The sun jumped out of the eastern sky, shining a light over the sky. The frost on the ground had not melted, and it creaked when stepped on it.

Yeluther didn't stand at the head of the city, looking at the barracks of the Song army not far away, his face sinking like water. After a long while, he said, "Song Jun rushed here desperately yesterday, why is it quiet today?" Since you're here, shouldn't you be desperate to attack the city? ”

Yeluliang said: "King, I think the Song people know that this city has fallen, and it is nothing to take it back sooner or later. ”

Jertheel shook his head repeatedly: "If this is the case, why did they rush yesterday? ”

Yeluliang said: "Our 30,000 cavalry is here, once they go south, they have no heavy defense. Now that the army is coming, it must have blocked the road to the south, but it is not in a hurry. ”

Jerodher didn't speak, but just looked out of the city. After a long while, he said: "In this case, if the Song army does not attack, we will attack?" ”

Yeluliang arched his hand: "The king has made a decision on this matter, and the lower officials dare not say more." What matters now is to see what the Song army outside the city is doing. ”

"Makes sense, too." Jertheel nodded. "Order the detective to ride out and find out the movements of the Song army."

After speaking, looking at the sun in the sky, Yelu Tie said: "After finding out, if the Song army does not take the initiative to attack, we will attack it." The main force of the Song army came here, if it was a big victory, what was the difficulty in Dingzhou? ”

Yeluliang originally wanted to remind that the Song army came with tens of thousands of people, and according to the combat strength of the two sides in Mayi last year, the Khitan army may not have an advantage. It's just that Yelother doesn't look complacent, and the words are not spoken after all. Quyang City is broken, Yelu Tie is not on the rise, why should he touch his head?

Du Zhongxiao came out of Ouchi, saw that the sun was already slanting to the west, and couldn't help stretching. Entering October, there was more and more news about the Khitan soldiers and horses, and a few days ago, Yelu Hongji led the army to Xijin Mansion, and the court talked about it. Although the Song Dynasty had been preparing for half a year, when the matter was approaching, there were still many officials who opposed it. It is not easy for the Khitan to have a stable environment in the Song Dynasty, so it should avoid war as much as possible.

Today, after the early dynasty, several ministers were called into the inner part of the country to discuss the deployment of Hebei Road. Everyone agreed that even if the Khitan was to attack the country, Hebei Road should be able to support it. The army of 250,000 is enough to keep the safety of Hebei Road. Not to mention, the original forbidden army on Hebei Road has been retraining, and there are more and more soldiers.

And the forbidden army in the capital, since it was organized into the fifth army, is also rapidly retraining. The military academies have been temporarily disbanded, and all the instructors have been added to the armies as officers. Although there is still a shortage of officers, the big framework is already in place, and the training is being intensified.

Walking through the Imperial City, Du Zhongxiao returned to the Privy Council with several Privy Council colleagues. As soon as he was about to enter the official hall, he saw Zhao Ziying come out and said in a low voice: "Taiwei, news from Hebei Road." The Khitan army came out of the Taihang Mountains and has captured Quyang County! ”

Du Zhongxiao was taken aback, just now in Da Nei, he and the Zaizhi still swore that the Khitan army would not be too threatening. Who knew that as soon as he turned around, the Khitans had already come. Hurriedly let the rest of the envoys and deputies go to the special command room with Zhao Zi.

As soon as he entered the door, Du Zhongxiao said to Zhao Zi: "What is the current situation on Hebei Road, you immediately put it out and let everyone see it." ”

Zhao Zi summoned the officers and soldiers here, and according to the battle report he had just received, on the map on the table, he laid out the garrisons of both sides clearly.

Du Zhongxiao looked at it and said: "Quyang has been lost, what does Liu Jianji from Dingzhou say?" ”

Zhao Zi said: "I just got the battle report from Dingzhou, and Liu Jianji has taken 30,000 soldiers and horses to Quyang. According to what he said, no matter what, the Khitan army should be sealed in the Taihang Pass and not let it flow to the inland states and counties. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "In this way, Liu Jianji is still sober." There is nothing to lose a county, but let the Khitan cavalry enter the interior, and there will be endless trouble. In the past few months, the Hebei Road has been cleared of the wall, just so that the Khitans can not move, and can only attack the city. As long as the Khitan army is footed under the fortified city, everything will be easy. ”

Fu Bi said: "The Khitan attack on Quyang, I think it was from the Flying Fox Army. Before Quyang, there were several fortresses in the imperial court, which were important in the mountains. Why don't there be any news about these forts, and the Khitan has already come to Quyang City? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Although this matter is difficult, it is not impossible to do. It seems that this time the Khitan sent out heavy troops, and the intention was resolute, that is, to disrupt the rear first. Once the army here is in Dingzhou, Yelu Hongji's army in the north will inevitably go south and attack Baozhou. The north and south will inevitably be in chaos. ”

With that, look at the map carefully. Several of them did not dare to slack off, and also bent down and looked at the situation on the map.

Pointing to the map, Du Zhongxiao said: "Flying fox to Quyang, nearly 300 miles of road, through the mountains, the traffic is inconvenient. There will not be too many soldiers and horses from the Khitan to the south, otherwise, the war will not go well, and the grain and grass will not be able to arrive. According to common sense, it is not easy to dispatch thousands of people. ”

Zhao Zi said: "The news from Dingzhou reported that there are 30,000 Khitan cavalry. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "30,000 cavalry, what are they going to eat when they come out?" Once Quyang cannot be captured, within a few days, the grain and grass will be exhausted. ”

Tian said: "In this way, the Khitan people have made up their minds and decided to fight a battle!" If the war does not go well, all 30,000 people will become turtles in the urn. The gambling is so big, it seems that the Khitan people are not small! ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Sending troops from Flying Fox, more than 10,000 people are gambling." As long as the fighting is frustrated, it will not be able to last for several days. Even if the soldiers brought grain and grass, it took seven or eight days to come out of the mountains, and they were basically used up. ”

Speaking of this, he couldn't help but shake his head: "This Yelu Hongji, is the gambling so big?" ”

Fu Bi said: "Judging from the battle of Mayi last year, the Khitans don't gamble, and they have no chance of winning. I'm afraid of this battle, and I can't spend it with common sense. ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at the map and did not speak. 30,000 people went out of Taihang to attack Dingzhou, if there was no other way to cooperate, it was too risky. Fortunately, they quickly broke through Quyang, and if they couldn't capture it, Liu Jianji would lead his troops from Dingzhou to rescue, and it would be troublesome. The area west of Dingzhou, except for the mountainous households, is also fortified and clear. Without food and grass, where did these tens of thousands of people come from to eat under the fortified city?

After a while, Du Zhongxiao pointed to the map and said: "Don't care about Hebei Road first, immediately order Jia Kui's department to attack Lingqiu out of the bottle-shaped village." Let him get as fast as possible, do whatever it takes, capture Lingqiu in the shortest possible time, and attack the flying fox. As long as the Flying Fox is occupied, these 30,000 Khitan people will have no way out! ”

Zhao Zi forked his hand and said yes. Jia Kui had already prepared that once the war started, he would immediately send troops. This way is very critical, after occupying the Flying Fox, the Song army took the initiative in Taihang Mountain and eliminated the accident.

After being silent for a while, Du Zhongxiao said: "The Khitan attacked Dingzhou, and the only thing that could cooperate with them was to attack Baozhou." Ordered Jingtai to prepare the whole army to meet the Khitans. Tell him not to lose Quyang again! This time Quyang was lost, and it was the Khitans who sent troops from the Taihang Mountains, and we did not reconnoiter carefully. The area around Baozhou is all flat land, if it appears again, the court will definitely punish it heavily! ”

Fu Bi said: "The most important thing now is to prevent the Khitans in Quyang from going south. As soon as you get out of Dingzhou, there are no heavy troops, and tens of thousands of Khitan cavalry harass you everywhere? Ordered Liu Jianji, we must block the Khitan people in Quyang! ”

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