On the day Jiang Jin set off, good news came from Fancheng. Under Tian Zhong's command, the Eighth Army recovered the Guanghua Army and annihilated more than 3,000 enemies. More than 500 remaining people wanted to escape to Gucheng on the other side of the shore, but were blocked by the navy. They were in a panic and fled down the river to Xiangyang. However, when they arrived at the dock of Xiangyang North City, Shi Bi was worried that the Song army's naval army would pursue and enter the city, so he refused to open the water gate and gave up entering the city. His navy was caught up and wiped out by our navy.

The recovery of the Guanghua Army was the right time for Jiang Jin who stepped down and returned to Beijing, which also put a relatively perfect end to his post in Huguang. Zhao Bing led the generals to send him to the wharf outside the city, and sent two warships from the imperial guards to escort him. He repeatedly reminded him to take care of his health, wait until he returned to Beijing to take good care of his health, and then contributed to the court. Jiang Jin was not sure whether he was grateful to the emperor's grace or felt ashamed, and parted with everyone after shed tears, so Yang Fannan went on his way back.

Farewell to Jiang Jin, Zhao Bing issued an edict to merge the Jingxiang General Administration Office and the Imperial Guardian General Administration Office to form the General Administration Office of the Attack Xiang General Administration Office. He personally took charge of the command of all departments on the battlefield of Jingxiang, and took Ni Liang as the deputy commander to handle daily military affairs, Zhang Ba as the consent to assist in military affairs, and Wang Yinglin also led the Chief Yuhou of the General Administration Office to supervise military affairs, and ordered Lin Zhiwu to also lead the General Administration Office to coordinate food and grass and prepare military funds.

At the same time, Zhao Bing issued an edict to suspend all military operations, station on the spot and strictly guard the defense line, waiting for the next order. He summoned the heads of the Seventh Army and the Eighth Army, who were still outside, and ordered them to come to Yicheng within two days after receiving the order to discuss the plan to conquer Xiangyang. He ordered Pan Nian's troops to send alerts to ensure smooth traffic lines between the departments; ordered the navy to strengthen patrols to prevent the enemy from crossing the river attack.

Zhao Bing ordered the departments to carry out their work step by step immediately. He knew that the way each general led the troops was different, and his style would also affect his subordinates. The front guards were always in charge. In addition to loyalty, they emphasized high efficiency and high obedience. After the order was issued, no matter whether it was a knife in front of the fire or abyss and rivers, they would complete it without hesitation.

Of course, Zhao Bing's meticulous thinking and cautious approach to plan and the guiding ideology of exchanging the greatest victory at the smallest price also affected the generals of the Guardian Army, which required them to pay attention to principles and take into account flexibility and maneuverability in combat. Therefore, the generals of the Guardian Army are not only good at the overall situation, but also good at grasping details. They like to make excuses when fighting, but they will never retreat when there are tough battles.

However, people are not deducted from the same mold. The styles of the heads and generals of the brigades of the guards must be different, but they are deeply imprinted by Zhao Bing whether they lead the troops or fight. On the contrary, Jiang Jin's personality will also affect his deployment. His thoughts of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism are deeply rooted in the bones. This determines that he will not do anything to betray the emperor and treason, and is also one of the reasons why Zhao Bing trusts him.

Being from a family of Confucians and officials made Jiang Zheng develop a temperament that is cautious in behavior, kind to his subordinates, and pays attention to fame, and will also form a style of doing things that is looking forward and hesitant when encountering things. This temperament naturally has no problem as the chief official in the peacetime military and political affairs. He can handle all aspects of the relationship well, that is, he will consider the needs of the emperor and take care of the feelings of his subordinates. Because "mixing" is the basic skill of the prime minister, otherwise how can he make the court harmonious!

Jiang Jin's personality seems to be somewhat "faced" in his subordinates. There is no need to worry about doing things, as long as there is no problem. It doesn't matter if there are some small problems. Du Shuai's punishment will only be raised high and put it down gently, and will cover it up for himself. Such kindness will make the military generals develop a spirit of not making small mistakes, delaying their work, and not rushing.

In Zhao Bing's view, Zhang Ba's various performances can be said to fully express his style of leading troops. Zhang Ba stood out in the battle against the Mongolian and Yuan dynasties, and at that time it was the time when corruption in the army became the trend and military discipline was the most serious. As a subordinate of Zhang Shijie, he was naturally deeply affected. Not only did he love money and power, but his loyalty can also be measured by money and power, so he naturally developed a greedy person who likes to be greedy for cheapness and likes to be power.

However, after entering the new military system, Zhang Ba served under Jiang Jin for a long time. He knew his bottom line, so he would never tolerate his subordinates to commit acts against the emperor and treason. Other things were easy to say. Therefore, he felt that after marching military power, he thought that not being welcomed by the emperor was not a big deal. If something happened, Jiang Jin would try to excuse him for his reputation. Moreover, his greed for cheap nature made him want to get some benefits in it, and even though he was in crisis, he still did not dare to treason and kill the lord.

Zhao Bing jointly operated the General Office of the Imperial Guardians and the General Administration of Jingxiang. One was to facilitate dispatch and command, and the other wanted to change their behavior, thereby reversing the current passive situation of attacking Xiang. This was not something that could be changed overnight. Both sides also needed to work together, promote each other, and learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses.

"Your Majesty, yesterday the 3rd Division of the Sixth Army reported that the baggage team transporting supplies was attacked on the way, losing more than 500 stones of food, and some other parts, resulting in tight food in front of them!" Zhao Bing had just finished breakfast that day, and Lin Zhiwu and others reported.

"Oh, where was the attack?" Zhao Bing asked with a frown.

"Your Majesty is in Qingping Town, thirty miles northeast of Yicheng." Ni Liang walked to the map, looked for a moment and pointed.

"Have the enemy troops here been cleared yet?" Zhao Bing looked at the map. Qingping Town was north of the Han River, facing Yicheng across the river. In order to prevent the enemy from crossing the river to harass the camp, the Third Division set up defenses in the north of the Yangtze River and blocked the access road to the northeast of Xiangyang. He looked at the tunnel a little confused.

"Your Majesty, there are mountains in the southwest of Xiangyang. The enemy built dense forts on Quemen Mountain and Phoenix to protect them. The Mongolian Yuan built two forts on Laifengling and Bazhang Mountain in the southeast of Qingping Town. The middle valley road is the way to Qingping Town!" Pan Nian explained.

"Oh, how many troops are there in the two mountain villages?" Zhao Bing nodded and asked. He knew that Xiangyang City was surrounded by water on three sides and surrounded by mountains in the west, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Military sects have always believed that "If you want to attack Xiangyang, you must first take the mountain. If the mountain remains, the city will remain. If the mountain is lost, the city will die." He was not surprised by the establishment of a fortress here by the Mongol Yuan, but he felt that it was difficult to understand why the fortress that could block the access route to the march was not removed.

"Your Majesty, Laifengling and Bazhang Mountain stand across the valley, and serve as horns for each other. Laifengling Mountain is larger and has three hundred-man teams; Pazhang Mountain is smaller and lacks water sources, and there are only two hundred-man teams." Pan Nian replied.

"The terrain of these two hills is not high, and there are very few troops stationed. Why not pull it out in time to ensure the safety of our army's entry and exit and clear obstacles for attacking Xiangyang?" Zhao Bing looked at the mark on the map. The elevation of Laifeng Village was only 30 meters, and the slap camp was only twenty meters, and there were very few troops. It would not be too difficult to destroy them.

"Your Majesty, because the river water surged in summer, Jiang Shuai thought it was not conducive to using troops, and then Zhang Dushuai proposed a strategy to trap the city. Rampantly drawing the camp will arouse the enemy's alertness, so he did not rush to use troops." Pan Nian pondered for a moment and explained in embarrassment.

"What's the reason?" Zhao Bing was angry and laughed when he heard this. "These two forts are less than thirty miles away from Yicheng Camp. They can block the path of our army to Xiangyang north and also see the dynamics of our army. And our army has long known about the use of troops in Xiangyang, will they still be known to the enemy because of using troops to two small forts?"

"This..." Pan Nian whined twice before he became silent.

"Order the third division to quickly remove the two camps and improve the situation of the two armies." Zhao Bing clicked on the map, then thought about it and said, "Tong Pan, how many days do you think you can get out?"

"Report to Your Majesty, within five days... two villages will be defeated!" Pan Nian originally wanted to say five days, but I thought it took only five days for the Eighth Army to attack the Guanghua Army, but it took five days for him to attack two small villages. I really couldn't go.

"Okay, from now on, if I can't take down two camps at noon the next day, I will definitely take the heavy responsibility!" Zhao Bing asked because he was worried that they would delay their behavior, and after getting the guarantee, he would be nailed to death, so he forced them to do something.

"Yes, I won't win for two days, and I will accept the punishment myself!" Pan Nian said...

Zhao Bing thought that attacking such two hills with few troops would have the advantage of military strength and be familiar with the terrain. In addition, the grass and trees were in full bloom at this time. He just needed to sneak into the camp with the help of night cover, and then suddenly launched a charge to solve the battle with grenades and muskets. He estimated that one hour was enough for the entire operation, and two days were already very abundant, so he did not take such a small battle seriously.

"Your Majesty, the Third Division of the Sixth Army failed to attack Bazhang Village, and it suffered a great loss!" The next evening, Ni Liang hurried in and delivered a battle report, with an ugly expression.

"Failed?!" Zhao Bing was surprised when he heard this. After taking the battle report, he looked at it in a hurry and looked equally ugly.

"Your Majesty, after learning the news, General Pan has already crossed the river to supervise the battle himself. I think there will be a good news tomorrow." Ni Liang sighed and comforted.

"With a regiment's troops to fight a small mountain, there were more than a hundred casualties, and they failed. Then there was a military commander who needed to supervise the battle. This is such a big joke!" Zhao Bing angrily threw the battle report to the ground and said.

"Your Majesty calms down. This may be because of the hasty time and their lack of preparation!" Ni Liang looked at the angry little emperor and persuaded him, but he forgot that he was not good at this job at all.
Chapter completed!