Wang Kunjun pondered for a moment when he heard this, and said very resolutely: "What you brothers said is very reasonable, but no matter what reason Chai Rong excludes our brothers from his war against the Northern Han Dynasty this time, the Later Zhou court's conquest of the Northern Han Dynasty may touch the fundamental interests of our team, which is very unfavorable to us." Therefore, no matter what methods and means are adopted, we must let Chai Rong return in vain this time. ”

Although Wang Kunjun did not directly point out which core interests of the crossing team would be touched by the occupation of the Northern Han Dynasty in the Later Zhou Dynasty, everyone present except Jia Run'an immediately reacted to two completely unrelated things that would have a significant impact on the future development of the crossing team:

One is the supply of pyrite and saltpeter. At present, the most important raw materials for the production of ammunition in both cases come from areas controlled by the Northern Han regime. Under any circumstances, the crossing team would not allow these two raw materials, which were essential for maintaining their strong force, to fall into the hands of the Later Zhou court, which was at odds with them and always kept a guard against them - although the production area of pyrite and saltpeter was controlled by the Northern Han court, because of the relationship between Yang Ye, the crossing team did not have much worry about the safety and stability of the supply of pyrite and saltpeter.

The second is to expand the living space to the west and north, so as to become a third-party shili that can stand side by side with the Khitan court and the Later Zhou court. In the current situation that it is necessary to maintain a state of peace with the Later Zhou court for the time being, the crossing team wants to expand its Shili range, and there are only two directions: north and west.

Needless to say, the north is a place occupied by the Khitans who have a "deep hatred" with the crossing team, and it is also a place where the current Later Zhou court has no chance to intervene, and the crossing team can do whatever they want there without any scruples.

Although the West is controlled by the Northern Han regime, which is also a Han Chinese, for the crossing team, except for the fact that it will be a little difficult to deal with when facing Yang Xin's sworn brother Yang Ye, even if it directly sends troops to suppress the Northern Han regime, there will be no psychological obstacles. But once the Later Zhou conquered the Northern Han Dynasty and won a complete victory and swept away the small court of the Northern Han Dynasty, then his development strategy of westward expansion would be greatly affected. Losing the Northern Han Dynasty, which is still connected to the five states of Dingyan, which allows the crossing team to open the gate to the Western Regions, when the crossing team develops westward, they have to face the original prefectures and counties of the Northern Han Dynasty, which have become part of the territory of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and the obstruction of the Zhe family, who are loyal to the Later Zhou court and have guarded the prefecture for generations. Under the premise of not completely tearing up the face with the Later Zhou court and breaking the current peaceful coexistence between the two sides, it is difficult to take a step further west, and this is by no means the result that the crossing team hopes to see - although there are still Shili in the west of the five states such as Lingzhou and Yanzhou, which have nominally been attached to the Later Zhou court, they are inseparable from the Later Zhou court, and if the crossing team really starts a war against Shili in these places, the willingness and ability of the Later Zhou court, which is far away, will not be enough.

Therefore, as soon as Wang Kunjun's voice fell, Xu Shaoan answered: "What the fifth brother said is right. Even if we may have to suspend the execution of the 'elimination of the Northern Han regime' because of Chai Rong's sudden actions, we can't put the Northern Han under the jurisdiction of the Beiping Army in the near future, then our brothers can't let it fall into the hands of Chai Rong." Brother, I think that in order to protect the supply of these two important raw materials, we would rather help the Northern Han to repel the attack of the Later Zhou army than let the Later Zhou court eliminate the Northern Han regime. ”

Speaking of this, Xu Shaoan paused slightly, shook his head with regret and said: "Speaking of which, our style of acting is always prudent and reliable, and we are used to making all the preparations that should be done before taking action." So much so that after taking control of the Beiping Army, the time of sending troops to the Northern Han Dynasty and occupying pyrite and saltpeter producing areas was set in September and October of the lunar calendar after the harvest of crops this autumn, rather than in February and March of the lunar calendar when the 'Flying Dragon Army' and the 'Security Army' completed the expansion of the army. In this way, it gave the Later Zhou court and Chai Rong a chance to exert their strength in advance. ”…,

"What the eighth said is very right." Wang Kunjun nodded and said, "Although our current policy is to try to maintain a state of peace with the Later Zhou Imperial Court before further development of strength. However, there is a prerequisite for the implementation of this policy, that is, the behavior of the Later Zhou court cannot harm the interests of our team and cannot threaten the survival and development of our team. Therefore, this time, we should not stick to the restriction of not having a head-on conflict with the Later Zhou court, but should make multiple preparations and formulate a variety of plans according to various possible situations to deal with the rapidly changing situation. ”

"I agree with Fifth Brother." Zhang Weixin supported, "We should formulate multiple sets of response plans from providing intelligence support, providing financial and food support, providing military equipment support, and even directly sending troops to intervene when necessary, and decide which plan to adopt according to the actual development of the war in the Northern Han Dynasty." ”

"Of course, sending troops to intervene is an option that will only be implemented as a last resort when Zuihou is in a critical situation. Unless the Northern Han regime is already in danger and will soon perish if we don't send troops directly, we still have to help the Northern Han regime protect its territory in a covert and non-violent way. Zhang Weixin Zuihou added.

Zhang Weixin's proposal was endorsed by all three other committee members, and a committee resolution was soon formed, deciding that from now on, the crossing team would concentrate all their efforts to help the Northern Han court in various ways so that it could withstand the attack of the Later Zhou army.

The resolution was divided into several articles, the first of which was to immediately send a telegram to Yang Xin, who was in the Lingxian Mansion, informing him of the news sent by the Kaifeng branch of the "Dark Feather" about the imminent start of the Later Zhou court's expedition to the Northern Han Dynasty, as well as the committee's attitude towards this matter, and asked Yang Xin to contact his brother-in-law Yang Ye immediately after receiving the telegram to inform the other party of this important and urgent news, so that the other party and the Northern Han court for which he worked could be prepared, so as not to be caught off guard when the Zhou army pressed the border. At the same time, the committee also asked the "Dark Feather" Kaifeng Branch and all the "Dark Feather" branches on the route of the Later Zhou army's expedition to the Northern Han Dynasty, and mobilize the Liliang that could be launched, comprehensively investigate the situation of the Later Zhou army's expedition to the Northern Han Dynasty, and transmit the news to Beiping City as soon as possible, and then report it to Yang Xin through the radio, and finally send it to Yang Ye's hands.

The second clause of the resolution was to begin raising money and grain to prepare for the war in support of the Northern Han army and to prepare for the westward expedition of the army in case of need.

Article 3 of the resolution, however, ordered the military department to take immediate action to make plans or operations in case of any situation that might arise in the later Zhou army's expedition to the Northern Han Dynasty, in case of emergency.

Article 4 of the resolution is in line with Article 3, which requires the Military Department to immediately issue an order for Mutel, who is personally leading more than 2,500 cavalry cavalry composed of soldiers and generals drawn from various departments, to return to Beiping City as quickly as possible on the Khitan Zhongjing Road to carry out the task of "fighting the grass valley" -- cavalry infiltration and jamming operations, and after a short rest, lead an advance column composed of a "ranger battalion," an independent cavalry regiment, a cavalry regiment under the jurisdiction of two composite infantry divisions, a "wolf's tooth battalion," and some easy-to-carry small-caliber artilleryHe immediately set off to Lingqiu County, at the junction of the Beiping Army and the Northern Han regime, so that when the Northern Han regime could not resist the attack of the Later Zhou army and was defeated, he could attack in time and intervene by force to protect the origin and transportation line of his important raw materials.

Article 5 of the resolution, which is also linked to Article 3, requires the Ministry of Military Affairs to begin a partial mobilization of the "Wyvern Army" and the "Security Army". On the one hand, the First Composite Infantry Division of the "Flying Dragon Army" Army, which is stationed in the vicinity of Beiping City, except for the division's cavalry regiment and the independent artillery regiment, as well as all the troops of the first, second, third, and fourth regiments of the "Security Army" that had been sent to Lingqiu with Muter, were ordered to enter a state of second-level combat readiness from now on, and were ready to go south to Lingxian Mansion as needed, and then send troops to the Northern Han Dynasty.

Article 6 of the resolution deals mainly with the non-military units of the crossing team, requiring these departments to fully cooperate with the military operations that the military department may carry out in Northern Han and to do a good job of logistical support.

With the issuance of the committee's resolution, since the 28th day of the fourth lunar month of the seventh year of Xiande, the entire crossing team, the "Flying Dragon Army" and the "Security Army", and even the entire 16 states of the Beiping Army have been mobilized, making various preparations for the upcoming war between the two regimes of the Later Zhou and the Northern Han.