"The Liao army has entered the south of Kouhenan, Bianliang!"

This news shocked the entire Protectorate, for hundreds of years, the Liao cavalry invaded Hebei more than once, and once hit Lanzhou, but they were all deterred in the face of the danger of the river. The Khitans were not good at water warfare, and when they crossed the river, they were in danger of being cut off by the Song army. Therefore, the heroes and fierce generals of the Liao State in the past dynasties were deterred in front of the surging river. Who would have expected that when there were still more than 100,000 Song troops in the Daimyo's mansion, a large group of Liao troops crossed the Yellow River. The cavalry of the Liao State seemed to be everywhere, and even the Military Intelligence Department of the Xia State couldn't figure out how many Liao troops were outside Bianliang City. There were many rumors in the Song Kingdom, and hundreds of people instinctively fled to Bianliang every day, however, Bianliang City closed its gates during the day, and did not let any people enter the city on the grounds of fear that the Liao State spies would sneak into the city.

Under the threat that the balance of strength might be out of balance in an instant, Colonel Guan Zhong, who opposed the intervention in the battle of Liao and Song, almost all changed their attitudes, and the Protectorate decided to prepare to send troops, and the marching department of the General's Mansion decided how to intervene.

Compared with the other school captains, the shock in Zhao Xingde's chest was great. "It's three years of Jingkang." He clenched his fists, Zhao Xingde only remembered the three words "Jing Kang shame", but he didn't know what year it was, just thinking of these three words made people feel extremely angry and humiliated in their chests. After the discussion, many captains greeted Zhao Xingde, and Zhao Xingde couldn't care about being polite to others. As soon as he came out of the Protectorate Mansion, he went to the General's Mansion and asked to meet Zhang Shanfu, the general of the marching division.

There was a tense atmosphere throughout the Great General's Mansion. The so-called disaster is not a one-way street, and the old enemies on the east and west sides of the Xia Kingdom seem to have made an agreement together. The Roma Turks and Rus' made trouble in the north and south of the river, and the Liao State attacked the Song State again. The military department, the baggage department, and the military intelligence department sent military letters like flowing water, and all kinds of files were piled up. Despite being very busy, Zhang Shanfu immediately summoned Zhao Xingde.

"General Zhang," Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice after entering the door and saluting, "The Protectorate has decided to send troops to Kanto, and the last general will ask for battle." ”

"Oh?" Zhang Shanfu closed the file he was flipping through. The decision to send troops to Kanto had not yet had time to be sent to the marching division, however, Zhang Shanfu did not feel sudden in the slightest of this decision. If the Liao and Song dynasties cannot be annexed, the balance between the two countries must be maintained, which is the consensus of the five governments. The Song State was in jeopardy, so it was necessary to intervene. The Protectorate is only in charge of deciding major matters. How to intervene and which troops to send to the expedition will be put forward by the marching division with detailed strategies. That's why Zhao Xingde immediately came to Zhang Shanfu to ask for battle.

Zhang Shanfu was silent for a while, and said slowly: "Although the general plan for sending troops to Kanto has been decided, how to send troops is the most beneficial to our dynasty, and we still need to weigh the pros and cons. The main force of the hundreds of thousands of forbidden troops of the Song State is still intact, and the battle situation of the Liao and Song Dynasty is still unclear, and the Dragon Tooth Army should not go out easily. He looked at Zhao Xingde thoughtfully.

"Can the last general be transferred to another army?" Zhao Xingde immediately said, "The Liao and Song Dynasty battles often have 100,000 soldiers and horses, and there will be no shortage of soldiers and horses in my eastward expedition. "With the military system of the Xia Kingdom, the centurion and above are all recommended by sergeants, and it is impossible for the military camp to arrange a leading officer out of thin air, so Zhao Xingde is willing to give up leading the troops and follow the army to the east as a staff member. The most of the staff members are the marching chiefs, who are also counted as the marching divisions.

"You volunteered to be transferred from the Dragon's Tooth Army to the rank of marching commander?" A hint of discoloration flashed in Zhang Shanfu's eyes, although the marching chief Shi was equivalent to the captain in office, he had neither military power nor the dignity of the Protector's Mansion. It is one level shorter than the captain generals of the Dragon's Tooth Army. Many wise and brave marching horses would rather become centurions, striving to be promoted to lieutenant by the sergeant, rather than being promoted to the rank of marching commander. Therefore, most of the long histories and practitioners of the marching division belong to the sergeants who are wise and resourceful, but brave but slightly inferior. There are very few people like Zhao Xingde who are both brave and strategic.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Shanfu said lightly: "Captain Zhao, I will consider your request." Stand down. ”

"General......" Before Zhao Xingde could speak, Zhang Shanfu said in a deep voice: "Stand down-"

The momentum of not being angry and arrogant made Zhao Xingde only bow down and say: "The last general will retire." He turned and walked out.

Zhang Shanfu looked at his back, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, thoughtful. He opened the file in front of him again, it was the strategy of the march to the east, planning to contact the Song court, if the Song army was defeated and Bianliang fell, he would send elite troops to the east to help the Song army stabilize the situation, and at the same time, Guanzhong began to accumulate materials and prepare to mobilize retired sergeants and regimental training troops. When the war in the west was over, the Liao and Song states in the east were almost finished, and then a steady stream of troops was sent to the Kwantung region. The Dragon's Tooth Firearms Battalion under Zhao De was a place for the regimental training army to train firearms officers. Although he did not necessarily participate in the crusade in person, his role was extremely important. Zhang Shanfu thought about it again and again, circled Zhao De's name and changed it to the marching division. In the evening, several military strategies were presented to Prime Minister Liu Yi.

Liu Yi first took a look at the strategy of the marching division. The marching division prepared to gather 100,000 troops in the west to fight the rebellion, and Guanzhong sent 30,000 soldiers and horses to Guguan to help the Song State support the situation. He also petitioned the Protectorate to recruit 50,000 retired sergeants in Hezhong and 30,000 in Guanzhong, to allow Guanzhong to expand the Red Formation and Training Firearms Battalion, and to ask the Prime Minister's Office to hoard military supplies in Guanzhong as much as possible. Closing the file, Liu Yi pondered for a moment and asked, "The Rus rebellion is obviously weaker than the Liao army. However, the arrangement of the marching division is more important in the west than in the east, why is this? ”

Zhang Shanfu explained: "The prince of Rus colluded with the Xiyi barbarians, but he was afraid that it would get bigger and bigger. In the end, the court will pay exponentially. In addition, the Roma Turks are not good at facing me in the south of the river, and they must fight quickly, so the victory of the army is expensive, and it is not expensive for a long time. On the west side, a heavy army should be gathered to cut off the evil with a thunderous force. And the Song State is still suspicious of us, and there are more soldiers and horses from the east, but I am afraid that most of the Song State will not agree, and even if they do, they will be wary of our army, which is not conducive to the Song Dynasty to resist Liao. In the future, when the war in our west is settled, I will have no worries about the future. The national strength of the Liao State and the Song State has also been almost consumed by each other, and our eastward march towards the army cannot be stopped by these two countries. ”

Liu Yi nodded. He knew the tactics of the marching division. The war situation in the Liao and Song dynasties took a sharp turn for the worse, and the Protectorate was worried that the Khitan would easily get the land, manpower, and wealth of the Song State, and that the evil would be even more fierce and affect Guanzhong, so they decided to send troops to help the Song resist the Liao. Liu Yi looked through the salaries and military supplies calculated by the Baggage Division, recruited 80,000 sergeants, and spent more than 4 million yuan in one year alone, and the corresponding additional baggage, horses, grain, and grass were more than 3 million yuan. Most of the materials captured by the enemy were distributed by the victorious sergeants, and the minerals and land in the rebel areas were put up for sale, which could probably cover the cost of the expedition. Let Song Guo pay some more money for borrowing soldiers? The Guanzhong Fire Gun Battalion has gradually increased its training and hoarded military supplies for the future army, which is more like a bottomless pit, and if it cannot dominate the world, I am afraid that it will not be able to fill this large sum. Liu Yi was thinking about it, and suddenly saw that at the end of the strategy, Zhao De was relieved of his position as a captain of the Dragon Tooth Military Academy, and was changed to the chief of the marching department, but he had no specific responsibilities.

"Zhao De is a talent," he frowned, "how did you throw him idle." ”

"He would rather be transferred from the Dragon Tooth Army to the Marching Division to be a long history, and he would rather go to Kanto to fight." Zhang Shanfu sighed, "How honorable is the captain of the Dragon Tooth Military Academy, is it difficult to be strong?" It's just that the general who led the expedition has not yet decided, and he can't arrange a long march now. Liu Yi was a little stunned, he closed the file, sighed, and didn't speak again.

............

In the wilderness outside the Daimyo's mansion, countless Liao cavalry were infested, but in general, the number of Liao troops falling in the eyes of the Song army at the head of the city was getting smaller and smaller. However, just dozens of miles away, more than 100,000 Liao troops were concentrated in the camp, and groups of cavalry patrolled back and forth around, and when they saw the people of the Song Kingdom, they chased after them on horseback, or shot them on the spot, or captured them and returned to the camp as a signing army.

In the imperial account, Yelu Tiege, the privy envoy of the Northern Court, Yelu Baoyi of the Han army, Yelu Yanshan of the palace tent army, Yelu Bijie of the left army, Urgon of the right army, and Xiao Chalaa of the infantry army, all stood respectfully around. In the middle of the big tent, the light cast by the opening of the dome was shining on the huge map, and Yelu Dashi was leaning over to look at the positions of the various armies of the Song Kingdom. His face sank like water, and when his eyes fell on the Liyangjin pontoon bridge, he was rarely moved, and his eyes moved slightly. These days, the Song army not only did not strengthen the defense of Liyangjin, but instead shrank the Song army in Henan to Bianliang as much as possible, and now it is still Zhang Shuye's 20,000 soldiers and horses defending the north of Liyangjin Bridge.

"Your Majesty, do you want to send troops to capture Liyangjin?" Yelu Yanshan asked. The faces of the other generals also showed anticipation.

"Don't worry," Yelu Dashi shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Leave this pontoon bridge to Wang Yan." ”

"But ........" Although the generals did not dare to question Yelu Dashi's decision, they were worried in their hearts. The army of Hebei Xingying, will it really send the Daimyo Mansion back to help Bianliang? Yelu Dashi has confined more than 100,000 elite soldiers in the camp for more than ten days. The Liao army fought all the way to the bank of the Yellow River, Henan was known as the richest place in the Song Dynasty, and Bianliang seemed to be within reach, but the army stopped advancing. Not to mention the huge consumption of grain and grass by more than 100,000 people and horses every day, the Khitans, Xi people, Jurchens, and Urbo people came to the flower world of the Southern Dynasties, and they could not go out of the camp to fight the grass valley, and they were extremely uncomfortable in the camp every day.