Wu Peng turned the corner, and the first qiē operation of the Left Route Army of the Northern Expedition was immediately back on track. After entrusting Wang Baoshan, commander of the 1st Division of the "Flying Dragon Army", with the task of taking care of Wu Peng and escorting him and Xue Yongren back to Linhuangcheng after his health recovered, Wang Feng led his troops back to Gyeongju and continued to prepare for the subsequent operation to subdue the grassland units.

While the soldiers on the left route swept through Linhuang Mansion in three directions, and because Wu Peng was trapped or even seriously injured, they had to temporarily change the established plan, urgently mobilize troops and horses for reinforcements, and do everything they could to save the former's life, Zeng Zhilin, Cheng Fei, and Mutel's troops neither changed their battle plan nor stopped their advance—even if they were also worried about Wu Peng's situation after learning of the situation.

On April 28 of the lunar calendar of the seventh year of Jianlong, after capturing Longhua Prefecture and a series of small castles along the way, the headquarters of the Northern Expedition Middle Route Army entered the city of Wuzhou. Then he quickly launched an attack, and it took less than two hours to take the city.

As the Western Liao River turned sharply ninety degrees south under the city of Wuzhou, it was contrary to the next target of the Central Route Army's upcoming attack, Fengzhou City. Therefore, this small city has also become the second gathering point of the Middle Route Army after Changning City in Yongzhou. Therefore, after taking the city, the Middle Route Army did not rush to kill Fengzhou, but temporarily stopped for rest, and continued to go north without worries when the relevant grain and grass army was gathered.

The Middle Route Army of the Northern Expedition of the Great Zhou Dynasty was preparing for the next move in Wuzhou in an unhurried and orderly manner, six hundred miles away

Changchun Prefecture is already in chaos. In fact, as early as when the Zhou army advanced to Wuzhou, the Khitan monarchs and ministers were already a little confused. On the one hand, he sent people to various places to transfer troops to serve the king, regardless of the fact that the distant water could not quench the thirst of the near near at all; On the other hand, he packed his bags, preparing to escape from danger before the Zhou army approached further, and went to other places to try to counterattack. In the end, it was under the strong persuasion of Yelu Wuzhi, the king of the North Courtyard and the prime minister, and under the repeated requests of young generals such as Yelu Xianzhen and Yelu Xiuge, Yelu Jing agreed not to lead hundreds of officials to "patrol" elsewhere for the time being, and wait for the results on the Wuzhou side to take a look at the next direction of the Zhou army's actions before making a decision.

However, for the Khitan monarchs, the result of the Battle of Wuzhou was disappointing, and in the face of the fact that it only took more than two hours for the Zhou army to take Wuzhou and annihilate the defenders of 5,000 people, all the illusions of the Khitan monarchs and ministers were shattered. However, although everyone reached a consensus on evacuating Changchun Prefecture, it was difficult to unify the specific "patrol" for a while. After all, although the territory of Daliao is vast and spanning thousands of miles, there are not many places that can accommodate hundreds of officials and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. Among them, the Linhuang Mansion where the left route army of the Zhou army was sweeping everywhere must not go. As for the Uzuri and Tatar tribes on the north-west route, although they were far from the battlefield, they were not safe. In the past, with the prestige left by their predecessors and the relatively strong military power compared to them, these barbarians could not really surrender, and they had to rebel from time to time. In recent years, although the imperial court has used troops here many times, the tribes have not dared to make any more mistakes for the time being, and they have maintained a deferential attitude on the surface. But now, seeing that Da Liao was defeated and retreated step by step under the attack of the Zhou army, lost his troops and lost his generals, lost his city and lost his land, he had no ability to parry, let alone fight back, and he was no longer as strong and mighty as he was in the past. In addition, the guards and horses of the Wugu Enemy Lie Command Division and the Northwest Road Recruitment Division have been recruited by the imperial court several times, and there are not many left, and these barbarians are afraid that they have long harbored evil intentions and plotted ill intentions. If you go there now, it is estimated that you don't need the Zhou army to fight, and the last bit of strength of the imperial court will have to be gnawed away by these barbarians.

Looking around, at present, there are actually only two places in Daliao that can avoid danger. One is to the south, to Liaoyang Province, the capital of Tokyo Province. The city there is high and deep moats, sufficient grain and grass, and there are not only heavy troops stationed to guard it, but also a large number of young and strong people of Khitan, Han, Bohai, Jurchen and other ethnic groups can be recruited, and they can completely confront the Zhou army for a period of time. When the veterans of his division are tired and the logistics are poor, they may still have a chance to turn the tables. The second is to go south-east to Huanglongfu, a military town in Tokyo Province. Although the cities there are not as tall and wide as those in Liaoyang Prefecture, they are much stronger than those other cities in Daliao that can only be regarded as Tuweizi in the Central Plains. Moreover, the supplies stored there were also sufficient, and there were soldiers and horses of the Wuya and Tieli troops who had always been loyal to the Great Liao court, and there was also room for maneuvering with the Zhou army.

As for whether to go to Liaoyang Mansion or Huanglong Mansion, the Khitan monarchs and ministers are benevolent and wise, and their opinions are not unanimous. However, on the one hand, out of the consideration of staying away from the enemy army, and on the other hand, considering that the mountainous and hilly terrain around Liaoyang Mansion is more suitable for dealing with the enemy army when the battle is unfavorable, so after some discussion, Yelu Jing still decided to "patrol" Liaoyang Mansion.

Although Liaoyang Prefecture is not far from Jinzhou, which was controlled by the Zhou army, since the start of the war, the local Zhou army has not moved or prepared for war, and there has been no foreign troops and horses stationed; Second, the cavalry of the Zhou army, which had been harassing Tokyo Road, stopped crossing the border at the end of February, and all of them retreated back to Jinzhou City and closed their doors; Thirdly, the rivers between Jinzhou and Liaoyang Prefecture were criss-crossed, and the march was inconvenient, and the difficulty of the Zhou army's attack was higher than that of Shangjing Road, which was flat and had fewer rivers. Therefore, most of the Khitan monarchs and ministers subconsciously understood the move of the Zhou army as attacking the west and defending the east, and under the condition of ensuring that Jinzhou was not lost, they first concentrated their forces to seize Shangjing Road, and then waved their troops east to attack Tokyo Road. In other words, until the Zhou army took the entire Shangjing Road, its Jinzhou defenders would only defend the city and would not take the initiative to attack. In this way, the Son of Heaven "patrolled" Liaoyang Mansion in the short term. If you can make a clever arrangement and make the Zhou army mistakenly believe that the destination of the Great Liao monarch is Huanglong Mansion, you can still win more respite for your own side and accumulate more strength to confront the Zhou army.

Therefore, the final strategy of the Khitan monarchs and ministers changed from a simple "patrol" to avoid trouble, to a force pretending to be the honor guard of the Son of Heaven and the main force of the Liao army, and retreating to Huanglongfu with great fanfare, so as to attract the main force of the Zhou army to the north. At the same time, the Son of Heaven of the Great Liao led the ministers of the court and the main force of the Liao army to go to Liaoyang Mansion in order to rearm and fight with the Zhou army.

However, whether it is to attract the main force of the Zhou army to Huanglong Mansion, or to retreat to Liaoyang Mansion in a hidden way, it will take a certain amount of time to arrange and implement. At least, it is necessary to ensure that before the Great Liao Emperor and the main force of the Liao army arrive in Liaoyang Mansion, the Zhou army that was lured north cannot catch up with the suspicious army, lest the Liaoyang Mansion side is not ready, and the main force of the Zhou army has turned south and is approaching Liaoyang City. And if you want to delay the speed of the Zhou army's pursuit, the best way is for someone to lead the army to resist step by step, and buy time for the Son of Heaven, the ministers and the main force of the Liao army with the losses of their subordinates and even their own lives.

Although all the Khitan ministers present knew that this was the only choice at present, in the face of such an obviously death-defying task, not everyone could do it if they had to stand up and consciously and voluntarily undertake it. Therefore, when Yelu Jing asked who was willing to lead the army to the south and deal with the Zhou army, except for Yelu Wuzhi who took the initiative to stand up and express his willingness to lead the army, the other Khitan civil and military ministers who had been impassioned and talked eloquently before all became mute.

However, Yelu Wu was willing to die for Da Liao, but Yelu Jing was unwilling to let this right-hand man, whom he regarded as an important minister, be sent to death. So, on the one hand, on the grounds that the imperial court and himself were inseparable from the state affairs of the king of the North Courtyard for a while, he refused Yeluwu's self-recommendation, and continued to ask with a calm face whether there were other ministers who were willing to lead the troops south.

Seeing that the emperor's face had become extremely ugly after no one answered even three times, and he was about to be furious because his face was cut, someone finally stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the minister Yelu is willing to lead the troops south to deal with the Zhou army. ”

On the second day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar in the twentieth year of the calendar (the seventh year of Jianlong), the Khitan monarchs and ministers and a total of 70,000 Khitan soldiers, including the Pi Room Palace Tent Army, were divided into three routes. Among them, Yelu Xian, who was in charge of blocking, led 5,000 elite troops of the palace tent army and 15,000 tribal troops to Fengzhou to fight with the Zhou army; Under the cover of the 5,000 tribal army, the Hanlin scholar who was responsible for pretending to be the Khitan emperor and the main force of the Khitan army, took all the royal honor guards and went north to Huanglong Mansion with great fanfare; Yelu Jing and most of the Khitan civil and military ministers, under the protection of the 45,000 leather room palace tent army, hid their traces, walked day and night, avoided everyone's attention as much as possible, and quietly went to Liaoyang Mansion.