After the camp was set up, Chai Rong ordered people to return to Gu'an City, urging the rear to step up the transportation of grain, grass and baggage to make up for the losses caused by the previous battle; On the one hand, he tried his best to treat the wounded generals, especially the generals of the "Divine Machine Army", and did his best to maintain his own combat effectiveness. At the same time, Chai Rong also sent a large number of scout horses, while paying close attention to the movements of the main camp of the Liao army, and at the same time making every effort to probe the Liao army that attacked him.

However, Chai Rong's series of actions did not make his situation better, on the contrary, as time went by, the situation became more and more unfavorable for him, or indeed for Zhou Jun. The grain and grass baggage from Gu'an was attacked one after another, not only lost a large amount of grain and grass, but also suffered heavy casualties among the soldiers responsible for the grain, so that Zhang Zangying, who was left by Chai Rong to guard Gu'an City, had to transfer the Gu'an garrison to participate in the grain charge, which made him who was originally very sure of defending the city He couldn't help but start to beat a drum in his heart, worried that the Liao army would suddenly change its goal and point the finger at Gu'an City, which was already very empty.

While Zhang Zangying was worried about the safety of Gu'an City, Chai Rong began to worry about the stability of the Northern Expeditionary Army--because the grain and grass could not be transported, the Northern Expedition Zhou Army's grain stock was getting smaller and smaller, and it could no longer support it for a few days. And once the food is out of food, the morale of the army will be chaotic. In the face of such an unfavorable situation, Chai Rong kept urging food to the rear, and at the same time, he set his sights on the Liao army camp several miles away, hoping to break through the main force of the Liao army as soon as possible. In this way, it can not only get the necessary supplies from the enemy, but also make the Liao army's partial division a lone army, and dare not make trouble in the rear of the Zhou army, so as to ensure the smooth flow of the Zhou army's grain route.

It's just that "the wish is beautiful, but the truth is cruel", in the face of Zhou Jun's provocation and war, Xiao Siwen, who had already received the news of his nephew Xiao Jixian's "sneak attack", was unmoved. Every day, he is guarding the camp gate, no matter how the Zhou army calls the battle, he just does not go out of the camp to face the battle, and he looks like he is consuming with the Zhou army to the end. The Zhou army, which lacked logistical supplements, naturally couldn't afford it, so after scolding the battle was ineffective, Chai Rong ordered to storm the Liao army camp.

Although the Zhou army was good at attacking and defending cities, in the face of the Liao army, which relied on strong strongholds, the Zhou army's offensive had not been able to make any progress except for leaving thousands of corpses. However, in the offensive and defensive battles between the two sides, the "Shenji Army," which was supposed to play a huge role, especially the artillery battalion of the "Shenji Army," was not able to play its due level. Under the constant harassment of the cavalry of the Liao Army, which had already mastered part of the weak battle of the "Shenji Army", the preparations of the artillery battalion of the "Shenji Army" were extremely slow, and several attacks were carried out until the Zhou army withdrew, but the erection of artillery could not be completed. In this regard, although Chai Rong was extremely annoyed, in the case of his own troops being at a disadvantage, he really could not draw more troops to protect the artillery positions of the "Shenji Army", and finally had to stop the attack on the Liao army's camp, and was extremely reluctant to maintain a confrontation situation of "peaceful coexistence" with the Liao army.

However, the Liao army could afford it, but the Zhou army couldn't afford it. When the army's grain storage was only enough for five days, and the follow-up grain and grass could not be delivered for a long time, the anxious Chai Rong gathered a group of civil and military generals together to discuss the next move in the imperial tent, and Xu Shao'an, who was in the vanguard part of the camp a few miles away, was also called. When Xu Shaoan hurried to the imperial tent, the anxious Chai Rong had already discussed with everyone. Xu Shaoan, who arrived late, saw that he couldn't interject for a while, so he retreated to the side and quietly listened to the others' speeches.

After listening patiently for a while, Xu Shaoan clearly felt that the tone of the meeting seemed to be far from what he or the crossing team had hoped. Not only did the ministers who made it clear during the Gu'an military meeting that they should stop the march and consolidate their vested interests were more firm in their ideas, but even the ministers who had a neutral or indifferent attitude towards whether to continue the northward advance also stood on the side of opposing the re-war, and even Chai Rong, who had always maintained a high fighting spirit and was determined to win the Northern Expedition, was not as resolute as before when it came to continuing to fight, and it seemed that there was a sense of compromise with the ministers.

Of course, it is quite normal for Chai Rong and the ministers to have this kind of thought. Although it was a sneak attack, the Liao army's 10,000 elite cavalry dealt a heavy blow to the Zhou army's rear army at the cost of losing about 2,000 people, with more than 18,000 casualties. For the rear army, which had a total of only 20,000 men, such a blow could already be called devastating -- given the medical level of this era, in addition to the 7,000 soldiers and generals who died on the spot, a large part of the more than 10,000 wounded Zhou troops would also be completely incapacitated. In this way, the Zhou army, which was originally equal to the strength of the Liao army in front of it, would be inferior in numbers, with 70,000 infantry against the opponent's 80,000 cavalry. Although the number of people is not large, but considering the infantry against cavalry, coupled with the new defeat of the Zhou army and the great victory of the Liao army, especially now that the grain route of the Zhou army has basically been cut off, the morale of the two sides will be weakened, and the result of the confrontation may be very unfavorable to the Zhou army. …,

In this sneak attack, more than half of the casualties of the "Shenji Army" were suffered by the Liao Army, and their combat strength was greatly affected -- almost all of the artillery battalions of the Right Army of the "Shenji Army" were spared in the large explosion caused by the misfiring of the gunpowder cart by the arson squad of the Liao Army, and more than 60 percent of the people were killed on the spot. Seeing that the "Divine Machine Army" that he had spent a lot of effort and manpower, material and financial resources to build was hit hard, Chai Rong could be said to be deeply hit. The ambition before the Northern Expedition and the high spirits in the early days of the Northern Expedition were no longer visible on his face at this time, leaving only chagrin and helplessness.

Later Zhou Junchen's performance was naturally not what Xu Shao'an wanted, especially the change in Chai Rong's attitude towards the Northern Expedition was the last thing Xu Shao'an wanted to see. Because now is the critical moment for the crossing team to carry out the "Zhuji No. 1 operation", the "Flying Dragon Army" and the "Security Army" composed of the north and south armies have been in place, just wait for the past few days to lead the so-called "villagers" more than 5,000 people to enter Youzhou City, and assist Xin Feiyu, who assisted the Liao army guarding the city, to arrange all the preparations for seizing the gate of Youzhou South City, and it is necessary to start from the north and south to realize the first phase of the "Zhuji No. 1 Operation". If Chai Rong retreated at this time and led the main force of the Zhou army to retreat south, then even if Xiao Siwen was afraid of war and timid, he might still lead the army to pursue in order to expand the results of the battle - after all, the current situation is different from the previous life, in the face of the first big victory since the start of the war, the morale and fighting spirit of the Liao army under his command are high, Xiao Siwen may not be as sluggish as in his previous life, and only wants the Zhou army to retreat. And once the Liao army began to pursue and attack in the south, then the infantry-based, it was impossible to catch up with the Liao army's crossing team, and all the jihua before the Southern Route Army would be scrapped, and they had to establish a defensive line in the area of Baoxingzhuang, and have a head-to-head confrontation with the Liao army returning to the division, so as to gain enough time for the Northern Route Army to capture Youzhou City. In that case, the Southern Route Army would have to spend more time and pay a greater price to achieve its strategic goals, which would have been much easier to achieve.

For Xu Shao'an, today's "Flying Dragon Army" - including the "Security Army" - is a crossing team, and it is also his future life and development. If there is one more person left in the "Flying Dragon Army" and "Security Army", the safety of the team and themselves will be more secure in the future, and the future development prospects will be broader. Therefore, at this critical moment, he could not let Chai Rong lose the confidence to continue the Northern Expedition, especially when he only needed Chai Rong's confidence to exist for a few more days.

Therefore, after thinking about his words, Xu Shaoan took advantage of the gap between the words of everyone in the tent, stepped forward, and saluted Chai Rong: "Bixia, the minister has something to say." ”

Seeing that Xu Shao'an, who had always firmly supported his Northern Expedition, was going to express his opinions, Chai Rong's heart began to feel a little conflicted. On the one hand, with his understanding of Xu Shaoan, the other party is likely to persuade himself to persist in the Northern Expedition at this time, so as to complete the ambition he set for himself before the army. And he is also likely to be moved by the other party's words, give up the idea of retreating, and stay to fight to the death with the Liao army. In this regard, Chai Rong hoped that Xu Shaoan would speak - although the current situation was unfavorable to his own side, and Chai Rong had no choice but to have the idea of withdrawing from the army, he could not finish his work in one battle and solve the sixteen states of Youyun in one battle, and Chai Rong was actually very unwilling. Xu Shaoan can give him an excuse not to retreat, and he is still very willing.

But on the other hand, Chai Rong didn't want Xu Shaoan to say anything to persuade him to continue the Northern Expedition. After all, the situation is now there, the Zhou army has just experienced a big defeat, and the morale of the army is not available. The backbone of the army, Liliang "Shenji Army", suffered heavy losses and greatly reduced its strength. His own grain route has been cut off by the Liao army's partial division, and the army's grain storage can last for five days at most. Five days later, if the follow-up grain and grass could not be transported and there was no need for the Liao army to attack, the Zhou army itself would be in chaos. At that time, not only will you not be able to conquer Youzhou, but I am afraid that all the results of this Northern Expedition will be lost, and all efforts to recover the sixteen states of Youyun will be in vain.

It's just that indecisiveness is indecisiveness, Xu Shaoan has already said that he wants to speak, and it is impossible for Chai Rong to block the other party's mouth, and finally decided to let Xu Shaoan speak.

Xu Shao'an saw that Chai Rong allowed him to express his opinion, and immediately said: "Qiyu Bixia, there is a law for ministers, which can not only enhance the strength of our Great Zhou army, but also solve the problem of insufficient grain and grass. ”