Back in the Privy Council, Du Zhongxiao said: "Later, you will come to my official hall and discuss the war in Hebei with Taiwei Zhao. Hey, there is obviously no flaw in Hebei Road in this dynasty, and the Khitan still wants to go south, I really can't figure it out. From this, the saint started to take this opportunity to destroy the main force of the Khitan, and we must carefully consider whether we can do it or not, and play back to calm the sacred heart. ”

Tian Guo and several deputy envoys said yes and returned to the official hall.

Du Zhongxiao came back and ordered the soldiers to call Zhao Zi and Li Fugui and sit behind the desk alone.

At this time, the Khitan went south, and Zhao Zhen wanted to achieve the greatest results, but it was really not the time. The smoothest time for the training of the forbidden army has passed, and the next thing is to grind kung fu, which is no longer so easy. How could the 150,000 army on Hebei Road alone annihilate nearly 300,000 Khitan troops? And it is really not easy to train a few more armies.

Du Zhongxiao was upset because this was really not a good time. The Song army did not complete the training, and the Khitans came at this time, just to boil them back, which was of too little significance. And if you want to attack, the strength is insufficient.

After a while, Zhao Zi came and saluted Du Zhongxiao.

Let Zhao Zi sit down, Du Zhongxiao said: "Shicai Chongzheng Palace, Shengshangyan, let the Privy Council report in detail if the Khitan comes to attack in the autumn, how we should deal with it." After a while, Captain Tian and several deputy envoys came over, and we discussed together. ”

Zhao Zidao: "There are as many as 250,000 forbidden troops who have been trained on the front line of Hebei Road. The Khitans came south, how to break through? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The Khitan people don't know. When he was in Mayi, the Khitan force had not yet arrived, and although Hongji had an army of 400,000, he was recruited from Youzhou and the surrounding areas, and his combat strength was not good. Now concentrate the main Khitan force and stab the army from Youzhou, they think it is not like before, and it is normal to want to show this dynasty. When the two emperors were fighting, there were hundreds of thousands of troops at every turn, but in fact, they were mainly recruited from under their rule, and there were only tens of thousands of people who were really strong. Now it's different, it's the main Khitan force that comes, and you have to deal with it carefully. ”

Zhao Zi thought for a while and said, "Taiwei, do you think that the Khitans will recruit the people under their rule as they did in previous years, and add the main force from the grassland, and organize an army of five or six hundred thousand to go south?" Ants bite the elephant to death, and if so, it is not easy to defend. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Probably not." The two emperors fought for several years, Youzhou and Yunzhou were broken, and it was difficult to recruit so many troops. At that time, the two sides breathed a sigh of relief, and they didn't care at all, and the soldiers recruited by both sides increased year by year. Now that breath has been discharged, it's not so easy to puff up again. ”

Zhao Zi nodded: "What the Taiwei said is true." Youzhou recruited hundreds of thousands of troops, and the young and strong were almost all assassinated, which was difficult to do. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "There is another point, the Han people recruited by Youzhou can be used when the two emperors are fighting, and it is difficult to use it when fighting against this dynasty." It's good to say that the Khitan has always had the upper hand, but once the battle is not effective, it will be difficult for these people to say. It is after this battle, in terms of military strength alone, that the Khitans are not as many as when the two emperors fought a few years ago. ”

Zhao Zi said: "What the Taiwei said is true. However, although the number of people is smaller, the combat power is stronger. ”

After a while, Tian Guo, Fu Bi, Zhang Sheng and Zeng Gongliang came in together and sat down. After serving tea and gossiping, Li Fugui arrived.

Du Zhongxiao said: "In the Chongzheng Palace, the saint said, this autumn and winter Khitan army is very likely to go south, let us discuss it and see how to deal with it." If you can take this opportunity to annihilate the main Khitan force in Youzhou when the Khitan goes south, it will be a blessing. ”

Tian said: "This matter is extremely difficult. The Khitan is going south this time, and it must be dominated by cavalry, coming and going, how to stop it? ”

Fu Bi said: "If you want to encircle and annihilate the cavalry, you must have strong cavalry." Although all the armies that have been trained now have cavalry, the main force is infantry. There is more than enough rules, and there is no offense or enough. If you want to train a strong cavalry, the time is too short. ”

Zhang Sheng said: "In the past few years, most of the cavalry officers taught in the military academy have been assigned to various armies. Cavalry is easy, but officers are hard to find. Without the right generals, where did the powerful cavalry come from? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yes, the most handy thing to deal with strong soldiers is cavalry." The soldiers and horses on the Hebei Road have more than enough codes, and it is not enough to attack or even surround the Khitans. We will discuss the formation of cavalry later, and this is to be noted down in advance. ”

In the past few years, the Song Dynasty has been training field regiments with the army as a unit, and each army has more than 10,000 cavalry, but there is no separate cavalry combat unit. In the face of a large number of Khitan cavalry, it is impossible to surround them, without enough cavalry.

After thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao said to Li Fugui: "Now there is no shortage of horse farms in the imperial court, and there are still enough war horses in recent years?" ”

Li Fugui said: "Sufficient." Now the cavalry of the forbidden army is not short of horses, and most of the troops have actually changed horses. If necessary, it is not difficult to transfer another 120,000 horses from Hexi on the meandering road. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "It's easy to do it with a horse." With horses, when you really want to build cavalry, you have to rely on. ”

After speaking, he instructed the soldiers to take a map of Youzhou on Hebei Road, put it on the table, and read it with a few people.

Pointing to Baozhou, Du Zhongxiao said: "The place where the Khitans are most likely to go south is Baozhou. Since the Ansu army went south, the road was flat, and troops could be sent from the Taihang Mountain, and the two roads cooperated. However, both Dingzhou and Zhendingfu have large armies, and they are not afraid of him. ”

Zhao Zi said: "It's not just that there is a large army, but this is also the place where the Hebei Road Railway goes." There is a railway, and troops can be transferred from other places at any time, and they are not afraid of the Khitans. The Khitans took this road, but it was easy to do. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "It's not easy to do." Going to Baozhou, we are easy to defend, and it is much more difficult to encircle and annihilate it. The Khitans can take the mountain road at any time, and if they withdraw from the flying fox, it is impossible to think about it. The Khitans attacked Baozhou, and the dynasty must take the initiative to attack. ”

Everyone nodded, looked at the map, and discussed the situation on both sides. The battlefield is backed by mountains, and there are too many variables, and it is really not easy to annihilate the enemy. Thinking about it, there is no perfect way.

Du Zhongxiao said: "The Khitans go to Baozhou, and if they want to encircle and annihilate, they must first occupy the flying fox and control the road in the mountains. In the autumn, Jia Kui's army can be ordered to return from Shuozhou and prepare to attack the Flying Fox. ”

Tian said: "As soon as Jia Kui leaves, what if the Khitans go south from Datong Mansion?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "At that time, the soldiers and horses on Hedong Road should be able to form an army, and they will be able to go up to the top." What's more, the Khitan has exhausted its elite this time, how can Datong Mansion have enough troops to go south? If there are Hedong Road soldiers, they will go immediately, and Jia Kui's army can be used on Hebei Road. ”

From the east of Daizhou, take Lingqiu and fly fox out of Taihang Mountain, which is the main road from Hedong Road to Hebei Road. controlled Lingqiu and Flying Fox, and occupied the geographical advantage of Taihang Mountain, and the front and back of the mountain were united.

Du Zhongxiao looked at the map and pointed to Xiongzhou in the east and said: "If the Khitan doesn't go to Baozhou and comes from the south of Xiongzhou, things will be completely different." In the south, there is Liu Jiyi's army as a reinforcement, and the surrounding area is open, as long as the troops are enough, go around to the rear of the Khitan army, and the encirclement is still possible. Once the main Khitan force is surrounded, the armies of Dou Shunqing and Liu Jianji can quickly advance eastward, and the war will be beneficial to us. ”