"As early as seven or eight years ago, the imperial court was already preparing for the recovery of Hedong, in addition to Luzhou and Liaozhou, Taiyuan Mansion, Xinzhou, Pingyang Mansion, and even the entire Guanzhong Prefecture had the imperial court deployed in advance. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't have been able to see General Xia here, and we wouldn't have been able to enter Taiyuan City so easily. ”

After Xin Qiji said this, the expression on his face suddenly became serious.

Then he said: "However, although the imperial court has made preparations early on, due to the limited national strength in previous years, the deployment is not sufficient, if we want to recover Hedong in one fell swoop, we still have to fight some battles, and we must not be careless or relaxed at all, otherwise the imperial court's hard work for several years will be in vain." ”

"Judging from the situation of the entire Northern Expedition and the news that has been obtained, Taiyuan Mansion is under our control, and it will gradually stabilize in three or two months, but Datong Mansion is also very quick to respond, and the elite troops outside the Jin State Pass are likely to enter the customs to support and retake Taiyuan Mansion, and the minimum goal will also be to hold Xinzhou, so that we cannot garrison Yanmen Pass. For us, if the Yanmen Pass is not in our hands, then the cavalry of the Jin Army outside the pass may enter Xinzhou and Taiyuan Mansion through the Yanmen Pass at any time, and our supplies are limited, and the strength is also limited, so it is difficult to hold it. Therefore, if you want to completely recover Hedong, Yanmen Pass must be impregnable, and no golden soldiers can be allowed to enter the pass! ”

"Yanmen Pass is the gate of a compound, as long as we can guard the door, no matter when we recover Xinzhou and when we recover Pingyang Mansion, it will not matter much if we recover ten days and half a month early, or ten days and half a month late. In a word, Yanmen Pass is very important, equivalent to the only gate of a big city, as long as it is guarded, it can keep the Jin people out of the pass. Defending Yanmen Pass was very important for the recovery of Hedong, Guanzhong, and even the capture of Yanjing. Although Xinzhou is not in our hands now, we must immediately send an army to support or capture Yanmen Pass! ”

Xin Qiji quickly changed the topic and attracted almost everyone's attention with Yanmen Pass.

"General Xia, have you ever been to Yanmen Pass?" Hearing the name of Yanmen Pass, a commander immediately asked Xia Chengjie.

Xia Chengjie said: "Xia led the troops to Datong Mansion once in his early years and walked through Yanmen Pass once. There are mountains between Xinzhou and Datong Mansion, there is only one passage between the two places, the passage is in the place between the two mountains and valleys, stretching for hundreds of miles, Yanmen Pass is close to the side of Xinzhou, but it is also in the mountains for dozens of miles. Yanmen Pass is located in the middle of the big channel, isolating the whole big channel from north to south, whether it is from the south or to the north, it must pass through this pass. The usual garrison of this pass is about 1,000 people, and it was previously garrisoned by the Jurchen elite, but the strength of the Jin army has weakened in recent years, and the northern grasslands have been fighting for many years, and the defenders stationed at Yanmen Pass have been replaced by ordinary troops in Datong Prefecture. But Yanmen Pass has been under the control of Datong Mansion for many years, although it is close to Xinzhou, but it is not under the control of Xinzhou, even if the garrison is rotated, it will not be the turn of the Xinzhou army, let alone let any Han soldiers be stationed in it. In Xia's opinion, Yanmen Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack, as long as the grain and grass are sufficient, 3,000 soldiers are enough to block 100,000 troops! ”

"Three thousand blocks one hundred thousand? Not kidding, right? How is this possible! ”

The generals immediately talked about it, after so many years of fighting, obviously they did not believe that 3,000 people could withstand the attack of 100,000 people, in their opinion, Yanmen Pass was probably exaggerated.

"You should know that two hundred years ago, we wanted to go to Saiwai and recover Yunzhong, and the Khitans wanted to enter the pass, so the Great Song soldiers and the Khitans fought in the north for decades, and the location of the big war was in the Yanmen Mountain near Yanmen Pass. In the more than 100 years since then, although there has been no major war between Song and Liao, Yanmen Pass has always been in the hands of the Great Song Dynasty, and it has never stopped construction. According to the information learned, although the Jin people did not continue to expand after occupying Yanmen Pass, they were not destroyed, and most of the previous buildings were retained, and at least 20,000 troops could still be garrisoned. Yanmen Pass is actually a huge battlefield, it was and is now, unless the clouds are recovered and the grassland people are driven back to the depths of the grassland, it will always be a pass that must be garrisoned, and it is also an eternal battlefield. ”

Xin Qiji said and looked around at everyone: "I will gather everyone together today to discuss who will lead the troops to Yanmen Pass and defend the gateway to the northeast of the river for the Northern Expeditionary Army." ”

"I don't know how far Yanmen Pass is from Taiyuan City?"

"It should be about five hundred miles." Xia Chengjie replied.

"After a long journey of five hundred miles, Xinzhou is not under our control, and it seems unwise to go deep alone." A commander analyzed.

"Didn't General Fang Cai Xia say that there are almost no troops stationed in Xinzhou, and it won't take much time for the army to go north to recover Xinzhou, the key is not to let the Jin people outside the gate enter Xinzhou from Yanmen Pass to support." Immediately, the commander refuted and echoed Xin Qiji.

"To put it simply, there is no logistical support, so you will lead the troops to Yanmen Pass?" Immediately, some commanders expressed different opinions.

Xin Qiji saw that the situation was not right, and he was afraid that there was a danger of bias, so he immediately said: "Supporting Yanmen Pass is an established strategy, and we don't need to discuss whether to support or not, now we need to determine who will support." If you don't want to go to Yanmen Pass, you don't have to speak! ”

As soon as these words came out, the dissenting commanders could only shut up and listen to the opinions of others.

"Deputy marshal, the last general is willing to go to Yanmen Pass!"

"I'll go, as long as I'm here, Yanmen Pass will definitely not be lost!"

"The last general is willing to go, give the last general 3,000 people, and the golden people will not dare to knock!"

"You guys just brag, you've only fought a few big battles, and you dare to brag? Guarding Yanmen Pass, I am the only one! ”

"Lord Yuan, don't fight with us, a little Yanmen Pass, where is the turn of the adult to come forward! The battlefield of adults in the entire east of the river should not be only in one Yanmen Pass! ”

"What the king said is right, the lord is still sitting firmly in the big tent of the Chinese army, and it should be better to be in the middle, why should the adults go out in person at Yanmen Pass."

"You're wrong, didn't you listen to what the deputy marshal said, Yanmen Pass is not just a pass, it is a gateway, the Jin people enter the pass, we go out of the fortress, we must pass through here, it is the gateway of the Great Song Dynasty in the north, and it is also the gateway of the Jin country in the south. Yanmen is closed, Hedong is in, Guanzhong is in, the Central Plains is convenient and stable, and the garrisons of the Daimyo Mansion and Jinan Mansion can fully deal with the enemy of Zhending Mansion and Yanjing, this position is extraordinary! ”

"Lord Yuan's words are extremely true, he is worthy of being a veteran who has fought for many years, and his vision is old. To recover Hedong and Guanzhong, including Yanjing and Yunzhong, it is indeed inseparable from Yanmen Pass, Yanmen Pass is not in our hands, and wanting to succeed in the Northern Expedition is tantamount to a fool's dream. Under control of Yanmen Pass, Xinzhou, Taiyuan, and Pingyang, including the entire Hedong and Guanzhong, there could be no more Jin reinforcements, and without reinforcements, the Jin troops in Hedong and Guanzhong had no other way but to surrender and flee to the Western Xia Kingdom. Therefore, in the whole strategy, the position of Yanmen Pass is extremely important. Since Lord Yuan is willing to go to guard Yanmen Pass, the others don't have to fight. Xin Qiji said.

"Deputy Marshal, Lord Yuan is the commander of the Chinese army of the Northern Expedition, is it overkill to let the Lord guard Yanmen Pass? We should let the adults lead us to conquer the city! ”

As soon as Xin Qiji's words fell, a commander raised an objection.

Who knew that without waiting for Xin Qiji to speak, Yuan Hua, who was the commander of the Chinese army in the Northern Expedition, said: "There are no heavy troops in Xinzhou, there will be no big war, the most important battlefield at this stage is in the south, Xue Shuai is personally stationed in Jiexiu at the moment, Pingyang Mansion is the real battlefield, if you want to make meritorious contributions, you should go to Xue Shuai to meet the peace." ”

"Xue Shuai is resting?"

The generals couldn't believe their ears, when the army set off from Luzhou, Xue Shuai did not act with the army, they thought that the imperial court was afraid of Xue Shuai, so they did not let him lead the army, but they didn't want him to go to garrison Jiexiu.

"This matter should have been kept secret, but since we have entered Taiyuan City and recovered the entire Taiyuan Mansion, it is okay to tell everyone. Xue Shuai personally guarded Jiexiu is an established strategy, and after we recover Taiyuan Mansion and Xinzhou, the army will go south, and Xue Shuai will lead directly to Pingyang Mansion. The geographical location of Jiexiu is very important, once there is an accident, it will have to withstand the attack from both sides of Taiyuan Mansion and Pingyang Mansion, in order to avoid accidents and have a few more chances of winning, Xue Shuai had to go out in person. Xin Qiji explained.

"I see, no wonder there has been no news of Xue Shuai for so long."

"Since there aren't many Jin troops stationed in Xinzhou, why don't we go south to Jiexiu now?"

"Yes, maybe Xue Shuai is waiting for us to go south, why should we waste time here. Deputy marshal, let's divide our troops into a few ways, let's hurry south! ”

"The time is not right. If the Northern Expeditionary Army wants to recover Hedong, it must first go north and then south, and the army will go north, first take Xinzhou, and then go south to capture Pingyang Mansion, and the land in Hedong will be quickly stabilized after the recovery, and this matter does not need to be discussed! Xin Qiji, who is still young, once again stopped the discussion that the crowd would deviate from the topic.

Xin Qiji, as a deputy marshal, came directly from Bianjing, he represented the imperial court, although the generals were somewhat dissatisfied and wanted to give him some problems, but they did not dare to do things of open confrontation, after all, he represented the central authority.

The generals were speechless, and Xin Qiji hurriedly continued: "Today, the main discussion is about the candidate to guard Yanmen Pass, since Lord Yuan invited Ying to go, it is indeed the most suitable person, then Yanmen Pass will be handed over to Lord Yuan to guard!" Lord Yuan, within three days, you led 5,000 Chinese troops to rush to the aid of Yanmen Pass, no matter what, hold on for at least a month, reinforcements and supplies will take this month. ”

"Yes. Don't worry, with me, Yanmen Pass will not be lost! Yuan Hua got up and took the order.

"Then there's Lord Lao Yuan." Seeing the other party sit down, Xin Qi quickly turned around and said: "This time from Luzhou to Taiyuan Mansion, there was a lot of delay along the way, and then I have to work hard for everyone." The generals listened to the order, and three days later, the whole army went north and sent troops to Xinzhou! ”

"Yes!"

The generals stood up and took orders.

The whole army of 70,000 people repaired inside and outside the city of Taiyuan for three days, and then except for a garrison force, the rest of the soldiers and horses pulled out the camp and went north, passing through Yangqu Pass into the territory of Xinzhou.

Yuan Hua led the Chinese army of 5,000 people, every time they encountered the city, they went around the city, and under the guidance of the guide, went straight to Yanmen Pass.

The other armies, under the leadership of Xin Qiji, came directly to the city, except for Xinzhou City, other small cities have been attached to the wind.