Chapter 1,276 Meeting

First of all, the transportation from Tianjin to Beijing was the best road in China at that time, and there was even a railway. Even so, the advance of the coalition forces was blocked several times.

Secondly, the bloody bravery of the Xixia people today is not the same as the decadent army of Wan Qing. At that time, China's political arena was divided between the north and the south. It is completely different from today's Xixia people who are united as one, all the people are soldiers, and the morale of the people is completely different.

Thirdly, Xixia was a nomadic nation, with cavalry accounting for the majority, and cities were not required to be defended. This was also different from the Qing Dynasty, which had been solidified by farming civilization on the land of China, and lost its capital and declared national danger.

Monk Wang used a large number of cavalry to repeatedly attack the Allied gun and artillery positions to death, in an attempt to snipe the Allied forces' northward attack to capture Beijing. Don't expect the Xixia people to do the same heroic feat.

Fourth, the strategic goals are also different. The coalition's operational goal is to capture Beijing by surprise and force the Qing government back to the negotiating table to continue blackmail. However, Su You's strategic goal is to destroy Xixia and permanently and effectively occupy all of Xixia.

territory.

Let 50,000 new troops attack Xingqing Mansion and win a great victory. This is something Su You can do.

But what happens after you do it?

Will the Xia people, like the Manchus, obediently return to the negotiating table? Will they have cattle and sheep worth 400 million taels of silver to compensate?

Also, during the Eight-Power Allied Forces' invasion of China, many book friends in later generations only saw the overall comparison of military power, but did not see the comparison of military power in each battle.

For example, in the famous Battle of Baliqiao, the coalition forces had a total of 8,000 people, but the monk king actually had only 25,000 to 30,000 people.

The so-called great victory of the coalition forces only defeated the main force of Monk King's cavalry. The Qing Dynasty estimated that the actual loss of the 30,000 cavalry was only 3,000, while the coalition forces judged that it was only 1,000.

And the most important thing is that in the history of the Eight-Nation Allied Forces' invasion of China, there was a step that many people ignored.

That is the North Road. Tsarist Russia sent 170,000 troops to occupy the three eastern provinces!

Together with these 170,000 Russian troops, we have a complete picture of the Eight-Power Allied Forces' invasion of China!

The overall strategy should be that the coalition forces used a total of more than 200,000 troops to complete the full occupation of the "Longxing Land" of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, capture Beijing, and let the Qing Dynasty honestly pay compensation.

This overall strategy has just now been basically equivalent to Suyou’s current strategic intention!

This is also the fundamental reason why Su You told Fu Bi when he met him in Luoyang that it would be best to wait another eight years.

When the new army of the Song Dynasty increased from 50,000 to 250,000, he was sure that he would be able to achieve the same results as the coalition forces.

But now we want to rely only on 50,000 new troops to capture an area of ​​22 states with a population of two to three million. They are said to be invincible in cavalry and archery. They do not care about the gains and losses of cities. They are best at guerrilla robbery and have a military strength of no less than 500,000.

The Xixia army also needs to achieve complete occupation. Su You believes that even if Bai Qi is reborn and Li Jing is reincarnated, it will be difficult to achieve it.

It is easy to defeat, but difficult to defeat. This was the warning that Su You repeatedly sounded to all the commanders before the war started.

Li Xian's great victory on the west route was of little value, and the Xia army that was destroyed was not an elite main force at all.

Zhong'e's victory along the way was considered a heavy blow, but in terms of military strength comparison, it still did not form an absolute advantage over Xia's war situation.

It can even be said that the real test has not yet begun.

In the shogunate of the Metropolitan Administration Bureau, Su You was standing in front of the map and thinking about it. Zhong Ji and Li Ruoyu were behind him. They looked at each other and could see the helplessness in each other's eyes.

Li Ruoyu didn't have any sense of crisis in his heart, because the Privy Council's intention was very clear. As long as the army could seize a few important places and gain a comprehensive advantage over Xia's war situation, it would be considered a passing grade.

Su You's bottom line for this battle was actually a bit higher than this. He wanted to at least control the area south of the Great Wall and eat up a considerable part of the Xixia people's troops.

In fact, more than half of this requirement has been completed under the genius command of Zhong Wu. The destruction of 90,000 elite Xia troops not only brought a breakthrough in the East Road battle situation, but also the emptiness of the entire Xixia East Road area.

As long as Yinzhou, Xiazhou, and Zhong'e are captured, they will form a flank attack with Wang Zhongzheng on the left side of the heroic army.

If it could capture the Zuoxiang Shengyongjun Division again, the Song Dynasty would have an absolute advantage on the vast east road starting from Quye River in the east, ending at Wudingchuan River in the west, and reaching the Great Wall in the north. This would be a great achievement in expanding its territory thousands of miles.

If after occupying Xiazhou, Zhong'e continues to move westward against Wudingchuan and captures Youzhou and Yanzhou, it will form a response to the army in the middle, and Liang Yi's 70,000 elite troops will be in danger of being outflanked.

If Liang Yi doesn't escape by then, Su You's most desired war situation will be realized. The Eastern and Western armies of the Song Dynasty will eat these 70,000 people without hesitation, reducing the Xixia army to two-fifths.

If Liang Yimi escaped, the Song army could easily occupy the entire south of the Great Wall and successfully complete the second phase of the strategic goal.

In Li Ruoyu's heart, this was considered to be a top grade in the exam; in Zhong Ji's heart, he also felt that he was at least 70% sure.

Even if we ultimately fail to capture Xingqing Mansion on the other side of the Yellow River, we can at least bombard Lingzhou to show off our power, and there will still be no problem.

When the time comes, slowly build the Great Wall defense line, or hollow out the Western Regions, or conquer the Qing and Tang Dynasties, no matter what, it will be a great victory that expands the territory of five thousand miles.

But how much weight does such a great victory have in the heart of the thirty-four-year-old Six-Road Commander in front of him?

There were footsteps behind him, Su You turned around, and it was his uncle Gao Zunyu who strode in.

Gao Zunyu gave Su You a military salute: "Bachelor, I heard that Li Xian took Lanzhou?"

Su You nodded: "Yes, the Governor of the Capital is ordering him to build Lanzhou City and build four fortresses of Dongguan, Xiguan, Gaolan and Jincheng, while his subordinates are going out to sweep Ma Qian Mountain and Gaolan Mountain.

To clear out the remnants of the Xia people in the rear and ensure the safety of the road back."

Gao Zunyu asked again: "Where is Zhongwu now?"

Before Su You could answer, he saw Wang Hou striding in: "Report, Xiao Yanjun reported!"

Su You said: "Nian!"

Wang Hou read: "The Yanyan Army reported to the Ministry of Education that our troops had arrived in Xiazhou on September 3rd. They learned that Suo Jiusi of Xiazhou had already fled in panic after hearing about Liang Yongneng's defeat. After our troops lightly captured Xiazhou, they took advantage of the situation and advanced in four directions.

The Japanese besieged Yinzhou, but the defender Narwin did not dare to resist the heavenly army, so he led 5,000 people to surrender."

"How about the progress, please ask the General Manager to come down and take command."

"Okay!" Li Ruoyu couldn't help but feel happy: "Wu Lang is really a good general!"

Su You touched his chin: "Isn't Liang Yimi moving yet?"

Wang Hou shook his head: "According to Jiyi Division's investigation, no. Liang Yi is still in Xiaoguan."

"Are you determined?" Su You couldn't help but curled his lips.

Gao Zunyu was a little anxious: "Bachelor, send out troops, give the order, and the general will take care of it and raze Xiaoguan to the ground for you!"

Su You nodded: "Well, before sending out troops, let's hold another meeting with Zhuge Liang."

Gao Zunyu said: "Is it still open?"

Su You smiled and said: "As long as the deadline is not violated, it doesn't matter. Let's take stock before sending troops."

Gao Zunyu stamped his foot: "Hey! Then I'll call someone!"

Not long after, the generals arrived.

Su You, Li Ruoyu, Zhong Ji, Gao Zunyu, Liu Shiheng, Cao Nan, Li Yong, Liu Changzuo, Yao Lin.

There is also a specially invited observer, Zhang Kai.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Su You nodded: "Let's have a meeting, please Li Douzhi to take notes."

Li Ruoyu opened his notebook, dipped his quill in ink, and nodded to Su You.

Su You said: "To judge, let's first talk about the current progress of our army."

Zhongji took the wooden whip, stood in front of the map, pointed at the newly added arrow and said: "On September 3rd, Zhong'e's troops have advanced to Xiazhou, and the magistrate of Xiazhou fled, and then captured Yinzhou."

"On August 26th, Wang Zhongzheng occupied Yinchi, then opened a warehouse, divided the land, and calculated the gains from the Quye River battle."

"Because we did not encounter any enemy thieves, the results were not great. We only captured four leaders, killed more than ten leaders, and beheaded more than seven hundred people."

"However, the income is rich. In the warehouses and villages along the Quye River, there are 200,000 dan of autumn wheat and more than 3,500 horses."

"On August 27th, Li Xian gathered seven soldiers and horses and went to Xincheng in the West City. He encountered more than 20,000 bandits. The officers and soldiers defeated them, captured three leaders, killed more than 20 leaders, and beheaded two others.

More than a thousand level, more than 500 horses were captured."

"On August 29th, Li Xian captured the Ruzhe Valley at night. On the 30th, he went down to the Gonggu River and reported that the army had passed through the Gonggu River. Bingchang had arrogated the title of Imperial Village. There were many cellars and a bandit camp. The city was very large.

Once it is fortified, no one can defend it."

"We only have bows and arrows, and there are a lot of iron pestles. We have sent the deputy generals of the chasing army to divide their troops into cellars to collect grain and defend the city with bows and arrows. In addition, the Xia people are planning to harvest thousands of new autumn wheat crops."

"On September 2, Li Xian entered Lanzhou."
Chapter completed!