Chapter 240 Planning
Tokyo city.

In May and June, the weather is hot.

Because they stayed at home more time, naturally, Chen Yuanyuan and her four concubines soon became pregnant one after another.

Military matters have been handed over to the instructors of the Li Yuan Army.

As for the development of science and technology, Zhao Xin also considered whether to build an academy of sciences in Tokyo City or in Xuchang City.

If it was placed in Tokyo city, it would be more convenient for him to inspect.

But if it is placed in Xuchang City, it will be a little more troublesome to communicate with other people on a daily basis.

Holding Chen Yuanyuan, who was a little bit pregnant, Zhao Xin asked, “Where do you think is the best place to put the Academy of Sciences?”

Chen Yuanyuan naturally didn’t want him to run around, so she asked, “Can’t we put it in Tokyo?”

As soon as she said this.

In fact, it also implies that Zhao Xin should have already had the answer in his heart.

After all, there is such a thing as an academy of science.

It involves a lot of confidential things, so naturally it cannot be placed in a crowded place.

Several months passed.

Research on using steam engines to cultivate land has also been done in great depth.

For example, harvesters have been developed today.

But it is definitely incomparable with that of later generations.

Then, under Zhao Xin’s supervision, the flintlock rifle was initially made.

What remains is the question of how to produce it in large quantities.

In order to get the right spring steel, Zhao Xin and the craftsmen spent a lot of effort.

In short…use all kinds of techniques.

In fact, many inventions in ancient times were discovered by accident.

You use a high fire to burn it, I use lard, he uses sesame oil, and some people use molten lead.

And it really is true as the old saying goes!

As the saying goes: ‘Within three steps, there is an antidote.’

After successfully making the product with molten lead, Zhao Xin finally understood the meaning of this sentence.

In the West, where guns are made, the most common material is definitely molten lead for making lead bullets.

Zhao Xin didn’t understand what the scientific reason was.

Anyway…

The spring made in this way is obviously much more elastic than the previous one, and is also more durable.

I don’t know how Westerners did it in the beginning.

but……

After testing, Zhao Xin felt that this was almost the best.

The development of the flintlock rifle helped to increase the density of shooting and allowed soldiers to stand closer to each other.

At the same time, this can also be equipped with a bayonet, so that in the future you can directly use a dense formation and use bayonets to resist cavalry.

of course!

If you can avoid it, it’s best not to do this.

After all, every one of his Li Yuan Army is his treasure.

And there is…

The flintlock actually helped him in ambushes.

In this era, no one would have thought of such a thing as sniper warfare.

If it were possible to ambush an army equipped with flintlock rifles, they could suddenly appear on the enemy’s route, under the cover of grass or other things.

I guess you can gain a lot.

But there is one thing to say.

Flintlock rifles are good, but there is also a problem with the ignition rate.

If you fire ten shots, it is likely that two or three shots will fail to ignite the gunpowder in the gunpowder pool.

This may be its only flaw.

That’s why Zhao Xin asked people to try to make concentrated sulfuric acid, and then the next step was concentrated nitric acid, and finally mercury fulminate.

This is the principle.

however……

It is not that easy to make, not to mention that after mercury fulminate is made, some other materials must be added to it.

Make it more stable.

Mercury fulminate can be used as a primer for bullets.

Once the research is successful, the flintlock rifle will no longer be needed, and we can directly use the percussion cap rifle, or even make bullets directly.

All I can say is… take it one step at a time!

Moreover, doing these experiments is actually very dangerous.

Zhao Xin had to ask the Taoist priest to take precautions.

in fact……

If it is concentrated sulfuric acid, it would be good to use it directly to attack the city.

It’s just a question of whether production can keep up.

……

End of June.

Considering the importance and confidentiality of these studies.

Zhao Xin thought that it would be better to set up the Academy of Sciences in Xuchang City.

It may not be convenient to meet or communicate in the future, but there is no other way.

Immediately, people allocated land and built a school.

It is first divided into three major departments: the School of Mathematics, the School of Physics, and the School of Chemistry.

Rather than calling it a school, it is better to say that it is a place for talent exchange and research.

On the contrary, the school’s teaching responsibilities are not that heavy at present.

after all……

You don’t even have a textbook, what are you going to teach?

In terms of personnel, you are not required to stay in the Academy of Sciences all day, you can go anywhere.

but……

In order to avoid outsiders, he sneaked into the Academy of Sciences.

It is necessary to make a bronze medal for each person to indicate his or her identity.

For example: Li Yi from the second year of Zhihe School of Chemistry.

As for the military…

After they finish their training, Zhao Xin also plans to give each of them a badge.

To enhance their sense of collective honor.

For example, Yang Lingyi, the second commander of the First Army.

The generals of the Song Dynasty do not know their soldiers, and the soldiers do not know their generals. In fact, they all belong to the commanders and above.

At the commander-in-chief level, the general knows the soldiers and the soldiers also know the general.

To put it bluntly, the reason why Zhao Xin asked them all to participate in the military training was to let them get to know each other.

In this way, above the commander, there is another army level, and each army has about 10,000 people.

It will probably be divided into more than ten armies, led by his Seventeen Generals. When the war breaks out, he will be able to avoid as much as possible the situation where the soldiers do not know their generals and the generals do not know their soldiers.

To put it bluntly, this military training is just about getting familiar with everyone.

Then of course, some simple ideological education is also needed.

Anyway…

After they left, all I could think about was ‘follow orders in all actions’.

And when you have completed all of the above.

Zhao Xin also has research on this.

How should we attack the Liao Kingdom?

To know……

The battlefield of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun is very large.

You can either concentrate all your forces together and attack Youzhou directly, or you can divide your forces and attack Youzhou along the way, and then attack the states of Liao located in Bingzhou and the north of Taiyuan.

Which one to hit first, that is the question.

Youzhou has nearly 300,000 households and 1.5 million people. How should we manage such a place with such a high population?

This is different from the attack on the forts of Xixia, where only two or three thousand people were needed to guard them. The attack on Liao would involve at least hundreds of thousands, or even two or three hundred thousand.

This is undoubtedly a challenge for Zhao Xin.

Many people only know that Li Shimin defeated Dou Jiande’s 100,000-strong army with 3,000 black-armored soldiers at the gate of Hulao Pass. In fact, those 3,000 black-armored soldiers were just the number of Li Shimin’s cavalrymen who charged into the battle.

In fact, there are still many other soldiers to assist.

Moreover, before the battle, Li Shimin divided his troops into many units and captured almost all the entrances to Luoyang.

Zhao Xin was also considering whether he should quickly occupy other checkpoints before attacking Youzhou City.

Otherwise, if all the Liao cavalry rushed from their capital to Youzhou, they would be under great pressure.

We can use part of the troops from Bingzhou and Taiyuan to tie down the Liao Kingdom’s troops in the west.

Then they quickly captured the Liao Kingdom’s entrance to the south from the north.

As for Youzhou…

All the routes for Liao reinforcements were blocked.

That’s not just a casual thing, you can attack the city however you want.

only……

If we do this, if we are discovered by the enemy in advance, or if there is a place that we cannot attack in time, we may be doomed.

Moreover, they have to penetrate more than 200 miles into the enemy’s territory without being discovered by the enemy. This is a bit difficult.

Of course!
Isn’t that what Li Shimin did in the beginning?

For example, he would have people surround Luoyang, and then go to Hulao Pass by himself.

The location of Hulao Pass is actually about a hundred miles east of Luoyang.

This depends on how many troops the Liao Kingdom has deployed in the Youzhou area.

After all, there is only one city in Luoyang, while in the south of the Liao Kingdom and the northern Song Dynasty, there is actually more than one Youzhou.

There are also Zhuozhou, Jizhou, etc.

So…the difficulty should be ten times higher than Hulao Pass.

Of course, this is just a hypothesis.

With their current offensive capabilities, they can actually capture Youzhou City all of a sudden.

However, it might not be a bad thing if we could send someone to intercept the other party and delay their movement south.

How to fight afterwards needs to be discussed in detail with others.

However, before the meeting, I can’t be completely without any ideas.

At the beginning, Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty marched north in three routes.

All the way out of Taiyuan, go north along the Taihang Mountains east of Shanxi, and all the way north along the canal.

Unfortunately……

It seemed that they had just arrived in Zhuozhou when they suffered a crushing defeat.

I didn’t even see Youzhou.

soon……

At this time, Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, who were in Hebei, also received Zhao Xin’s letter.

Specifically, they discussed what to do with the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

The two received a letter from Zhao Xin.

He also looked very serious.

to be frank!
They could never have imagined that Zhao Xin would recapture the Hengshan area so quickly.

According to their thinking, the fort must be built slowly, and it would take at least three to five years to complete. If it is slow, it might take more than ten years.

But Zhao Xin completed the task in just three months.

now……

Zhao Xin asked for their opinions again.

For a moment, they all felt a little reluctant to give it.

after all……

Who knows how strong you are?
When they give advice, they are definitely speaking from their own perspective.

But no matter what!

Now that the question has been asked, the two of them still have to think about it seriously.

To be honest, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are really not easy to deal with.

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are divided into front of the mountain and behind the mountain. There are seven prefectures in front of the mountain and nine prefectures behind the mountain.

Among the seven states in front of the mountains, it can be said that now only five states are left.

Because Yingzhou and Mozhou had already been recovered by Chai Rong.

So at this time, it was said that the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were recovered, but in fact, it should be said that the Fourteen Prefectures of Yanyun were recovered.

The two of them looked at the map and pondered deeply.

He pondered, “I think… there is no shortcut to attacking the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. We can only flatten the cities one by one.”

“If we attack the Nine Provinces behind the mountains first, since there are many mountains and it is difficult for cavalry to deploy, then of course it will be very beneficial to the Song Dynasty.”

“So… can we first attack the Kyushu behind the mountain, and then deal with the one in front of the mountain.”

“Or… we must move forward together.”

After some discussion, the two quickly sent the results back to Zhao Xin.

Han Qi’s opinion was to move forward in parallel.

Fan Zhongyan’s opinion was that perhaps the fight could start from Taiyuan.

How about starting the fight from Taiyuan?

If the Song Dynasty really went to attack, there would be no way that the Liao Kingdom would not fail to respond.

He was determined to rescue her unless she didn’t want him anymore.

However, since the terrain is mostly mountainous and canyon-like, cavalry is actually at a disadvantage.

This is a great advantage for the Song Dynasty.

As for the Song Dynasty attacking Taiyuan, the Liao Kingdom would definitely attack the Song Dynasty as well…

However, the Song Dynasty could defend its city and clear its countryside.

Then it depends on which side is faster in capturing cities and territories.

Fan Zhongyan didn’t know exactly how Zhao Xin fought the Battle of Hengshan, but it was clear from the fact that Zhao Xin took down the four cities of Yinzhou, Xiazhou, Youzhou and Longzhou in just over a month.

His Royal Highness Prince Yu must have some way to quickly capture the city.

If the Western Xia could maintain its momentum, the nine states behind the Liao mountains would probably be taken over by the Song army in no more than three months.

By that time, there will be no enemies in the west at all, and it will not be easy to attack Youzhou.

In fact, Fan Zhongyan also supported the three-pronged approach.

only……

Fan Zhongyan did not support advancing simultaneously, because if they did, given the organizational capabilities of the Song army, it seemed that the coordination would not be very good.

It would be better to leave from Taiyuan first, test the waters, and then conquer those states first.

This can also lure the Liao army to come to the rescue.

Compared to fighting directly on the plain and attacking on three fronts at the same time, the risk is much smaller.

As for your question about whether the Liao army will directly attack Kaifeng Prefecture.

You can rest assured then.

After all, if His Royal Highness Prince Yu really had such a strong siege capability, it would not be long before the Liao army would have to rush back from Kaifeng Prefecture to defend Youzhou City.

In the letter, Fan Zhongyan also emphasized the speed and ability of Li Yuan’s army in capturing the city.

In fact, in the Nine Provinces behind the mountains of the Liao Kingdom, that is, the Xijing area, it should be said that there are relatively few garrisons.

Of course!
It doesn’t mean that if we attack the mountains first and then the Nine Provinces, we don’t need to guard against the Liao cavalry.

They just chose the farthest place to start the fight, and it was not a place suitable for large-scale cavalry maneuvers. In that case, he would be in a dilemma whether to rescue the Liao Kingdom or not, which would make the Liao Kingdom very uncomfortable.

Zhao Xin had actually thought about this method.

only……

This requires ignoring one’s own father, allowing his father to be surrounded, and allowing the entire Hebei Province to fall under the iron hoof of the Liao Kingdom. This is somewhat unfilial.

and……

How rotten has the Song Dynasty’s imperial guards become?

Zhao Xin was mainly afraid that they wouldn’t be able to hold on.

Although the city of Kaifeng is high and strong, what if he has a bad teammate who is not determined enough and cannot hold on until he reaches Youzhou city?
Also, if the Liao Kingdom was defeated, Xixia would definitely come to its aid.

If they start fighting from the Kyushu behind the mountains, Xixia should also come from the north of the Yellow River to join in the fun.

So, if they could capture Youzhou City in one go, the Liao Kingdom would directly abandon the Nine Provinces behind the mountains, especially the provinces close to the west.

(End of this chapter)