu felt helpless. The reason why he invited Zong Ze was not only because of his talents, but also because he wanted to relieve him of this heavy responsibility. Now it would be better to just tie him to death.
But after recalling what Zongze said, he also felt that it made sense.
After all, the other party asked him to command the entire army when they first arrived. Although I trusted him, the leaders of the other armies may not be convinced. It would be better to let Zongze lead the troops to achieve some military exploits first, and then step down from this responsibility after he is able to convince the public. .
When the time came in the evening, Murong Fu held a grand banquet to welcome Zongze and wash away the dust. It was a lively event...
Early the next morning, Murong Fu came out of Master Li's room and went to the hall with everyone in high spirits to discuss matters. ✳
After some military planning, everyone could not help but turn their attention to the Battle of Song and Liao. After all, this battle was the key to victory or defeat.
"Now the Liao Kingdom divided its troops into three groups to attack the Song Dynasty from Taiyuan, Yanmen Pass, and Yijin Pass. Among them, Yanmen Pass was led by Emperor Yelu Hongji of the Liao Kingdom, and the Taiyuan area was led by King Beiyuan with an army of 100,000 troops. The remaining Yijin Pass was Prince Yelu Yanxi led his army to break through the pass. In my opinion, Taiyuan and Yijin Pass will be broken within a few months."
"Although General Zhong is brave and extraordinary, he is only one man after all. Facing the three-way Liao army, he is ultimately unable to do anything at all."
After all, Zongze was an official of one party, and since he was determined to serve his country on the battlefield, he was also very clear about the news on the front line, and immediately analyzed the situation with everyone.
Shan Zheng couldn't help but ask: "If these two places are conquered, won't the Liao army have to drive into the Song Dynasty and slaughter our Han people?"
Zongze said: "Single flag owners don't have to worry. Since the Taizong period, in order to resist the Liao army's cavalry from entering, Emperor Taizong ordered the construction of a road starting from Xitangbo in the west and ending at Nigu Haikou in the east. The total length is nearly a thousand miles and stretches across seven armies. The state’s ‘Great Water Wall’.”
"There are a total of 19 rivers and 30 lakes along this 'Great Water Wall'. The entire line is divided into eight sections and has 26 fortresses. It is no less generous than Yanmen Pass. It is an easy place. The water network barrier that is difficult to defend and attack is a huge deterrent, especially for the Liao soldiers who are not good at water warfare."
"Even if the Liao army breaks through these two passes, as long as General Zhong orders his men to strictly guard Yanmen Pass and then retreats here, there is still a chance to repel the enemy!"
After several months of fierce fighting with the Liao army, everyone discovered that although the Liao army was good at riding, shooting and running attacks, it was only suitable for marching straight into plain areas, but was not used to water warfare. As for the "Great Water Wall" Zongze called, it was really good at fighting on the plains. To a certain extent, it resisted the invasion of Liao cavalry.
Although the decisive battle does not lie with them, given the rebel army's position, there is still much to be done.
As far as Zongze knows, there are many ministers in the court who are interested in sponsoring the rebel army. If the Song-Liao War can be won, with the contribution of the rebel army, the chance of being recruited is very high. By then, he can also seek a military position. , and you won’t end up spending the rest of your life in a mediocre way.
And this is one of the reasons why he joined the rebels.
The current stalemate in the Song-Liao War could give the rebels an opportunity to grow. After looking at the strategic layout for the next period of time, Zongze directly pointed out several of the problems, saying that with the current scale of the rebel army, it has actually already You can try to plunder the cities and towns of Liao Kingdom.
Of course, it is easy to capture the city, but it is extremely difficult to defend it. But their troops are so fast, so why do they need to defend it?
Just like the Liao army was clearing grass and valleys, they could just grab and leave, taking only what they needed.
Zongze knew that the rebels did not have the support of the court, and they had to find ways to supply food and grass on their own. It sounds like they are rebels, but in fact they are almost the same as bandits, but as long as they are robbing an enemy country, there is no need to have any psychological burden.
When the two countries go to war, it's life and death. How can you expect the other party to be moral to you?
"In the opinion of the sect flag master, which state city should be chosen?"
Murong Fu and Han Baizhan had this idea for a long time, but they just didn't want to take too many risks. Now that Zongze has brought it up, they can give it a try.
Zongze said: "Take Chenzhou nearby, win this battle, and then cross the Bohai Sea with a sea ship to take Jinzhou!"
"Would it be risky to capture two cities at once?"
Murong Fu frowned slightly.
"The leader of the alliance does not know that the defenders, grain and other military supplies in Jinzhou Laizhou were all used by the Prince of Liao to attack Yijin Pass. The actual number of soldiers left was less than three thousand."
"But in this case, even if we take the risk and attack, won't we get nothing?"
At this time, You Tanzhi couldn't help but ask.
Zongze said: "If Chenzhou wins this battle, they will ferry directly to Jinzhou. The former is only for supplementing military supplies, while the latter is for the main purpose of boosting the morale of the army and destroying the morale of the enemy. Morale during marching and fighting is the most important. If the crown prince of the Liao Kingdom excessively mobilizes troops and causes us to defeat two states in a row, it will inevitably damage the morale of the Liao army to a certain extent and reduce the pressure on the soldiers guarding Yijin Pass!"
Murong Fu and Han Baizhan roughly understood what Zongze meant. He wanted to use this battle to assist the Song army, thereby attracting the court's attention to the rebels.
"It seems that he cares about Zhao Song after all, and is not really worried about our rebel army!"
Murong Fu sighed secretly, and then he and Han Baizhan agreed with his idea.
This battle was of great benefit to the rebels. Although Zongze had selfish motives, as long as it was beneficial to the rebels and the benefits outweighed the disadvantages, Murong Fu did not mind doing what the other party said.
So, after asking Zhang Ru for the city maps of the two states, after half a day of research and one day of reorganizing the army, the rebels began to break out of camp and march towards Chenzhou.
This time, Han Baizhan supervised the battle, and Zongze assisted from the side, leading a total of 13,000 people. Murong Fu stayed in Kaizhou with more than 7,000 people.
Originally Murong Fu also planned to go, but this time the rebel army will not stay longer during the siege, and will eventually return to Kaizhou to prevent the Liao army from taking the opportunity to occupy Kaizhou and block their way back, so some people have to be left to garrison. here.
As several days passed, Murong Fu gradually felt more at ease as he watched the battle reports coming from the front.
Han Baizhan and Zongze cooperated tacitly and divided their forces to attack Chenzhou together. Although the city could not be captured in a short time, the two of them vowed to capture it in five days at most.
