Jiuxi

Chapter 1031 1029 [Iron Blood Division]

Shandong Road was lost!
Qingyuan Road was lost!
The Qi army headed straight for Hebei Road, and the vanguard army was less than 300 miles away from Dadu!
From early September to mid-November, in just over two months, the Qi army's offensive was almost unstoppable.

One piece of bad news after another was reported back to Dadu. The Jing army, which had once been invincible and looked down upon the world, was now in an extremely miserable state. The Jinglian people, who had once looked down upon the world and thought themselves superior, all lost their parents.

The most difficult problem for the Jing army is that they can't find a way to counter the fierce offensive of the Qi army.

At first, Miegudi and Shanyang followed Qing Yu Huaijin's instructions and held the cities on Shandong Road and Qingyuan Road, thinking that this would effectively slow down the advance of the Qi army. However, when the giant artillery equipped by the Qi army roared, the city that had been extremely strong for thousands of years became extremely fragile.

The Qi army's tactics seemed simple and clumsy, but they were able to use the advantages of firearms to directly penetrate the Jing army's city defenses while minimizing their own losses.

This generation gap is enough to deal a devastating blow to the morale of the Jing army.

As long as the city defense is broken, the Jing army will face a mixed offensive from the Qi army. They will use the Modao army to protect the musketeers and advance in an orderly manner, followed by a large number of elite infantry to clear the battlefield.

At this moment, the Jing army, which was still using cold weapons, could not stop the attack of the Qi army by relying solely on its courage.

Miegudi, Shanyang and others had thought of other strategies. They had also tried to fight in the wild, trying to use the high mobility of the Jing army's cavalry to divide the battlefield and defeat the few with the many.

For example, from October 13th to 16th, the Battle of Huazhou took place in the northwest of Shandong Road. Shanyang mobilized more than 50,000 elite troops, and 20,000 light cavalry sent by Miegudi for support, intending to recreate the Battle of Kaocheng in the eastern suburbs of Huazhou.

In this battle, the Qi army only had the Fengfu Army and the Guangling Army, plus the 5,000 cavalry of the Dingbei Army cruising on the flanks for protection, a total of only more than 40,000 people. Facing an enemy that was nearly twice their number, they showed no fear and fought a perfect counter-encirclement battle.

The giant artillery moves slowly and can basically not pose an effective threat to the Jing army cavalry. However, Lu Chen had asked the Firearms Bureau to research three different types of artillery three years ago. In addition to the General Cannon that is specifically responsible for breaking through the city barriers, there is also an improved version of the Pojun Cannon that is easy to carry and operate, as well as the Mielu Cannon with medium range and power. The latter two can exert extremely fierce lethality in field battles.

In the Battle of Huazhou, Jing's army was defeated.

After this battle, the Jing army no longer had the courage and determination to resist the Qi army. They could only symbolically defend the city passes and then retreat step by step under the Qi army's fierce offensive.

After taking over Shandong Road and Qingyuan Road, Lu Chen slowed down his pace slightly.

He had long anticipated the successive victories on the battlefield. For the overall goal, defeating the Jing army was only a small part of the task.

How to incorporate these conquered territories into the territory of Da Qi is the issue that Lu Chen cares most about.

Therefore, while the Qi army was advancing triumphantly, officials led by Yao Chong, Huang Xianfeng, Zhan Hui and others crossed the river to the north with a large group of capable officials to establish government systems at all levels in the territory occupied by the Qi army. On the one hand, they implemented benevolent policies to appease the people's hearts, and on the other hand, in accordance with the new policy plans set by the court, they carried out some basic preparations on the spot.

Conquer one place, pacify one place, and subdue one place. Compared with his previous focus on battlefield planning, Lu Chen now plays a more overall role.

In mid-November, on a cold and windy afternoon, a group of more than a thousand riders arrived in Cuiping County, Kangyuan Prefecture, Shandong Road.

The northern land in winter is barren and bleak wherever you look, especially in such desolate places, which adds to the endless sense of desolation.

Lu Chen looked at the dilapidated and deserted village in the distance and said to the respectful old man beside him: "Now I'm afraid many people have forgotten that this was once Liangzhou of Da Qi."

The old man's name is Yao Kai, and he is a highly respected scholar in Cuiping County.

He experienced almost all the changes on the north bank of the Jing River in his life, from the frequent harassment by the Jinglian people on the south when he was a child, to the fact that later the Great Qi was forced to abandon the north bank of the Jing River due to the lack of national strength, and the entire Liangzhou territory was gradually eroded and occupied by the Jinglian people. Later, when Yang Guangyuan died unjustly, the Jing army marched south in large numbers, and Liangzhou became Shandong Road under the rule of the Jing State, and it has not seen the light of day for more than 20 years.

Hearing Lu Chen's sigh, Yao Kai burst into tears and said in a trembling voice: "Fortunately, Da Qi still has princes and generals. Fortunately, there are still people who remember that this was once the territory of Da Qi, and remember that we are the people of Da Qi. In the past few decades, the Jinglian people have regarded us Qi people as slaves. They have bullied, ravaged and exploited us in every possible way. They even forbade us to talk about anything related to Da Qi, just to erase the memory in the blood of Qi people and make us willing to be their slaves."

The generals and officials heading north standing on the side were all silent and thoughtful.

Yao Kai looked at Lu Chen, who was over thirty years old, knelt down, kowtowed and said: "I dare to thank the prince for his grace on behalf of the people of Liangzhou of the Great Qi Dynasty."

Lu Chen quickly helped the old man up and sighed, "Father, there is no need to do this. After all, we are still late."

"It's good that you can come. It's not too late, not too late at all."

Yao Kai was filled with admiration. Lu Chen looked into the distance and asked, "Father, that should be Dujia Village, right?"

Although Yao Kai could be called a living fossil of Cuiping County's history, he still concentrated on thinking for a long time before nodding and saying, "Your Highness is right. That is Dujia Village, but... Alas."

The group then set off.

The so-called village is now only left with a pile of broken walls and some desolate traces.

As Yao Kai found the fragments of his memory and told everyone the history of Dujia Village, they finally understood what the ruins before them meant.

"That was probably around the Dingning Period of the Great Qi Dynasty. I am ashamed to not remember the exact year, after all, it was nearly forty years ago. Because the imperial court was unable to take care of the north bank of the Jing River, the entire Liangzhou was gradually occupied by the Jinglian people. At the beginning, those Jinglian soldiers didn't care about the lives of the Qi people at all, and massacres happened from time to time. Dujia Village... was somewhat famous in Cuiping County at that time, because this small village with only a few hundred people actually produced a scholar. I still remember that his name was Du An."

Yao Kai said sadly: "Although Du An is a scholar, he is very loyal. It was because he refused to work for the Jinglian people that the Jing army generals became angry and sent troops to massacre the entire Dujia Village. Hundreds of villagers died under the Jing army's butcher knives."

Looking at the abandoned village in front of them, everyone frowned.

Yao Kai said with a sigh: "This really cannot be blamed on Du An, because at that time no one could have imagined that the Jing army would be so brutal. Not only was Dujia Village massacred for no reason, but at least 40,000 to 50,000 people in Cuiping County were massacred by the Jinglian people."

"Two years ago, I went to another Dujia Village."

Lu Chen took over the conversation and briefly told the story of Du Wang and Du Ni'er, a grandfather and granddaughter.

Civil officials such as Yao Chong and Zhan Hui seemed to be thinking about something, while generals such as Li Chengen, Ye Jitang, Liu Yin and Song Shifei were filled with indignation.

"Perhaps you don't quite understand why I suddenly feel like taking you for a walk in this desolate place. That's because I never dare to forget a true hero."

Lu Chen brought the topic back to the topic again, and then said earnestly: "Just now, Mr. Yao mentioned the tragedy of Du An and the entire Dujia Village, but he probably didn't know that on the day when the Jing army's butcher knife fell, a nine-year-old child from Dujia Village survived. He suffered all kinds of hardships in the world, struggled to grow up, and went to the capital of Jing State through hardships, where he found a foothold. He never dared to forget the blood feud he carried, and finally gained the trust of the prince of Jing State, at the cost of his own life, he delivered a fatal blow to the ambitious emperor of Jing State."

The story of the scholar was told by Lu Chen, and everyone was filled with mixed emotions. They felt sorry for the scholar's fate, but also admired his unswerving determination for 32 years.

Lu Chen looked at the ruins in front of him and said slowly, "He is Du An's son, named Du Weizheng, courtesy name Buyi. Before he used his body as a blade to stab Emperor Jing, he asked his only loyal servant to bring a handwritten letter south and hand it to me. The moment I saw the letter, I secretly made up my mind to destroy the Kingdom of Jing and bring the remains of the hero back to his homeland for burial."

The generals immediately clasped their hands and said, "We will not return until we destroy Jing Kingdom!"

At this point, they already understood why Lu Chen took advantage of this rare half-day of free time to bring them here for a walk.

Lu Chen was quite satisfied with their statements, but he still said solemnly: "The war has been going smoothly in the past two months, and our army has been almost invincible all the way, but what followed was the gradual rise of impetuousness and arrogance in the army. Song Shifei, did you know that your lieutenant Qiu Yang took possession of a civilian woman and indulged in wine and sex after leading his troops to capture Panku City?"

Song Shifei, who was always straightforward and frank, immediately broke out in a sweat and bowed in panic, saying, "Your Majesty, I really didn't know about it, but as a general in charge of the troops, I should take responsibility for such bad behavior under my command!"

"You will receive twenty military sticks in a moment, and keep the remaining sixty sticks in mind for now. If you cannot control those arrogant and fierce soldiers below, I will do it myself!"

Lu Chen didn't say anything harsh, but Song Shifei was already soaked in sweat.

After beating up all the generals one by one, Lu Chen said in a cold voice: "I have said long ago that sacrificing one's life for the country and gaining promotion are not in conflict. You risked your lives on the battlefield, so I will naturally reward you accordingly. But you should remember that as a soldier of the Great Qi, you must understand why you are fighting, and you must also understand the meaning of the four words "people-oriented". Otherwise, no matter what position you hold or how many contributions you have made, I guarantee that you will regret coming into this world."

"Follow the prince's instructions!"

All the generals saluted respectfully and in an orderly manner.

Lu Chen nodded slightly, then turned to look at the vast sky in the north.

After the army is organized, it is time for the decisive battle.

(End of this chapter)