In the first month of the second year of Xuanren in 961 AD, 120,000 soldiers of the imperial army of Tokyo were divided into four routes to leave the city. The more concentrated the people, the slower the march and the easier it was to get stuck. Guo Shao led his troops through Chenqiao Gate. Each gate was connected to a post road, and the road through Chenqiao Gate led to Chenqiao Post.
Guo Shao's troops were composed entirely of cavalry and mounted infantry, and they arrived at Chenqiao Posthouse that same day.
The army passed by this post station, but they just passed by, and the soldiers did not think it was anything special. Only Guo Shao paid extra attention to this place. In his memory, there were few historical place names more famous than Chenqiao Post Station because of the Chenqiao Mutiny.
However, the Chenqiao Mutiny did not exist in this world. Guo Shao proclaimed himself emperor in Songzhou, so Chenqiao Posthouse was just a post station.
Guo Shao's troops all rode on horseback and arrived in Huazhou on the morning of the 15th day of the first lunar month just two days later. The two-day journey was about 240 miles.
Since the army did not enter the city, celebrating the festival had become an unimportant factor.
That day, the army crossed the Yellow River from the ferry near Huazhou, and deployed on the flat river beach, crossing the Yellow River in batches. At this time, the Yellow River was still frozen, and the river surface was frozen, so there was no movement of horses and vehicles.
Two days later, on the morning of the 17th day of the first lunar month, the army arrived at Daming Prefecture after traveling 230 miles.
The four armies crossed the Yellow River from Weizhou, Huazhou and other places, and all passed through Damingfu. However, Guo Shao did not wait for the follow-up troops in Damingfu, nor did he go to see his father-in-law Fu Yanqing, but continued to march.
The 120,000-man army will now form a long formation with a long front and back, which will make the overall march faster. The first section of the road will be inland, with no obstacles, and there will be no need to send more scouts.
Then, according to the deployment of the Privy Council, the whole army will gradually divide into the front, middle and rear armies during the march. The front army will be led by Shi Yanchao, with about 18,000 cavalry; the main force of the middle army will be led by Guo Shao himself, with more than 70,000 cavalry, including all cavalry and the mounted infantry of the Huben Army; the rear army will have more than 30,000 people and will move the slowest, including the infantry of the left and right wings of the Longjie Army and the left wing of the Hujie Army.
The total strength of the imperial guards on this expedition was about 120,000, of which nearly 90,000 were cavalry and mounted infantry.
Damingfu was already in Hebei. The vanguard and the main force of the Zhou army quickly marched north to Beizhou, and then rode across the frozen Yongji Canal. Hebei was full of famous cities and towns, and Beizhou was also a famous city. The Later Jin Dynasty was destroyed because it unfortunately failed to stop the Liao army in Beizhou.
Now, the people from the same place have changed the name of their country, and a huge herd of horses is passing by this ancient city heading north.
The marching route of the Great Zhou army from Yizhou, Shenzhou, Xiongzhou, was a straight line from due north on the map. Then it approached Yizhou, marching over 1,200 miles, and the main force of the cavalry completed the journey in less than half a month. The area north of the Juma River was controlled by the Liao Kingdom.
Guo Shao, Wang Pu and others, along with their guards, rode past the vanguard of the army and arrived at the south bank of the Juma River first. However, they saw nothing. Both banks were still frozen, and there was not even a single person in sight. They could only observe that the terrain on the opposite bank was slightly higher than that on the south bank.
At this time, a rider suddenly came from the direction of Yizhou. He was first stopped by Guo Shao's guards at a distance and questioned, but soon the rider was brought to Guo Shao.
The man knelt on one knee and said: I am a messenger from the Youzhou Division of the Military Department, and I have come here to present an urgent report on the orders of my superiors.
Bring it here. Guo Shao said directly.
He took a lacquered envelope, took out a piece of paper with a seal on it, glanced at it, and his expression changed slightly.
Wang Pu couldn't help asking: Is this a secret report on Youzhou's military situation
Guo Shao handed it to Wang Pu calmly.
Wang Pu was surprised after reading it: Youzhou is still unaware of it
Guo Shao called Jingniang over and asked her to check the handwriting of the report. There was nothing wrong with the report. The headquarters of the Bingcao Si spies in Youzhou, Hebei was located in Yizhou. The report was sent urgently from Yizhou. At least when the Youzhou spies sent back the news, the signs in Youzhou City showed that they still knew nothing about the Zhou army.
Guo Shaoqiang suppressed his excitement and looked around and said: It seems that the situation is better than we expected.
Wang Pu said: We have been out of Beijing for more than ten days now. More than 100,000 troops have nowhere to hide along the way. It is really unexpected that the Liao people did not get the news. God is helping me.
A general said happily: If they don't know until we rush to Youzhou City, it will be much easier for the cavalry to rush in from the city gate.
Wang Pu laughed and said: That is impossible. There are so many eyes in Youzhou, not everyone is blind. However, the Liao people in Youzhou knew it too late, so they were not well prepared and the city defense could not be so perfect. This was an extremely favorable start for Da Zhou.
He turned to look at Guo Shao, waiting for his order. Wang Pu was in charge of the Youzhou Front Camp Military Headquarters, but with the emperor present, he still had to wait for Guo Shao's order.
Guo Shao sat on his horse and squinted his eyes to look at the road ahead again. The Juma River in front of him was like a piece of white silk lying on the ground. The water had frozen and was motionless, and there was silence between heaven and earth.
Just as Wang Pu said, the Northern Expedition started very well. Not only were military secrets not leaked in advance, but the army was able to hide the fact that it had reached Yizhou from the Liao army. There was no better time for a surprise attack than the current situation.
Most of the troops guarding Zhuozhou and other places are Han troops, so we can ignore them. Whether they surrender or not, they will not come out of the city to fight with our army. Guo Shao's voice was very steady.
Guo Shao looked up at the sky again. It was dark, as if the sky was very low. Although there were no dark clouds, the clouds were very thick. There was also a north wind blowing in the sky.
Guo Shao cursed softly at this horrible weather.
Everything was perfect, except for the weather. It was cloudy and windy, and I was worried that the temperature would take too long to rise. It would be difficult to build fortifications on the frozen soil of Youzhou.
Guo Shao took a deep breath and looked at Wang Pu: Then, we can order Shi Yanchao to lead the army to Youzhou.
Wang Pu's voice was urgent and he spoke very quickly: Of course, the vanguard will force Youzhou first, and the central army will then surrender and resolve Zhuozhou and other places, and follow up later.
Guo Shao retracted his gaze and said without hesitation: Give the order, Shi Yanchao's troops will cross the Juma River immediately. Do not attack the city, but go straight to Youzhou City; if you encounter resistance on the way, you can eliminate it without asking for permission.
Wang Pu clasped his fists and said: I understand your command and will immediately issue the official military order from the Front Camp Military Headquarters to Shi Yanchao.
He immediately turned the horse's head and kicked it in the belly: the horse cried out in pain and ran away in a leap.
Guo Shao sat on his horse, holding his sword, facing the north wind, looking at the land in the north for a long time. The land of Hebei is now the border of an enemy country.