At this time, Bai Liyan (Wei Xian) was rummaging through the baggage camp, coming and going in the armory all the way. The scabbard under his ribs was empty, only on his back, there was also a Jin army iron spear that he had just started, he was looking for an iron sword.

At present, the technology can still lag behind, there is no steel, only iron, since it is iron, there are naturally more impurities, so although the hardness is harder than bronze, but after many fights, it will also roll the edge gap.

Since the battle to defend Yin Yangcheng last year, Bailiyan's sword has become useless, and now he has found the Jin army's ordnance, just looking for a good sword.

Due to the technical bottleneck, ancient metallurgy can not make good steel, can only be said to boil molten iron, or even solid iron, after the molten iron is poured into the sand mold to cool to obtain a pig iron ingot with high carbon content, the performance is between pig iron and wrought iron, but not as good as steel.

Then it is forged and quenched, and the purpose of forging is to allow the iron to remove impurities, so that the steel can be obtained. In essence, the semi-pig iron with high carbon content has not been fully boiled to remove impurities, and it has been hammered to decarburize it to meet the standard of carbon steel.

Modern technology uses coke or arc to raise the temperature, through the combustion of molten iron itself, put lime and other impurities to remove impurities, or make impurities float or sink, so after the furnace is good steel.

Due to the scarcity of coal, charcoal is even used in iron smelting nowadays, charcoal can reach about 1,000 degrees, and the melting point of pig iron with high carbon content impurities is also around 1,000 degrees, which can barely be melted and forged to produce white pig iron with high hardness and high brittleness.

At present, although coal has been applied to metallurgy for many years, there is no coking technology or blast furnace insulation technology, so most of the iron ore is hurriedly smelted, and the molten iron cannot continue to boil due to the limitation of temperature.

Molten iron can not be smelted at high temperature, and naturally it is not possible to let the molten iron remove more impurities, so that the beneficial trace elements in the iron ore can be evenly diffused to improve the performance of iron.

Even the "100 steelmaking" technology is far from completing the accumulation of early hammer forging technology, and it has not yet appeared.

As a result, the current iron weapons can only be called iron, not steel, and the material is between pig iron and steel, and the hardness is unsatisfactory.

Just as Bailiyan was groping, a person came behind him:

"Varsity!"

The soldier shouted, Bailiyan turned around when he heard the news, and saw that it was Zhao Xun's garrison soldiers, presumably Zhao Xun summoned him:

"But General Zhao called me."

"Exactly, please go to the Taishou Mansion quickly."

"I'll go!"

Following the soldiers to the Taishou Mansion, he saw Zhao Xun pacing in the main hall, his expression was very solemn, and when he saw Baili Yan coming, he immediately walked to the front and said to the soldiers:

"Stand down."

"No!"

The soldiers withdrew from the main hall, Bai Liyan felt bad, and Zhao Xun looked serious, obviously an emergency. Thinking of this, Bai Liyan immediately asked:

"General Zhao is in a hurry, what's next?"

"Lu Jing took away the men and horses in the city, and wanted to join his men, and then go to fight Hanhe."

Baili Yan's scalp is numb, isn't this looking for death!

"General Zhao didn't say what was at stake?"

"This general has already said that he has exhausted his interests, how can Lu Jing be the descendant of the Marquis of Ding Yang, and this general has no right to transfer him, otherwise he cannot be ordered to withdraw from the siege of Feicheng by fraud."

Although Zhao Xun is the general of Zhendong, his position is one level greater than that of Lu Jing's metropolitan governor, but he cannot mobilize the people under the command of Ding Yang Hou Zhengdong, and Lu Jing is the proud descendant of Ding Yang Hou, Zhao Xun cannot transfer Lu Jing.

At this time, Lu Jing had already taken away the small 10,000 people who were defeated yesterday outside the city, and then went out of the city to join the 30,000 horses under his command, and was about to wave his army to go to the Sui to relieve the siege for the Marquis of Ding Yang.

In this way, the capture of Hechi has come to naught, and Zhao Xun has no plan in his heart, so he consults with Bailiyan.

Baili Yan thought about it for a moment, thinking that this was the end, even if he won this battle, it didn't make much sense.

In the second half of the year, the Jin army will make a comeback, and when the main force is exhausted, where can it still resist the Jin army. What's even more terrifying is that if Zhiguo in the south survives this autumn, he will definitely be able to move north after the autumn.

"General Zhao, the decisive battle has been completed, and I'm afraid it's too late. For today's plan, he can only come out of the nest and fight to the death with the Jin army in Yu Xiaosui. ”

"Even if we fight to the death, what is the point of our army winning. After the autumn, the Jin army made a comeback, how to resist the enemy. ”

"There's no other way. Lu Jing insisted on leading the army to a decisive battle, if our army did not go, Lu Jing had no chance of winning, and if he went, it would be a battle to the death. At the moment, we can only choose the lesser of two evils, and it is impossible to avoid war! ”

"The lesser of two evils?!" Zhao Xun looked at Bai Li Yan, and told Bai Li Yan with a blank look that he had never heard of this sentence, but it was easy to understand.

Lu Jing's insistence on fighting is a result that Zhao Xun and Bai Liyan don't want to see, but now it has become a fact, if he doesn't go all out into battle, this battle will definitely not be won. Don't look at the fact that there are still more than 100,000 small horses, compared to the Jin army, which is fully armed and well-armed, at most it is a tie, in this case, it is obviously more unfavorable to the Xian army.

Bai Liyan thought of this, and then said again:

"Han He learned that Feicheng had been lost, and he must be in a hurry to defeat the Marquis of Dingyang at this moment, so as to achieve a situation of equal strength with our army. If our army can capture Hechi and then aid the Marquis of Dingyang, then Han He will be difficult to ride a tiger, and he will have to withdraw his troops.

Now it is impossible to capture Hechi, but Han He must be in a hurry to inflict heavy damage on the Marquis of Dingyang, and then fight a decisive battle with our army reinforcements.

If General Zhao and Lu Jing join forces, the infantry army is afraid that it will be three or four days before they can reach Xiaosui, and then the 80,000 people under the command of Marquis Ding Yang are afraid of heavy losses. At that time, if there is a decisive battle, the Jin army will already have the certainty of winning our army.

In the next day, I thought that the Jin army expected that our army would not divide the troops and cavalry, and it must be the cavalry to cover the infantry army. Therefore, Lu Jing can lead all the cavalry of our army, rush to attack and advance overnight, and when he arrives at the Sui of Shock, the Jin army will definitely be stuck with the Marquis of Dingyang, at this time our army of 24,000 cavalry killed, the cavalry of the Jin army is already tired, and it will definitely be defeated by our army. ”

"Then if the Han He scouts find out about our army's intentions and send cavalry to attack our infantry army, what will our army do?"

"No, once the Jin army besieges the Marquis of Dingyang, it will definitely attack and kill with all its might, and the cavalry of the Jin army, as the vanguard of the assault, will cooperate with the infantry army and crossbowmen to kill the defenders of the Marquis of Dingyang on the first day, so even if Han He knows that our army is risking to step and cavalry separation, whether he is robbing and killing our cavalry or infantry, he has neither time nor certainty of victory."

Baili Yan expected that Han He must have thought that the Xian army was unlikely to separate the infantry from the cavalry, because the quality of the cavalry and the performance of the horses of the Xian army were far inferior to the Jin army, and the combat effectiveness of the infantry, the quality and morale of the soldiers, etc., were not as good as the 80,000 people besieged by the Marquis of Dingyang, and once the infantry and cavalry were separated, the infantry was easily besieged by Han He's 40,000 cavalry.

In addition, Zhao Xun should have 33,000 men and horses, and now 8,000 people are stationed in Yin Yangcheng, and there are 3,000 casualties when he ambushes Xichang, and 2,000 casualties when he enters Feicheng, and now Zhao Xun is only 20,000 people and horses available to garrison Fei, including 4,000 adapted cavalry, that is to say, only 15,000 infantry troops.

And last night, the 10,000 people under the command of Lu Jing, the governor of the capital, besieged the city, and was killed by Wang Shuo, losing more than 4,000 people, plus there are 10,000 infantry troops under Lu Jing's command, and now at best, it is 167 infantry troops, a total of 167 infantry troops, a total of 30,000 people and horses that Zhao Xun can use, the total number of Feicheng infantry troops is only 30,000, and the cavalry is 24,000, and the total is only 55,000.

If you go to reinforce the Marquis of Dingyang this time, Feicheng should always stay with 10,000 people to defend the city, so that there are only more than 20,000 infantry troops who can be dispatched. Even if the Marquis of Ding Yang was rescued at that time, the Xian army and the Jin army no longer had an absolute superiority in strength.

At that time, the 40,000 cavalry of the Jin army, if the morale of more than 20,000 people after besieging the Xianjun infantry and cavalry division was low, and the recruits with poor combat organization ability were almost devastating. At the same time, Han He could also first rob and kill the separated cavalry of the Xian army, and then annihilate the infantry. In this way, the Xian army was defeated.

But in fact, Han He expected that the Xian army would not divide the troops on foot, so within three to four days of the arrival of the Xian army in Xiaosui, Han He was bound to mobilize 80,000 horses and horses to attack the Marquis of Dingyang with all his strength, so as to seek a decisive battle between the two sides, and the Jin army would not be much smaller than the Xian army.

At the same time, the superiority in equipment and personnel morale will largely offset the numerical superiority of the Xian army, and then the decisive battle will be fought again, and the Jin army will have a greater chance of winning, even if the Jin army wins a miserable victory, the Xian army will be finished. This is also the reason why Bai Liyan and Zhao Xun do not advocate a decisive battle now, because the chances of victory are slim.

Even so, the arrow was already on the string and had to be fired. Even if there is a glimmer of life, you have to take a risk. In many cases, opportunities and battlefields are not up to you, and it is helpless to take risks.

For this reason, it can only be suggested that Zhao Xun reinforce the Marquis of Dingyang this time, and he can first let the cavalry of the Xian army accompany the troops for a day, and then take advantage of the night, the cavalry will attack alone, and the cavalry will rest for a while before arriving at the Sui Sui, and then choose the opportunity to attack the formation, kill the Jin army by surprise, and rescue the Marquis of Dingyang.

Of course, Han He has the possibility of discovering, but by that time, Han He has already attacked the Dingyang Marquis array, and it is difficult to ride a tiger, after all, it is 80,000 people surrounded by 100,000 people, not 80,000 people surrounded by 200,000 people. There are only 20,000 people left, and even if Han He draws troops to block reinforcements, it will not be able to defeat the cavalry of the Xian army.

Coupled with the fact that the Marquis of Ding Yang took the defensive, with the stall carriage as the obstacle and the bow and arrow spear as the backing, it was difficult for the Jin cavalry to play a decisive role. No matter how fierce the Jin army's offensive is, within three or four days, at most it can only severely damage Ding Yang Hou, and it is far from the point of annihilating Ding Yang Hou.

After talking to Zhao Xun in detail, Zhao Xun ordered people to beat the drum of the gathering generals and discuss matters in the Taishou Mansion. At the same time, he sent someone to chase him out of Feicheng to inform Lu Jing that he had decided to send troops together, and asked Lu Jing to wait for half a day.

So in the afternoon of the same day, Zhao Xun stayed behind and only left 10,000 people to stick to Feicheng, and only took the remaining 6,000 infantry troops and 4,000 cavalry under his command, and accompanied Lu Jing to rush to the aid of Dingyang Marquis.

When the march reached the evening of the second day, Zhao Xun summoned Lu Jing to speak in the Chinese military tent, and Bailiyan was also there at this time.

In the previous military aircraft incident, the foreign generals were present, and Bai Liyan was not there, because he was just a small colonel, and his duties were only to serve tea, send water, wipe the stools, wipe the table, and do some inconsequential chores.

If it weren't for Zhao Xun's appreciation, for the convenience of questioning, he wouldn't have been able to give such a school soldier a name.

Now that the war is tight, Zhao Xun can't care so much, so Bai Liyan came to the scene, obviously trying to persuade Lu Jing to send troops overnight tonight.

Lu Jing hurriedly entered the big tent, and saw Zhao Xun sitting in front of the case, and a young man in armor standing on the right side, Lu Jing didn't care, and walked straight over:

"The last general has seen General Zhao." Lu Jing bowed casually, and then said: "I don't know if General Zhao summoned the last general overnight, but if there is a discussion." ”

"The general planned to order General Lu to lead the 20,000 cavalry of his headquarters in the second half of the night, and the 4,000 cavalry under the command of the general, and take the lead in rescuing the Marquis of Dingyang. I don't know what General Lu thinks. ”

"You're going to divide the troops!" Lu Jing said unhappily.

"Exactly. The Jin army lost Feicheng, and was bound to storm the Marquis of Dingyang in order to inflict heavy losses, and then fight a decisive battle with our army. Therefore, if our cavalry can arrive when the Jin army attacks and kills the Marquis of Dingyang, it will definitely be able to kill the Jin army by surprise. ”

"Then how did General Zhao know that the Jin army must be attacking and killing the Marquis of Ding Yang at this moment, instead of taking advantage of our army's division of troops and then attacking it."

Lu Jing questioned Zhao Xun, and at this time, Bai Liyan took over and said:

"It's just because Han He lost the heavy grain and grass in Feicheng, and Du Yang's grain and straw can't last for a long time, if our army reinforcements arrive and join forces with Ding Yang Houli, Han He will have no chance of winning. Therefore, Han He must have concentrated his forces to inflict heavy losses on the Marquis of Dingyang before our army arrived, and because he was now in a stalemate, he could not divide his troops to attack us again. ”

As soon as these words came out, Lu Jing's eyes widened, his face sank, and he asked Zhao Xun sharply:

"He's a Qi person!"

"Exactly, Wei Xian, the general of the Naiben Academy, held Yin Yangcheng before, ambushed the Jin cavalry, and captured Feicheng, all of which were Wei Xian's strategy. Originally, the capture of Hechi was also Wei Xian's strategy, but because the general failed to give in, he had to give up. Now, if the general can rush to the starry night, our army can still fight with the Jin army. ”

"Hmph, Xiao Xiaoqiren Colonel Junlang, An dares to talk about military aircraft. Han He is a famous general of the Jin Kingdom, how can you be measured by a military man of a school. Not to mention whether this plan can rescue Ding Yanghou, there are endless variables on this battlefield, how can you know Han He's scheming. This is not appropriate, and Ben will never listen to such clumsy plans. ”