At the current stage of the Northern Expedition, no matter how the war situation changes, no matter what achievements are made on each front, the Han Dynasty court will always remain true to its original intention, and everything will be arranged in accordance with the established plan and move towards the original strategic goal.
Therefore, no matter how the other Han armies progress, they are not taken seriously by the Central Committee of the Han Dynasty. Success is a matter of joy, and defeat is not harmful. During the war, the focus of the Han Dynasty's government was basically on the war. Most of the work of the various ministries and offices of the court revolved around the Northern Expedition.
Among them, the most worthy of attention is naturally the war in Liaodong. There was no way. In order to realize the initial plan of conquering Liaodong, the imperial court invested too much in the battlefield of Liaodong. The huge Eastern Route Army, with its supporting characters and wealth, crazily devoured the national power of the Han Dynasty.
Due to the relatively short distance and smoother and more convenient transportation, the Han court received more and more timely reports from the Liaodong battlefield.
However, after the Donghai Navy landed on the peninsula and achieved success, annihilating nearly 20,000 land and water Liao troops, and successively taking over Fuzhou, Fuzhou, and Ningzhou, the entire Liaodong war situation gradually fell into a stalemate.
On the western front in Jinzhou, due to Brother Yelvxiu's tenacious persistence and Liaoyang's continuous support from the rear, Zhao Kuangyin's army was still frustrated by the fortified city and could not make progress.
This point has caused some discussion in the court. After all, it has the main domestic and foreign forces, a sufficient supply of human resources, and priority in the transportation and distribution of weapons and weapons, but there is nothing that can be done with a small Jinzhou City.
Previously, when the camp arrived in Youzhou, Zhao Kuangyin rested for more than half a month, using training preparation as an excuse to delay the advance of the army. Now, the army is approaching the city. They have been fighting for a month, but they can't make an inch of progress.
How could the Han bureaucrats behind the center have no idea? The Han's past victories not only enhanced the self-confidence of the soldiers, but also made the civil servants proud.
In their opinion, with such a strong strength and ability to attack difficulties, how could the Han Dynasty be hindered by Jinzhou. If Jinzhou City is so difficult to defeat, how much effort will it take to defeat Liaoyang and regain the entire Liaodong and even the Haidong region.
As a result, the Zhengshi Hall received more memorials about the Liaodong War, and many of them were even directly submitted to the Chui Gong Hall for Imperial Cases. Among them were not only civil servants, but also some generals.
Criticisms against Zhao Kuangyin began to increase. Of course, they were only directed at Zhao Kuangyin, but no one dared to point the finger at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince as the coach.
I dare not bring up the suggestion of changing the commander before the battle, but he asked Emperor Liu to issue an edict to urge Zhao Kuangyin and put pressure on the camp. There were many similar memorials.
Emperor Liu saw and listened to the discussions in the court, so naturally he didn't pay much attention to them. With Emperor Liu's vision and consideration, he would naturally not do anything to rebel against the army.
Emperor Liu himself also had some understanding. Many people only saw the situation of the Han Dynasty, but ignored the Liao Kingdom and the actual situation in Liaodong. The Liao Kingdom has developed for so many years, and has had many exchanges with the Han Dynasty. They are also making progress.
Therefore, some setbacks are not enough. Emperor Liu still has this kind of patience. In the past, the war started in half a year, and it was not unheard of from autumn to spring.
According to the deduction from the Privy Council, as long as one side achieves a breakthrough on the east and west fronts, the troops from the east route will basically not encounter any major obstacles when entering Liaoyang. Without the geographical advantage of being easy to defend and difficult to attack, although Liaoyang is the capital of Liaoning, it may not be more difficult to conquer than Jinzhou.
However, although Emperor Liu was able to relax and keep his mind calm, the real problem of being blocked by Jinzhou City was real and needed to be solved.
It's only mid-summer now, so there's still enough time, but what if it takes longer? If it is delayed until autumn, plus the cost of marching, how much time will be left to conquer Liaoyang and capture Liaodong? If it is delayed until winter, then we can simply stop fighting and declare the Northern Expedition a failure...
Therefore, no matter how calm Emperor Liu looked on the surface, how could he not have any thoughts in his heart? However, he was unwilling to put excessive pressure on the frontline generals and interfere with camp operations decisions from two thousand miles away.
As for the general issue, Emperor Liu had no doubts about Zhao Kuangyin's ability, and doubts about his loyalty would not affect his appointment for the time being. However, there seemed to be such a vague memory in the depths of Emperor Liu's mind that Zhao Kuangyin had a tradition of defeating Jiancheng...
They also belonged to the East Route Army and returned to the Northern Expedition. The controlled sea route gave the court a surprise, especially as the autumn wind swept across the peninsula like fallen leaves, advanced into Liaodong Bay, and blocked the mouth of the Liaohe River.
The arrival of this good news was enough to cheer up the imperial court. It was the success of the eastern front that caused such a huge response from the DPRK and China. Although the sea route was a strategic decision-making attack, it was only a partial division after all, subject to movement and camp control. Comparing the two, the "incompetence" of the Western Front naturally appears.
After the victory in the first battle on the Eastern Front, the camp's troop deployment was progressing according to the previous plan. Reserve troops were calmly transported to Liaodong via sea from Wuqing Port on Yanshan Road and Laizhou Port on Henan Road. The imperial court was also concerned about military supplies, and continued to mobilize and increase supply.
By the end of April, the Han Dynasty had gathered more than 90,000 land and sea troops on the Liaodong Peninsula. Although the level of refinement was somewhat different from the main force on the Western Front, this strength was already considerable.
The army marched north, attacking Chen and Yao, and within five days, they broke through Chenzhou and approached Yanyuan City in Yaozhou. They were only the last pass away from entering Liaoyang.
The breakthrough in progress on the eastern front made Emperor Liu feel optimistic, and he wondered in his heart whether the one who finally broke the deadlock and was the first to invade Liaodong would be the Eastern Route Army. If this is the case, it does not live up to my high expectations.
However, this optimistic mood did not last long. In Yaozhou, the Han army once again encountered tenacious resistance from the Liao army. The bloody battle lasted more than half a month, and the Yanyuan was still as solid as a rock.
In terms of the configuration of the army on the Eastern Front, it is ultimately comparable to the main force on the Western Front. Although there are some elites, overall, the soldiers' fighting will and ability to attack difficulties are not the same.
In addition, the Donghai Navy is a navy after all, and must be used to fight on the water and control the sea power in the Liaohai Sea. Like in Suzhou, it was inappropriate and too extravagant to transfer the sailors to land operations or to attack the city.
Therefore, the 90,000 troops on the eastern front, not counting the navy, and excluding some of the troops guarding and suppressing the southern states and counties, only have about 50,000 troops that can actually be invested in the attack and defense of Iwabuchi.
Although Yanyuan City is not as solid as Jinzhou, it is the entrance to the Liaohe Plain after all. The geographical advantage lies there, and it is better to defend than to attack. More importantly, the Liao general Yeluhai who was responsible for defending the city was even more determined to die in order to avenge his previous humiliation. He led the Liao army defenders to fight to the death and caused great trouble to the Han army attacking the city. Half of them During the month of attack and defense, the Han army suffered 6,000 casualties.
At this point, we still have an estimate of the Liao Kingdom's military strength in Liaodong, and it is estimated that its strength is insufficient. On the Jinzhou side, although the Han army had difficulty getting off, the heavy pressure it put on the Liao army was almost substantial. They were constantly adding troops, people, food and equipment, and they also had to ensure the defense of Liaoyang and other Liaodong prefectures and counties, and also take into account the control of Liaodong. Those tribes that were ready to move were suppressed, so the defensive power used in Iwayuan was also limited.
Under this premise, the Eastern Front dared to let go and attack. After all, it did not have the confidence of the Western Front.
As a result, the east-west line was blocked on both sides, and the mood in the Xijing court was as restless as the increasingly hot weather. This trend had already affected Emperor Liu.
