Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 722 Attack
After hearing Dai Zong's words, Zhao Zhen sighed, "I only hope that my father-in-law can hold on until spring."

"Your Majesty, there shouldn't be any problem. The weather will be bitterly cold in the coming days. The Chancellor can hold out while he is only defending the city, but the Liao army attacking the city will not be able to hold out."

"That's true. Before spring, whether marching or attacking a city, we can't protect our soldiers from harm. If there are any mistakes, the losses will be too great, and it will be a losing proposition."

"Commander Dai, you and Ma Ling should go back to Cao State again and bring back Brother Shi Qian and the others."

Dai Zong obeyed the order and, together with Ma Ling who had received the decree, went to the State of Cao.

In the Liang Kingdom's palace, Tong Jiaoxiu, having learned of her father Tong Guan's whereabouts, had it widely publicized. Meanwhile, Consort Xian, Fang Jinzhi, relying on a group of civil and military officials from Jiangnan, openly and subtly harassed Tong Jiaoxiu.

Back then, Tong Jiaoxiu was arrogant and looked down on everyone except Cheng Wan'er, which offended many people. Now that she knows her father commands an army of 100,000, she has become high-profile again.

That night, Zhao Zhen went to Chengqian Palace, where the small kitchen prepared several dishes of Kaifeng cuisine, which Zhao Zhen ate to his heart's content.

The braised soft-shelled turtle uses the [Yellow Soft-shelled Turtle] produced in Dingma Township, while the silver-threaded crucian carp uses the [Yellow River Fragrant Crucian Carp] produced in the Yellow River. This fish is also a spirit species; not only is it slightly larger in size and has tender flesh, but eating it can also increase agility. However, its quality is not high; it's useless if your agility exceeds 15 points.

Speaking of extravagance, Zhao Zhen's life underwent a dramatic transformation after the founding of the dynasty. Especially in terms of food, the most extravagant was not Tong Jiaoxiu, but Fang Jinzhi.

Despite Fang Jinzhi becoming a princess later in life, she was incredibly particular about these things, even making Zhao Zhen feel sorry for her.

These magical objects are extremely rare for ordinary people. But for Zhao Zhen, they were commonplace.

The imperial palace naturally didn't consume many of these spiritual items. Any surplus was placed under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Treasury's Bureau of Customs, with Zeng Ze, a eunuch captured by Zhang Qing, appointed as its judge. One of Zeng Ze's tasks was managing these spiritual items.

Besides supplying the royal family, most of the tribute sent to the palace was used to reward civil and military officials and meritorious soldiers.

Besides improving the physical condition of civil and military officials, the taste of the spirit objects alone was also very popular.

The [Trade Office] also sells small quantities of produced spiritual items through trading posts established in various locations. By selling these items at high prices, they can both recoup the costs of acquiring the spiritual items and satisfy the desires of some wealthy merchants and landowners.

This wasn't just the case in Liang; the allied states of Gao, Cao, and Lu were even worse.

However, no matter how perfect the system is, there are always loopholes that can be exploited.

Zhao Zhen was naturally well aware of this.

The spies sent out, once they discovered the crime, would, according to the severity of the offense, confiscate the family property and send the person to the mine, regardless of whether they were pardoned. In serious cases, the offender would die and his entire family would be sent to the mine.

Seeing Tong Jiaoxiu's enthusiasm, Zhao Zhen naturally wouldn't be disappointed.

Zhao Zhen made no mention of Tong Guan's situation, only indulging in romantic escapades with Tong Jiaoxiu.

The following day, Zhao Zhen summoned his civil and military officials to discuss matters concerning the world of the "Ten Prefectures of Liao and Song".

After some discussion, the group followed the plan and allocated provisions and troops to Qingzhou in advance, so as to avoid being caught off guard in the spring of the following year.

For this battle, Zhao Zhen even planned to personally lead the expedition.

Tong Guan's 100,000-strong army was no match for the Liao army, demonstrating the Liao army's fighting prowess. Zhao Zhen was unsure whether Gao State's defensive policy was correct; as things stood, apart from the coastal border east of the capital region, every part of Liang State's borders was embroiled in conflict.

Building fortified passes and strongholds may diminish the ambition for advancement, but it also prevents a major defeat that could lead to the destruction of the nation and the ruin of the family.

The Liang state's strategy was to steer the war towards the opposing state. Victory or defeat was indeed far more important than that of the Gao state.

However, without this approach, the Liang Kingdom would have no way to expand its territory.

As the days passed, the clash between the Liang Kingdom and the world of Zhao Gou of the Southern Song Dynasty finally came to an end.

Huainan East Circuit has ten prefectures: Yang, Bo, Su, Chu, Hai, Tai, Si, Chu, Zhen, and Tong. It also has two military districts: Gaoyou and Lianshui.

The current situation is that the Liang Kingdom occupies Haizhou, Chuzhou, Taizhou, Tongzhou, as well as Gaoyou Army and Lianshui Army, totaling four prefectures and two armies.

Kong Yanzhou, the military commander of Huainan East Road appointed by the puppet Qi regime, occupied the three prefectures of Bozhou, Suzhou, and Sizhou.

The three southernmost prefectures, Zhenzhou, Yangzhou, and Chuzhou, were in the hands of the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhenzhou and Yangzhou were guarded by Guo Zhongwei, who was loyal to the court. Although Chuzhou was nominally Song territory, it had long been controlled by the bandits Li Cheng, Zhang Yong, Cao Cheng, and Shang Yuan.

In this battle, the Huainan East Route, led by General Huyan Zhuo, also known as "Double Whip," commanded five generals: Han Cunbao, "Xihe General," Xuan Zan, "Ugly Prince Consort," Zhai Yuan, "Jinlin Dragon," Qiao Zheng, and Xu Ding, a former subordinate of Fang La from Jiangnan. The army numbered 15,000 and marched directly from Chuzhou into the neighboring Sizhou.

Liu Tang, the commander of the Huaiyang Army in the Jingji region, known as "Red-Haired Ghost," and Zhou Jin, the military supervisor, led 5,000 troops. Chao Gai, the commander of the Xuzhou Army, known as "Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King," led Peng Qi, known as "Heavenly Eye General," Han Tao, known as "Hundred-Victory General," and Chen Da, known as "Leaping Tiger," with 10,000 troops. They marched from the east and west, respectively, into Suzhou.

Pang Yi, Fu Yu, and Sheng Ben, the "Sai Lian Po" of Danzhou, led 5,000 troops, while Liang Heng, Bian Xi, and Li Cheng, the "Heavenly King" of Xingren Prefecture, also led 5,000 troops, and stormed into Yingtian Prefecture.

Xu Jing, also known as "Old Ape Xu," and Ou Peng, also known as "Golden Winged Cloud Movers," joined forces with Li Jun, Zhu Xiaoba, Yu Gui, and Shi Quan, all from Gaoyou, leading an army of 20,000, to invade Yangzhou, which was under the control of the Southern Song Dynasty.

In Huainan East Road, four armies marched out simultaneously, with no one thinking of defense, and they safely passed through October.

What gave everyone confidence, besides Liang's undefeated record, was Liang's logistics.

This year, Liang Kingdom planted large quantities of cold-weather crops such as red fire beans, fire spirit wheat, fire cotton, and cotton. Ji Xuan also purchased large quantities of fire spirit wheat and fire cotton cloth from the three allied countries.

Because Zhao Gou of the Southern Song Dynasty launched a war, these winter supplies were given priority to these border prefectures and counties.

All soldiers had at least cotton-padded clothes, and when marching and fighting, they carried roasted red beans and ate steamed buns made from fire spirit wheat.

Thanks to ample supplies for keeping warm, the various armies of Liang were not greatly affected. After a month of fighting, Xu Jing, the "Old Ape Xu," and Li Jun, the "River Dragon Hun," led the charge in Taizhou.

They split their forces into two groups and, in a single battle, stormed the unsuspecting Jiangdu. The 30,000 Song troops inside the city resisted for only one day before Li Jun breached the city walls, infiltrated the water gates, opened them, and led his troops into the city, capturing Guo Zhongwei.

With Guo Zhongwei in command, Xu Jing led two thousand cavalry, mules, and infantry, capturing the two counties of Yangzi and Liuhe without losing a single soldier.

The two armies from Taizhou and Gaoyou occupied three counties in Zhen and Yang prefectures in just ten days.

(End of this chapter)