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Chapter 878 Blitzkrieg

As the Ningyuan Army's preparations for war became more and more massive, all the forces in China were closely watching the Ningyuan Army. Seeing that the Song Army on the opposite side was so obedient and pretended to be a dead dog, the Khitan Emperor Yelu Hongji, who had just ascended the throne last year, simply transferred all the Khitan troops to the Bohai Bay area and immediately surrounded Tokyo Liaoyang Prefecture and Nanjing Xijin Prefecture. You must know that this area is the most important place for the Liao Dynasty court.

The Ningyuan Army and 300,000 temporarily recruited infantrymen boarded iron fishing boats and Song Dynasty wooden boats and entered the waters of the East China Sea directly from the mouth of the Yangtze River. Then they headed north along the route. The mighty army shocked everyone, and the people of Jiangnan ran out to watch this rare spectacle that had not been seen in a century.

"Master Shen, this is not right! These are just some temporarily recruited soldiers. It seems that King Ning's elite troops have not appeared." Master Han also came to Jiangning Mansion with Master Shen. Looking at the huge army marching in front of them, he felt strange.

"Hmph! Prince Ning must be on guard against the imperial court and is not prepared to go all out in this Northern Expedition." After all, Prime Minister Shen has been dealing with Suning for more than two years and has long noticed Suning's depth and treachery, but he just couldn't figure out whether Suning was acting like Cao Cao or Wang Mang.

"Yes! I heard that these 300,000 infantrymen were all surrendered troops from Dali and Jiaozhi. King Ning must have noticed the resistance in the southwest, so he took the opportunity to send troops to Khitan to consume the resistance in the southwest." Han Da Xianggong couldn't help but think of Emperor Yang of Sui's strategy for Goryeo, and guessed that Suning just wanted to kill two birds with one stone.

"Ah! Our young Prince Ning is the true thousand-year-old fox. Regardless of victory or defeat in this northern expedition, it will only make the Ningyuan Army more stable in the Jiangnan region."

"Master Shen, I heard that you intend to marry your eldest granddaughter to Prince Ning?" Then Master Han suddenly looked at Master Shen meaningfully and asked.

"Huh? I'm still hesitating." Lord Shen knew that many nobles knew his intentions, but he still couldn't help but say it with some embarrassment.

"Oh? Prince Ning has already become as powerful as ever, why do you still have concerns, Lord Shen?" Lord Han felt a little surprised at this time, because no matter whether Suning succeeded or failed in the end, he would definitely not lose the title of Prince.

"Grand Minister Han, we have served under the same roof for so many years, so I will not lie to you. Now the Ningyuan Army all depends on Prince Ning, and his three sons are all so young. If Prince Ning has an emergency, the entire Jiangnan area and the Ningyuan Army will collapse." Grand Minister Shen had no need to hide anything, and then carefully expressed his biggest concern.

"Yes! Prince Ning has completely severed ties with the Gu family. It is indeed a puzzling and stupid move. If the Gu family is the foundation of Prince Ning's Mansion, it will be a true top dignitary in the Song Dynasty." At this time, Han Da Xianggong also shook his head with some regret. The young offspring and the decline of the family status are Su Ning's biggest shortcomings.

"So, whether Jiangnan will be a flash in the pan or a rising star depends entirely on Prince Ning's personal fortune."

"Mr. Shen is right!"

Looking at the Ningyuan Army fleet sailing through the Yangtze River all the way to the estuary, the two ministers at this time had a very complicated mentality. They hoped that the Ningyuan Army could successfully injure the Khitan, who had been a burden on the Song Dynasty for more than a hundred years, and they also wanted the brutal Khitan soldiers to directly wipe out the powerful Ningyuan Army. Perhaps their biggest expectation was that the Ningyuan Army and the Khitan would both suffer losses, so that the Song Dynasty court would have the upper hand when fighting against the Khitan, and at the same time they could also capture Suning and lock him up in Bianjing City.

……

At this time, all the coasts near the Bohai Bay were on alert. Naturally, not only were the Khitan soldiers nervously watching the coastline in front of them, but the Song army here was not much better. The Duke of Ying had already arrived at the front line of the Bohai Bay early, just to see with his own eyes the specific battle situation between the Ningyuan Army and the Khitan Army, so that he could formulate the next step on how to guard against the Ningyuan Army.

"My Lord Duke, there was a sudden heavy fog this morning. I guess the Ningyuan Army will not advance." The deputy general looked at the sea level where the fog had suddenly appeared, and said to the Duke of England with a relaxed smile.

"Hmph! Yesterday, the Imperial City Department urgently reported that the Ningyuan Army's fleet had entered the Bohai Bay, and we had to wait cautiously." At this time, the Duke of England spoke cautiously.

"Duke, there is no need for our Song army to be so nervous, right? You should know that the Ningyuan Army is also part of our Song Army, and they will surely not attack our Song territory." Seeing that the Duke of Ying in front of him was so nervous and cautious, the deputy general smiled with some disapproval.

"Well, it's unlikely that the Ningyuan Army will attack our Song territory directly. Otherwise, there would be no need to go around such a large bay to attack from the sea. However, I still want to see the strength of the Ningyuan Army with my own eyes. You know, the Ningyuan Army is the biggest threat to our Great Song Dynasty court."

"Ah? Duke, could it be that the Ningyuan Army will rebel against the imperial court?" Upon hearing that the Duke of England was so wary of the Ningyuan Army, which was also a friendly army, the deputy general showed a shocked expression. After all, a king of a different surname was something that they could only dream of.

"Hmph! General Yang, haven't you noticed that the supply of materials has become increasingly difficult recently?" Seeing that his deputy general was so stupid, the Duke of England asked angrily.

"Ah? What do you mean, Duke?" The deputy general still looked at the Duke of England in front of him stupidly and asked.

"Taxes from Jiangnan account for 60% of the Song Dynasty's revenue. Without these 60% of taxes, how can we fight against the Khitan and Western Xia? Therefore, there will be a battle between our Song Dynasty and the Ningyuan Army." Although his deputy general was indeed a little stupid, he was an outstanding descendant of the Song Dynasty's nobles after all, so he was naturally willing to spend more time and patience to teach by words and deeds.

"what?"

Near Tianjin in later generations, the Khitan soldiers were also on high alert. When they saw the sudden thick fog on the sea, they couldn't help but feel relieved. They all thought that the Ningyuan Army would not attack today. The Khitan navy also gradually relaxed and docked at a temporary pier nearby. After all, the Khitan soldiers were not good at naval battles.

"General, what do you see there?" At this moment, a Khitan soldier suddenly pointed at the sea in the distance and shouted, as if he had seen some incredible prehistoric beast.

The Khitan general looked at the distant sea in surprise in the direction the soldiers pointed, and saw a huge iron ship slowly emerging from the fog, like a giant beast from ancient mythology. Six huge gun barrels were aimed at the Khitan soldiers. Just as they opened their mouths in horror and stared at everything in front of them, the six extremely thick gun barrels fired at them mercilessly. As countless shells fell and exploded across the sky, the Khitan defense line was torn apart easily. This battleship was naturally a modern battleship that Suning took out from the space world. After the six main guns of the battleship roared fiercely for a quarter of an hour, the mighty Ningyuan Army finally vented its anger. Then several tank landing ships appeared from behind the battleship and rushed up quickly. Then the tanks inside the landing ship rushed directly to the shore through the springboard, and there was no resistance on the shore at all, because the remaining Khitan soldiers were fleeing for their lives, hating their parents for not giving them a few more legs.

After all the tanks rushed ashore and formed a battle formation, the Ningyuan Army cavalry rushed ashore via landing ships. It took only half a day to form an attack formation again. Then, at Suning's command, they rushed directly towards the Khitan Nanjing Xijin Prefecture. The Khitan cavalry units encountered along the way were directly eliminated by the tank soldiers. The Ningyuan Army cavalry behind them also advanced rapidly behind the tanks. Soon the Ningyuan Army's tank and cavalry combination had arrived at the city of Khitan Nanjing Xijin Prefecture. Finally, the Ningyuan Army's 300,000 infantry also landed on the shore one after another via fishing boats and wooden boats, and directly controlled the city captured by the assault troops behind the tank and cavalry combination like autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves.

In later generations, there was also such a Ningyuan Army combination near Dalian, which had successfully advanced to the Khitan's Tokyo Liaoyang Prefecture. Such a novel and swift combat method directly stunned the Khitan army. The Khitan side had no ability to form a blocking line of defense. The Khitan cavalry units that usually beat the Song soldiers also became lambs to be slaughtered.

"Duke Yingguo, what kind of siege weapon did the Ningyuan Army use?" The Song Army witnessed the Ningyuan Army annihilating the Khitan cavalry with ease. The deputy general looked at the Duke Yingguo with his eyes wide open in horror and asked.

"Oh! I don't know! I only know that our Song Dynasty is completely finished." The Duke of Ying first shook his head blankly, and then made a bitter prediction that their Song army had no ability to resist at all.

"what?"

In fact, what Duke Ying said was not wrong. The Ningyuan Army took only one month to besiege the Khitan's Shangjing Linhuang Prefecture, and the other four capitals of the Khitan in the east, west, south and center had been captured by the Ningyuan Army. Therefore, all the elite troops in the Khitan territory were lost, and the last army defending Shangjing Linhuang Prefecture had no will to resist.

……

The Ningyuan Army took only one month to wipe out all the elite Khitan troops, which shocked the still prosperous Bianjing City. However, the old emperor and the ministers in charge of Bianjing City all looked pale, once again convinced that the Ningyuan Army really looked down on their Bianjing City, otherwise they would have taken them all as prisoners.

"Duke of England, can you tell me the details of the battle?" The old emperor asked the Duke of England in the audience with a bitter face.

"Yes, Your Majesty," the Duke of Ying responded with a quick bow, then succinctly outlined the battle situation. "On April 1st, the Ningyuan Army attacked from Haijin Town (Tianjin) and the Liao Kingdom's Dongjing Daohua City (Dalian). Utilizing unprecedented, ultra-large warships and artillery carts, they annihilated all of the Khitan's defenses with overwhelming force. By May 1st, they had captured the Khitan capitals of East, West, South, and Center, and had completely besieged the Khitan capital, Linhuang Prefecture."

"Oh? Why didn't Prince Ning and the Ningyuan Army directly attack the Khitan capital Shangjing? Logically speaking, the remaining Khitan soldiers should not be able to resist?" The old emperor was shocked and astonished, and he couldn't help but look at the Duke of Ying in confusion and asked.

"Your Majesty, I guess Prince Ning wants to go fishing." Before Duke Ying could answer the old emperor's question, Minister Shen, who seemed to be thinking about something, suddenly stepped forward and said.

"What? Fishing? The elite troops in Khitan have been almost completely wiped out, so where will the reinforcements come from to support Shangjing?" The old emperor couldn't help but feel confused again.

"Your Majesty, Prince Ning must be waiting for the Xixia Yipintang."

"Oh? What do you mean, Lord Shen? Could it be that Western Xia will come to support the Liao?"

"Yes! You have to know that after the Great Liao was destroyed by Prince Ning and the Ningyuan Army, the remaining Western Xia was definitely no match for the Ningyuan Army. They naturally would not miss this opportunity to support the Great Liao in their march to the capital."

"Well, that makes sense! Then, Lord Shen, do you think Prince Ning can resist the Xixia Yipintang?" The old emperor nodded in agreement at first, but soon became a little worried. Their court knew very well the strength of the Xixia Yipintang.

"Your Majesty, ever since Prince Ning conquered Dali two years ago, he has been secretly contacting martial artists throughout the world. It's said that he forcibly subdued Murong Longcheng and Murong Bo, father and son, from Yanziwu in Gusu City. He also befriended the Xiaoyao Sect of Piaomiao Peak in Tianshan Mountain and became a close friend of the Xiaoyao Sect's new leader, Wuyazi. I believe he should have no problem fighting against the Xixia Yipintang."

"Haha, it seems that our King Ning really plans before taking action!" At this time, the old emperor smiled bitterly, realizing that he was no match for Suning and the Ningyuan Army.

"Your Majesty, this is a great joyous event for our Great Song Dynasty court. Once Prince Ning and the Ningyuan Army capture the Khitan royal family, Your Majesty can go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to present the captives."

"Ah? Surrender prisoners?" At this moment, the old emperor couldn't help but feel his breathing quicken.

At this time, Prince Yong and Prince Yan were both attending the court meeting because of the issue of adopting a royal family son. So, the indignant Prince Yong immediately looked at the old emperor and said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to consider the issue of surrendering prisoners right away. The most urgent task now should be to send an army to take over the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun as soon as possible."

"What?" At this moment, all the officials in the court looked at Prince Yong as if he were a fool.

……

(End of this chapter)