Lü Benzhong also sighed: "Either the Dangxiang people can make contributions, or they will have to suffer a little loss this time... Is there absolute fairness in the world?"

"That's right." Zhao Jiu still sighed. "It's just like I warned Han Shizhong in this battle, and specifically forbade him to get involved in the battle of the Western Army... I knew he felt wronged that day, but I didn't dare to let him go. Otherwise, with his temper and decades of public and private grievances with the Western Xia, I'm afraid he would really massacre the city as soon as he arrived in Xingling and entered Hengshan, which would provoke unwarranted resistance. In comparison, Yue Fei is needless to say, Wu Jie is also cautious, and even Qu Duan, although he did many things wrong, was still proper in terms of military discipline."

Lu Benzhong was slightly stunned. He really didn't think about it that way. He just thought that the government just wanted to warn Han Shizhong at that time.

Zhao Jiu did not discuss the matter in depth. After mentioning it casually, he shook his head and smiled again: "There is one more thing. I heard Ren Baozhong talk about the geography of Western Xia this morning. When I summarized the intelligence, I found something particularly strange... According to what Ren Baozhong said, as long as I lock the Keyi Gate at the northernmost end of the Xingling Plain, Yelu Dashi will not be able to pass through Xingling. Even if Dashi passed through Xingling this time, he turned to the Helan Mountains from the Great Valley in the north of Tanliang City and passed through the Keyi Gate, the northern gate of Xingling. Since Hexi and Houtao cannot be connected from behind the Helan Mountains, why did he rush to the north of Houtao regardless of everything after knowing that Xingling was taken by the Song Dynasty? You must know that after he traveled west to the Western Regions and established a foundation, he gradually abandoned even the Khatun City. This time, he promised to Huerzahusi of the Kerait tribe in order to take Houtao... There must be a story behind this."

Lu Benzhong knew that this was the time for him, as the head of the eunuchs accompanying the emperor, to show his ability, but he thought about it over and over again and still couldn't figure it out. Instead, when he heard Emperor Zhao telling the story, it seemed that he already had a guess in his mind.

"Actually, there is one more thing." Seeing that he was about to lose again, Zhao Jiu simply threw the chess piece in his hand, looked at the rain outside the door and said solemnly. "If Yelu Dashi and Wanyan Wushu fought against each other, one side had an obvious advantage, and the other side could not hold on... What should I do? Should I sit back and watch one of them succeed?"

Lu Benzhong's face remained unchanged, but his mind was already in a mess. It was obvious that he didn't know how to respond to the official's advice.

It should be understood that Lü Benzhong was implicated by the Yuanyou Party from the very beginning and was unable to take up an official position. When he was young, he boasted that he was a talented person but not appreciated, so he was a wanderer all day long. But now, a ready-made opportunity is in front of him, or to put it simply, Emperor Zhao gave him the opportunity for Lü Haowen's sake, but in the end, he found that he was completely useless in the important matters that the king really needed to be solved.

This is the most depressing thing.

In this way, let's not talk about how anxious Lü Benzhong was, and how helpless Ren Baozhong was when he learned about the situation that night. It's just that late at night, when the summer rain stopped a little, Wu Jie suddenly sent an urgent army to Youzhou to inform the government of the results of the battle in Lingzhou. And the next day, Zhai Cong in the west also sent an envoy to report, clearly informing the government that Huo Nu tried to attack Hengshan and take Youzhou directly the day before, but was blocked by Dong Xian, and in uncertain language, informed the government that Huo Nu might choose to withdraw directly to Suide Army after the surprise attack failed.

Emperor Zhao hesitated again and again about this, and finally issued an official decree after thinking for half a day, appointing Hu Yin as the commander of the people, Han Shizhong as the commander of the army, and Yang Yi Zhong as the military supervisor. They were to lead the troops around Yan'an and the newly surrendered Dangxiang tribe in the east of Hengshan, and were to decide on the progress of the advance on the eastern front, including the defense of Tongzhou in the south.

Then, the emperor started his fifth move since entering Guanxi, bringing with him the two armies of Jie Yuan and Yue Chao, the imperial guards led by Liu Yan, a very small number of eunuchs such as Lu Ren, and Zheng Zhichang, an international friend who dared not not go and indeed did not want to leave, plus two or three thousand Dangxiang people who were temporarily summoned, making up a total of 10,000 troops, and headed for Xingling.

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival, Emperor Zhao passed through the old Great Wall route in the north of Yanzhou, and went along the northern end of the vast sea to Lingzhou, where he gathered 30,000 Han and non-Han troops, mainly from the imperial camp rear troops led by Wu Jie, Guo Hao, and Yang Zheng.

On the sixth day of May, Emperor Zhao crossed the Yellow River while ordering everyone to gather directly at Xingqing Prefecture without having to respond to him. At this time, with Zhao Jiu crossing the river, Yue Fei, Qu Duan, Wang De, Wu Jie and their generals, including the front army, rear army, cavalry, and central army, had gathered on the Yinchuan Plain. If the newly surrendered Western Xia troops were included, Emperor Zhao now had nearly 100,000 troops around him.

On the eighth day of the fifth month, Zhao Jiu entered Xingqing Prefecture. He had no time to commend Yue Fei, Qu Duan, and Wang De for their achievements in breaking through the Helan Mountain Pass, nor did he have time to accept the white ox banner or the black ox banner. Instead, he first asked about the reserves in the Xixia grain city. After learning that there were still more than 200,000 hu of grain and 800,000 bundles of fodder, he was overjoyed. He first sent Yue Chao's troops to guard Xingqing Prefecture, and then sent Zhai Cong's troops to guard Lingzhou, to assist Hu Hongxiu in commanding Xingling. Then, he officially issued an order to appoint Yue Fei as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, command the remaining generals, and temporarily recruit more than 10,000 auxiliary soldiers, resulting in a total of 100,000 soldiers... Among them, of course, more than 50,000 imperial camp soldiers were used as soldiers, and the newly surrendered Xixia soldiers, except for those who had made contributions and had promised, were all changed to follow the army to transport grain, transport supplies, and other logistics... auxiliary soldiers!

Then the entire army headed north and gathered at Tanliang City.

Before the march, Emperor Zhao did not forget to issue an additional decree, requiring the army to follow the road and not trample on the green seedlings in the north.

The imperial carriage also set off again with the army.

On May 14, the emperor drove with the army to Tanliang City. After personally checking the grain and fodder in the city, Emperor Zhao directly issued another decree, asking Yue Fei's troops, who had followed Yelu Dashi's troops and controlled the Keyi Gate, to open the gate. Then, with Hu Hongxiu, the temporary governor of Ningxia Road, as logistical assistance, the entire army went out of the pass and headed north.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!