Knowing that the Liao army had finally begun to fight according to normal logic, Xu Shaoan also felt relieved while thinking about the possible whereabouts of the more than 10,000 Liao troops -- it was much easier to know that the Liao army had made a move than to keep on guard against any conspiracy and tricks made by the other side. However, this feeling of relaxation is only a fleeting moment, after all, the sudden dispatch of the Liao army, which has been stagnant for many days, will inevitably have a plan. As for the purpose of the Liao army's dispatch, in Xu Shao'an's view, there are only three possibilities. The first is to make a long-distance attack on Gu'an City, which has just been occupied by the Zhou army, and take this late transit station of the Zhou army, which is closest to the main force of the Youyun Liao army, to cut off the logistics supply of the Zhou army, so that it will not fight because of the lack of supply and lack of food. The second was to swim back and forth between Gu'an and Baoxingzhuang, destroying the grain route of the Zhou army and hindering the attack of the Zhou army. The third is to attack and harass the main brigade of the Zhou army that is on the march, delay the speed of the Zhou army's advance, consume the vitality of the Zhou army, and hit the morale of the Zhou army's generals, so as to occupy an advantageous position in the later decisive battle.

However, in terms of the current situation and the strength of the Liao army this time, Xu Shaoan is actually more inclined to the second or third possibility. Because while the main force of the Zhou army continued to move north, Chai Rong transferred part of his troops from the defenders of Guannan Zhuzhou County to the north to assist in the defense, and now the Zhou defenders in Gu'an City have reached 8,000 people. It is impossible to attack 8,000 infantry soldiers of the Zhou army who are good at defending the city with 10,000 cavalry of the Liao army, who are not good at attacking the city. Even if Xiao Siwen didn't know anything about the military, he wouldn't make such a decision. However, destroying the grain routes of the Zhou army with light cavalry and sneaking up on the main force of the Zhou army on the march was the specialty of the Liao army, and the possibility of the Khitans adopting these two tactics was still very great. Of course, these two possibilities are only a general judgment of Xu Shao'an's movements of the Liao army, and there are still many problems that he has not completely thought through. In particular, it is true that the 10,000 Liao troops on the Baoxingzhuang side can cross the river by building a haode pontoon bridge in advance, but in the absence of other bridges within dozens of miles of the upper and lower reaches, how can the 10,000 Liao troops cross the river from the other side of the river to attack the Zhou army brigade and attack the Zhou army brigade -- after all, in the face of the upper reaches of the Baigou River, which is dozens of zhang wide and several zhang deep, it is impossible for the Liao cavalry to fly over from the other side of the river with wings on their backs.

However, no matter whether Xu Shao'an could determine the specific whereabouts and purpose of the 10,000 Liao troops, the news that the Liao army had crossed the river on light horseback and whose whereabouts were unknown must be sent to Chai Rong immediately, so as not to cause unnecessary losses to the main force due to the delay of the vanguard troops. Therefore, Xu Shaoan immediately found the master who accompanied the army, wrote a brief report on the sudden dispatch and unknown whereabouts of the Liao army, and sent someone to send it to Chai Rong.

Here, Xu Shao'an received the telegram from the committee and sent someone to deliver a letter to Chai Rong, but the main force of the Zhou army, which knew nothing about this new movement of the Liao army, was still approaching the battalion of the vanguard army according to Jihua. It's just that, unlike the mood of the previous two logs, Chai Rong, who was in the Chinese army at the moment, looked at Zhou Jun who was slowly moving forward in the dripping spring rain, and couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Although the rain was not heavy at the moment, the rain for two consecutive days had made the roads muddy, which seriously affected the speed of the main advance of the Zhou army. Under normal circumstances, the main force of the Zhou army should have been able to look at the main camp of the vanguard army from a distance at this time, instead of still grinding ten miles away from the main camp of the vanguard army as it is now.

Seeing that it was getting late, if he didn't speed up, he might not be able to get to the established camp before dark, and Chai Rong, who was anxious in his heart, passed down his will, asking the relatively lightly armed front army and the Chinese army to speed up their advance, and they must rush to the south of Baoxing Zhuangnan to camp within an hour and a half. The rear army, which carried a large amount of grain and grass and carried a lot of slower movements, was a little behind, as long as they arrived at the camp before dark, so that everyone could not miss dinner.

With the issuance of this decree, the front army and the Chinese army of the main force of the Zhou army, under the supervision of generals at all levels, quickened their pace and hurried towards the camp ten miles away. Although the rear army is also trying its best to move forward, after all, it carries a lot of baggage, and it is impossible to keep up with the speed of the front army and the middle army, so they can only watch their comrades gradually drift away from them in the drizzle, and finally disappear from their sight.

Although he was a little out of touch with his main force, Liu Guangyi, who was appointed by Chai Rong as the commander of the rear army, didn't care very much. First, since the main force of the Zhou army left Gu'an and marched north, the road was calm. It is said that it is the main force of the Liao army, and even the sentry detectives have not seen a few. Therefore, in Liu Guangyi's view, although the rear army has a large number of auxiliary soldiers and servants because it carries a large amount of baggage and grass, and has few soldiers, there will be no danger or any mistakes. Second, because the artillery of the artillery battalion was difficult and slow to travel on the muddy roads in the rain, and the effectiveness of firearms was limited when the two sides were in close contact, Chai Rong transferred the "Shenji Army" from the Chinese army to the rear army after several trade-offs, and joined the baggage troops who were also moving slowly, and then pulled them up when they needed to attack the city or the Liao army camp. This arrangement made Liu Guangyi, who had reached the level of superstition about the combat strength of the "Shenji Army", even more fearless, and walked beside the bronze cannons of the artillery camp on his horse, neither caring about the distance between himself and the main force getting farther and farther, nor taking the possible threat of the Liao army into account. …,

An hour after receiving the telegram from the committee, the messenger sent by Xu Shaoan was finally taken to Chai Rong's royal car. Since Xu Shao'an would send someone to report his safety to Chai Rong after camping two days before, Chai Rong didn't pay much attention to it when he first received a report from the chamberlain that Xu Shao'an's messenger asked to see him—even though the messenger came much earlier today than two days ago. He was discussing with the generals how to fight the Liao army after the Zhou army arrived in Baoxingzhuang, and he did not immediately announce the envoy to meet him, but asked the other party to wait outside and summon him after the discussion with the generals was over. Fortunately, Zhao Kuangyin, who participated in the military discussion, also noticed that Xu Shao'an's messenger came much earlier than in the past, and he was afraid that there was something important on the vanguard side, so after hesitating for a while, he still put forward his opinion to Chai Rong, and suggested that Chai Guan's family summon the messenger first, in case Xu Shao'an really had something important to report.

For Zhao Kuangyin's suggestion, Chai Rong still attaches great importance to it. He immediately stopped the meeting and ordered the messenger to be brought to the Imperial Rim for questioning. The result is that I don't know if I don't ask, and I am shocked when I ask. After learning that more than 10,000 members of the Liao army were heading east and their whereabouts were unknown, Chai Rong's first reaction was that the other party was going to attack Gu'an City, cut off his own grain route, and copy his own back road. However, as Xu Shao'an had thought at the beginning, this possibility was only flashed in Chai Rong's mind and then dismissed - because it was simply an impossible task to conquer Gu'an City, which was guarded by 8,000 Zhou troops, with more than 10,000 Liao troops.

Since it is impossible for the Liao army to attack Gu'an City, then their goal can only be to destroy the Zhou army's grain route and harass the main force of the Zhou army, while strengthening the camp of the Liao army in Baoxingzhuang and buying time for the arrival of Liao reinforcements, they can achieve the purpose of hitting the morale of the Zhou army and shaking the heart of the Zhou army. Thinking of this, Chai Rong nodded slightly, feeling that the Liao army finally put on a picture of wanting to fight with him, and he was finally qualified to be his opponent. But soon, Chai Rong's movements froze there, and the expression on his face became ugly, because he realized that he had just made a mistake because he was in a hurry, a very serious mistake.

Not only Chai Rong, but also a number of generals, including Zhao Kuangyin and Zhang Yongde, also realized this mistake, which was likely to have a major impact on the Northern Expedition Zhou army. Therefore, when Chai Rong ordered Zhao Kuangyin, Han Lingkun and other generals to lead 3,000 cavalry troops and 10,000 infantry troops to rescue the rear army, the generals did not delay at all, and immediately led the troops to rush out of the brigade and gallop south.

Just when Chai Rong ordered the messenger sent by Xu Shao'an to wait outside the imperial palace, the 10,000 elite cavalry of the Liao army led by Xiao Siwen's favorite nephew Xiao Jixian had already crossed the Baigou River on a knee-high river twenty-five miles south of Baoxingzhuang, and quietly touched the rear army of the Zhou army, which was slowly moving only four or five miles away.

Since most of the people in the surrounding area make a living from farming and hunting, only a very small number of fishermen who make a living from fishing know that there is such a shoal on the Baigou River that can be waded through. The reason why the Liao army knew this news was that Xiao Jixian, who led the troops this time, inadvertently heard it from a fisherman in Baoxingzhuang who was forcibly left in the Liao military camp to do labor. When he first heard the news, Xiao Jixian thought of using this shoal to cross the Baigou River, or attack the grain route of the Zhou army, or sneak attack the Zhou army from behind when the two armies of Zhou and Liao were fighting head-on. Therefore, after his uncle Xiao Siwen finally decided to fight to the death with the Zhou army under the double pressure of the battlefield situation and the strict decree of the Liao Emperor, he proposed to his uncle to lead a partial division south, quietly cross the Baigou River, and carry out a surprise attack on the main force of the Zhou army from behind.

Although Xiao Siwen was reluctant to let his favorite nephew take the risk of sneak attack, once Xiao Jixian's suggestion was implemented, it would be very beneficial to the Liao army. Second, Xiao Jixian also repeatedly asked to go to war in person, so Xiao Siwen finally agreed to his nephew's request, pulled out 10,000 elite cavalry of the Liao army equipped with one man and two horses, and gave him the right to dispose of it on the spot, allowing him to harass and attack the Zhou army in different ways according to the needs of the war situation.

Due to the influence of wind and rain, as well as the slackness and underestimation of the enemy caused by the main force of the Youyun Liao army from top to bottom, the rear army of the Zhou army was still unaware of the Liao army, which was only a mile away from him, and such a favorable situation made Xiao Jixian full of confidence. What made him even more pleased was that, according to Tanma's observations, the marching contingent of the Zhou army also included the Great Zhou "Divine Army" that made everyone in the world feel very mysterious and feared. …,

Thanks to the previous achievements of the "Shenji Army", especially the performance of the capture of Gu'an City, when Tanma reported that the "Shenji Army" was also in the front of the Zhou army, Xiao Jixian's initial reaction was surprise, and his first thought was to give up the sneak attack on the Zhou army and avoid a head-on conflict with the "Shenji Army" as much as possible. However, this thought only flashed through his mind. Xiao Jixian, who had carefully studied the letters Cao Jiyun had sent to his uncle Xiao Siwen about his views on the "Divine Machine Army", summed up a series of advantages and disadvantages of the "Divine Machine Army" by virtue of his extraordinary intelligence and wisdom.

In his opinion, because of the extensive use of firearms, the "Shenji Army" does have a much advantage over other armies in attacking and defending cities. However, it is precisely because of the extensive use of firearms that the "Divine Army" also has many deficiencies, the two most critical of which are the complicated and cumbersome operation of firearms and the fear of rain and humid weather.

The complexity and cumbersomeness of the operation also meant that it would take a long time to move from a marching state to an operational state, and in the face of a unit like the Liao army under his command, which was composed entirely of cavalry and had the ability to move quickly, the "Shenji Army" actually did not have enough time to organize a decent defensive formation and erect the artillery that they were proud of. The fear of rain and humidity means that in the current rainy weather, the combat effectiveness of the "Divine Machine Army" will be greatly reduced, and it is the best time to carry out a surprise attack on it. As the saying goes, "the opportunity cannot be lost, the time will never come", Xiao Jixian carefully weighed the pros and cons, and finally decided to carry out the original Jihua and deal a devastating blow to the Zhou army in front.

The plan has been decided, and Xiao Jixian immediately began to adjust the deployment. Under his command, the more than 10,000 Liao troops were soon divided into four parts. One part of them attacked the Zhou army from back to front, and the two parts interspersed and divided the Zhou army from the left and right sides, so that they could not take care of each other. While acting as the second echelon, preparing to reinforce the first echelon that may not be able to progress at any time, Zuihou also has to take on the most important task of rushing up and setting fire to the Zhou army's heavy grain and grass and trying to capture the firearms of the "Shenji Army" after the first echelon successfully disrupted and scattered the enemy army and caused some casualties to the enemy.

It didn't take long for the Liao army's offensive formation to be adjusted. With Xiao Jixian's order, in addition to the two thousand men and horses in the second echelon, the rest of the eight thousand Liao army elite cavalry urged the war horses at the same time and rushed towards the Zhou army outside of Li Xu.