Song Sheng has not been promoted for a long time due to physical reasons, and the military affairs of the Northwest are now mainly in charge of his second son Song Hu and third son Song Ying.
Song Sheng said today that he did not wear a military uniform, nor did he sit behind the handsome case, but in front of the handsome case, he set up a few cases and two seats, and sat side by side with Xia Xun.
Xia Xunyou stared, seeing that the generals were not pretentious, such a solemn military might was a habit that had been cultivated for a long time, and he couldn't help nodding secretly: "Song Sheng's rule of the Western Regions is really good, no wonder the veteran generals in the DPRK praised him as the guard of the Western Regions, Huo" Song Sheng is introducing Xiliang Defense to Xia Xun, many things, he has walked in front of Xia Xun, Xia Xun thought that he was doing, Xia Xun did not think of him He also did it, this is a famous general who is really born in the army, and has been operating in the Western Regions for more than 20 years, familiar with a fort and a village, a mountain and a water here, he thinks better than Xia Xun Xia Xun is very pleased, since he became an official, all kinds of dangers, all kinds of difficulties have experienced a lot, there are very few people who can help him share so many things, sometimes not only no one helps him to share, but also to prevent others from pulling back and stumbling, this time in the west, although the enemy he faced is stronger than any enemy he has conquered in the past, but there is such a veteran, his heart is really relaxed.
"In the past ten years, there is almost no strong enemy outside Ganliang, and it is more important to defend than to conquest, and in the past ten years, Gansu border defense has mainly relied on forts, border walls, beacons, passes and other solid defense bodies to build layers of defense.
Therefore, there are few cavalry and many foot soldiers, according to the law of the imperial court, the border army is short of food areas, you can have fewer soldiers and more soldiers, but the water conservancy facilities in my northwest have been developed over the years, the land is fertile, and the output is abundant, which is enough to store soldiers, so the proportion of soldiers in my northwest is higher than that in other places, and the proportion of soldiers and soldiers is about eighty-two."
Xia Xun nodded again and again when he heard this, Song Sheng coughed twice, and continued: "After learning that Timur will go eastward, this commander has ordered all guards to strengthen the rectification, reiterate military orders, and at the same time purge some unreliable soldiers out of important passes due to faith and transfer them to the rear.
If the imperial court wants to send a large army again, the existing fortresses, side walls, beacons, and passes will be enough to accommodate them with only a slight expansion.
In the past ten years, although there are not too many opportunities to go out, but the training of the Ganliang elite cavalry has not been relaxed, the total number of Ganliang elite cavalry is now about 30,000 people, not that the commander boasts, this is a hundred battles of elite soldiers in the elite but not in the many, such elite soldiers have 10,000 cavalry, can play a huge role, not to mention that now the 30,000 elite cavalry brought by the national prince has been added" Because he was in the marshal's tent and discussing official affairs in front of the generals, Song Sheng did not call Xia Xun brothers, but spoke according to the class in the army: "The cavalry brought by the Guogong can be led by the marshal, and the training will be strengthened from now on, and he will be familiar with the geography of Xiliang."
Ben Shuai thinks that on the expedition of Timur's labor division, one of us will wait for work at leisure, and the other will occupy the geographical advantage, just promote my strengths, and focus on guarding. ” Xia Xun said happily: "What Song Shuai said is exactly what I want to keep the enemy outside the side wall, but I don't have to face it head-on, so I can't hit it hard.
We have a solid border defense, why abandon it and not use it He Timur dared to invade, we just used the border fortifications of many years of nutrition, with the smallest casualties, to give the enemy the greatest trauma Hehe, Song Shuai captured the Mongolian prince in the past, besieged the king of Hami, all of them were in danger, deep behind the enemy, and smashed its Yellow Dragon, I am also worried that Song Shuai is old and strong, and this time he will repeat his old tricks. ” Hearing Xia Xun mention his two most proud battles that year, Song Sheng couldn't help but smile, waved his hand and said: "Hey, the hero doesn't mention the courage of the year, not to mention that this Timur is not comparable to the people who are all pierced and Wu Nashri." ” If the attacking enemy fights the defenders, the besieging side will definitely sacrifice more than the defending side, and if you have a strong fortress, you should make good use of it.
Xia Xun and Song Sheng's heads didn't let the donkey kick again, they didn't have any chivalrous demeanor with others, and their ideas coincided.
The two discussed the military affairs again, and after listening to the reports of the generals of the guards, they retired to the rear office.
In fact, the main purpose of this account promotion is to let Xia Xun, the supervising army, meet with the generals of the various corps, get to know each other, and have no other purpose.
After arriving at the Houya study, Xia Xun asked: "Big brother, don't lose Bali and Hami Zhudi, which also belong to my Daming, but outside Jiayu Pass, what is the specific situation of these places now?"
Song Sheng listened, frowned slightly, and sighed: "It's not very good, for my brother to go through Xiliang for more than 20 years, I have only slightly recovered my Han family's vitality outside Jiayu Pass, far less than the control inside the pass."
Song Sheng invited Xia Xun to sit down and gave him a detailed introduction to the situation in the Western Regions.
The Western Regions had several gains and losses at the hands of the Han Chinese, and the situation was the most severe when the Ming Dynasty took over.
The Han Dynasty opened up the Western Regions, and went further in the Tang Dynasty, when the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, the power reached Central Asia, but unfortunately this was just a flash in the pan, and it didn't take long to retreat, followed by the Anshi Rebellion, the vitality of the Tang Dynasty was greatly damaged, the power was further shrunk, and even the Western Regions were basically lost, so the two landlords of Tubo and Hui began to compete for hegemony in the Western Regions.
Tibet is a Buddhist country, and Muslim is Islam, and later Tibet collapsed, and the Muslim power expanded greatly.
Later, Zhang Yichao established the Guiyi Army in Shazhou, and once ruled this section of the Hexi Corridor of the Silk Road when the power was the strongest, but the good times did not last long, the Tang Dynasty at that time was already said to be Bo Xishan, unable to give any assistance, after five dynasties and ten kingdoms, when the Song Dynasty was established, the Qiang people also established the Western Xia State in the Western Regions, unified the Hexi Corridor, so far, the connection between the Western Regions Buddha Kingdom in Khotan and the Central Plains was completely broken.
At this time, the Muslim Black Khan Khanate launched a holy war and destroyed Khotan, and after the fall of Khotan, the entire Western Regions was completely Islamized and extended to the Hexi Corridor.
When Song Sheng passed through the Western Regions, there was no Han foundation in the Western Regions, and the territory here was forcibly taken down by General Xu Da by force, and the local residents were all Mongols, Qiang, and Tubo people who were forced to submit under the force of General Xu Da, and most of them believed in Islam.
In this land that has been lost for hundreds of years, Song Sheng has worked hard for more than 20 years, and he has only firmly grasped Gansu in his hands. , Xia Xun listened, and muttered: "Big brother, those who come are not good, those who are good are not coming, Timur is invincible in the West, and he is invincible and invincible.
Yes, we are waiting for work, and occupy a favorable location, our Ming soldiers and horses are also strong soldiers, but Timur is not only strong and strong, but also as a Mongolian, with Islam as the call, people and aspects, we do not have an advantage in Hami, Mongolianstan, and Beishu Bali, so as long as this battle is fought, even if it is a victory, I am afraid it is also a tragic victory. ” Song Sheng said: "Well, this is what my brother expected, judging from the information I have now, this Timur is a hard bone, and it is not easy to gnaw."
After a moment of silence, he raised his thick eyebrows again, and said awe-inspiringly: "Whatever, the big husband is in the border field, and the horse leather shrouds are the ones who died where the court raised soldiers for thousands of years, isn't it just for this day, I'm afraid of where he will come?"
Xia Xun smiled and said, "I'm afraid, naturally I'm not afraid."
However, Timur came back, whether it was a smooth road, or muddy, that was very different, he consumed a little more strength on the way, we saved a little more effort, and one more soldier died on his way, we could save one more soldier.
Big brother, you have led the army for many years, you should understand that the battlefield is changing rapidly, and it may be because of a small gap that the outcome of the entire battle situation will be decided."
Song Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly: "Brother, you mean" Xia Xun said in a deep voice: "These places, if they are loyal to my Ming Dynasty, it will be a thorn in front of Timur's horse, and if they fall to Timur, it will be Timur's bridgehead."
Before Timur arrived, I wanted to go for a walk outside the gate."
Above the snowy fields, there are endless camps, spreading along the hillside, endlessly.
The banner hunts and flies in the cold wind, the arrow tower towers, and the fight is strict.
In the wind, the sound of golden drums and horns was faintly heard The wind was howling, but it was warm in the tent.
Qiu Fu stood in front of a map hanging from the tent wall, looking at the mountains and rivers on it, and some places where the main Tatar force might be hiding after the return of the horses, and his thick eyebrows were tightly locked.
A lieutenant entered the account and handed over an official letter, Jing'an Marquis Wang Zhong opened it to look at it, walked to Qiu Fu's side, and said respectfully: "General, Liaodong Zhang Jun has sent a message that he can send the former Hou Ding Yu to lead 3,000 Liaodong elite cavalry and Wuliang Hajing cavalry 2,000, a total of 5,000 elite soldiers, to assist the general." ” Qiu Fu turned a deaf ear, still staring at the map with his hands in his hands, Wang Zhong was waiting to say more, and Wang Cong, the Marquis of Wucheng, pulled his sleeve on the side, and snorted coldly: "Forget it, Zhang Jun, Ding Yu, who are those who are Yang Xu, the Duke of Fuguo, to help us recruit Ben Ya and send five thousand soldiers, and use them as a bird, but I just want to share our credit and ignore them."
Tong'an Hou Huo really roasted the fire and smiled: "Hey, people always have good intentions, and it's not easy to ignore them."
He replied to them and said, Thank you for your kindness, tell them to reorganize their armies and fight, and when there is news that they need to increase their troops, they will be asked to assist in encirclement and suppression."
Wang Zhong looked back at Qiu Fu, and saw that Qiu Fu had a calm old face and didn't speak, so he had to agree, and hurriedly returned to the side of the case to write a reply.
Qiu Fu was very anxious, this dispatch of troops was a good opportunity for him to go out of the mountain again and return to the center, he was very concerned, especially after receiving Zhu Gaoxu's letter, he knew how great it was to win a big battle.
However, he led an army of 100,000 to wander around outside the fortress for more than a month, and the grain and grass were not much consumed, and the soldiers were still frostbitten, but they did not even look at the shadow of the Tatars.
The vast grassland, the snow is filled, if you have the intention to hide and avoid fighting, millions of people and horses can disappear immediately, where to find it Now Liaodong Zhang Jun pretended to say that he would send troops to help, Qiu Fu was even more angry when he heard it, he was holding back enough energy to say goodbye to Yang Xu, to see who is better at fighting, not to say that he has 100,000 male soldiers in his hands, there is no need to help, even if he needs help, he will not borrow a soldier from Liaodong, and he will not have anything to do with Xia Xun The more Qiu Fu thought about it, the more anxious he became, and suddenly turned around and said: "The snow is accumulating, the army is inconvenient, and the enemy chieftains flee freely, and it is always difficult to fight.
The commander decided that Huo Zhen and Wang Zhong led the army and the baggage to slow down, Wang Cong, Li Yuan, and the commander each led a thousand cavalry, echoing each other, searching and advancing, and when there was a small group of enemy chiefs, they would immediately fight, and if there was a large group of enemy chiefs, they would immediately call for reinforcements, otherwise they would be fooled by the enemy and it would be difficult to find their nests."
To be continued: