Huazhou is also like an empty city.

Zhao and Luo left some food and grass in Huazhou City, and ordered Ran Anguo, the commander of the Yongzi Army, to lead three thousand Yongzi Army to guard Huazhou.

The two thousand brave soldiers who also built beacon towers between Wuchuan and Huazhou were also commanded by Ran Anguo and coordinated the military of the brave soldiers.

Zhao Dongting and he did not stay in Huazhou City for too long. After resting, they continued to move northward and headed for Maoming.

Another two thousand Gang Army built beacon towers between Huazhou and Maoming County.

The commander of the Gang Army, Huang Zhijie, commanded the five thousand Gang Army, guarded Maoming.

The wars in this era were affected by food and grass, and were destined to rely on cities. It was unrealistic for large troops to rush thousands of miles to attack the rear.

If Zhao Dongting wants to build an iron barrel defense line, he can only rely on the city layout to open a defense line.

After a short rest in Maoming, Zhao Dongting and Zhao and Luo parted ways here.

Zhao and Luo led the remaining five thousand Gang army to Xinyi to take over the defense of Tianxian army, while Zhao Dongting went to Gaozhou.

Xinyi is just a small city, so there is no need to let Tianxian army station. Zhao Dongting arranged for Dongheli to lead his army there, just to ask him to build city defense.

At this point, the 20,000 Qiongzhou troops led by Zhao and Luo were all placed.

Not to mention Zhao Dongting, even Qin Han, who is amazing, cannot plan in such a large-scale battle. What he can do is to try to arrange the defense line as well.

When entering Guangnan West Road, Zhao Dongting only led more than 30,000 troops and horses to rush around, fighting as he wanted. It is obviously not possible now.

He needs to start from the overall situation.

Qin Han was always by his side and did not object to him to arrange for the Qiongzhou army to station in Maoming, Xinyi and other cities.

Qin Han seemed very silent all the way.

Zhao Dongting didn't know what he was thinking, and was unwilling to make a lot of effort to guess. He just needed the straitor Qin Han said to be able to convince Duan Zhixing of Dali.

If Dali can send troops to provide assistance, the chances of winning this big battle will undoubtedly be higher.

The next day, when Zhao Dongting led the Feilong Army and Wudingtang to worship outside Gaozhou City, Zhang Hongwei, the one-eyed arrow stationed in Gaozhou, was waiting at the city gate with his subordinates.

If we say that the person who is most grateful to Zhao Dongting among the Southern Song generals is Yue Peng, then the one who follows closely should be Zhang Hongwei.

Zhang Hongwei was not as famous as Yue Peng and Su Quandang in the army, and his military achievements were far less prominent. He was able to become the commander of the Tianji Army because of Zhao Dongting's reputation. When he rescued Zhao Dongting with arrows in Benzhou, he was only named the commander of the Dragon Guard Left Fang Army in the personal guards.

Although it is a rare great achievement to save the saint, such achievements are obviously not well known to everyone in the army.

Yue Peng has been in the present, how many enemies have he killed? How many meritorious people have been made?

Originally, Zhang Hongwei was just a side general under Yue Peng's command, and he was not even the top five leaders in the guards' personal army. He naturally had much less contribution to fighting with the army.

However, when Zhao Dongting established the 15th Army of Tiangang, he still promoted Zhang Hongwei to the commander-in-chief of the Tianji Army.

Even Wen Tianxiang raised doubts at that time, believing that Zhang Hongwei was not as qualified as the commander-in-chief, both in terms of qualifications, military merits, and reputation.

Zhao Dongting said this, "Although Zhang Hongwei's military achievements are insufficient, his righteousness is rarely seen in his army."

Yes, what he liked was not Zhang Hongwei's archery skills, let alone military talent, but Zhang Hongwei's loyalty to the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Dongting still remembers Zhang Hongwei's performance in the army during the Battle of Benzhou. He was in the Leizhou army, just a mere little man, but he did not follow the trend. It can be said that the Leizhou army was disintegrated and many turned against each other, and Zhang Hongwei made great contributions.

It was his righteousness and actions that infected other soldiers.

He is an independent person.

Military talents can be learned, but this kind of loyalty and persistence in righteousness in my heart are valuable, especially in this era.

There were countless generals of the Southern Song Dynasty, but when the Yuan army invaded the territory, how many people surrendered?

In Zhao Dongting's view, instead of using generals with weak will, it is better to cultivate people like Zhang Hongwei.

This is also the reason why the newly built 15th Army commanders are not veterans. There are not many loyal and righteous veterans left in the Southern Song Dynasty, and Zhao Dongting looked down on those who just live.

Outside Gaozhou City, when Zhao Dongting's carriage arrived, Zhang Hongwei led the side general and his soldiers to kneel down on the ground and kowtow to greet him.

Zhao Dongting walked out of the chariot and asked them to get up, and his eyes swept across the soldiers in front of him and the head of Gaozhou city.

On the towering city walls, flags fluttered, and there were many soldiers standing with guns.

The spirit of these soldiers is probably not as good as Yue Peng's Tiankui Army, but it has also made Zhao Dongting quite satisfied.

They all held their heads and chests up, which is enough to show that they have the intention to fight. If Zhang Hongwei was a fool, the soldiers under his command would not have such spirit.

The general influences the soldiers, but it depends on the general, and it is enough to look at the soldiers under his command.

If the soldiers under his command are lazy, then the generals in the army are probably the same.

Zhao Dongting chuckled softly and said, "Tianji Army is good."

Zhang Hongwei looked slightly excited and said, "It's all set by the emperor's strict military discipline."

Although this sentence is suspected of flattering, Zhao Dongting can also see that Zhang Hongwei's words are expressed from the heart.

When Zhang Hongwei was promoted to commander of the Tianji Army, he could be said to have been airborne, and he just took away a few trusted people from the guards' personal army. The Tianji Army under his command was composed of surrendered soldiers from the former Ali Hague. In a short period of time, it is impossible for the surrendered soldiers to have such aura, which has nothing to do with military discipline.

The military disciplines of the Southern Song Dynasty were all decided by Zhao Dongting.

The military discipline he set was imitated by modern troops, and there was no law of beheading at any time, but it was also considered a kindness and power to be used.

These surrendered soldiers were originally the Song army. They first surrendered to Yuan Dynasty, and now they surrendered to Song Dynasty. They were originally anxious and even took the opportunity to cause chaos, but after the leaders were beheaded, they became more contented. Later, they saw that they were not discriminated against in the army and did not just do those dirty and tragic work, but treated the same as the other imperial guards, so they became more contented.

Nowadays, fighting with the army is just to make a living. The treatment in the Song army is better than in the Yuan army. Why not follow the Song army?

Although the Song Dynasty is at an absolute disadvantage now, these surrendered soldiers had experienced the power of the Song army at the time and had a lot of hope for the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Dongting nodded slightly, his eyes were filled with smiles and everyone under Zhang Hongwei's command and walked into the city.

These partial generals were also surrendered, among which was the commander of the ten thousand men under Ali Hague. Seeing Zhao Dongting's eyes, they were all thinking.

Is the Emperor encouraging us? Or is he warning us?
Chapter completed!