The Yellow River has frozen, like a jade belt falling between the mountains.
Guo Shao stood by the Yellow River and looked at the surrounding mountains. People said that the mountains here were high and the roads were long, but that was compared to the plains in the Central Plains. In Guo Shao's opinion, the mountains were not as dangerous as the Shu Road he had been to before.
The mountains on the road to Shu are high and steep, and some roads require plank roads to pass. The northwest is not so exaggerated. The mountains are huge, but the slopes are relatively gentle compared to Shu, so it is not difficult for people and horses to pass. When passing by villages along the way, you can also see terraced fields on the hillsides.
However, the ravines and mountains are continuous, and the view is extremely narrow. The mountains are blocked in all directions on the road. This kind of terrain can easily hide people and horses and cannot be discovered in time. Fortunately, we are still in the jurisdiction of Daxu, so there is no danger yet.
The land in winter is barren and withered, covered with yellow earth, and the air is very dry and cold. Fortunately, the weather is good today, the sky is blue, and the sun can be seen, adding bright colors to the scene.
A voice came faintly from the military camp: Let’s play a Qinfeng song.
As soon as he finished speaking, the horn sounded first, like an overture, and then the military musicians found the entry point, and the horizontal wind and drums also sounded one after another. The rhythm of the music was slow, heavy and powerful, and the vigorous and powerful music immediately changed the atmosphere.
The musicians sang first, and then the soldiers who were watching followed suit. I have no clothes to wear, but I share my robes with you. When the king raises his army, I will sharpen my spears and halberds. I share the same hatred with you.
The soldiers who were digging trenches, chopping wood, and setting up tents all listened attentively to the sound of the drums in the camp.
After hearing this, Guo Shao was inadvertently moved. The barren and backward land in front of him made him feel as if he was seeing the ancient times when the armies of Emperor Huangdi and Emperor Yandi, armed with simple sticks and stone axes, cut through the wilderness and opened up new territories. The blood of their ancestors flowed all over the nine states, which led to this vast land.
Now, he has sophisticated armor, finely forged weapons, and even finely crafted artillery and firearms. There is no reason to retreat.
Guo Shao listened for a while, and then the musicians changed the music to Han Dynasty Yuefu music, and he returned to the central army tent.
They were still repairing kangs inside and outside the tents to keep warm at night; it was fine during the day, but if you slept outdoors at night, you would freeze to death. Li Gu did a good job in logistics. He ordered officials such as Yan Xishi and other states to prepare fuel early and recruited civilians to deliver it to the army for the army's needs, mainly coal and charcoal.
The personal guards were setting up a stove in the tent. They were working very hard in front of the emperor. One soldier was trimming a stone with a chisel, as if he thought it was not flat enough.
All the soldiers were dressed differently from when they were in Tokyo, mainly because they had a lot of sacks and sundries hanging on their bodies. The average soldier would have flint knives, food bags and other items on his body, and the soldiers also had a lot of things related to weapons, such as a small bamboo tube for gunpowder hanging on a belt and an iron mold for clamping lead bullets. Each team would also carry various tools such as hatchets, hammers, etc. on donkey carts and mules to march and fight. They spent very little time on the battlefield, and most of the time they lived a life of traveling and sleeping in the open.
The central army tent had not been tidied up yet, and the civil and military officials had not arrived yet. They were deploying and inspecting the stationing of each camp. In the messy tent, Guo Shao asked someone to take out paper and pen, and took advantage of this free time to write a letter. Each letter to Jinzhan and Ermei took many days to write, and was only completed intermittently.
Now I can finally write private letters to Jinzhan as a matter of course.
In the noisy tent, Guo Shao first described what he saw and felt along the way. This place was quite desolate, and there was a stretch of road where no one had been seen for the whole day. But Guo Shao found that when many people walked together on this road, people were not worried, and they would rely on each other more and stick together. When the emperor was on the expedition, he could build greater trust by spending time with the soldiers day and night.
He told Jinzhan and others not to worry too much. When the army reached the border area where the Wuding River and the Yellow River met, they would build a fortress there, which would serve as a barrier.
Guo Shao wrote another sentence, I miss you very much, but he didn't write the words out loud. He thought it was too explicit, so he wrote down the days when Tokyo Jinzhan took good care of me.
At this time, the generals and civil officials came into the big tent one after another. Guo Shao put down his brush and asked them to find a place to sit. Then they sat down around the stone stove.
The guards placed an iron pot on the stove, took out the grain bag and poured corn into it, then took out cheese, small salted fish, and pickled vegetables and put them all in. They didn't even need any seasonings, and just cooked a pot of porridge. The wheat cakes were placed by the stove to heat up.
Even Guo Shao eats this stuff, there is not much difference in the food from top to bottom. The military law of the imperial army prohibits drinking without reason during the march, and the generals of the imperial army generally do not drink excessively.
Without the grandeur and magnificence of the palace, without the extravagant ceremonial guards and pomp, the most powerful ministers of the dynasty sat around such an earthen stove, surrounding the emperor. But at this time, the relationship between the emperor and his ministers seemed much closer.
Guo Shaozheng was holding a map, ignoring everyone's comments, and the gentlemen started talking casually. The fire from the soup gradually warmed up the tent.
Guo Shao added a scale to the blueprint, but it was still very simple. He could roughly understand the location of various places relative to modern psychological knowledge. For example, Guanzhong Jingzhao Prefecture in the south is Xi'an, Yanzhou is Yan'an, and these place names are all reference objects.
The Yellow River flows from north to south in eastern Shaanxi, and this is the route that Guo Shao and others are taking now.
Their early destination was the confluence of the Wuding River and the Yellow River, and they were almost there. This place now belongs to Daxu. There is no city and no place name. It is the legendary no-man's land. There are Xishi, Yansui and other states around it. It is probably on the bank of the Yellow River east of Yan'an, and should belong to northern Shaanxi.
The lower reaches of the Wuding River, where it merges into the Yellow River, already belonged to the Pingxia regime. The upper reaches of the Wuding River generally flow from east to west, and the lower reaches generally flow from north to south; the lower reaches are on the west side of the Yellow River.
Going up along the Wuding River, you will soon reach Suizhou: the city occupied by the Xiazhou regime. Suizhou is at the confluence of the Dali River and the Wuding River. Guo Shao discovered that Chinese cities like to be built at the confluence of such rivers.
Continuing upstream along the Wuding River, we will find another city where the rivers meet: Yinzhou.
Yinzhou roughly belongs to the Hengshan area that the ministers called. Guo Shao had never heard of such a mountain range as Hengshan before. After learning about it many times in Tokyo, he believed that this place was not a mountain range at all, but a mountainous and hilly area with many gullies. The reason why it was called a mountain range by the ancients was probably because this area was a transition from the mountainous area to the northern pasture plateau.
The Hengshan area is the main agricultural and animal husbandry area of Pingxia. After the Dangxiang tribe gained control of this area with many ravines, their strength increased a lot.
From Yinzhou upstream, the Wuding River flows roughly east-west. Further upstream is the center of the Dangxiang: Xiazhou. The Great Xia State of the Jin Dynasty built Tongwan City as its capital, which was built at that time. It is located on the north bank of the Wuding River and should belong to the plateau area.
According to Guo Shao's memory, the north of Xiazhou should be the Ordos grassland. He had a deep impression of this place. The real estate bubble was very big, and it was called a ghost town. It was often reported in the news in the past.
Just then, Wang Pu came and his words interrupted Guo Shao's wandering thoughts: I would like to introduce someone to Your Majesty, please give your instructions.
When Guo Shao heard that it was Wang Pu who introduced him, he said without asking any questions: "Let him in."
After a while, a burly man with dark yellow skin came in with a bent waist, knelt on the ground and said: "I, Zheheige, kowtow to Your Majesty. May our emperor live forever!"
Guo Shao said: "Stand up and talk." Then he turned to look at Wang Pu.
Wang Pu bowed and said: "Zhe Heige is a Qiang from Hengshan, but he has been a slave of the Zhe family for a long time. He often followed Zhe Dejian's father, Zhe Gong, to go to war. He fought bravely and was made a deputy general and given the surname Zhe. He was sent by Zhe Dejian, but now he is no different from a Han Chinese."
Zheheige said: Mr. Zhe treats me like a son. It is often said that in the time of Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang, there was no difference between Qiang people and Han people. But now that I have entered China, I have become a pure son.
Guo Shao immediately said: "If you enter China, you will be Chinese; if you enter the barbarians, you will be barbarians. Zhe Gong's heart is also the heart of the court and me."
Zheheige said: I grew up in Hengshan when I was young, and I know the customs and people of the Dangxiang. Your Majesty's edict arrived in Lingzhou, ordering the commander to be on guard for defense, and the commander sent me to surrender to Your Majesty, and I am willing to serve Your Majesty in the expedition to Xiazhou.
Guo Shao thought to himself that he didn't know what it felt like to lead another team to fight against his own people, but there were many guides on the Han side, so it was not surprising. After all, Zheheige had stayed with the Han people for too long, and assimilation was still effective. If there was no independent regime of the Dangxiang, the effect would probably be better. He nodded calmly and said: General Zhejie is loyal and commendable.
Zheheige bowed and said: As far as I know, the Dangxiang people in Hengshan are more populous than the Dangxiang people in the pastoral areas north of Pingxia Yinzhou. They are rich in ironware and grain, and their people are brave. They are also the main source of soldiers for the Xiazhou infantry. Your Majesty should take note of this.
Wang Pu said: During the Later Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains noticed that the Dangxiang were gaining strength and sent a large army to attack them. When they besieged Xiazhou, they were attacked by more than 40,000 Dangxiang cavalrymen, and it was difficult to find food on the road. At that time, the Central Plains was in chaos and the Later Tang court was unable to hold on, so they had to find many excuses to withdraw and give up.
I estimate that by now, the Tanguts have become extremely powerful, and with the Hengshan Qiang infantry and the Hexi Tangut reinforcements, the maximum number of troops that can be gathered may be as high as 100,000.
Guo Shao pondered and said: "Of course the Dangxiang will do their best in this battle. However, the strength of the army cannot be judged by the number of people. Our Daxu Dynasty governs more than 400 states, and even if we raise hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, we still feel that the treasury is tight. The population of the Dangxiang territory is only so large. Even if we can mobilize 100,000 troops, their equipment and training must be very crude. They should be a collection of able-bodied men who usually farm and graze.
The Daxu Imperial Army is an elite force, well-trained, brave and skilled in fighting, and has the best equipment and fodder in the world.
Everyone bowed and said: Your Majesty is wise.
Guo Shao also wanted to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to scare the enemy to death. If the national treasury was rich enough to ignore transportation, he could use millions of civilians to supply military supplies to the front line at any cost.
He said: There are only 100,000 enemy troops. I am afraid they don't have the courage to fight decisively.