Yu Mingyuan knew his character well, and this letter came in time, completely eliminating Cao Rui's idea of winning the battle and presenting a gift to the new king. Still follow your original thinking. However, although Huang Qiong did not give him any urging, the current battle situation was also a long torment for him. Especially when he divided his troops to attack Ganzhou without reporting it to the court.
Although the master in Beijing never thought about asking them to report everything. But the separation of 10,000 elites and such a long journey made him somewhat uneasy. He also knew that Ouyang Shan was good at fighting and training troops. But most of the areas passed along the way are in rebel-controlled areas. Although they are all sparsely populated mountainous areas, once it is leaked?
These ten thousand troops and horses are not a small number. Especially these 10,000 troops and horses are the four most elite battalions in the world. If these 10,000 troops and horses were destroyed in the middle of the attack, it would be a serious blow to the morale of the people and the army in the DPRK, and it might even shake the leader who has not yet inherited the throne. But no matter how worried Cao Rui was, he couldn't contact Ouyang Shan at the moment, so all he could do was wait.
The war situation between the north and the south is basically a stalemate now. Yu Mingyuan on the northern front relied on the barriers around Yanshan Mansion and adopted defensive counterattack tactics, although he took some advantage. However, due to insufficient troops, they could only take advantage of Beiliao's weakness of not being good at mountain warfare, and fight with Beiliao on the front line in Shunzhou, Tanzhou, and Jizhou. At least for now, no one can do anything about anyone else.
The troops in Yu Mingyuan's hands were only 30% of the Khitan cavalry from the Northern Liao Dynasty that went south, and the Han army and the Bohai navy used as infantry. Sixty thousand versus more than two hundred thousand, even if Yu Mingyuan is resourceful, there is nothing he can do. And compared with those years ago, there are now many elites among the generals of the Northern Liao army. At the same time, the Northern Liao Dynasty, which has now suppressed civil strife, is not the former Qin Dynasty during the Sixteen Kingdoms period.
Now the commander-in-chief of the Northern Liao Dynasty in Yanshan Mansion can be reused as the commander-in-chief by the Empress Dowager of the Northern Liao Dynasty among many Khitans. In addition to the secret relationship between the two people, their abilities are also quite remarkable. The original strategy of pressing forward with the entire army and attacking across the entire front regardless of priority was changed, in an attempt to destroy Yanshan Mansion's frontline defenses with superior force strength. Instead, we are proceeding steadily, focusing on Juyongguan and Gubeikou.
After the Jurchen soldiers lost the remaining embers, they mobilized the Han army and the Bohai navy as the vanguard, and used Khitan cavalry to move around to supervise the battle and provide support. He also sent heavy troops to guard his food routes. Today, Beiliao has changed its original tactics because it has been unable to break Yanshan Mansion. In addition to fighting against the nomadic tribes in the northern desert plateau, they also adopted the traditional method of threshing grass and grain to supplement their marching supplies.
Already started to adopt the food supply method of the Central Plains Dynasty. Because every time he goes south, he always stops outside Yanshan Mansion. In other words, when you hunt for grass and grain, you either basically can’t grab anything, or it’s like robbing yourself. Therefore, as early as the Jingzong period of Liao Dynasty, they began to learn from the Han people to cultivate wasteland and plant food, and to use the country's large number of camels and horses to adopt the method of marching and fighting rear supplies.
Especially after Empress Dowager Xiao, a heroine among women, came to power, she changed the tradition of using the Han people who were originally plundered as slaves of the Khitan nobles. Based on the plundered Han people in the past dynasties and the Bohai people in Tokyo Road in the Northern Liao Dynasty, they reclaimed wasteland in Tokyo Road to produce food. In order to encourage the Han people to return home and produce enough food, the Empress Dowager Xiao also tried her best to give the Han people the status of civilians despite all opinions.
Although there is still some discrimination, such as the conflict between the Han people and the Khitan people, the Khitan people only need to compensate five donkeys, or three horses, or three cows if they kill the Han people. If the Han people killed the Khitans, they would have to pay with their lives. But compared to the past life of cattle and horses, I still don’t know how much better it is. The Northern Liao invaders had invaded the border areas for many years. Although they did not take advantage of them, they also plundered many Han slaves.
At the same time, land annexation in Daqi has become increasingly serious in recent years, and a large number of Han people, desperate to make a living, have also traveled across the mountains and ridges to Northern Liao to survive. Therefore, although there are not many Han people in Northern Liao today, there are still hundreds of thousands. Nowadays, the population of Han people in Northern Liao Dynasty is increasing day by day, and the output of grain is also increasing day by day. This time Kou Bianzu also recruited 20,000 Han troops and 18,000 Bohai people to use as infantry.
It is uncertain whether Yanshan Prefecture can be captured and enough grass and grain can be captured, that is, whether enough grain can be obtained. Before Mingyuan, he sent cavalry many times to invade the grain roads of Beiliao. After Han Zhiyao took over the command of the army, he adjusted his deployment and mobilized a large number of Khitan cavalry to protect his food routes. Yu Mingyuan could only adjust Han Zhiyao's move after suffering several small losses.
Yu Mingyuan was patiently looking for fighters in front, but this army consumed more food and wages in a day. Coupled with the large army on the southern front, it was almost difficult for the Ministry of Revenue to support it. This was the first time since the founding of Da Qi that the two sides fought. Whether it was counterinsurgency in the south or confrontation with Bei Liao in the north, no matter where the money was spent, money was spent like water. Now that the two fronts are fighting, a large amount of money and food have been spent.
In addition to the training of new troops, the casting of cannons and firearms, and the deployment of war horses, as well as the money for the burial of fallen officers and soldiers, this money and food was even more expensive. In the treasury, the properties of King Jing and King Shu, as well as the large amounts of money confiscated by corrupt officials, were originally used as emergency reserves. However, a large amount of money is consumed every day, and it is really unsustainable to rely solely on various annual taxes.
Under Huang's repeated strict orders not to raise taxes, there was no choice but to use these reserves. When the cannon goes off, it's really gold. It is a joke to say that the treasury reserves of a huge imperial court, plus the annual income, cannot keep up with that of a county prince's palace. But this is the fact. Compared with the rebellious King of Guilin, it is the imperial court that is more difficult to support now.
But even so, Huang Qiong never put any pressure on the two commanders in the northern and southern battlefields. Huang Qiong knew that the northern front might be able to be resolved in one battle, but counterinsurgency on the southern front was far from being resolved in one battle. Especially according to the news sent by the Fan family, the King of Guilin, relying on his huge financial resources, is recruiting troops at any cost in the areas controlled by Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, drawing one from every second and two from every third.
In just over a month, more than 100,000 horses were recruited. Although there is a lack of cavalry, the terrain in Jiangnan is not suitable for large-scale cavalry operations. Although the people he transferred to Cao Rui were all veterans, the terrain in Jiangnan limited the strengths of the four battalions to the greatest extent. And he insisted again and again that the new army should not be put into any front-line battlefield before completing training.
Huang Qiong always remembered what Yu Mingyuan said to him repeatedly before leaving. A new army that has not completed training is not as useful as a flock of sheep on the battlefield. On the battlefield, not only does it have no effect. Once there is chaos, those veterans may be overwhelmed. Therefore, under Huang Qiong's insistence, as long as the front lines can be maintained on the northern and southern battlefields, these new troops will not be transferred to the front line.
Nowadays, the 100,000 new troops trained and trained by the Shandong, Hebei, Henan, and Lianghuai regiments have not yet entered the battlefield. But the food and salary for these 100,000 new troops cannot be spared even by a big man. All these have brought unbearable pressure to the court. But Huang Qiong always stayed awake. Even though they were overwhelmed by the huge expenditure, they did not put any pressure on the two people in front.
But for Yang Jiyuan, the battlefield between the two lakes cannot continue like this. Just relying on one person, it would be difficult to hold up alone in front. Moreover, the two lakes needed a capable commander to coordinate and coordinate the overall situation, but Huang Qiong fell into deep thought. The person who was previously transferred to Huguang South Road to be in charge of military affairs had pretty good abilities. They can rely on a few elites, but they have more rotten Lianghu Guards.
Being able to hold back the rebels, the 30,000-strong army on the battlefield in Huguang is considered a rare talent. But the degree of control over the entire battle situation is somewhat unsatisfactory. However, when Yang Jiyuan took the initiative to bring up the matter, Huang Qiong saw through his mind. Not just watching Yu Mingyuan fight in full swing in Yanshan Mansion, he was itching to stay in Beijing, thinking about going to the battlefield to show off his skills.
Huang Qiong had the intention to let Yang Jiyuan out. But now, there is really a lack of people who are proficient in military affairs around us. In order to make fewer mistakes, Huang Qiong believes that he must keep someone proficient in military affairs around him to avoid making any big mistakes. As the final decision-maker, Huang Qiong clearly knows that the less likely he is to make mistakes. Only by making fewer mistakes as a decision-maker can you reduce deadweight losses.
After getting in touch with him during this period, Huang Qiong believed that there was a reason why Yang Jiyuan was excluded from becoming an official. This person is indeed talented and has a far-sighted vision, but his character is also too stubborn and has an unruly streak. More than once in your court, Fu Yuanshan was so angry that he couldn't get off the stage. He was so fierce that even he couldn't resist him.
When you go out to supervise a division, you have to deal not only with military generals, but also with local civil servants, especially the pacifiers of Huguang North and South Road and other civil servants. No matter how good his character is, he can't get along well with local officials. When those dirty officials take revenge, he himself may not be safe, and may even ruin the entire war between the two lakes. At the critical moment, it is enough to send you food and grass for three days late.
Those civil servants, even though they were all born in the second rank of Jinshi, could not go into battle to kill the enemy. But if it's a conspiracy, the trick is to make you die, and you don't even know how you died. Even though Yang Jiyuan was also a second-ranked Jinshi, there was a huge gap between him and his peers in this aspect. If he had some means, he would not be ostracized and would become an official at a good time.
Although Yang Jiyuan is a bit old for a low-level military attaché. But among senior military attaches, it is considered the best time for a military attache. Being pushed out of the official career at this age shows that this person's character is the kind of person who does not rub sand in his eyes at all. Even he, the current prince, was often criticized by him to the point of being unable to step down. A person with this kind of character will not pull out all his thorns.
Letting him out would not only harm himself, but also harm other people, and even endanger the overall situation of the court. So even though Huang Qiong admired him, he couldn't let him out, just couldn't let him out. Unless you select someone for him who has a certain tolerance for him, can tolerate his bad temper, and is good at coordination. Either as the chief officer, or as his deputy, we will talk about it later.
Therefore, after Huang Qiong considered it several times, he finally did not let Yang Jiyuan out. Even if Yang Jiyuan almost said it clearly, Huang Qiong could just pretend that he didn't see what Huang Qiong hinted to him. However, Huang Qiong, who was so annoyed by Yang Jiyuan's repeated hints, simply made a big cake for him. Tell him that he will be sent to Jiangnan when the victory or defeat is decided on Yu Mingyuan's side and the Jiangnan battlefield can be counterattacked.
Only then did he reluctantly let him calm down for a few days. But even though he got the cake drawn by Huang Qiong, Yang Jiyuan also knew that this new king was at least half deceiving him. Wait until the situation in the north is settled? Who knows when it will be decided? Yu Mingyuan used 60,000 troops to counter the Northern Liao army of more than 200,000 troops. It would be good if he could keep the front line of Yanshan Prefecture.
