"Looks like I'm still thinking too highly of you." Xiao Shisan condescendingly looked down at Yelu Yingyin, who led the return of the army, "The face of the Khitan people has been lost today. ”

Yelu Yingyin looked unconvinced: "Although the last general did not capture Xicheng Village today, all the walled forts and beacons in the north of Xicheng Village have been cleared by the last general. If the privy council wants to attack Xicheng Village, there is no need to worry about the Song people sneaking up from the flank. ”

"Ben Shuai doesn't know how to attack Xicheng Village, so I want to ask you. How are you going to capture Xicheng Village? Hide two miles away, can you shoot Qin Huaixin, or can you cut Qin Huaixin. Xiao Shisan smiled, "Ben Shuai doesn't have this ability, I don't know if you can teach a few tricks to Xisun?" ”

Xiao Shisan's words caused a snicker below, Yelu Yingyin was embarrassed in his heart, the Song people's eight-bull crossbow was placed on the head of the city, and now laughing at himself, but one dared to approach within a mile?

The smile on Xiao Shisan's face suddenly ended, and he changed to a gloomy expression: "The soldiers and horses you brought out of Lu add up to six thousand, and you didn't even shoot an arrow at Xicheng Village, and only two villages were defeated in the end. There were more than 600 casualties. You made the military order yourself, I ask you, do you say this is a victory or a defeat? ”

"The last general will be beheaded one hundred and twenty-seventh, and the casualties of the Song people are ten times that of this!" Yelu Yingyin shouted, "The last general has captured more than 600 bows, 400 swords, and nearly 1,000 spears and spears. It is the most precious divine arm bow of the Song people, and there are thirteen that have not had time to destroy. ”

Yelu Yingyin was deeply confident, and no matter what, he was the first general to send troops. The Khitan people are the heaviest warriors, Xiao Shisan didn't dare to fight, but he did, and there were rich results, everyone had to admit their merits.

"The Song people mostly used bows and arrows, so they were called archers. The forbidden army mostly uses the bow of the divine arm, and its swords are forged from steel, which can cut gold and jade, and cut iron like wood. I wonder how many Janissary sabers you've captured? "Xiao Shisan will not admit Yelu Yingyin's merits, the authority of the commander does not allow anyone to provoke, "The military order is here, disobey the commander's order, force himself to send troops, and return in vain, the military law you want to receive must not need me to remind you." Let's just read that there are a few beheadings in you, the death penalty can be avoided, and the living crime will flee south. Drag it out, forty lashes! ”

forced his own soldiers to drag people out, Xiao Shisan snorted coldly, the farce is over, and the main drama should be on stage.

……………………

"Which one of the Liao people are playing? Xicheng Village is in front of him, but he doesn't look at it, and he only hits a few villages to go back, and he is satisfied. Is this still a Khitan? ”

"Bullying the soft and fearing the hard, isn't this the true color of the Khitan people? The Liao army invaded Hebei in the old year, when did it dare to attack Jiancheng? Yang Liulang guarded the Guangxin army, Liangmen, Suicheng, which city they attacked. ”

"The Liao people are not good at attacking cities. Looting villages is a good hand. ”

"It's not that simple. are all ready, or to break through the two villages, the Liao army still has some strength. ”

Several generals from Daizhou were whispering below, and Han Gang was also discussing with Liu Shunqing about the battle that took place outside Xicheng Village this time.

A meaningless confrontation outside Xicheng Village took a day to pass from Yanmen Village back to Daizhou. The casualties that have been confirmed are not so much the battle between tens of thousands of Khitan iron cavalry and the border fortifications, but the battle between the robbers who beat the grass valley and the archers on the edge of the border.

Although the reported figures were very large, with years of experience and the number of beheadings, Han Gang and Liu Shunqing were able to deduce the roughly correct battle losses and results from them. On one side, two villages were breached, and on the other hand, two soldiers and horses were ambushed, and judging from the results, the casualties on both sides should be too different, only two or three hundred.

Speaking of the results, Liu Shunqing was very impressive: "However, most of the casualties of our army are border archers, and the forbidden army that went to help did not suffer much loss." The Liao people are all elite cavalry! ”

Han Gang shook his head, "It can't be said that the Liao people have suffered a big loss. The edged archers of the Great Song Dynasty and the Liao people's head army are actually similar in identity. ”

Although there is a big difference in the military system, on the whole, only the leather room army and the palace army can be classified into the ranks of the forbidden army in the Liao State, while the other tribal armies, the head army, and the subordinate army are not much different from the Xiang army and the township soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty in terms of rank.

"The elites in the army under the head are all the private soldiers of the nobles of the Liao State, and they are not inferior to the palace and the leather room. The same is true of the national army and the tribal army! Liu Shunqing wanted to say a few more words, but when he saw the smile on the corner of Han Gang's mouth, he immediately woke up, since he became an official, he often led the army into battle, and he had experienced more than 10,000 battles than his own family. Laughed dryly, and then changed his words: "But then again, the edged archers in the Yanmen area, when defending the land, are also brave and difficult, and there are many brave people who can open five hard bows. ”

"In advance, we expected that the Liao people would first attack the surrounding villages, and we also ordered the border villages to be vigilant. Qin Huaixin can be regarded as a general, and there will be no situation where he cannot command in the vicinity of Xicheng Village, and he is still dealing with cavalry in the mountains. The location, the people are all there, and the time cannot be said to be on the side of the Liao, but this time two villages were still breached. It can be seen that the Liao people are not so easy to deal with. ”

"That's right." Liu Shunqing echoed Han Gang's sentence and said, "The Liao people are indeed difficult to deal with, and they can win the last time, and let the Liao people return without merit." ”

Han Gang pondered for a moment: "In terms of the overall situation, it is true that the official army has won, but judging from the results, it can only be said to be a tie." ”

Han Gang has always separated strategy and tactics very well, and in terms of strategy, the Liao people did not take any advantage, and the losses were far greater than the gains, which was indeed a small victory. Tactically, it is reluctant to say that a draw is reluctant. In any case, it was two villages that were breached, and the casualties of the defending side and the attacking side were about the same.

Liu Shunqing saw that Han Gang did not have a high evaluation of this battle, so he had a headache. He knew that Han Gang had led the army into battle in the past, and he had always beheaded hundreds of thousands, or broken the army, or destroyed the country, and his vision was expanded. But not everyone in this world can have Han Gang's merits, otherwise the twenty or thirty-year-old envoys would be able to run all over the ground. It is already remarkable to be able to snatch more than forty beheadings from the Liao cavalry, how many people are there in Xicheng Village? How many people are there in a village?

"It's exactly what I said." Liu Shunqing said, "It's just a retreat from the enemy, it's not a big victory...... Thanks to the hard work of the soldiers below, otherwise it would be difficult to have the credit this time. ”

Han Gang stared at Liu Shunqing deeply and said: "This battle is a good start, there are beheadings and captures, and the sharpness of the Liao people has been frustrated, and it must be reported to the imperial court." ”

"But this is a fight with the Liao people after all......" Liu Shunqing tested Han Gang's attitude.

"Don't worry, this is a thief, and the court's reward will not be less! The Son of Heaven and the court will not be stingy. ”

Of course, Han Gang would not stop from reporting the credit this time. Even if he beat the Liao, he would report it to him. Why bother saving money for the court and blaming yourself for your resentment?

Liu Shunqing put down what she was thinking about, and talked and laughed with Han Gang in a relaxed mood. Some of the generals below had sharp ears and heard the conversation between Han Gang and Liu Shunqing, and the whispering voice became louder.

One of Han Gang's personal soldiers appeared outside the hall at some point, pulled the guards at the door, and asked them to bring a letter in.

Han Gang interrupted the communication with Liu Shunqing, took the letter, and first looked at the seal on the envelope, which turned out to be an urgent report sent from Taiyuan by horse.

The hall seemed to be quiet in an instant, and a few people who were still concentrating on talking found that they were inexplicably quiet, and they stopped talking in fright, not knowing what was going on. While the others were looking at Han Gang, the urgent report that could be delivered during the military discussion was of course not too simple.

Han Gang didn't say much, opened the envelope that sealed the opening with fire paint, took out the letterhead inside and unfolded it to take a look, and then folded the letter quietly.

"Xi Yuan." He affectionately called Liu Shunqing's expression, "It seems that I have to go back to Taiyuan first." ”

Liu Shunqing's face changed: "Jingluo, but something happened in Taiyuan?" ”

Liu Shunqing opened his mouth, and the generals in the hall suddenly became more concentrated, pricking up their ears and waiting for Han Gang's answer.

Han Gang smiled slightly: "It's nothing." Originally, it was because the Liao army pressed the border and was worried that Yanmen would be lost, so he came to Daizhou. However, in the past few days, I have seen Xi Yuan with my own eyes, and you are all attentive to state affairs, so I can rest assured. Today's battle is proof of that! Tens of thousands of Liao divisions can't even break the Xicheng Village...... Oh, even if you don't dare to attack, you can only rob the villages in the mountains, such thieves are no longer worried. ”

He raised the letter in his hand, "Now Taiyuan Mansion is also urging me to go back." When I came out, I thought I would have to be idle for a few days, but I didn't expect that it was only a few days away, so I wrote a letter to urge, probably because I was lazy here. ”

Han Gang's relaxed tone caused a chuckle in the hall, making people no longer suspect that there was any urgent military information in the letter he received. Of course, most of them still pretended to be relaxed, and they didn't really believe Han Gang's words. But since Han Gang said so, let it be like this, a person who has no eyes can't sit in this hall.

After the military discussion, he came out of the hall, and the officials and generals dispersed one after another. Only Liu Shunqing was left behind Han Gang's side for half a step. The gentle and indifferent smile on Han Gang's face gradually converged: "The Liao people have nearly 100,000 troops in the clouds, maybe they are not aimed at Daizhou. ”

When Liu Shunqing heard this, he understood it and asked, "Jingluo, is it the letter ...... Fang Cai?"

"The letter is indeed from Taiyuan, but the content of the letter is about the west, some people are not dead, but tens of thousands of people want to follow him on the adventure. Can't help but go back. But don't think that the situation here can't affect the overall situation, and when it's critical, you have to Hedong...... and even Daizhou came out to support the situation. ”

Han Gang said too vaguely, Liu Shunqing's brows became tighter and tighter, and the suspicion in his eyes became thicker and thicker.

Han Gang glanced back at Liu Shunqing, and didn't hide it from him: "This letter just confirmed one thing...... Xu Xi is really crazy. ”