Chapter 40 Basically Collecting Military Reports

After Zhao Jiu entered Jintang City, he was basically just constantly receiving military reports, memorials, and missives.

It is said that, with the convergence of Yue Fei and Hu Hongxiu, and the subsequent fatal blow, this battle, which was originally just intended to bluff and feint to control the Hexi Corridor, has now exceeded everyone's expectations. Most of the war participants have also fallen into a state of loss, confusion, doubt, and choice due to the time difference, information difference, and distance difference.

The reason for this is due to the special and complex geographical conditions of the Northwest region, especially the Western Xia territory where the battlefield is located, and its surroundings.

The Yellow River took a zigzag course here, repeatedly dividing the battlefield; and on the battlefield, there were Hengshan Mountains, Quwu Mountains, Liupan Mountains, Helan Mountains, Yin Mountains... These were all large mountain ranges sufficient to isolate the battlefield or greatly restrain the war. In comparison, the hilly and loess landforms of northern Shaanxi were simply not worth mentioning.

In addition, there were deserts. The later Mu Us Desert, Tengger Desert, Ulan Buh Desert, and Kubuqi Desert were all within the scope of this battle. The 700-li Han Sea (vast sandy area) east and south of Lingzhou, although insignificant compared to other large deserts, was stuck in a truly vital position.

Rivers, mountains, deserts, and a battlefield spanning thousands of miles east-west and nearly a thousand miles north-south, as well as the complex battle lines between the five factions of Song, Khitan, Jin, Mongol, and Western Xia, were enough to make everyone dizzy.

But even so, one question remains: how was Western Xia able to use its troops so appropriately in these deserts and mountains in the past?

The answer is simple: Western Xia controlled the Xingling area, also known as the Yinchuan Plain.

Although Western Xia had a small population, its land area was very large. Four core blocks, namely the Hexi Corridor, the Xingling area, the seven Hengshan prefectures, and the Houtao area under the Yin Mountains, formed an inverted T-shape, with the Xingling area being the central connection point... From here, it was easy to go east to Hengshan, west to Hexi, and upstream along the river to the Yinshan Houtao, making transportation very convenient.

In contrast, the other three locations were isolated from each other by deserts, mountains, and rivers, making it difficult to travel properly.

In fact, this was an important reason why Western Xia, although it started in Hengshan, quickly moved here after obtaining the Xingling area.

And now, the force that controlled the Xingling area, or more specifically, the main part of the Xingling area excluding Lingzhou, was none other than the Song army.

It was because Yue Fei 'possibly' controlled the Xingling area, dividing Western Xia into three parts that were difficult to connect, that Wu Jie and other high-ranking Song officials were able to make such a quick decision and fight this battle at all costs.

Because even Hu Yin, after looking at the map for half a day, could realize that the advantage in this battle was on their side.

And this point became even more obvious after Yue Fei sent the battle report from Xingqing Prefecture and informed them of the capture of Tanliang City. Thanks to the accumulation of millions of acres of fertile land in the Tang Canal, the Song army was able to greatly alleviate its logistics problems this time.

This further strengthened the determination of the high-ranking Song army to continue fighting.

However, even if they were going to fight, how to fight next was a problem.

At this moment, while the Song army was firmly entrenched in Xingqing, they also had their own blind spot, which was the movements of the Jin army.

Therefore, Wu Jie took advantage of the loss of Xingqing Prefecture and the disappearance of Li Qianxun, which caused the entire Hengshan line to shake. He joined forces with Xiao... Zhao Heda, and easily entered the hinterland of Hengshan. However, he stopped at Yanzhou, and immediately wrote a letter to Zhao Guan, who was in Baoan Army, requesting to return eastward and seize Yinzhou and Shizhou (same name as the Jin-controlled Shizhou on the opposite bank of the river) at the eastern end of Hengshan, in order to encircle Suide Army and Yan'an from the rear.

The memorial arrived the morning of the second day after Zhao Heda left, one day after Wu Jie took Youzhou without a fight, which was considered timely. However, somewhat unexpectedly, Zhao Guan took the memorial, read it carefully, and then fell into some kind of doubt.

"What does Wu Jinqing mean by this?" After thinking for a while, Zhao Jiu actually handed the memorial to Hu Yin... He actually consulted Hu Yin on military matters. "He has the authority to make decisions on his own. He can fight however he wants. He was the one who seized the opportunity to enter Hengshan before. Why is he asking me for instructions on this kind of thing now, and yet wasting time in Yanzhou for nothing?"

Equally unexpectedly, Hu Yin, who was recognized and admitted to not knowing military affairs, looked at the memorial handed over by Zhao Guan and immediately confidently explained: "Let Guan know, I think this is Wu Jinqing playing tricks... His original intention should be that he is not very willing to go east to help fight Yan'an, but he is embarrassed to say it. Otherwise, why would he gather a large army in Yanzhou without taking action, but seek the Lord behind him to make the decision?"

"I think so too." Zhao Jiu immediately smiled. "So he himself wants to attack Yanzhou to the west, and then pursue Lingzhou?"

"That should be the case." Hu Yin answered seriously. "But I don't understand military affairs. I don't know what Wu Jinqing's specific plans are in military terms. I can only guess some other ideas about his two routes of advancing west and taking east..."

"Tell me in detail."

"Attacking Yanzhou and Lingzhou to the west, he will be facing the main force of Western Xia gathered in Lingzhou. Although the main force of Western Xia is at the end of its rope at this time, it is not yet at its end, and it is a tough bone to chew. Moreover, once he advances, he will inevitably involve cooperation with Yue Fei, Qu Duan, and other units... Yue Fei is higher in rank than him, and Qu Duan is his former superior... all of which should be considered. In addition, there is the Han Sea between Yanzhou and Lingzhou, so advancing is actually not easy."

"Not bad."

"And as written in the memorial, returning to advance into Yan'an is extremely logical. First, Yinzhou, Shizhou, the Youxiang Army Division, and other places have long been like frightened birds, and capturing them is as easy as picking something out of a bag. Second, he can take advantage of these three places to encircle Yan'an and the Suide Army, resist the Jinning Army, and almost completely surround Huonv. Third, he can also defend against possible Jin reinforcements. But he..."

"But instead of quickly taking action, he gave me such a grandiose memorial, wasting time for nothing. Does this mean that he doesn't think the Jurchens will come? And that Han Shizhong's proposal to launch an attack on Yan'an is not worthwhile?"

"I think that's the case." Hu Yin answered seriously. "Although Wu Jinqing has been authorized by Guan due to the location of the battle line, he is still somewhat afraid of Han Shizhong... He doesn't dare to openly refute Han Liangchen... I venture to guess that Wu Jie will send a missive this afternoon."

The memorial was public, and the missive was a secret message sent directly to the imperial presence through the Imperial Guard system.

In fact, it was precisely because only a memorial came, instead of or without a secret missive, that Zhao Jiu was puzzled.

With this thought, Zhao Jiu nodded slowly.

And without waiting until the afternoon, at noon, Wu Jie's missive arrived as expected. Liu Yan presented the missive, and Zhao Jiu, who was already mentally prepared, roughly looked at it and completely understood.

It turned out that Wu Jie had considered the overall situation.

First of all, Wu Jie believed that Wanyan Wushu's main force should not be coming to Yan'an to reinforce Huonv, at least there was no major movement now, so they would not be coming.

Secondly, he hoped to encircle Yan'an's Huonv without attacking, because the Jurchens' combat power was still the strongest of all parties on the battlefield. Even if Wushu only sent a wanhu (ten thousand households) to support, that plus Huonv's two wanhu would still be a very powerful battle group on the battlefield... They could fight, but it was not necessary, because there was only such an isolated Jurchen army inside the zigzag shape of the entire Yellow River, and they could be forced to retreat with the general trend.

Especially since Zhao Guan had left Fuzhou and came directly to Baoan Army this time, passing under Huonv's nose, which was tantamount to adding salt to the wound for Huonv, who had a blood feud with him, and then triggered another active attack by Huonv at all costs.

But in reality, this attack not only exposed the fact that Huonv would no longer have reinforcements, but also further consumed the fighting spirit and strength of Huonv's troops... Once this counterattack failed, Huonv would only be able to succumb to the overall situation and withdraw from northern Shaanxi.

Third, Wu Jie hoped that the main target of attack in the next stage, whether it was the main target of attack of the Imperial Guard Rear Army plus the Hengshan Fanbu (foreign troops) battle group led by him, or the main target of attack of the entire overall situation, was Weiming Chage in the Lingzhou area.

Fourth, even for Chage, Wu Jinqing had his own considerations, which was to pressure him to fight... Specifically, he wanted to quickly control the key points of Yanzhou and completely isolate Chage, but Wu Jie's main force of the Imperial Guard Rear Army would not cross the Han Sea, thereby forcing Chage to leave Lingzhou and launch an active attack on Yue Fei and Qu Duan's troops on the opposite bank of the Yellow River. It would be best to lure Chage to cross the river, and then he would send a light division to take Lingzhou from the rear, causing Chage to lose his base and collapse without a fight.

However, this kind of plan and action meant that he had offended Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, Qu Duan, Wang De, and others at the same time.

He offended Han Shizhong because of Yan'an. The King of Yan'an, who came from Yan'an, was currently on the Yan'an battle line, and had clearly advocated using troops against Yan'an these days. And the plan against Chage undoubtedly meant that Yue Fei and Qu Duan in Xingqing Prefecture would bear the pressure of the war and futilely give the credit to the Imperial Guard Rear Army.

In the secret missive, Wu Jie clearly raised these concerns, hoping that Zhao Guan would continue to approve the military plan and continue to give him the authority and responsibility to support him.

Finally, Wu Jinqing also made an appropriate deduction about the missing Jurchen main force. He believed that Li Qianxun and Chage, the political and military leaders of Western Xia, had no reason not to seize the lifeline of the Jurchens from the moment they learned that Yue Fei had appeared in Xiakou... The Jurchens probably knew about the possible fall of Xingqing Prefecture earlier than the Dangxiang people in the Hengshan area, but they certainly did not know that Yelu Dashi had gone to Houtao. Therefore, at this time, the main force of the Jurchens might have already gone to Houtao, which had great strategic significance.

At this time, the Song army should change from urgency to slowness, and sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.

And this overall strategy also echoed Wu Jie's two strategies against Huonv in Yan'an and Chage in Lingzhou.

Frankly speaking, after reading this missive, Zhao Jiu had two feelings: one was that the overall situation was suddenly clear, and the other was that it was indeed so.

The former was aimed at the war situation. Wu Jie's analysis was appropriate, and he explained the three parties of Dangxiang, Khitan, and Jurchen clearly. The two troubles that the Song army had to deal with were also analyzed properly... This, of course, made Zhao Guan, whose command value was only 5 and had been enduring all along, suddenly clear.

At the same time, the two memorials, one public and one secret, that were presented today also revealed Wu Jie's usual advantages and disadvantages... His sorting, arrangement, and summary of the battlefield were all first-class, but without a doubt, his smooth handling of affairs, sometimes looking forward and backward, and unwillingness to take responsibility unless forced into a corner were also very clear.

This time, Zhao Jiu did not discuss with Hu Yin, nor did he give the secret missive to Hu Yin to read... because the secret missive was a public secret between him and the senior military officers. It had a feeling similar to a contract between the monarch and his subjects. Giving it to a civil official, even one who was absolutely trustworthy, would be breaking the rules.

In fact, it was precisely because of the existence of the secret missive that the originally chaotic military system of the Great Song (the class law was not applicable beyond the command level, which made it easy for the upper levels to control military power) formed a more scientific and rational military class division. The level of the commander of the army obviously stood out, forming a stable level between the commander and the commander.

Now, even children on the roadside know that the commander of the Imperial Guard is a real high-ranking official, which comes from this.

For example, Dong Xian, who arrived at Diaoyin Mountain these two days, was originally a member of Da Xiao Zhai's command. He was always greedy for money, and he and Niu Gao, who liked to drink, were under Li Yanxian, or rather, under Da Xiao Zhai, the largest mountain in Li Yanxian's command, and were always known as two mixed goods. But this person, after making great achievements this time, Li Yanxian asked him for rewards, and he actually didn't want money or silk, but only asked for a position as a commander of the army. Li Yanxian did not hesitate to promise him the official position and sent him directly to Zhao Guan's side, which was precisely for this reason.

Returning to the front, Zhao Jiu thought for a moment, and then directly issued an edict, reprimanding Wu Jie, telling him to completely take Yanzhou, and then concentrate on the affairs of Lingzhou. At the same time, he also issued an edict to Han Shizhong and Wu Lin, telling them to carefully resist Huonv. If Huonv retreated, they should appropriately press forward, but not launch an attack on Yan'an itself without authorization.

Finally, he also issued an edict to Yue Fei... Lingzhou was to the south, and the northern passage of the old Great Wall in the Yanzhou area had been opened, and it was possible to go directly from Hengshan to Xingqing Prefecture... He was instructing the latter to properly cooperate with Wu Jie.

In other words, Zhao Jiu directly agreed with Wu Jie's plan in its entirety.

This was unnecessary to say, and it was not a matter of which one he trusted more, Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, or Wu Jie, but that Zhao Jiu had promised Wu Jie the authority to be in charge as early as in Tongzhou. As a self-aware person, he had no reason to break his word and lose his trust midway.

With Zhao Guan's edict, the war quickly entered a new stage.

In the following days, the Song army entered a mode of static warfare... The three group armies on the front line, Yue Fei, were recruiting troops and buying horses in Xingqing Prefecture, and distributing grain to buy people's hearts; Wu Jie was also recruiting troops and buying horses after quickly controlling Yanzhou, and by the way, distributing salt to buy people's hearts... The salt ponds in Yanzhou were one of the largest salt producing areas in the Northwest; Han Shizhong and Wu Lin, after receiving reinforcements from Dong Xian and other units and Zhao Guan's edict, also began to cautiously defend and counterattack.

Of course, Zhao Guan was also recruiting troops and buying horses... Yue Fei had grain, Wu Jie had salt, but Zhao Guan had a face... In the last few days of April, he had to summon countless Hengshan Dangxiang tribal leaders and surrendered officials from the Hengshan prefectures in Jintang City, Baoan Army every day.

Then, there were various comfort visits and appointments.

It can only be said that the name of the Son of Heaven of the Great Song was still somewhat useful, especially the Son of Heaven of the Great Song who had defeated Wanyan Loushi in Yaoshan and had almost destroyed Western Xia at this time. And until the last two days of April, although they were not attacked, but with the continued chain of the collapse of Western Xia, Wu Jie's military presence, and Zhao Guan's personal presence on the Hengshan front line, the remaining Hengshan troops in Shizhou (same name as the Jin-controlled Shizhou on the opposite bank of the river), Yinzhou, Youxiang Army Division, and other places finally chose to unite together, and then submitted surrender documents to Zhao Guan here.

So far, although there was no saying for the entire Western Xia, the Hengshan prefectures, which had rebelled against the Central Plains dynasty for more than a hundred years, took the lead in surrendering completely, becoming the most secure and huge gain of this battle so far.

And thanks to this, Zhao Jiu finally confirmed a fact, or rather, verified a judgment of Wu Jie - the Jurchens had indeed gone to Houtao, 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 actively attacking. Obviously, he had received strict requirements from Wanyan Wushu before sending troops.

Not only that, with the fall of Xingqing Prefecture in Western Xia and the further fermentation of the news of the disappearance of Li Qianxun and his son, an unexpected and reasonable 'memorial' suddenly appeared on Zhao Jiu's desk - Zhe Keqiu of Fuzhou, which was already bordering the Song army's controlled area, asked for forgiveness and requested to return, and hoped to surround the Jurchens to the south, in order to seek meritorious service.

To this, Zhao Jiu chose silence.

The reason was simple. There were political factors that had to be considered behind Zhe Keqiu's surrender and return. In this matter, politics was greater than military affairs.

Secondly, he had already set the strategic arrangement of completely destroying Western Xia first, and letting go of the Jurchens who crossed the river. There was no reason to change his course for this... Especially on this day, there was an urgent military report sent from the front line. Weiming Chage, Weiming Yunge, Weiming Renli, and Weiming Renzhong (Renli's elder brother, the former Henan Transport Envoy of Western Xia, and the highest-ranking local civil official in Lingzhou at this time), after watching the opposite bank of the river being guarded by the Song army like an iron bucket and falling into hesitation, with Yanzhou being completely controlled by the Song army, knowing that they had fallen into a dead end in terms of military tactics, finally made a joint decision to send troops to cross the river, trying to recapture Xingqing Prefecture.

The most critical battle in Western Xia was finally about to break out, and it was exactly as Wu Jie had predicted. To this, Wu Jie did not hesitate, but followed the predetermined plan, with Yang Zheng, the prefect of Huanzhou, as the vanguard, first crossing the Hengshan passage in the Han Sea to take Lingzhou, and then he led a large army to follow, preparing to join forces with Yue Fei and destroy the main force of Western Xia on the banks of the Yellow River.

And in order to ensure that the newly surrendered Hengshan did not make mistakes, Zhao Jiu chose to leave Hu Yin and Yang Yizhong in Baoan Army to continue to sit in town, while he led Jie Yuan, Yue Chao, Liu Yan, and many dependent Dangxiang Fanbu, totaling tens of thousands of people, northward through the relatively safe Hongzhou area through Hengshan, preparing to sit in town in Youzhou. And Zhai Cong and Dong Xian simply took the first step, exiting Pingrong Village from Longzhou and detouring around Yinzhou, to be Zhao Guan's wing barrier, and together with Han Wu Hu Yang, formed an encirclement to continue to surround Yan'an and force Huonv to withdraw.

Under this kind of overall situation, Zhe Keqiu's matter was naturally temporarily put aside.

Let's say that this day was the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month of Jianyan six years.

Zhao Guan traveled through Hengshan, and saw that the flags on the left and right were densely packed, winding along the mountain road, but he felt emotional. Countless Dangxiang Fanbu, who used to plague the border, were now closely guarding him, but he stopped his horse and remained silent for a while.

"Does Guan have poetic inspiration?" Lu Benzhong asked curiously.

"Not so." Zhao Jiu withdrew his gaze from the red flag on the top of the mountain, shook his head and smiled. "I'm just thinking, have Yelu Dashi and Wanyan Wushu met in Houtao? And where is Li Qianxun? As for the rise and fall of the country, the magnificence of the mountains and rivers, and the breadth of the mood, let's endure it for a while, and it won't be too late to feel emotional after the overall situation is settled."

Lu Benzhong and Zheng Zhichang, the accompanying international friend, both pressed down the poems they had prepared in their hearts, and naturally flattered them repeatedly.

However, Zhao Jiu smiled again and said, "However, I have already thought of another thing... If Western Xia is pacified this time, a new circuit will inevitably be established in the Xingling area, and it will definitely be named Ningxia!"

Lu Benzhong, Zheng Zhichang, and others looked at each other in confusion... because this name was too simple and crude, and lacked elegance... Only since Guan had personally bestowed the name of the circuit, they naturally had to stroke their beards and nod in praise after looking at each other.

But Zhao Guan only smiled slightly when he heard the flattery, and then directly whipped his horse forward, taking the dragon banner out of the mountain and northward to Youzhou.

ps: Routine sacrifice, this time it's not a new book, it's the recommendation account, "Thirty-Six Strategies for the Great Book Famine", students who are interested can go and see, you should be able to find good books.

Then apologize, I had a brain cramp last night, someone sent a box of wine, I didn't know anything, and directly drank a whole bottle... I didn't feel anything at the time, and then I found that I couldn't control myself, and now I'm still dizzy when I get up.

Finally, I will post some illustrated diagrams of this battle drawn by book friends from the academy for the bonus chapter recently. I have already posted one before. This time, I will post a topographic map (this chapter is basically complete). Thank you to boss Zhuri Jinhen for the production. Thank you to the bosses for your hard work... It was originally my job.