At this moment, Li Zhang came in and saluted the two.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Look at the July coming, how is it arranged in the Khitan?" If you want to know the Khitan intelligence, you have to rely on yourself, and you can't just think about spending money. Money is moving, but the things that money buy are also the most unreliable. ”

Li Zhang said: "Recently, there are a few businessmen who are willing to provide Khitan information to the imperial court. I was instructed by the Captain that they did not know each other, and that different people were in charge. If something goes wrong with one, the others can send the information back. Moreover, there are several groups of people who do it, and they can also verify each other. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded and didn't say much. The understanding of intelligence in this era was different from that of later generations, and it was mainly about using money to open the way. Raise the reward, and have their own greedy for money. In this era, there is no harm in being greedy for money, and it will not be condemned, which is different from the evaluation system of later generations. Relying on ideals and consciousness to do intelligence work, it will make people laugh when they say it.

Each era has its own characteristics, and many things that later generations take for granted will not actually work in a different era. Du Zhongxiao knew this well and did not force it. Intelligence work does not need to be particularly powerful, as long as it can bring back the information of the Khitan. There is no need to directly penetrate the interior of the Khitan, and there is no need to know the Khitan's plan of action in advance, it is not so complicated.

As long as the Song Dynasty knew when the Khitan would send troops, how many troops there were, who the generals were, and where the main attack was, it would be great. These are not confidential information, as long as there are intelligence officers of the Song Dynasty in the Khitan, they can be inquired. As for the requirements that affect the Khitan operation, they are too high-end in this era to actually be done.

Looking at the sand table, Du Zhongxiao said: "Now we know the road in Youzhou is not complete, and we must figure it out before autumn." It's not that hard, you just need to find some people who go back and forth between the two places at the border, and you can do it. Now the army uses guns and cannons, and transports supplies in carts, which is not comparable to before. If you don't know the road, you can't make a plan for the transportation of materials in advance, and then it will affect the war. ”

Li Zhang crossed his hands and said: "These days, together with Taiwei Li, I specially sent people to the Khitan territory to investigate this matter. It is not difficult to find out the state and county roads, but some rural roads are really difficult to find, so there is no way. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Just check the state and county avenues." When the time comes, the army will march as a last resort, and it will not take the country road. Youzhou has had a post road since ancient times, and although the Khitan didn't care about this matter, the old road was still there. By the way, although Youzhou is a flat land, the Taihang Mountain west of Baozhou has complex terrain. Although there are ancient roads, many of them are unknown to the imperial court. While the Khitans did not go south, they also had to find out there. Including roads, where the Khitans built cities, where they garrisoned, and how many people there were, it is best to find out one by one. ”

Li Zhang's crossed hands and said yes.

Zhao Zi said: "Most of the places that meet the borders of this dynasty can be found clearly. Dozens of miles from the border, you don't know anything. I am afraid that the two sides of this war will not have a million troops, and within 100 miles, they will be battlefields. If the geography is clear, the advantage is great. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "If the main Khitan force is exhausted and more than 300,000 people come to Youzhou, it will definitely be more than one million." The main Khitan force is 300,000, and the number of troops recruited from various places will also be close to this number. Therefore, it is said that there are 300,000, and when the time comes, there will be 500,000 or 600,000 people gathered in Youzhou. Add in the five or six hundred thousand people in this dynasty, and it will be more than one million. It was the first time since the founding of the country that there was such a big war. ”

The total number of Khitan troops added up to more than 300,000, but it does not mean that the Khitan only had these forces. This is a soldier, in order to ensure the combat strength of these armies, they will temporarily assassinate the people as soldiers. The main force of 300,000 went south, plus the troops temporarily requisitioned, it must have exceeded 500,000. Even the Khitan was really ruthless, and it was not uncommon for troops to be transferred from all over the country, and it was not uncommon for seven or eight hundred thousand people to arrive.

The wars of hundreds of thousands of people, or even millions, that have often occurred in history, in addition to the terrifying imaginary numbers, are also the case with some of them. In fact, there are not many real soldiers, and with the people who serve these soldiers, the number is very impressive. In fact, the real soldiers, the war of more than 100,000 people is very impressive, and there are not many in history.

In the past, the forbidden army of the Song Dynasty was generally responsible for logistics by two to three percent, and it was inevitable that people would be recruited. After the whole training, the logistics units are subordinate to the division level and are organized separately, generally accounting for 30 percent of the army. The difference from before is that the people are no longer recruited, and they are simply baggage troops. The requisition of civilian husbands is to form a separate army, not mixed with the army's baggage army, and have separate commands and tasks.

The main Khitan force was almost entirely cavalry, and the number of logistics troops needed was extremely large, far more than thirty percent. Therefore, in the autumn war, once the main force of the Khitan is all out, it may be an army of five or six hundred thousand.

Li Zhang said: "I just got the news that the states and counties under the rule of Youzhou and Pingzhou in the Khitan have begun to assassinate the people into the army. Even nearby places such as Fengsheng Prefecture and Bei'an Prefecture are also ordering troops. At this scale, the Khitan is likely to be a soldier who will go out of the country this autumn. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded, thought for a while, and asked, "North of Yin Mountain, what about the Tatar tribes?" Did the Khitan send troops to the tribes there? Under the rule of the Khitan, there were many of these fetters of tribes, and if they sent troops, the troops would be even more. ”

Li Zhang said: "I got the news from Hequ Road, Tatar will not send troops. When the Khitan fought against the party, the Tatars also mainly proposed to send troops to help the Khitan, but the Khitans did not allow it. It is estimated that the Khitan is also afraid that these tribes will send troops, and it will be difficult to control them in the end, so as to restrict them. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "That's fine. Those who proclaimed vassal to the Khitan went all the way to the Western Regions, and there were many tribes. After the restoration of the Western Regions and the destruction of the party, although many tribes declared themselves vassals to the dynasty, they did not dare to sever their ties with the Khitan. ”

Zhao Zi said: "Taiwei is too worried. If the tribes in the north send troops, all the way to the south, they will not be able to provide them with food and drink. In the event of chaos, what should the Khitan do? To recruit them is to add chaos to yourself. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yes, the Khitan will send troops, unless it is just right, otherwise these tribes will not be allowed to participate." But once the current dynasty attacks the Khitan, these tribes can send troops. So the Khitan came to attack, and it was easy to defeat. But it will not be easy to attack the territory of the Khitan. ”

Li Zhang said: "Speaking of which, the Khitan territory is also unstable. The Jurchen tribes in the northeast of it often rebelled. If the Khitan is defeated in the Youzhou area this time, the territory will inevitably be in turmoil. At that point, you can save a lot of effort. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head and said, "Don't think about those things, those tribes rebelled, they wanted to stand on their own." This dynasty defeated the Khitan, if they occupy their territory, these tribes will not be in chaos? It's still going to be messy! At that time, the imperial court was also going to quell the chaos. Therefore, to fight against the Khitan, you must rely on the soldiers and horses of this dynasty to defeat the Khitan in a dignified manner. Once you use external forces, it will be a disaster in the future. ”

Didn't the Khitan end up at the hands of the Jurchens? After destroying the Khitan, the Jurchens then attacked the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty's performance towards Jurchen was far worse than when it was against the Khitan. Lianjin destroyed Liao, the Song Dynasty lost a large area of territory in the north, and the Northern Song Dynasty became the Southern Song Dynasty. Lianmeng destroyed Jin, and in the end, even the Southern Song Dynasty couldn't be saved, and finally Shenzhou Lu sank. His own strength is not good, and with the help of external forces, he has raised a more powerful enemy.

With the huge size of the Central Plains, it should rely on its own strength to crush the surrounding forces. If you can't do this, it will be delusional to keep the world in the end. Du Zhongxiao thought about this very clearly.