Baozhou Yamen, the commanders of the five armies of the Hebei Road of the Song Dynasty gathered together to discuss the next countermeasures against the Khitan.

As a strategic envoy along the Hebei Road, Liu Ji held the position of commander and commanded the trained army in a unified manner. The rest of the army was only responsible for local security, and was still under the command of various commanders, and had nothing to do with the trained forbidden army.

Everyone sat down, and Liu Ji said: "It's September now, the grain has already been harvested in various places, the walls are clear, and the people have entered the city." We are ready, and it is time for the Khitans to come. According to intelligence, the Khitan armies will meet in Youzhou in mid-October. It is estimated that when the Khitan army arrives, it may attack immediately. I have summoned you here today to discuss a strategy to meet the battle. ”

Dou Shunqing said: "This year, the weather is warm, and it is a leap month, and in mid-October, there is no ice around it. The Khitans did not have many routes to the south, and it was easy to block. At this time, gathering a large army in Youzhou, only one or two months of grain and grass is not easy for the Khitans. ”

Liu Jidao: "Yes, the two Khitan emperors have been fighting for several years, and Youzhou's savings have long been used up. Now hundreds of thousands of people have come, and they can only bring grain and grass from other places. Hundreds of thousands of people's grain and grass, to put it mildly, the Khitan does not have much savings, and even if there are savings, it is not easy to transport them to Youzhou. ”

Jingtai said: "So for this dynasty, the most important thing is to clear the wilderness and let the wilderness have no surplus food." Even if the Khitan attacked the border, they could not get supplies, and they had to be transported from the rear. If we did this well, we won most of the battle. ”

Liu Jidao: "This matter has already been ordered in the locality, and all the households within thirty miles should be moved to the city, and they will go out after the war." These days, Shuai Si has sent people to inspect, and all places have done well, and there are no more households outside the city. ”

It is not easy to clear the wilderness, it is necessary to have a city to collect the population, to transport the people's savings to the city, and to ensure their food and drink, which requires the imperial court to have a strong national strength. The current Song Dynasty, which has been developing at a high speed for so many years, can do this. Moreover, the imperial court made up its mind to conduct a decisive battle with the Khitan in Youzhou, and strictly ordered the locality not to be disobeyed by the yang and the yin. It was Liu Jishuai who built the city, and it was the place that moved the people, and it was finally completed in more than a month.

Liu Jianji said: "This year, the weather is warm, and it will not freeze for a while. If the Khitan army comes next month, there will not be many places to attack. There is the Juma River in all parts east of Xiongzhou, and it is not easy for the Khitans to cross the river. From this point of view, the Khitans may be the first to attack Baozhou. ”

Liu Ji nodded: "It is said that this is the case, and we have arranged it in the same way." However, we know about this, and of course the Khitans know about it. I'm afraid, the Khitans don't play cards according to common sense and cross the border from other places. It is to convene you today to think about what places the Khitans have in the south and what methods they use. It's important to be foolproof, so that you can be at ease. ”

After speaking, he ordered his subordinates to bring the map of the border and spread it on the table in the middle. Several people looked at the map and were silent for a while.

After a while, Zhang Qi said: "In addition to crossing the Juma River, the most suitable place for the Khitan to attack is Baozhou. Further to the west, there is Dabie Mountain, and it is not easy for the army to move. The army directly took the Guangxin army and the Ansu army, and once the city was broken, it could be under the city of Baozhou. ”

Dou Shunqing said: "But behind Baozhou is Dingzhou, where there is an army of 50,000 of Taiwei Liu, and the surrounding walls are clear, even if Baozhou Khitan is taken, it is still facing a big war." Not to mention, there are more than 300,000 Khitan soldiers, and it is not easy to break through Baozhou. ”

Liu Jianji raised his head and said, "The Khitans are good at field warfare, not good at attacking cities. In my opinion, if their hundreds of thousands of troops attacked Baozhou and stopped under the fortified city, the battle would have been lost. Therefore, I think the Khitans should find a way to avoid the fortified city and cross the border as soon as possible. Now our army is located on the border, and once we quickly cross the border area, it will be a high sky for the Khitans. ”

Looking at the map, Liu Ji said slowly: "If you want to cross the border quickly, you can only go east of Xiongzhou." It's just that it's all ponds and swamps there, which is not conducive to the cavalry brigade. Moreover, after crossing the border, there was no one for 100 miles, and there was nowhere to supply grain and grass. ”

Liu Jianji said: "If the Khitan doesn't care about this, it is to cross the river from the east of Xiongzhou, what if the army goes south?" If there are no households, they can bring a few days of grain and grass and go all the way south to Cangzhou. As long as Cangzhou is broken through, things will be easy to do. ”

Liu Ji shook his head: "The Khitan army is not a rogue, even if Cangzhou is taken, it will have no impact on the battle situation. Crossing the river to the east of Xiongzhou, even if it is hundreds of miles deeper, it is also a place where there are no people. It's okay for a small army to harass, but it's okay for a large army to be like this, so there is no reason to talk about it. ”

Most of the east of Xiongzhou is saline-alkali land, and the Song Dynasty dug ponds for many years, which is not a suitable battlefield. And there are several rivers wrapped in it, and even if you attack it, it will be useless. It was also easily blocked by the Song army and had little strategic value.

The greatest temptation of the Khitan attack on Hebei is that once the war goes well, it will quickly attack the Yellow River and directly threaten the center of the Great Song Dynasty. Avoiding the Central Plains and going south to Jingdong Road, and not being able to occupy the place, it was not a big threat to the Song Dynasty.

Jingtai said: "If it doesn't work in the east, the Khitan is afraid that they will have to find a way from Taihang Mountain." Troops were quickly dispatched along the mountain roads, and once the Zhending Mansion was breached, the situation was very different. If the army is on the Yellow River, the imperial court will inevitably be shaken. ”

Dou Shunqing said: "This time is different from the past, there is a railway connecting the border state army, all the way to Kaifeng Mansion, even if the Khitan army comes to Lanzhou again, it is not a big deal." Even if there is a momentary negligence, the army can quickly close the siege, and the Khitan has no gaps. ”

Liu Ji looked at the map, and after a while, he said: "I'm afraid that the Khitan doesn't have a specific strategy now." We stayed in Baozhou for a few days and thought carefully about how the Khitans would come and how we should prevent it. After this discussion, you will go back to your place and face a big war. ”

Guangxin Army is the original Suicheng County of Yizhou, within the sixteen states of Yanyun dedicated by Shi Jingtang. Later, it was recaptured by the Central Plains, and was set up as a mighty army during the Taiping Xingguo period, and changed to the Guangxin army in the first year of Jingde. This is located in the north of Baozhou, right on the border, and is the most critical.

Although administratively the Guangxin Army does not belong to Baozhou, in the military deployment, it is part of the management of Baozhou Jingtai. In recent months, the military city has been greatly strengthened, and two new cities have been built in the territory to accommodate all the people under his rule. Now outside the city, only the army comes and goes, and the people are extinct. After Jingtai's training, the forbidden army defended the city, and the original local forbidden army maintained local law and order and maintained order.

Busan Village is located at the foot of Taihang Mountain, which is the hand-off shop of the North-South Avenue, and is intersecting with the Khitan. The people of this place had withdrawn to the newly built city five miles to the south, and only thirty soldiers were guarding it, and no people were allowed to come and go. Guarding here is the original forbidden army to maintain order.

The head of the junior colonel Wu Ban sat under the big tree, with a pot of wine and a chicken on the table in front of him, eating and drinking there. A few soldiers around were idly guarding the intersection, sitting or standing, all a little bored.

A small school staggered over from behind and said, "Tiha, are you still happy today?" ”

Wu Ban didn't raise his head, and said lazily: "There is not a single ghost shadow, but fortunately, I found a chicken nearby and cooked two glasses of wine." ”

This little colonel is another leader, named Nguyen Trung, who is under Wu Ban according to the rules. However, Wu Zhong has been in the army for many years, he is lazy, he is a veteran oilman, and no one in the army is too lazy to care about him.

In front of Wu Ban, Ruan Zhong sat down opposite him, took a bowl casually, and said, "Brother is happy to eat, let me drink a bowl." ”

After pouring the wine, Ruan Zhong drank most of it in one gulp. I tore another piece of chicken and stuffed it into my mouth and chewed it vigorously. Swallowing the wine and meat, Ruan Zhong said: "Tiha, I heard that the Khitan on the opposite side has a reward, if someone throws it over there, there will be a lot of money to reward." ”

Wu Ban said indifferently: "Now the two sides are not connected, how do you know?" ”

Ruan Zhong said: "It is said that the two sides are incompatible, but there are always people who have a way to go to and from the border between the two sides." I heard that someone went over there and saw a notice posted by the Khitans. said that if he threw it over, he could explain the deployment of the imperial court's troops, and he could reward thousands of dollars. ”

Wu Ban's heart moved when he heard this, his face was silent, and he said, "The Khitan people are so generous? A thousand times is not a small amount of money! ”

Ruan Zhong said: "This is a major military matter, how many people's lives are at stake, how much is a thousand yuan?" This kind of money is to be earned with your life! The Khitan people's reward is not high, who will go! ”

Wu Ban seemed to smile: "Hearing you say this, are you moved by this reward?" ”

Ruan Zhong said nonchalantly: "What if I am moved? I don't know anything about how the imperial court forces were arranged. ”

With that, continue to gulp down.

Wu Ban's eyes flashed, and while drinking wine, he was thinking about his thoughts, and he didn't speak again.