Chapter 26 first quarter

After Ma Zheng delivered the mobilization order to the Western Army Headquarters in Weizhou, within ten days, the imperial court issued seven more gold plaques in front of the imperial court, conveying the same order, and each time the tone became more severe.In the last order, there was a sentence that "the army will not be able to arrive in Xiongzhou by the due date, which will delay the army's opportunity, but it is only a question of the way to control the division".The golden and wooden sign in front of the imperial palace can only be used to convey the time of one hundred thousand urgent troops. It takes six hundred miles to travel in a day and night, and people hold gold and scarlet cards. Every time they pass a post station, they have to change to better horses and gallop past like lightning.Now the imperial court has sent seven envoys in a row within ten days, and the imperial court's eagerness to use troops can be imagined.In this regard, Zhong Shidao did not dare to neglect, and hastily made deployments for dispatching troops and emergency mobilization.

Although the organization of the Northwest Frontier Army is claimed to be complete, the number of combat troops officially included in the establishment is actually no more than 110,000, and some of them still have some sick numbers and vacancies.In the previous mobilization orders issued by the imperial court, according to the instructions of the officials, there is a sentence "it is easy to defend against the Hebei army, and the whole division will go out".However, the Hebei Army exists in name only, and there is no army that can be easily defended. If the Western Army really "goes out with all the troops", it is treating national defense as a trifling matter.Zhong Shidao resolutely made a decision to let Xihe Road Jinglu envoy Yao Gu command a total of 30,000 troops from various military regions to stay where they are and take full charge of the defense of the northwest.Yao Gu was originally too lazy to take action, and he didn't want to be restrained by the teacher's morality. This decision was completely in line with his wish.His son, Yao Pingzhong, took pride in his bravery and insisted on going to the front to fight.Zhong Shidao met his request and asked him to lead the Xihe Army to Hebei with 10,000 people.Xihe Road is the farthest, and it is estimated that this group of people will be the last to reach the front line.Zhong Shidao took it as the rear army and gave him the task of taking over the whole army. In fact, he made the Xihe army the general reserve of the whole army.

Part of the Huanqing Army and the Fuyan Army under the command and control of Liu Yanqing, the economic envoy of Huanqing Road, stayed on the Northwest Road of Beijing after they suppressed the Fangla Uprising in the Liangzhe area last year, and did not return to the northwest after being demobilized.This army was ordered by the imperial court to go with the army to march north. The road from Beijing Northwest Road to Hebei is the shortest and the best road.This part of the army is the main force under Liu Yanqing's command. Zhong Shidao specially ordered Liu Guangshi, Liu Yanqing's son, to follow the military order and urge this army, as the first group of front troops, to go to the front line first, without any mistakes.

Considering the poor combat effectiveness and lax discipline of this army, Zhong Shidao did not assign the important task of selecting the forward army, but handed it over to Yang Keshi, a famous brave general of the Western Army.Let him lead the elite Jingyuan Road main force of 15,000 people as the forwards, and set off quickly.Zhong Shizhong led the Qin Feng Army, and Liu Yanqing led the rest of the Huanqing Army and the Huan Ting Army as the left and right armies respectively, starting later than Yang Keshi.Zhong Shidao took the command headquarters and the remaining Jingyuan army as the central army, handed over the line of defense with Yao Gu, and set off accordingly.

Zhong Shidao considered that after the departure of the army, the supply and replenishment of military rations, horse fodder, weapons, firearms, gunpowder and other various military supplies would inevitably have to deal with the imperial court and local transshipment departments.He strategically appointed Wang Yuan, Tong Guan's relative, and Xin Qizong, Tong Guan's beloved general, as food guards, named food guards. In fact, he wanted to use their relationship with Tong Guan to ensure the supply of military supplies for the entire army.Zhong Shidao sometimes makes small calculations. He knew that once these two officers who have changed their quality and tasted become such a good job, they will definitely make a small fortune for themselves, but they have to deal with Tong Guan. But they are also indispensable.If they can complete the task and ensure that there is no shortage of food for the army, even if they are asked to make a small fortune, they will not hesitate.

The command system of the Northwest Army is like an ancient chariot that has been used for a long time.Although some parts are old, rusted, or damaged, its bones are still quite solid.Just tinker with it a bit, add lube, and it'll roll like a bone. On the day when the departure order of the large army arrived at each military region, officers at all levels and the soldiers did not fully understand the positive significance of the campaign and the clear objectives of the battle, which led to various inevitable speculations and discussions. , were not prepared materially and ideologically, which resulted in various concrete difficulties, a lot of resistance, and some people even complained; some orders contradicted each other and some were inconsistent , thus causing conflict and blame between certain people and certain forces.Nevertheless, the disciplined discipline of this army overcomes all negativity.After receiving the order, each unit made preparations for the expedition as soon as possible, and generally they were able to start setting out to the front line according to the very hasty schedule stipulated in the order.

The 80,000 army that has been silent for three years, once it moves, it is like a few rivers that have thawed, slowly at first, and then increased speed, passing through the vast northwest wilderness, passing through the mountains, rolling continuously Go eastward with the current. The army currently stationed in the area around Huainingfu (or Chenzhoufu) on Northwest Beijing Road——Zhong Shidao hopes that it will become the advance team of the Northern Expedition, and it is a special exception in the Western Army. This army is still nominally under the control of the Western Army Command, and the imperial court did not expressly stipulate that it should be separated from the Western Army's organizational system, but it has obtained the designation of "Shengjie Army" separately, and its supplies and military pay are provided by the Western Army. The Privy Council directly closed the hair, which was more generous than the other armies of the Western Army Headquarters in terms of quantity, quality, date of closure, and other benefits. Its commander Liu Guangguo, the eldest son of Liu Yanqing, and Xin Yongzong, the brother of Xin Xingzong, were often invited by senior officials of the Privy Council. Going to the capital to receive the reward from Wohui is far beyond the comparison of other generals of the Western Army.

This army was treated so differently that it looked like an adopted son of Tong Guan, the head of the Privy Council, a adopted son who was particularly favored by his godfather. People may see these special treatment as a kind of "compensation".In terms of compensation, there is also a reason. In the spring of last year, Tong Guan and Tan Zhen, two internal supervisory troops, went to the Liangzhe area to suppress the Fangla uprising, and it was this army led by Liu Yanqing as the main force.Yang Keshi, Yao Pingzhong, Wang Teng and others were also ordered to participate in this battle, but none of them worked as hard as Liu Yanqing.This army was stubbornly resisted by the peasant army, so that in several months of fighting, it lost nearly one-third of its troops. And lost half of the remaining third of the two horses.In such a short period of time, it is extremely rare to lose so many troops since the formation of the Western Army.It has suffered such a large loss, and it should seek compensation from Shangfeng. This seems to have become an unwritten law in the officialdom.

But as far as compensation is concerned, the chiefs of this army have long hands and long feet, and they have already obtained it without waiting for orders from Shangfeng.Every time they lose a group of troops and capture a city, they have to let go of a looting, taking all public and private property into their own pockets.In the battle of Qingxi Gangyuandong, the peasant army resisted bravely and shed the last drop of blood. The family members of the peasant army and women, children, old and young in the nearby areas were also cleaned by them.They were so thorough that they "washed" the last strips of cloth off the women's bodies, and then hung their naked bodies in the woods, falsely claiming that they had committed suicide.There are endless forests with naked corpses hanging like this, which are more than a hundred miles away.From the heavy sacrifice of the people, it can be inferred that the robbers have thoroughly killed, looted and raped.They lost a large number of men and horses, but paid for it with a lot of strong pockets. For Liu Yanqing, Liu Guangguo, Xin Yongzong and other officers who participated in these atrocities and escaped punishment by chance, there is no regret at all.

What's more, in addition to their own compensation, they can also obtain official legalized compensation; for example, plus material rewards, allowed to expand the number of officers and soldiers, increase military pay, give nice military titles, promote senior officers, and so on.Serving the rich and powerful has always been a buy-and-sell transaction. The two parties do not owe each other credit, and Tong Guan, who is known for his splendor, will not treat the hawks and dogs he drives badly. They can rest assured on this point. The reason why Tong Guan gave this army special preferential treatment and regarded it as his darling, and his deep secret was by no means limited to giving them compensation.

Originally, Tong Guan, who was known as a powerful military faction among the elite groups of the imperial court, although he had participated in the war against the leaders of the Xixia and Qingtang Qiang tribes in the Western Army for a long time with the qualification of supervising the army, in fact he was a "supervising army" in name only. ".He found that the leaders of the Western Army, whether it was the earlier commander Liu Zhongwu, or the later commander Zhong Shidao, and Yao Gu who was qualified to compete with Zhong Shidao for the position of commander, although there were conflicts and struggles among them, they were childish to him. They have all adopted the same principle, that is, "keep a respectful distance" and regard him as a ghost, respecting him superficially, but not allowing him to have anything to do with actual military affairs.They will never use Tong Guan to win him over to overwhelm their rivals.Although getting closer to Tong Guan can immediately increase the weight on one side of the balance.But it goes against the traditional moral values ​​of the army.If they do this, they will first lose their reputation in the army, and they will no longer be able to command the entire army.The Western Army is a very xenophobic army, and any conflicts are limited to the inside. If people outside have no connections, it is difficult to intervene, even the officials sent by the court are no exception. Tong Guan, who is very ambitious, understands that if he wants to enter the Western Army and become a truly capable faction, he must put in a lot of hard work.Over the years, he has placed his cronies such as the Xin brothers and Wang Yuan in the key departments of the army, and he has also tried his best to pull talented warriors in the Western Army, such as Yang Keshi, to his side, making them his Characters in the pocket.But their status and prestige are far from enough to meet their needs.What's more, a diehard like Yang Keshi may not be willing to completely fall to his side. During the Battle of Zhejiang and Zhejiang, Tong Guan was very happy to discover Liu Yanqing, a treasure he had been looking for for a long time.First, Liu Yanqing is as fierce as a tiger to the people, and as tame as a dog to his superiors, this kind of temperament is completely in line with his taste; second, Liu Yanqing has already climbed to the position of the commander of Huanqing Road, and also has the qualification of alternate commander; Third, Liu Yanqing's general contempt in the Western Army made him a heretic in the entire army.At no time or on any occasion did he stubbornly express his desire to defend the interests and reputation of the entire Western Army like Zhong Shidao, Yao Gu, and Zhao Long did. , Ignoring his chances, he took a lot of oil and water, and unscrupulously disrupted the discipline of the entire army, which increased his centrifugal force on the army.These three points have become the reasons why Tong Guan especially appreciates him. "Our family has worked with Liu Yanqing for many years, and we have always underestimated him. It's really called 'looking through the cracks of the door, underestimating people'." Tong Guan said secretly, "Who knew that he's 'Liu's'? There is a lot of use, how can you take it lightly?" Tong Guan decided to make a big fuss about his "Liu family", so he formulated two plans. One was to separate the Western Army, so that this part of the troops led by Liu Yanqing would be separated from the mother for a long time and gradually become independent from the Western Army. In addition to the army, it is directly under their own control in the end.The other is to make Liu Yanqing replace Zhong Shidao as the commander-in-chief.If the latter is realized, he will be able to control the entire army through the mediocre and incompetent Liu Yanqing.After the end of the Battle of Zhejiang and Zhejiang last year, he used the pretext of hunting down the "grass bandits" and asked Zhe Kecun to restrain this part of the army from fighting in the east of Jingdong. Later, he moved to the west of Beijing to prevent demobilization, and did a lot of work in the army.In the imperial court, he publicized Liu Yanqing's talents, exaggerated his achievements, raised his rank, and promoted his subordinates.All of these are for the above two sets of programs. Although Tong Guan's plan is thorough, but Liu Yanqing really doesn't know how to flatter him. He is lazy and stupid, so he still can't comprehend this splitting movement that is of great benefit to him personally.His appetite is limited to the actual benefits he can see and obtain, and his ambition is not so big that he wants to swallow Zhong Shidao in one gulp—whoever wants to swallow a behemoth like Zhong Shidao If you swallow it, you will suffer from indigestion.Tong Guan also understands that Zhong Shidao still enjoys such a high prestige in the Western Army, and it is difficult to shake his position as commander without a good reason.Therefore, Tong Guan had to temporarily suppress his deep conspiracy and turn to underground activities.

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