Of course, beneath the calm surface, there is already hidden turmoil, and the brewing undercurrent will form a stormy sea just waiting to be stimulated, encompassing both Han and Liao in the entire Northeast.
Liaodong is the main direction of attack, and the Eastern Route Army is the main force of the Northern Expedition. It has the most elite soldiers, the most generals, and the strongest strength. However, the mobilization of troops and horses is not slow. Not long after Prince Liu Yang arrived in Youzhou, they were all assembled.
Of course, it is precisely because of the large number of people that the overall coordination is not as flexible as that of the Central and Western Road. Moreover, because of the complex composition of the army, the Horse Infantry Army and the Forbidden Border Army include local troops, auxiliary soldiers, rural warriors, and even strong men who serve in front of the army.
It is not easy to integrate people from such different sources together. It requires certain integration training to facilitate command and dispatch.
Although Zhao Kuangyin was commanding such a large army for the first time, his commanding attributes were very high. He had experienced hundreds of battles and was good at controlling generals. He naturally knew the joints and would not act rashly.
Therefore, even if there were many generals who could not restrain themselves and asked for battle several times, they were all suppressed by him. Even if they went to the side of Prince Liu Yang, it was of no use.
For Liu Yang, the first big test since he went to war as the commander-in-chief was the dispute between the generals' opinions. As the Duke of the country and the former commander of the Forbidden Army, Zhao Kuangyin's prestige in the army is not small, but it is not absolute. It seems that the generals such as Ma Renyu and Li Hanqiong are not so convinced.
When a group of generals came to him to ask for a battle, an opportunity to intervene in the decision-making of the army was presented to him. His position as prince and status as generalissimo allowed Liu Yang to easily interfere with the army.
Fortunately, Liu Yang did not drift. He was solemn and walked on thin ice. He always kept Emperor Liu's instructions in mind and refused the generals who were eager to attack and make achievements.
At the same time, Liu Yang also found the first thing about his position and significance as the nominal commander of the Northern Expedition, which was to coordinate the relationship between generals. On the one hand, he fully supported Zhao Kuangyin's decision, and on the other hand, he comforted the generals below and stabilized the morale of the military.
No one dared not give face to the Crown Prince, the battle for the march was settled, and Zhao Kuangyin, with the support of Liu Yang, steadily pushed forward at his own pace.
During the more than half a month when the army was assembled, he devoted himself to the training and morale encouragement of the various armies, and accumulated large amounts of grain, grass, ordnance. At the same time, he discussed the army strategy with Gao Huaide, Wang Yanchao and other senior generals who participated in the Northern Expedition.
The attack on Liaodong was a strategy formulated by the Privy Council, but in terms of specific implementation, as in the previous style, the frontline generals were given full autonomy. The specific method of advancing troops is naturally a key consideration for Zhao Kuangyin and others.
Of course, in this process, the deployment of troops has also been spread out. In the narrow Western Liaoning Corridor, the detective activities of both Han and Liao sides were frequent and intense. The fighting and fighting between the waiting cavalry never subsided. People died every day. There are all kinds of true and false military information coming.
Yuguan is the base for marching into western Liaoning, and Youzhou is the rear of the Northern Expedition. Together with the auxiliary soldiers and strong men, a total of 240,000 people have gathered here. The camp layout stretches for dozens of miles, and the momentum is huge.
Of course, to the people of Youyan who had experienced the previous Northern Expedition, this small battle was nothing. After seeing it once, seeing it again would not be so shocking.
However, as a front-line Daozhou, when war comes, the need for support is the highest and the impact will be the greatest.
For Prince Liu Yang, it was also a brand new experience. He had not experienced so many troops before. During the Pingnan period, he was ordered to go to Jinling to reward his troops, which was a similar situation.
However, that time he was just serving as an envoy of the emperor and the court, carrying out reward activities, but this time, he was the commander-in-chief, a legitimate commander-in-chief, and he needed to be responsible for the Northern Expedition.
Although he was in Youzhou, Liu Yang declined the invitation from Youzhou Prefecture. Instead of staying comfortably in the city, he chose to live in the military camp. Sharing joys and sorrows was out of the question, but at least he stayed with the soldiers.
Following Ma Huaiyu, Liu Yang strolled in the baggage camp. During this period, in addition to listening to the generals' plans and learning how to command in the camp, he spent most of the rest inspecting the military camp. If you want to run an army, you must first understand your officers and soldiers.
For Liu Yang, this was a relatively new and special experience. In the past, he lived in a temple and basically had contact with ministers. Now, he has to learn to deal with generals and soldiers who do not have enough self-cultivation.
The whole camp was not that lively. This was during wartime, and under strict military discipline, all the troops stayed in the camp peacefully, and did not dare to do anything beyond the rules except for training.
To talk about movement, it has to be in the baggage camp, which is also the place with the largest area and the largest number of people. The camp's food envoy is Han Hui, the son of Han Hui, the Duke of Hanoi, who had already served as the Minister of Household Affairs.
During the Northern Expedition, he served in the army and made great contributions in the Battle of Nankou. Since then, he has been appreciated by the Emperor Liu and promoted step by step. He has held many important positions in military, law, finance, etc., until he was the head of the ministry.
This time, for the Northern Expedition, Emperor Liu not only sent out elite soldiers and generals, but the most important logistics was also talented personnel. Zhang Mei was responsible for the transportation and supply of the entire army at the rear, and Han Hui was in charge of the front.
Even now, a large amount of military supplies are still transferred from the south to fill the military warehouses, and at the same time, a lot of them are transported to Yuguan. The official warehouse in Youzhou City has already been filled.
Looking at the vehicles coming and going, the granaries everywhere, the officials shouting, and the strong men coming in and out, Liu Yang truly felt the cumbersomeness and complexity of war. It was not an easy task just to maintain the orderly operation of this supply camp. , not to mention commanding an army in battle, and these trivial details were something Liu Yang had never experienced before.
In the past, dealing with the complicated official affairs of memorials, which only required reviewing and signing, seemed complicated. Now it seems that the specific execution of the orders is the real test of ability.
Deeply influenced by Emperor Liu, Liu Yang took this principle to heart and paid great attention to logistics work. He has already inspected the grain stores and arsenal in Youzhou City twice, and he has also visited the supply camp several times. He needs to pay more attention to the storage and protection of grain equipment outside the city.
"I see His Highness the Crown Prince!" After learning that the Crown Prince was here again, the grain envoy who was arranging for a batch of grain to be put into the warehouse hurriedly came to greet him, his footsteps hurried.
The weather in early summer was not too hot, but the man's forehead was covered with sweat. I don't know whether he was tired or busy. He noticed that the man was covered in dust and dirt. He was obviously very devoted to his work. Liu Yang asked with satisfaction: "Now How much rations are there in the camp?"
"Back to Your Highness, the grain and rice have now increased to 270,000 shi. Today and tomorrow, we can make up for 300,000 shi! There are 90,000 shi of grain and rice, and Yanshan Road can supply another 10,000 shi!" The grain envoy hurriedly said. He replied: "There are also 70,000 stones of fodder, which are stationed on the southeast side of the camp..."
"There seems to be a shortage of fodder?" Liu Yang frowned and said: "There are many livestock in the army, 70,000 dan, which may support consumption!"
Hearing this, the grain envoy hurriedly explained: "Back to Your Highness, in the past four days, another 50,000 stones have been transported to Yuguan for use!"
After hearing this, Liu Yang understood and instructed, "Be sure to prevent rain, moisture, and fire!"
"Don't worry, Your Highness, Han Shangshu also gave strict instructions, and I don't dare to neglect them!"
"Where is Han Shangshu? Is he in the camp?" Liu Yang asked.
"A batch of grain has arrived at Wuqing Port by sea. Han Shangshu went to check and receive it in person!" the grain envoy responded.
Hearing this, Liu Yang nodded and sighed: "Han Shangshu is so hands-on that he deserves praise!"
"Have you ever prepared enough healing medicine?"
"Puyin is doing its best to supply the camp, and the imperial court is also deploying supplies from Gyeonggi and Henan!"
Puyin, Hebei Province, is a famous medicine capital in the Han Dynasty.
"Healing is absolutely indispensable. We must step up preparations!" Liu Yang said.
After looking at the busy scene in the baggage camp, no one stopped, Liu Yang continued to ask: "Do you still have enough manpower?"
Hearing this, the food envoy smiled bitterly and replied: "How can we not be short? Nowadays, there is a shortage of manpower everywhere. Now there are more than 40,000 auxiliary soldiers and officers in the camp alone, but it is still not enough!"
"I will discuss with Chu Shijun (Chu Zhaofu, the chief envoy of Yanshan) to see if we can recruit more people!" Liu Yang sighed.
"Thank you, Your Highness!" the grain envoy replied with a happy face.
Reaching out and patting his shoulder, Liu Yang solemnly said: "Thank you for your hard work! However, His Majesty has said more than once that the war is fought for food, grass, ordnance, and the battle is for national strength. Only when the military supplies are sufficient, can the soldiers have no worries. Fight on the ground and kill the enemy with ease!
We haven't launched a large-scale army yet, but we are still planning our preparations. When the army marches east, it will be even busier, so hurry up! Your mission is very important! "
"Yes! I will definitely do my best and don't dare to slack off!" the grain envoy said solemnly with a solemn look on his face.
"Okay! Very good! You go and deal with things, I'll take a look at the camp..."
