The casualty ratio of seven to one and the casualty rate of 1.5 percent, strictly speaking, such a figure is quite good for the army of this era, but if it is placed on the current Zhou army, it is not very beautiful. After all, since the establishment of the "Flying Dragon Army" and the "Security Army", with the absolute superiority of their own forces, there has never been a situation in which the casualty rate of their own side exceeds 1% in a single city attack and defense battle. Even in the battle of Zuzhou Changbacheng, which was previously considered to be the most fierce offensive and defensive battle in the city, the casualty rate of the left army of the Northern Expedition besieging the city was only about 0.8 percent. In other words, in the Battle of Fengzhou, the Northern Expedition Middle Route Army set a record since the establishment of the "Flying Dragon Army" and the "Security Army", and it was also an inglorious record. Therefore, when Zeng Zhilin walked into Fengzhou City, surrounded by his personal guards and a group of middle- and high-ranking generals, he saw a battalion of "security troops" under the command of military medical officers and veterans familiar with the funeral customs of the army, cleaning the bodies of more than 200 fallen soldiers, putting on new clothes, and putting them in coffins.

With the passage of time, with the fight of one war after another, as the "Youzhou Righteous Army" became the Beiping Army and then became the Great Zhou Forbidden Army, the army that was originally quite mysterious, inscrutable, and like a heavenly soldier and a heavenly general gradually lost its mystery. While showing his super strength and combat effectiveness to the world, he also exposed his own characteristics, especially his shortcomings, little by little. The inability to give full play to the power of artillery fire in close combat, the dependence on logistical supplies, the inability of heavy large and medium-caliber artillery to maneuver quickly, and so on. Although outsiders may not be able to fully grasp these shortcomings of the "Flying Dragon Army", and may not be able to find the best way to restrain these shortcomings quickly, the battles of Zuzhou and Fengzhou fully show that some people are already studying and pondering the "Flying Dragon Army", and they are beginning to try to use the shortcomings they have found to confront the "Flying Dragon Army". In time, among these pioneers who have first glimpsed the clues of the "Flying Dragon Army", there may not be a "Flying Dragon Army" who has a master, and there may not be a wise man who has found an effective way to counter all these shortcomings of the "Flying Dragon Army." At that time, the "Flying Dragon Army", which had been invincible and invincible before, was likely to lose its "invincible" aura and was likely to lose the battle. Once the battle is defeated, the blow to the morale of the "Flying Dragon Army" will be far more fierce and greater than that of other armies. Although such a blow cannot really defeat the "Wyvern Army", it may make it doubt its own ability, which will affect its combat effectiveness for a period of time; Second, it may make the general who leads the army angry, put aside any scruples, rely on his superiority in firepower, and take fierce revenge on the opponent.

If the army has doubts about its own combat effectiveness, it can still correct and restore it through ideological education and more victories, but the reckless use of firepower may have serious consequences. On the one hand, the common people affected by the war would have resentment against the "Flying Dragon Army", the Zhou army, and even the entire Great Zhou court, which would bring trouble and resistance to the court's rule and management of this place in the future. On the other hand, it will also cause the commanders of the "Flying Dragon Army" at all levels to no longer pay attention to the study and study of strategy and tactics, but only know how to blindly rely on firepower to win. In the long run, the "Flying Dragon Army" will only cultivate "demons" who are tyrannical and murderous, and do not know what to do if they cannot give full play to their firepower advantage for various reasons, and there will no longer be "war gods" who are proficient in the art of war and can adapt to the shape of the battlefield.

You must know that because he was injured by the assassins because of his own carelessness, the Southern Expeditionary Army's retaliation by shelling Jurong City made the Southern Tang states and counties frightened and greatly accelerated the progress of pacifying the Southern Tang Dynasty, but it also made the gentry and people in Jurong City and their relatives and friends in other places complain and be dissatisfied, so that the officials sent by the Later Zhou court to Jurong and several surrounding states and counties encountered great resistance in governance, and had to spend extra strength to calm down the people's grievances and recover the people's hearts. It had a significant impact on the post-war recovery and development of the county and surrounding areas. More importantly, despite the lessons of Jurong City, when the Northern Expedition Middle Route Army encountered resistance and made relatively slow progress in attacking Fengzhou City, he still had the idea of withdrawing infantry, bombarding the whole city of Fengzhou, and overwhelming the will of the defenders with strong firepower. Fortunately, he, the person who caused the shelling of Jurong City, knew the bad consequences of doing so, and gave up this idea rationally. However, just because you can restrain your impulse does not mean that other generals can also restrain this impulse. And once the impulsive generals are in the majority, it may affect the combat atmosphere of the entire "Flying Dragon Army", and it will be difficult to get it back after a long time. In fact, since he heard the news that Lao Thirty-one was besieged in Yuzhou and was seriously injured, Zeng Zhilin has been hanging in his heart. First, I was worried about Wu Peng's injury, afraid that he would not be able to survive this hurdle. Second, I am also worried that if Wu Peng really has three longs and two shorts, I am afraid that the entire crossing team, including himself, will become angry, and will not hesitate to burn the anger of revenge on the Khitans and the grassland tribes. At that time, the entire Khitan territory, including the grassland, will inevitably fall into a bloody storm, and will inevitably be killed, with a rolling head and corpses all over the field, and its tragic procedures will definitely exceed the Jurong City of the year countless times, just thinking about it will make people feel frightened.

Moreover, the defeat of the battle is likely to make the "Wyvern Army" unable to retreat in its entirety, especially if a small group of men and horses encounter defeat. However, if the whole body cannot retreat, especially when the troops retreat in a hurry, it is very likely that the weapons of the "Flying Dragon Army" will be lost - although the "Regulations on the Use of Firearms" stipulate the final disposition of firearms in the event of unfavorable war, unexpected situations are inevitable. However, the consequences of losing a weapon are very severe. For one, the enemy can use these lost weapons to imitate them. Even if the other party may not be able to achieve results in the short term due to limitations in technology and technology, it may not be able to gain something in time. Second, the enemy army can explore and master the use of these lost weapons, find their shortcomings and shortcomings, so that they can carry out targeted confrontations in future wars, and even use the captured weapons to turn around against the "Flying Dragon Army", and in this way, they can obtain more weapons to strengthen their own firearms team. It is also a question that requires planning ahead and thinking about how to deal with it in advance.

All kinds of feelings and experiences poured into his heart, which made Zeng Zhilin quite a desire to express his heart. So, after entering a local gentry mansion that was set up as a temporary Chinese military office, Zeng Zhilin sent out his accompanying generals, sat alone in the study in the courtyard of the mansion and worked hard to write, put his thoughts and experiences on paper, and put forward solutions to the above problems that he felt were reasonable and feasible.

From the beginning of the time to the beginning of the Shen period, Zeng Zhilin spent a full two hours and wrote three or four thousand words freely, and then he put down his pen unsatisfied. Considering that if this experience is submitted to the committee, it will inevitably have a certain impact on the future operations of the Zhou army, especially the "Flying Dragon Army," and his own feelings and opinions alone will certainly not be comprehensive and objective. Therefore, Zeng Zhilin planned to send someone to find Cheng Fei and Mutel, who were arranging for the army to be stationed and interrogate the prisoners, and the three brothers would go through the details together, so as not to have any omissions or mistakes. No, before he could call his entourage to invite the two brothers, Cheng Fei and Muttel had already come together.

As soon as the two entered the door, before Zeng Zhilin could show them the results of his hour-long struggle, Muttel had already opened his mouth first: "Twenty-seventh brother, brother, I have obtained two important news from interrogating the prisoners. ”

Hearing that there was important news, Zeng Zhilin was not in a hurry to show his "works", but motioned for Muttel to sit down and continue.

"According to the prisoner's confession, Yelu Jing, the 'sleeping king' emperor of the Khitan, saw that our army had entered Fengzhou, and wanted to abandon Changchun Prefecture and flee to Huanglong Mansion. Although the relevant news is only a private rumor, but as the so-called 'no wind and no waves', our soldiers are pressing, and this guy who wants to come to Yelujing will definitely not obediently stay in Changchun Prefecture and wait for us to catch him, and it is inevitable to escape. Muttel reported the results of the interrogation while adding his own judgment and analysis.

The Zhou army pressed the border and approached the city, and Yelujing abandoned the city and fled, which was originally expected by everyone. Therefore, after listening to Muter's report, Zeng Zhilin was not surprised, but he was a little incomprehensible that the other party did not run to Liaoyang Mansion, where the Khitan court had stronger control power and was farther away from the current battlefield, but fled to Huanglong Mansion, which was closer to Murowei, Jurchen and other subject areas and only more than 200 miles away from the current battlefield. After all, it is not only very close to the Jurchen tribes that are close to the Khitan court and rebel from time to time, but if they pursue, it will only take a day or two at most to come to the city again, and Yelu Jing will flee there I am afraid that he will not even catch his breath, so he will continue to flee, and he will be stabbed in the back by the Jurchen tribes, which is far better than fleeing to Liaoyang Mansion nearly a thousand miles away to fight against the Zhou army. Yes, he immediately asked: "What is the news from the 'Dark Feather' Changchun Prefecture Branch?" ”

"According to the news of 'Dark Feather', Yelu Jing is still in Changchun Prefecture and has not left. However, due to the pressure of our army's troops, the Khitans have extremely strict control over the roads around Changchun Prefecture and between Changchun Prefecture and Fengzhou, and it is very difficult for the 'Dark Feather' to deliver news to us, and now the news in our hands is still three days ago. Therefore, Yelu Jing is still not in Changchun Prefecture, and he still needs to wait for the latest news from 'Dark Feather' and the scouts and scouts we sent out to finalize. Muttel added.

"Actually, whether Yelu Jing is in Changchun Prefecture now, whether he has fled to Huanglong Mansion or somewhere else, it doesn't make much difference to us. The task of our Central Route Army in this Northern Expedition is to cooperate with the Left Route Army to sweep Shangjing Road, defeat the main force of the Khitan Army, and kill Yelujing. Therefore, it would naturally be better if Ye Lujing could be caught in Changchun Prefecture, and it didn't matter if he couldn't be caught. When the time comes, our troops will divide into two routes, all the way west to the grassland, cooperate with the left route army, and subdue all the grassland departments. chased Yelujing's ass all the way until he caught him, even if it was to the ends of the earth. Cheng Fei said with some disapproval - according to the battle plan, after taking Changchun Prefecture, Zeng Zhilin will go south to Liaoyang Mansion and sit on the Tokyo Road captured by the Right Route Army. And Cheng Fei himself depends on the situation. If Yelujing was captured or killed, he led some of his troops and horses back to Kaifeng; If Jerejing escapes, he will have to lead his men to chase him down the road until he catches or kills him. And Yelu Jing's abandonment of Changchun Prefecture and escape was expected by everyone, and Cheng Fei had long been prepared for the hardships of his subsequent battles, so it didn't matter to him whether the other party really fled to Huanglong Mansion or not.

Zeng Zhilin was very aware of the hardships that Cheng Fei might face after the battle of Changchun Prefecture, so after listening to his words, he no longer wondered whether Yelujing was still in Changchun Prefecture, but turned to Mutel and asked, "What is the second important news?" ”

According to the prisoners' confessions, the total number of Khitan troops who came to Fengzhou for reinforcements this time was far more than 2,000 people who entered the city, but 20,000 people, including 5,000 of them belonging to Yelu Jing's guard. In other words, there are still nearly 18,000 Khitan troops cruising around our army, waiting for an opportunity to move. Muttel replied in a deep voice.

"Who is the leader of this Khitan reinforcement army? The captives know the whereabouts of their main forces. Zeng Zhilin asked when he heard this.

"According to the captive's confession, the main commander of this Khitan reinforcement army is Yelu Xianzhen. As for the current position of its main force, the captives did not know. According to their confessions, shortly after the reinforcements left Changchun Prefecture, they were separated from the main force under the leadership of a general and rushed to Fengzhou, so it was impossible to know the whereabouts of their main force. ”

"The whereabouts of the Khitan reinforcements are nothing more than two possibilities." Cheng Fei analyzed on the side, "First, we set up an ambush somewhere between Fengzhou and Changchun Prefecture to raid our army. The second is to avoid the main force of our army, move on the front line of Wuzhou, Fengzhou, and Changchun Prefecture, and attack and harass our army's grain routes, so that our army cannot concentrate on going north to Changchun Prefecture and cannot pursue Yelujing with all its might. However, considering that there is a flat river between Changchun Prefecture and Fengzhou, there is no precipitous place suitable for ambush, and there is a large gap between the strength of the enemy and us, even if he has the opportunity to sneak attack the main force of our army, he will not be able to get any advantage. Therefore, I think that Yelu is more likely to adopt the strategy of cutting off my food routes and forcing me to return to the army to clear the rear. In this way, not only can we buy more time for Yelujing to escape, but if it is done well, it may also cause chaos in our army due to poor logistics, and it may be possible to withdraw from the army. ”

"Humph! This Yelu oblique wishful thinking is really loud enough. Muttel snorted and said, "It's a pity that our brother is not a fool, even if there is no prisoner's explanation, our brother will be careful about the vital logistics supply line, how can he get cheap." ”

"The two brothers are right." Zeng Zhilin nodded and said, "In this case, why don't we be a favor and give Yelu a plan, so that he thinks that his conspiracy has succeeded, so that he can be happy behind his back." ”

Speaking of this, Zeng Zhilin thought for a moment, and then continued: "In my opinion, you will lead the 'Flying Dragon Army', the 'Wolf Tooth Battalion', the Second Independent Cavalry Regiment, the Fourth Division Cavalry Regiment, and the two cavalry regiments of the 'Security Army' to the south in concealment, go to Wuzhou, and then return to Fengzhou with a swagger pretending to be a supply convoy, and lead Yelu to take the bait. As for the old twenty-nine, don't be idle. You go to the people from the Fengzhou branch of the 'Dark Feather' and ask them to spread the news around. Let's just say that our army suffered a lot of losses in the battle of Fengzhou, and the consumption of various materials, especially ammunition, was also very large, and it was in urgent need of replenishment. Before the new batch of military grain and grass is delivered, they will not continue to go north, but will stay in Fengzhou City to rest. In this way, you can not only induce Yelu to attack obliquely with a large amount of grain and grass, especially weapons and ammunition, but also stabilize Yelujing, who is about to escape, and let him go slowly, so that you will not have to worry when you go after him. ”

Cheng Fei and Muttel agreed, turned around and were about to prepare. Zeng Zhilin stopped Mutel again, and instructed: "Since you are doing a show, you have to do enough, when you pretend to be a supply convoy to go north, there should be no less scouts and scouts of the faction, and there should be no sloppiness when you should rest in formation, so as not to be seen by Yelu obliquely, and not to drill into our trap." Although the other party is still very young, I have the impression that Brother Qi once said when he was talking about history that this guy was also a generation of Khitan generals in his previous life, and he made great contributions to the Khitan court's expedition to the east and west. If I'm not mistaken, in his previous life, Yang Jiye, the 'Golden Sword Linggong', was ambushed by him, was injured and captured, and finally martyred. ”

"Brother, don't worry, brother, I have fought for more than ten years, and I still have the ability to lure the enemy, and I can't see any flaws in the custody of the sect." Speaking of this, Mutel suddenly smiled narrowly and quipped, "It's a pity that Yang Ye in this time and space is now in the northwest looking at Li Guangrui, the new leader of the Laozi class who took him from illness and died in the Yinxia Mansion, that is, the former Dingyan Army, and can't pull out." Otherwise, it would be interesting to transfer him to the front line of the Northern Expedition and fight that Yelu slanted for 300 rounds, and capture the latter alive. ”

After saying that, the three brothers looked at each other and laughed.

On the thirteenth night of the fifth month of the lunar calendar of the seventh year of Jianlong, Mutel led the "Flying Dragon Army", "Wolf Tooth Battalion", the Second Independent Cavalry Regiment, the Fourth Composite Infantry Division Cavalry Regiment, and the two cavalry regiments of the 'Security Army', a total of more than 10,000 men and horses, quietly left Fengzhou City, disappeared invisibly, and rushed to Wuzhou City. At the same time, the Zhou army, which had been marching rapidly, began to camp inside and outside Fengzhou City, without any intention of continuing to go north. As a result, the news that the Zhou army suffered heavy losses in the first battle of Fengzhou, consumed huge materials, and urgently needed to rest and replenish also spread in Fengzhou and beyond.