In fact, this is also the place where most people guess the decisive battle will take place.
Another route is also to go south along the Beiluo River, but to go from the west bank of the Beiluo River, take Huazhou, and then go through Fuping, Sanyuan and other places on the border of Huazhou and Yaozhou, officially turn into the Weibei Plain, and approach Jingzhao... Once here, Han Shizhong will most likely be forced to abandon Tongzhou and turn back to support Chang'an, and the Hedong army will naturally be able to cross the river smoothly.
The third route is also to reach Jingzhao, but to go southwest from here, to capture Fangzhou City, and then turn to Yaozhou in the southwest. As long as Tongguan (later Tongchuan) and Huayuan (later Yaoxian) are captured, Fuping, Sanyuan and other gateways to the north of Wei will be within sight.
There are three roads, from west to east, Yaozhou, Huazhou and Tongzhou. Any road can be taken, but one must be chosen. It is ridiculous to divide the troops into three routes... and among them, Lou Shi had already rejected Tongzhou, which most people guessed.
This is not to say that Lou Shi was really afraid of Han Shizhong, but he was worried that he would waste too much time in Tongzhou... The road in northern Shaanxi was too difficult to travel, and he had already wasted a lot of time... If he was delayed in Tongzhou any further, not to mention the possibility of exhausting himself to death, just the thought of wasting more than a month would be unbearable for Lou Shi.
Moreover, the current situation is different from the past. Lou Shi vaguely feels that even if Han Shizhong is defeated, it may not necessarily win the decisive battle. On the contrary, if he entangles with Han Shizhong in Tongzhou, will it give the Song people more time to gather? At that time, will more troops continue to gather in the Weihe River area to defend Jingzhao regardless of Han Shizhong's defeat in the front? Will the Hedong army run out of food and grass?
The place and the people have changed. With the Zhao official family who is determined to fight behind them, it is impossible to analyze and view the Song people with the previous perspective.
The idea that a victory in the front would lead to the collapse of the Song army in the rear is absolutely unacceptable.
But if the other two routes were taken, that is, directly abandoning Tongzhou and invading the Weishui River to force Han Shizhong to withdraw, it would be necessary to ensure that there were sufficient retreat routes on the west bank of the Luoshui River. In other words, whether it was Huazhou or Yaozhou, the capital of Fangzhou should be captured first.
"Is Wu Li Bu not back yet?"
With this thought in mind, Lou Shi slowly opened his eyes, first looked at the sun which was already getting yellow, and then asked his second son Wanyan Mouyan, who was standing beside him with a sword in his hand.
Wulibu means savings in the Jurchen language. There are not many Jurchen officers with this name, just like it is common for Han people to name themselves Zhang Facai or Fu.
The Wulibu that Loushi was asking about could only be Jiagu Wulibu, one of the two full-numbered Hezhameng'ans that Loushi brought with him on this expedition...
I have to say a little more here.
The so-called Hezhameng'an means the imperial guards. Before the founding of the country, only a few people such as Aguda, Wuqimai and Nianhan were qualified to have them. There were only six of them in total. After the founding of the country, many nobles kept them. It is very likely that they were the real origin of the Iron Pagoda. But in any case, these six were still the most elite. Nianhan was also very generous. This time he brought both of his Hezhan Meng'an to Loushi... One was led by Jiagu Wulibusuo, and the other was led by Pucha Huzhan.
As for why Lou Shi was asking about Wulibu now, it was because according to the Jin people's tradition of marching, once a battle was won, in order to ensure that the victory was expanded at the lowest cost, they would often send an extremely elite cavalry to follow forward, trying to scare the city into breaking, or to expand the victory with the defeated army. This time, the one who followed Wu Jie was none other than Jiagu Wulibu, who led a group of Hezhameng'an.
"I'm back... I handed over the order to Balisu, but I didn't dare to disturb my father because he was resting his eyes." Mou Yan hurried forward two steps to answer. "But according to him, Wu Jie didn't panic after fleeing to Fangzhou City. The city's defenses were still tight, so he didn't succeed. Instead, he suffered a small loss, so he simply withdrew directly."
Lou Shi's expression remained unchanged, he just nodded: "The Wu brothers are both rare generals. We can see from the fact that they were able to gather their troops and gain a foothold after several defeats. It doesn't matter if Wu Libu suffers a loss..."
Wanyan Mouyan also nodded: "Indeed, the Wu brothers are also quite capable in battle. Not to mention the time when they were ambushed by the eldest brother at the river at the beginning of the year, they were attacked by cavalry several times in the field battle, and no one could do anything about it... But a few days ago in Luojiao, they didn't lose many soldiers. Wu Jie took away four to five thousand, and Wu Lin also took away two to three thousand."
"You brothers are not as good as their brothers." Lou Shi nodded again, with no expression on his thin, yellowish face.
Mou Yan was just saying a few words casually in line with his father's words. When he heard the other party's conclusion, he naturally felt dissatisfied, but he didn't dare to say more.
"Go find Bali and come quickly." Lou Shi didn't care about his second son's thoughts at all, and just gave the order casually. "Call the Wanhu and Deli Meng'an in the army, I want to issue a military order."
Mou Yan did not dare to delay, but left in a hurry.
After a moment, hearing the commander-in-chief's call, the commander and deputy commander Wanyan Balisu, including commander Wanyan Tuhesu, commander Yelu Mawu, commander Wanyan Salihe, commander Wanyan Zhehe, two Hezhamengans Jiagu Wulibu and Pucha Huzhan, a total of more than ten people, rushed to the riverside.
There were more than ten people, almost everyone of whom had several personal guards with him, and for a moment the area around the tree was noisy.
However, when Lou Shi, who was sitting cross-legged under the tree, raised his head and looked around, the noise disappeared immediately. Even the deputy commander-in-chief Wanyan Balisu, who had inherited his brother Yin Shuke's position in the Western Army and was in charge of daily military affairs in this expedition, immediately put his hands down and stood still, as obedient as a mouse seeing a cat. There was no trace of the heroic spirit that he had shown in the past when he confronted the Fourth Prince in Wanyan Wushu's army.
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