Lin'an Wenyuan Palace was filled with a solemn atmosphere, without any gentle aura. At this time, in addition to the heads of the provinces and ministries in the palace, the various departments of the Privy Council also sent personnel to the palace to participate in the rotation. Although the officials tried to walk lightly and speak in a low voice, there were still suppressed disputes in the hall full of gunpowder, breaking the silence of the palace.

Zhao Bing has not returned to the harem more than ten days before the war started. He has all eaten and lived here, and has devoted all his energy to the Northern Expedition. In the early morning, he and Jiang Jin, Wen Tianxiang, Gao Yingsong, Deng Guangjian and others who were on the turn had breakfast together, and discussed and inquired about some matters, and then went to the war room to communicate with the situation.

"Your Majesty, the attack speed on the Eastern Front is very fast, exceeding our expectations!" Xu Wunan led everyone to the map and introduced the war situation ahead. "Because the enemy's preparations are lax and stationed in various places, it is difficult to concentrate for a while. Under the sudden attack of our army, it is difficult to organize effective resistance, and all the prefectures and counties along the border were captured."

"Your Majesty killed the chicken with a ox knife and caught the Mongol Yuan off guard, causing the enemy to collapse. He returned to the land for a hundred miles in a few days and collected tens of thousands of households." Jiang Zheng smiled at the place where the little red flag was planted.

"I dare not take credit for it. These are all the achievements of my ministers' planning." Zhao Bing said with a smile.

But what he said was right. When the war began, he ordered Han Zhen to unify the command of the First Army stationed in Xuzhou, the Second Army of Xiayi, the Fifth Army of Shanyang, the Fourth Cavalry Division, the Fifth Division, the Third Artillery Division, and the Huaibei Border Army of about 150,000 troops to launch an attack on Shandong.

In addition to the King of Jinan, King Yezhili, King of Jining, King Chahan Timur, and King of Zhendong, the Zongwang army led by the leaders, only the local provincial army and part of the Xuanwei Division stationed, totaling only more than 60,000. The Song army's three times its military strength formed a crushing advantage, and coupled with the gap in weapons, it formed an absolute advantage, which is not an exaggeration to describe it as killing a chicken with a ox knife.

"I dare not take the merits!" Wen Tianxiang bowed and said with a brief tribute, "I thought that the first victory in this battle was due to the strength of our army, and there were misjudgments from the Mongolian Yuan."

"First of all, the Yuan Dynasty court has always been lucky and thought that our dynasty would not launch a full-scale war against them. This can be seen from the fact that Timur is still stranded in Shangdu and still sending envoys to Lin'an to negotiate. Secondly, the Zongwang army guarding the local area has become corrupt and degenerate. They only want to gather money, fight for power and profit, and use their subordinate troops for internal struggle, rather than resisting our dynasty. When our dynasty attacks, the army was still scattered in various places to collect summer grain, or defend against bandit robbery, and all parties refused to help each other. In addition, local provinces lost their power under the suppression of the Zongwang, and lacked soldiers and generals, and were unable to defend their territories."

"Well, what Wen Xiang said is right. The Mongol Yuan lacks vigilance for our Northern Expedition, and even took advantage of it. He was defeated after the war, and even fled after hearing the news, allowing our army to win a great victory at a very small price!" Zhao Bing nodded and did not deny it. He also understood that someone should keep a clear understanding of the current situation when the victory was great, but he was not blindly optimistic.

"Your Majesty, I think the Mongolian Yuan side should be alert at this time, concentrate its troops on a key city with tight defenses and strong city walls, and stick to waiting for assistance. As before, the rapid advance of hundreds of miles a day will no longer exist. Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to issue an order to warn all the troops to be cautious of arrogance and impetuousness, and be prepared for tough battles and long-term combat!" Wen Tianxiang suggested.

"Authentication!" Zhao Bing said.

"Your Majesty, the current progress of the war has exceeded our expectations. Sun Kai's troops of the Fourth Army went out of Wusheng Pass to capture Kaifeng, crossing the river and successfully occupied Fengqiu, but also exposed the left wing, and were in danger of being cut off by the enemy Hanoi and being trapped in a heavy siege. I suggest that the troops on the Western Front should launch an attack in advance to cover the flanks of the Fourth Army, and at the same time complete the first phase of the deployment of occupying the entire Henan and marching into Hebei!" Jiang Jin took the conversation at the right time and reported.

"Zhun, I ordered Tian Zhong's troops stationed in Xiangfan, the second and third cavalry divisions and the third artillery divisions of the 8th Army stationed in Xiangfan to attack Nanyang, and as planned, they supported each other with Zhuang Siqi's troops of the Third Army to capture Henan Fulu and Luoyang Fulu. Then, Tian Zhong was the general manager of the western front marching, and led the three armies and their subordinates to occupy the prefectures and counties in Hanoi." Zhao Bing pointed at the map and said.

"Your Majesty, the 12th Army and the 13th Army have arrived at Haizhou Port by sea. Have you turned to Dengzhou as planned to join the Eastern Front?" Jiang Jin reported again.

"Your Majesty, do you still need to strengthen the troops of Shandong?" Wen Tianxiang said in surprise, "Shandong already has 150,000 troops. If the troops of the two armies are increased, it will be 200,000, and logistics supply will become more and more difficult!"

"Although the war in Shandong is progressing smoothly, the Shandong issue can only be solved before the reinforcements on the second line of Mongolian and Yuan dynasties reach the level, and then concentrate their forces into Hebei to fight to the main enemy. And now the sea situation is still good, suitable for landing and fighting, and can attack the enemy's thunder." Zhao Bing slapped the table.

"Your Majesty, the troops on the western front are relatively weak, and their left wing is the Shanxi Xuanwei Division of the enemy's Secretariat, where tens of thousands of personal guards are stationed, which is quite combat-capable. If the troops are not strengthened, I am afraid that after entering Hebei, they will be surrounded by them!" Wen Tianxiang pointed at the map with his finger and said worriedly.

According to the emperor's deployment, except for the defense of Shaanxi, Gansu, Annan and the imperial guards stationed in Sichuan and Shu, all of them have participated in the Northern Expedition, and the mobile troops have no troops to be sent except to protect the guards of the capital. Once a certain battle fails, it will be unable to block the battle gap, allowing the enemy to take advantage of the situation, causing the entire front to shake.

Shanxi borders Henan and Hebei, and now His Majesty's deployment of troops is eastward, with the flanks on the western front empty. Not only is the flank threatened, but if the enemy sends light cavalry to raid the rear, the supply line can be cut off and the danger of destroying the heavy baggage area. There are countless examples of such wars in history.

In the Battle of Guandu that year, Yuan Shao's decision to concentrate the entire army's food and fodder in Wuchao in the rear caused Cao Cao's surprise attack and was burned to pieces, causing the entire army to collapse. But this is not wrong in common sense. Large corps fighting on the outside often build one or even multiple granaries in the depths of the front line.

There are roughly two benefits of doing this: First, when the rear transportation has a brief stagnation due to climate, turmoil, enemy attacks and other factors, it can still ensure that there is no shortage of calls in the front in the short term; second, when the front-line combat is defeated, the food and fodder located in the rear still has time to transfer so that it will not fall into the enemy's hands, and even the granary itself can become a defensive support point to restore the decline.

Because of this, despite Yuan Shao’s previous lessons, many strategists in ancient and modern times have made the same mistakes as him. Therefore, Wen Tianxiang thought that this loophole would not be filled and would always be a hidden concern for the development of the war.

"The Wen Xiang doesn't have to worry. The personal army of the Mongol Yuan guards of the Xuanwei Division of Shanxi was set up to protect the capital, and they were also armed and important places, so they could not be lost. Therefore, unless most of them were threatened, their army would not actuate their army at the risk of losing important places." Zhao Bing explained.

"Your Majesty, there is something wrong. If the Mongol Yuan finds a loophole and does not hesitate to take risks, our army will be in danger!" Wen Tianxiang frowned. He felt that the emperor had always been meticulous and would not take risks easily during the battle. However, today he explained the questions he raised vaguely and suggested again in confusion.

"Mr. Wen, I will make proper arrangements and will never give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it." Zhao Bing gave him a gratitude. He would not tell the inside story at the moment. After several years of business, He Weixian has mastered the situation in Shaanxi and will turn against the battlefield when the Song army is in the face of the battlefield. But this matter is confidential and cannot be disclosed at all. Otherwise, years of business will be ruined by just a few words and will lose the greatest internal aid, so he can only go through it vaguely and do not want to say more.

Of course, Zhao Bing is not without a backup plan. He still has sufficient reserves. In addition to the imperial guards, there are three land brigades and expeditionary forces in the navy. They can quickly complete the assembly when necessary and quickly go to the battlefield. But he dare not use this trump card easily, and good steel must be used on the blade.

After about an hour, Zhao Bing learned about and dealt with matters related to the Northern Expedition, and the Secretary-General drafted the order and handed it over to the Privy Council to pass it on to various places with a fast horse. Later, the heads of the provinces and corresponding officials who entered the palace came to Wenyuan Hall to participate in the court discussion, discuss and handle administrative affairs.

Since the establishment of the three provinces and the separation of the foreign court and the inner court, Zhao Bing's workload has dropped a lot and he has escaped from the complicated official duties. However, it did not affect the state administration, nor did he affect his authority. Moreover, after several years of continuous adjustment and rectification, the operation of the national administrative system was smooth. He felt that even if he was a foolish monarch and did not care about state affairs, it would not affect the operation of the entire administrative system.

So now, in addition to handling official documents that should be reviewed in particular, Zhao Bing now has the role of court discussions to handle major national affairs and make major decisions, as well as discussing controversial matters and making decisions. Of course, this is also one of the important means for him to participate in the governance of the country.

Today's topics are mainly focused on the Northern Expedition. In addition to material dispatch and recruitment of husbands, it also involves sending officials to accept the new place of restoration, etc. These things are complicated and complicated to handle, but decisions must be made as soon as possible, so Zhao Bing needs to come up with opinions or make decisions on the proposal.

After a morning of discussion, everything came to an end, and everyone felt a little relaxed. "Your Majesty, when will you go to the front of the army?" Lu Xiufu asked after taking a sip of tea.

"It may take some time. Now, the news from spies from all sides said that Tiemur is most concerned about not the current war, but the whereabouts of my life. I want to use this to judge whether this battle is just to blackmail him some money, or really want to recover the Central Plains!" Zhao Bing said little by little.

"Haha, Your Majesty is just as he wishes, staying in the capital for the time being, reducing the great pressure for our army's Northern Expedition." Lu Xiufu said with a smile.
Chapter completed!