Yeluren walked into the tent quickly, and bowed his hand to Yeluhongji: "Your Majesty, it has been cold for the past few days, and the river is frozen, and it is already possible to march!" The Xidi King has already tried, and even the Juma River can be marched, and the ice is as hard as a rock! ”

Yelu Hongji said in a deep voice: "This matter is very important, and there must be no mistakes!" ”

Yeluren said first: "Your Majesty is at ease, and Weichen naturally understands." The army was on the border for a month, and the consumption of food and grass was not counted. If you don't march, you really can't support it. There are still more than two months before the New Year's Festival, if the army advances rapidly, maybe it will arrive in Kaifeng Mansion before the year! ”

Yelu Hongji nodded and said, "Okay! Quickly recruit the kings into the account and discuss the military! ”

Not long after, this time, the important ministers and generals who came with Yelu Hongji came to the south one after another, and they were separated on both sides.

Looking at everyone, Yelu Hongji said: "It's been cold in the past few days, and the surrounding rivers have been completely frozen. We were in Youzhou for a month, and many of the generals were irritable and couldn't help it. It was said that the army would go south, destroy the Song army, break through its cities, and plunder its people. The time has come, and I will invite you here today to discuss how to attack! ”

Yelu Yixin came out of the queue and arched his hand: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that it is not possible to go south from Baozhou. ”

Yeluhongji's face remained unchanged: "Why do you say that? To the south of Baozhou, the terrain is flat, and the most favorable army gallops. ”

Yelu Yixin said: "Previously, Yelu led an army of 50,000 to attack the mouth of the Great Wall. A small city, which was not breached for ten days. And it is said that the front line ran out of shells, and its walls remained impregnable. The king ordered the soldiers to join the siege of the city, but most of the Song troops at the head of the city used muskets, and it was difficult to build even the ladder. Now it seems that the soldiers and horses of this dynasty are not good at attacking cities, so they should find another way. ”

Yelu Hongji nodded: "This also makes sense. However, not only Baozhou, but also Xiongzhou is also full of fortified cities, and it is basically impossible to bypass it. Now that the flying fox has fallen into the hands of the Song people, it is impossible to send troops from the Taihang Mountains. ”

Yelu Xiantong came out of the queue and arched his hand: "The minister thinks that now, he has to take risks." Baozhou and Xiongzhou could not be attacked, and a way should be found further east. To the east of Xiongzhou, in the area of Bazhou and Xin'an Army, the Song army did not build a city and did not send a large army. Only the original state and county sent soldiers and horses to station. Although there were many ponds and marshes in that area, they were frozen, but they did not prevent the army from advancing southward. It's better to go south from the Xin'an army. Led the Song army to send troops to intercept and fight with it. The Song army is good at defending the city, while our army is good at field warfare, and it is precisely with its own strengths that it is short of attacking the enemy. ”

Yelu Hongji said: "This plan is very good. What do you think? ”

Xiao A stabbed: "Although the Xin'an Army has an empty defense, it is too remote. Hundreds of thousands of troops, the daily grain and grass is not a small number, but I am afraid that the transportation will not be able to be completed. Although the Song army did not repair the city there, it received all the people into the city, and it was difficult to grab grain and grass within a hundred miles. ”

Yelu Xiantong said: "Bazhou to the Jiangling Army, more than 400 miles away, it's not that you can't find a way." As long as you arrive at the Jiangling Army, the Southern Song Dynasty has no strong walls and clear fields, and it is not difficult to obtain grain and grass. If the army carries ten days' rations and travels all the way, it may go deep into the Song realm. The general's army approached Jingdong Road, which was extremely empty, and the army seemed to have entered a no-man's land. At that time, the Song Dynasty and the present Dynasty exchanged hosts and guests, which were completely different. ”

Xiao Azhu shook his head again and again after hearing this: "King, five hundred miles away, hundreds of thousands of troops with ten days of food, not to mention that they may be intercepted by the Song army, but they can't catch up in a hurry." This kind of surprise attack can only be 10,000 people at most, and there is no way to do more. ”

Yelu Yixin said: "The striker can only use 10,000 people. As long as they occupy the general's army, the army behind them will advance slowly. The Song Dynasty did not have a heavy army to the east of Xiongzhou, could they still dare to go out of the city to fight with us in the field? ”

Yeluren first bowed his hand: "Hundreds of thousands of troops, to advance 500 miles, it takes 120,000 people to transport grain and grass. There is not much grain and grass in Youzhou, and many of them have to be transported from other places, so I am afraid that there will be a shortage of manpower. In the final analysis, if you don't break through the Song army, this battle will not be easy to fight. ”

Yeluhomki's face sank like water, and his heart was exceedingly angry. He also didn't expect that the current Song army would be so powerful in defending the city. The mouth of the Great Wall is just an insignificant small city, with an army of 50,000 and more than 100 cannons, it is impossible to break through. The small city is like this, and the big cities in the states and counties behind, where do you dare to think about it? The capture of Quyang City in the first battle was too smooth, which made many Khitan generals have unrealistic ideas, thinking that it was not difficult to attack the city of the Song Dynasty. When I really attacked the mouth of the Great Wall, I realized that the Khitan really lacked siege means.

When artillery becomes the main equipment in the army, it is heavy weapons that determine the situation on the battlefield. Compared with the Song Dynasty, the number of heavy weapons of the Khitan was pitiful, and the effect was far from the same. Not to mention, the national strength of the two sides is very different. For the Song Dynasty, a small city at the mouth of the Great Wall could have an endless stream of iron shells or flowering shells. In this battle alone, the cannonballs knocked out by the Song Dynasty could not be done by the Khitan with the strength of the whole country.

Intellectually, Yelu Hongji knew that the wisest thing now was to withdraw in time. But dozens of tribes, 700,000 soldiers from all over the country gathered here, and they retreated before they made an inch, can they still do it as an emperor? In any case, there must be a winning battle and an excuse to withdraw the troops.

But the current Song Dynasty is really difficult, and it can't even take a small border city, let alone other big cities. The most terrible thing is that the walls are clear for hundreds of miles, and there is no place to even loot. What to do? These days, Jeluhongki is dying of sorrow.

The ministers argued for a while, and the face of Yeluhongji, who was sitting on it, sank like water, and he didn't say a word, and he didn't know what to think.

In the end, Yelu Xiantong said: "Now it seems that it is not wise to attack Baozhou or Xiongzhou. It was necessary to choose a place where the Song army's defense was weak and attack suddenly, so that they could be caught off guard. The fewer cities the better, and engaged in field battles with the Song army. Our artillery is inferior to the Song army, and its numbers are small, and only field battles can match it. And the best place is empty, which is conducive to the crisscrossing of large armies. ”

Yeluren sighed first: "Such a place is only east of Xiongzhou. There are only a few large cities, and there are not many defenders, so if you are lucky, you may be able to break through a few cities. Even if the city cannot be captured, the Song army must send troops to intercept it. If not, when you arrive at the Jiangling Army, you will not be far from Jingdong Road. As long as tens of thousands of troops enter Jingdong Road, the Song Dynasty will definitely be in chaos. It's just that the roads are not good to send troops from there, and it will be difficult to transport military rations. ”

Yelu Hongji looked at everyone and said in a deep voice: "The ministers have discussed and discussed, and the road to send troops is still east of Xiongzhou. Since there is only one way to go, there is no way, no matter how big the difficulty is, it must be taken! Sign 300,000 soldiers, if it is not enough, sign another 100,000 soldiers in Youzhou. Someone transported grain, and the army bypassed the city of the Song army and headed south. If they go out of the city to attack, they will be destroyed! In the field, it will no longer be as difficult as attacking! ”

The congregation will sing the promise together. Obviously, there is no other way but to do it. If the army went to attack the Song army's city, there was no hope. In a few months, if you can't even attack the border, it will be difficult to get along with the Song Dynasty in the future.

Now that the Khitan army is gathering on the border, it is difficult to ride a tiger. It's okay for a short time, but if it's for a long time, it's bound to be messy.

Yelu Hongji said: "Three days later, the army quietly moved to Bazhou. With Dielid as the vanguard, he led an army of 20,000, brought fifteen days' rations, and went straight to the Jiangling army! On the way, if the Song army went out of the city to invite an attack, it was defeated. If the Song army is difficult, wait for the army to catch up. When they arrived at the Jiangling army, they supplied grain and grass from the nearby people and waited for the arrival of the army. ”

Dieri got out of the column and sang the promise loudly.

Yelu Hongji said: "The army is going south, and the Song army thinks that it will send troops to meet it. At that time, there was no city, and my hundreds of thousands of troops had to go all out to annihilate the Song army as soon as possible. As long as tens of thousands of people are destroyed and the atmosphere of the Song army is not there, everything will be easy. ”

For Yelu Hongji, it is difficult to say whether he can get benefits from destroying tens of thousands of people in the Song Dynasty, after all, he has the capital to boast. At that time, even if the troops were withdrawn in the end, they could be explained.