In the afternoon, in the official hall of Du Zhongxiao, Zhao Zi, Li Zhang, Fu Bi, Wang Kai and Jia Kui sat down on both sides to discuss the next battle.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Three days later, there will be enough grain and grass to be transported to Youzhou. Five days later the army arrived, and we set out. Li Fugui sat in Danzhou and organized the transportation of grain and grass. Fu Xianggong sat in Youzhou to ensure that enough grain and grass arrived in Danzhou. I went to Yuzhou, commanded the front-line soldiers and horses, and fought the Khitan in a final decisive battle. In this battle, it was against the last remnants of the Khitan, and once it was won, the Khitan would be destroyed. ”

Several people said yes together.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Zhao Zi, you can introduce the front-line war, how we should deal with it, so that everyone knows in their hearts." ”

Zhao Zi said yes, stood up, walked to the huge map, and said: "Dading Mansion is Khitan Zhongjing, and before Yelu Hongji went south last year, his majesty was stationed there. Chukyo Province is mountainous, but the further north you go, the lower the mountains become, and the area around Daejeongfu is actually dominated by low mountain grasslands. Zhongjing Province is also a place with both agriculture and animal husbandry, and among the people who farm, in addition to the Han and Bohai people, there are also some Xi people. ”

Fu Bi said: "A few years ago, Xi Maliu, the king of Xi, took the lead in surrendering to this dynasty, and I heard that because of this matter, the Khitan tribe and the Xi people did not get along. ”

Zhao Zi nodded: "Not bad." I heard that someone in the Khitan proposed to annex the Xi tribes. However, this kind of talk is just a vent. Xi is not a small clan, the Khitans could have annexed it a long time ago, so why wait until now. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Although there are Xi people farming, the various tribes of the Xi nationality are still nomadic. After entering the north, it is good to treat the Xi people and the Bohai people equally, and there is no need to pay special attention. Only the Khitan tribes are to be attacked. ”

Zhao Zi forked his hand and promised. Said: "A few days ago, Ma Di said that all the states south of Dading Mansion would sacrifice the city. According to the plan, Liu Ji's army should go to Yuzhou today. The battle of attacking Dadingfu was based on Yuzhou, and Du Taiwei led Wang Kai and Jia Kui to go. It is expected that 50,000 men will attack the area around Xingzhongfu in the east, and 100,000 will attack the enemy of Dadingfu. ”

Fu Bi frowned: "Khitan power, 100,000 people attacking Dading Mansion, is there less?" ”

Zhao Zi said: "Back to Xianggong, last year, the 400,000 Khitan army was wiped out in Youzhou, and the Khitan no longer has a young army left. The Khitan army in Dading Mansion is estimated to be able to organize more than 30,000 people, and there will be no more. An army of 100,000 is enough to deal with them. ”

Fu Bi nodded, still muttering a little in his heart. In fact, although the Khitan is a large country, the number of people is actually small. Du Zhongxiao estimated that the total number of Khitans was only seven or eight million. Excluding the area centered on Youzhou and Yunzhou, four or five million people have the largest population. 400,000 troops were wiped out, which is equivalent to one out of ten people folded in Youzhou, where can many troops be organized?

Not someone can form an army, screening from physical conditions, age, normal brain, etc., one out of ten people is not a small proportion. One out of five people is a very powerful mobilization force. Just like in the Song and Song dynasties, the Jin army went south for ten years, and the army in the Southern Song Dynasty was only more than 200,000 people.

In history, the forbidden army of the Song Dynasty was said to be hundreds of thousands, or even more than a million, but when it really fought, the number of people with combat effectiveness was actually very small. For a country, having 500,000 standing troops with real combat effectiveness is definitely a great power in the world. With an army of 100,000, you can sweep thousands of miles of grasslands. Du Zhongxiao led 150,000 people to the north, out of prudence, facing the grassland forces concentrated by the Khitan. In fact, there are 50,000 troops, and now they can go to pacify the steppe. There are not so many troops on the steppe.

If the Song Dynasty can always ensure the logistics of these 150,000 people, Du Zhongxiao is confident and will take them to sweep the entire grassland. What really blocked the Central Plains Dynasty in the grassland was not how strong the nomads on the grassland were, but the long distance and difficult supplies.

Zhao Zi continued: "The strongest force in Dading Mansion is the Khitan Luduo Palace that stayed there. In addition to the palace army that was wiped out in Youzhou last year, they also have hundreds of thousands of people. If you do your best, you can pull out another army of 20,000 or 30,000 people. However, until now, the Khitan has not sent an army to meet the incoming Liu Jiyi army. Taiwei estimated that these Huluduo were either busy electing a new king, or they were not ready to defend the Dading Mansion. One possibility is that when our army arrives in Yuzhou, they turn around and run away. ”

Du Zhongxiao said to Li Zhang: "Hundreds of thousands of people are not an army, and it is not so easy to run. If you don't prepare, where can you go for a while? You send more people to check the situation in Dading Mansion. If the various tribes start to assemble, they may want to run. ”

Li Zhang's crossed hands and said yes. The intelligence agency under Du Zhongxiao's management only collects intelligence, and does not do anything out of the ordinary. In this era, only ordinary intelligence was collected, and the regime did not pay attention to it, and it ran very well.

Zhao Zi said: "To the north of Dading Mansion, it is the Khitan Shangjing and Linhuang Mansion. It is much more important than Dadingfu, and it can mobilize the forces of Kamikyo Province to defend it. According to our estimates, the Khitan Huluduo is likely to flee there and make a last stand. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Shangjing is next to Yong'an Mountain, facing the prairie, and it is the heart of the Khitan. If the Khitan were normal, they should have withdrawn the last of their forces there and fought to the death with us. It is too far to get there, and it is not easy to transport grain and grass, which is different from Dadingfu. At the end of the so-called strong crossbow, it is impossible to wear Lu Minye. Whether we can organize an army to get there is the key to whether we can destroy the Khitan in a war. After we send troops, Fu Xianggong is ready, and the number of people who carry grain in the future may increase, so that the victory or defeat can be decided in a battle. ”

Fu Bi couldn't help frowning when he heard this: "Youzhou is like this, how can you recruit people?" If you recruit people to carry grain, you will really force people to death. In the past few months, after the imperial court occupied Youzhou, it was more benevolent, and the people were grateful, and it could not be wasted. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "You can discuss this matter with the Zhongshu and the Privy Council, and see where to recruit people again." Since the Khitan went south, we have dispatched troops to conquer the country, and it is not easy to achieve today's results. Since the Khitan guards will dedicate the city, Yanshan is easy to start, so don't let go of the Khitan lightly. ”

Fu Bi nodded: "Okay, I will discuss this matter with the imperial court." I hope that the Khitan will faint, not retreat north, and fight a decisive battle with the Taiwei army in Dading Mansion. In this way, it saves a lot of trouble in the future. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "I naturally think the same way, but I am afraid that the Khitan people will not faint." ”

Zhao Zi said: "Judging that the last Khitan main force may flee back to Shangjing, our previous scale of grain transportation is not enough. Taiwei had already instructed Li Fugui to transport some pack animals from Hequ Road and Hexi to ensure sufficient transportation capacity. Under the Dading Mansion, it is estimated that a large number of livestock can also be seized. It is estimated that there is no shortage of animal power to transport grain, but there is a shortage of manpower. If there is no shortage of grain and grass, this time the army will march all the way north and will definitely be able to occupy Shangjing. ”

Li Zhang said: "Shangjing is too far away, and there are not many merchants, so we don't know much about it. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Now this dynasty is under the pressure of the general trend, and the strong troops are attacking, so I really don't know much and there is no way." As long as you know one thing, an army of 150,000 is not a strong army that can be borne by the current Khitan, it is enough. When encountering obstacles, the army will smash them open! Since the Anshi Rebellion of the Middle Tang Dynasty, the northern grassland peoples have occupied an advantage over the Central Plains. Now is the time for our Central Plains army to go north and regain this advantage. The 150,000-strong army, in all dynasties, rarely attacked so strong in the north, and of course it was necessary to achieve a victory that they did not have! ”

All the generals said yes together, and they felt a little agitated in their hearts. Yes, the 150,000 army is not much in the Central Plains, but once it passes through Yanshan, it is different. It is so vast and sparsely populated that it simply cannot support such a powerful army. If there is no grain and grass supply from the Central Plains, the place will be robbed, and so many people will not have anything to eat. Relying on strong national strength, the Song Dynasty dispatched such an army this time, and it should achieve great results.