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Chapter 126: Victory News Arrives in Tokyo

When the victory news from the front was passed back to the central army camp in the rear, Wang Jing had just arrived at Dasan Pass with thousands of Fengxiang Town soldiers.

After hearing the news, the officers and officials of Fengxiang Town were all shocked and looked at each other in surprise while standing in the big tent.

"It's only been ten days, right? Thousands of soldiers and horses have marched a hundred or two hundred miles, captured eight Shu camps, and routed the three thousand Shu troops at Tangcang. Even the Shu commander, Wang Luan, the Dyeing House envoy, was killed in battle."

A middle-aged staff member of the shogunate's government was shocked, his tone filled with disbelief. "Could it be that the news from the front is wrong? Or is there a suspicion of deliberate exaggeration in the victory report?"

"How else can a war be fought like this? Does this... make sense?"

The middle-aged staff member even doubted whether he had heard it wrongly.

"From the time Li Du Yuhou led his troops out of Sanguan Pass until yesterday when he defeated the Shu army in Tangcang, it was actually only eight days."

Facing the middle-aged staff's repeated questions, General Wang Jing, who was standing next to him, gave a reminder.

After saying this, he added confidently, "I think the victory report is true. The Shu army prisoners sent back today number over a thousand, and more are being sent back one after another."

"It is said that the Shu Kingdom military camps such as Huangniu that were captured, plus the Shu army in Tangcang Town that was completely annihilated, alone, the number of military school soldiers captured alive is almost 4,000."

As the words fell, everyone in the big tent sighed for a moment.

Attacking Shu is different from attacking the plains. The mobility of the cavalry cannot play a big role, and the vanguard troops only have a few hundred cavalry.

This means that the soldiers had to rely on walking for eight days. Even if they tried to maintain a fast march, half of the time would be spent on the road.

But his damn vanguard troops actually fought several battles... and even destroyed the main force of the Shu army deployed in the Weiwu City line!
Compared to everyone's surprise, Wang Jing, worthy of being a veteran of five dynasties, remained quite calm.

He said in a deep voice, "The vanguard troops are fighting smoothly, which is good news for the entire Western Expedition. Our army will have much less trouble in the future... However, the combat power of the Imperial Guards has indeed exceeded my expectations. Li Du Yuhou is truly a natural-born general!"

Wang Jing did not forget to praise Li Yi. Although he did not show his emotions, he actually felt quite comfortable in his heart.

As the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition Army, he must have been proud of the brilliant performance of the vanguard troops, and he naturally had a share of the credit.

Who dares to say that he is not in an orderly and decisive position?
Wang Jing continued, "I believe that the vanguard's powerful fighting power should not be wasted on a siege. We should immediately dispatch the troops from Fengxiang Military Region to reinforce Sanguan Pass, leaving Weiwu City and Fengzhou City to the rear."

"Order the vanguard to march straight past Weiwu City and set up a defense line in the direction of Guzhen to meet the Shu Kingdom's troops sent to support Fengzhou."

The staff immediately echoed, "The commander-in-chief has been very thoughtful. Qingni Ridge, southwest of Fengzhou, is the throat of Shu. There is a fortified town where the Shu Xiongsheng Army is stationed. It is also the last important line of defense in the north of Shu."

"Once our army approaches Guzhen, we will be able to intimidate Shu and block the Shu army's route north to reinforce. In this way, Qin and Feng prefectures will be trapped, and taking them will be as easy as taking candy from a bag."

Wang Jing nodded slightly and said, "That's right! By then, not only will Qin and Fengru be easily defeated, but the people of Cheng and Jie states will also be in a state of panic. Naturally, we can conquer them without even a fight!"

Everyone was immediately impressed and began to flatter Wang Jing, praising the commander for his masterful strategies and victory from thousands of miles away.

Although Wang Jing was delighted to hear this, he didn't get carried away. He smiled and shook his head, saying, "The credit for the great victory in Tangcang Town must go to Li Du Yuhou. Without the desperate fighting of the vanguard soldiers, no matter how good the plans and strategies were, they would be useless."

"Although we have made considerable progress, Weiwu City and Fengzhou City have not yet been captured, and the Shu Kingdom has not yet had time to send reinforcements. The battle situation is still unclear."

Having said this, he coughed lightly. Everyone understood that he was going to issue a military order, and they all held their breath and waited for the next words.

Wang Jing arranged, "Order Xiang Xun's troops to cross the river south of the Wei River and march towards Qinzhou City. Strive to block the Shu army in the direction of Qinzhou and prevent them from rescuing Fengzhou."

"The Fengxiang Army will dispatch two thousand men and horses to immediately leave Sanguan Pass and head for Weiwu City to replace the vanguard troops in attacking the city. I will personally lead the remaining troops and set off afterwards."

"And the main force of Li Yi's vanguard is heading straight for Guzhen, approaching the throat of Shu Kingdom... We must push our entire army forward and catch the Shu army off guard!"

Perhaps the great victory in Tangcang Town gave Wang Jing a great boost of confidence. He rarely hesitated and was ready to take advantage of the victory to launch an attack with his entire army.

But there is nothing wrong with his consideration. In war, speed is of the essence. As the saying goes, once missed, opportunity will never come back. As a veteran, Wang Jing naturally understands this truth... So when it is time to fight, he must be decisive!

Wang Jing looked at Zan Jurun, who was standing in the tent and listening quietly to everyone's discussion without interrupting from beginning to end.

He chuckled and said, "Zan Kesheng, please write a letter of victory report of this battle and send it back to the court on my behalf." "Your humble servant obeys your command." Zan Jurun saluted and responded.

Even if Wang Jing didn't say it, he would report the situation on the front line back to Tokyo, and now it can be delivered together with the victory report.

Wait until everyone leaves the tent and disperses.

Zan Jurun immediately returned to his temporary residence and asked his attendants to prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone. He paced back and forth in front of the desk for a few times before sitting down and began to write furiously.

After a while, a piece of good news with hundreds of words came out.

Zan Jurun read it carefully and felt quite satisfied. He had a good impression of Li Yi. The two of them got along quite well on the way to Fengxiang Prefecture together with their troops.

Therefore, he deliberately used lyrical and emotional methods in the victory report to praise the brave fighting of the vanguard troops and the on-the-spot decision-making of Li Yi, the vanguard commander.

Zan Jurun thought he was not exaggerating. In his opinion, Wang Jing, the commander of the Western Expedition, did his job properly and there was nothing wrong with him. He was just too cautious.

Although Li Yi, the commander of the cavalry in front of the palace, took some risky actions, he was very good at seizing opportunities and fighting. In less than ten days, he killed, wounded, or captured five to six thousand Shu soldiers.

This contribution is indeed not small.

I think when the news of this great victory is reported back to Tokyo, the emperor and the whole court will be very happy. Writing something with deep emotion can be considered as icing on the cake.

Zan Jurun called his attendant over, handed him the sealed victory report, and instructed, "Send this report to Tokyo immediately by express horse for 800 miles!"

……

Fengxiang Prefecture is more than 1,500 miles away from Tokyo. At the normal speed of horseback riding, it will take at least seven or eight days to arrive.

But this does not include urgent military intelligence reports.

They changed horses and people at every military post along the way, and rushed all the way without stopping. They arrived in Tokyo in just two days and one night.

Outside Guzi Gate.

The two riders galloped into Tokyo City, their eyes bloodshot as one of the knights shouted, "Military emergency! Get out of the way!"

Another shouted: "Victory! Victory!"

"Li Yi, the vanguard commander of the Western Expedition Army, captured eight Shu army camps in ten days, defeated three thousand Shu troops at Tangcang Town, and killed Wang Luan, the Shu Dyeing House envoy, in battle..."

"Good news... Good news..." The shouts echoed in the air.

The only people who dared to act so arrogantly on the streets of Tokyo were probably the messengers delivering the good news.

Many passers-by along the way couldn't help but stop and watch.

Military and national affairs are not something that ordinary people can get involved in, but such exciting good news is a rare topic of conversation on the streets.

The good news from the front will probably spread throughout Tokyo soon.

Early in the morning, the imperial city was at its busiest time. The ministers had just started their duties and had many matters, big and small, to deal with.

However, when the victory report was delivered to the imperial city, many people temporarily put down their work and their attention was drawn to the progress of the war on the front line.

After all, the victory or defeat of the attack on Shu is related to the court's subsequent military strategy, and in troubled times where war is everything, everyone must first serve the war.

The first to learn the details were naturally the prime minister and the privy councilor. The emperor sent someone to gather several important officials to discuss the follow-up arrangements for the Western Expedition and the rewards for the meritorious soldiers.

After some discussion, the original overall strategy remained unchanged. The goal of attacking Shu was still to capture the four states of Qin, Feng, etc., and there was no intention to take the opportunity to expand the scale of the war.

As for the issue of rewards... the prime ministers suggested sending an official with gold, silver and other valuables to the front lines to comfort and reward the soldiers. Other rewards could be discussed after the overall situation was settled.

(End of this chapter)