HLnovel Chapter 118 Reactions from all parties
Chapter 118 Reactions from all parties
On September 18, the sixth year of the Jiayou reign of the Song Dynasty (the fifth year of the Xia Dynasty), the Yanzhou Incident broke out.
Han Ming, the Song Dynasty's Shaanxi Economic and Pacification, Transport and Recruitment Envoy, and the Chief Officer of Yongxing Military Road, on the one hand, sent an expedited document to Xue Xiang, the Deputy Transport Envoy of Jingzhao Prefecture, to submit to the court, and on the other hand, issued an emergency mobilization order, calling for martial law throughout Shaanxi.
Suddenly, the entire Shaanxi border was shrouded in the dark clouds of war, and everyone was in a state of tension.
Without any orders from the imperial court or the Privy Council, Han Ming and the fully trained Western Army took the lead in advancing westward, crossing the Song-Xia border and entering the territory of Yanzhou in Western Xia.
The Xixia troops, who had been prepared in advance, set out immediately, with Yanzhou as the center, and various Xixia troops came to support one after another.
For a time, the sky over Yanzhou was filled with storms, and the Second Song-Xia War was about to break out.
Outside Yanzhou City, in the main camp of the Song army's vanguard troops, Zhong Gu and Di Zi were lying on a table looking at the defense map inside and outside Yanzhou City.
"Boss Zhong, we are the main siege force this time. The responsibility is heavy. The entire country, the entire army, including the governor, are watching us."
Di Zi said with some regret that he had never thought that a second war would break out so soon after the peace agreement between Song and Xia during the Qingli period.
This time, they were no longer just in their childhood memories and their parents' descriptions, but they personally led the army to fight against the Western Xia.
This feeling gave Di Zi the feeling of two words - revenge!
He knew the humiliation his father had faced in the northwest, and this time, he was determined to seek justice for his father!
"Well said. This is the first battle of the Shaanxi Border Army after the military reform. We must fight with dignity and vigor."
"Let the entire Western Xia see that the Song army is no longer the Song army of 23 years ago!"
"We will win this battle!"
The enthusiasm in Zhong Gu's eyes infected Di Zi. Both of them came from military families. In foreign wars, they had always been holding their breath, wanting to achieve extraordinary results.
"Then let us start the prelude to this war!"
Di Zi slammed the map on the table with his big hand, and began to finalize the siege plan with Zhong Gu.
. . . . . .
In the Baoan Army next to Huanzhou, Wang Shao traveled day and night and returned to the barracks at the appointed time. He immediately selected his troops and generals, and marched out of the Great Wall Ridge and headed straight for the Western Xia border town of Hongzhou.
As for the Suide Army further north, the independent general Zhong Yan was dividing his troops into three routes. One route was advancing westward along the Dali River to attack Longzhou, one route was stationed in Niuxinting, and the last route was led by Zhong Yan himself across Hengshan and headed straight for Yinzhou.
As a result, all the cities at the junction of Western Xia and Shaanxi Road were harassed by the Song army. When the news was passed back to the country, there was an uproar in the court and the country.
All the subjects of Western Xia did not expect that the Song State would dare to take the initiative to attack. They were still immersed in the superiority of the war of founding the country.
The Song army attacked again, but this did not discourage them from fighting. Instead, they began to clamor to fight back against the Song army, invade the Song State, and capture the Song emperor alive.
Driven by this kind of public opinion, Li Liangzuo, who had just taken power, was helpless and could only agree with the advice of his uncle and start a war against the Song Dynasty.
What Mo Zang Epang had originally planned to do secretly was brought directly to the surface, which made him feel complacent.
In order to better attack and weaken Li Liangzuo's prestige, Mo Zang Epang even waved his hand and prepared to go to the front line in person, sit in the border and defeat the Song army.
But in the end, he was persuaded by his chief strategist Zhang Yuan, who believed that the current situation in Western Xia was not stable. If Zang Epang did not leave the capital, it would very likely give Li Liangzuo an opportunity to seize power.
Just this one sentence made Mo Zang Epang give up the idea of going to the front line, and entrusted the important military affairs of the front line to the wise and resourceful Zhang Yuan.
Now, things get even more interesting.
Zhang Yuan had assisted Li Yuanhao in defeating Han Ming's grandfather Han Zhang and winning the Battle of Haoshuichuan.
Now, more than ten years later, Zhang Yuan once again led his troops to attack Song, and the opponent became the fledgling Han Ming.
History is sometimes a cycle of cause and effect, giving Zhang Yuan another chance to realize his ambitions, and also giving Han Ming a chance to avenge his grandfather.
No one knows who will be the winner of this feud spanning three generations.
. . . . . .
In the Song Dynasty's Bianliang City, under cloudless skies, the people happily toured the capital's splendor and experienced the rare tranquility.
Suddenly, a cloud of dust rose from the official road outside the city, and a fast horse came galloping from a distance, shouting loudly when it was dozens of meters away from the city gate.
"Express military report from Shaanxi, six hundred miles away: Xixia has torn up the peace agreement and launched an invasion without authorization..."
The sound was so loud that the city defense soldiers were so frightened that they dared not neglect their actions and quickly shouted to the crowd to dodge.
"Hurry, hurry, everyone, get out of the way. It's 600 miles to Shaanxi, and no one is allowed to block the road."
"Emergency military information, no delay, everyone get out of the way!"
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way, everyone!"
"..."
The shouting of the city defense officers and soldiers made the people feel nervous and they all dodged and made way for the main roads in the city.
The messenger rode non-stop, rushed into the city gate, and galloped towards the Imperial Palace.
Seeing the messenger's back flash by, the people were suddenly awakened and started a heated discussion.
"What do you mean? Did Xixia break the agreement?"
"Holy crap, did I hear that right? Xixia is invading again? What the hell is going on?"
"What a disaster, what a disaster!"
"In the Song-Xia War, we were completely defeated and couldn't win at all."
"We have to fight, though. How can we stop fighting if we can't win? What will happen to the people living on the border then?"
"You can't say that. After all, the border is still far from the capital. As long as we don't fight here, it'll be fine!"
"Bullshit, you don't consider the border as your own territory?"
"That's right, not even a cent of the Song Dynasty's land can be lost!"
"Alas! A quarrel of pride, a quarrel of pride, can only lead to waste of manpower and money!"
"..."
The people of Bianliang were all caught up in the discussion, and for the emperor and his ministers of the Song Dynasty at that time, it was a situation that made them worry so much that their hair turned white.
In the Wende Hall, Emperor Renzong was holding the military report handed over by Xue Xiang with trembling hands.
Outside the palace, numerous vehicles continued to gather and head into the imperial city.
The first to arrive were the two great ministers of the Council of State—Han Zhang and Fu Yanguo.
Following closely behind him were the Privy Councilor Zeng Mingzhong, the commander of the imperial guards stationed in Bian Jing, Duke Ying, and a number of military and political leaders.
When they were summoned inside and saw the official with a face as black as the bottom of a pot, these big guys felt a sinking feeling in their hearts.
"The military situation is urgent. I won't be polite. This is an urgent message from Shaanxi, 600 miles away. The Western Xia have arbitrarily torn up the Qingli Peace Agreement and led their troops to invade. What do you think we should do?"
Emperor Renzong handed the military report to Han Zhang with a headache, and then fell silent.
After the military and political leaders finished reading, Emperor Renzong directly called on the Privy Councilor Zeng Mingzhong, indicating that he should speak.
Comrade Lao Zeng was already very busy with the military reform, and now this incident has happened, which makes him even more exhausted.
"Your Majesty, Xixia has now launched an uprising without authorization, simply taking advantage of the situation."
"My guess is that the Shaanxi military reform may have triggered their concerns, and they want us to stop it."
"Secondly, they wanted to take this opportunity to demonstrate to us that Xixia is still a powerful military force and will not tolerate provocation or infringement."
Zeng Mingzhong blurted out his thoughts, which made Han Zhang frown.
Because his words were explicitly or implicitly blaming Han Ming for the military reform, believing that it was Han Ming's initiative in promoting the military reform that triggered the war.
"Your Majesty, I think the Privy Councilor's words are wrong."
This matter concerns his own grandson, and the emperor is indecisive. Once the emperor is sure that the root of the problem lies with Han Ming, and if the emperor does not want to go to war, he may let Han Ming take the blame to quell the unrest.
This is something Han Zhang absolutely cannot tolerate.
"Sir, please tell me what you think."
Emperor Renzong exhaled and looked at Han Zhang calmly.
"Your Majesty, I believe that the Xixia have always had the ruthless intention of attacking the Song Dynasty. This invasion is nothing more than a pretext."
"Even if there were no military reform, the attack would continue as usual."
"Therefore, we should not blame the people on the front lines for this."
Han Zhang's words made Emperor Renzong nod slightly, and finally he turned his gaze to Fu Yanguo who had been in deep thought.
"Mr. Fu, what are your thoughts?"
Hearing the emperor call him, Fu Yanguo immediately stepped out and replied, "Your Majesty, I believe that what Lord Han and Lord Zeng said makes sense, but at this moment we should focus on whether to fight or make peace, not on assigning blame."
Everyone nodded in agreement at Fu Yanguo's words.
"Well, that makes sense. What do you think?"
Fu Yanguo immediately bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, the Western Xia are coming with such force this time that they are well prepared. This war cannot be quelled with a few words."
"I believe that we should first order the Shaanxi border troops to engage in battle, and then discuss the subsequent situation based on the war situation."
Fu Yanguo's words were very steady, which was also the opinion of all the military and political leaders.
"What about the Duke of England? What do you think?"
The Duke of Ying, who was being questioned, immediately clasped his fists and stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I believe that the newly restructured border troops are not yet an effective fighting force. We should select capable and skilled soldiers from the Central Imperial Guard to rush to the frontier to provide support."
"Can!"
Emperor Renzong was still somewhat unsure about Han Ming's new army after the military reform.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the army as commander-in-chief!"
The Duke of England took the opportunity to request to go out and lead troops to provide support.
"What do you think?"
"With the Duke of Ying in charge, the border can be secure!" Han Zhang and others immediately agreed.
"Then there is no need to waste time. Duke Ying will lead his troops to the front immediately."
"When you get to Shaanxi, tell Han Ming not to let me down."
Emperor Renzong's words made many people feel moved. Is the emperor somewhat dissatisfied with Han Ming?
Only Han Zhang and Fu Yanguo looked at each other and understood the emperor's thoughts.
The emperor also wants to find an opportunity to avenge his defeat, and Han Ming just gave him this opportunity. It depends on whether this kid can seize it.