"Lu Mingyu and Luo Xianshi are surrounded?" Wang Gui took the military newspaper and looked at the messenger in front of the horse suspiciously.

"Exactly, General Lu asked the marshal to send troops to rescue quickly." The messenger bowed, his expression calm, without supplication.

Wang Gui nodded, opened the military newspaper and saw the end, only then did he suddenly understand. With the ability of the left army, Lu Mingyu was not surrounded by the Liao army, but under the harassment of the Liao cavalry, he forcibly entered the Xiongzhou city occupied by the Song army's forward. According to the investigation of the left army, the Liao army besieging Xiongzhou used all infantry and cavalry, with a total of between 50,000 and 70,000, but there were no artillery battalions. Lu Mingyu estimated that this was only one part of the Liao army, and the artillery battalion of the Liao army should be with another Liao army. Combined, these two armies should be the main force of the Liao army in Youzhou. Lu Mingyu suggested that if the Liao army really planned to gather troops and horses to recapture Xiongzhou, the Song army might as well accept the decisive battle, move forward with the whole army, and strive for a big victory in Xiongzhou, so as to reduce the difficulty of attacking Youzhou. Siege is not as good as field warfare, and it must be said that this is a very 'tempting' plan.

Over the past hundred years, the border officials of the Song Dynasty have spent their efforts and invested countless people to build hundreds of miles of canals on the border of the Liao and Song Dynasty, and only a few passes have been reserved for the Liao and Song Dynasty to 'exchange' with each other. Xiongzhou is one of the most important of them. As today's cold and frozen, Hebei is full of ice and snow worlds, rivers, lakes and swamps are covered with a thick layer of ice, extending in all directions, Xiongzhou is like a lonely city on the plain. However, once the weather warmed up and the Song-Liao border became a Ze country, the important 'sex' of the Xiongzhou Pass was highlighted.

"Liao Kou is cunning," Deputy General Guo Dapeng said in a low voice, "", General Lu went deep alone without authorization......

"The military order to the left army is to attack Xiongzhou," Song Weixue, the protector of the army, said: "How can it be said that it is an unauthorized decision now?" ”

"General Wang......" Seeing that Wang Gui was silent, the messenger Cui Shi couldn't help but be a little anxious, took a step forward, and looked directly at Wang Gui. Cui Shi was born in a reckless manner, with Lu Mingyu in Yuezhou Zhao'an, is a rare general in the left army who is good at arching horses, this time back to move troops, he led a hundred cavalry to rush through the siege of the Erbo people, when crossing the Yishui River, there were only more than 50 horsemen left. Cui Shi couldn't trust Wang Gui in the first place, if Wang Gui insisted on refusing to send troops, even if he was strict up and down, he would scold this greedy man who was afraid of death.

Wang Guishen groaned for a while, and asked: "Cui Tongzhi, you came from the battlefield of Xiongzhou, do you know what is the reality of the Liao army?" ”

"The Liao army besieging the city is about 50,000, and most of the people besieging the city are 'Jurgy' Zhenbu people, and there are many old and weak among them." Cui Shi said without hesitation, "In addition, there are also the cavalry of the Murb people, at least 10,000 horsemen, who did not attack the city and intercepted us in circles from afar. "Wang Gui's Chinese army has a large number of soldiers and horses, many of which are new troops transferred from the south. Commanders from near and far listened attentively to Cui's account of the 'engagement' with the Liao army, and since the formation and training of the new army, the replacement of officers has been extremely rapid, and many young officers have become battalion commanders and commanders. However, compared with generals like Cui Shi who crawled out of the pile of dead, the battlefield experience is still lacking.

"The Liao army besieging Xiongzhou was more than 50,000 people...... The Murb cavalry, roughly between 20,000 and 30,000......"

"There is a Xia army in the west that threatens Shangjing...... There is nowhere to grass in winter......"

"The Liao army can be used to go south to Youzhou, and it will not exceed 200,000 horses."

Wang Gui frowned and looked at the snow-covered mountains in the distance, repeating some words intermittently. Some of these came from the military reports of Cui Shi and Lu Mingyu, and some came from some secret reports of the military intelligence department on the strength of the Liao army. The weather was bitterly cold, and although the Song army was extremely difficult, it was even more difficult for the Liao army in the north to move south. Therefore, the Prime Minister and the Ministry of War also repeatedly urged that when the warm grass grew in 'spring', it would be easier for the northern Liao army to go south to rescue Youzhou, while the Song army would stop troops on the Song-Liao border, where there were no people and no food, and it would be even more difficult to capture Youzhou.

The art of war says that in a decisive battle between the two armies, there is no chance of victory, and those who have more temples will win, and those who have fewer temples will lose. However, a battle-hardened veteran like Wang Gui knows that manpower is sometimes exhausted, and if it is a war of equal strength, there are too many factors that determine victory or defeat. This is especially true when it comes to a specific campaign, a battle. From generals to soldiers, the moment they go to the battlefield, they are 'handing' their 'lives' to God. However, even so, they had to fight for their lives. Because, only if you dare to fight, you have a chance to win, if you dare not fight, you will lose. Therefore, Yue Dashuai said that generals are not afraid of death, which is the most basic requirement for his generals. Warriors seek victory with the heart of death, and only the living know whether they win or lose in the end.

"The Left Army sticks to Xiongzhou, which is commendable......"

After a long time, Wang Gui finally made up his mind and said in a deep voice: "The whole army went north, until the north bank of Yishui lined up. ”

Then, Wang Gui ordered Zhang Xian to 'draw' and transfer 20,000 'fine' cavalry to move closer to the Chinese army, and the two armies echoed each other from afar, preparing to support the left army that had left Xiongzhou. If the Liao army is not ready to give up Xiongzhou, then the three Song armies will work together to fight a decisive battle with the Liao army in the north of Yishui, under the city of Xiongzhou! He had already made a decision in his 'chest', and after making a decision, he almost without thinking, immediately assigned the marches and positions of the various armies, and everything was in order. After the 'elite' of the Tokyo Left-behind Division returned to the front army, there were still 110,000 soldiers and horses in the Hejian battalion. In addition to the soldiers and horses of the former Tokyo Left-behind Division, most of them were the heads of the forbidden military camps transferred from the south since the imperial court decided to launch a large-scale Northern Expedition. Some time ago, the imperial court changed generals, although the generals were a little strange, but Wang Gui was born under Marshal Yue, and in recent years, he has risen rapidly, he has always been round, and he has means, and under the combination of grace and power, except for Zhang Xian and a few other generals of the former army, the generals of the Chinese army are also willing to bow down and obey orders.

When the generals saw that Wang Gui had the style of a general, they all obeyed the order solemnly. Since Zhao Xingde's Northern Expedition, the Song army has won more and lost less than the Liao army, whether it is a siege or a field battle, psychologically it is not at a disadvantage to the Liao. As soon as the military order to cross Yishui came, the veterans of each battalion talked about the rewards of the imperial court with great interest and returned home, while the recruits who had not been on the battlefield waited anxiously for the first battle to come.

In the early 'spring' of February, the weather in Hebei not only did not get warmer, but became more and more cold, and people were drenched in iron hammers.

"Don't, don't, be careful, hey-" Zhang Peng, an old pawn from Hebei, yelled at a new Ding with a pale face.

"What should you do?" Wan Jin was so anxious that he was about to cry out, he was from Hebei, but he had never experienced such a cold day, after the snow stopped, the weather not only did not warm up, but it was colder, when he was on the '' in the morning, he just picked up the fire gun, he felt that something was wrong, and the result was stuck to his hands, almost even the 'meat' was removed, and a burst of pain made Wan Jin scream like a pig. He was lucky, yesterday, the new Ding test gun in the side camp encountered an explosion and actually blew up his palm.

"We'll have to wait a while." Zhang Peng pursed his lips, he looked at the sky outside the tent, and muttered, "This ghost weather." ”

On this day, the Song soldiers of each battalion were given the military order to prepare for the expedition, and each team of soldiers carried cotton tents and cotton jackets for camping in the field, each of them was wrapped in dry food for seven days, and more than 50 rounds of guns and guns were 'medicine'. Wang Gui was very cautious, and arranged the marching columns of the old Hebei battalion in the front and on both flanks, and many new battalions, artillery battalions and Minfu battalions from the south were protected in the middle of the marching columns. On February 28, the army crossed Yishui, stopped and camped on the north bank of Yishui, and sent Cui Shi with a team of cavalry to break through the Liao army interception and enter Xiongzhou to communicate with Wang Gui. The 110,000 Song troops were horns of each other, marching step by step, rolling forward like a boulder. The small force of the Liao army was powerless to stop the advance of the Song army. For the Liao army attacking Xiongzhou, the Song army of Xiongzhou was a stinky and hard bone, which was very difficult to gnaw, and Wang Gui's army moved slowly and unstoppably like Mount Tai, and the closer the Song army got to Xiongzhou, the more the Liao army felt that it was in the dilemma of being attacked by the enemy on its back. Before Yan Xian also asked Xiao Tachi for help, the military order from the North Courtyard arrived, ordering the 'Nu' Zhenbu and the Murbo Department not to take a step back, preparing for a decisive battle with the Song army under the city of Xiongzhou.

This is Yelu Tiege's intention to consume the strength of the two divisions, although Xiao Tachi and Wan Yan Xian are also suspicious, they are helpless.

Yelu Tiege's plan is to test the strength of the Song army with the 'female' Zhen army and the Murbo army, the two foreign barbarians, the Liao army is watching from the side, waiting to see the success or failure of the battle, if the Song army is exhausted, then the superior cavalry will launch a decisive blow, if the Song army easily defeats the 'female' Zhen army and the Murbo department, then retreat to Youzhou, according to the meaning of the emperor Yelu Dashi, rely on Youzhou Jiancheng to consume the Song army, and then see if there is a chance to break the Song army in one fell swoop. According to Brother Tie's plan, there was no need for the main force of the Liao army to leave Youzhou, where grain and grass were stored, however, on the first day of the first month of March, a team of troops sent by the Imperial Palace Tent Army broke Brother Yelu's wishful thinking. After learning that the North Court intended to send the concubine Xiao Tachi to Xiongzhou to die, Empress Xiao personally took Princess Pusuwan to cry and plead with Yelu Dashi. Yelu Dashi was originally dissatisfied with the fact that the North Court had changed his plan to consume the Song army under Youzhou City without authorization, and wanted to stabilize the two departments of 'Nu' Zhen and Murbo, so he strictly ordered Yelu Tiege not to go his own way, and to be sure to rescue the 'Nu' Zhen and Murbo army from Xiongzhou City.

At the head of Xiongzhou City, the Song army and the 'female' real army fought hard for several days, and the morale not only did not fall, but became more and more high.

Outside the city of Xiongzhou, after Wang Gui's army crossed Yishui for two days, the forward cavalry came into contact with the Liao army besieging the city, the Erbo cavalry was fine, and it was not so easy for the 'female' real army to retreat with its whole body, Yelu Tiege weighed the pros and cons, and had to personally bring 50,000 'fine' horsemen south to Xiongzhou, trying to 'force' the Song army to retreat outside the city, and aid the 'female' true army to withdraw to Youzhou. At this time, the 20,000 cavalry of Zhang Xian's department also rushed to the city of Xiongzhou, and Wang Gui realized that the opportunity for a decisive battle with the Liao army had come, so the Song army not only did not retreat, but set up a position. The confrontation under the city of Xiongzhou, the two armies of Song and Liao are like two bulls with horns on each other, if anyone turns around and retreats first, he will definitely be chased by the other party and knocked to the ground.