Rushing back and forth twice, a shrill shout sounded from time to time in the bushes and streams, and after the last engagement, the Khitan cavalry did not turn their horses' heads and fled directly to the north.

The Zhou army crossed the creek and gradually reined in the war horse, and there was a humane: "I can't catch up." ”

The Ten General's eyes widened and he let out a long sigh. His heart is still "knocking" now, and everything that happened just now seems to be in the snap of his fingers, and he still hasn't come back to his senses...... But the swords and swords appeared in front of him one by one.

The Ten Generals listened to the sound of horses' hooves as they drifted away, and turned around and said, "Count the casualties and captures." ”

"We wounded five people and killed one. Three Khitans died. The adjutant shouted.

The casualty ratio was doubled, and the ten generals' faces were ugly, and they said, "Fortunately, I won." ”

The adjutant general said: "If it weren't for the fact that General Wang Shi was unwilling to leave the wounded soldiers behind and lead his troops to fight to the death, the situation just now would be very dangerous." ”

The ten generals said: "Cut off the heads of the Khitan soldiers, take away the wounded soldiers and corpses." Send someone to report the place and the truth of the conflict. ”

"Order!"

…… Li Chuyun's right camp is north of the Wenyu River, and military camps are set up on the bank of the river, surrounded by wooden fences, and each battalion has also built simple arrow towers. The water has been unsealed on the surface of the river, and many pontoon bridges have been built on it.

A military general walked into Li Chuyun's tent, hugged his fists and said: "The scout in front came to report, the first encounter with the Liao army rangers, won the first level and the third level, and the Liao army rangers have been expelled to the north. ”

Li Chuyun hurriedly asked where he was. After a while, he asked how many casualties the Zhou army had?

The general's voice was not as high as just now, and he said, "Five people were injured and one person died...... It was a pyrrhic victory. ”

At this moment, Shi Yanchao, who was sitting at the bottom, snorted coldly: "It's expected. ”

Li Chuyun waved his hand to let the military general leave, thinking in his heart, Shi Yanchao had confronted the Liao army in Xinkou in the first Battle of Jinyang (Chai Rong period), and during the first Northern Expedition to Youzhou, he was also the vanguard and the main cavalry of the Liao army fought head-on, at least quite experienced.

Li Chuyun didn't care about seeing Shi Yanchao at the moment, so he said quietly: "What does General Shi have in mind?" ”

Shi Yanchao's attitude towards Li Chuyun seemed to be very useful, and said: "The conflict of small horse teams is comparable to the skill of equestrian horse warfare, no matter how the cavalry of the Zhou army is trained, can it be compared to the barbarians who ride horses and herd sheep on the grassland all day long?" Horses bred in the Central Plains, the same breed of horses, will be slightly worse than grassland horses. It's no wonder that you can bargain. ”

Shi Yanchao said disapprovingly: "But General Li, don't be afraid ......"

Li Chuyun looked displeased, frowned, and said, "When was I afraid, what were I afraid of?" ”

Shi Yanchao said: "We will suffer a loss against the small shares, but if there are thousands of cavalry and horses, the cavalry of the Zhou army is not afraid of the Liao army." He patted the plate armor on his chest, "Just this kind of armor, one fine horseman, the Liao army's equipment is not as good as ours." In addition, the training of the Zhou army focused on battle formations and charging formations, while the Liao army's horse team was relatively loose in comparison. In a head-to-head duel, military discipline and battle formations are more important than martial arts, and the same is true for cavalry and infantry. ”

Li Chuyun nodded thoughtfully this time, showing more modesty.

At this time, a general said: "The Liao army is close to Shunzhou, do we want to gather troops and horses to go north for a decisive battle?" ”

Li Chuyun said: "Don't worry. ”

He looked down at the picture on the board, stared at a thick line with the Wenyu River written on it, pondered for a while, and then looked up, just in time to see the winding river in the distance outside the tent.

"Wait for the news from the secret sentinels, scouts, and the Privy Council to go to the middle army on the right to determine the number of Liao troops." Li Chuyun said.

The main force of the Zhou army first went to the Youzhou area, and then surrounded the Youzhou Liao army in the city. Compared with the Liao army from Shangjing, the Zhou army waited for work at ease, which had more advantages, and could arrange spies and secret sentinels in advance; Both sides are cavalry, and there are mobile rangers everywhere, and it is more difficult to find out more detailed information about the other side temporarily.

Li Chuyun said: "The general guessed that the Liao army was in a hurry to rescue Youzhou, and the main force went straight to Beikou (Gubeikou), but the big war is very important, and we can't just speculate and rash the enemy." After determining the deployment of its main force, it will first transfer the left road (Hantong Luoyan Ring Division) to the east, and form a north-south echo trend with our department, and then launch a big war with superior forces! ”

The general said: "The Liao army is coming from afar, and if you attack now, you can take advantage of its exhaustion." ”

Li Chuyun shook his head and said: "The Liao army is approaching Shunzhou, but the baggage is definitely still in the north, now let's attack directly, and run away as soon as we fight, it won't play any role." Wait for Luo Yanhuan to attack quickly, first outflank from our left flank, and attack from two sides, before there are fighters. ”

He immediately said: "Wait for the pen and ink, I will report this to Your Majesty." ”

……

Outside Youzhou City, the cannon roared, and the table in front of Guo Shao was shaking. Luckily, I lived in a tent, and if I was in a tiled house, the tiles might have been shaken off the roof.

After Guo Shao finished reading Li Chuyun's recital, he asked the attendants around him to hand it to the generals.

The scheduling and daily affairs of the entire army were in charge of the "Youzhou Qianying Military Government", and almost all the reports and military orders were handled by the military government, so Wang Pu, Zuo You and others already knew in advance.

At this moment, Wang Zhang, the commander of the Tiger Ben army, finished reading the report and muttered: "The last general is humble and light-hearted, and he is not as clever as Li Dianzhen, but how do you feel that he is so strategic, he still uses the idea of infantry to use cavalry......

Guo Shao was silent.

Wang Pu said: "General Wang's words are reasonable, and General Li is a little cautious. However, the minister thought that in this situation, there was nothing wrong with General Li's approach.

In the early stage of this battle, the purpose of the Great Zhou Army was to capture Youzhou City, and the key was also here; It was not the first reinforcements to destroy the Liao army. Li Chuyun is not greedy for merit or rash advance, as long as the strength and deterrence of the Great Zhou cavalry are maintained, and the Liao army has limited reinforcements, he will not be able to save Youzhou.

The Liao army was in the north of Shunzhou, and Li Chuyun and Luo Yanhuan were on the east side of the Wenyu River on the north and south, maintaining a momentum of maneuvering and forming an angle. It was extremely difficult for the Liao army to break through the Wenyu River defense line, and as soon as it approached the big battle, it would face a two-sided attack by the Great Zhou army; Even if it breaks through, it will fall into the encirclement of the Great Zhou army, which is surrounded and intercepted by all roads, and there are rivers in the north and south to block the Liao army's rapid back and forth. ”

Wang Pu glanced at Wang Zhang, and said: "The elite soldiers of the Central Plains still fight in the interior all the year round, while the Liao army is in the grassland, so it is not as flexible and cunning as the Liao army. Why should we attack the strengths of the other? ”

Guo Shao agreed, in his philosophy of life, he really can't follow the rhythm of others, he must take the initiative to choose a regular rhythm and let the opponent follow his own footsteps. He immediately said: "I have always valued the opinions of the generals on the ground at the front, and if it is not for obvious mistakes made on the front line, we will try not to interfere with the judgment of all sides." ”

He also urged all the departments of Youzhou City to step up the siege of the city, and at this time, Guo Shao was most worried about attacking Youzhou City.

At dusk, Jingniang's undercover agents in Shunzhou and Danzhou reported that the Liao army had arrived, and their number was roughly the same as the number of people dispatched to Beijing. Guo Shao used this to judge that almost all of the main force of the Liao army's reinforcements took the Gubeikou road.

Sure enough, the next day, Li Chuyun also made such a judgment, and wrote a letter requesting the main force of the left road (Hantong Luoyan Huanbu) to cross the Wenyu River to the east, and directly copy the Liao army of Shunzhou from the north without stopping.

The "Youzhou Qianying Military Office" efficiently issued military orders, coordinated the movement of various armies in an orderly manner, and a major war was deployed. The command system of the Zhou army has evolved and improved from Guo Shao's heralds a few years ago, and has become more and more mature at this time, from the written military orders of the central staff group, the establishment of the commanding officials, to the verification and filing of the commanding officials, to the organization of the heralds, the military orders are extended in all directions to form a controllable whole of 200,000 troops......

Of course, there are also weaknesses, although the fast horse transmits military orders very quickly, but after all, it is not real-time information like radio, compared to the rapidly changing situation on the battlefield, it is too late to rely on the Chinese military to make decisions; Therefore, Guo Shao will add a sentence to the military order of the generals in front, and he can make a decision on the spot. In this way, it compensates for the weakness of the chain of command.

Ordered Luo Yanhuan to lead the main force on the left to the north, and the battle was launched. Because after Luo Yanhuan exited the Wenyu River, he would directly attack the flank of the Liao army!

In the roaring and noisy sound of cannons, even people have to speak loudly to hear clearly, Guo Shao rubbed his temples vigorously and stared at the big picture hanging above.

A big battle of nearly 100,000 cavalry (real numbers) on both sides is about to break out! Guo Shao's attention couldn't help but shift from the equally important siege battle to the upcoming cavalry battle.

Wang Pu said behind him: "The Liao army may run, and the horsemen fight, and it is not easy for them to stop if they want to run." ”

"Hmm." Guo Shao snorted. Holding a brush, he drew three arcs of arrows on the drawing.

If the Liao army escapes north, it will not affect the battle situation. But if the Liao army is in a decisive battle, it is actually not inferior...... The total strength of the cavalry deployed by the Zhou army on the left and right roads was 53,000, and the cavalry strength that could be put into the battle on the north bank of the Wenyu River was almost equal to the reinforcements of the Liao army.

However, the strategy of Zhou Zhou's army is in the upper hand, Li Chuyun and Luo Yanhuan are not far from each other, and there is no possibility of being broken by each one, and once the enemy is engaged, it can quickly form a flanking attack.

Guo Shao was very confident in this battle at this time, but he was a little apprehensive.

Wang Pu's voice said again: "The chances of the Great Zhou Army winning are still very great!" ”

Guo Shaotou said without replying: "The king makes the king's words reasonable. ”

But the process of waiting is still very uncomfortable, and waiting is the most grinding. A well-prepared event, but it is composed of countless details, and when the results are not revealed, Guo Shao will worry about what kind of thing goes wrong and affects the overall situation.

He turned and sat down in front of the rough wooden table.

The sound of "booming ......" in the ears shook the eardrums, and there was an unpleasant smell of gunpowder smoke in the air; Guo Shao's brain was also buzzing, and in the rumbling loud noise, he seemed to see ten thousand horses galloping and heard the loud sound of horses' hooves.

This is not just imagination, at this moment, Luo Yanhuan is rushing along the arrows on the map, and Li Chuyun's department is also going north to meet at the same time.

Guo Shao took a deep breath and sat there motionless, unable to control his heart at all. ...