Chapter 174: North to South
In fact, the psychological strategy was not something Song Yutong came up with alone.
Once when Song Yuzhu and her two teachers were discussing the issue of the Jin Dynasty, this view was jointly raised by several people.
This method is easy to say but difficult to implement. However, Song Yuzhu is planning it in secret, and whether it will succeed depends on fate.
*
On the official road leading to Beiguan, more than ten horse-drawn carriages were speeding, carrying the bodies of the Jin envoys and Yelu Ta.
They set out from Shangjing on the second day of the first lunar month and have now arrived at the border. In a few days they will reach the capital of the Jin Kingdom.
When two countries are at war, they do not kill envoys. Even though Da Qi had declared war on the Jin Kingdom, it still did not make things difficult for them and even sent people to escort them out of the border.
After leaving Daqi, the road became difficult to travel on. The violent bumps woke up Amudan, who was taking a nap in the car. I saw that there were dark circles under his eyes and he hadn't slept well for half a month.
"Where are we?"
The servant on the carriage said, "Master Dan, we have already left Daqi. We will reach Meicheng in another fifty miles."
"No wonder..." Amudan said something without any context, and the servant didn't understand what he meant.
Amudan said: "No wonder the roads are difficult to travel on. The roads in Daqi are all flat cement roads, while the roads in our Jin Kingdom are still narrow roads paved with stones."
The servant smiled and didn't think there was anything wrong. But Amudan knew that there was a huge difference between them. The Daqi road was fast-paced, and they could travel 300 miles in one night. The Jin road was at most 100 miles fast, and they might encounter rocks blocking the road or heavy snow blocking the road...
Amudan looked out the window and sighed heavily. Once the war broke out, Daqi's support speed would be several times faster than that of Jin. How could they win?
These days his mind was filled with what Emperor Qi said to him before he left.
"Amudan, I know you care about the Jin Kingdom, but the assassination of Yeluta this time has nothing to do with Daqi, and... does Yelu Khan really know nothing about it?"
"Daqi has never been a warlike country. We are willing to make friends with all our neighbors, develop business and trade, and achieve common prosperity. However, the Kingdom of Jin is bent on invading Daqi, which makes me very embarrassed."
"I hope you can think carefully about whether war is more important or the people's peaceful and prosperous life is more important."
Amudan recalled that before setting off, the Khan suddenly started to recruit soldiers, the army trained day and night, and finally suddenly replaced the envoy's candidate.
This made him suspect that the assassination of Yeluta was planned in advance by the Khan in order to find an excuse to send troops.
But can the Jin Kingdom really defeat Da Qi?
Amudan couldn't help but think of the military parade he saw in Beijing five years ago, and he couldn't help but shudder.
During these five years of recuperation, Daqi will only develop faster than the Jin Dynasty! If the Khan insists on his own way, it is very likely that the entire Jin Dynasty will be destroyed.
No! He must persuade the Khan to come back.
How to persuade is a difficult problem, because the Khan is a very selfish person. If they persuade him with the military strength of Daqi being stronger than that of Jin, he will definitely scold them. If things go wrong, he may even blame them for shaking the morale of the army and kill them as a sacrifice.
Amudan rubbed his face. This matter was too passive. Once the Jin Kingdom was defeated, the lives of the people would definitely become more difficult. He had seen many people in the Central Plains living a prosperous life these days. He hoped that the people of the Jin Kingdom could also have such a life.
Amudan suddenly thought of the Fourth Prince, Yelu Xiang. He had always been very curious about the culture of the Central Plains and had often sought Amudan to discuss matters concerning the Central Plains. Moreover, the Fourth Prince was not a warlike person, so perhaps he could start with him.
Once the seeds of division are planted, they begin to take root, sprout, and break through the soil.
*
On the 20th of the first lunar month, the envoys from the Jin Kingdom finally arrived at the capital of the Jin Kingdom. Before entering the city, Amudan saw the white flags hanging high on the city wall. It seemed that the news of the third prince's death had already reached the capital of the Jin Kingdom.
Compared to the bustling and bustling Shangjing, Jindu City was eerily quiet. There were almost no pedestrians on the streets. Even Herdo muttered uncomfortably, "It's as quiet as a tomb here."
The eldest prince Yelu Guang came out with a group of people and took Yelu Ta's body from the carriage with red eyes.
He shouted, "The Third Prince was killed by Qi Ren, we want to avenge him!"
"Revenge!" Thousands of cavalrymen behind him roared.
"Kill all the Qi people, occupy their land, and plunder their money! Enjoy their women, Anda!"
"Anda! Anda! Anda!"
Amudan looked at him coldly. If the eldest prince really loved his brothers, why did he pretend to be sick and let the third prince go on a diplomatic mission to Daqi? Now he is pretending to be a loving brother. It is really chilling.
Amudan got out of the car and saluted him. Yelu Guang took his hand affectionately and said, "Master Dan, you must have worked hard on this trip. Go back and have a rest."
Amudan took a step back and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I will go to the palace to pay my respects to the Khan first."
Once inside the palace, it was even quieter than outside. The palace servants didn't even dare to make any noise when they walked, and the oppression was so overwhelming that it made one feel suffocated.
Yelu Khan walked out from the back hall wearing a luxurious fur coat. His gray hair and slightly bent back silently indicated that the Khan was getting old.
When he was young, he had the ambition of an eagle and attacked Dasheng more than once. Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time and met Ye Qing, the toughest opponent.
Later, Ye Qing died in battle, and the Jin Kingdom suffered a snowstorm that was rare in a century, and countless war horses were frozen to death.
When they finally had the chance to attack Daqi, they were caught off guard by artillery fire.
Now that he is old, there is no time to wait and he can't wait to occupy the Central Plains.
"Amudan, you're back. Did you bring back the body of the third brother?"
"Reporting to the Khan, the Third Prince's body has been transferred to the Third Prince's residence by the First Prince."
"He...how did he die?"
"The Third Prince was stabbed to death with a poison needle."
The old Khan closed his eyes, sighed and said, "Okay, I understand. You've worked hard on this journey. Go back and rest."
"Khan! There is a hidden reason for the death of the Third Prince. You can't act rashly..."
"Go and rest." The Khan's voice left no room for doubt.
Amudan knelt down helplessly and said goodbye. As he walked out of the palace, his eyes gradually became firm.
Emperor Qi was right. The people's well-being was far more important than the Khan's ambitions. He could not let him push the Jin Kingdom into the abyss again!
*
On the way to the North Gate, the soldiers of the West Camp were setting up camp to rest. After traveling for more than ten days, everyone was very tired. They decided to rest for two days before continuing their march.
"A-choo!" Chen Jing sneezed, a puff of white mist came out of his nose, and his face was covered with frost.
"Hiss, Beiguan is much colder than Shangjing!" Ge Zhongshun rubbed his hands.
General Fang, who was traveling with us, laughed and said, "This is just the beginning. If it snows heavily, we can even get caught in the piss."
"Hahahahahaha!" Several men burst into laughter, and the previous feeling of strangeness disappeared in an instant.
In this battle, Zhao Xiao only brought three people as deputy generals, and the rest of the generals followed Zheng Da'an to the south.
General Fang’s full name is Fang Xin. He was a veteran who previously guarded the North Gate. He was transferred back to Beijing last year. Now that the war has started again, he resolutely put on his armor and returned to serve in the army.
"You are in luck now. You have fur hats on your heads, thick coats on your bodies, and especially the fur boots on your feet. They are warm and waterproof. They are really treasures!" General Fang stamped his feet with a bright smile on his face.
"When we followed General Ye to guard the North Gate, there was no such good stuff! The cotton-padded jackets were all rotten cotton and could not withstand the wind at all. The cotton boots on our feet were wet by the snow and stuck to our feet. We couldn't take them off. I lost three toes due to the frostbite."
Ge Zhongshun grimaced when he heard this. "My goodness, how can you fight when you are so cold?"
"We have to fight. We are cold too. We will either be killed or frozen to death. Let's just fight it out together." Fang Xin waved his hand and asked a few new recruits nearby to come over and set up tents.
After the tent was set up, the three of them hurried in and lit a small coal stove. General Fang took out a few potatoes from somewhere and stuffed them next to the stove. Soon, a fragrant aroma came out.
Zhao Xiao opened the curtain and walked in and said, "Hey, you cooked potatoes for me." He was not shy at all and just picked them up and started eating, making Xiao Ge and Xiao Chen beside him so greedy that they dared not say anything.
However, Fang Xin, the old soldier, poured Zhao Xiao a cup of hot water with a smile, and ate two potatoes, which he ate with gusto.
"News came from the North Gate that Jin spies were discovered outside the gate in the past few days, and there will be action over there soon." Zhao Xiao said after wiping his hands after eating.
Ge Zhongshun: "You came just in time. Let them have a taste of the firearms."
Ge Zhongshun is the battalion commander of the Fire Gun Battalion. He has thousands of fire gun soldiers under his command. It is no exaggeration to say that one can defeat ten enemies at a time.
General Fang said, "There may be a snowstorm in the next few days, which will affect the firing range of the muskets. It is better to use the cannonballs to deal with them first."
Chen Jing brought over the sand table for the battle, and Zhao Xiao fiddled with it a few times to outline the general appearance of the area outside the pass. Fang Xin helped him to carefully depict the important checkpoints.
"This is Hukou Pass, the only way for the Jin army to go south. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Why don't we place more soldiers here to intercept the Jin cavalry?"
Zhao Xiao shook his head: "No, we won't defend this time."
The three looked at him in surprise: "Not defending?"
"Lead a hundred thousand troops to attack the city directly, occupy it and intercept the Jin people!"
Fang Xin stared wide-eyed for a long moment before clapping his hands and saying, "Good! Good!"
In the past few decades, he has never taken the initiative to attack the Jin Dynasty, and has always been mainly on the defensive.
In the previous dynasty, General Ye Qing had also thought about attacking Meicheng, because it was backed by the Qilian Mountains and formed a natural barrier. As long as tens of thousands of soldiers were stationed there, it would be extremely difficult for the Jin people to attack.
Unfortunately, Emperor Longwu did not allow him to go on the expedition, as he was afraid of angering the Jin people and causing them to attack the Central Plains without regard for the consequences.
Although the generals were not subject to military orders while on the battlefield, the imperial court did not allocate money to them. Even if Ye Qing wanted to take the city first, he did not have enough food and grass, so he had to give up in the end.
Now General Zhao was actually going to lead them to take the initiative to attack. General Fang's eyes turned red, he wiped his nose and breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm familiar with the North Gate! I'll be your vanguard!"
Zhao Xiao patted his shoulder and said, "Okay, then I'll rely on the old general!"
*
On the other side, the army led by Zheng Daan has arrived in Xuzhou. They traveled by train, which was much faster.
Xuzhou had already gathered 180,000 soldiers, all of whom were veterans recruited from various prefectures in the south.
It was the first time for Zheng Da'an to lead so many soldiers. Besides excitement, he felt more pressure.
If we fail to conquer the Kingdom of Nanzhao, we will be extremely embarrassed!
In order to stabilize the morale of the army, he has been keeping a sour face these days. Whenever he sees a general getting cocky, he kicks him without giving him any face at all.
Yang Ping was kicked three or four times because of his eccentric personality. Jiang Ling, who led the troops with him, was cold and taciturn. Every time Yang Ping was kicked, this guy would walk up to him, raise his eyebrows and sigh, which made Yang Ping very angry.
In February, the second dragon raises its head, and 200,000 Daqi troops march south from Xuzhou straight to the Yunnan border.
At this time, King Nanzhao did not know that his foolish decision would bring a devastating disaster to the country.
(End of this chapter)
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