Yelu crossed Helan Mountain to crusade against the Xia State, was defeated in Lingzhou, and his subordinates were intercepted and killed by the Mongols on the way to escape, and none of the ten who returned to the Liao State safely. The vanguard commander of the army made Hu Limur desperately snatch out the body of the privy envoy of the Northern Yuan, Yelu Xianzhen, and returned to Xijing.

After receiving the news of the defeat, Xiao Xuan was speechless for a long time, sighed, and said: "Although Yelu Xianzhen was defeated, he should also be rewarded for his martyrdom. "While issuing an order to make Yelu oblique, he convened important ministers to discuss the increase of troops to attack Xia.

Han Derang and Yelu Xianzhen were the leaders of the officials of the North and South Courts, and they had always been hostile in the court, and now seeing him defeated and killed, although he was sympathetic, when he heard that Xiao Xuan wanted to raise troops to avenge Yelu Xian, he immediately vigorously opposed it. As soon as Hu Limu and the other generals of the North Courtyard heard Han Derang speak, they said that he was going to fall into the well, and they all glared at him angrily.

"The privy council of the Northern Court is defeated, and it is not the fault of the war," Han Derang's first sentence excused Yelu obliquely, and the angry generals of the Northern Court were a little surprised, and calmed down to listen to him.

Han Derang's face sank like water, and he said slowly: "Between Xia Kingdom and Xijing Dao, there is a large area of desolate land. Upon hearing the news of our army's conquest, in order to resist the surprise attack of our cavalry, in a hurry, they actually burned the pastures where the livestock spent the winter, the forage stored by the farmers, and the slightly neat farmhouses and towns. Xia is not as good as the Song realm, there are people everywhere who can't escape, under the strong walls and clear fields, relying on the grass valley alone, only 30,000 people and horses in the North Courtyard will fight hungry, and the Queen Mother wants to raise 100,000 troops to fight Xia, is it impossible to transport grain and grass from Xijing Road to Lingzhou?"

Listening to Han Derang's words, the generals of the North Courtyard all looked at each other, Xiao Xuan also frowned, the Khitan army went on the expedition, and the grass valley was an important supply channel, and the people's rations were easy to handle. If you want to wait for the summer and autumn, the Xia State has already consolidated Guanzhong, judging from the situation of several battles, the strength of the Xia army is not inferior to the Liao army, and there are hundreds of thousands of regiments to train and assist, and then conquer the Xia State, only 100,000 cavalry may not be able to win.

"You have followed Lord Yelu to return from the Xia," Han Derang looked at Hu Limur and other generals, and said in a deep voice, "Ask yourself, if you hadn't besieged tens of thousands of people in the north of Helan Mountain, and the Xia army and Tuanlian only defended themselves on the strong wall of Lingzhou, would you have been able to capture the city? If you can't capture Lingzhou, and there is no grass valley to fight on all sides, how many days can the army of the Western Expedition support it? If the army retreats, and the Xia cavalry ranks and pursues, how sure can you safely withdraw to Xijing?"

The generals of the Northern Courtyard bowed their heads and were silent, they couldn't even break the car formation of tens of thousands of regiments, who could pat their chests and say that Lingzhou City would definitely be able to break it, and the people of Xia Guo were too difficult to deal with.

Han Derang let out a sigh of relief, the depression in his heart when he was going west and southward finally dissipated, what he was thinking, Xiao Xuan was all right, and said in a low voice: "Then the privy envoy of the Southern Court is concerned, how to deal with the current situation?"

Han Derang glanced at her, the news of the destruction of the army in the North Courtyard was obviously a heavy blow to her, although Xiao Xuan's face was calm now, there was a faint sense of anxiety in her beautiful eyes, and she was already a little apprehensive inside, the tribes of the Northern Kingdom were all based on their might, the army was defeated in Lingzhou, Yelu was killed, and the decision of the Western Expedition, the Queen Mother Xiao Xuan could not escape the blame, and the country that had just stabilized was probably unstable.

Han Derang looked at her with a faint hint of pleading in his eyes, his heart moved slightly, and he knew this in the dark, so why bother in the first place, and said in a deep voice: "The art of war says, first for the invincible, and then for the enemy to be victorious." Honestly. ”

Yu Yue and the king of the Northern Courtyard, Yelu Xiuge, were thoughtful, and all the generals below did not know why, Han Derang continued: "Our country and the Xia country are far away from the grassland Gobi, and the Xia country is strong and clear, and the wilderness is waiting for work, which is the first invincible situation, if the army is raised to retaliate, our side will concoct it in the same way, and it is the same." Therefore, the privy council of the Northern Court was defeated, in addition to the loss of soldiers, so that he was too worried about the retaliation of the Xia State. ”

"On the contrary, in the south of the Song Kingdom, after Zhang Yongde and Liu Yanrang returned to support Zhao Dezhao, less than half of the 100,000 troops returned to Yingzhou and Dingzhou," Han Derang's face showed a solemn look, "News from the south, Zhao Dezhao in order to attack Hangu Pass, even the forbidden army garrisoned in Bianliang was added to Luoyang to stay behind Cao Han. ”

"At present, on the Hebei line, the generals of the Southern Dynasties will divide their troops to hold Xiongzhou, Dingzhou, Yingzhou and other cities, and they will have more than enough to protect themselves, but none of them can attack and fight a decisive battle with our army in the field. Han Derang stood up and said in a deep voice: "The army came out of Nanjing, abandoned the fortified cities along the way, crossed the river from Lanzhou, and went straight to the bottom of Bianliang City. ”

All the generals gasped, and Yelu Xiuge immediately said: "Bianliang City is high and deep, and there are tens of thousands of forbidden troops stationed in the city. ”

Han Derang said: "Of course, it is good to be able to go down to Bianliang in a war, but the main purpose of this battle is to force peace with war." Seeing that the generals showed a puzzled look on their faces, they explained, "The Song State lost Guanzhong and Bashu, as if an arm was cut off, the monarch was newly established, and the government and the opposition hesitated, even if Zhao Dezhao was determined to fight a decisive battle with our country to consolidate his position, he sent the army to Luoyang to attack Hangu Pass, and there were only tens of thousands of forbidden troops left in Bianliang City to fight, which was just another stone noble." ”

Seeing that Xiao Xuan and Yelu Xiuge were both listening intently, Han Derang walked in front of the large Liao Song Dynasty Mountains and Rivers Pass Map hanging in the hall, and continued: "Even if Zhao Dezhao is strong, Zhao Pu and Wang Yu in the southern dynasty will inevitably discourage Zhao Dezhao from gambling with me on the fortunes of the country. It is just to deter the Southern Dynasty from making an alliance with us, and after the south is consolidated, our North Korean side can withdraw its hand and pacify the hidden dangers of the Bohai Sea and Jurchen in the northeast. It was only at this time that Yelu Xiu Ge nodded, the southern officials have always advocated a large-scale southern invasion, because according to the official system of the Liao State, most of the land and people obtained by the southern invasion were under the control of the southern officials, and the greater the results of the battle with the Southern Dynasty, the greater the power of Han Derang, the privy envoy of the Southern Court. At present, Han Derang positioned the ultimate goal of the southern invasion as to force peace by war, and took the Jurchen and Bohai tribes in the north as the priority of the conquest goal, regardless of the fact that this was the direction of strengthening the strength of the northern court, which shows that he is out of public intentions.

It was a matter of national fortune, Yelu Hugo still questioned: "If the Southern Dynasty holds Bianliang tightly, and intends to make our army fortify the city, and at the same time order the army of all border towns to attack our army under Bianliang City, how to deal with it?"

Han Derang saw that he basically recognized the strategy of the southern invasion, nodded and smiled: "The Song people are mostly infantry troops, and our army is mostly cavalry troops, he wants to fight with our dynasty under the city of Bianliang, first of all, where to draw troops? Even if Zhao Dezhao survives the current hurdle, the Central Plains Imperial Court will have to change the dynasty in less than 20 years. Han Derang put his hand on Hedong, Xiao Xuan and the generals saw clearly, Hedong and Guanzhong were condescending to the Central Plains, and if they wanted to fight against the Xia State, the Song State would indeed defend Hedong.