The first thing Liu Ping did after receiving the order was to ask for power, because he knew very clearly that Liao was not a miscellaneous fish like a party item, don't look at Li Yuanhao is still stirring up trouble on the border of Liao, it seems that Liao really can't help him, but in fact, Liao is only because of internal reasons, which leads to the suppression of Li Yuanhao, if he really waits for Liao to free up, I am afraid that Li Yuanhao's fate will be very miserable.

It is precisely because he understands the strength of the Liao State that Liu Ping will ask the imperial court to give him the power to command freely, if he still restrains the hands and feet of the main general as before, no matter how capable Liu Ping is, I am afraid that he will not have the confidence to take back the sixteen states of Yanyun.

"No problem, Your Majesty said that there will be no supervising army for this time!" Li Zhang agreed without hesitation at this time, Liu Ping can think of this, Zhao Zhen and Li Zhang will naturally think of it, and even this matter is the first to be proposed by Lu Yijian, after all, this attack on Liao is of great significance and is related to the future national fortune of the Great Song Dynasty, so he specially allowed no supervision in the army this time, which is equivalent to completely letting go of Liu Ping's hands and feet.

Liu Ping didn't expect Zhao Zhen to have such great courage, there was no supervisor in the army, which also represented the court's trust in him, which made Liu Ping burst into tears of excitement for a while, and immediately saluted loudly: "Thank you for Your Majesty's permission, the minister should die to repay Your Majesty!" ”

"General Liu doesn't have to be polite, Your Majesty has also poured endless effort into this attack on Liao, and even went to Cao Wei to visit the old General Cao's mansion, and General Cao also sent his own experience to His Majesty, this time I also brought it to General Liu, I hope to give you some reference!" Li Zhang said and took out the box that stored Cao Wei's strategy to attack Liao, and then handed it to Liu Ping with both hands.

When Li Zhang said the above words, his eyes also kept observing Liu Ping's expression, the last time he attacked the party, Liu Ping had a great hope of being the main general, but Cao Wei recommended Zhao Zhen, and there are not many people who know about this matter, so Liu Ping must also know, and this time he deliberately didn't say that Cao Wei recommended him, just to test Liu Ping's measurement?

Sure enough, when Liu Ping heard that the box was written by Cao Wei to attack Liao, his expression also changed, but he was not as repulsed as Li Zhang imagined, but immediately reached out and took the box and said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, General Cao is also a person I admire very much, and I will definitely study his strategy for attacking Liao!" ”

Liu Ping's expression was very sincere when he spoke, and immediately after he finished speaking, he opened the box, took out the strategy inside, and roughly flipped through it, especially when he saw the map at the bottom, he was also immediately interested, and immediately took out the map and unfolded it, and put it on the desktop to watch carefully.

But soon Liu Ping came to his senses, and looked at Li Zhang with some embarrassment at the moment and said: "Don't blame the Marquis of Dingbei, you are a little too anxious, it's really rude!" ”

"General Liu doesn't have to be polite, this attack on Liao is also related to the future national fortune of my Great Song Dynasty, and this burden falls on General Liu, I think you must also feel the pressure." Li Zhang smiled unhesitantly.

It can be seen that Liu Ping is very interested in the strategy sent by Cao Wei to attack Liao, but now that Li Zhang is here, it is not convenient for him to watch carefully, and Li Zhang also has some things to explain, so he chatted with Liu Ping for a while, and then he was ready to leave, and Liu Ping immediately asked Li Zhang to send Li Zhang to the post house to arrange accommodation.

Li Zhang is also the first time to come to Yanzhou, after the post house is settled, he originally wanted to go out for a turn, after all, it is rare to come here, and this way up and galloping, he is also tired, so he definitely needs to rest for two or three days before going back, but when he settles it out, he found that it is almost dark outside, and Yanzhou is a military town, and the curfew here is earlier and stricter than in the capital, so he can only rest in the post house.

Maybe he was really tired, Li Zhang woke up and found that it was already three poles outside, and he ate something casually at the post house, so he took people around Yanzhou, and found that Yanzhou and Gyeongju are too similar, both places are border cities, and they are both important military towns, and the customs and habits are very similar in terms of urban construction.

At that moment, Li Zhang walked around Yanzhou City for a long time, and tasted the local specialties by the way, but in the afternoon, Liu Ping's people suddenly hit him, saying that Liu Ping was banqueting him in the mansion, which made Li Zhang not easy to refuse, so he went to the banquet.

When Li Zhang came to Liu's mansion, he found that Liu Ping's mansion was not small, but this is normal, he is the number one military leader in Yanzhou, and the general's salary is richer than that of civil officials at the same level, so the generals of the Great Song Dynasty are generally not short of money to spend.

At that moment, Liu Ping also went out to greet him personally, and then the two came to the living room together, because the two of them might have to talk about some things about attacking Liao, so it was inconvenient for others to sit with them, and even Liu Ping didn't even call out his own family, and there were only the two of them at the entire banquet.

Liu Ping also had a heart for Li Zhang, so he also took the initiative to talk at the beginning of the banquet, and by the way, he also inquired about some things in the capital, Li Zhang was also quite interested in Liu Ping, plus he also stayed in the northwest for a period of time, and was very familiar with the army, so he chatted with Liu Ping quite likely.

However, chatting and chatting, the topic inevitably turned to the matter of this attack on Liao, Li Zhang also took the opportunity to ask Liu Ping's plan, and Liu Ping was not polite, and directly took Cao Wei's map, which marked several marching routes planned by Cao Wei, and Liu Ping also commented one by one, these marching routes have their own advantages and disadvantages, which Li Zhang has already heard Cao Wei say, and Liu Ping is similar to what Cao Wei said, it is enough to see that Liu Ping must have carefully watched Cao Wei's strategy of attacking Liao yesterday.

"If General Liu, you are going to attack Liao, which route are you going to choose?" After listening to Liu Ping's comments on Cao Wei's strategies, Li Zhang finally asked curiously.

I saw Liu Ping muttering for a moment at this time, and then he slapped the map and said: "Although these routes of General Cao's march have their own advantages and disadvantages, they are the best choices in peacetime, but if I am the chief general this time, I am afraid I will not choose any one!" ”

"Why?" Li Zhang also asked with a surprised expression when he heard this.

"Without it, the offensive and defensive forces are different!" Liu Ping said very confidently at this time, "When General Cao planned these march routes, there was no civil strife in Liao, although our Great Song Dynasty has gradually increased in strength in recent years, it is still on the defensive in the face of Liao, so most of General Cao's strategies are very conservative, almost steady and steady, step by step." ”

When he said this, he saw Liu Ping pause for a moment and then said: "But now that Liao is in turmoil, the troops on the border must also be transferred back, so that the border troops are empty, if this kind of steady and steady tactics are used, it is no longer appropriate, but it must be fought quickly and slowly, and directly eliminate the main force on their border before the Liao State reacts, so as to swallow the sixteen states of Yanyun with one blow!" ”

When Liu Ping said the end, his right hand also slapped the Yanyun realm on the map, as if he wanted to take Yanyun back completely, if others heard his words, they would definitely think that Liu Ping's approach was too radical, after all, the emaciated camel was bigger than the horse, no matter how weak the Liao State was, it was also a behemoth, and few people dared to have this risky tactic.

However, Li Zhang showed a faint smile when he heard this, in fact, before he left the capital, he also went to see Cao Wei again and asked him some of his views on this attack on Liao, and Cao Wei also made it clear that the strategies he wrote before can only be used as a reference, and now that the situation has changed, the marching routes he chose are too conservative, so if he is Liu Ping, he will definitely choose the most direct and bold route, such as smashing the military town of Liao.

Sure enough, just as Li Zhang thought of the above, he saw Liu Ping suddenly stretched out his hand and pointed to a winding line in the sixteen states of Yanyun: "This is the ancient Great Wall, but since the Liao State occupied the sixteen states of Yanyun, the Great Wall defense line has been almost abandoned, and in the territory of the Liao State south of the Great Wall, there are two important military towns, that is, Nanjing and Xijing of the Liao State, if I use troops, I will lead the main force to attack Nanjing, as long as the Nanjing Xijin Mansion is defeated, then Xijing will be isolated, At that time, the entire land south of the Great Wall will also be in the hands of our Great Song Dynasty! ”

Li Zhang heard Liu Ping's words and carefully looked at the terrain near the Great Wall on the map, in fact, it is indeed as Liu Ping said, Nanjing Xijin Mansion and Xijing Datong Mansion are both on the south side of the Great Wall, these two big cities were originally the Han Dynasty's military towns to resist the grassland peoples, but now they have become the bridgehead of the Khitan people to the south, which is quite sad to think about.

"The last time I went to Liao, I passed by Xijin Mansion, and I also made a special observation at that time, and found that the city of Xijin Mansion was deep and high, and heavy troops were stationed in the city, even if some were taken away now, but it may not be easy to build such a strong city." Li Zhang pondered for a moment at this time, and then spoke again.

"The Marquis of Dingbei doesn't have to be presumptuous, you are more familiar with firearms than me, whether it is a siege tube or artillery, it is a sharp weapon for siege, especially artillery, as long as the imperial court is willing to allocate dozens of artillery pieces to me, I am sure to break through the Xijin Mansion in a short time!" Liu Ping said with great certainty again at this time.

Artillery has begun to be equipped in the Northwest Army, and Liu Ping is also very concerned about artillery, for which he has also deliberately studied the use of artillery, and he found that when artillery is used intensively, it can play a very strong offensive effect, for which he also wrote to the imperial court, suggesting that it should be imitated by the musket army to create a special artillery unit, but now the output of artillery is still limited, and it has not reached the level of independent army building for the time being.