The great victory of the Junzi Pavilion greatly boosted the morale of all the Khitans, thinking that the recovery of Guannan was over. Xiao Xuan, Yelu Longxu, and Han Derang were even more emotional. The smoke of gunfire in the Junziguan has not yet dissipated, and they are beginning to formulate a campaign to recover Kannan. Han Derang advocated the immediate recovery of Sanguan, but Xiao Sui thought that the Song army had lost its fighting spirit and should drive straight into Bianliang, and Xiao Sui received strong support from Yelu Longxu. Yelu Longxu thinks that the three levels are already under control, and he can take it whenever he wants, and take advantage of this big victory to win Bianliang in one fell swoop, which is the eternal achievement.

Xiao Sui said: "The wealth of the Song Kingdom is mostly in the interior, and only by going deep into the Song Realm and plundering property can it be replenished, otherwise, even if it occupies the three passes, it will be difficult to last without the support of grain and grass." ”

In the end, Han Derang failed to convince Xiao Xuan. Yelu Hugo and Xiao Hengde led the army to Shenzhou, Qizhou, and Dezhou.

Not long after Yelu Hugo left, Xiao Pai came back, he was bareheaded, his armor was scattered, and an arrow was stuck in his back, his expression was painful and panicked, and he whimpered when he saw Xiao Xuan.

Xiao Xuan was taken aback and asked, "How did you become like this?" ”

Xiao Pai lay on the ground and said, "Queen Mother, we are defeated." ”

Xiao Xuan said disgracefully: "Say it well, why did you lose?" ”

Xiao Pai said: "We were attacked by Yang Yanzhao and Sang Xuan in the stirrup fort, and suffered heavy casualties. ”

Xiao Xuanru took a heavy punch and hurriedly asked, "Didn't I ask you to ambush Yang Yanzhao?" Why did he get caught in the middle instead? Also, where are they? ”

Xiao Pai said: "Yang Yanzhao seems to know in advance that we are going to lay an ambush in the stirrup fort, so he attacked Lu Fugu first, Lu Fugu was afraid of Yang Yanzhao, and fled from the battle, and the ministers were unable to support themselves, and they were attacked by Mulberry, resulting in a crushing defeat. ”

Xiao Xuan was furious and ordered the arrest of Lu Fugu, Yelu Tan and others, and asked Xiao Pai to be escorted down to recuperate.

This heavy punch made Xiao Xuan's heart ache, and at the same time woke up her dream of capturing Bianliang. She reassessed the situation between friend and foe, and felt that she had overestimated herself. Although the Khitan army achieved a great victory in the Junziguan, it also paid a heavy price. Moreover, Xiao Pai's defeat in the Stirrup Fort proved that the Song army was not vulnerable. If the Khitan army went deep into the enemy territory and was cut off by the Song army, then the Khitan army would have no way to return.

Han Derang saw Xiao Xuan's thoughts and said, "Queen Mother, you must quickly order Brother Yelu Xiu to come back." ”

Xiao Sui said: "At this time, they are almost under the city of Shenzhou, and it is too late to let them come back." ”

Jelu Longxu said, "What should I do then? ”

Han Derang said: "For today's plan, we can only send troops to attack Sanguan, so that the Song army cannot go south to cut off our army's retreat, and then order Yelu Hugo to return to the army and retreat north." ”

Xiao Sui said: "This plan is very good. ”

So, Xiao Xuanzi led his own army to attack Gaoyang Pass.

Just set up camp under the pass, Xiao Tzu Rin asked to see him. Xiao Xuan hurriedly let him in.

Xiao Sui didn't wait for him to salute, so he asked, "You pacified the northwest, why did you come here?" ”

Xiao Tzu Rin kowtowed and said: "Empress Dowager, Li Jiqian recently Chen Bing border, saying that he wanted to hunt Bianliang with the Empress Dowager, and the minister thought that he had bad intentions and did not dare to make claims, so he came to ask for instructions." ”

Xiao Xuan said: "The wolf is ambitious, and he still dares to destroy him in a false way?" ”

Xiao Tzu Rin said: "Queen Mother, do you want to attack Li Jiqian?" ”

Xiao Xuan said: "Have you asked Yelu about this?" ”

Xiao Tzu Rin said: "When the minister came, he asked, and he asked the minister not to act rashly. ”

Xiao Sui said: "He is right, do as he says." ”

Han Derang said: "What else did he say? ”

Xiao Tzu Rin said: "Yelu also asked the minister to ask the Queen Mother to take the class early. ”

Xiao Sui said: "Does he know how the battle is going on here?" ”

Xiao Tzu Rin said: "I don't know, but he said that there is a Song King in the war, and there is a Queen Mother in charge of the overall situation, and our army will definitely win." ”

Xiao Sui said: "Go and tell Yelu Xianzhen to let him personally go to meet Li Jiqian for a while, and see what the party has planned?" ”

Xiao Tzu Rin said: "He has already gone, and at this time, he may have seen Li Jiqian." ”

Xiao Sui said: "Then you don't have to delay, go and help Yelu Xian, everything must be listened to him." ”

Xiao Tzu Rin went. Xiao Xuan surrounded Gaoyang Pass, rode around Gaoyang Pass to check the side, and returned to the camp sullenly. In recent years, Gaoyangguan has been built by the Song army more majestic and strong, the city wall has been heightened and thickened, and there are all kinds of pheasant moats, watchtowers, hidden arsenals, and all kinds of facilities. The neatly arranged pheasants are like a pair of teeth that can chew steel and bite iron, ready to devour everything that comes to offend at any time.

Yelu Longxu saw that Xiao Xuan was preoccupied, and said, "Does the Queen Mother think that Gaoyang Pass is difficult to beat?" ”

Xiao Sui said: "The Song people's technique of repairing the city is indeed very good, Gaoyang Pass is really an iron wall, and it is really difficult to knock it down." ”

Han Derang said: "The most powerful place for the guards of the three passes, in fact, is not on the ground, but underground. ”

Xiao Xuan said: "There is still a defense under the Song army? ”

Han Derang said: "Yes, they dug a lot of tunnels underground, crisscrossing them, there are tunnels under every street, every intersection, and even every house, all the tunnels are connected, and thousands of soldiers can be hidden in the tunnels, so even if the army enters the city, it cannot be regarded as capturing Gaoyang Pass." The people in the tunnel can come out at any time and kill one of the people who enter the city by surprise. ”

Xiao Sui said: "This sounds terrifying, what should we do?" ”

Han Derang said: "If the Queen Mother wants to occupy the three passes, she must not be afraid of the dead, attack it and then send people into the tunnels, and search and suppress them one by one. ”

Xiao Sui shook his head and said: "That will inevitably cause heavy casualties, even if you get three levels, how can you be worthy of so many unjust souls?" Don't do it three times. ”

Han Derang said: "If you don't occupy the three passes, then surround but not fight, and cover the retreat of Yelu Huge." ”

Xiao Xuan said: "Then wait for Yelu Hugo to retreat." ”

While they were deliberating, the camp was in turmoil, and the sound of hurried footsteps sounded, and the panicked Khitan soldiers rushed here for a while, and then ran there again. The officers with their swords drove the soldiers to the place where the shouting was most intense, but in a few moments the soldiers returned like the waves of the ebbing tide.

"The Song army has attacked." Han Derang stood beside Xiao Xuan, looking vigilantly at the retreating soldiers.

At this time, Xiao Pai ran over, confirmed Han Derang's statement, and asked Xiao Sui to leave quickly.

Xiao Sui ignored it and only asked, "Where did Song Jun come from?" ”

Xiao Pai said: "They all came out of the tunnel, and the exit of the tunnel is in the camp." ”

Xiao Sui said: "So our army has suffered a loss? ”

Xiao Pai said: "These Song soldiers came out of the ground like ghosts, and unknowingly killed people and set fire to the camp, and before our army could react, they went into the tunnel again." ”

Xiao Xuan said: "They can drill into the tunnel, why don't you drill into it?" ”

Xiao Pai said with a bitter face: "I got in, but the tunnel is like a labyrinth, I don't know the east, west, north and south when I go in, the Song army is familiar with the terrain, and hides and ambushes on the spot, attacking our army, and only one or two of the ten people who went in came back." ”

Xiao Sui said: "Then don't go into the tunnel, let them come up and fight." ”

At this time, more than a dozen Song soldiers suddenly swooped over to this side, Xiao Pai didn't have time to take the knife, shouted, rushed over with his bare hands, quickly dodged the iron gun stabbed by the first Song army, and grabbed the gun with his hand. The second Song soldier poked Xiao Pai in the back, and the tip of the spear was deeply pierced into the shoulder blade. Han Derang swung his knife and cut off the Song army who drew the tip of his spear. Then, his war knife pierced into the abdomen of the Song Jun who was seizing the gun with Xiao Pai, and blood flowed out along the blade, but the Song Jun held on to the iron spear tightly and refused to let go, until he could no longer stand on his two legs, knelt on the ground, blood sprayed in his mouth, and his eyes stared straight at Xiao Pai, and finally, his eyes did not move, and he kicked his feet and fell to the ground with Xiao Pai.

The guards in the camp rushed up one by one, the Song army did not leave, and rushed towards Xiao Xuan regardless of their lives, and some actually threw the knives and guns in their hands as flying knives to Xiao Xuan and Yelu Longxu, and the Song army that lost their knives and guns was quickly cut down and chopped into meat sauce.

This kind of fighting style of disregarding her life once made Xiao Sui tremble, but then, she was calm and calm, and simply stood in a conspicuous position and commanded the Khitans to besiege the Song army.

These Song soldiers had obviously put life and death aside, under the siege of many Khitan soldiers, everyone fought to the end, almost everyone was left with a dozen wounds on their bodies, blood stained their robes red, one leg was cut off, the other leg was bent, still holding knives and guns, like crazy, slashing and stabbing indiscriminately. Chop off one arm, and the other hand must grasp the knife and gun, and fight until the last breath is swallowed.

The Khitan soldiers were frightened by these Song troops at first, and were stabbed down by the Song army one after another, slashed and killed, and retreated. But as Han Derang swung his sword in, slashed and killed two Song troops, and stabilized his position, the Khitan soldiers surrounded the Song army again, as if injected with courage and strength. When they saw Xiao Xuan standing beside them, unafraid to command the battle, the Khitan soldiers also went crazy. The Song army no longer has the ability to rush towards Xiao Xuan and Yelu Longxu.

At the end of the battle, dozens of corpses were left on the battlefield, the battle damage ratio was three to one, the Khitans used thirty or forty people to eliminate this Song army, and dozens of people were injured.

Han Derang was not injured, Xiao Sui looked at every part of his body, it was intact, and even his clothes were not torn. At first, she saw some blood stains on his face and chest, which frightened her to the point that her voice changed, but it was the blood of the enemy.

Han Derang smiled and said, "You don't think I'm old this time, do you?" ”

Xiao Sui said: "Who wants you to be so desperate? ”

Han Derang said: "My life is big, and no one will leave." ”

Xiao Sui walked away and said, "Your life is big, others want to leave, but who cares about my life?" ”

Han Derang hurriedly chased after him and said: "It's the minister's carelessness, I didn't expect Song Jun to recognize the queen mother, the minister is afraid when he thinks about it, please ask the emperor to punish the minister's crime." ”

Yelu Longxu said: "The political order took the lead and personally stabbed the two Song soldiers, the credit is not small, what is the crime?" ”

Xiao Sui said: "How can there be no sin? As a political order, he does not pay attention to the overall situation, is in danger, is brave, and does not protect the emperor effectively, so he should be severely punished. ”

Han Derang hurriedly said: "It's the minister's fault, the minister's punishment is." ”

Xiao Sui said: "From today onwards, you will patrol the camp, find out the entrances and exits of the tunnels, and never let the Song army attack and disturb our army again." ”

Han Derang said: "The minister is trying to find tunnels, let people block the exits, and then divert water to irrigate them and destroy these tunnels. ”

Xiao Xuan: "Okay, you go and handle this matter." ”

Xiao Xuan stayed in Gaoyang Pass for a few days, and Yelu Xiuge attacked Shenzhou, Dezhou, and Qizhou of the Song Kingdom, looting a large number of goods and returning with a full load. Yelu Hugo came and went all the way as if he had entered a no-man's land, and he was worried that the Song army would cut off the way back, but the road was smooth. The enemies of the three levels all cowered in the city, not daring to take a single step out of the city.

Brother Yelu Xiu saw Xiao Xuan and said, "Queen Mother, we can win the three levels this time." ”

Xiao Sui shook his head and said, "No, let's go back." ”

Jeruxiu said, "The class teacher is going back? Why did the class teacher go back? ”

Xiao Sui said: "The Sanguan city is strong, and it is not easy to fight each other." ”

Yelu Hugo said: "It doesn't matter, the minister has gained a lot from going south this time, and the money and materials are enough for our army to attack the city, besides, our army's morale is strong, and we can take the land of three passes in one fell swoop." ”

Xiao Sui said: "It is not a day's work to win the three passes, if it is protracted, the Song army will mobilize troops to reinforce it, and it will be even more tricky." Moreover, two days ago, Xiao Tzu Rin came to report to Li Jiqian Chen Bing, and his intentions were unknown. In case our army and the Song army are deadlocked, and Li Jiqian takes advantage of the weakness to attack, and we suffer the enemy on our backs, what should we do? ”

Yelu Hugo said: "Li Jiqian is a villain, and he has to be guarded against. ”

So, Xiao Hui collected his troops and returned to Nanjing, rewarded the three armies, and rewarded them for their meritorious deeds, Lu Fugu and Yelu Tan were arrogant and arrogant at first, and there was no one in their eyes, so that they lost their troops and lost their generals, and finally retreated from the battle, fearing the enemy like a tiger, and rushed to flee, resulting in the defeat of the stirrup fort. and his official positions shall be cut off, and the spine of each staff shall be a hundred. Yeluhua was wise and brave, captured the spy of the Song army, and obtained the information that the enemy wanted to attack Pingzhou, so that our army could take precautions as soon as possible, ensure that the Nanjing base camp was safe, and let him take over the post of Lu Fugu. The junior colonel Yelu was calm and witty, seized a large amount of grain and grass, and had the talent of a general to take over Yelutan's position. Others, the school will be promoted or demoted, the analysis is fine, and everyone is happy and convinced. Then, go to Xishan Guangfa Temple, worship the Buddha, and ask the monks to do the Dharma for the fallen soldiers of the Southern Expedition, and surpass the souls of the dead.

After staying in the West Mountain for two days, Han Derang and Yelu came up the mountain.

Yelu saw Xiao Xuan and said, "The minister came to see the Queen Mother this time for Li Jiqian. ”

Xiao Sui said: "You are Li Jiqian's envoy? ”

Yelu obliquely said: "The minister is asking for one thing for Li Jiqian. ”

Xiao Sui said: "Sure enough, it's for Li Jiqian, what are you doing for him?" ”

Yelu obliquely said: "Li Jiqian wants to marry the Khitan and is willing to be the son-in-law of the Great Khitan." ”

Xiao Sui sneered: "He wants to be beautiful, a person who can't even keep his own territory, mother, and wife wants to marry my Great Khitan, it's really a toad who wants to eat swan meat, wishful thinking." ”

But Jerod said, "In my humble opinion, this marriage is concluded." ”

Xiao Sui said: "How to get married? ”

Yelu obliquely said: "The minister Li Jiqian is not a mediocre person, if he marries him, in addition to appeasing Li Jiqian, and can also be used as a fence, then the northwest departments will also obey from now on, and do not work on expeditions." Then, the rectification of the army and horses focused on Song, together with Li Jiqian, although Song was strong, it was difficult to defeat both fists. The Queen Mother waved her army to the south again, how could the Song Kingdom resist? ”

Xiao Sui said: "What you said is indeed very reasonable, but my dignified Khitan country uses women to marry people, and my face is not good-looking." ”

Han Derang said: "Don't worry about the Queen Mother, the Han and Tang Dynasties were extremely strong in the past, didn't there be Zhaojun out of the Sai, and Princess Wencheng married to Tibet?" What is good for the country, why not do it? ”

Xiao Sui said: "But who is willing to marry his child far away from Western Xia? ”

Yelu Longxu said: "The prince's account makes Yelu Xiang's daughter Yelu Ting good-looking, ambitious, loyal and reliable, if she is by Li Jiqian's side, then Li Jiqian can be more useful to me." ”

Xiao Xuan said yes again and again, and also called Yeluting a good candidate.