Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 738

Apart from the soldiers and provisions that had been transferred to Qingzhou before the New Year, the remaining troops escorted Zhao Zhen northward from Liangshan.

In addition to the soldiers, Wu Yong and Liu Huiniang, two military advisors, also accompanied them.

As for handling government affairs, routine matters were left to Yang Shi, Bao Shuya, Hu Anguo, Zhu Wu, Ji Qingwan, and others.

Important matters were communicated via carrier pigeons and through the three fast-moving individuals: Dai Zong (the "Divine Traveler"), Li San (the "Pioneer"), and Wu Neng (the "Flying Yellow").

【Divine Steed】Ma Ling, 【Swift Legs】Liu Tong, and 【Jade Dragon】Xu Jin led a 1,000-man reconnaissance battalion to accompany Zhao Zhen on his expedition to investigate enemy positions.

Three battalions of elite cavalry, 1,000 imperial guards, 3,000 Mo Dao soldiers, two imperial guards, 10,000 Shenji soldiers, and 5,000 chariot soldiers who rarely went into battle, all driving 200 Thunder Chariots. Finally, three battalions of Taoist soldiers—the Bumblebee Divine Soldiers, the Red Scorpion Divine Soldiers, and the Flying Heaven Divine Soldiers—led the army out of Liangshan County in a grand procession.

In addition to the 8,000 infantrymen from the Wuwei, Xuanwei, and Guoyi battalions who had been pre-assigned to Qingzhou, the 10,000 archers, the 10,000 personal guards, and the 15,000 Qingzhou imperial guards, the total number of troops stationed on the Qingzhou border was nearly 90,000.

The generals commanding the troops are: Shi Wengong (White Horse Silver Spear), Shi Bao (General of Nanli), Sun Xin (Little Yuchi), Su Yi (Peach Blossom Boy), Jin Zhuang (Flowery Arms), Zhang Qing (Featherless Arrow), Su Ding (Double Swords), Gong Wang (Flowery-Necked Tiger), Ding Desun (Arrow-Struck Tiger), Wang Lin (Black Second Brother), Wang Tianba (Sai ​​Cunxiao), Tang Bin (Mountain-Pulling Warrior), Nie Gong (Mountain-Splitting Warrior), Yang Tengjiao (Burnt-Faced Leopard), Wen Zhongrong (Mountain-Shaking Warrior), Cui Ye (Mountain-Moving Warrior), Lu Zhishen (Flowery Monk), Wu Song (Tiger-Taming Grand Duke), Shi Yong (Stone General), Yan Liu (Tiger Claw), and Guang Hui (Blood-Headed Monk). The following are the leaders of the group: [Precious Light Tathagata] Deng Yuanjue, [Life-Taking Ghost] Wang Feibao, [Nameless] Han Bolong, [Desperate Saburo] Shi Xiu, [Little Yang Youji] Pang Wanchun, [Tiger-Shooting Warrior] Lei Jiong, [Bear-Shooting Warrior] Ji Ji, [Thunderbolt] Ling Zhen, [Iron Fan] Gao Ang, [World-Disrupting Demon King] Fan Rui, [Azure Dragon God] Yan Guang, [White Tiger God] Tian Ba, [Vermilion Bird God] Dong Kai, [Black Tortoise God] Yu Zhiwang, [Sky-Supporting God] Shen Gang, [Giant Spirit God] Shen Ze, [Meng Ben] Yan Shude, [Death God] Bao Xu, [Faceless] Jiao Ting, [White Butterfly] Lu Congshuang, [Horse-Riding Beauty] Tu Qiao, totaling nearly fifty people.

All the officers in charge of the tent, including the generals, squad leaders, ten generals, guards, commanders, and military officers, led their troops and horses. The three armies, large and small, advanced together, each following their own troops, in a very orderly manner.

With preparations complete, Zhao Zhen of Liang Kingdom led his army in a grand procession towards Qingzhou Prefecture.

As for Liang's enemy state, the world of Song under Emperor Huizong (Zhao Huan), the retired emperor Zhao Ji was unwilling to manage affairs and spent his days indulging in pleasure at Genyue.

The new emperor Zhao Huan wanted to govern diligently, but unfortunately, after ascending the throne, he was invaded and attacked several times in succession, with more defeats than victories. In addition, with Cai Jing, Wang Fu, Liang Shicheng and others advocating stability in the court, the matter of launching invasions and expanding territory was slowed down.

Especially after hearing that his younger brother Zhao Gou's world—the Southern Song Dynasty—was not only plagued by rebellions but also invaded by the Jin and Liang dynasties, resulting in the loss of much land and people, and that large swathes of land were now occupied by the puppet state of Qi, supported by the Jin, Zhao Huan was even more unwilling to start a war.

The only thing they're doing is contacting the [Sichuan-Shaanxi Army] world and preparing to merge it into it.

However, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the worlds of the Sichuan and Shaanxi armies and the Western Xia under Li Qianshun are locked in a fierce and protracted war. The matter of merging them cannot be decided in the short term.

Then there's the world of [Dali Xuanren Miaoxiang Kingdom]. After Duan Zhengyan saw off Mu Wanqing and the other two, he made a point of currying favor with Gao Mei, showing a tendency to be close to the Gao clan.

In order to lull Prime Minister Gao Liangcheng into a false sense of security, Duan Zhengyan also began to practice Buddhism and went to Chongsheng Temple many times to listen to sutras.

Because of this, Gao Mei also sought out Gao Liangcheng, asking him to persuade Duan Zhengyan to focus on national affairs.

Gao Liangcheng listened but didn't take it to heart at all.

Gao Liangcheng's current demands, besides taking control of the Dali Kingdom's government, are to eliminate the thirty-seven barbarian tribes that are prone to rebellion.

Duan Zhengyan's devotion to Buddhism was entirely beneficial to Gao Liangcheng.

Furthermore, when Duan Zhengyan wanted to postpone the war with the Liang Kingdom under the pretext of practicing Buddhism, Gao Liangcheng readily agreed. Taking advantage of Duan Zhengyan's desire to practice Buddhism, Gao Liangcheng also intended to consolidate the remaining nobles of the Dali Kingdom.

Other smaller forces, such as the Yellow Turban Rebellion world, the White Lotus Sect world, the Wang Huang Grass Army world, and the Red Coat Army world, operate with no discernible pattern, except for Yang Anguo of the Red Coat Army, who still seeks revenge.

When Zhao Zhen led his troops out to war, other border regions had also issued orders in advance that if they were invaded, their own safety should be the top priority.

The next focus should be on the ten prefectures of the Liao and Song dynasties.

If they could occupy all of them, they would not only gain the land and population of ten prefectures, but also send Tong Guan's nearly 100,000 imperial guards to Dali Prefecture to wage war against the Dali Kingdom.

It's not about wasting this force, but about separating it from the Liang Kingdom and integrating it into their ranks.

In addition, with the upcoming war with the Dali Kingdom, the troops were dispersed to Dali Prefecture early on, occupying large tracts of Dali Kingdom's land, which will come in handy.

Therefore, after the weather warmed up, Zhao Zhen ordered Huainan East Road to send the women looted by Kong Yanzhou's troops to Qizhou by waterway.

The most handsome and the sons of officials had already been sent to Liangshang for resettlement. As for the rest, Zhao Zhen planned to assign them to the Song imperial guards in the ten prefectures of Liao and Song.

Except for the most elite unit, the rest of the soldiers will retire and settle down in Dali Prefecture.

In this way, the thirty-seven tribes that had been disrupted no longer had an advantage, and there was no need to worry about them rebelling.

Entering April, Zhao Zhen, who had already rested in Qingzhou, finally received the notification that the Liao, Song and Ten Kingdoms were bordering each other.

Since the two countries share a border, Zhao Zhen immediately dispatched a reconnaissance team to cross the border and enter the world of the Liao-Song Ten Prefectures.

Ma Ling, Liu Tong, and Xu Jin stepped forward personally.

Within two hours, the three of them slowly returned.

Zhao Zhen originally thought that Qingzhou Prefecture was bordered by Youzhou, which was occupied by the Liao Kingdom. However, after the scouts returned, they discovered that it was actually bordered by Cangzhou, the southernmost prefecture of the Song Kingdom.

Ma Ling was the fastest, but the slowest to return; however, the news he brought back was also the most complete.

Not far from the border lies Wudi County, where a battalion of Song troops is stationed. After infiltrating Wudi County, Ma Ling learned that Tong Guan was leading a large army in a standoff with the Liao army in Hejian Prefecture.

Mozhou and Xiongzhou were captured by the Liao army before the New Year.

Tong Shumi suffered heavy losses, with 30,000 imperial guards either killed or captured. Bi Sheng was killed, and Chen Zhu's whereabouts remain unknown.

(End of this chapter)