After traveling through time, I became Han Zhang’s grandson?

Chapter 352: Unbearable Memories!!!

With Han taking office, the decline of the Northern Expedition was slightly curbed.

Unfortunately, from the overall perspective of the war, the Song Dynasty is now at the end of its strength and has switched from the offensive to the defensive, while the morale of the Liao Kingdom is high.

Even though the Liao army was smaller in number than the Song army, the Liao Kingdom, which had experienced its heyday and was still on the tail, still had a few cards to its name.

Unfortunately, Emperor Shenzong was blindly arrogant and believed that his overt strength had surpassed that of the Liao Kingdom, so he planned to retake Yanyun in one battle.

As a result, not only did they choose the wrong time, but they also wasted a lot of the wealth that had been accumulated with great difficulty in the country.

The most important thing is personnel. The entire northern theater has 200,000 permanent army troops, 150,000 infantry troops, and 50,000 cavalry troops.

This time, nearly 50,000 Song troops were defeated at the city of Jizhou, which directly cut off a quarter of their troops, making everyone feel extremely distressed.

Needless to say, every family in the society was in mourning. Although it was not as severe as nine out of ten houses being left empty-handed, it still caused a huge uproar. This was the biggest Waterloo that the Song Dynasty had suffered since the end of Emperor Renzong's reign.

It can be said that this battle shattered part of the national prestige and faith established by the Song Dynasty. Although the people in the north did not dare to accuse Emperor Shenzong openly, they were still able to do so indirectly.

For example, the Northern Expedition duo who took the blame this time - Guo Kui and Gu Tingye.

The two men's reputations were rotten throughout the north, and the common people wished they could hang the two executioners with their own hands.

Of course, the people of the Song Dynasty also hated the Liao Kingdom, the direct murderer, and wanted to eat its flesh and sleep on its skin.

Many of the remaining young and middle-aged men in the families of the fallen soldiers joined the army wearing white scarves to seek revenge.

When the news came from below, Zhang Yu, who was temporarily appointed as the chief administrator of the three routes of Hebei East and West Road and Hedong Road, also sighed helplessly.

"Big Steward, what do you think?"

Zhong Jianzhong, who is in charge of conscription in the Northern Theater Command, oh no, now he should be called Zhong Shidao.

For Zhong Shidao, who was specially trained and accepted as a disciple by Han Ming, he was able to coordinate the basic military personnel work of the Northern Theater Command at the age of 27, all thanks to the attention of his teacher.

Zhong Shidao had once studied under the great Confucian scholar Zhang Zai, so Han Ming didn't insist he change his school of thought. Instead, he said, "The civil arts have their own way, and the martial arts have their own way. They don't interfere with each other, and they complement each other. Isn't that beautiful?"

Therefore, Zhong Shidao regarded Han Ming as his teacher in the military field. As for the famous "Mr. Hengqu" Zhang Zai in later generations, he had long been immersed in the great cause of compiling "Zizhi Tongjian".

Originally, Han thought that Zhang Zai was a great Confucian scholar who was a master who came up with the "Four Sentences of Hengqu", so he arranged for him to serve in the central government.

As a result, a few days later, this brother was abducted by Sima Junshi, who also said that such great talent should not be wasted on government affairs, but should be used in cultural education.

Han Ming had no choice but to let the big boss go.

As an elderly commander whose age is comparable to that of Wang Jiefu and other middle-aged leaders, Zhang Qie is a late bloomer.

As a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination at the age of 39, if Han Ming had not helped him, he would not have become a pacification envoy until he was 65 years old, in the sixth year of Yuanyou in the reign of Emperor Zhezong.

Then, as if he was using cheat code, he displayed a skill similar to Huang Zhong's, called "The Older, the More Powerful", which shocked the Western Xia.

On the other hand, now that he is in his early fifties, he has reached the peak of his life ahead of time, and is in charge of three routes alone. Although it is temporary, it is the first time since the founding of the Song Dynasty.

Zhang Qie rubbed his temples and spoke in a dull voice, "Just proceed as normal, but you have to make it clear to them that even if you join the army now, you won't be sent to the battlefield right away."

"If they can wait, then they can wait. There will always be a time to repay this blood debt."

"If you can't wait, you will be thrown out of the barracks. The Song army does not recruit 'thorns' eager for revenge!"

Zhang Qie’s words made Zong Shidao feel relieved, and he then clasped his hands and left.

Looking at the other person's back, Zhang Qie spread out the secret order of the Privy Council under the table.

"Order Guo and Gu to join the remaining troops in defending Zhuozhou to the death. Build up the city defenses and do not retreat."

"Zhong Yan and Zhong Zhen must defend Yunzhou to the death and must not abandon the cities and prefectures they have occupied!"

"Zhang Qiao advanced to the north of Zhuozhou and stationed at the Zhuo River, building fortifications to defend against the Liao cavalry. Pan Xiaoyan led his troops around the Liuli River and ambushed the Liao army's flank."

"General Yang, try not to assign him combat missions. If you can persuade him, do so."

"If you still want to go to war, let Cao Ping accompany you."

"Raise the old general's flag and show those Liao army bastards that the old general is still capable of wielding a sword!"

Looking at the serious battle deployment at the beginning, Zhang Qie was at a loss whether to laugh or cry when he saw the words at the end of the secret order.

Sure enough, Han Ming's tone towards his teacher was different, and he was completely unable to control the old man.

Because of Mr. Han's sudden appearance, General Yang Wenguang lived a very comfortable life in the second half of his life. When a person is in a good mood, he will naturally live longer.

The old man, who was supposed to pass away in the seventh year of Xining, lived to the first year of Yuanfeng and witnessed the Northern Expedition with his own eyes. Unfortunately, he made a wrong move and ended up in shambles.

Now that he has retreated to the rear, he sighs all day long, especially after the Battle of Jizhou, his face is even more sad.

Zhang Yu thought of the seventy-nine-year-old Mr. Yang, who was still full of energy, and couldn't help but smile: "It seems that Prime Minister Han has arranged everything."

"This battle is likely to continue. It seems the next batch of military supplies needs to be sent to the front line as soon as possible."

Afterwards, the three routes of the entire northern border moved rapidly, with those who advanced advanced and those who retreated in rotation. Large quantities of military supplies and food were shipped from Xiongzhou and continuously transported to the Zhuozhou front.

. . . . . .

As for the Liao army, after receiving intelligence that the Song army did not take advantage of the situation to withdraw its forces and retreat back to Song territory, Yelu Hongji and Xiao Boyu stared at each other in confusion.

"What is the Song army going to do?!"

In the eyes of Yelu Hongji and Xiao Boyu, the Song army had completely fallen into a state of decline by now in this battle.

If Guo Kui and Gu Tingye really had any brains, they should have taken advantage of the "victorious escape" in the "Battle of Jizhou" to quickly retreat to Song territory and regroup.

Instead of showing signs of "defending" Zhuozhou City to the death as they are doing now.

Moreover, the endless supply of food and grass in the rear of the Song army showed that Guo and Gu were indeed not planning to withdraw.

So what’s the problem?!

Xiao Boyu stroked the goatee on his chin, feeling that something was wrong.

Suddenly, the door outside the tent was opened, and a somewhat embarrassed figure rushed into the tent, holding a document with Sikkim thread in his hand, and handed it to Yelu Hongji.

Long Sikkim!!!

Ever since he failed to intercept Han Ming on his way back; in the Battle of Baigouyi, he repeatedly lagged behind the intelligence of the Song Dynasty; and finally failed to rescue Xiao Yi's army, Long Xijin has been basically hidden by Yelu Hongji.

Unexpectedly, I see him coming back again. It seems that my good friend Yelu Liang should have recovered from the failure.

"His Majesty..."

Xiao Boyu looked at the other person with some excitement.

"Well, it's not easy. It's a pity that Ah Su was able to find out such news, but it's not a good thing for us!"

Yelu Hongji nodded with satisfaction at first, then when he saw the word "Zhang Qiao", his pupils shrank instantly, his face turned ugly, and he handed the document to Xiao Boyu.

Looking at the emperor in such an expression, Xiao Boyu knew that something might have happened. He hurriedly opened it and took a look. His body trembled. He gritted his teeth, and then couldn't hold it in and dropped the information on the ground.

"This is definitely a rotten idea and a broken plan that Han Jingyuan came up with. This bastard is so fucking rampant!!!"

"I'm so angry!!!!"

Xiao Boyu was completely overwhelmed by the Song army's battle deployment. Isn't this just a replay of the 'Battle of Baigou Station' twelve years ago?!

Thinking back to when Zhang Qiao blocked the road, Pan Xiaoyan, Guo Zhongliang, and Guo Zhongjian attacked from the flanks, and Yang Wenguang and Cao Ping advanced to provoke...

Xiao Boyu felt his blood rushing up and he almost died from anger.

Damn it, this is intolerable!

“Han Jingyuan——!”

“You deserve to die—!!!”