The two battles that took place on the eighth day of the ninth month of the third year of Daguan - the Battle of the Mihe River and the Battle of Huanshui - actually determined the future ups and downs of the Great Liao Empire, and even the entire Central Plains farming civilization and the northern nomadic fishing and hunting civilization.

If we only look at the grand strategy of the entire Liao-Song confrontation at that time, neither of these battles seems to be decisive.

Zhao Zhongge, who won the battle of the Mihe River Bay, did not make efforts to expand the results of the battle eastward. Just took the opportunity of Yelu Lili in the county town of Miaoyin to lead the army to break through and take the county seat of Miaoyin, and then temporarily ended the battle on the eastern front of Xijin Mansion and led his troops back to the camp in Hejian. And Xiao Yaomai was able to return to his Yutian camp with the most sorrowful mood, hold a big funeral, recuperate, and lick the terrible wounds.

Similarly, Yelu Yanxi, who broke through the Huanshui defense line, did not rush to march south, but set up a large camp in Yonghe Town on the south bank of Huanshui and began to rest. And Han Xiaoxuan and Zong Ze, who were defeated in the Battle of Huanshui, did not suffer a fatal blow. It's not that their losses are not large, but behind the two of them, there are enough people from Xiangzhou and the mountain people of Taihang Mountain.

Moreover, the handsome flag of Gao Yu and Gao Taiwei has been flying high in the sky above the Daimyo's Mansion City. The first marshal of the Great Song Dynasty finally appeared on the battlefield in Hebei!

However, behind these two battles, which could only be regarded as medium-sized, was a series of casualty figures that terrified Yelu Yanxi.

"What? The sons of the palace division army are also more than 900!? ”

"Your Majesty, there are nearly 600 people who are seriously injured, and I don't know if they can survive?"

"How is that possible!? It's just a group of farmers, how can they be so good at fighting? ”

"Your Majesty, if those Han farmers fight in formation, of course they are not our Khitan Erlang's opponents, but they are good at defending the city, even if they build a fortress in the wild, it will be difficult to fight tightly! Moreover, the Song people also used a crossbow arrow that greatly damaged Yin Virtue! ”

"Crossbow bolts?" Yelu Yanxi frowned and took a bloodstained three-edged arrow from the hand of a waiter. The three edges of the arrowhead are sharpened very sharply, with slight wear in the parts close to the tip of the arrow.

"This group of Han people uses a lot of crossbow machines in their training! Moreover, it is well-made and lethal, and the crossbow arrows shot can penetrate the armor of the armor of the palace division army in thirty steps. This is a captured crossbow machine, please take a look at it. ”

Yesterday, he commanded the palace to cover the soldiers of the Sijie Army to attack the Yanqing Palace, and Xiao Shangnu explained while handing a captured Tianjin crossbow to the Hou Langjun beside Yelu Yanxi.

Yelu Yanxi put down the three-edged arrowhead, took over the Tianjin crossbow, first carefully inspected the workmanship of the crossbow body and crossbow arm, and then looked at the "tail" of the crossbow machine for a while, which is the butt shape used to shoot steadily.

"How many crossbows have been captured?" Yelu Yanxi asked.

"No less than 2,000!"

"So much!?" Yelu Yanxi was stunned for a moment, "Every one of them is like this?" ”

"It's like this with every single one."

"How is that possible!?"

Yelu Yanxi was taken aback.

Although he is the emperor, the emperor of Liao cannot be compared with Zhao Ji, a great Song official, after all, and what he sees and uses is not all high-quality products. Even in his imperial tent, there are a lot of shoddy things. So I was a little surprised to see the workmanship of this Tianjin crossbow. The things used for minions on the battle array are actually so well done!

And he was not surprised to learn that such a well-made weapon could capture 2,000 at a time. It's a mixture of shock, incomprehension, and fear.

How much gold and silver treasures did Zhao Ji, the One Piece King, snatch from overseas? Unexpectedly, such a unit as a regimental training is equipped with such a good crossbow machine! How much does this thing cost? To do so well, at least you have to be ten out of eight, right?

Moreover, it's not a question of money, how good craftsmanship can be made? How many good craftsmen were there in the ordnance prison of the Great Song Dynasty?

In fact, the Tianjin crossbow that Yelu Yanxi saw was not produced by a good craftsman, but something that was mass-produced. The reason why it looks so delicate is because of the "standardization" and "subdivision" of production organization. The individual components of the crossbow machine were subcontracted to different manufacturers, and strict specifications were proposed.

Because craftsmen only do one part day after day, or even only one process, practice makes perfect, and the more they do it, the better they do, and the faster they do it. The quality and production of Tianjin crossbows continued to improve, while the cost of production continued to decrease. Therefore, it is also possible to train ordinary militia regiments to equip a large number of Tianjin crossbows.

In addition, the paper armor, spears, swords and shields provided to the Xiangzhou regiment training army were also mass-produced by similar methods.

"How many beheadings and prisoners are there?" Yelu Yanxi frowned and asked, "Is the count out?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, in yesterday's battle, a total of more than 6,000 armor leaders were obtained, and more than 3,000 were taken prisoner." Xiao Fengxian replied, "The enemy's losses must be more than 12,000 people...... Another great victory! ”

"A big victory?" Yelu Yanxi raised his eyelids and glanced at Xiao Fengxian, "There are 1,500 dead and seriously injured in the palace division army alone, how can the losses of the Sijie army cost two or three thousand, right?" Using 4,000 people to exchange 12,000 people for 12,000 people in the Song Kingdom, can this be considered a great victory? How many strong men in my Daliao can sacrifice like this? ”

In the imperial tent, the atmosphere suddenly became gloomy.

The battle of Huanshui seems to be a big victory, but in fact it reveals a huge crisis! The casualty exchange ratio in this war is very unfavorable to the Liao State!

When Zhong Fu's department was annihilated before, the Liao army suffered large losses. But after all, Zhong Fu led the "most elite" new army of the Song State, and it is reasonable that the Liao army suffered a larger loss. But this time, the Liao army faced the grass platform team of the Xiangzhou regiment, and the losses were so big. That's a bit hard to accept!

Moreover, the combat effectiveness of Xiangzhou regimental training can obviously be replicated! They are nothing more than "standing on the root of the wall and using a strong crossbow", repairing the wall is the work that the Han people are good at, and building a strong crossbow is also what the Han people are good at.

What's more, there are more of them! Even if you don't count the losses of the Sijie Army (Han Army), 12,000 for 1,500 is not something Yelu Yanxi can afford. The Han people can be tens of thousands, and the Khitan people are only two or three million, dozens of times worse! This eight-to-one exchange ratio, or group practice, how can this work?

When Yelu Yanxi had a headache for a Khitan Palace division soldier who could only be exchanged for eight Han regiments to train soldiers, in Yutian County, more than a thousand miles away, the city was crying bitterly, and every family was filial piety.

The news of the Miaohe fiasco has reached Yutian, this time it is not eight Khitans for one Han, but to be counted upside down, and the lives of eight Khitans or "semi-Khitan" Han family soldiers may not be exchanged for the lives of new Han officers and soldiers.

Less than half of the 30,000 thousands of troops (including auxiliaries) led by Xiao Yaomai and Yelu Yanli ran back to Yutian, and most of them were auxiliaries. The real Xi warriors, the children of the Han family, and the cavalry of the Wenzhong Palace, all lost sixty or seventy percent, and at least 10,000 people (referring to the Xi and Han families) spilled blood in the bay of the river.

It's just a medium-sized battle, and it is really beyond everyone's expectations that there will be such lethality.

"This, this, how is this possible! How is it possible, there are so many children of the Han family, this is gone......" Ye Lukong's bones were already in tears, because he was old and frail, he did not come to the battlefield in person, but Xiao Yaomai commanded the Xi army, the Han family army and the cavalry of Wenzhong Wangfu.

And the so-called Wenzhong Wangfu cavalry, nearly half of which is also the blood of the Yutian Han family. The Wenzhong Mansion and the Yutian Han family were originally a family. All the Han family members with the surname Yelu are all from Wenzhong Mansion.

Therefore, in the battle of Mihe Hewan, almost half of the Yutian Han family was wiped out. was originally a good person Ding Xing family, but in the blink of an eye, there was a risk of extinction.

King Xi Xiao Yaomai was also sighing, he was born in the uncle department, not from the sixth department of King Xi, and few of the Xi people who died in the battle in the river bay were his relatives. However, the loss of the Xi warriors and the lethality of the new army of the Song State still made him feel deep despair.

The Battle of Mihe Hewan was not a matter of exchange ratio, but once again proved such a reality: the so-called Khitan elite combat effectiveness was already weaker than the most elite new army of the Song people in the Southern Dynasties.

"Control the bones," Xiao Yaomai looked at the old man who was almost crying before sighing, "Let's join forces to play to the Son of Heaven, ask him to return to the Shijin Mansion, and then gather the whole army to fight to the death with the Song people!" ”

Ye Lukong wiped his tears, and was just about to agree to Xiao Yaomai's suggestion, when a child of the Yutian Han family ran in in a panic outside the door, holding a letter in his hand that he didn't know who wrote it.

"But, but the Song army is coming?" The old man asked in a trembling voice.

"Back to Big Daddy, it's not that Song Jun came to Yutian."

Fortunately, the old man sighed.

The Han family said again: "It's Song Jun who went to Tokyo Road!" ”

"Huh!?"

"What?"

At this time, Old Man Yelu and Xiao Yaomai both jumped up from their chairs.

"Song, Song, Song Jun bypassed Yutian East?" The old man Yelu stammered, "That, that Xijin Mansion ......"

He is afraid that there will be changes in Xijin Mansion now!

There is no second family in the Yandi family that is so loyal to Da Liao as the Han family! Otherwise, why did the six battalions of guards under the command of Ma Renwang all watch from the wall in the city west of Xijin Mansion?

After they learned the news of the battle of the Mihe River, would they consider selling Da Liao as soon as possible?

Only when the city of Xijin Mansion is broken, can the Song army send the elite eastward...... If this is the case, then the Yutian Han family will be wiped out!

"What's wrong with Xijin Mansion, my grandson doesn't know. However, the messenger sent by His Royal Highness the King of Wei said that a few days ago, the Song army came across the sea and raided the Fengguo army in Chenzhou! The Fengguo army was defeated, and the city of Chenzhou was occupied by the Song army! ”