I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 125: Shen Ji Zuo Jun Becomes Famous in One Battle

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Like Zhong Shidao and Zhong Shizhong, Zhong Pu is the third generation of the Zhong family generals. His father is the famous Zhong Yan among the Zhong family generals.

Unlike Zhong Shidao and Zhong Shizhong who have not yet emerged, Zhong Pu can be said to be the general with the most outstanding military achievements during the entire Song Zhezong period. Whether it was the Battle of Pingxia City or the construction of Hengshan, he made great contributions. Even in the management of Tubo, he made many achievements.

At the end of last year, the Qingtang front was in danger, and Chong Pu rushed to Hezhou without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, just before Jong Park was about to rescue Yigong City, Zhao Xu died and Zhao Ya ascended the throne.

Then, Zhao Ya issued an imperial decree to transfer Zhong Pu, Guo Cheng and their elite troops to the capital.

In this way, Zhao Ya pulled Zhong Pu back from the brink of death.

When Zhong Pu arrived in the capital, Zhao Ya invited him to visit the palace.

Zhong Pu was so excited that he told Zhao Ya a lot about the northwest, Western Xia, Qingtang, and his views on conquering Western Xia and Qingtang.

After this discussion, Zhao Ya asked Zhong Pu to go to Hebei to reorganize the army.

In other words, Zhao Ya was actually prepared to go to war with the Liao Kingdom.

Now that the Liao Kingdom has ceased its activities, Zhao Ya decided to wipe out the Qingtang Tubo in one fell swoop. It would be useless to keep Zhong Pu in Hebei.

Therefore, Zhao Ya asked Zhong Pu and Tong Guan to take the 5,000 troops that Zhong Pu had brought, 20,000 Hebei imperial guards, 10,000 Jingji imperial guards and the Shenji Left Army (with an additional 10,000 auxiliary troops), a total of 50,000 troops, claiming to be an army of 200,000, to reinforce the Qingtang area.

Under the leadership of Zhong Pu and Tong Guan, the support army arrived at Xihe Road smoothly.

At this time, Xihe commander Hu Zonghui had sent people to rescue Yigong City several times. As a result, not only did all of them fail, but the main generals who sent troops were all killed.

The commander of the Qingtang Army was named Lang A Ke Zhang, a powerful chieftain who had lived in the Yigongcheng area for generations.

Historically, Chong Pu was killed by Lang Akchang.

Two days after the reinforcements including Zhong Pu and Tong Guan arrived in Hezhou, they were forced by Hu Zonghui to go to rescue Yigong City.

The terrain in the northwest region is rugged, and they have to fight away from home in the territory where the Langakzhan family has lived for generations. No matter how Zhong Pu thinks about it, he feels that this battle will be difficult to fight, but he cannot disobey the commander's orders.

In order to make up for the lack of preparation as much as possible, Chong Pu found two foreign monks who had provided him with intelligence for more than ten years, hoping to increase his chances of winning as much as possible with their guidance.

In fact, the Zong family has been praised by the world for its ability to pacify the foreigners since Zong Pu’s grandfather Zong Shiheng.

Afterwards, whether it was Chong Pu's father Chong Yan, his uncle Chong Yi, or himself, they all achieved extremely brilliant military exploits by uniting with the foreign peoples.

Therefore, Chong Pu also had enough confidence to trust the two old foreign monk friends in front of him.

The foreign monk told Chong Pu that the tribes around Yigongcheng were very afraid of brightly colored flags. As long as Chong Pu set up more flags, he could gain the allegiance of those foreign people and weaken the enemy army.

In fact, this is not entirely nonsense. The barbarians have always respected Buddhism, and brightly colored flags often have religious meanings.

Zhong Pu was well aware of the situation and should not have doubted the foreign monk's words.

But when Zhong Pu went to the capital last time, Zhao Ya didn't say much, so Zhong Pu remembered every word.

Zhao Ya said something very serious: "Don't trust unfamiliar foreigners completely, especially in times of crisis."

Zhao Ya's words echoed like a warning bell in Zhong Pu's heart, causing him to waver between trust and vigilance. He knew that in this war-torn frontier, any negligence could cost the lives of the entire army and even affect the direction of the entire northwest war.

Therefore, Chong Pu decided to adopt a two-pronged strategy. On the one hand, he ordered the production of a large number of colorful flags and placed them around the camp to put psychological pressure on the enemy. At the same time, he stationed Zhao Ya's personal army, the Shen Ji Zuo Army, in the center, with its auxiliary troops carrying the flags. Like the leader of a wolf pack, he personally led his personal army to the rear, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.

——Zhong Pu did this because he actually wanted to protect Shen Ji Zuo Jun. He didn't dare to kill all of Zhao Ya's treasures.

As expected, an accident happened immediately.

The terrain at the junction of Song and Tu was rugged and narrow, forcing the Song army to advance with difficulty in a long and thin formation with weak defensive capabilities.

However, tall and conspicuous flags make it difficult for the army to hide.

This allowed the Tubo army to quickly lock onto the Song army's position.

The various policies implemented by the Zhao Song Dynasty after it took control of Qingtang City had already aroused the enthusiasm of the Tibetan chiefs. At this time, from the heartland of Qingtang to the Henan region, the situation had already become a mess.

In such a situation, it is nothing but a pipe dream to try to surrender the enemy by just a few flags.

As expected, after the Song army marched more than sixty miles, they were suddenly attacked by Tibetan cavalry.

The Tibetans were well versed in the terrain, and with the help of two foreign monks, the Tibetan army gained the upper hand as soon as the battle began.

Moreover, due to the terrain, the Song army's long and slender formation could not take care of both the front and the rear, making it difficult to make timely adjustments to the formation to protect the central army.

The Tibetan cavalry easily locked onto the Song army's center, which was the Shenji Left Army. They launched a charge down from the high slope, trying to directly defeat the Song army's center.

What the Tibetan cavalry never expected was that, even as they launched their charge, Wang Bing and Zong Ze had already deployed their counter-cavalry tactics. They first deployed their Tiger Crouching Cannons in a circular defensive formation, with the Divine Arm Archers stationed in the center and the Thunder Bomb Throwers scattered outside.

When the Tibetan cavalry charged, the left army of Shenji first shot with the Shenbi bow from a distance to blunt their edge and reduce the momentum of their attack.

When the Tibetan cavalry approached, they threw bombs from the sky.

Hundreds of bombs exploded one after another.

The Tibetan cavalry had never heard such a terrifying noise before, and they were so frightened that they fell off their horses.

Moreover, when the Tibetan cavalry charged intensively, the bombs exploded in a large area.

This was regarded as divine punishment by the Tibetans who respected Buddhism.

The Tibetan cavalry launched a surprise attack on the Song army's center and were defeated in one blow.

The Shenji Left Army then used tiger squat cannons to bombard the Tibetan cavalry, denying them the opportunity to gather troops.

Zhong Puzhen didn't expect that Zhao Ya's personal army was so powerful and could turn the tide even in such an unfavorable situation, so his reaction was a little slow.

But Shen Ji Zuo Jun was brought up by Tong Guan, so his reaction was not slow.

Tong Guan immediately led the cavalry of the Shenji Left Army to pursue the Tubo cavalry.

At this time, Zhong Pu also reacted and commanded the Song army to counterattack.

After a bloody battle between the two sides, the Tubo army gradually lost and began to flee.

But such a broken formation would naturally become a trophy for the Song cavalry to pursue their victory.

Zhong Pu and Tong Guan personally led the Song cavalry to pursue the enemy for more than 20 miles, forcing the Tubo army into a narrow pass.

Just when Zhong Pu and Tong Guan were about to devour this Tubo army.

Langakzhan has already assembled tens of thousands of cavalry to come to the rescue.

Seeing this, Zhong Pu and Tong Guan could only lead their cavalry back in disappointment and join the main force of the Song army.

Not long after, Langakzhan assembled an army of 50,000 to fight.

Tong Guan persuaded Zhong Pu to use Shen Ji's left army as the vanguard.

After Wang Bing and Zong Ze received the order, they began to arrange their battle formations, placing the Tiger Crouching Cannons in the first row and the Divine Arm Archers in the second row.

As soon as the battle started, the Tibetan cavalry launched a fierce charge. When they were within an arrow's reach, Lang Akzhang raised his hand, signaling the Tibetan cavalry to prepare to shoot.

But at this moment, the tiger squat cannons opened fire one after another, and the overwhelming lead bullets knocked the Tubo cavalry to the ground, making them panic and unable to shoot at all.

At the same time, the Shenji Left Army carried out segmented shooting in an orderly manner.

The Shenbi bow is made of mountain mulberry wood for the bow, sandalwood for the crossbow body, iron for the barrel, copper for the mechanism, hemp rope for the ties, and silk for the string. The bow is three feet three inches long, and the string is two feet five inches long. The crossbow mechanism is intricately designed, incorporating components similar to gears and wheels.

This crossbow could fire from 240 to 300 steps, reaching as far as over 340 steps. Its range far exceeded that of ordinary bows and arrows of the period, reaching an effective range of approximately 300 meters. It could penetrate heavy armor, maintaining astonishing penetration at a range of over 370 meters, capable of piercing even the most powerful weapons and striking fear into the enemy. Furthermore, compared to ordinary bows and arrows, the Shenbi bow allowed for precise aiming and timing, resulting in a higher accuracy rate.

If they had not believed that the Tiger Crouching Cannon could disrupt the Qingtang Cavalry's attack and allow their own side to fire calmly, the Shenji Left Army could have started shooting long ago.

Now, if we place the Qingtang cavalry closer and shoot them, the effect of shooting will be obviously better.

The Qingtang cavalry were shot and killed one after another, suffering heavy losses.

Many Qingtang cavalrymen, seeing how powerful Shenji's left army was, fled the battlefield or turned their horses around and fled back, not daring to continue charging.

It has to be said that Lang Akzhan is worthy of being a fierce general of Tubo. Facing such a fierce attack from the left army of Shenji, he was able to personally lead hundreds of cavalry to rush forward.

In response to this, Wang Bing calmly ordered some of the Shenji Left Army to put down their Shenbi bows, take out their thunder bombs, and throw them out.

After a burst of dense explosions, Lang A Ke Zhang, who was supposed to be the nightmare of the Song army, was instantly killed. His hundreds of brave Qing Tang elite soldiers were either sent away or driven into hiding.

Tong Guan saw the opportunity and decisively led the cavalry of the Shenji Left Army to counterattack the Qingtang defeated soldiers.

Zhong Pu also ordered the Song cavalry to charge in time.

Because the defeated Qing Tang cavalry disrupted the formation of the Qing Tang infantry, the Song cavalry easily defeated the Qing Tang army, chased them for more than 20 miles, killed tens of thousands of Qing Tang soldiers, captured nearly 10,000 Qing Tang soldiers, and seized countless war horses and weapons.

Shen Ji Zuo Jun became famous in one battle.

Afterwards, Zhong Pu and Tong Guan led a large force of the Song army to Yigong City for rest and recuperation.

Next, Chong Pu and Tong Guan used Yigongcheng as their base and attacked everywhere.

Relying on the powerful combat capability of the Shenji Left Army, the main force near Yigong City was quickly defeated by the Song Army.

Later, under the leadership of the surrendered barbarians, Zhong Pu's generals captured the entire Lang Ak Zhang tribe.

Although Zhong Pu did not execute the entire Langakzhan clan by slicing, he strictly followed the order that was later changed by Zhang Dun. He flattened the wheels and killed all the men in the Langakzhan clan, and all the women were directly sent to the brothel.

Seeing that the Song army was powerful and ready to fight, the nearby small tribes surrendered one after another and offered food, fodder and treasures.

Next, the Song army used war to support the war and quickly took control of the Yigongcheng area.

Not long after, Zhong Pu and Tong Guan cooperated with Wang Hou, who was appointed by Zhao Ya as the main general in the battle to recapture Qingtang, to recapture Nandabao, Dangbiaocheng and Qiedangcheng.

The local Qiang people were unwilling to accept defeat, so they took advantage of Wang Hou's absence to capture and burn down the city of Qiedang. However, they immediately encountered Wang Hou's returning troops.

At the same time, Chong Pu and Tong Guan also led their troops to reinforce.

The left army of Shen Ji once again showed its power, defeated the Qiang people, and killed tens of thousands of them.

After the war, Wang Hou ordered that all Qiang nobles who participated in the rebellion be laid to rest, all the men in the tribe be killed, and all the women be sent directly to the brothel.

Afterwards, Wang Hou rebuilt the city of Dang and renamed it "Laibin City", Yigong City to "Xunhua City", Dangbiao City to "Anqiangzhai", and Danan Fort to "Datong City".

The situation on the front line has stabilized.

Zhao Ya ordered the Shen Ji Left Army to withdraw to the capital for rest and the Shen Ji Right Army to go to the battlefield.

At the same time, the court ordered the establishment of the Xihe Lanhui Border Affairs Office, with Wang Hou in charge and Zhong Pu, Wang Shan, Wang Min, and Tong Guan as his deputies.

Zhao Ya also gave Wang Hou the power to make decisions on the spot, without having to write memorials for instructions on every matter.

Wang Hou ordered his general Liu Zhongwu (Liu Qi's father) to build Ganpu Fort between Anqiang Village and Nanshun Village to open up communication between the front line and the rear, so as to avoid the situation when the Tubo army cut off the Song army's communication with the rear when Yigong City was besieged in the past.

Up to now, the Zhao Song Dynasty's battle to eliminate the Qingtang Tubo has been progressing smoothly and steadily.

It is worth mentioning that under Zhao Ya's order, Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, Lu Huiqing and others have consciously transferred the Jingji Imperial Guards and Hebei Imperial Guards, including the Jiangnan Imperial Guards, to the Qingtang area for actual combat training.

Even Zhao Ya's personal army was no exception.

You know, among Zhao Ya's personal army, there are many children of officials, and it is even okay to call them the Yanei Army.

But even such an army has to go to the battlefield and fight hard. Why don’t other armies go?
You are collecting a salary without working, and there is no one?

The imperial court doesn't care. Either you hire refugees or capture ruffians, you have to complete the army and take it to the battlefield for actual combat training.

If you can't do it, I'm sorry.

Search the house and question the clan.

In other words, the anti-corruption campaign has now extended to the military.

However, when it comes to the army, the principle of Zhao Ya and his ministers is that as long as you can fill the holes you created, they will forgive you for the past.

Also, Zhao Ya did not move the Western Army and did not plan to do so, at least in the short term, although he knew very well that the Western Army had bigger problems, or even the biggest ones.

But who made the Western Army able to fight?

Such an army must be treated preferentially.

As for the Jingji Imperial Guards, Hebei Imperial Guards, and Jiangnan Imperial Guards, whose combat effectiveness is infinitely close to zero, I'm sorry, but since you are soldiers, you have to go to the battlefield when it's time.

Of course, King Zhao and his ministers also gave these troops a chance to escape from the battlefield, so as to prevent them from being forced into a corner and rebelling.

This loophole was the patrol inspection (i.e. police) system headed by Lu Huiqing.

As long as such a person is found and voluntarily transfers to the Inspection Office, he can leave the army and become a militia dedicated to maintaining public order. Although his treatment cannot be compared with that of the imperial guards, it is still considerable, and the key is that he does not have to take risks on the battlefield.

This move by Emperor Zhao Ya and his ministers was precisely to solve the problem of redundant troops in the Zhao Song Dynasty. At the same time, such rotation could not only revitalize the combat effectiveness of the Jingji Imperial Guards, Hebei Imperial Guards, and Jiangnan Imperial Guards, but also allow the Western Army, which had been fighting for years, to recuperate.

But speaking objectively, the consequences are obvious.

After the war had lasted for several months, mourning banners were hung everywhere in the Central Plains, and even the long-peaceful city of Bianliang was no exception.

However, at the same time, Zhao Ya was generous in rewarding those who had made contributions, and even promoted individuals who had made great contributions by seven levels on several occasions.

Zhao Ya's purpose is that if you do a good job, you will be rewarded generously and will not be stingy. If you do not do a good job, sorry, the court really does not keep idle people.

It is worth mentioning that Zhao Ya was never stingy with the supplies to the front line. The supplies to the Song army, especially to the Shenji Left Army and the Shenji Right Army, were never poor and were always delivered to the front line in full.

This was mainly because Zhao Ya followed Qianlong's example and made full use of the fact that there would always be brave men under great rewards. He paid the civilians who were responsible for transporting food and supplies to the Song army one-third higher than the market price for their transportation. Zhao Ya called it "victory money."

Anyone who gets this money will work hard without any complaints.

In short, Zhao Ya really put a lot of effort into retaking Qingtang...

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(End of this chapter)