The struggle of the reborn prince

Although Gao Chong fought with the emperor in the northwest for several years in his early years, he was transferred back to the Forbidden Army of the capital and left the Xiangyi army system. Series of battles against gold.Many years later, when the Jin army went south for the first time, he "escorted" the emperor to the Jinying as a hostage and participated in a battle against the Jurchens. It was considered a return, but the emperor did not despise Gao Chong because he "leaved" for many years After he ascended the throne, he was reactivated and given important tasks.

After Gao Chong came back, he was immediately sent to the south of the Yangtze River to suppress the bandits and reorganize the Forbidden Army. However, he also missed several wars against the Jin Dynasty launched by the Song Army during this period. The emperor awarded him a high position based on this merit, ranking second only to Zhao Ren and Zhao Yong, and he seemed to be the third figure in the Song army.In the face of the emperor's favor, although Gao Chong is a veteran of the founding of the army, he knows that it is difficult for a soldier to convince the public if he does not have outstanding military achievements, so he also feels that he lacks confidence when facing the old subordinates who have made great military achievements in the past.

Asking him to preside over the Western Expedition, Gao Chong understood that this was the emperor's opportunity to establish his position in the army and avoid his own embarrassment.But this is the first expedition to the Western Regions since the founding of the Song Dynasty. This battle is not only related to whether the Western Regions can be included in the territory of the Central Plains regime, but also involves the security of the Central Plains. It is difficult to secure the northwest, so the Western Regions are emphasized to protect the Northwest, and those who protect the Northwest consolidate the Central Plains to defend the capital. 'In a word, if the Western Regions are not stable, the security of the North will be in jeopardy, and the security of the entire country will also face the danger of collapse.

After Gao Chong was appointed to take full charge of the Western Expedition, he felt a heavy responsibility and was well aware of the difficulties he faced. Before leaving, Zhao Ren bluntly told him that the expedition to the Western Regions was "the most important task in the world."The most difficult thing in the world'.Among other things, the civil officials in the court alone are enough.If the march is slow, there will be various criticisms, and the hats of "holding the troops still" and "supporting the soldiers' self-respect" will fly in one after another.Although he has the emperor's trust, although it doesn't hurt him, it is enough to make people worry.

Gao Chong has been under tremendous invisible pressure since accepting this task, and there is also a lot of pressure in reality. He understands that what he actually fights in war is food and salary, especially in frontier fortress warfare. Sufficient military salary is the basic guarantee for marching into Gaochang.Fortunately, with the help of the emperor and his brothers, he allocated a special fund of 500 million yuan for this purpose, and Zhao Zhi, the Lianghe transshipment envoy, allocated a large amount of food and grass to him.Coupled with the support of Tangzhong's several caravans in the northwest, he was able to set up several supply stations on the marching route of the Western Expeditionary Army, so that he would not worry about these trivial matters of money and food, and could concentrate on fighting the enemy.

As for how to fight, Gao Chong already has a plan in his mind. With his research on the terrain of Gaochang area, coupled with the information brought back by the intelligence department and the caravan and the map of Gaochang drawn, he believes that Gaochang is divided into two parts by Tianshan Mountains, the north and the south. 'North can control South, but South cannot control North'.Based on this, he formulated the combat strategy of first going north and then going south, which was approved by the emperor and the imperial court. When they convened the armies of the Western Expedition to discuss specific combat issues, they decided on the strategy of "slow advance and quick battle".After the troops were dispatched, several fierce battles were fought in the north and south of the desert, clearing the periphery to frighten the surrounding ethnic groups and defeating the enemy's spirit.After these little tyrants are dealt with, go south to fight Gaochang.

After half a year of active preparations, in the spring of the 12th year of Xingguo.Gao Chong left Datong and marched westward.He took the desert brigade who is familiar with combat in the northwest region as the vanguard; the hunting cavalry brigade who is good at swimming and combat, and the two archers of Mughal and Wangu as the two wings; the two infantry brigades, the artillery brigade, the supply detachment and the direct subordinate team as the center With two dragon cavalry brigades and Khitan and Dangxiang archers as the rear army, the army with a total strength of [-] stepped into the Uighur road that has traveled for thousands of years.After more than two months of trekking.The Western Expeditionary Army crossed the Yinshan Mountains, crossed thousands of miles of uninhabited land in the desert, and arrived in Zhenzhou before the arrival of the wind and sand...

Zhenzhou was called Kedun City in ancient times, and was originally the hometown of the Uighurs. Tianbaozhong of the Tang Dynasty set up the Hengsai Army here, and moved the northern capital of Anbei to this place. After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, it was occupied by the Khitan and renamed Zhenzhou.After Jin destroyed Liao, in order to continue Liao Zuo, Yelu Dashi led a hundred riders here to gather various forces to resist Dajin's attack.At this time, the battle between the Great Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty broke out, and the Kingdom of Jin completely focused on the Song Dynasty. Yelu Dashi set out from Ketun City and defeated the troops of the Jin Dynasty twice.After Wu Qimai heard about it, he sent a general from the Liao Dynasty to attack Yelu Dashi, but failed to reach Ketun City for the first time, and was defeated for the second time.

Although he defeated the Jin army, Yelu Dashi realized that he could not stay here for a long time, and decided to go west to rebuild the Daliao from here. He wanted to wait for the national power to be strong before going east to the Jin country. After he left, the city of Ketun was quickly occupied by the Jin country.But then the Song and Jin countries continued to fight, and the Jin country was unable to continue to operate Mobei after repeated failures. It kept shrinking the defense line and only left the Khitan troops to garrison. The forces of the Jin country gradually withdrew from Mobei. The contention here is now controlled by the Tatars Beizhanbu.

The news that the Song Dynasty sent troops to the west was brought back to Gaochang by the caravan years ago, and Bi Lege was taken aback. He wanted to extort some benefits but unexpectedly caused a catastrophe.Facing the approaching army, Bi Lege knew that his small army would not be able to resist the "invasion" of the Song Dynasty, and of course he would not stand still. He sent envoys to contact the surrounding ministries to fight against the Song Dynasty together, and bribed the leader of the Beilu Bubu Department, Mo Shi'er asked him to block the road of the Great Song Dynasty's western expedition and keep the enemy out of the country.

Mo Shi'er had to do things after receiving money, and when he learned that the Song army had crossed the desert and was approaching Zhenzhou, he hurriedly dispatched troops to fight.There are two roads to go from Damo Zhenzhou: the road is flat, but it has to pass through the deserted Gobi for hundreds of miles, and the road is difficult; the other road is along the Tuwula River, with sufficient water, but it has to pass through the important town of Fangzhou. .Mo Shier deliberately released the news that Fangzhou City was heavily guarded, hoping that the Western Expeditionary Army would enter the Gobi on the main road, and he would lead the army to hide in the Gobi and wait for an opportunity to sneak attack, and annihilate the Western Expeditionary Army in the vast desert.

Gao Chong got the news through scouts and passing caravans, but he thought it was fraudulent, who would publicize his battle plan if he had nothing to do!So he used his plan, sent people to pretend to walk on the road, and sent the desert army to lie behind him.The actual army quietly walked to Fangzhou, attacked the city, and cut off the enemy's way back.Mo Shier led the army in the Gobi and was about to attack, but the Song army came to counterattack and suddenly killed him at the foot of Fangzhou City. When his troops were empty, he occupied Fangzhou City, and then faced the Zoubu army.

Under the attack of the Song army's sharp firearms, the Zoubu army was defeated in the first battle, and the Western Expeditionary Army took advantage of the momentum to pursue, and Moshi'er was defeated to the northwest.The soldiers of the Song Dynasty launched an attack near the city of Zhenzhou. They bombarded the city with artillery for two days and nights, blasted the city and entered the city, and wiped out more than [-] enemies at a very small cost.The next day, Gao Chong sent his army to drive forward, and went down to the two cities of Weizhou and Zhaozhou in a few days.After Mo Shier was defeated and left, he gathered all the troops and horses, and contacted the Damili and Yejuza tribes to send troops to reinforce, but before the assembly was completed, the three cities were lost, so they had to retreat to Wolu, where the Prince Zubu's mansion was located. Duocheng, at the same time sent troops to harass the Song army and attack the supply troops, hoping to make the Western Expeditionary Army overwhelmed by the disturbance and withdraw as soon as possible.

The Western Expeditionary Army came from a long distance and continued to be exhausted. Gao Chong ordered to rest here, and once again affirmed military discipline, strictly prohibiting killing and looting. As long as the various ministries attached to the enemy army give up resistance and sincerely submit, they will be treated leniently.Clothes and food shall be distributed to all those who are coerced to join the enemy during the battle and returned to their places of origin without any investigation.Since this place was once the former land of Khitan, and the Jurchens occupied it for a short time, they still have nostalgia for the old master.Gao Chong also ordered people to send the handwritten letter of the princess of Khitan and Shu to all ministries, advising them not to become enemies with Song Dynasty.

While implementing the Huairou policy, Gao Chong dispatched hunting cavalry brigades and tribal troops to attack the remnants of the enemy and attack the harassing enemy troops.Under the hard and soft actions of the Song army, some tribes no longer became enemies with the Song army. Gao Chong seized the opportunity to rest and reorganize, rewarded the subordinate tribes, appointed local officials, consolidated the newly occupied land, and turned this place into the logistics of his western expedition. supply base...

Woluduo City is the only way to go west, and its gains and losses are related to the overall situation, so it must be captured.After a month's rest, the Western Expeditionary Army sent troops again.In order to prevent the Song army from attacking the city, Mo Shier ordered to dig the Uguru River and destroy the bridges on the river.The rushing river flooded the main road and blocked the road to the west. Gao Chong could only suspend the march and send people to find the road. But at this time, someone took the initiative to guide the western expedition army and found the shoal of the Uguru River. The army was able to Crossed the river smoothly and surrounded Woluduo City.

It turned out that Mo Shier, the local emperor, was not popular. He relied on his military power to oppress the ethnic minorities, seized their pastures and fields, plundered their livestock and people, and monopolized foreign trade to collect heavy taxes, which attracted all ethnic groups to rule him brutally. He hates it deeply, just because they are weak and can't beat him.Now that there is strong support behind them, these tribes will attack them in groups, intending to use the power of the Song army to overthrow Moshier and get rid of the rule of the Zoubu tribe.Seeing the Song army crossing the Uguru River under the guidance of the traitor, although Mo Shier hated it, he was not stupid knowing that he was defeated by the Song army, and ordered all the troops to strictly guard the city and not go out to fight.

Woluduo City existed as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties. Although the owner changed a few times, no one gave up on repairing the city. After a thousand years, it has become a strong city with a tall and thick skin.Gao Chong and Zhao Li discussed that in the absence of heavy artillery support, a strong attack would inevitably lead to heavy casualties, but now it is difficult to replenish soldiers far away from the local area, that is one dead and one less, and the real battle has not yet begun, so it cannot be here Figure consumes strength.So the Song army just bombarded the city with artillery fire to scare the enemy, and they went around the city and continued westward.

Just when the army was about to retreat around the road, someone risked his life and sent a message from the city, saying that Mo Shier was terrified by the constant bombardment, was burning, killing and looting everywhere in the city, and was about to abandon the city and flee. The people in the city hoped that the army would attack quickly , to save the people from the fire and water... (to be continued...)