Northern Song Dynasty: Starting from the son of Song Renzong

Chapter 227 This is a secret
After receiving the letter from his father, Zhao Xin could only say that this was the extent of his relationship with Xia Song.

As for who delivered the message to Xia Song, it was naturally the Chief of Staff Yang Huaimin.

Immediately afterwards...

Yang Huaimin also suffered bad luck. But his father was a good man after all.

However, Yang Huaimin’s house was not confiscated.

He just quietly demoted Yang Huaimin to a remote post.

After this incident, his father couldn't help but wonder if someone had done the same thing before Zhao Xin?
Otherwise, why do his sons always die young?

Once this happened, it unknowingly diluted his father's love for Madam Zhang.

of course!

The person is dead, there is nothing to blame anymore.

All I can think about next is how to bury him and how to give him a posthumous title.

……

Yanzhou.

Li Yuan's army joined forces with the local army.

Although for a country like the Song Dynasty, such military relocation is nothing new.

After all, the Song Dynasty had to move its camp every once in a while.

But the Li Yuan Army was Zhao Xin's trusted troops after all.

therefore……

Naturally, it attracted the attention of local military and civilians.

Zhong Yi's elder brother Zhong Yan was serving as the commander-in-chief in Qingjian City at that time, with about two to three thousand men under his command.

They say that hearing about someone is worse than meeting them in person.

For quite a long time before this, he was able to get some information about the Li Yuan army from Zhong Yi.

For example, the army has strict military discipline and obeys orders, which makes it a rare strong army.

On this day...

In Qingjian City, Zhong Yan finally saw it.

What should I say...

Judging from their neat pace and vigorous spirit, they are indeed somewhat different from other imperial guards.

then……

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Xin summoned all the generals to a meeting.

Because neither the Privy Council nor the Three Yamen had issued any order to them to fight against Western Xia.

Therefore, at this moment, they did not know that Zhao Xin would attack Xixia in the future.

but……

Zhao Xin was not afraid and just said it directly now.

Before he said that, he even joked, "There shouldn't be any traitors from Xixia here, right?"

But everyone seemed to think his joke was not funny.

Still looking at Zhao Xin seriously.

Zhao Xin got straight to the point and said, "Next, I plan to fight against Xixia. What do you think? Or... who is willing to go with me?"

Then one of the generals asked, "But we don't seem to have received any notification from the Privy Council or the Three Yamen?"

Zhao Xin said, "My words are the will of the prince of Yu! Of course! When the time comes, I will naturally ask the Privy Councilor and the three yamen to issue the will in advance."

The people here are not afraid of fighting.

only……

This news was probably too sudden for them.

Zhong Yan stood up and said, "I wonder how His Royal Highness Prince Yu wants to fight?"

Zhao Xin said, "If we can fight a war of annihilation, that would be the best. If that's not possible, then we'll just destroy as many as we can. And... we can also try to further weaken Xixia's national strength."

"What I mean is, can we leave Huaining Village, launch a surprise attack on Suizhou, and then eliminate the enemy as much as possible in Wudingchuan and Dali River?"

When Zhong Yan heard the plan, he thought there was no problem with it.

however……

Can they really win?

Zhong Yan then said, "How can Your Highness Prince Yu guarantee that we will win? If we start a fight, we can't just stop it."

Zhao Xin said, "I brought the latest weapons with me this time. I am not afraid of the Xixia army coming, but I am afraid that they will not come."

Then everyone started talking about it.

Speaking of which...

Zhao Xin had forgotten one question: Should the troops on this border be equipped with firearms in the future?
I have already taken it out, so it doesn’t seem like a big deal to not let them equip it.

But if we let them equip it.

Then there would be no generation gap in the combat effectiveness of the Li Yuan army.

From now on, the Central Army and the Border Army will have artillery, if a fight breaks out...

Of course! Now is not the time to discuss these issues.

After all, the main contradiction now is how to eliminate Western Xia.

Immediately afterwards...

Zhao Xin took all the people participating in the meeting to watch the power of the artillery.

I saw...

Everyone was so shocked by this thing that their mouths couldn't close.

It is very necessary to let them know the strength of Li Yuan Army.

only……

It is only limited to the top levels.

After seeing the power of artillery, Li Yuan’s army brought more than one.

Zhong Yan suddenly became more confident about the upcoming battle.

He volunteered, "Your Highness Prince Yu, if a war breaks out, I am willing to serve as the vanguard!"

Zhao Xin also said: "Don't worry, I also brought 50,000 war horses. Next...you can divide the war horses among yourselves."

I heard that there were still 50,000 war horses.

Everyone's eyebrows raised.

With these war horses, they don't have to worry about not being able to catch up with the enemy.

of course!

If these 50,000 war horses were kept in Yanzhou alone, the amount of food they would need every day would be an astronomical figure.

After seeing the artillery, then...

Zhong Yan also noticed that Zhao Xin's Li Yuan army infantry seemed to be all chariot infantry.

There are several soldiers who take turns pushing a chariot. In normal times, the chariot can be used to load weapons and food, and in wartime it can be used to surround the outside and be used for formation.

It’s not that the other armies of the Song Dynasty did not use chariots at all.

only……

There is a slight difference between the Li Yuan army and the large-scale use of chariots.

It can be said!
The Song Dynasty was a transitional period for restarting the chariot.

Then Zhong Yan asked: "Why is your army equipped with so many chariots?"

Zhao Xin said: "It is mainly for the convenience of transporting weapons and equipment."

And of course it was impossible not to see the muskets.

Zhao Xin explained: "This is a small-sized cannon."

Zhong Yan and others are not stupid either.

can only say……

I can tell.

And at a rough glance, Zhong Yan saw that there were at least thousands of small-sized cannons like this.

Some people even had two or three hanging on their bodies.

Zhao Xin asked someone to bring a few sets of armor and gave a brief demonstration.

If you shoot someone from a hundred paces away, you might not necessarily die if you're lucky.

But when it reaches fifty steps, it can basically penetrate armor and penetrate three-quarters of the flesh.

If you are hit within twenty or thirty steps, even gods will be unable to save you, because the entire set of armor has been shot through.

With this weapon, who would dare to fight against Li Yuan’s army?

That's no different from giving away your head.

It took Zhong Yan and other border generals quite half an hour to recover.

I thought that if they had this weapon, they would be able to conquer not only Xixia, but the entire Western Regions.

Which general wouldn't want to be equipped with such weapons?

Zhao Xin must also know that they all want it.

Zhao Xin could only say: "This is a secret of our dynasty! It must not be leaked!"

That’s why they didn’t ask Zhao Xin directly for it.

(End of this chapter)