Suddenly, several Khitan cavalry appeared, although there were only a few horses, but they boldly approached the Fancheng ferry. Most of the Song soldiers guarding the ferry were foot soldiers, and they were running around in a fuss on the arrow tower of the Shuizhai Wharf to warn. Liu Yanqing's face sank, his right hand stretched out to the side, and Huang Zhan hurriedly handed over the clairvoyant mirror.

In the clairvoyant vision, the expressions of the Liao soldiers were quite arrogant, they shouted loudly, stopped outside the arrow range of the Song army in the city tower, raised their fingers and pointed to the city head and scolded, judging from the mouth shape, these Liao soldiers spoke Chinese, and I don't know if it was Han'er. Gai is because in the sixteen states of Youyun, the Khitan people are very sinicized, and the Han people are very deep, if you don't look at the family tree of the surname or the military registration of the North Courtyard, it is difficult to distinguish. Compared with before, the upper body of the Liao soldiers was replaced with armor, and Liu Yanqing recognized that it was the upper body of the step armor, and even the pocket was the Song army system, which was probably captured by the Liao army in Hebei and Bianliang. Just for the convenience of getting on and off the horse, the Liao soldiers canceled the front and rear skirt armor. Maybe it was hung on the chest of the war horse. The light cavalry of the Liao army was originally almost unarmoured, but now the load has increased by forty or fifty catties, and the war horses can still withstand it, and the flexibility has not been greatly reduced, and the ability to rush into hand-to-hand combat has improved a lot.

"It's really a tiger with wings." Liu Yanqing's face became even more gloomy

The Khitan had good mali knives, and the Song people had heavy armor and strong crossbows, and both sides had their own advantages, and now it seems that they are no different in armor. The swept Hedong and Hebei provinces greatly boosted the morale of the Liao army, which can be seen from the arrogance of these Liao army blockers. At this time, outside the scope of the Song army's water village, many fleeing people crowded on the bank of the Han River, and only more than 50 cavalrymen actually galloped around the crowded people in front of tens of thousands of Song troops in Xiangyang and Fancheng, making a shouting sound in their mouths, trying to cut some of the people out of the crowd and drive them away.

"Liao soldiers!" "The Liao soldiers are here—"

The Liao soldiers and rangers only harassed from a distance, and when the people at the ferry had not really seen the traces of the Liao soldiers, every time the wolf smoke was lit in Fancheng, the Hanshui ferry would cause a commotion. When the wolf smoke ignited just now, even though the people were panicked, some people remained calm, but at this moment, the cavalry of the Liao army really appeared, and the crowded crowd was suddenly more than ten times more chaotic than just now. Many people were in a panic, most of the people in the north couldn't swim, many people stumbled and drowned in the Han water in the panic, and the people on the shore were still shouting for help, and the scene was extremely chaotic for a while.

There were also many bloody people in the Song army at the head of the city, and they all pointed at the Liao army and scolded.

Ding Jidao said: "Marshal, the last general is willing to lead more than 100 cavalry to fight, and he will definitely kill the Liao thief without leaving a piece of armor!" ”

Liu Yanqing hesitated for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Yelu Dashi is extremely cunning, you must be careful of the Liao thief's plan to lure the enemy." The other generals wanted to ask for war, but when they saw that the marshal's face was slightly gloomy, they didn't seem to like it, so they didn't dare to bring up the matter of war again. Liu Yanqing regarded the camp as a family business, and when the commanders in the southeast and Hebei were changed, he made a lot of efforts to suppress the generals who did not obey the control one by one. All the generals have learned to observe words and looks, as long as Liu Dashuai is still in a good mood, it doesn't matter if he drinks and plays money, if Dashuai's face is ugly, no one should touch this mold. As for Han Shizhong, Yue Pengju and other Wang Yan's henchmen and old generals, who were unwilling to bow down to him, they were transferred out of the southeast camp.

The people on the north bank of the Han River knew that once they were plundered by the Liao army, it would be a tragic end, so no matter how the Liao cavalry galloped and intimidated, the people only had one thought, and they rushed to the south to flee for their lives, and the people on the bank of the river became more and more dense. More than 50 cavalry Liao troops were arrogant for a long time, and they were about to run out of horsepower, so they raised their whips and fled away, and at this time, hundreds of corpses had floated on the surface of the Hanshui River. The crying on the riverside shook the sky, and in addition to the drowning, there were also many casualties due to trampling on each other.

More than 50 cavalry Liao troops were in Fancheng as if they were in a no-man's land, and they had a panoramic view of a hill in the east of Fancheng. Brother Yelu Tiege put away the clairvoyant mirror and said secretly: "Liu Yanqing is so cautious, it's a trouble. "He himself is the privy envoy of the Northern Court, and Yelu Dashi has entrusted him with the important task of commanding the southern expedition to the west and the west, which can be said to be above one person and under ten thousand people, but the more the emperor values it, the more important Yelu Tiege himself feels is the greater the responsibility. Beside him, many generals in helmet and armor stood solemnly, including Khitans, Jurchens, and Murbos, who did not frown when they fought on horseback in the north, and when they encountered this Xiangyang City surrounded by Han water, no one could give advice to Yelu Tiege.

Under this low hill, the gray camp tents are connected together, and more than 30,000 elite cavalry of the North Courtyard have been stationed, according to the prior arrangement, each squad has set up three times the number of camp tents, plus strict patrols inside and outside, from a distance, it seems that there are 100,000 cavalry troops set up tents here. Yelu Tiege estimated that the day after tomorrow, the Song army scouts in Fancheng would report the situation to Xiangyang.

The official road next to the hill was crowded with carriages and trolleys, and the signing army and the people were sending a large amount of grain and grass from Yingchang Mansion to the front line of Fancheng. This time was no exception, the 30,000 cavalry led by Yelu Tiege himself rushed to the front, and nearly 200,000 signed troops, grain, grass, baggage, firearms, battalions, iron barrels, cannons, etc., all fell behind.

A general asked for battle: "Lord Dutong, the Song army is so vulnerable, we can attack Fancheng first." ”

Yelu Tiege praised: "Good, courage is commendable. But he shook his head and said, "The walls of Fancheng are strong, we are all cavalry, it is not cost-effective to attack the city to the death, and after the artillery battalion and the signing army brigade arrive, we will attack Fancheng." "For some reason, after hurrying here, Yelu Tiege didn't seem to be in a hurry. According to the system of the Liao army, the higher the rank, the more rewards will be shared for great victories. The central part of Yelu Tiege's tent is a general who leads thousands of horsemen and thousands of horsemen. Therefore, in the just-concluded battle of Hebei and Henan, they have obtained many benefits, and at this moment, the soldiers are coming to Fancheng, but they are not able to enter the army, and they are as anxious as an eagle held in a cage.

Brother Yelu Tiege nodded secretly in his heart, but he still said with a calm face: "Before leaving the capital, Your Majesty personally told me not to be careless in attacking Xiangfan, and to damage the prestige of my army. We set up the camp and built a fortified fortress for the artillery battalion, and only waited for the artillery and siege equipment to arrive, and then we could attack Fancheng. We are not familiar with this kind of water city in Xiangyang, if we attack rashly, not only can not beat the city, but also lose the army in vain, and wait for the signing army to keep up, build a boat raft, for us to test the reality of Xiangyang, and then see how to lay it. The generals heard that it was the emperor's personal order, although they no longer objected, but their faces were mostly disappointed, and they heard Yelu Tiege say again: "Fangzhou is a small Zhizhou, and he actually dares to kill my Khitan envoy, if he is not punished, I am afraid that the Song people will become more and more rampant." He looked around at the generals and asked, "The army is setting up a fence in Xiangfan, who will go to Fangzhou first and cut off Gao Zhen's head for the Song people to see!" ”

Before the words fell, the general of the North Courtyard, Yelu Xianzhen, said in a loud voice: "I am willing to go to war!" What he hated most was the redundant things of building a hard village, building artillery forts, and building rafts and sailors, although most of these labors were borne by the signing army, but the generals also had the responsibility of supervision. In contrast, Yelu Xianzhen preferred to lead an army to attack Fangzhou. The other Khitan generals were preempted by him, and then he secretly regretted that Fangzhou had not been washed and plundered much, although I heard the Song people say that the land was barren and the people were poor, but there was always a lot of oil and water.

Brother Yelu Tiege immediately nodded in agreement, and ordered Yelu to lead the people of his headquarters to Fangzhou to punish the Song people. After Yelu retreated, after a while, the horns of the oxen under the hill blew, and about 5,000 cavalry from the northern courtyard rolled up their tents and left the camp, leaving the fictitious tents in place.

After more than a month, the Liao army slowly gathered, Yelu Tiege did not rush to attack the two cities of Xiangfan, the Liao army has been building camps around Fancheng and Xiangyang, piling up artillery forts, and even the army to sign the army in the upper and lower reaches of the Han River to lay wooden stakes, in an attempt to cut off the grain route of the Xiangfan Song army. During this period, the Song army tentatively attacked the Liao army several times, but did not make every effort to stop the Liao army's movements. It didn't take long for the roads on the shore to be controlled by the Liao cavalry, and the waterways were also precarious, so the southeast camp became nervous and sent a fast boat to contact Ezhou.

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

After meeting the envoy from Xiangyang, Yue Fei, the commander of the Zhenguo Army, immediately gathered the generals to discuss how to deal with Liu Yanqing's proposal. Yue Fei seemed to want to take this opportunity to contact the Liao army in a battle, but the generals were unwilling to compromise their strength to help the southeast camp open up the grain route.

Wang Gui said unhappily: "The 100,000 troops in the southeast camp, what did you do earlier?" ”

Yang Zaixing also said: "They sat back and watched the Liao army gain a foothold, but now they want to attack their camp, and the casualties are several times." ”

Since the formation of the Zhenguo Army, the generals have not so opposed the decision of the commander. Yue Fei's face sank like water, he couldn't see his joy and anger, and he was muttering undecided, when suddenly someone from outside came to Tongbing, Chen Dong and Zhao Xingde came together to discuss the matter of rescuing Xiangyang, Yue Fei's face couldn't help but sink slightly, he didn't say anything, only ordered his soldiers to show the two of them a seat.

Ezhou civil and military to Chen Dong and Yue Fei two heads, if the Great Song Dynasty to the system of Wen Yuwu, Chen Dong's status is slightly above Yue Fei, but the barracks are not allowed to trespass, the soldiers guarding the door after getting the military order of the commander, Chen Dong and Zhao Xingde are put in. Chen Dong didn't care, Zhao Xingde stepped into the handsome tent and said: "Lord Chen invited Zhao to come up to discuss the matter of Xiangyang Grain Road. ”

Chen Dong spoke first: "General Yue, Chen feels that Ezhou's troops are meagre and self-protection is still insufficient, so if you want to divide your troops to open up a grain road for Xiangyang, I'm afraid it's a little inappropriate." The atmosphere in the tent was suddenly a little strange, the generals looked at each other, everyone looked strange, and they all chose to be silent.