The 500,000-strong army of the Western Expedition, plus the 150,000 border garrison troops of Xiliang, totaled 650,000.
This time, we must use the strength of the whole country to defeat the Hu, and we can only win but not lose.
On the first day of February, Song Che gathered all the military generals together to formulate a strategy for the Western Expedition——
The army is divided into three groups. The upper group is led by General Chen Hong, who leads the Qin Feng and Yongxing armies, totaling 130,000 people, and marches west from Tumen Pass;
The middle force, led by Song Che and Jiang Yuntian, and the Tongchuan and Lizhou armies, totaling 300,000 people, attacked from Fengming Pass;
Downstairs, Ma Wei's Xiliang Army, Yang Jinbao's Jinghu Army, and Chen Hong's Kuizhou Army, totaling 220,000 people, attacked from the Hexi Corridor.
After laying out the strategy, all the generals retreated one by one, but Song Che left alone Yang Jinbao and Chen Hong, as well as the two supervisors Tong Wei and Luo Guan.
"Have you brought everything?" Song Che asked.
Tong Wei took out an imperial letter from his sleeve, handed it to Song Che with both hands and said: "His Majesty the Emperor personally ordered it to be compiled by the Prime Minister. Mr. Song please read it."
Tong Wei and Luo Guan were both officials under Zhongshu's sect and close officials of He Qiu.
Song Che slowly opened the imperial list, glanced at it briefly, and then took out the dragon-patterned golden knife wrapped in it. He looked at the blade and sighed: "I have been going around for so many days, but I didn't expect this thing to be back in my hands."
He wrapped the golden sword and the royal list and handed it to Tong Wei, and said gently: "Master Tong, Master Luo, General Yang, General Chen, this time you attack with the Xiliang army, you must keep a close eye on Ma Wei and his men - -Of course, everything is focused on defeating Hu first. Whatever actions he takes, even small ones, must be reported to me truthfully."
"Your Majesty, take your orders."
"The last general takes orders."
Song Che waved his hand and everyone left.
"I think this old guy Ma Wei has just done his duty. Is this necessary?" Jiang Yuntian asked.
Song Che shook his head, "You also said that he is an old guy, how can such a scheming thing be his duty... Besides, if the king doubts his minister, he must die. The Ma family has too much power in Xiliang, so they just take this opportunity to represent the emperor. Your Majesty, please put an end to your troubles."
Jiang Yuntian pursed his lips, "My military power seems to be greater than that of Ma Wei."
Song Che said: "But you are the emperor's brother-in-law, but Ma Wei is nothing."
Jiang Yuntian pinched his brows: "It's really tiring to deal with you, every step is clearly calculated..."
He smiled and put his arm around Song Che's shoulders: "Why don't you go have a drink?"
Song Che smiled and refused: "The army will attack tomorrow, are you still in the mood to drink?"
"You're here, you looked me in the eyes, you said you wouldn't drink milk when you go back." Jiang Yuntian looked at Song Che with wide eyes.
Song Che's eyes dodge and he laughs.
"Let's go, let's go. Drinking milk is not as important as drinking. We have been busy with military affairs these days, and we haven't had a good drink yet."
Then, let’s go!
…
On February 2, the dragon raises its head.
Three armies set out from Xiliang.
Passing Fengming Pass and attacking Hu State directly is the most correct and difficult marching route, and Hu State's cavalry will definitely intercept them here.
Once out of the customs and into the prairie, it is the world of cavalry. Although the Liang army has artillery, the Hu people's heavy cavalry is by no means a vegetarian.
When the artillery fire starts, the grassland will be dyed red with blood.
Two days later, the army arrived at Fengming Pass, rested for a day, left the pass on the fifth day of February, and officially entered the grassland.
The snow on the grassland has not yet melted, but the stubborn grass has sprouted. As far as the eye can see, it is green and white in color. Wild geese are circling overhead, and the blue sky and white clouds are moving with the wind.
"General, military advisor, an enemy fortress was discovered at the Lianghe port ten miles away. There are about ten or twenty thousand people. All the covered bridges fifty miles along the river have been blown up!"
The scout rode his horse to report.
"Explore again."
The Lianghe River has long since thawed. The water in the river that has just passed the freezing flood season is very fast and extremely biting. It is impossible to cross the Lianghe River by force. The only way is to build bridges and pave roads.
It seems that this first confrontation is a blocking battle.
Soon, the army marched to the Lianghe River three miles away. Song Che used a telescope to explore the other side. There were enemy earthen and wooden forts every half a mile. They were condescending and could kill Liang Jun on the other side with their bows and crossbows.
"Let's fire the artillery, aim carefully, and knock down their fortress first." Song Che said lightly.
The so-called advantage is that I can hit you, but you can't hit me. I will treat you as a living target, and you can only stare.
The artillery's flat fire can reach a distance of five miles, and it can easily destroy the fortifications on the other side of the river.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
Thirty artillery pieces fired a total of five rounds, and all the simple fortresses built by the Hu people out of wood were destroyed.
"The shields are arrayed, followed by the crossbows and muskets, and we march towards the river bank!"
The shield soldiers formed a shield wall, and the crossbowmen and musketeers hid behind the wall. They marched to the river bank. They first received a volley of fire from the other bank, and then the other bank fired back. In this way, the two sides fired several waves back and forth. However, Liang Jun was assisted by artillery, and soon the other side was unable to resist and fled in a hurry toward Wengcheng.
Then Liang Jun began to build bridges and pave roads.
Balloons were blown up from cowhide and tied together as the bridge foundation. Then two iron cables were pulled to the other side, wooden stakes were laid and stretched straight to fix, and then the wooden boards were put on them. In this way, a simple pontoon bridge was completed.
There were three pontoon bridges and 300,000 soldiers and horses crossing the river. It took more than an hour.
"General, military advisor, those barbarians have not abandoned the city, but are building defenses. It seems they want to hold on to the city?" the scout came to report.
"What?" Song Che's eyebrows rose to the sky, "Have you seen clearly, are you sure they didn't escape?"
The scout nodded heavily: "The little man walked around the barbican city and found no rutted horse hoof prints. On the contrary, all those barbarians were preparing for battle on the trench!"
Song Che wanted to laugh inexplicably. This urn city is really an "urn". It has four walls, three sides are grasslands, and one side is Lianghe River. Now Song Che and the others have crossed the river, and even the only obstacle has been lost. Such a city has no strategic significance. They actually dared to hold on to the city, and after experiencing the power of artillery... Didn't they turn themselves into "turtles in a jar"?
Song Che took out the telescope from his sleeve, threw it to the scout and said, "I'll lend this to you. You can see five miles away by pointing your eyes at the mirror. You can take two more people with you and go around the barbican to look around. There was no ambush.”
"Yes!" The scout took the telescope with both hands. For those who do their job, the telescope is really a magical tool.
"Brother Song, there is so much poverty all around and the grass doesn't grow tall. How could there be an ambush?" Jiang Yuntian asked.
Song Che shrugged: "To be honest, I don't understand the operations of these barbarians. If it were me, if I were to defend an empty city, I would set up an ambush outside the city, and then sneak attack from behind when the enemy attacks the city."
Jiang Yuntian said: "I think they are stubborn and think they can defend the empty city."
It's really not necessarily certain. After all, not long ago, Song Che burned down the enemy's camp and provoked the enemy's defender.
Hu people are very bloody, but they are not necessarily tough.
"Let's wait for the detective report."
