In the Tianzhang Pavilion, Zhao Zhen carefully looked at the map on the table. To the north of Hebei Road is the Khitan Nanjing Dao Xijin Mansion, which is the Youzhou area often referred to in the Song Dynasty. The Khitan state system was more complex, with states under them, and the Song Dynasty bordered Zhuozhou and Yizhou.

Due to the northward flow of the Yellow River, the rivers in this area are vertical and horizontal, and Pitang is all over the place. In addition, the Song Dynasty developed Pitang for decades, as a barrier to block the southward movement of the Khitan iron horse, and the geographical conditions were very complicated. The Cangzhou region, through which the Yellow River flows, is swampy and sparsely populated, making it unsuitable for large armies. The front of the military confrontation between the Song Dynasty and the Khitan was originally the line from Baozhou to Xiongzhou.

After looking at it for a while, Zhao Zhen straightened up and said to Li Zhang, who was standing on the side: "You have been in charge of Yisi for a few months, how are you doing?" ”

Li Zhang praised the wat and said: "Back to Your Majesty, there are too many affairs involved in the affairs of the Ji Yi Division. Although Wechen is often attentive, he still can't fully grasp it. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "It doesn't matter, as long as you know the general outline, there is no need to delve into the details." Jiyisi not only has to know the geography of the two countries, but also knows the military situation of the Khitan, and the court and the people are almost all-encompassing, which can be described as all-encompassing. You know that everything is impossible, as long as you grasp the major festivals for the reference of the imperial court. The rest of the details are done by their own officials. ”

Li Zhang said: "Your Majesty is considerate. The minister must learn to do it carefully. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded, left the table, and said, "In recent days, the people of the Juma River have fled south through the north, causing a lot of uproar in the court. Headed by the Privy Council, Du Taiwei, he believed that the hearts of the people of Youzhou should not be lost, and those who escaped the river should be properly resettled. And the Chinese book and the literary minister, because of the war every year in the past few years, he was really overwhelmed, and persuaded the imperial court to pacify the Khitan. Recently, they have been arguing endlessly, which is really a headache. ”

Seeing that talking about major events in the DPRK and China, Li Zhang was silent and stood there.

Sitting down behind the case, Zhao Zhen said: "Accepting the people who fled south, according to the Khitan temperament, it is likely to resort to force." Now there are more than 200,000 forbidden troops on Hebei Road, although there are a lot of people, it is still difficult to make the Khitan army come and go. ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Zhen sighed: "Since Taiwei Du returned to Beijing last year, he often explained military affairs, and I listened to a lot with the ministers of the DPRK and China. Now it seems that in the past, the forbidden army did not have a general, which really had many disadvantages. There are no generals, and when it comes to war, the army cannot be unified and is often defeated. If you want to defeat the Khitan and restore Yanyun, it is not possible to do it like before. However, if you want to train the forbidden army, how can you complete it without two or three years? ”

Li Zhang said: "Since this is the case, Your Majesty will not issue an edict to return all the people who fled south from the Khitan to calm the anger of the Khitan." After two or three more years, the whole army will complete its training, and it will not be too late to start the war. ”

Zhao Zhen shook his head: "If you return the people, you will inevitably lose the hearts of the people of Hebei." Not only that, the officials of Hebei Road must feel that the imperial court is afraid of the Khitan and is tied to everything. ”

Li Zhang said carefully: "So, then leave people behind?" If the Khitan goes south, the army will meet it. ”

Zhao Zhen shook his head: "According to Captain Du, if you want to effectively contain the Khitan, it is not enough to rely on the garrison on Hebei Road now. It is not that the forbidden army on Hebei Road is insufficient, but that the mobile force is insufficient. Even if Liu Jiyi's army is transferred, it is still not enough. It is necessary to transfer Zhang Qi's army back from the Western Regions to be prepared. The Western Regions, not to mention that it is thousands of miles away, there cannot be the slightest mistake there. Since the Middle Tang Dynasty, it has not been under the rule of the Central Plains, and it is not easy to recover, how can there be an accident? ”

Li Zhang listened, didn't speak anymore, and stood there quietly. Obviously, the current Zhao Zhen is very entangled. At the beginning of the year, he won a big victory against the Khitan, and now he doesn't want to show weakness to the Khitan anyway. But they don't show weakness, and they don't have enough troops to stop it.

The mobility of the Song army was insufficient, and in winter, if the Khitan concentrated 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers and horses, selected the weak link of the Song army's defense, and suddenly went south to plunder, the Song army had no choice. and did not have the strength to immediately attack the Khitan, so he could only suffer a dumb loss.

In the past few days, the meaning of the Privy Council Du Zhongxiao is to transfer all the troops who can be transferred to Hebei to form a strong defense line. The Zhongshu sect is dominated by Wen Yanbo, who believes that the war has been fought every year in the past few years, and it should really be slow. Hundreds of people who went south to return the Khitans were enough, and there was no need to fight the Khitan for the sake of these people. As long as it is delayed for two or three years, the Song Dynasty will not be afraid of the Khitan.

The officials of the DPRK and China quarreled fiercely, and some people supported Du Zhongxiao and some supported Wen Yanbo, which was on par. Since Du Zhongxiao went north to open up the Hequ Road, the Song Dynasty army has won successive battles in recent years, and last year it destroyed the Khitan, and the number of the main battle faction has risen sharply. However, the cost of the war for many years was very huge, and many officials advocated a reprieve for a while.

Zhao Zhen himself, of course, does not want to be soft on the Khitan. However, he knew in his heart that the soldiers and horses in the hands of the imperial court were really not the time to fight with the Khitan. This forbidden army training was Zhao Zhen's participation in the whole process, and he understood the importance of the training in his heart. I listened to Du Zhongxiao talk about military affairs for a year, and it was no longer the time when I didn't know anything about war. As long as you have two or three more hours, you can be sure to deal with the Khitan, and you really don't want to make trouble.

After thinking for a while, Zhao Zhen got up and went to the table to look at the map again. After a year of study, Zhao Zhen now has a rough idea of how to estimate the war from the map. There is always a pattern to how many roads there are on the map, how many armies each road can support, and how much time it takes. Even how many troops there are, how wide the front can be defended when deployed, how fast the troops can march, and how many troops can complete the encirclement, they all have a rough idea in mind.

Pointing to the map, Zhao Zhen said to Li Zhang: "The defense of Hebei Road is Baozhou in the west and Xiongzhou in the east. Behind Baozhou is Zhending Mansion, and behind Xiongzhou is Hejian Mansion. As long as these four places are guarded, the Khitan will have no choice. If there are 200,000 soldiers and horses stationed in the four states, even if the Khitan is the army of the whole country, they are not afraid of it. But now, only 100,000 soldiers can be moved, which is really annoying. ”

Li Zhang said: "According to what Taiwei Du said, if Zhang Qi's army is transferred to Hebei Road, there will be 150,000 people. Coupled with the existing forbidden army, they are not afraid of the Khitan coming south. If the railway is built quickly, it will be even more fearful if it is repaired to Xiongzhou before winter. ”

Zhao Zhen shook his head: "There are two difficulties. Zhang Qi's army is in the Western Regions, and if it is transferred back to Hebei, it will be unprecedented to transfer troops for thousands of miles. As for the construction of the railway, the book has already calculated clearly, at most in winter, it can only be repaired to Baozhou, and Xiongzhou cannot be reached. In this way, between Baozhou and Xiongzhou, one or two hundred miles, is enough for the Khitans to go south. As long as the Khitan army was allowed to come and go freely, it would be difficult for the imperial court to save face. ”

Of course, it's not just face, but where the offensive of the Khitan and Song dynasties is. If the Khitans proved that they could come and go freely in the Song Dynasty, it would be a very big blow to the Song Dynasty, and the victory at the beginning of the year would be in vain.

Li Zhang didn't dare to say anything, and stood there without speaking.

After watching it for a long time, Zhao Zhen said: "This matter is really important, and you can't make up your mind." In the past few years, there have been consecutive victories, and once there is a defeat, I am afraid that it will shake people's hearts. During the Qingli years, the war with the party was unfavorable one after another, and in the end it could only negotiate peace. For several years, none of the courtiers dared to speak out. Du Zhongxiao went to Hequ, and fought so many victories in a few years before he lifted his heart and couldn't be wasted. ”

After speaking, Zhao Zhen turned around and said to Li Zhang: "After you go back, you send more people to the Xiongzhou area to find out the news." Remember, the people who fled south left them alone, and the focus was on the Khitan. Many things are different if you know where they will come and where they will come from. ”