This time, Zhao Xu drove the expedition in person, and he sat in the Chinese army, hoping to capture the land of Daliao. Naturally, it is Nanjing, which is the capital of the country by the Great Liao, and it is also one of the military towns of the sixteen states of Yanyun called Youzhou by the Great Song Dynasty.

It's just that if you want to capture Youzhou, you must first capture the rest of the states that are in front of Youzhou. And the battles along the road are all the responsibility of the Chinese army led by Zhao Xu. The other right army is also on the side as the side of the Chinese army.

Like the Left Route Army led by Yang Shipeng, Zhao Xu, who marched into the Liao border, always wanted to fight against the Liao army, the generals against the generals, and the duel between the king and the king. It's a pity that the Liao army doesn't seem to intend to have this kind of duel with him at all.

Relying on the city wall passes built during the former Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the Liao army adopted the method of blocking and constantly consuming the spirit of the Song army. Even if the final victory belongs to the Song army. But time and energy are constantly being consumed.

Looking at the cities that have been recovered one after another, Zhao Xu is undoubtedly happy. Either way, it's always good to win. But in the eyes of Zhang Dun, who was in charge of the battle, this kind of victory outweighed the losses, and he was even a little tired.

Their army, because of Zhao Xu's sitting, is undoubtedly the largest number of troops among the three armies. However, this kind of soldier is strong and strong, and there are great requirements for the supply of logistics materials.

When people eat horses and chew them, the amount of grain and grass consumed is also massive. But to attack such a small city, many officers and soldiers can only stay on the sidelines and watch the battle. This is undoubtedly a waste of troops. Moreover, the recovered cities have few harvested materials.

The most important thing is that Zhang Dian feels that they are in an advantageous position. In these successive small siege battles, the proportion of casualties was much higher than that of the Liao army. Even if some cities were eventually captured, the Liao army in the city was almost dead.

Compared to the strength of these defenders, Zhang Dian was very distressed by the loss of his elites. There is such a thing as a siege. The cavalry simply didn't help much. Only occasionally when visiting the city, he shot some Liao troops on the city walls.

When the army arrived at the first state city, looking at this well-built state city, Zhang Dian also felt that the next siege battle. I'm afraid that the casualties of the army will be heavier, but he doesn't have a good way.

During this time, Zhang Dian has also been looking forward to it. The one who sent reinforcements to the Left Route Army, Cho Hyo-seok. I can send him reinforcements, but I just can't see it. For the desire for reinforcements, Zhang Dian also dared to think and dare not speak.

Seeing that Zhao Xu seemed to be very satisfied with this result, and every day he seemed to hear that the army had won, Zhang Xuan really didn't dare to express his worries. After all, pouring cold water on the emperor is a very dangerous thing!

With the army encamped outside the city of Yingzhou, this ancient city was later located between the rivers of Hebei. Now it is also blocked outside the capital of the Great Liao Kingdom, a hard bone that must be gnawed.

In addition to Yingzhou, if the Song army wanted to attack the Great Liao Nanjing Mansion, it also needed to capture the state cities of Zhuozhou, Mozhou, and Jizhou. It is precisely because of the protection of these easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack state cities that Da Liao dared to set up the national capital in Youzhou.

In the face of this first obstacle, Zhao Xu also personally checked the terrain and found that this Yingzhou city was indeed easy to defend and attack. Not to mention these tall city walls, which are the county seats of their territories. Song Jun also took a lot of effort to take it.

Looking at this city that originally belonged to the Central Plains, Zhao Xu said with a little expectation: "Zhang Aiqing." How many days will it take for the army to take this city in front of you? During this time, the army is tired, do you want to rest for a day before fighting? ”

Although he rarely commanded troops to participate in battles, he would watch the battle with great interest every time a large army attacked the city. For the soldiers of this great army. Zhao Xu was still very satisfied, and from this expedition, he could see that it was not easy for these soldiers.

Even if Zhao Xu is the emperor, he enjoys the most comfortable carriage to travel. But Zhao Xu also felt that his body was a little unbearable all the way. Not to mention. And what about these elite infantry, mostly on foot?

Hearing Zhao Xu's inquiry, Zhang Dian bent down and said, "Back to the emperor, according to the news from the spies, the Liao army in Yingzhou City has gathered nearly 30,000 defenders. The grain and grass stored in it are enough for them to last for a month.

If it is attacked, I am afraid that the army will suffer heavy casualties. During this time, although our army recovered many affiliated cities, the casualties were far greater than those of the Liao army. And next, I'm afraid there will be a few more battles of this kind! ”

Although Zhao Xu didn't know much about military affairs, he could hear that Zhang Xuan was worried, and quickly said: "Zhang Aiqing, I said before I set out on the expedition, if you have any needs, just mention it to me." As long as I can capture the enemy city, I will do my best to meet your requirements. ”

Not bad! In order to prepare for this war, Zhao Xu can be described as a national mobilization. In addition to the three-way attacking army, there are also hundreds of thousands of troops in the border city. These armies, following behind the three-way army, continued to receive the captured cities.

In addition, with the stationing of these troops, the Song army can also ensure as much as possible that their back road will not be copied by the Liao army. With the strategic arrangement proposed by Zhang Dun before the war, this battle is mainly based on stability, and the victory is as stable as possible.

No matter how the Liao army came, the three-way army could not rush forward. They must be mutually reciprocal. In order to avoid the dilemma of the army being disjointed and broken by the Liao army. Preparing so many troops, Zhao Xu was naturally full of confidence and wanted to win.

Listening to Zhao Xu, he let himself be blunt, but Zhang Dian still didn't dare to say anything. In the end, he could only say: "Back to the emperor, according to Weichen's opinion, it is best for the army to rest for a day first." Send out cavalry to scout around and see if there are any other shortcuts to break the city.

If you really can't find a shortcut to break the city, the army can only attack to the death. If Yingzhou City is not taken, our army's next offensive will also be incompatible. The most important thing is that the main cavalry of the Liao army has not been seen! ”

Regarding Zhang Dan's words, Zhao Xu also frowned slightly and said, "Yes! When this war began, I felt that the Liao State seemed to be deliberately avoiding the war. Originally, defending the city was what our army was good at, but now they are defending the city. That doesn't seem like a good idea! ”

Seeing that Zhao Xu was also aware of this, Zhang Xuan said: "According to the news obtained by the spies, Emperor Yelu Hongji of Liao is now the capital of Zhenzhong, and it seems that he is gathering cavalry from various tribes to help. This time, it was his prince Yelutu who sat in Youzhou City.

Although this prince is young, he is also deeply favored by Emperor Liao. The strategic arrangement against our army this time is also from the hand of this prince. Its main cavalry seems to be huddled around Youzhou to guard.

In the city of Yingzhou in front of you, most of the defenders are Han annexes, but most of the supervising troops are Khitan cavalry and nobles. According to the news sent by the Left Route Army, the Khitan seems to have intended to let our army and the Han annexed army kill each other. It's disgusting! ”

Because Zhao Xiaoxi activated the Buyi Pavilion and Wuwei, and cooperated with the Song army to investigate the military situation of the Liao State. As for the situation in each city, for most of the attacking Song army, there is no secrecy to speak of. Zhang Dian believes that Zhao Xu is aware of this!

For the Left Route Army, which has already recovered a state, Zhao Xu is undoubtedly happy. Thinking of Zhang Dan's previous hesitation, Zhao Xu suddenly smiled and said, "Zhang Aiqing, do you want me to give an order to the king of Qiongzhou and let him send troops to help?"

Although I don't know how he sent only twenty people to capture Shuozhou City. But I have to say that this cousin of mine is really good at some strange and clever techniques. Don't worry, I said that as long as Zhang Aiqing needs it, I will fully support it. ”

Seeing that he was a little cautious, he still couldn't hide it from Zhao Xu, Zhang Dian could only smile bitterly: "Thank you for the emperor's understanding, Weichen just doesn't want the army, because of the strong attack on this kind of fortified city, the army has suffered heavy losses and lost the sharpness of the attack." ”

Just when Zhao Xu agreed, he wrote a letter to Zhao Xiaoxi and asked him to send that kind of reinforcement. The commander of the cavalry Fengzi battalion guarding his left and right. Wang Zishu, who is also a little related to Zhao Xu, suddenly rode a horse and galloped over.

Turned over and dismounted and said: "The last general Wang Zishu, see the emperor!" There was a detachment, which had previously arrived at the camp of our army with the warrant of the king of Qiongzhou. Now the people are already waiting in the camp to face the saint, and please ask the emperor to show it! ”

Hearing this, Zhao Xu couldn't help but smile and said, "Zhang Aiqing, it seems that my cousin is still aware of the difficulties of our army. It's really not a casual conversation, we just finished talking about him, and his people have arrived.

Okay, now go back to the camp, and I'll see what kind of surprise this cousin has sent to me. As long as I can recover the sixteen states of Yanyun, I don't mind, I will touch more of his light as the king of Qiongzhou! ”

Zhang Dun didn't dare to say this, but it made the prince a little happy. For him, he actually didn't want to see the emperor fighting with Zhao Xiaoxi. After all, for the Wang family, Zhao Xu and Zhao Xiaoxi are actually the difference between the palm of the hand and the back of the hand.

When Zhao Xu returned to the camp with Zhang Dan, he looked at the hundreds of people gathered outside the camp tent wearing ordinary Song Army baggage uniforms. Zhao Xu was also very curious, how effective can these hundreds of people really have on the siege of the city?

Looking at Zhao Xu, who was wearing golden armor, the visitor quickly knelt down and said: "The last general, Zhao Eighteen, visit our emperor, long live, long live, long live!" ”

I heard that the person's surname was Zhao, and he took the name of eighteen. Zhao Xu said with a little majesty: "Flat!" ”

Zhao 18 got up and said, "Emperor Xie!" ”

When Zhao Eighteen and the others got up, Zhao Xu said again: "Zhao Eighteen, you should be from the palace guard, right?" ”

Zhao 18 arched his hand and said: "The emperor is wise, the last general was a guard of King Xu's mansion earlier, and then he was sent to the side of the little prince on an errand." got the letter of the king, and gave the surname of the country to be rewarded with the name of eighteen. Now on the orders of the prince, he led troops to help in the war. ”

looked at Zhao Eighteen in front of him, and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly. Zhao Xu also felt that these subordinates cultivated by that cousin were really elites. This kind of ability, even he must admit that it is inferior.

Fortunately, at this time, Zhao Xu would not care what kind of person Zhao Shibai was. He only knew that these people in front of him were sent by Zhao Xiaoxi to serve him, and that was enough. After all, this move also shows that Zhao Xiaoxi has him, the emperor and his cousin, in his heart!

Maybe only at this time can Zhao Xu really feel that Zhao Xiaoxi is sincere to him. No matter what others say, Zhao Xiaoxi's achievements are high. From beginning to end, Cho Hyo-seok respected his status as a cousin.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xu felt quite content. After all, in his heart, he actually admires this cousin very much. It's a pity that for the sake of the emperor's majesty, he must do something to let others know that he is the emperor of the Great Song Dynasty! (To be continued......)