There are thirteen counties in Hejian County.

In the seventh year of the Great Cause, the registered population of the world was counted, and the official census counted that the total number of households in the county was 1738.83 million, and the population was more than 1.02 million.

Although it is not as good as Qinghe, Wu'an, and Xindu counties, its registered population is also in the forefront of nearly 200 counties in the world.

Now the population of Hejian is not as good as in the early years, but after the strong rise of Dou Jiande, as the capital of the Xia Kingdom, it is also rapidly gathering population.

In Leshou City, there are no less than 100,000 soldiers and civilians in one place.

But in the face of the menacing Liaodong Army, the Xia Army that stayed behind was still panicked.

Although Rending is the foundation of the army, the problem now is that the main force of the Xia army is all going to Henan, and the Liaodong Army has nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses from all directions.

Critical time.

Dou Jiande's wife, Empress Cao of the Cao family, showed a rare decisiveness, and he rejected Fan Yuan's proposal to lead the army to break through and go south to find Dou Jiande.

"I have no less than 100,000 soldiers and civilians in my life, and there were originally thirteen counties in Hejian, but now they are only occupied by three or four counties, so there is no need to be afraid."

Cao's family has been killing pigs for generations, his grandfather is a butcher, his father is a butcher, and his eldest brother Cao Bao is also a butcher. In the early years, Cao's father and Dou Jiande met, when Dou fled abroad, he stayed in the Cao family for a few days, and it was because of this relationship that Dou Jiande would marry Cao again.

"Generals, please immediately send people to the counties between the rivers to withdraw all the soldiers, horses, and people, and let them bring back all the grain and grass when they come back, and burn those who can't be taken away on the spot."

After Dou Jiande became emperor, he implemented the state and county system when Emperor Wen, he changed the two counties of Hejian County and Bohai County to Mo, Ying, and Cangzhou, which was the border close to Fanyang and the national capital, and Dou Jiande still set up some military towns.

For example, in the south of Xiongxian County, he set up three passes of Waqiao.

Leshou faces the Hutuo River in the west and the canal in the east, these two rivers are the outer defense line of Leshou, and at the same time, it relies on the fox lake in the north and the swamp in the south to build a relatively complete defense network.

Although Leshou is located on the plain and lacks enough mountains and rivers, these rivers, lakes, and swamps are not undefendable, plus some forts built in the building, it can be said that there is still some resistance to impact.

Cao's plan was simple.

It was very difficult to break through, after all, Guo Xuan had already gone around to the south of Le Shou and intercepted their way south. The sea to the east, and the west and north sides, and several large armies, had to hold on and wait for reinforcements.

And the clear field of the fortified wall is undoubtedly a very active defense plan.

In particular, the river network near Leshou is dense, there are many lakes and swamps, and now that spring is in spring, the spring rain is continuous, and the river ice is melting, which is the time when the spring water is soaring.

These rivers and swamps around Leshou will make the movement of the army sluggish, and the most important thing will be a great burden on the transportation of logistics grain and grass.

Even if it is a woman's Queen Cao, she also knows that it is difficult for the army to move an inch without food, don't look at the Liaodong Army attacking in four ways, but they were all outside the pass not long ago, and now they have destroyed Fan Yang Dugu with a thunderous momentum, collected the King of the Valley, and defeated Hengshan Wei Dao'er, it can be said that the results are brilliant, but they have also reached a limit.

Attacking further, although the soldiers of the Luo family army are still sharp, their logistics and grass cannot keep up, and the speed of the sword and the strength of the troops will not help.

At this time, the princess of Xia Kingdom walked into the palace from the outside.

"Queen, generals."

"Your Highness the Princess."

Empress Cao looked at this stepdaughter, "Informant, why are you here?" ”

"I heard that the Liao soldiers have attacked, let me hear what the queen mother and the ministers have planned."

Empress Cao said that she would clear the wilderness and wait for the emperor to come back.

"Erchen suggested that the queen mother not only withdraw the soldiers and horses, but also send soldiers and horses to scatter and ambush in the reeds of the river to attack the grain and grass supply of the Liao soldiers, which can also greatly delay their attack."

Gao Junya hurriedly said, "The princess's proposal is good, let's send some elite soldiers and scatter them out, don't fight with the Liao soldiers, let's focus on the grain, grass and baggage transport teams in their rear." ”

At this time, Dou Hongxian also continued, "When the country is in danger, Erchen asked the queen mother for permission to let Erchen lead the female battalion under his command to attack the rear of the Liao soldiers. ”

Cao Hou said, "The matter of the war, naturally there are generals, how can the princess go out to make a danger, it is better to stay in the capital." ”

But Dou Hongxian refused to listen to this stepmother, she has always been stubborn, and the things she decides generally do not change.

"Although the queen mother is willing to defend Leshou with her subjects, and also has a plan to clear the wilderness, but in the face of the Liao soldiers' four-way attack, our chances of victory are still slim, we can't sit here and expect the enemy to make mistakes, we can only take the initiative to attack, even if it is dangerous, we must take risks, only by attacking, can we have a glimmer of life."

After speaking, Dou Hongxian didn't wait for Empress Cao to reply, so he turned around and left.

Soon, Empress Cao learned that Dou Hongxian left the palace, went to her women's camp, ordered 3,000 female soldiers, and directly left the camp outside Leshou City and went north.

When Queen Cao heard this, she only kneading her temples with her fingers, after all, this is not her own daughter, in fact, Queen Cao is not a few years older than Dou Hongxian's stepdaughter.

"Forget it, let her go, I believe Your Majesty also knows the princess's temper."

The northern border of the Xia Kingdom, Mozhou.

This place is the north of the big lake fox lake, the south of the Juma River, according to the lower reaches of the nine rivers, the rivers and lakes are connected, and the waterway transportation is convenient.

However, after Dou Jiande captured Hejian, he changed Hejian and Bohai two counties to Moyingcang three prefectures, and because the Fanyang Upper Valley in the north was not taken, and the terrain here is low-lying, full of rivers and lakes saline-alkali ground, the residents are already scarce, and the wars and bandits in recent years have made it even less populous.

In order to prevent the troops from the north from moving south, Dou Jiande accepted the advice of the advisors and set up three passes on the border with Fanyang: Waqiao, Yijin and Sikou.

At the same time, it is also conducive to the topography here, and deliberately blocks the Xu, Bao, Sha, Tang and other rivers in the nine rivers, so that the Great Wall of water with 800 miles of twists and turns and a width of 60 miles is formed here.

The entire north of Mozhou, at the junction with Fanyang, is full of lakes and swamps, which makes the three passes of Waqiao a necessary way, and the Xia army can only defend against the enemy of Yang's southward movement according to the three passes.

Of course, now the army of several roads is not just heading south from Fanyang.

Siye is stationed in Xiongxian County, north of Waqiao Pass, facing the three passes of Mozhou, Luo Siye is not afraid, but now the spring rain continues, the roads are muddy, and the rivers are soaring, but his logistics grain and grass can't keep up, so he has to suspend the pace of the offensive.

After returning from a round of inspection, he entered the tent and wiped the rain from his face.

"On this damn rainy day, did the heralds sent to the other roads go out?"

"Jiexia, has been sent out, according to the Jiexia's orders, we let the other troops and horses suspend the attack, first stationed in place, and after this spring rain has passed, the logistics of the grain and grass have been replenished, and then attack again."

"Well, be careful, don't get carried away by a momentary victory. Guo Xuandu had already rushed to Xindu County, but his supplies were still in Fanyang, more than three hundred miles away. ”

A lieutenant said, "Guo Jieshuai can also supply on the spot, right?" ”

"Tens of thousands of horses, how can grain and grass be so easy to replenish, it's better to be stable first."

Among Guo Xuan's tens of thousands of horses, there are mainly Fan Yang soldiers, Beiping soldiers, as well as Shanggu thieves and Hengshan thieves who surrendered, including Liu Hongji's cavalry sent by him, but now in this season, this terrain is full of rivers, and the cavalry can't exert its power at all at this time, and it is not as good as the infantry.