Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 410: Situation in Hehuang

"What? Do you think the success of gunpowder is worth the death of so many people?" Zhao Xing said coldly.

"I dare not!" Cao Mian said quickly.

In fact, he really thought so in his heart. He had seen the power of gunpowder. The hundreds of people who died were nothing more than some craftsmen and soldiers.

With gunpowder, any dangerous city can be easily destroyed.

The Liao Kingdom was difficult to deal with, because of its cities and cavalry.

With the city there, it was difficult for the Song Dynasty to capture it in a very short time, and the Liao Kingdom had a large number of cavalry and could provide support very quickly.

But with gunpowder, the city could not hinder the Song Dynasty's troops, and gunpowder was also effective against cavalry.

If there was enough gunpowder like the explosion this time, a big hole could have been blown out, and the cavalry would not have been able to fly.

Not to mention the death of hundreds of people, even if thousands or tens of thousands of people died, it would be worth it in his opinion.

But seeing that Zhao Xing was angry, he naturally didn't dare to say it out loud.

"Humph!"

Zhao Xing snorted coldly and said, "This accident shows that the gunpowder was originally successful, but there were problems in other aspects. The deaths could have been avoided."

Zhao Xing also knew that sometimes some necessary sacrifices were unavoidable.

What made him most angry was that this sacrifice was not necessary, and most of the people who studied gunpowder died.

Then you have to start all over again.

Cao Mian lowered his head and dared not even breathe.

"I am also responsible for this incident. Provide pensions to the craftsmen and soldiers who died, and move the Firearms Supervisory Office farther away from Bian Jing. Also, do not limit the number of gunpowder experiments that craftsmen can use in the future, but make sure safety is ensured!" Zhao Xing said.

"Yes!" Cao Mian breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that.

"Go down!"

After sending Cao Mian away, Zhao Xing began to ponder.

Although this accident made him feel a little uncomfortable, as Cao Mian said, the gunpowder was successful.

This success does not mean that there is no need for further research, but that gunpowder can already be used on the battlefield.

However, Zhao Xing was not in a hurry. Gunpowder alone was not enough to deal with the Liao Kingdom, and this was not the opportunity to take action against the Liao Kingdom.

After the Great Wall is built and Western Xia is eliminated, it will be time to launch military action against the Liao Kingdom.

However, the civil unrest in Liao is now showing signs of subsiding. Once it is truly quelled, the construction of the Great Wall will inevitably be hindered.

"I hope that the British public sending troops can play a role."

Yelu Chongyuan fled to the grassland, and it was difficult for Zhao Xing to provide help.

We can only pray that the British Duke's military action will be effective.

…………

Because there was no subsequent shock, people's hearts gradually calmed down.

News came from Dong Jian that he agreed to move his entire family to Hehuang.

But migration is not a trivial matter, and it is snowing on the plateau now, and the Western Xia troops are eyeing us covetously.

Once discovered by Western Xia, sending troops during the migration would inevitably result in heavy losses or even the risk of destruction.

After Zhao Xing consulted with Han Zhang, he wrote a reply letter to Dong Zhan and sent another letter to Gu Tingye in Hehuang.

…………

河湟
On the outskirts of Hezhou, inside the Song army camp.

Gu Tingye looked at the map and said, "If the Tubo people had not disobeyed my advice and suffered a great defeat, there would be a great chance that we could successfully defeat the Qiang people and persuade them to surrender!"

"Alas." Wang Shao sighed, "After several consecutive victories, Tubo has been carried away by the wind."

"These people are not stupid at all when it comes to guarding against the Song Dynasty. If they hadn't forbidden reinforcements from entering Hehuang, there wouldn't be so much trouble." Gu Tingye said hatefully.

The imperial court sent reinforcements, but the Tibetan tribes felt that it was not difficult to deal with the Qiang people now, and were unwilling to let the Song army enter Hehuang.

Gu Tingye had less than 30,000 soldiers and horses. After the last sneak attack, the Qiang tribe was very wary of the Song Dynasty troops led by Gu Tingye.

The other side were all cavalry, and with them so alert, Gu Tingye couldn't do anything to them.

At first, Tubo listened to Gu Tingye's advice. Later, when Tubo saw that the Qiang people were defeated and lost many cities, their self-confidence swelled and they became less and less willing to listen to Gu Tingye's advice.

"Zhong Huai, I think the leader of the western part of Ge is very problematic. He has been trying to sow discord between Tubo and the Song Dynasty for some time." Wang Shao said.

"This person is either planning something or has secretly defected to Western Xia. He wants to force us to withdraw." Gu Tingye sneered.

"General!"

Sheng Changwu said: "Why bother? The pass leading to Hehuang is in our hands. If we force our troops to enter Hehuang, will Tubo dare to turn against us?"

"It's not to the point of falling out, but without winning over the Qiang people, even if we forcibly transfer troops into Hehuang, this amount of troops will not be able to completely control Hehuang in a short period of time. By then, Western Xia will inevitably intervene. Tubo will also lean towards Western Xia because of our forced transfer of troops, which will be even more disadvantageous." Gu Tingye shook his head.

If there was no Western Xia, Gu Tingye would not care whether Tubo agreed or not and would have forcibly mobilized troops long ago.

Even though Tubo and Qiang had experienced a series of major battles, the two sides still had a total of more than 100,000 soldiers and horses.

If the 30,000 additional troops sent by the court were transferred to Hehuang, he would be able to use 60,000 troops to destroy the Tubo and Qiang people in Hehuang.

The problem is that with the Western Xia nearby, he cannot do this, otherwise it would be tantamount to forcing Tubo and Qiang to surrender to the Western Xia.

Xixia is the reason why Gu Tingye is in a dilemma at this moment.

If the Tibetan tribes had listened to him, there would be a great possibility that the Qiang people would be won over after experiencing another major defeat.

Then he could unite with the Qiang people to destroy Tubo.

But after several victories, the Tibetan tribes were overconfident, and with someone instigating them, they simply did not listen to him.

Instead, it gave the Qiang people a great victory and a chance to catch their breath.

At this time, the Qiang people were definitely unwilling to surrender.

"Report!"

At this moment, a soldier ran in and saluted, saying, "General, an angel from Bianjing has come to convey a message!"

"Where are the angels?" Gu Tingye asked hurriedly.

"The angels are about to arrive at the camp!" the soldier replied.

Upon hearing this, Gu Tingye hurriedly took Wang Shao and others to the outside of the camp to greet them.

After waiting outside the camp for a while, I saw a group of about a hundred cavalrymen coming from afar.

When the cavalry came closer, Gu Tingye recognized the armor on the cavalry and found that they were the imperial guards of the Palace Front Department.

"Welcome the angel!" Gu Tingye led everyone to bow.

The leading general dismounted and said in return, "General Gu has misunderstood. I am only a commander of the Palace Front Division. I was ordered to deliver a letter to General Gu. I am not an angel!"

Because they needed to go deeper into Hehuang, Zhao Xing did not send a eunuch, but instead ordered a commander from the Palace Front Department to deliver the letter.

Upon hearing this, Gu Tingye knew that it was not an official imperial decree, but he still politely invited the person into the camp.

After receiving the letter, Gu Tingye asked Yuan Wenshao to provide a good reception, and returned to the central army camp with Wang Shao and others.

Gu Tingye first bowed towards the direction of Bian Jing, then opened the letter and began to read.

"Zhonghuai, what did His Majesty say in the letter?" Wang Shao asked hurriedly when he saw Gu Tingye finished reading the letter.

"Zichun, take a look!" Gu Tingye handed the letter to Wang Shao.

(End of this chapter)