In the Qianning Military City, Ma Huaide drank tea with Li Weixian, Yang Tu, Xie Chi, Meng Xuexue and others. Putting down the teacup, Ma Huaide said: "Since the first day was attacked by the Khitan, the Khitan people have not moved for the next six or seven days. According to reports, the day before yesterday they sent another large army from Cangzhou, and now there are more than 100,000 people outside the city, but they are honestly staying in the barracks. ”

Yang Tu said: "A few days ago, Diaoyutai Village sent troops and robbed them of the grain and grass they transported here. There is no food in the army, how dare you fight? I guess they were huddled in the barracks, waiting for the rations. If the military rations do not come, they will not dare to fight. ”

Li Weixian said: "If that's the case, why don't we attack them?" If there is no military rations, the morale of the army will inevitably be weakened, and it is a good time. ”

Ma Huaide shook his head: "No need. The order given to us by the commander was to hold the Qianning Army. The Khitan army of 100,000 is not easy to get along, but we still defend it well. Wait for them to attack a few more times, and when their morale is low, it is best to send troops again. ”

There was a lot of discussion for a while. Some advocate taking the initiative to attack, and most advocate being cautious.

Seeing that everyone was discussing enthusiastically, Ma Huaide said to Meng Xue, who was not speaking on the side: "Meng Dang, what do you think?" ”

Meng Xuezhi forked his hands: "The last general thinks that the Khitan is short of military rations, but it is just our speculation." They may or may not be really short of food, just because everything else is quiet. We now have 80,000 troops, and what we should do is to reorganize the army and organize a capable division as soon as possible. At present, there is still a shortage of commanders and officials, and divisions below the army level are only in name, and there is still a lot to do. ”

Ma Huaide nodded: "This is a serious statement, and it makes sense. Taking advantage of the fact that the Khitans are not attacking, it is time to organize the troops well. These days, each regiment has elected officials, and the commander has begun to take shape. As for the teacher, there is really no way to do it now, so it can only be done first. Each division commander relied on the officers of his regiment to direct the battle, and the other two regiments obeyed the orders of the division commander. ”

Speaking of this, Ma Huaide said to Li Weixian: "The nine regiments brought by Taiwei Li should also be organized according to this. Although there is still a shortage of officers, divisions must be built to facilitate command. If each regiment had fought on its own, it would have been impossible to see from the fighting of the past few days. The three regiments are a division, and each division has about 10,000 people, and if the Khitans attack, they can protect themselves. ”

Li Weixian said: "What the captain said is reasonable. However, I am better here, in addition to the nine regiments, there are more than 10,000 people, which are under my direct command. The captain is the commander of an army, and it stands to reason that he should have his own army. Such as artillery, cavalry, rangers, etc., there should be people. Like other armies, there are generally thousands of people who are attributed to the military masters. ”

Ma Huaide sighed: "I also know, but there is really no one, what can I do?" The Hejian Military Academy was only open for one year, and the training of artillery and cavalry was insufficient, and it could only reach the pole of the regiment. Further up, the direct subordinate armies of divisions and armies are really empty. Forget it, now go to the regiment first, organize the three regiments into a division, and make up for it later. At present, the army is concentrated around the Qianning Army, which is convenient to command, and it is nothing if there is no army directly under it. ”

Li Weixian said yes. This time, he was transferred to Qianning Military City, and Shuai Si made it very clear that it was under the command of Ma Huaide. Ma Huaide is a general in the northwest and has a lot of battlefield experience, Li Weixian is convinced, and there is no objection.

After being silent for a while, Ma Huaide said again: "By the way, after the subordinate regiments were organized into three divisions, Taiwei Li was also stationed in the military city. Our two armies went out together to build the commandery. Even without its own cavalry and artillery, the command system is barely possible. Now that the Khitan has an army of 100,000, it will definitely not be the same as before, and the style of play will be more complicated. ”

Li Weixian crossed his hands and said: "Everything is under the orders of the captain." ”

Ma Huaide said: "Then that's the first thing." The Khitan will not send troops in the next few days, so we will train all departments. I set up a division with Taiwei Li, and the division masters went back, and together with their subordinates, we tried to build a smooth command system. ”

Several generals crossed their hands together and said yes.

Hejian Mansion, Du Zhongxiao, together with Fu Bi and Zhao Zi, inspected the artillery and other items that were going to be transported to Hejian Mansion.

After reading them one by one, Du Zhongxiao said: "A few days ago, the Khitan suddenly attacked, and although Ma Huaide's department was broken through two military camps, it was finally blocked. You can't say that you won, after all, there is no big defeat. The day before yesterday, the Khitan sent more troops to the Qianning army, where there were now 100,000 troops. Moreover, according to the news reported by the Qianning Army, the Khitan also sent heavy cavalry. If you don't give them some artillery, I'm afraid something will happen. ”

Fu Bi said: "We have extra artillery here, it's not difficult to send some." However, after the Khitan increased its troops, it has been holding its troops, what is the reason? More than 100,000 people are in front of the Qianning Military City, they have to eat and drink, and what are they doing if they don't fight? ”

Zhao Zi said: "A few days ago, Diaoyutai Village saw that the Khitan grain team in the past had no soldiers and horses to protect it, so it went out to rob it once. The grain and grass were to be transported to the Qianning Army. The Khitans are so honest, they should be short of military rations. ”

Fu Bi thought for a while and said, "There is a shortage of military rations, so they will find a way to find food." What are you doing hiding in the barracks? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "At this time, where do the Khitans go to find military rations? The entire Hebei Road, except for a few military states on the Daimyo Road, has been all fortified and cleared. If you don't conquer the city, you won't have food. Ma Huaide's estimate should be good, and the Khitans should be short of food. Moreover, there is no way to rush to attack the Qianning Military City, and the rear is hundreds of miles away, so you can only wait hungry. ”

Fu Bi shook his head, feeling a little incredible. An army of more than 100,000 is so hungry on the front line, are the Khitans so miserable?

Seeing Fu Bi's doubts, Du Zhongxiao said, "Don't feel strange. Hebei Road is clear and clear, and the Khitans can't break the city, so it's common for this kind of thing to happen. Captain, think about it, what if an army of more than 100,000 arrives in the Gobi and is short of food? I can only endure it! ”

Fu Bi said: "How can the rich land of Hebei Road be compared with the Gobi? ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "The problem is that the Khitans don't have the ability to break through the city. The grain is in the city, and if the city cannot be broken, the Khitans will have no way. Their military rations could only be transported thousands of miles from the rear. Once the grain route is cut off, hundreds of thousands of people, hehe-"

Fu Bi thought about it and finally understood. The tactic of clearing the wilderness that has not worked for many years is now being used, which makes everyone forget its power. In the pre-Qin period, as soon as the countries were attacked, they were fortified and cleared. A very important reason is that the siege technology at that time was not good, and after the food was received in the city, the attacker had no choice. The Song army had artillery, and the small city of Khitan was also difficult to break, and the fortified Qingye showed great power. If you can't break through the city, you won't have food, so you can only transport it from the rear.

Thinking of this truth, Fu Bi said: "If we say so, we cut off the Khitan grain route, won't the hundreds of thousands of troops collapse without fighting?" ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Not bad." As long as their food routes are cut off, the Khitans will not be able to stay. However, it has been less than a month since the Khitans entered the country, and there should still be a large amount of grain in Youzhou now. Let them stay for a few days first, consume all the grain stocks in Youzhou, and then cut off their grain routes when transporting grain and grass from the rear. At that time, the Khitans had nowhere to go. ”

Why wait? The Khitans are angry, let them stay for a few days, and consume their sharpness. Another reason is that the Khitans had stored grain in Youzhou before the attack. There won't be too much of this grain, and the Khitans didn't expect to encounter such a situation. In a month or two, the grain and grass in Youzhou ran out, and the Khitans could only transport grain and grass from the rear. Thousands of miles of grain, there is no one out of ten, and then it will shake the Khitan country.

Du Zhongxiao has hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands and has been waiting in Hejian Mansion just to wait for that moment. The Khitan front army was unstable, and the rear was not able to continue the grain and grass. At that time, the army will come out together, cut off its food routes, cut off the way back, and it is very likely that this army will be completely annihilated. With so much thought, just to repel the Khitans, how can it be?