Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 755: War breaks out again
The Liang Kingdom celebrated its great victory in the conquest of the Liao, Song, and Ten Kingdoms.

Next, besides handling state affairs, he would reward and promote meritorious generals and soldiers.

As for Tong Guan, Emperor Zhao Zhen, due to his status as a relative of the emperor, appointed him as Minister of War. He was in charge of military selection, maps, carriages, horses, armor and weapons, and participated in political affairs, but no longer commanded troops.

In Liangshan Prefecture, Zhao Zhen selected a large five-courtyard house and gave it to Tong Guan.

Five of Tong Guan's generals, Liu Guangshi, Wang Weizhong, Feng Mei, Wang Bing, and Duan Pengju, were also placed in positions of responsibility.

Liu Guangshi remained in Liangshan Prefecture as Military Commander.

Wang Weizhong was appointed Military Commander of Hejian Prefecture.

【General Flying Dragon】Feng Mei was appointed Military Commander of Laizhou. The original commander, Sha Zhiren, was transferred to Xiongzhou.

Wang Bing was appointed Military Supervisor of Chaozhou, Guangnan East Circuit.

Duan Pengju was appointed Military Commander of Jianzhou, Lunan, Fujian. The original Military Commanders, Xie Zhen ("Two-Headed Snake") and Xie Bao ("Double-Tailed Scorpion"), were transferred to Bazhou.

Youzhou was garrisoned by Zhang Qing and Gong Wang.
Tanzhou was guarded by Su Ding and Ding Desun.

Jizhou was garrisoned by Yang Xiong, the military commander of Chuzhou, also known as "Sick Guan Suo".

Lei Heng, the military commander of Fuzhou, was transferred to Mozhou.

Dong Ping, the military commander of Yanzhou and known as the "Double-Spear General," was transferred to Cangzhou.

Luan Tingfang, the military commander of Dengzhou, known as "Double-Swordsman," was stationed in Qingzhou.

Hu Yanchuo, the military commissioner of Laizhou, was transferred to Baoding Army.

Each prefecture was allocated 1,000 imperial guards according to its population, and 1,500 local imperial guards were recruited, totaling one army. Youzhou and Tanzhou each had 5,000 soldiers.

In addition, large camps were set up in Youzhou and Cangzhou, under the command of Zhang Qing and Dong Ping.

The allocation was completed three months later.

Meanwhile, other places were also busy. [Zhao Gou of the Southern Song Dynasty] was still not giving up and launched another invasion that bordered the Liang Kingdom.

As Zhao Zhen had hoped, he did not contend with Liu Yu, the puppet ruler of the Qi dynasty.

As for Liu Yu, his territory was already in chaos after the Mongol invasion, and the Liang Kingdom's annexation of Huainan East Road dealt a significant blow to the puppet Qi state. Therefore, he maintained restraint towards the Liang Kingdom.

Zhao Zhen, on the other hand, is also working hard to deal with the troubles brought about by the expansion of his territory.

On the positive side, because it was the Liang Kingdom that drove out the Mongol army and the rebel troops and bandits of the puppet Qi state, protecting the people of Huainan East Road, the people here were of one mind and highly approved of the Liang Kingdom.

Within six months, all the Song Dynasty officials who had fled here had chosen to take up official positions.

More than a thousand civil and military officials were sent from Huainan East Road to Liangshan Prefecture. Half of them were assigned to local prefectures, while the rest were given their original duties, assessed, and either promoted or transferred to other positions to serve in the Liang Kingdom's court.

The Liang Kingdom today has a considerable number of officials. In addition, with the establishment of official schools in various regions to train scholars and military men, there is a sufficient reserve of talent.

During this period, war broke out with the Dali Kingdom, with both sides tacitly agreeing to fight.

The two commanders, Guan Sheng (the Great Swordsman) and Xiahou Cheng (the Military Supervisor), led 5,000 Imperial Guards and ten tribes of barbarian troops to attack Shanshan Prefecture from Shicheng Prefecture.

The two commanders of Ningzhou, Xing Zheng and Li Fengshan, led 3,000 imperial guards and 12,000 able-bodied men of barbarian and Han ethnicity, and attacked Xiushan County.

The military commander of Dongchuan Prefecture, Shan Tinggui, also known as the "Holy Water General," and his deputy, Fan Chenglong, also known as the "Double-Tailed Fox," led 2500 imperial guards and 10,000 barbarian and Han Chinese troops to invade Weichu Prefecture.

The three armies each advanced along their pre-arranged routes.

Although equipped with a large number of mules and horses, and with the help of tribal guides to clear the way, the Liang army's progress was greatly limited by the mountainous terrain. Only Guan Sheng's army advanced swiftly, capturing the entire Shanshan Prefecture within a month.

The other two armies, Xing Zheng and Li Fengshan on the southern route, only managed to capture five nearby tribes: Xi'e, Nalou, Tierongdian, Qixi, and Abo.

The troops of Shan Tinggui and Ren Sen on the northern route captured the Luowu, Huazhu and Luo tribes of Weichu Prefecture, and the prefectural capital of Weichu Prefecture, Chuxiong.

The battle progressed smoothly. In addition to the Liang Kingdom's elite troops being well-prepared, the Dali Kingdom's ruler Duan Zhengyan and prime minister Gao Liangcheng also launched an attack on the Thirty-Seven Tribes, resulting in the elite troops of the Thirty-Seven Tribes concentrating on the border between the Dali capital and Weichu Prefecture.

With the capture of Chuxiong by Shan Tinggui and Ren Sen's troops, news of the tribe's occupation had spread throughout the tribal coalition.

With the end of the one-month period, the two worlds separated, and Guan Sheng and the others were working hard to digest the results of their battle.

The army conscripted elite troops from various tribes and mixed with other tribes. In addition, the court sent a large number of officials and a large number of people were relocated from Hebei East Road. By the time Duan Zhengyan launched another invasion, the tribes that had been occupied by Liang had already been controlled by Liang.

The Khitan people who came from Hebei East Road, after entering Dali, could only rely on the Liang Kingdom government because of their language and customs.

These men were mostly skilled archers and horsemen, numbering around a hundred per unit, and lived among the local barbarians. They firmly suppressed these few strong and capable barbarian tribesmen.

Despite the ceasefire, the Dali Kingdom was bustling with activity this month.

Because their territory was occupied and they were separated from the Liang Kingdom, these tribes, having lost their families and homes, grew stronger and more resentful of the Dali Kingdom.

The tribes that had not yet lost their ancestral lands were worried about something happening to their tribes and planned to return to their ancestral lands.

The allied forces of the tribes thus collapsed.

Gao Liangcheng seized the opportunity to send troops out and defeated the tribal coalition army of thirty li in one battle. In an instant, Gao Liangcheng's reputation soared.

They led their troops south to pursue the allied forces of the tribes and barbarians.

Duan Zhengyan was also pleased with this outcome.

Once the truce was over, Duan Zhengyan immediately launched another war.

At this time, Gao Liangcheng was winning battle after battle and was completely unaware that the Liang Kingdom was about to launch an invasion.

Xing Zheng and Li Fengshan, leading the southern route, conscripted able-bodied men from five tribes—Xi'e, Nalou, Tierongdian, Qixi, and Abo—to serve as the vanguard and continue southward.

[Big Sword] Guan Sheng also conscripted able-bodied men from the barbarian tribes as the vanguard, and attacked Weichu Prefecture from Shanchan Prefecture.

Shan Tinggui and Ren Sen launched an attack from Chuxiong, sweeping away various tribes.

The barbarian tribes, scattered and routed by the large numbers, were no match for the Liang army. Barbarian tribes surrendered without a fight everywhere.

The army moved swiftly and soon caught up with Gao Liangcheng, who was fighting against the barbarians.

Seeing the Liang army appearing behind him, Gao Liangcheng exclaimed in alarm, "The Liang Kingdom is cutting off our retreat at this critical moment! What should we do?"

Cousin Gao Shunzhen said, "Prime Minister, give me an army, and I will drive back the Liang army for you."

"The Liang army is extremely elite, and even the barbarian tribes are no match for them. You must be careful. If you can hold off the Liang army for three days, I will defeat the combined forces of the barbarians and then turn around and fight the Liang army."

Gao Shunzhen nodded and said, "Prime Minister, rest assured, I will not fight recklessly on this trip."

"Alright, I'll give you ten thousand soldiers."

Gao Shunzhen led his troops in retreat, and Gao Liangcheng said to his generals, "Gentlemen, the allied forces of the tribes are no longer a concern. Defeating them is just around the corner. Generals, join forces and advance. After a great victory, I will certainly not be stingy with rewards."

(End of this chapter)