It is said that people who want to be full and warm are nothing, but this is only for individuals. If they really want to be put into a like-minded group or even a political power, they will have to do more things after being full and warm. The current situation in Jiangnan is in this way.
Whether they are old people from Liangshanbo such as Song Jiang, or fringe figures in the imperial court like Tong Mu, they all have their own ideals and ambitions, and the wealth and numerous people in Jiangnan have made them follow the path guided by Sun Tu. A great platform to realize their lofty ambitions. For this reason, they even did not hesitate to resist the imperial court's invasion of the local area, temporarily putting aside their insistence on being courtiers, loyal to the emperor and patriotic.
The results of this move are also obvious. The people in Jiangnan live and work in peace and contentment, the official warehouses are constantly filling, and the number of people joining the army is also increasing. Today, the number of Jiangnan troops has reached an astonishing two hundred thousand— Moreover, these 200,000 horses are not comparable to the ragtag armies from various regions that are commonly seen in the Song Dynasty, but a real army that can fight on the battlefield. Maybe they can't compare to the original Shandong Army and Qingzhou Army, but the only difference is their battlefield experience.
What made Sun Tu even more happy was that Tong Mu and the others followed the path he pointed out, constantly developed new gunpowder firearms, and made great progress based on the original ones. Just by hearing the names of those newly created firearms, you can tell that they are extremely powerful - mines, divine fire crossbows, thunderbolt bullets... It can be said that after using the newly developed gunpowder, each of them has exceeded the power of the original bullets. Although its power cannot be completely popularized, it can already increase the combat power of the entire Jiangnan army by 30 to 50%.
"By the way, General, these are the thunderbolts used in bows and arrows. Brother Gongming specially prepared five for me when I came here." Hua Rong said, and took out a thumb-thick cylinder from the package he carried. The shaped porcelain bottle was handed to Sun Tu.
Sun Tu naturally took it with great interest. While looking up and down, he also weighed the weight. I found that this thing was indeed much lighter than the original Polu bomb, and it could be mounted on the arrow, but it had little effect on the flight of the arrow. My eyes lit up: "There are some ideas about this thing, but who is it?" Made?"
"Brothers Ling Zhen and several craftsmen figured it out together. Not only did they improve the gunpowder so that it can still explode with extremely strong force even though it contains less gunpowder, they also made the outer shell thinner. It's not much thicker than an egg shell, and it's also filled with a lot of iron sand and other materials, so it's lethal. The only drawback is that each thunderbolt is extremely expensive to make, and it's also slow to make. It can only produce a few at a time. Hundreds."
Sun Tu nodded, he knew very well that this shortcoming would be difficult to solve before the handicraft industry was replaced by machines, and with the current technological level of the Song Dynasty, this problem would not be perfectly solved at least in the short term. But these successes were enough to make him feel excited and satisfied, and he immediately smiled and said: "You have done a good job. By the way, how many soldiers and horses are there in the army ordered to come north this time, and who is leading it? Do you know these things? "
Luda immediately smiled and said: "General, don't worry. Although the Sa family and others have left Jiangnan, their connection with that side has not been broken. Because the general has also arrived in the north, we naturally dare not make any further excuses, but Tong Lao
Brother, he has also made arrangements and sent only 40,000 veterans and 30,000 new recruits to go north together. Judging from their speed, they should be able to reach the vicinity of Yanmen Pass in May, and in half a month, they should be able to reach the frontline camp. As for the people leading the troops, in addition to Dong Dujian, there were also brothers Lin Chong and others. Song Gongming and Wu Jialiang were also in the team heading north this time. By the way, I heard that Yue Pengju also wanted to come, leaving only Tong Laodi and a few others to stay in Jiangnan. "
Sun Tu laughed: "Tong Mu's move was quite calm. It not only retained our absolute control over Jiangnan, but also gave the court some peace of mind. If we really pull out all the 200,000 troops, I think those in the court will People will feel restless when sleeping."
These words immediately caused everyone to laugh again. At this time, everyone felt quite relaxed. After all, the powerful enemy had been eliminated, and they had found their own general. With a backbone, they were not afraid of any difficulties in the future. However, after laughing for a while, Wu Song still hesitated and said: "General, there is something I don't know whether to say..."
"What can't be said openly between us brothers?" Sun Tu waved his hand indifferently.
"Although everything in Jiangnan is prosperous and developing very fast, there are always some different opinions among us brothers. The former brother Gongming once mentioned it seemingly casually when he invited me to have a drink, saying that what the general and I had done It doesn't look like he is loyal to the imperial court, but he seems to have some unruly self-reliance, and he hopes to change something." Wu Song said with a bit of uneasiness on his face.
"Is this happening?" The first person to react was not Sun Tu, but Lu Da. He suddenly stared with his two big eyes: "What does Song Gongming want to do? Give back the foundation that our brothers have worked so hard to build." To those foolish kings and traitorous ministers?"
This question made Hua Rong feel embarrassed. After all, he had always respected Song Jiang. Of course, his attitude towards Sun Tu is the same now. After fighting and getting along with each other in the past, he deeply admired Sun Tu's character and ability. Sun Tu, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded to Wu Song with satisfaction: "Second brother, don't worry too much. I have already seen that Song Gongming has always been foolishly loyal to the court, so he is not as good as me in some things. Just wait and see. But I can always deal with it."
Sun Tu was still a little surprised by Wu Song's revelation. Because he knew very well that Wu Song actually had a deep relationship with Song Jiang, and he was the most upright person. Being able to do this meant that he was completely on his side between the two. Of course, this may also be related to Wu Songzao's disappointment with the Song Dynasty court because of his own experience. Didn't you see that in the story, Wu Song was the first to oppose the recruitment of people in Liangshan, and in the end, he defeated Fang La, and he did not appear again. He followed everyone back to the court to receive rewards, but he ended up with a happy death.
But these are things in the future after all. At this time, the enemy is facing us, and it has not yet been time to clean up the inside. Sun Tu did not dwell on this issue, and quickly changed the topic: "Seven or eighty thousand soldiers and horses, although the number is not small, , but if you put it on the frontal battlefield of this war between the two countries, it may not be able to influence the overall situation of the battle." After saying that, he explained the comparison of the strength of the two sides after the current Song and Liao war: "The Western Army's vitality was seriously damaged. , relying only on the Northern Army and the Xiang troops from various places, even if we add my troops from Jiangnan, it is impossible to defeat the enemy by force and then attack the city and capture Youzhou."
"Are the Liao people really so powerful?" Several subordinates frowned.
"It should be more terrifying than we thought. What's more, to the north, there are Jurchens from the Jin Kingdom who can kill the Liao army until they are unable to fight back." Sun Tu said with a solemn expression: "So I think the key Not on the front battlefield, but in the neglected corner of Zhuozhou. It's fine if you can't contact our Jiangnan army, but since you have a way to contact them, it's time to change your tactics. In this way, send people back To the south, convey my military order to Dong Ping and others, and ask them not to go directly north after leaving Yanmen Pass, but to divert to Zhuozhou to see if they can have the effect of a surprise attack."
Originally, he didn't have many chips to use, and Sun Tu didn't have many ideas. But now, once he discovered that his own army was about to arrive, his restless heart, accustomed to taking the wrong approach, began to have other ideas.
Since the Liao army could appear behind the Song army through the Zhuozhou route, they could naturally do the same thing. Of course, the most critical point now is to be able to control Zhuozhou in one's own hands, that is to say, to take Yaoshi Guo!
All the planning and planning had now settled on Zhuozhou and his party, which made Sun Tu not only feel a heavier burden on his shoulders, but also a burst of excitement. Obviously, compared to the previous regular battle between the two armies, he is more accustomed to the more changeable and freer tricks and dangers in front of him!
After suppressing the strange throbbing in his heart, Sun Tu made the final arrangement: "Let's rest for half a day and then divide the troops into two groups. On the one hand, he sent a few people back south to find our Jiangnan troops and let them rush to Zhuozhou. , and the others went straight to Zhuozhou. No matter what means I use this time, I will let Medicine Master Guo and his troops become a supporting force for our Song Dynasty!"
"Here!" A group of subordinates also felt Sun Tu's determination to win, and they all immediately stood up solemnly, saluted and obeyed the order. This scene fell into the eyes of Fan Qi and others, and they felt a strong fighting spirit that they had never seen in the Forbidden Army before, making them feel excited.
After resting for a while, Sun Tu and the others set off again after half a day. But this time, his team was several times larger than before, and his momentum was much stronger than before.
They spent another day or two crossing Baima Mountain and marching along the deserted official road. Finally, they arrived at their destination, Zhuozhou, before dark on the fifth day of April.
But when they arrived at this big northern city that they had heard of for a long time, Sun Tu and the others were still shocked by the desolate scene in front of them—under the afterglow of the setting sun, the entire city looked lifeless, with the city gates closed and nearby people. No one could be seen. If it weren't for the flags flying above the city and some soldiers guarding it, everyone would have thought that this place had become an empty city.
Looking at it this way, we can understand why all the villages and towns along their journey were deserted. Apparently after Guo Yaoshi led his troops to cause chaos, the southern border of Liao Kingdom, which had a small population, had become a ghost land. In the final analysis, the culprit for all this can only fall on Pharmacist Guo and his subordinates.
By the way, what kind of person is this Medicine Master Guo