Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 501 Mutation
"Zhong Huai!"

Wang Shao was silent for a while and said, "Although your plan is audacious, it does have the potential to succeed. But doing so is tantamount to actively provoking a war between Song and Xia. The most important thing is, have you thought about a way out?"

Today, Western Xia and the Song Dynasty are still allies in name, and Western Xia has never attacked the Song Dynasty.

Although there is a possibility later, it is just a possibility.

By doing this, Gu Tingye took the initiative to provoke a war. Regardless of whether he succeeds or not, he will have to face the criticism from the civil servants.

Putting all this aside, Gu Tingye would be alone and deep in the enemy's territory. Regardless of whether his sneak attack was successful or not, he would face encirclement and suppression from the Western Xia army.

"Instead of waiting for Xixia to take the initiative to invade the border, it is better to take the initiative to attack. I believe that His Majesty will agree with my plan if he knows about it. As long as His Majesty agrees, I will be fine."

Gu Tingye smiled and said, "As for the retreat route, I have certainly considered it. The plateau is now deserted, Xixia lacks military strength, and has no troops left on the plateau. Regardless of success or failure, I will take the plateau and then enter the Song Dynasty through Shu."

The only difficulty of the plateau is altitude sickness. Of course, there was no such term as altitude sickness at that time.

In ancient times, altitude sickness was called malaria.

However, after years of exploration, we have found that the problem is not a big deal as long as we don't go too deep.

Gu Tingye is going to Shu from there and will not go deep into the area, so there is no need to worry about this problem.

"Have you decided?" Wang Shao asked.

"It's decided!" Gu Tingye nodded firmly.

Wang Shao sighed. According to the old tradition, when there was a conflict between him as the military supervisor and Gu Tingye as the commander, his opinion should prevail.

But when Zhao Xing sent them, he had a conversation with Rang, hinting that he should follow Gu Tingye's orders.

The two have been partners for so long that he has already figured out Gu Tingye's personality.

Normally, Gu Tingye would listen to advice, but once he made up his mind, it was difficult to shake him.

Therefore, he stopped persuading and instead perfected the plan with Gu Tingye.

The next night, Gu Tingye sent people to eliminate the spies who were monitoring around the city, and then led all the troops into the territory of Western Xia under the cover of night.

Gu Tingye has been with Zhao Xing for many years and has heard a lot of new things from Zhao Xing.

For example, how to solve the problem of night blindness.

Hehuang is a mixed area of ​​farming and animal husbandry. Before that, the Song Dynasty and Hehuang were in a honeymoon period, and Gu Tingye often asked Dong Zhan for sheep and goat milk.

The food that soldiers in the army eat is better than that of ordinary people.

As the saying goes, the emperor has no shortage of hungry soldiers. The soldiers are all young and strong, and night blindness is not very serious.

I have been supplementing my nutrition during this period so that I won’t become blind at night.

This is also the reason why Gu Tingye dared to attack the capital of Western Xia.

After Gu Tingye was stationed in Hehuang, he had been collecting intelligence about Western Xia, and his marching routes deliberately avoided densely populated areas.

If they are unavoidable, we can only kill them all.

Even if the village was massacred, as long as all traces were cleared, officials in nearby cities would not guess that someone was crazy enough to march alone and launch a surprise attack on the capital of Western Xia.

Although it is cruel, a kind person is not suitable for commanding an army. In order to conceal the news, this is the only thing he could do.

More than 600 miles, a normal march would take about four or five days.

But in order to hide his tracks, Gu Tingye could only hide during the day and move at night, and he had to avoid densely populated areas along the way, so the journey was even longer.

It took more than half a month for Gu Tingye to lead 30,000 troops and hide in a valley more than 30 miles away from the capital of Western Xia.

If we go further, the population will be too dense to avoid, and there will be no time to silence them. Otherwise, it will only waste time and let Xixia notice.

Gu Tingye and Wang Shao had already discussed it before they came, and immediately sent Yuan Wenshao to lead people to the vicinity of the Western Xia capital to inquire about the news.

As long as there is nothing unusual in the Western Xia Kingdom, they will not hide their tracks and will directly attack the capital of the Western Xia Kingdom.

Even if we were discovered, it would be too late to report it.

Yuan Wenshao set out late at night, and by the time he arrived near the capital of Western Xia, it was already dawn.

The Han people of Western Xia lived together with the Dangxiang people, and the Dangxiang people began to use the Han language after they surrendered to the Tang Dynasty in the early Tang Dynasty.

When Western Xia declared independence, the founding emperor of Western Xia ordered people to create the Western Xia script. Unfortunately, it was only a few decades old and had not yet been fully popularized. The Chinese language was still used by the people, but with some differences in accent.

Yuan Wenshao and the spies changed into Western Xia costumes, imitated the Western Xia accent, and mingled with the crowd rushing to the Western Xia capital to inquire about the news.

He claimed to be a businessman traveling between Western Xia and the Song Dynasty. His accent was a bit strange, but no one thought much of it. However, he was able to find out a lot of information.

According to the original plan, he needed to enter the city and take a look at the general defense of Western Xia.

When launching the raid, it is necessary to send some soldiers into the city in advance to prevent the city gates from closing at the critical moment.

When he learned that the capital of Western Xia had been under martial law half a month ago and that entry and exit were strictly checked and a pass was required, Yuan Wenshao immediately gave up the idea of ​​entering the city.

He rushed back and reported to Gu Tingye.

"Zhong Huai, it must be the massacres in those villages along the way that have alerted the Western Xia. Now the Western Xia is only slightly alert. We still have time to retreat." Wang Shao said anxiously.

The key point of a surprise attack is the word "suddenly". Once the enemy is prepared and closes the city gates in time, they only have 30,000 cavalry and don't even have siege equipment, so it is impossible for them to break into the city.

"and many more!"

Gu Tingye interrupted Wang Shao and looked at Yuan Wenshao and said, "Are you sure that martial law started half a month ago? Did you find out the exact time?"

"I and the spies have asked many people, and they all said the same thing. As for the time, it was about nineteen days ago. I didn't dare to contact some people of certain status, and ordinary people don't remember it very clearly." Yuan Wenshao said.

"Zichun!"

Gu Tingye looked at Wang Shao and said, "It took us sixteen days to get here, and only seventeen days including today. Even if the cities along the way found that a village had been massacred, it would take time to report it. The capital of Western Xia can't be alerted before we even set out, right?"

"Zhong Huai, no matter why Xixia suddenly imposed martial law, it has affected our plans!" Wang Shao frowned.

He had just heard Yuan Wenshao say that the capital of Western Xia was suddenly under martial law, and his first reaction was that Western Xia was on alert.

Now it seems that the martial law in the capital of Western Xia was definitely not their fault.

However, there was no martial law when Xixia sent troops, but now it is suddenly imposed martial law. There must be something behind this.

But no matter what the real situation was, Xixia was indeed under martial law. Under such circumstances, it was impossible to capture the city.

"Zichun, don't be impatient!"

Gu Tingye asked Yuan Wenshao again.

"The capital of Xixia is under martial law. Are all the city gates under martial law?"

"this…"

Yuan Wenshao bowed and said, "I learned that the capital of Xixia was under martial law, so I just hurriedly found some civilians to verify the news, and did not inquire about the situation of other city gates. I was negligent, please punish me, Commander-in-Chief!"

"Remember this time, go and check again to find out whether all four city gates of the Xixia capital are under martial law. It would be best to get closer and check." Gu Tingye said.

"Yes!" Yuan Wenshao responded and left. "Zhonghuai, why don't you give up?" Wang Shao advised: "Although Xixia has not discovered it yet, once it is exposed, we can only return to the Song Dynasty from Shu. In this way, the troops on the northwest border will be insufficient."

If they give up now, they can take advantage of Xixia's unpreparedness and return directly to the northwest border, which can also make up for the shortage of troops in the northwest.

But once exposed, they would have no choice but to return to Song Dynasty from Shu.

The road from Shu to the northwest border is difficult to travel and takes a lot of time.

"Zichun, we've come this far. I can't bear to give up so easily!"

Gu Tingye said: "But don't worry, if it's really impossible, I won't force it!"

"I hope so!" Wang Shao sighed.

Although Zhao Xing asked him to follow Gu Tingye's orders, other people in the army did not know it.

It was a common practice in the Song Dynasty to value civil officials over military officials. It was not impossible for him to seize power by force.

But now that they have penetrated deep into the heart of Western Xia, discord between the two is a big taboo.

When Yuan Wenshao returned from this exploration, it was already dark.

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, although the capital of Western Xia is under martial law, it is actually tight on the outside and loose on the inside. There are no restrictions on the entry and exit of nearby civilians. If civilians or merchants come from other places, they will be arrested. The specific reason is unclear, but I took a closer look and found that there were not many soldiers near the city gates and on the city walls. This is the case for all four city gates." Yuan Wenshao reported.

Gu Tingye asked Yuan Wenshao to sit down. After a moment's silence, he looked at Wang Shao, who was frowning in thought, and said with a smile, "What do you think, Zichun?"

"It seems that the Xixia capital is blocking some news." Wang Shao said.

"No matter what information Xixia is blocking, our chances of a surprise attack are still great." Gu Tingye said with a smile.

This time Wang Shao did not object, but said: "If we want to launch a surprise attack, we must be quick. The city is full of streets, which is not conducive to the deployment of troops. Once the Xixia troops react, we can be easily dragged into the city. If the troops from nearby cities hear the news and rush here, we will be in danger."

"That's right!"

Gu Tingye smiled and said, "The Xixia Palace is closest to the east and west gates. We can choose one of them and storm in directly to surround the palace. The Xixia Emperor will lead the army in person, so he will definitely take a lot of the palace guards with him. There will not be enough soldiers guarding the palace."

"The Xixia Emperor has only one son. If we capture him, we will retreat. Even if the Xixia Emperor learns of the news, he will be cautious and will not dare to send troops to retaliate easily."

"Isn't this a bit too desperate?" Wang Shao asked worriedly.

His idea was to capture at least two city gates. If the Western Xia counterattacked too quickly, he could choose a city gate to retreat according to the situation.

"We have to guard two city gates and break into the imperial palace. The pressure is too great." Gu Tingye shook his head.

"Well, I'll go crazy with you for once!" Wang Shao gritted his teeth.

"Ha ha!"

Gu Tingye smiled and said, "If this succeeds, Zichun and I will go down in history!"

…………

Western Xia Palace
At this time, the palace gates had been closed and the palace was heavily guarded. The patrols were even more strict than when Li Liangzuo was there.

In the Queen's bedroom, Queen Liang was talking to an old man.

This person is none other than Liang Guangchuan, the re-appearance of Xixia.

"Now all the troops in the city are under our control. I heard that Li Mingxiao has returned to the capital on the grounds that His Majesty is unwell." Liang Guangchuan said with a smile.

"Father, are you sure you can get rid of Li Mingxiao? After all, they have an army of 400,000!" Queen Liang said worriedly.

"Don't worry, if he wasn't afraid that the army would be in chaos due to the sudden death of His Majesty, he would have died!"

Liang Guangchuan sneered, "He thought that His Majesty had died unexpectedly, so he blocked the news and won over the generals in the army. Little did he know that he would soon die, and that among those who defected to him were my people. When he brings the army back, that will be his death!"

Liang Guangchuan had been planning this for a long time, but he was unable to control the situation after Li Liangzuo's death, and he was also concerned about the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty, so he did not take action for a long time.

Now the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty were at war. Even if they learned that Li Liangzuo had died suddenly, they could not do anything. He had enough time to quell the impact of Li Liangzuo's death and take control of the Liao Dynasty.

"Then I will let..."

Before Queen Liang could finish her words, Liang Yimai walked in cursing.

"What's wrong with your face?" Liang Guangchuan frowned.

"That bitch Concubine Dong is so ignorant. After I had some fun with her, I gave her to the imperial guards as a reward." Liang Yi rubbed his face and said angrily.

"Who told you to touch Concubine Dong?"

Upon hearing this, Empress Liang angrily said, "It's fine if you touch those ordinary concubines, but you even touched Concubine Dong. Do you really think we can really cover the sky with one hand now?"

"Hasn't she always been against you? I am just helping you vent your anger." Liang Yi said indifferently.

"Snapped!"

"Dad, you..."

Liang Yi looked at his father in disbelief.

"Bastard!"

Liang Guangchuan cursed angrily: "There are still many Tangut nobles in the court. Even if Chang Ge'er ascends the throne, he must not act recklessly before eliminating these people!"

They did not seize the throne directly, and given the Liang family's status, they could not do that.

Instead, he plotted to murder Li Liangzuo and allowed Queen Liang's son to ascend the throne.

The power of the Tangut nobles in Western Xia was still considerable, and before they had complete control over power, they had to be honest on the surface.

"But the Dong family is not on good terms with you. Didn't you say you wanted to deal with the Dong family?" Liang Yimai said.

"That is for the future. Now we have to keep the Dong family. Only in this way can we appease the hearts of those Tangut nobles!" Liang Guangchuan said and gave Liang Yimai a wink.

Seeing this, Liang Yimei lowered his head and dared not say anything else.

"Yao'er, don't worry, I will deal with him when we get back, and will never let him enter the palace again." Liang Guangxing said.

Empress Liang said with disgust, "Father, you should take him back and discipline him. If something goes wrong, none of us will have a good ending!"

"I understand. It's getting late. I'll take him back first." Liang Guangchuan said.

"I won't see my father off, daughter." Queen Liang said calmly.

Liang Guangchuan led Liang Yimai out of the hall. Liang Yimai was about to say something when Liang Guangchuan turned around and glared at him.

It was not until they left the palace and got on the carriage that Liang Yimai said with a wronged look on his face: "Father, you asked me to do this, why did you still..."

"shut up!"

Liang Guangchuan scolded and lowered his voice, "Your sister thinks differently from us. She kept the Dong family just to contain me. I did that just now for her to see."

"What are you afraid of?" Liang Yi pouted and said, "Without the support of our Liang family, how can she control the situation?"

(End of this chapter)