In the side hall of Jinxiang Hall, sunlight came in through the carved doors and windows, and the bamboo curtains swayed in the wind, sometimes brighter and sometimes darker, like a halo. The civil servants and clerks working here all retreated, and with them came the most powerful people in the court. Two ministers of the Privy Council, four prime ministers, four senior military commanders of the Palace Front Department, and three senior military commanders of the Imperial Guard Department.
A new emperor appoints new ministers. There are some new faces in the central government, but many old faces are also left behind.
For example, Prime Minister Feng Dao, Guo Shao couldn't figure out from which dynasty this old man started to serve as an official. Anyway, he was known as the "Tumbler", so he should have served in many dynasties. However, Li Chuyun, Yang Biao, Luo Yanhuan, and even Gao Huaide were relatively new faces. Their sudden appearance in such a high-level military meeting was a bit eye-catching.
Luo Yanhuan just took the position of commander-in-chief of the imperial guards cavalry, not because of his many victories and contributions in the past, but the most direct reason was: when the Tokyo mutiny occurred, he led dozens of cavalry to open the Xihua Gate in advance. This brave and resourceful performance laid a very important link for Guo Shao's army to quickly enter the imperial city.
It was that simple to ascend to the throne. But among the more than 100,000 imperial guards, only Luo Yanhuan had this opportunity and seized it.
Gentlemen, please look at the topographic map of the north bank of the Yellow River. Deputy Privy Councilor Wei Renpu said.
Everyone turned their heads to look. A rough hand-painted map was hung on a wooden shelf. Wei Renpu was still as elegant as ever, with a burly figure. The faintly visible muscles on his neck and shoulders made him look very imposing, but he was wearing a round-necked robe, speaking calmly and behaving elegantly.
Wei Renpu calmly stretched out his arm and pointed to the location on the map: Zezhou is now Jincheng, in the southern part of Shanxi Province, leaning on the ridge of Taiyue Mountain, overlooking Heyang and Hedong; it can even swoop down, and once it crosses the Yellow River, Tokyo will be undefended. Li Jixun's old nest is no longer in Huaizhou, Heyang Town, but in Zezhou; he has a good vision and has chosen a good place. Now Li Jixun's sword is pointing here, Jinzhou.
Jinzhou is now Linfen, the throat from Hedong to Guanzhong. If the rebels take Jinzhou, they can rely on the Northern Han Kingdom as a retreat and reinforcement, and they can dominate the entire territory north of the Yellow River in Guanzhong and Xijing. First establish an invincible position, advance to wait for an opportunity, and retreat to rely on Taiyue to guard the key place. This is the key to this battle.
Look here again, gentlemen. Liaozhou is a hundred miles southeast of Taiyuan, Shanxi, but it is blocked by mountains. It is where Li Chongjin's troops are located. In the second year of Xiande, Liaozhou was captured by Li Yun's troops and then incorporated into the territory of our Great Zhou; it was a frontier to guard against the Northern Han. However, for Li Chongjin, this place is surrounded by enemies on two sides and mountains on three sides, so it is impossible to stretch out; except for the benefit of being able to retreat to the Northern Han nearby, it is really a mediocre place.
Therefore, Li Chongjin is now looting the area near Liaozhou, preparing to pass through the Northern Han Kingdom to go to Jinzhou and attack Jinzhou together with Li Jixun's troops.
Behind the wooden map frame and the curtain, there was a graceful figure, the Empress Dowager Fu Jinzhan. After Wei Renpu finished speaking, he turned around and bowed to the curtain.
Fu Jinzhan said in a clear voice: Ministers, please feel free to tell us how to deal with this.
Wei Renpu walked down and joined the ranks, then turned to look at Guo Shao. Guo Shao clasped his fists and said, "Please let Envoy Wang explain the general idea."
It is better to obey than to be respectful. Wang Pu bowed to Guo Shao, turned around and bowed to Fu Jinzhan, and walked forward a few steps. The palace was silent. Although there were not many people, everyone was very serious and even a little nervous on such occasions.
Wang Pu coughed lightly and said: Deputy Envoy Wei emphasized three places, Zejin Liao. Among them, Jinzhou is the key place in this battle, and I agree with it. But it is obvious that the alliance between Li Jixun and Li Chongjin is not close. Even before this, the court had avoided a more unfavorable situation. The alliance of the three Lis was connected.
The distance from Liaozhou to Jinzhou is 560 li, and the road is very difficult to travel; while the distance from Zezhou to Jinzhou by post road is only 450 li, and the road is wide. Under such road conditions, Li Jixun's manifesto had already reached Tokyo, and he had led his troops west and then north, heading straight for Jinzhou; at this time, Li Chongjin was still robbing the people in Liaozhou.
I think Li Jixun is in a hurry to fight, while Li Chongjin is delaying. If the imperial army can reinforce Jinzhou in time and keep Jinzhou, the two Lis can be defeated in one battle.
If Li Jixun's troops were blocked at Jinzhou, and the follow-up troops took Zezhou, they could seize the geographical advantage of Li Jixun while he was on the move. When Li Chongjin's troops arrived at Jinzhou, Jinzhou had not been taken, and Li Chongjin had lost his foothold and had no support, so he was defeated without a fight.
Guo Shao praised Envoy Wang for his brilliant strategy and turned to bow behind the curtain, saying, "I have heard in the army that the method of cavalry attacking infantry camp is not a head-on attack, but to take advantage of the opportunity when the infantry camp is shaken, first break through and divide them, and then disrupt their formation, so as to defeat them."
Wang Shijun's strategy is in line with the art of war. Li Jixun is in Zezhou, which is a great geographical advantage. It would be very difficult to attack Zezhou by force. Now he is taking the initiative to attack Jinzhou, which is a good opportunity to mobilize the wavering war. If the enemy attacks, we will also attack. Jinzhou will be the place to decide the outcome. I second Wang Shijun's strategy of Deputy Envoy Wei.
After hearing Guo Shao's compliments, Wang Pu could not hide his smugness.
After hearing this, Fu Jinzhan said: When will the troops be dispatched, who will be the commander, and which troops will be mobilized
Guo Shao immediately admired Fu Jinzhan very much. She said very little during the meeting today, but she always raised key issues as soon as she opened her mouth. Fu Jinzhan did not understand war, but she obviously understood the power relations related to war.
But no one could answer her question, not even Guo Shao, because there were some things he couldn't say here.
The biggest problem in Tokyo now is that it has only been two months since the death of the previous emperor. It has finally calmed down, but the internal situation is not so stable. Many people are just waiting and watching; there are also people waiting and watching in the outer towns. There are also problems left over from the past. Tokyo is surrounded by flat land with no strategic locations to defend. It is a place that is easy to attack but difficult to defend. Therefore, the court must leave heavy troops in Tokyo, and also some reliable people.
But it is not convenient to say such words openly, even though those present are the core of power.
Guo Shao felt that some things were just skills in getting along with people, not about character; you say what you want to say in front of whoever you want to say it to. He could say some things in front of the soldiers, some things he could only say in the small circle of military officials, some things he could only say to Fu Jinzhan, and some things he would not tell anyone but just think about in his heart. If he said something careless, the least consequence would be embarrassing. Sometimes he would meet some people in some occasions and say some harsh words in public, which made people feel uncomfortable and helpless. Of course, he would not do that, and no one present would do that.
Guo Shao thought about it for a while, and then said: "Empress Dowager, the imperial guards are still being reorganized, and Zhang Guanghan's troops of the Longjie Army are still on the way back to Beijing. I'm afraid it's not a good time to withdraw. We can only wait a few more days and make long-term plans."
Wang Pu said: Li Jixun will be able to reach Jinzhou within half a month, and he set out a few days ago. The imperial army traveled more than 800 miles from Tokyo to Jinzhou. If we can't dispatch them in time, the strategy we discussed before will be useless.
However, I and Deputy Envoy Wei also anticipated this situation. In addition to the best strategy, there is also a worse strategy. That is, while Li Jixun is away from Zezhou, we should first capture Zezhou and occupy the geographical advantage.
At this time, Fan Zhi asked: Why do we need imperial troops? Why not dispatch local military governors to reinforce Jinzhou
Who is being transferred? Wang Pu asked bluntly.
Fan Zhi thought for a while and said: Zhe Dejian was the son of Zhe Congruan, and Zhe Congruan has passed away.
Wang Pu looked annoyed and said bluntly: "Mr. Fan, how did you become the prime minister? Zhe Dejian's cousin has a feud with Li Chuyun, the commander of the Palace Front Division. His cousin Zhe Deliang also has some minor conflicts with Guo Shao, which are not fundamental conflicts of interest. Now you ask him to ignore his own territory and lead the army to Jinzhou. After he receives the order, he will move at any time. It will take him a long time to get to Jinzhou."
Guo Shao thought: There is a more serious problem. The Northwest Jiedushi is a semi-independent vassal, and it is very difficult to use him. If you give him an imperial edict to control more vassal troops, are you encouraging him to take advantage of the opportunity to expand his power
Fu Yanqing is a good candidate, but he is already sixty years old and too far away from Jinzhou. Guo Shao can't help but think of Fu Yanqing's last battle in Xinzhou of Northern Han. Fu Yanqing led the battle very badly and it is indeed time for him to retire. It is a bit too much to ask him to lead troops to fight a tough battle again.
At this time, Fan Zhi also got angry and said: I have no talent to be a prime minister. Fine, fine, I will resign now.
"Lord Fan, don't act on impulse. You are a civil official, and it is normal that you can't agree with Envoy Wang on military affairs," Fu Jinzhan said unhappily.
At this time, Guo Shao turned around and said: What if Xiang Gong changed his name in his last letter to avoid taboos and defended Jinzhou
Wang Pu was stunned: Only Li Jixun was attacking, so of course he should hold on. But if the time was delayed too long, Li Chongjin's troops would reach Jinzhou, and the total strength of the rebels might reach 60,000. Xiang Gong had only a few people, and he had just arrived in Jinzhou. His subordinates and the locals had different accents and customs, so it was hard to say whether they could be of the same mind. If Xiang Gong was attacked by Li Jixun and Li Chongjin and lost Jinzhou, it would be understandable.
Wang Pu added: "Zhao Kuangyin also knew General Guo's method of attacking Shouzhou. In the past, Zhao Kuangyin was the confidant of the late emperor, and no one expected that he would rebel."
Guo Shao pondered and said: Zhang Guanghan's troops of the left wing of the Longjie Army should be arriving in Tokyo soon, but it is also very troublesome to reorganize the Imperial Guards. They almost have to redeploy the remaining troops of the Longjie Army Iron Cavalry Army; not only do they have to re-register and reorganize, but they also need time to get familiar with each other. However, the Huben Army has been preparing for a long time, and now it has basically completed the reorganization and can be mobilized within half a month.
Wang Pu said: The Tiger Guards have more than 30,000 soldiers, and are now considered the most elite troops of the Imperial Guards, but General Guo wants to take them all out.
I only brought Guo Shaodao with me. At the critical moment, I couldn't let Xiang Gong down and let him be besieged and stand by and watch.
Wang Pu was stunned and said: General Guo's current intention is to use 16,000 people to fight against Li Jixun and Li Chongjin's 60,000 people.
Guo Shaodao: The Control Crane Army and the various Banzhi can also draw some troops and horses. I will not deal with the two Lis together. Li Jixun will go to Jinzhou first, and then deal with Li Chongjin. Defeat them one by one.
Starting tomorrow, the basic update rhythm will be restored: 11:30 am and 7:30 pm. Xifeng weakly asks for the free monthly ticket at the beginning of the month.