Lu Yihao was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses: "Yes... The Imperial Camp Cavalry was hastily assembled, and most of them are foreign cavalry... Even if the generals are excellent, how can they be assembled in three years and then be compared with the Jurchen cavalry? But since we have to fight the Jurchens to the death, we have to have a sufficient number of well-equipped cavalry."
"Same reason." Zhao Jiu looked up at the straw hut above his head and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Here in the Imperial Camp Left Army, even if Han Shizhong himself is slack, his troops are veterans who have survived the fierce battle in Yanling at the beginning, with rich combat experience and sufficient military supplies. He himself has been in the army for decades and knows the importance of military affairs. He dare not mess around in the army. In addition, I can directly bypass him to give advice to Wang Sheng and Jie Yuan, so that the army's training, promotion, and transfer will not be chaotic. This is the only way to make the Imperial Camp Left Army still rely on the country... If he really messes around in the army, how can I tolerate him?"
"Having said that, we still have to hope for a strong army and wise generals." Wang Yan reluctantly interrupted.
"It's difficult." Zhao Jiu retracted his gaze and shook his head. "The current system of generals leading troops is a result of the current situation. It is a rare good thing that these people do not rebel or attack each other, and are willing to obey orders to fight against the Jin. How can we expect too much... Yue Fei and the front army of the imperial camp are considered to be strong and wise, so I gave him the real responsibility."
The few people around seemed to be thinking about something... Yue Fei was the real commander, which meant Han Shizhong was not. In fact, considering that Emperor Zhao came here in person, it seemed as if the Emperor was leading Prime Minister Lu and President Wang to supervise the army in person.
This was a combination of soft and hard tactics, warning President Wang not to hint to Emperor Zhao that if something went wrong, he could go out and take charge of the Eight Character Army again... He really didn't know why he left the army? Are you not satisfied with your current position?
but……
"How are Wu Jinqing and the rear army of the imperial camp?" Lu Yihao suddenly asked again. "If Han Liangchen is a figurehead commander, is Wu Jinqing a real commander?"
"Wu Jie is a rare person who has the same talent as Yue Fei, and even more so than Han Shizhong. His Imperial Camp Rear Army is not bad... But he and his Imperial Camp Rear Army are both the same old problems of the Western Army..." Zhao Jiu said frankly. "He can only be considered a half-real commander, just like Han Shizhong. I have to watch and control him, otherwise he can do anything."
"Where's Zhang Rong?"
"Zhang Rong and the Imperial Navy are certainly not bad. Zhang Rong is also one of the few people I trust. But the navy is only a specialist after all... It may be useful to control the Yellow River and advance to Daming Prefecture... But when it comes to the decisive battle, I am afraid I can't use him even if I want to."
"There's no need to talk about Zhang Jun, Li Yanxian, Ma Kuo, Wang De, and Li Qiong." Prime Minister Lu sighed slightly. "Zhang Jun is similar to Han Shizhong, but he and his troops are even worse. Li Yanxian is similar to Qu Duan, but he is slightly better than Qu Duan. His troops are mostly ruffians, so we can only see how effective they are when the battle starts. Ma Kuo is also a Taihang special. Wang De and Li Qiong are directly under the government."
At this point, just as Wang Yan was about to say something, Lu Yihao thought for a moment and came to an interesting conclusion:
"So, this situation of great generals and the system of this dynasty are somewhat in line with the emperor's intentions on horseback... the so-called 'the general who is capable but the emperor does not control him wins'... the emperor entrusted Yue Fei with the task of commanding a certain area and no longer interfered with it. Then he personally went to the front line to supervise these generals with problems, learn from their strengths and make up for their weaknesses, make overall arrangements, and then delegate power at the right time and not interfere with specific commands. This can maximize the combined strength of the generals... is it true or not?"
Zhao Jiu was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He didn't know whether to say yes or no.
Fortunately, although there were not many close ministers left, there were some like Fan Zongyin and Ren Baozhong, who immediately took over the conversation and began to flatter.
Then, because the general was no longer involved, most people were able to interrupt. Even Yang Yizhong, Liu Yan, Yu Yunwen, Mei Li and others took the opportunity to speak.
The topic also shifted from the gains and losses of Hezhong Prefecture to the reinforcements from Taiyuan and Longde Prefecture, as well as the response of the Jin army.
Moreover, as the withdrawal order was lifted, more people gathered together and the issue was further extended to whether East Mongolia and Goryeo would join the war, which would inevitably have a truly decisive impact on the war situation. If they did join the war, which side would they stand on?
And how long it would take to capture Yangqu City, the capital of Taiyuan Prefecture, and Yuancheng, the capital of Daming Prefecture.
These are serious yet interesting topics.
For example, although the Northern Expedition has officially begun, there is actually not even a manifesto... Although Zhang Shuxiang is said to have made one, he did not dare to issue it after the incident... So the Song army's attack was more like a surprise attack.
In particular, after the Battle of Yaoshan, the Song army set up dense military stations along the Yellow River to ensure that information transmission could be as smooth as possible in this era, and to ensure the mobility of troop dispatch as much as possible, which would obviously give the Song army further first-mover advantage.
In fact, many of the accompanying close ministers and officers believed that the main force of the Jurchens in Hedong might not have noticed the Song army's full-scale northern expedition until now.
The reason is very simple. The Third Prince died in Qinghe, north of Daming Prefecture. There are three possible ways to pass the message from Daming Prefecture to Hezhong Prefecture:
The first way is to travel 900 miles to Yanjing, and then Yanjing will send the message to Zhending Prefecture 500 miles away. Zhending Prefecture will send a message to Longde Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture at the same time. Once it reaches Taiyuan Prefecture or Longde Prefecture, the message will be passed to Hezhong Prefecture through Chenguanxing or Fenshui Channel.
The distances of the last two roads are similar. The one through Taiyuan is first a 350-mile mountain passage, then a 700-mile open passage. The one through Longdefu is a 600-mile highway, then another 300-mile Taihang passage.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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