Delhi City, Ashoka Dynasty, India District.
The young King Ashoka looked at the Huaxia battle report in his hand, his eyes gleaming. "This time, the Central Plains of Huaxia is finally going to have a tough battle. Good, very good!"
Based on Ashoka's understanding of emperors and wars, it was unlikely that Great Xia and Great Song would compromise at this stage. They could only fight to the death.
This would inevitably affect the attitude of the Qin and Tang Kingdoms.
"This is our chance!"
Just as Ouyang Shuo had guessed, Ashoka was a very ambitious emperor. Three months ago, when the Tibetan Tsangpo Tsangpo contacted the Ashoka Dynasty in fear, Ashoka realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Ashoka Dynasty. Once they took the opportunity to annex Tibet, the Ashoka Dynasty's territory would double.
No emperor would be able to resist such a temptation.
Ashoka did not hesitate at all. He directly divided them into two batches and very 'generously' sent 300,000 troops to the Tibetan Dynasty. In the process of fighting with Great Xia's Flying Bear Army, he added another 200,000 troops.
This also meant that the Ashoka Dynasty had deployed 500,000 troops in Tibet, which had already exceeded the number of troops of the Tibetan Dynasty.
In order to reduce the Tibetan Dynasty's logistical burden, Ashoka did not even hesitate to mobilize rations from the country.
Ashoka did not hesitate to support the Tibetan Dynasty at all costs, of course, he did not have good intentions. The so-called cooperation must be built on the basis of the equal strength of both sides. The Ashoka Dynasty's army was ten times that of the Tibetan army, and the strength of both sides was not on the same level.
The huge difference in strength also meant that the Tibetan Dynasty was inviting a wolf into their house.
When Songzan Gampo discovered this, it was already too late. The Ashoka Dynasty's army stationed in Luoge City had already quietly controlled the city's vital points.
"It's easy to invite a god in, but difficult to send him away!"
Li Jing was an experienced general. After discovering the Tibetan army's tricks, he was not in a hurry to attack. He only set up camp at the border and closely watched the enemy, quietly investigating the enemy's strength.
Seeing this, Songzan Gampo once mentioned to Ashoka, saying, "The Tibetan crisis has basically been resolved. Thank you for the Ashoka Dynasty's assistance. The Tibetan Dynasty will remember this great kindness."
The underlying meaning was that he hoped the Ashoka Dynasty would withdraw a portion of their army.
In this regard, King Ashoka pretended to be deaf and dumb. He continued to stay in the Tubo Dynasty with the excuse that "the troops were exhausted from the long journey and needed to rest and reorganize on the spot and replenish their supplies". It could even be said that King Ashoka had deployed 500,000 troops to the border, ready to charge into the Tubo Dynasty at any time.
Only when he received the news did Songzan Gampo truly realize that something was wrong, but he was helpless. The weak Tubo Dynasty was sandwiched between the two giant crocodiles of the Xia Dynasty and the Ashoka Dynasty. It was destined to become a victim.
And the butcher's knife that Ashoka wielded was far more decisive than Songzan Gampo had expected.
On the 28th day of the sixth month, just as the Chamberlain of Great Xia sent another envoy to Great Song, the Ayutthaya Dynasty sent another 500,000 soldiers to the Tubo Dynasty, directly taking control of the Tubo Dynasty.
Songtsen Gampo had become the puppet of the Ashoka Dynasty.
King Ashoka's plan could not be said to be not sinister. The reinforcements that were sent previously not only controlled some of the cities, but also took this opportunity to find out the geographical information of the entire Tubo Dynasty under the guidance of the Tubo guides.
In addition, the two armies "fought side by side", allowing the Ashoka Dynasty's army to infiltrate Tubo.
Due to the secrecy of the Tubo incident, it was temporarily not discovered by the outside world. Even Ouyang Shuo did not know that at the end of June, there was already a ferocious beast lurking in the western region of Great Xia.
…
June 29th, Xiangyang City, Great Song Dynasty:
Ouyang Shuo's "Seven Days of Surrender" caused a huge uproar in the Great Song Dynasty. The Imperial Court was immediately divided into two factions. One faction wanted to surrender, and the other wanted to fight. It was very "Northern Song Dynasty".
Needless to say, the faction that wanted to surrender was naturally afraid of the Great Xia army and did not want to be buried with them.
This was something that could not be helped. Even the Great Zhou Dynasty, which had 700,000 soldiers and was the most resolute in resisting Great Xia, had surrendered without a fight in the face of Great Xia's attack, much less the weaker Great Song.
"We also don't want the people of Great Song to be plunged into misery and suffering," said the minister who was in favor of surrendering.
The pro-war faction was mainly composed of military generals, and their reasoning was very simple. "Surrendering before the battle has even begun, do you have any backbone? Even if we surrender, Great Xia will look down on us. "
Unfortunately, in the Great Song, generals had no right to speak.
The real decision maker was the group of civil officials, the Great Song Emperor, Zhao Kuangyin.
Zhao Kuangyin was also very conflicted. On one hand, he could not let go of the pride and dignity of an emperor, and even more so, he could not let go of the foundation that he had painstakingly built up. Surrendering, he was not willing, but he also could not lower his head.
But if he did not surrender, he would face the danger of being exterminated.
Zhao Kuangyin did not doubt Emperor Xia's determination. If it really came to a point where they could not be separated, it was very normal for Emperor Xia to sacrifice Zhao Kuangyin's head.
If it was Zhao Kuangyin, he would do the same.
Zhao Kuangyin, who was in a dilemma, had no choice but to send envoys to the Qin and Tang Kingdoms to seek the opinions of Emperor Qin and Emperor Taizong of Tang.
If they surrendered, then all three nations would surrender at the same time. That way, they would be able to look better. If they didn't surrender, then the two nations wouldn't be able to sit idly by and watch Great Song get destroyed just because they were being monitored by the Great Xia army.
"When the nest is overturned, there are no intact eggs. Please think carefully, the day the Great Song is destroyed will be the day the Qin and Tang Kingdoms are destroyed. Rather than surrendering in humiliation, why not fight to our heart's content! "
Zhao Kuangyin spoke passionately, but his real purpose was to let the Qin and Tang Kingdoms share some of the pressure on the Great Song. Only he knew his real thoughts and plans.
"I hope it works!" Zhao Kuangyin made a final struggle.
…
Jingchu Province, Jingzhou County.
After reading the Emperor's military order, the commander of the Yulin Royal Guards, Xu Da, shouted, "Men!"
"Here!"
"Summon all the generals and discuss matters in the tent!"
"Yes, Sir!"
No matter how the civil and military officials of the Great Song argued, after receiving the Emperor's order to conquer the Great Song within half a month, the three armies of the Great Xia moved quickly.
The Emperor's military order was very clear. The army of the three armies that conquered Xiangyang City first would be heavily rewarded by the Imperial Court. Although the Yulin Royal Guards, the Xiangjiang Army, and the Brave Tiger Army belonged to the three armies, none of them were willing to submit to the other.
"In the army, strength does not depend on one's background, but on one's military achievements!"
For the Yulin Royal Guards, the significance of this battle was even greater.
Firstly, this was the first major battle that Commander Xu Da had fought since joining Great Xia. Among the many famous generals in the Great Xia army, Xu Da really needed to use this battle to prove that he was worthy of his rank as a general and worthy of Her Majesty's high regard.
Secondly, the Yulin Royal Guards was a new army. They needed this battle to complete the internal run-in and to test the results of their training. They needed to truly integrate the soldiers from various departments into a whole.
In Xu Da's words, "I hope that after this battle, there will be no distinction between the Jin army, the Ming army, or the Sui army. We will only have one name — the soldiers of the Yulin Royal Guards."
The left wing that the Yulin Royal Guards was in charge of was the most dangerous route. Not only did they have to fight against the Great Song army, but they also had to guard against the Tang army crossing the border and intercepting them.
That was why Ouyang Shuo gave this heavy responsibility to Xu Da.
On the same day, Xu Da mobilized the entire army, declaring that they would conquer Xiangyang at all costs and show the might of the Yulin Royal Guards.
Almost at the same time, the Xiangjiang army in the middle and the Brave Tiger army on the right also mobilized. The 700,000 Great Xia soldiers were like a pack of ferocious tigers baring their fangs at the Great Song imperial army.
The battle to exterminate the Song Dynasty entered its most intense phase.
… …
On the 3rd of July, the Xiangjiang army in the middle took the lead.
At four o 'clock in the afternoon, after a day and a half of fierce fighting, with the help of the spies in the city, and under the personal command of Zhang Xutuo, the commander of the Xiangjiang army, the army finally captured Dan Yang city. They beheaded more than thirty thousand people and achieved a great victory.
As the former capital of the territory, Dan Yang City was not only the second largest city in the Great Song, but it was also the strongest fortress in the south. Together with Xiangyang City in the north, they formed the cornerstone of the Great Song.
In Dan Yang City, the Great Song stationed 150,000 imperial soldiers and stored a large amount of provisions. It was the most important bridgehead for the Song army to stop the Great Xia army from advancing north.
However, Dan Yang City was originally under the control of Lord Chunshen. Although he was forced to hand it over to the Great Song, Lord Chunshen still had a lot of influence in Dan Yang City.
This time, the Xiangjiang army was able to successfully conquer Dan Yang City because of the help from the inside.
Otherwise, with the strong defense of Dan Yang City and the 150,000 imperial soldiers, even with Zhang Xutuo's ability, it would take him at least a week to conquer Dan Yang City.
The Great Xia army used only a day and a half to conquer Dan Yang City, giving the Song imperial court a wake-up call.
When the news reached Xiangyang, the Song imperial court was shaken again.
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