That night, Cao Handu's soldiers began to dig tunnels. At this time, Youzhou is not as arid as in later generations, but the climate is humid, the water source is abundant, and the surrounding is densely covered with lakes and swamps. The soldier did not know why, and presented this crab to Cao Han, Cao Han was slandering the holy decree of attacking the city in this cave, so he sighed: "The crab was originally born in the water, but now it is excavated on the ground, this is a metaphor for us to live in an inappropriate place, the crab has many legs, this is a metaphor for the Youzhou army There are many reinforcements, and they come very quickly, the crab is relieved, this is the will of heaven to ask our army to return to the court!"

That night, Cao Han's remarks like a god stick leaning over were spread all over the forbidden army, and the forbidden troops of the various departments that were already war-weary after the Taiyuan War were even more depressed, and even the imperial camp Banzhi led by Zhao Jiong himself also had quite a lot of complaints, because the people were violent, and the public was angry, as if Cui Han, Wang Yu and other ministers who advocated Jingluo Youyan, and had the responsibility of monitoring the army, they did not dare to explain this matter to the officials. Only Zhao Jiong became more and more courageous, and he was actually stubbornly sharpened in person, leading the front of the palace to supervise the forbidden army of all departments to attack Youzhou day and night.

Originally, Cao Han Mixin and other generals would also send cavalry to monitor the mountain pass in the north of Youzhou to prevent the Liao cavalry from infiltrating and sneaking up, but in these days, Cao Han also ordered the iron cavalry to return to the camp to assist the Hujie army in digging tunnels together, and said to the soldiers: "The holy Jinkou Yuyan, landing on our cave to attack the city, how can I divide the troops to wander around." ”

"The morale of the army is becoming more and more unstable, calculate the time, the reinforcements of the Liao people will be in these few days, is there any news from Yu Furen Rail?" Wu Yingying accompanied Zhao Jiong and other Great Song monarchs and ministers to supervise the battle under Youzhou City and returned to the camp, and asked Zhang Zhongyao.

"The White Feather Army has already passed Xinzhou," Zhang Zhongyao reported, "After entering the territory of the Liao, I met Yang Yanzhao, who was ordered to transfer military rations, and Yang Yanzhao expected that Yu Furen was here to pick up the lord and escape, and did not stop him, and sent two guides to show them the way." Wu Yingying nodded when he heard this, and sighed: "The father and son of the Yang family in Daibei hold the army, and they are all scheming and generous generals, but they are only born in Hedong, the exclusion of the forbidden army faction, and the suspicion of the Zhao family and civil officials, it is difficult to get ahead." The Yang family has always been kind to our Anxi army, and he will repay it in the future. ”

Zhang Zhongyao said again: "General Yu Fu came to report that since the White Feather Army broke away from the Xiazhou Army and went north, Cai Jifeng seems to be dissatisfied with the White Feather Army, and Cai Jiqian is actively saying that Cai Jiyun is crusading against Di Jinze. "Oh?" Wu Yingying muttered, "These wolves in Xiazhou, after a long time, will come out to bite people again if they don't beat them." The hussars could first approach the north of the five states of Dingyan and prepare to meet the White Feather army. In the meantime, I personally dealt with the hungry wolves of the Cai family. ”

Zhang Zhongyao wrote down Wu Yingying's order, and was about to continue to report on the situation of the Western Regions Jiaorong Lianrui and other troops, when the Ya Army informed Wang Yu that he wanted to see him, but before Wu Yingying could answer, he heard a loud shouting outside, as if Wang Yu was loudly reprimanding the sergeant who prevented him from entering Wu Yingying's camp. After living in Bianliang, Wang Yu came to apologize, Wu Yingying ignored him, who knew that this prince actually persevered, and he also asked to see him in this Youzhou army, Wu Yingying smiled bitterly, now Youzhou City has not been postponed, Wang Yu fell out of favor in front of the official family is a well-known thing, Wu Yingying is not worried about what conspiracy he has, waved his hand, and ordered him to come in.

Wang Yu was dressed in a white Confucian shirt, and when he stepped in, he complained loudly: "Brother Wu's official residence is modest, and he holds a male soldier, so he treats the old man like this?" Zhang Zhongyao saw that he was pretending to be crazy and stupid, smiling silently, Wu Yingying said in a deep voice: "Lord Wang's words are wrong, the duty of the guard, even if Lourdes's closest relatives come to visit, without communication, the guards still want to prevent him from entering." Wang Yu pretended to be surprised and said: "Really, if there is a noble prince who wants to break into the general's tent, and he can't pass it on for a while, can you, the guard, still kill people?" Wu Yingying had no time to fight with him at the moment, his face sank like water, he picked up the teacup and put it down, and said coldly: "In the army, but the marching method, don't say that it is a prince and noble, even if it is the emperor... relatives of the country, rushed into the barracks, and the guards immediately beheaded him, and there was nothing wrong with him. ”

At this time, the atmosphere in the tent was extremely cold, and after a while, Wang Yu sighed: "If Your Majesty has Brother Wu's decision to kill, why would the army's heart collapse like this." Wu Yingying didn't answer, only listened to him: "In the past, Yang Xiu guessed that Wei Wu had the intention of retiring from the army, and he thought that he was very intelligent, so he ordered the servants to prepare their outfits, and spread this intention everywhere. Now Cao Han dug the ground to get crabs, talked nonsense, spread everywhere in the army, lost the spirit of war, and His Majesty did nothing. The Khitan people are still gathered in the periphery of Youzhou, their vitality has not been lost, and the Northern Expedition army has lost its own military heart, if something happens, how can it be worthy of a battle! If this battle is defeated, the Liao people resent Youyan's father and old man to meet the king and the master, and the revenge will inevitably be done to the extreme, and the people will suffer!"

Wu Yingying listened to his tone of concern for the country and the people, and he also felt quite ashamed, for several days he took the three hundred Anxiya army to sit and watch the Song army Dun soldiers fortify the city, almost waiting for the Song army to be defeated by the Liao people in one fell swoop, as a Han man, he himself just forced himself not to think about the final right and wrong of this matter. Seeing the Song army who risked their lives to attack the city under Youzhou City, but he clearly knew that all these sacrifices were in vain in the end, Wu Yingying was always a little ashamed, whenever at this time, he just told himself over and over again: "These should have happened, I just didn't prevent it from happening." It was not me who drove these soldiers to sacrifice, it was Zhao Jiong. "Your Majesty didn't punish Cao Han, maybe he didn't know about it, and it wasn't like what you imagined, Brother Wang. Wu Yingying groaned and said slowly. Wang Yu's eyes were still sad, and he sighed: "This is even worse, Cao Han is so nonsense, and the officials are covering up for him. It can be seen that the 100,000 army, who wants to continue to attack Youzhou City, is the only one His Majesty, such a military heart, if the Khitans come to attack, they are afraid that they will collapse at the first touch. He paused, took a sip of tea, and said: "In the battle of Gaoping in the past, the old ministers of the Manchu Dynasty all opposed Emperor Sejong's personal conquest, and the forbidden army controlled the crane capital to command Zhao Chao to speak, and Sejong immediately imprisoned him in Huaizhou. Fan Aineng, He Hui and others had a move to avoid the war, and Sejong immediately beheaded more than 70 people with his and his army, and rectified the military discipline, and the military discipline of the imperial court was a whole whole, and after that, he did not obey the army. For the way of the general, set a strategy, do it with all your might, kill and decide, and be able to influence others!"

Wu Yingying listened to him getting farther and farther away, said proudly, foaming at the mouth, gradually became a little impatient, coughed and said: "At this very time, in an extraordinary place, Brother Wang is visiting, what is the matter?" Wang Yu was about to speak at length, but he interrupted him, and he was a little embarrassed, so he said: "Brother Wu has good eyesight, and he actually saw that I came with a request." He put down the teacup in his hand and sighed: "Brother Wu also knows that during this northern expedition of the army, the children of the Holy Sect explored the military situation for the imperial court, pointed out the road, prepared wine and food, and even said that the Liao army in the Youyan area was surrendered, which was a great effort. If the imperial court can't recover Youyan this time, the Liao people's ensuing revenge will be very terrifying. ”