In mid-March, the newly formed Xuanwei Army, under the command of Liu Jianji, the commander of the capital, entered Hebei Road and was stationed in Dingzhou. So far, from Dou Shunqing of Zhending Mansion and Liu Jianji of Dingzhou, to Zhang Qi of Baozhou and Xiongzhou have become a line.

In Hejian Mansion, Liu Ji convened several commanders to discuss matters together, and the rear government set up a banquet to entertain a few people.

Everyone sat down, and Liu Ji said: "Since the collapse of the party, most of the generals in Shaanxi have come from the east. When Mrs. Liu was on Shaanxi Road, they worked together. ”

Liu Jianji forked his hands: "It is an honor for the lower officials to go to Hebei Road and then be under the management of Taiwei." ”

Liu Ji smiled and said: "You're welcome, I'm just in charge of all walks of life and giving orders on behalf of the Privy Council." Before the war, the various functional organs of the Shuai Division were not established, and they were only in vain. You and I are just colleagues, no matter how big or low. ”

Liu Jianji and the others were busy and didn't dare. Liu Ji smiled and didn't say much.

The soldiers and horses on the Hebei Road used to be divided into four military roads, which were under the control of officials of the Imperial Governor's Office. After the training, the army entered the Hebei Road and was under Liu Ji's account. However, Liu Ji's commanders are very few, and staff officers, intelligence, logistics, etc. have not been established, and they are only in vain. Nominally speaking, this is not a wartime, and the role of the commander is only an intermediary between the lower roads and the Privy Council, playing the role of communication between the upper and lower levels, and not commanding.

After three rounds of drinking, Liu Jidao: "A few days ago, the railway to Xiongzhou was finally repaired, and the defense of Hebei Road has begun to take shape. The letter and the Privy Council sent a letter asking whether it was possible to build a railway from Hung State to River Province with the power of the people of the nearby states. What do you think? ”

Dou Shunqing said: "Going to Hejian Mansion is equivalent to the railway turning south, but it is just convenient for Hejian Mansion to connect with Xiongzhou, which seems a little redundant." This railway should have been built to Youzhou after the imperial court was ready to restore Youzhou. ”

Liu Jidao: "Not really. The route planned by Zhongshu will have the spare strength of the imperial court in the future, and it will continue to the south from Hejian Mansion to Jingdong Road. In this way, Jingdong Road and Kaifeng Mansion have railways to Hebei, which is much more convenient. ”

Everyone nodded together before they understood the meaning. Now the railway from Kaifeng Prefecture crosses the Yellow River in Huazhou, and then goes north along the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain, and only goes east to Xiongzhou after arriving in Dingzhou. The route avoids the numerous state troops in the swamps of Hebei Road. To Hejian Mansion, you can continue south to Jingdong Road through the Yongjing Army, connecting Jingdong Road and Hebei Road.

After thinking about it, Zhang Qi shook his head: "After the big war in Xiongzhou, this year is not allowed to lose twice, and the hearts of the people are fluctuating." If it is like the railway from Baozhou to Xiongzhou, the Zhongshu pays for the hiring of people, and does not send the people, maybe it is okay. If it's a civilian household, I'm afraid there will be chaos. ”

Liu Jidao: "How much money does the imperial court have?" Money is used everywhere, and the court can't do it, so they came to ask us. ”

Zhang Qi said: "If you want to send out the households, it is better to wait until next year." There are a lot of things in Xiongzhou this year, and it is not good to send them again. ”

Zhang Qi looked at Dou Shunqing and said, "After the big war in Xiongzhou, it is good if the households are not bad. There are a lot of households in Zhendingfu and Dingzhou, how is it there? ”

Dou Shunqing said: "There is no flood this year, and there are no errand servants in the place, but people can be sent." It's just that the two places are far apart, hundreds of miles from Zhending Mansion to here, and the people there are poor, but I'm afraid that the road is too far. ”

Liu Jidao: "Now that the railway has reached Xiongzhou, why not be afraid of the long road." Xiongzhou is a small place, and the battle with the Khitan has stopped again, and there has been no contact with people in recent years. Please dial a few trains to transport the people to Xiongzhou. ”

Dou Shunqing crossed his hands: "If this is the case, Zhendingfu and Dingzhou can send people." ”

Liu Ji nodded, and said to a few people: "The news from the Privy Council, if the Khitan is pacified inside and outside this year, in the autumn, it is very likely that the troops will go south." We have 200,000 people now, and we can barely hold on to the place. However, there is a shortage of fortified cities and artillery in the place, and it must be made up in the summer. As long as there is a strong city to defend, there is railway transportation, and there is no shortage of materials, the Hebei Road should be able to be defended. ”

Several commanders were silent and looked at Liu Ji quietly. Obviously, this is what the Privy Council has to do.

Liu Jidao: "The meaning of the Privy Council is that Dou Shunqing's department guards the Zhending Mansion, and even if the Khitan makes a surprise attack from the mountains, it will not be able to break through." Liu Jianji guarded Dingzhou, Zhang Qi guarded Baozhou and Xiongzhou, and strictly guarded the border. If the Khitan detoured from the east and attacked in depth, Hejian Province would send troops to block the enemy. With this arrangement, if the railway is not connected to Hejian Province, it will be difficult for the garrison army. With the railway, there are no flaws. ”

Dou Shunqing said: "The meaning of the Privy Council is to use the railway to fence off Hebei Road, so that the Khitans have nowhere to start?" ”

Liu Ji nodded: "Yes, that's exactly what it means." There is a railway to quickly transport troops, no matter where the Khitan is encircled, it is to fight against our 200,000 army. Of course, it would be better if the imperial court had trained one or two more armies. ”

Zhang Qi shook his head: "Tai Lieutenant, it's not easy to practice one or two more. People in military schools, to be honest, didn't learn much in the first few years. The newly organized two armies are talents who have been eliminated from a large number of generals. ”

Liu Jianji said: "If you do it faster, can the forbidden army on Hebei Road train tens of thousands of people?" ”

Liu Ji sighed: "It's easy to train troops, but it's too difficult to choose officials." In a few months, the non-commissioned officers of the forbidden army could be trained, but there was a lack of enough officers to command. There are soldiers without officers, and it is difficult to organize and train into an army. ”

Training musketeers, especially the original forbidden army training, was not too difficult. In three to six months, one or two hundred thousand people can be trained, but officers cannot be trained in such a short time. But cavalry, artillery, and especially artillery, are difficult to train. In fact, except for the two or three armies that came from the meandering road, the other trained armies had greatly weakened their artillery, and they were simply unable to train enough personnel.

The forbidden army on Hebei Road, after the elimination of the old and weak, most of them will have more than 100,000 people. It is easy to train these soldiers, but it is difficult to match the officers, and they cannot go to the battlefield for a while. Of course, with these soldiers, once there is a loss in the front, they can be quickly replenished.

Several managers knew this truth and couldn't help but sigh. In the past, I only thought that there were too many officials, but when I really used them, I found that there were too few people who could use them. This is especially true in the army, where the quality of the generals is worrying due to long-term inbreeding.

Dou Shunqing said: "The military academy has been open for several years, but it is only the first few years, the requirements are too loose, and there is actually no training of talents. Only middle and low officers, because most of them are newly recruited, are better trained. The middle and high-ranking generals are much worse, and there is naturally a shortage of talents. ”

Liu Jidao: "I have to get the official documents of the three ya, and some less important positions in each army can be temporarily not listed." If there are not enough officers, they will first organize the army according to the shelf of insufficient officers. The Hebei Road Military Academy opened at the beginning of this year, and it will not be able to become an army until next year. This kind of thing can't be rushed, so I can only wait slowly. However, just to prevent the Khitan from coming south, it is enough to have 300,000 troops. ”

After discussion, several people agreed with Liu Ji's words. Although the Hebei Road is flat and flat, the army is not as good as before, and the Khitan does not have the opportunity to advance thousands of miles before. In the past, the Khitan only had to break through the heavy city all the way, and the city behind it was basically impossible to defend, and it took dozens of days to reach the Yellow River. Now that there is a railway, it is possible to quickly gather heavy troops in the direction of the Khitan attack, and it is not easy to break through.

With the development of technology, the Song Dynasty began to adjust its military strategy, and many things were different from before.