At the head of the ancient city of Youzhou, you can see dark green moss in the corners of the bricks and stones in the sun; The ground on the wall, the edges and corners of the stones, were rounded. This is a trace of time, but there are not many signs of man-made damage, and Youzhou has not had a war for many years.

Xiao Siwen stood by the female wall, looking at the beard with his fingers, looking thoughtful.

There are a lot of people outside the city, but there is no fighting yet. Seeing smoke rising from the wilderness from afar, Xiao Siwen looked at it for a while and said, "They are burning the fire to roast the frozen soil, and they should be using rammed earth to build siege fortifications." ”

As he spoke, he stretched out his neck and looked down at the outer city wall, where there was a layer of ice, and there were icicles under the female wall, like frozen water. At this time, the water that was splashed last night will freeze in the evening and morning. But Xiao Siwen glanced up at the sun, felt the warmth of the sun on his face, and guessed that the ice on the wall would melt before noon.

At this time, Abudi pointed to the northeast and said: "There is a large force of Zhou troops stationed there, and before they have besieged the city, we can counterattack and attack the camp." ”

Xiao Siwen immediately remembered Zhuozhou a few years ago, because of a thought, he temporarily asked the general to lead his troops to attack Zhuozhou, but suffered huge losses. He shook his head cautiously and said, "It's useless." Even if the attack on the camp is successful, too few people will not be able to inflict any real blow on the Zhou army, and we still have to take risks...... There were too many soldiers in Zhou, and it was reported that there was an endless stream of people on several major roads. ”

He also carefully observed the soldiers in the city, and felt that the soldiers were faintly afraid. Because there are some rumors quietly spreading in the army, it is rumored that Guo Blacksmith, the lord of Zhou, is a monster who ran out of the ground, with three heads and six arms and a big hammer.

Moreover, the Zhou army was at its peak, and it was not an appropriate time to go out of the city to seek war under such morale.

At this moment, a military general knelt on the ground: "The last general should die!" Unexpectedly, Zhou Guoren was not found to go north...... The last general has indeed sent scouts several times, but somehow he hasn't returned yet. I don't know what happened, why didn't I find out about the transfer of Zhou Jun. ”

Xiao Siwen looked down at him and said, "You are negligent, but even if you find out in advance, there is not much difference in our situation." How many days did it take for Zhou Jun to go from Yizhou to Youzhou? At that pace of marching, early detection is no more than that. ”

"Now there is no other way but to hold on to the city and wait for reinforcements." There are no reinforcements, and there is no way to take the Zhou army because of the lack of men and horses stationed in Youzhou. ”

All the generals bowed one after another and said, "The last general will wait for the king's order." ”

Xiao Siwen said solemnly: "The 10,000 cavalry soldiers who came to help at the end of last year are just that, our people who are guarding Youzhou, their families are all in the city, if they don't defend it, the city will be burned!" May you strive to defend your country. ”

He said that he looked at the north for a long time, and in the depths of his vision, he seemed to see the vast and boundless grasslands beyond the lofty mountains.

……

In the royal court on the hill of Shangjing, charcoal fires burned inside even during the day, and the windows were sealed. The firelight was reflected on the face of Yelu Jing, the emperor of Liao, and a pair of eyes reflected fireworks, which looked very terrifying.

The ministers and nobles of the Northern Court were indignant and were shouting and shouting and shouting and killing!

Yelu Jing pulled his face and said nothing. He thought to himself: If it weren't for the fact that you all thought about getting Lao Tzu down from the throne, with the martial arts strength of Da Liao, as for this?!

The nobles took the initiative to request to send troops to Youzhou, and there was no objection to rescue Youzhou in the court.

The minister of the Northern Courtyard came out and bowed with his hands on his chest and said, "The Great Khan has decreed that the Northern Courtyard can gather 400,000 horsemen from the palace tent army and the tribal army within two months!" ”

The strength of the Great Liao was not vain, they occupied a vast land, ruled over a large number of tribes and populations, and there were almost no fortresses on the Great Wall, and it was difficult to maintain such a large country without a large number of strong military forces; Moreover, the cavalry on the steppe mobilized quickly, and the proportion of population into troops was high. It is a fact that hundreds of thousands of cavalry can be mobilized at an extraordinary time.

Yang Gon said, "I'm afraid we can't wait until the army is gathered." ”

When the ministers heard this, they all looked sideways.

Yang Gon bowed and said: "When the minister accompanied Yelu Huge to rescue the Northern Han, it can't be regarded as a delay, but before he got to the ground, Jinyang was broken. You can look down on the Northern Han Kingdom, but the fortification of Jinyang City is world-famous. The lord of Zhou is called 'Guo Pocheng', and his ability to attack the city is beyond the world's estimates. If you wait for two months to gather the army and then go south, it may be difficult to say who Youzhou City is in your hands. ”

A nobleman asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Yang Gon bent over and looked up at his superiors.

Yelujing picked up the bowl on the table with the tiger's mouth, and raised his head to take a sip of the spirit. As the hot taste ran down his throat, his face began to turn a sickly red.

He understood what Yang Gon meant: to save Youzhou as quickly as possible, the only choice was to mobilize the palace tent army in Shangjing to protect the royal court!

But Yelujing had to think about it, if the palace tent army was transferred, and the tribal army could gather close to Shangjing in the name of justice, would it take the opportunity to plot against it? And if he leads the palace tent army to the south, he will have to gather more reinforcements in the future, will he take the opportunity to occupy Shangjing to deal with the Great Khan who has already gone south?

Yelu Jing couldn't control himself from thinking too much, if he felt safe, why was the window of this palace sealed?

He poured another sip of wine, the bowl was already empty, and he wanted to throw it on the table at the moment, but he put it down lightly temporarily, and said coldly: "How many people can you have in a month?" ”

The prime minister of the North Courtyard said: "The palace tent army and tribal army gathered in the outer parts of Shangjing can have 100,000 to 200,000 horsemen. ”

Yelujing understands that Youzhou has a great stake, and if he doesn't save Youzhou in the face of death, it will stimulate internal dissatisfaction and conflict.

He no longer hesitated, and immediately said: "First transfer 40,000 cavalry palace tent elite troops to the south to attack and harass the Zhou people to attack the city, and a month later, Ben Khan himself led a large army of '200,000' from Shangjing to the south!" ”

The ministers echoed one after another: "The Great Khan is wise and powerful! ”

Yelu Jing looked down at the ministers, looked over one by one, and his eyes stopped on the face of the young Yelu Huge: "Brother Yelu Huge, you take Ben Khan's elite soldiers to set off first!" ”

Yelu Hugo immediately stepped out, slapped his palm on his left chest ambitiously, and bowed forcefully: "The last general's order, the liver and brain will not disgrace the mission!" ”

"Good!" Yelu Jing pointed at Yang Gon again, "You are still the deputy general." ”

Yang Gon said: "The minister's decree." ”

Ye Lujing slapped his palm on the table: "Give wine!" ”

The palace maid hurriedly came up with a wine jar, filled it with Yelu Jing first, and then put two bowls and poured wine and sent it to the two generals.

Jerejing picked up the bowl.

"Xie Da Khan!" The two generals bowed together, raised their heads and drank the wine.

Yelu Jing also picked up the bowl and poured it into his stomach, his body became even hotter, he waved his hand and smashed the bowl into pieces, stood up and pointed to the south: "Don't give the color to look at it, I think Da Liao is easy to provoke!" ”

…… Yelu Hugo and Yang Gon took the holy decree and came to the camp in the north of Shangjing to transfer troops, and the two led the guards out of the palace city, and soon saw the station of the palace tent army.

Jeruhuko looked at the scene in front of him with excitement.

The felt tents are laid out horizontally and vertically on the grass, as if they were white clouds in the sky. The scene here is completely different from that of Nancheng, there are no buildings at all, it is just open land, and the Khitan army does not need houses, and they maintain their original habits and live in tents.

Jerushuge shouted, and led the crowd down the gentle slope and into the camp. The accompanying court officials handed over the vouchers and summoned the generals of the various ministries to come and confirm the military orders.

Yelu Hugo immediately inspected the palace tent army, and he was sure that the palace tent army in the northern courtyard of Shangjing was the real elite!

Most of the cavalry had iron armor, mainly scales and chain mail, but at least strong crusty armor.

Liao State has not been a pure nomadic country since Liao Taizong, although the main force is still in the grassland, but Bohai State, Youzhou and other places have large areas of farmland and towns; Even in the southern part of Shangjing, there is an area dedicated to the Han Chinese. A large number of craftsmen of various ethnic groups made porcelain, tools, armor and weapons for them. Forging armor is more laborious and cannot meet the needs of most Liao troops, but the palace tent army has priority equipment and a high armor rate.

The palace tent army in the north courtyard of Shangjing is well-equipped, and the soldiers are strong and strong. There was even a group of heavy cavalry with armor on horseback, but the group of guards Yelu Hugo could not take away, and it was only the guards who were by the emperor's side.

The main force of the Liao army was already hunting everywhere, and the tents of the garrison could be opened after packing, and it took less than two days to send troops.

A large number of horses went out of Beijing, and thousands of horses were surging on the grassland, which was naturally difficult to hide. There are a large number of Han people in Nancheng, and many people know that the Liao army palace tent army has left Beijing...... Among them are the spies of the Great Zhou.

First of all, a small number of fine crops pretended to be fur traders entering the southern city of Shangjing and establishing trade relations with the locals, which was a troublesome and difficult way. Later, when the Northern Han Dynasty died, many Northern Han officials were worried about being liquidated by the Zhou army, and their families fled to the Liao State, including many slaves.

At that time, the soldiers were in chaos and the people were mixed, and the leader of the fine work in Jinyang took the opportunity to let the undercover agents disguise themselves as various identities to blend into the fleeing crowd according to the prior deployment, and then ran to Shangjing. Some say that the slaves of a certain family have been separated, and it is really difficult to find out if there are too many slaves in each family, and no one cares about them; There was even a person who claimed to be an official in Jinyang, and he happened to be asked by an official which yamen and which room he was in, and he ended up being a goof. The officials of the Northern Han Dynasty thought that he was a green skin who fished in troubled waters and coaxed things away.

Outside the south city gate, two men carrying firewood stood there and watched, and on the undulating grassland, the black and oppressive horses were like a flood. The land is so open that the horse team does not need roads, and the march seems to be slow, but it is already a very fast march.

One of the men was watching his surroundings, while the other carefully estimated how many people there were. Tens of thousands of people, the number is too many to count, but it is probably only a matter of time.

The Liao army was dispatched, and as soon as they left Beijing, they were known by the people of Zhou. In this regard, the Zhou court did a better job than the Liao.