After returning to the front, Zhao Jiu thought for a moment, and then directly issued an order, reprimanding Wu Jie, asking him to completely take over Yanzhou and then concentrate on Lingzhou. At the same time, he also issued an order to Han Shizhong and Wu Lin, asking them to carefully resist Huo Nu, and if Huo Nu retreated, they should move forward properly, but not to launch an attack on Yan'an itself without authorization.
Finally, he also issued an edict to Yue Fei... The northern passage of the old Great Wall in the Yanzhou area, south of Lingzhou, has been opened, and it is possible to go directly from Hengshan to Xingqing Prefecture... It was to let the latter cooperate properly with Wu Jie.
In other words, Zhao Jiu directly agreed to Wu Jie's plan in its entirety.
This needs no further explanation, and it has nothing to do with which of Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, or Wu Jie he trusts more. Rather, Zhao Jiu had promised Wu Jie exclusive authority as early as when they were in Tongzhou. As a self-aware man, he had no reason to go back on his word.
Following Emperor Zhao's order, the war quickly entered a new stage.
In the next few days, the Song army entered a sit-in war mode... Among the three army groups on the front line, Yue Fei recruited soldiers and horses in Xingqing Prefecture and distributed grain to win people's hearts; Wu Jie also recruited soldiers and horses after quickly controlling Yanzhou, and distributed salt to win people's hearts... The salt pond in Yanzhou is one of the largest salt producing areas in the northwest; Han Shizhong and Wu Lin also began to cautiously defend and counterattack after receiving reinforcements from Dong Xian and other troops and the order of Emperor Zhao.
Of course, Emperor Zhao was also recruiting soldiers and buying horses... Yue Fei had food, Wu Jie had salt, but Emperor Zhao had a face... In the last few days of April, he summoned countless leaders of the Hengshan Dangxiang tribe and surrendered officials from various states in Hengshan every day in Jintang City of Bao'an Army.
Then all kinds of consolation, comfort, and assignments are inevitable.
It can only be said that the title of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty was still somewhat useful, especially since he had defeated Wanyan Loushi at Yaoshan and almost destroyed the Western Xia. On the last two days of April, although they were not attacked, with the continued chain of Western Xia's collapse, Wu Jie's military presence, and Emperor Zhao's personal visit to Hengshan, the remaining Western Xia Hengshan tribes of Shizhou (with the same name as Shizhou controlled by the Jin Kingdom on the other side of the river), Yinzhou, and Youxiangjunsi finally chose to unite together, and then sent a surrender document to Emperor Zhao.
Up to this point, although there has been no statement on the entire Western Xia, the Hengshan states that had rebelled against the Central Plains dynasty for more than a hundred years were the first to surrender, becoming the most stable and huge gain in this war so far.
Thanks to this, Zhao Jiu finally confirmed a fact, or verified Wu Jie's judgment - the Jurchens did retreat, and only Wanyan Salihe led his troops into Suide, but he carefully guarded the retreat passage at the intersection of Suide and Jinning, and had no intention of taking the initiative to attack. It was obvious that he received strict requirements from Wanyan Wushu before sending troops.
Moreover, with the fall of Xixia's Xingqing Prefecture and the further spread of the news of Li Ganshun and his son's disappearance, an unexpected but reasonable "memorial" was suddenly placed on Zhao Jiu's desk - Zhe Keqiu, a prefecture bordering the Song army-controlled area, pleaded guilty and asked to return, and hoped to go south to encircle the Jurchens in order to atone for his crime.
In this regard, Zhao Jiu chose to remain silent.
The reason is very simple. There are political factors that must be considered behind Zhe Keqiu's surrender and return. Politics is more important than military in this matter.
Secondly, he had already decided on the strategic arrangement of completely destroying Western Xia first and letting the Jurchens cross the river. There was no reason to change his plan... Especially on this day, when an urgent military report was sent to the front line, Weiming Chage, Weiming Yunge, Weiming Renli, and Weiming Renzhong (Renli's elder brother, formerly the Western Xia Henan Transport Commissioner and the highest-ranking civil servant in Lingzhou) of Lingzhou, after seeing that the other side of the river was guarded like an iron barrel by the Song army, fell into hesitation. As Yanzhou was completely controlled by the Song army, they knew that they were trapped in a dead end in terms of military strategy, but they finally made a joint decision and decided to send troops to cross the river in an attempt to retake Xingqing Prefecture.
The most crucial battle in Xixia was finally about to break out, and it was exactly as Wu Jie had predicted. Wu Jie did not hesitate, but followed the predetermined plan, with Yang Zheng, the governor of Huanzhou, as the vanguard, first crossing the Hengshan Pass in the vast sea to take Lingzhou, and he led the army to follow, ready to join forces with Yue Fei to annihilate the main force of Xixia on the banks of the Yellow River.
In order to ensure that nothing would happen to the newly conquered Hengshan, Zhao Jiu chose to leave Hu Yin and Yang Yizhong in the Baoan Army, while he led Jie Yuan, Yue Chao, Liu Yan, and many affiliated Dangxiang tribes, and headed north, crossing Hengshan from the relatively safe Hongzhou area, preparing to go to Youzhou. Zhai Cong and Dong Xian simply went ahead, leaving Longzhou from Pingrong Village and bypassing Yinzhou, to serve as a flank barrier for Zhao Guanjia, and together with Han, Wu, Huyang and others, formed an encirclement, continued to besiege Yan'an, and forced Huo Nu to withdraw.
Under this situation, Zhe Keqiu's concerns were naturally put aside for the time being.
This day was April 28th, the sixth year of Jianyan.
When Emperor Zhao passed through Hengshan, he saw dense flags on both sides and the winding mountain road, which made him feel emotional. Countless Tangut tribes who had once been a scourge on the border were now closely guarding the border, so he stopped his horse and remained silent for a moment.
"Is the emperor feeling poetic?" Lu Benzhong asked curiously.
"That's not the case." Zhao Jiu retracted his gaze from the red flag on the top of the mountain, shook his head and laughed. "I was just wondering, have Yelu Dashi and Wanyan Wushu met in Houtao? Where is Li Ganshun? As for the rise and fall of the country, the magnificence of the mountains and rivers, and the great mood, just bear with it for a while, and wait until the overall situation is settled, then it's okay to express your feelings."
Lu Benzhong and his international friend Zheng Zhichang who was accompanying him recited the poems they had prepared in their hearts and naturally praised him repeatedly.
However, Zhao Jiufu laughed again: "However, I have already thought of another thing... If we pacify Xixia this time, we will inevitably set up a new route in Xingling, and it must be named Ningxia!"
Upon hearing this, Lü Benzhong, Zheng Zhichang and others looked at each other in confusion... because the name was too simple and crude, and lacked elegance... But since the government had personally bestowed the name of the road, of course they would look at each other, twirl their beards and nod, and praise it for a while.
But when Emperor Zhao heard the compliment, he just smiled slightly, and rode his horse forward, carrying the dragon flag out of the mountain to the north, heading to Youzhou.
PS: A routine sacrifice. This time it’s not a new book, but a book recommendation from an account called “Thirty-Six Strategies for the Great Book Shortage”. Students who are interested can check it out. You should be able to find a good book.
Then I want to apologize. I had a brain storm last night and someone sent me a box of wine. I didn’t know anything about it and just drank the whole bottle... I didn’t feel anything at the time, and then I found that I couldn’t control myself. I still feel dizzy when I woke up.
Finally, in the easter egg chapter, I will post some schematic diagrams of this battle drawn by book friends in the academy recently. I have posted it once before, and this time I will post a topographic map (which has been basically complete before this chapter). I would like to thank Zhuri Jinhen for his production. Thank you for your hard work... This is my job.
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