On the fourth day when Li Shaocheng and Meng Ping led 8,000 troops to rescue Zhengzhou, a 100,000 urgent military report was handed back from the front, when Li Congjing was strolling and pondering at the gate of the barracks, because the military report of the messenger could be directly delivered to Li Congjing, and when Li Congjing received the military report, the messenger who was in the dust and dust fainted on the spot due to overwork.

After reading the contents of the military report, Li Congjing immediately returned to the tent and ordered the drumming to gather the generals.

Mo Li and Wang Pu, who were deducing the battle situation in the handsome tent, saw that Li Congjing was moving so quickly, and they both stopped what they were doing and came to ask the reason. General Li Congjing reported to the two of them, and walked straight to the map, his finger slid over the map, and said: "When Li Shaocheng and others marched to Belvedere, they encountered the Khitan army coming to intercept them, and they are now fighting in the Tongshui River Valley. ”

Mo Li and Wang Pu read the military report together, looked up and said: "Li Shaocheng first found the Khitan 5,000 cavalry army, and the two fought a battle in Licheng, and when they were about to pursue in victory, the Khitan reinforcements arrived, and Li Shaocheng decisively ordered the army to withdraw from the battlefield and retreat to the Tongshui River Valley to defend it. Within half a day, the Khitan infantry cavalry that rushed to the Tongshui River Valley reached as many as 20,000, and Li Shaocheng immediately commanded the army to respond to the battle. Because the terrain of the Tongshui River Valley is relatively narrow and long, not to mention that the army of 10,000 people cannot be deployed at all, it is impossible to exceed 2,000 people in a single confrontation. ”

Wang Pu stroked his chin and groaned: "If this is the case, Zhengzhou is in danger, and Yelu Abaoji has expected that we will go to support, so he sent troops to intercept halfway." ”

"Not a volley." Li Congjing looked at the huge picture hanging, his eyes became deeper and deeper because of thinking, "It's a siege to help!" ”

"Reinforcements?"

Mo Li opened the folding fan and smiled slightly, "In the war with Qianliang, encircling points and sending reinforcements is a common method used by the Hundred Battles Army, and it has long been familiar. It's just that Yelu Abaoji's tactics this time are a little different from simply encircling and sending reinforcements. ”

"What's the difference?" Wang Pu asked.

"Not only does he have to send reinforcements, but he also has to take Jeongju." Li Congjing said, left in front of the map, and sat down in the handsome case, "And Belvedere is the excellent battlefield selected by Yelu Abaoji, and the five thousand people that Li Shaocheng encountered before were the bait given to us by Yelu Abaoji." If it weren't for the timely discovery of Khitan reinforcements by the scouts, and if it weren't for Li Shaocheng's impeccable command of this battle, the army could quickly break away from the battlefield and retreat to the Tongshui River Valley, which is long and narrow and favorable to our army. ”

The danger in this, as long as you are not careful, you will lose all the games, Wang Puyin sighed: "Vice Marshal Li, the real general!" ”

Mo Li returned to his place and sat down, turned sideways and asked Li Congjing, "So how is Brother Li going to deal with it?" ”

"The battle of the Tongshui Valley has been retreated. As far as we are concerned, Jeongju must be saved, and if Jeongju wants to be saved, we must open up a channel to support Jeongju; As far as Yelu Abaoji is concerned, Zhengzhou must be conquered, and Zhengzhou must be conquered before it can enter Xijing. Therefore, the focus of this stage of the war is now in the Tongshui Valley. Li Congjing said.

Mo Li nodded, "Fighting the Khitan army in the Tongshui River Valley, for our army, is already a situation of disadvantage in the current troops, and there are at least two advantages: first, the terrain of the Tongshui River Valley is long and narrow, and the troops invested by both sides at one time will not be much, which narrows the gap in strength in disguise; Second, the Tongshui River Valley is located between Xijing and Zhengzhou, and it happens that we will dispatch troops, so that we can not only win the battle, but also avoid the worry of Yelu Abaoji taking advantage of the emptiness of Xijing to sneak attack. ”

Wang Pu pondered for a moment and added: "To ensure the smooth progress of the battle of the Tongshui River Valley, there are two things to deal with. The first is the war in Hengzhou, and the second is the situation in Xijing, the former cannot be defeated, and the latter must remain stable. ”

Li Congjing bowed slightly, and said: "I have my own arrangements for the war in Hengzhou, and as for the affairs of Xijing, I have to rely on Li Siping to make more efforts." When he finished saying this, the generals in the army gathered one after another to the tent, and Li Congjing arranged for someone to inform Li Siping, which explained the current situation to the generals and issued an order for the battle.

The garrison stationed in Xijing has the heavy responsibility of ensuring the rear, and the Youzhou army must be separated to stay behind, and this Li Congjing was handed over to Lu Longjun, and more than 10,000 battle troops converged with more than 10,000 Bohai Navy, led by him personally, and went to the Tongshui River Valley to participate in this battle.

When arranging this battle, Li Congjing naturally thought of Junzidu. After the end of the military discussion, Li Congjing once again asked about the current situation of Tao Yao Junzidu, but still did not get the answer he wanted. Although the military intelligence department is elite, after all, the gentlemen are too far away from Xijing, and there is not only a mountain barrier between the two, but also a Khitan army, which makes the transmission of news extremely difficult.

After Li Siping received Li Congjing's notice, he quickly rushed to the barracks from the city and asked to see Li Congjing in the Shuai tent.

The Tang Dynasty is the suzerainty of the Bohai Sea, after Li Cunqiao entered the Central Plains, the Bohai State also sent envoys to pay tribute, in military and political affairs, especially in the current war with the Khitan, the "Tang envoy" has much more power than ordinary people imagine. But the Youzhou Army is a guest army after all, and Li Congjing, a "self-proclaimed" envoy, does not dare to be careless.

Out of instinctive reverence for the Celestial Empire, most of the officials and people of the Bohai Kingdom have an impression of the Tang Dynasty in the era when China had the "Heavenly Khan". In addition, after the Youzhou army entered the Bohai Sea, it has achieved some results, although the current situation is unclear, but at least it is not bad, the Bohai officials in Xijing, the fear and trust of the Tang Dynasty, most of them exceed the fear of the emerging power Khitan. In such a situation, there is Li Siping guarding Xijing, and under normal circumstances, there will be no chaos in Xijing.

When Li Congjing had a discussion with Li Siping, he truthfully told the army about the actions of the campaign, and also explained his own requirements for Xijing, and Li Siping resolutely guaranteed that Xijing would definitely not lag behind in various logistical supplies such as grain and grass, medicine, and people's husbands.

After saying this, Li Congjing asked Daming'an about the situation in Beijing, especially about Daming'an's recruitment of new troops. Li Siping's answer made Li Congjing generally satisfied, and the affairs presided over by Damingan in Shangjing were carried out in an orderly manner, which also means that the situation is developing in a good direction. However, Li Siping also mentioned that Daming'an's situation was not all satisfactory, and in the process of his efforts for the survival of the Bohai State, whether it was recruiting new troops or others, it was inevitable to seize power.

With the increasing power of Daming'an, the power of control is getting bigger and bigger, and there are undoubtedly more and more right and wrong, and political enemies. And these are not any different because he is the prince of Bohai, or because what he is doing now is for the survival of Bohai.

Li Congjing has no special views on this.

After the preparation of the army was completed, Li Congjing immediately led the army and set out to reinforce the Tongshui Valley.