Seeing that it was past noon, Du Zhongxiao ordered a banquet to be set up nearby and invited everyone to drink the banquet. There is no morning tomorrow, there is plenty of time, everyone is going to stay here for one night tonight. And it's already autumn, the war with the Khitan is about to start, and Du Zhongxiao wants to make the final mobilization for the people here.

Tents were set up in the open space, and everyone sat down, and the soldiers brought the food and wine that had been prepared.

With the development of these years, the variety of meals at this time is no longer comparable to what it used to be. There are everything such as chicken, duck and fish, and they are all hot. The wine is brought out of the capital, and it is all fine wine.

Compared to later generations, the diet of the Song Dynasty was very simple. Due to the rise of civil society, folk snacks are more abundant, far beyond those of previous dynasties. But the formal feast did not change much from the previous dynasty, with soup cakes and fruits, plus some boiled, roasted and meat dishes. The dishes brought by Du Zhongxiao, coupled with the industrial development of Jingxi Road in recent years, have undergone great changes in a few years.

Du Zhongxiao raised his glass and said, "Today, I will give an order to see the thunderbolt car of the iron supervisor." To be honest, there are still many problems with this car, far to the extent that the outcome of the battle is uncertain. But it is also very useful, especially when the two armies face each other, this car can lay the foundation for victory as soon as it comes out. When Judge Lai Guo was in Baiting Prison, he worked hard for several years, and finally got to where he is today. Everyone have a drink and congratulate on this! ”

The crowd cheered and drank together. Because of this incident, Guo Jian recently moved beyond the two capitals and has entered the ranks of middle and high-level officials. The current three divisions are not comparable to the past, and the judges of the salt and iron divisions are equivalent to the former deputy envoys of the three divisions, and they have a very high status in the court.

After drinking the wine, Du Zhongxiao said: "It's September, and the northern border is in autumn, and it's the most critical time." The so-called autumn is high and horses are fat, and the grasslands are easy to move south, and the DPRK and China must now make every effort to guard against this. In addition to these fifty thunderbolts, there is also the training of the forbidden army, which has reached the most critical time. ”

Fu Bi said: "The Khitan in the north ordered troops a few months ago, and this year it will go south in a big way. Recently, the Hebei Road has been played, and the Khitan troops and horses have been assembled in Zhongjing, and they will come south to see it. Because of this, the court was worried. ”

Zhang Yu said loudly: "The soldiers are coming, the water is coming to cover the earth, the Khitans are coming to fight them, what are you worried about!" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This is a good word, the Khitans are coming, just fight with them." It's just that the imperial court's training of the forbidden army has not been completed until now, so it is not easy to fight. The Khitan army came south this time, but it was not so easy to deal with. This dynasty is on Hebei Road, and now there are less than 300,000 soldiers and horses, and it is not easy to defend the Khitan. ”

Li Zhaoliang of Sanya said: "Hebei Road is open to trains, and you can increase troops at any time, and you don't need to be afraid of Khitan." Five new armies were formed in the capital, and if necessary, they were transported along the railway to Hebei. With more than 500,000 troops, what can the Khitan prosper and dump the country? ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Tai Lieutenant, the five armies in the capital are about to be formed." There's still a long way to go before it's actually compiled. Now there is no shortage of soldiers in the forbidden army, but the shortage of officers is too great, and for a while, there is no better way. ”

Yang Wenguang said: "There is no other way to do this, but to be an official now, and first integrate into the army." If there is something that is not suitable, it is eliminated. The selection of military generals from all over the world, regardless of whether they are currently in the military or in the military, as long as they are generals who can lead troops, they will be recruited into the DPRK first. ”

Zhao Zi shook his head: "It's been five or six years since the military academy was opened, and it hasn't been able to train enough generals, so it's really slow to do this." You have to wait until the great enemy is now before you can do this with your heart, and you will inevitably cause trouble in the future. ”

This topic is very sensitive, and the lack of talent training in military academies is not just careless, but involves the game of various forces. It took several years for the imperial court to organize various van armies that camped fields, built roads, transported goods, and even opened factories, and finally slowly separated the people who had been generals for generations in the forbidden army. By this year, the resistance to the training was already very small, and it was possible to completely retrain the forbidden army. Many officials understand this issue in their hearts, but they just don't say it. Anyway, the whole training is about to be completed, and there is no need to pursue it further.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Today I don't talk about the past, I only talk about the upcoming Khitan army going south." Come and have a drink, everyone will talk to their hearts! ”

After speaking, he led everyone to drink another glass of wine and talked about the Khitan going south.

Fu Bi said: "The Khitan sent troops to the country this time, and all the tribes under its rule gathered soldiers and horses. It is said that at this time, more than 300,000 troops gathered in Zhongjing Province and the area adjacent to Youzhou. There are also assassins as soldiers, and there are nearly 300,000 of them. Nearly 600,000 troops came south, unprecedented. ”

Liu Huan said: "Last year in Shuozhou, didn't Yelu Hongji bring an army of 400,000 to fight with Captain Jia in Mayi? What about the so-called 60th Army this time? As long as it is properly arranged, they can't do anything about it. ”

Fu Bi said: "How can it be compared? Last year in Shuozhou, most of Yelu Hongji's 400,000 troops were Youzhou soldiers, and only 60,000 or 70,000 people could really fight. This year is different, the Khitan only recruited more than 300,000 tribal cavalry, five or six times more than last year. ”

Zhao Zi said: "When the two armies fight, we can't just look at how many soldiers and horses the two sides have, but also how much combat power they have. Of the 400,000 people in Shuozhou last year, the actual combat strength was less than 100,000, and the rest were just heads. This year is different, according to the Privy Council's estimates, all of them add up, and there should be 400,000 soldiers in the Khitan south. According to this calculation, even if it is to defend according to the danger, the imperial court needs two or three hundred thousand people. The garrison on Hebei Road is just enough. ”

Yang Wenguang said: "It can't be counted like this. It has been several years since Jia Kui's unit was trained, and it has been fighting thousands of miles, which is not comparable to ordinary armies. At present, most of the garrisons on Hebei Road have just been trained, and they are far from being comparable. Speaking of which, two or three hundred thousand people are not yet safe. ”

The crowd was silent for a while, drinking silently. Jia Kui was able to make Yelu Hongji helpless in Shuozhou, one is to have a good position, the other is to wait for work, and many factors are mixed together to easily resist the Khitan attack. This year in Hebei Road, there are definitely no such conditions.

Du Zhongxiao said: "On the east side of Hebei Road, there is a river pond blocking. The Khitan came from the south, and if it was early, it could only attack from the west, which was nothing more than the line of Dingzhou and Baozhou. There are 100,000 garrisons there, and there should be no major problems in blocking the Khitan for a while. But if there are no reinforcements behind, it is difficult to say. The most important thing for the Khitan is to have reinforcements. Now the soldiers and horses on the Hebei Road should be sufficient, but if you want to defeat the Khitan, you must have a newly trained army in the capital and be able to go north. Now it seems that this matter will not be easy. ”

Liu Jian said: "The newly trained armies only have military horns and soldiers. But there is a great shortage of officers in all armies. According to the rules of the army, the current number of officers is less than 30,000. If you want to fight, I'm afraid it's very rare. ”

Yang Wenguang said: "Yes, there is a serious shortage of officers in the army now. There was no other way, so the Sanya consulted with the Privy Council and the Zhongshu to transfer talented and learned soldiers from all over the country to return to Beijing, and after a short training at the military academy, they were added to the army. The two transferred some officers from the other armies, disrupted the rearrangement, and allowed the armies to become armies. If there is a war, it is necessary for all of you to command the envoys and other senior generals and adjust them in time. ”

The generals who led the troops in the Song Dynasty were divided into military positions and military positions. The military rank is the general in the forbidden army, and there is no official rank below the remote county, and his position in the forbidden army is his class. The military position is the local governor, the governor, etc., and is the local commander of the army, with an official rank. There were few officers in the forbidden army, and it was easy for officers to be promoted and then have no positions, so they would change from military posts to military posts and serve as local officials. Now that the generals who came out of the military academy and the generals in the original forbidden army have run out, they can only transfer the generals who sent out the military back to serve in the army.

There is no way to do this, and if we do not do this, the newly trained army will really not be able to become an army. These generals who re-entered the forbidden army may be divided into the newly trained forbidden army, or they may be replaced by experienced military generals in the rest of the reorganized forbidden army.