The next day, Han Tuozhou, the then Grand Tutor and Prime Minister of Military Affairs, announced the launch of the Northern Expedition in Chuigong Hall.
All the civil and military officials in the court, whether they advocated peace or war, were opposed to Han Tuozhou's hasty decision. However, due to Han Tuozhou's tremendous power in deposing the emperor and enthroning a young emperor, as well as the threat of the Xia soldiers in Lin'an City, they did not dare to really speak out against it, at least they did not dare to be the first to refute it.
All the smart people are waiting for someone who will take the lead.
Soon, the one who stood out appeared. He was Xin Qiji, who drew his sword in the street yesterday and tried to stop a chariot with his bare hands.
When Xin Qiji heard that Han Tuozhou had deposed the emperor and enthroned a young one, he angrily went to court with his sword.
He originally thought that this trip would be full of blood and gore, but he did not expect that the treacherous prime minister Han Tuozhou's minions did not stop him at all. Instead, they respectfully welcomed him into the Chuigong Hall and allowed him to stand among the civil and military officials in the court as a commoner.
Xin Qiji was at a loss as to what to do. He wanted to see the situation first and then decide whether to assassinate the treacherous prime minister Han Tuozhou in court.
Then he heard the news that Han Tuozhou announced the launch of the Northern Expedition.
Hearing this, Xin Qiji was shocked at first, but then he suddenly realized that Han Tuozhou committed such a rebellious act in order to launch the Northern Expedition as soon as possible. So Xin Qiji, regardless of his status as a commoner, hurriedly spoke out to persuade Han Xiang, hoping that he would make plans before taking action and not launch the Northern Expedition rashly.
However, Han Tuozhou was firm in his attitude. He said that the Northern Expedition was imperative and threatened that he would have the help of soldiers from the Great Xia Dynasty. The Jin army was nothing but chickens and dogs, ready to be sold at a price.
Seeing that Han Tuozhou had made up his mind, Xin Qiji had to settle for the second best and accepted Han Tuozhou's promotion to become the deputy general of the Dingyuan Army.
The temporary commander of the Dingyuan Army was Deng Yougang, who was just thinking about satisfying his desire to be a general.
Of course, although it was just a spur of the moment thing, Deng Yougang still had self-awareness.
He knew that he was not cut out to lead troops in battle, so he asked Han Tuozhou for Xin Qiji, and asked Zhao Lihe for Ning Jianjun, with whom he had had a good chat before. Zhao Lihe readily agreed and ordered Ning Jianjun to bring a tank company with him.
Han Tuozhou launched three Northern Expedition fronts. The eastern front was mainly composed of more than 12,000 Dingyuan troops and 40,000 imperial troops, with the troops under the command of Shandong Jingdong Recruiting Envoy Guo Ni and Jiankang Prefecture Commander Li Shuang as flanks, heading north to attack the Lianghuai area.
The central front was given full authority over Zhao Lihe's Great Xia First Armored Division. Jiangling Prefecture Deputy Governor Huangfu Bin and Jiangzhou Governor Wang Dajie, who were originally assigned to this front, were transferred to the western front. In name, they were assisting the commander of the western army, Wu Xi, to send troops from Chengdu to seize the heartland of Guanzhong. In fact, they were following the secret orders of Han Tuozhou and His Majesty to seize power and take down the traitor Wu Xi, who would cede land, rebel and declare himself the King of Shu in the future.
After all the armies were arranged, Han Tuozhou issued an anti-Jin manifesto in the name of the young emperor, announcing the start of the Northern Expedition.
All the armies were mobilized at the same time. Huangfu Bin of the Western Route took the lead on the way to Dasan Pass, the gateway to Sichuan and Shu. Relying on more than a hundred personal guards sent by Zhao Lihe, he captured Wu Xi, who had long had rebellious intentions, and reorganized the Western Route Army at Dasan Pass, attacking Fengxiang to the north.
Guo Ni, Tian Junmai and others on the eastern route suggested that the army launch a feint attack, first invading Shouchun to lure the enemy, and then sending the main force to attack Sizhou, and then take over the entire Huaidong war zone.
Deng Yougang, the supreme commander of the Eastern Army, adopted his strategy and ordered Guo Ni and Tian Junmai to lead the army to attack Sizhou, while he himself led more than 12,000 Dingyuan troops to attack Shouchun in order to lure the enemy.
But what no one expected was that the combat effectiveness of the new Dingyuan Army was truly astonishing.
Under the fierce attack of Yang Tiexin, Guo Xiaotian and others, Shouchun was captured in one day. The main force of the Jin army was also shocked and lured out of Shouchun City.
Seeing that the plan to lure the enemy was successful, Xin Qiji wanted to persuade Deng Yougang to withdraw his troops, but Deng Yougang was very excited and expressed his desire to have a big battle with the Jin army.
It happened that the morale of the Dingyuan army was high and they were eager to fight. After a little thought, Xin Qiji did not object.
However, Deng Yougang did not let the Dingyuan Army take action, but instead used the tank company brought by Ning Jianjun for the first time.
In the following half an hour, Xin Qiji and the Dingyuan Army finally witnessed the terrifying power of the Great Xia soldiers in field battles.
The tank company brought by Ning Jianjun had a total of 12 tanks, equipped with sufficient fuel supply vehicles, mechanized infantry units for coordinated operations, and other auxiliary forces.
When the Jin army allowed these twelve tanks to be neatly lined up outside the city and, with the cooperation of the mechanized infantry units, pointed their guns at the Jin army camp in front, the outcome of the battle had already been decided.
At that time, artillery fire was raging and deafening noises echoed across the smoke-filled battlefield.
Under the lethal explosive bombs specially carried by the tank company, the Jin army camp instantly turned into a ball of exploding fire. Countless exploding shrapnel and steel balls shot in all directions at an extremely fast speed, instantly slaughtering all the Jin troops guarding near the camp.
The Jin army affected by the explosion was not just turned into sieves. It was also very normal for the shrapnel to cut off their limbs, gouge off their heads, and penetrate their chests.
For a moment, blood and body parts were flying all over the Jin army's camp, and smoke and flames of war continued to spread.
With just the first round of volleys, the front half of the Jin army's camp turned into a sea of fire filled with screams.
Ning Jianjun remained calm and ordered the troops to continue loading and firing.
This tank company is equipped with the Type 59 medium tank, which is an imitation of the Soviet T-54A. It weighs 36 tons and can carry a crew of four. Its main weapon is a 100mm rifled gun with a combat rate of fire of about seven rounds per minute.
If the twelve Type 59 medium tanks were properly distributed, they would be enough to continuously fire at the Jin army camp.
As a result, the densely packed Jin army in the camp had no idea what was happening until their death. They could only hear the continuous thunder and see the deadly flames that kept exploding in the tents...
This kind of scene where they didn't even see the shadow of the enemy but were taken away by the sudden appearance of divine thunder and divine fire was a battle they had never experienced or even heard of in their lives.
In an instant, a layer of fear covered the hearts of all the Jin troops.
In addition, the supreme commander of the Jin army had died the moment the first shell exploded.
The 80,000 Jin troops were leaderless. Not to mention a counterattack, they couldn't even organize a decent retreat and were instantly defeated amid the sound of artillery fire.
Looking at the Jin army camp that was in chaos with soldiers crying for their parents, Xin Qiji came back to his senses from the shock and, trying to suppress his excitement, asked Deng Yougang and Ning Jianjun whether they could let the Dingyuan army attack.
After obtaining Ning Jianjun's consent, Xin Qiji quickly ordered the Dingyuan Army to attack and wipe out the defeated Jin army under the cover of the tank company.
Perhaps due to the help of artillery fire, the morale of the Dingyuan Army was greatly boosted, as if with divine help, and every soldier displayed extraordinary combat power.
But at the same time, the Jin army, which finally saw the enemy's face, regained some of their senses, and the remaining Jin army finally organized a decent counterattack.
A Jin army general holding a spear even led thousands of cavalrymen to break out of the encirclement of the Dingyuan army. He locked his eyes on the twelve black steel beasts that were constantly spewing flames outside Shouchun City, and led the remaining thousand or so Jin army cavalrymen to rush over with roars.
Looking at the more than a thousand cavalrymen charging towards him, Ning Jianjun sighed and quickly gave orders.
The cooperating mechanized infantry unit quickly moved forward to bury the mines, then retreated to the side of the tank and raised their rifles.
At the same time, a 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun and two 7.62mm machine guns mounted on each tank were aimed at the cavalry, and the smoke grenade launchers on both sides of the turret were loaded with anti-infantry grenades.
“Boom!”
As the ignorant Jin army general led the cavalry into the minefield, the coordinated infantry and machine guns on the tanks also opened fire. Bullets rained down on the cold weapon army in front. The dense ammunition chains were like Satan's windshield wipers, sweeping down the cavalry in front one by one.
Perhaps because they admired the other side's courage, all the bullets subconsciously avoided the Jin army general in the front.
When the Jin army general rushed to the black steel beast alone, there was no one following him.
But he still roared, wielding the spear in his hand and stabbing at the cylindrical objects in front of him that were as dense as compound eyes.
He thought it was the eye of the steel behemoth, but it was actually a smoke launcher loaded with anti-personnel shrapnel.
The spear penetrated one of the six cylinders, and the remaining cylinder spewed out deadly anti-infantry shrapnel.
"Bang!"
Countless steel balls instantly pierced through his iron armor, turning this unknown Jin army general into a sieve.
Since then, the Shouchun Campaign was a great victory, the Jin army suffered heavy losses, the eastern front advanced steadily, and the Huaidong war zone was captured in just two days. Then the troops were divided into two routes to attack Suzhou and Xuzhou.
The Eastern Front achieved such results, not to mention the Central Front.
The commander of the First Armored Division of Daxia was Sun Chuanting, a Ming Dynasty defector. In order to show his favor to defectors, Zhao Lihe handed over the First Armored Division of Daxia, which had the strongest combat power, to him. Sun Chuanting did not disappoint Zhao Lihe's expectations. Not only did he master the tactics of the new army at a speed not inferior to that of young people, but he even convinced those young officers from the Tongmenghui in less than a month.
Adhering to Zhao Lihe's order for a quick victory, the Daxia Armored Division led by Sun Chuanting advanced rapidly all the way, conquering thirteen cities in two days, and even split its troops into two groups to capture Luoyang and Kaifeng, which were later known as Nanjing and the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.
At this point, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, which had been away for a hundred years, finally returned to the territory of the Central Plains.