!
Amidst the towering mountains and steep cliffs, countless figures were walking slowly forward along the not-so-wide official road.
One carriage after another moved forward with difficulty. Sometimes a carriage would get stuck in the road and unable to move, which might delay the progress of the large army in the rear.
This is already a relatively good road in the territory of the Song Dynasty. The ancient road was repaired during the Sui and Tang Dynasties and can accommodate vehicles and horses, ensuring the smooth flow of supplies.
But even so, it was still very difficult for the Song army to march, and they could often only travel twenty or thirty miles a day.
The journey from Yongzhou to Pingxiang Cave was only 400 li, but it took them nearly a month. If they entered the territory of the Ly Dynasty in Vietnam, the road would probably be even more difficult to travel.
Yang Cha rode on his horse and looked around. He saw dense mountains on both sides. Although the mountains were not high, the forests were so deep that it seemed like being in the ocean.
This kind of situation can be seen all the time.
A soldier came from a distance and reported: "Commander-in-Chief, Pingxiang Cave is twenty miles ahead."
"Where's General Di?"
"The General is on his way."
"Okay, let's explore again."
"yes."
The scout left the team again.
After more than two hours, Di Qing came to welcome the arrival of the large army.
Not long after he left Yongzhou to inspect the terrain, the main force had already set off, but their speed was very slow.
no way.
The transportation conditions are like this. The ground is not only bumpy, but also has undulating slopes and rocks everywhere, making it very uneven.
While Yang Chade was on his way, he sent people to repair the road ahead, clearing away the stones that were in the way and filling the uneven places with rammed earth. It would be strange if he could move fast under such circumstances.
Next to the front team, several knights came slowly against the main force. When they approached Yang Cha, they dismounted and saluted, saying, "Commander-in-Chief."
Yang Cha also dismounted and returned the greeting, saying, "General Di."
He said with a hint of apology: "The road is difficult to travel, so I was delayed for a few days. I thought I could get here in half a month."
"Master Si, don't blame yourself. I heard that the road was repaired after Master Si took office, but even so, the road is still difficult to travel on. This shows how bad the road was before."
Di Qing smiled.
Yang Cha, hands clasped behind his back, walked forward with him, shaking his head. "Previously, Yongzhou officials paid no attention to road repairs. They even thought the worse the roads, the better, because that would hinder rebellious border residents or invasions by the Li Dynasty."
"As the chancellor said, every official in Yongzhou is afraid of trouble. They're afraid that any chaos in their territory will ruin their careers. So they deceive their superiors and subordinates, hiding everything they can and lying wherever they can, making the court completely unaware of the situation in the southwest."
He said with dissatisfaction, "If the Imperial Court had not established the Imperial City Division and sent secret police to various places to investigate whether local officials were concealing information, the court would probably still be in the dark about the frequent border raids by the Li Dynasty."
"yes."
Di Qing lamented, "Even though the Chancellor has been constantly punishing the many corrupt officials of the Song Dynasty, there are still many officials who are not greedy or greedy, but are lazy and negligent in their work. This is why the Chancellor often laments the difficulties faced by the country."
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore."
Yang Cha's spirits lifted, and he said, "Your Majesty has an imperial edict and a written order from the Constitutional Court."
Di Qing hurriedly asked, "I wonder what your Majesty's order is?"
"Your Majesty, tell us to attack boldly without hesitation. The Li Dynasty has repeatedly raided the border, and their crimes are unforgivable."
Yang Cha said, "Besides, they have already committed a capital crime by sending people to attack you. The Song Dynasty has a legitimate reason to launch an attack and must destroy Jiaozhi."
"yes."
Di Qing responded and felt more confident.
The two people chatted as they walked.
After about another hour, the team finally arrived at Pingxiang Cave.
Pingxiang Cave became extremely lively at this time. The Guangxi Xiang Army had about 8,000 people. Nong Zhigao ran around and gathered about 30,000 people from various tribes.
Adding the 10,000 regular troops sent by the court, the total strength is about 48,000, less than 50,000.
In order to attack Jiaozhi, the imperial court allocated 500,000 strings of cash. In addition to raising food and fodder, it also hired a large number of local laborers to help transport the food and fodder.
There were more than 30,000 horse-drawn carriages, and the troops in the front had already set up camp in Pingxiang Cave. The carriages in the rear were still dozens of miles away. The total number of people deployed to the southwest had reached more than 100,000.
The Song army arrived at the Song-Vietnam border on a large scale, and the Vietnamese naturally got the news quickly. Guo Shengyi hurriedly sent someone to report the matter back to Thang Long and report to King Taizong of the Ly Dynasty, Ly Phoma.
However, there is still a distance of more than 200 kilometers from Lang Son to Thang Long, and the road is rugged. It is necessary to exit the Lang Son mountain road and enter the Red River Plain to speed up. Therefore, the round trip time alone takes at least three or four days, and it is naturally impossible to report in time.
Therefore, Guo Shengyi could only strictly control the official road, block the mountains on both sides, choke the throat, and be on high alert.
He quickly sent a messenger to the Song camp, asking the Song army what they wanted in a humble manner. At the same time, he made a subtle threat, saying that Annan had 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers and hoped that the Song army would not be ungrateful.
This strategy of combining soft and hard tactics is not bad. Under normal circumstances, the Song army is not large in number, and seeing that the other side is alert, they may have to think twice.
But now it would only make Di Qing and the others laugh.
Yang Cha personally wrote a reply letter, denouncing the mistakes of the Li Dynasty over the years, expressing the court's anger and desire to destroy the Li Dynasty, and then asked the Li Dynasty messenger to take it back.
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