"The cavalry of the Xia State is fierce, gathering like thunder, scattered like wildfire, if the attack and defense change the situation, the Song State must be deployed along the Yellow River, and the troops used are not much less than the onslaught of Hangu Pass. Han Derang said slowly, "The one who can really return to Shiqin Wang is the Hebei army stationed in Ying, Ding, Xiong, Zhending, and Daimyo." He smiled slightly, "What we are worried about is that the forbidden army of the Southern Dynasties gathers a group, or closes the city and guards it strictly, and they are willing to go out of the city to divide troops to help, doesn't this give us the opportunity to break through each one? "The four states and two armies of the Song State control the Central Plains to resist the last mountain barrier of the northern country, after the four states and two armies, it is the plain of Pingchuan, if the four states and two armies are in the hands of the Liao State, the Song State is really no danger to defend in the north, and it has also lost the advance base for attacking Liao.

"However, in order to create pressure on the Song State, it is necessary to suspend the war with the Xia State, so that they can use all their forces on the Song people. Han Derang said slowly as if nothing had happened.

"However, the privy envoy of the Northern Court ......" the vanguard envoy of the Northern Court argued, Xiao Xuan also showed a look of embarrassment, Yelu Xiuge looked at Xiao Xuan, and then looked at the generals of the Northern Court and Han Derang, and said in a deep voice: "It is related to the fortunes of the Great Liao, so it has to be like this, the Queen Mother will give the Northern Court the privy envoy to mourn after his death, and she can also comfort the heroic soul." He had a very high prestige among the Khitan generals, and when the generals of the Northern Court saw him make a statement, they no longer objected. Han Derang smiled slightly.

Hangu Guancheng, Wu Yingying also received the news of the great victory in Lingzhou, after being supplemented by Shuzhong Zhuangding and Yanqing Jingyan archers, the Xia army and the Song army that attacked Hangu Pass had no obvious disadvantage in strength, and the 40,000 regiments of training archers levied from Ganliang Guasha had entered Guanzhong, and the Guanzhong defense line was finally stabilized.

"Han Derang spread the word on behalf of the Liao State, and the two families made peace, and also made an appointment that I would attack the Song State. Wu Yingying put a piece of military book on the table. Relations between countries can become even faster than the weather on the Gobi.

After Zhang Zhongyao picked up the military book and read it, his face changed greatly, and he handed the military book to Chase, who also had a worried face. But the two looked at each other, and both were silent.

Wu Yingying smiled faintly and asked, "What's the matter with the two of you, hesitating." ”

Zhang Zhongyao arched his hand and said: "When the world is changing, the minister doesn't know whether it should be for His Majesty or for the Chinese people." ”

Wu Yingying knew it in his heart, but he still asked: "What should I do for me? What about planning for China?"

Zhang Zhongyao said: "When the new monarch of the Song State is established, the government and the opposition are hesitant, and the military heart is not attached, our country and the Liao State will attack together, Liao will take Hebei, our country will take Hedong, and then chase the deer in the Central Plains. ”

"What about China?"

Zhang Zhongyao was silent for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Our country has only tens of thousands of soldiers in the strength of the whole country, while the Liao State has been in the country for a hundred years, with hundreds of thousands of cavalry troops, and after conquering the Central Plains, we can take the Han army as wings." Even if the towns in the east of the Song State surrender to our country, it will be difficult to recapture the Central Plains in the hands of the Liao State in a short time, and the people of the Central Plains, who have just lived in peace for a short time, have become alien cattle and horses. It is difficult for the two powers to stand side by side, and then our country and the Liao country must fight each other for a long time, and the world will return to the troubled times. He said with compassion, and Chase nodded. Outside the city, the Song army's shouts of killing in the siege of the city were higher than a while, and the crossbow arrows on the bed smashed the city ping-pong, but the hall was silent, Wu Yingying looked at the two staff, the hearts of the people of this era, actually have such a strong identity and maintenance of "China", for a long time, he said in a deep voice: "The two have this insight, China is very fortunate." He walked to the window with his hands in his hands, not far away the Song army and the Xia army were still fighting for the fortress in front of the city, looking down from the height, the heroic soldiers were as small as ants, and the blood-soaked land showed a scorching red-black. From this perspective, it seems that all sacrifices are insignificant, and power itself requires countless blood as sacrifices.

Wu Yingying took a deep breath and said slowly: "Song Guo must not have known the news that Liao State was going to send troops to Hebei. Zhang Zhongyao and Chase both waited intently for him to decide, "Find two prisoners first, and bring Cao Han's request for a truce and truce with the Yellow River as the boundary." ”

Five days later, in the new Hangu Pass in the east of Luoyang City, Cao Han frowned and read the letter sent by Xia Guo to ask for peace, and handed it over to Cheng Changan and other generals of the first army of Hujie's left chamber beside him. ”

Cao Han nodded, took out another military report to the two of them, Zhu Bochao took a look, was shocked, and said: "The Liao army has entered Kou Hebei!" At the beginning, in order to prevent the Song State from the Northern Expedition in December, the Liao people had already gathered the elite soldiers in the north in Xijing and Nanjing. Yelu Hugo led 50,000 cavalry troops from the Northern Courtyard to appear outside Yingzhou, Qizhou, Jizhou, and Beizhou, and the famous cities and towns of Hebei were shocked overnight, and the fortresses of various states and counties were already grass and trees, and within ten days, it was reported everywhere that they had been attacked by the superior Liao army, and the Privy Council added up the numbers reported everywhere, and the Liao army that entered the Kou was afraid that there were hundreds of thousands of cavalry.

Originally, the defense of Hebei was a pattern in which each general defended the important town, and Liu Yanrang led the Yingzhou battalion to maneuver in the center, but now the Yingzhou battalion is not enough to fight a decisive battle with the Liao army in the field, and in the face of Yelu Huge's attack, the infant city can only defend itself. And the prime minister of the Southern Courtyard Yelusha, the privy envoy of the Southern Court Han Derang, and the Southern Courtyard Governor Xiao Tzu Rin commanded the Southern Courtyard Army, Xi Army, Pi Room Army, and the palace branch guard army of 150,000 horses, Gong Guarding the Empress Dowager Xiao Xuanluan of Chengtian to drive the expedition in person, the Liao army drove straight in, the soldiers were extremely sharp, and conquered Qizhou in one day, and now they are besieging Jizhou and Beizhou, and the scout cavalry has entered Lanzhou.

"There must be collusion between the Xia thieves and the Liao people!" Zhu Bochao said indignantly.

"Your Majesty's will for us to return to King Bianliang Qin should arrive soon. Cao Han's face was expressionless, "Before the arrival of the holy decree, the attack on Hangu Pass was postponed, and Zhu Bochao led his troops to build beacons along the big river to prevent Xia thieves from entering Kou Jinggi and Hedong. After Zhu Bochao received the order, Cao Han said, "Report the matter of the Xia thief's request for peace, and ask the court to decide." ”

Ten days later, in the Chongzheng Hall of the Bianliang Imperial Palace, the official Zhao Dezhao received the news that the Jizhou, Beizhou, and Deqing armies had been lost, and more than 100,000 Liao troops arrived in Lanzhou, while preparing to attack the important town of river defense, the cavalry went out in all directions, collecting large and small ships along the Yellow River. The situation of the Liao army's entry into the Kou this time has been obvious, abandoning the famous cities along the way Dayi do not fight, with the elite of tens of thousands of cavalry troops led by the famous general Yelu Xiuge to ensure the back road, and at the same time monitor the movement of the Hebei border army, and Xiao Xuan personally led the army directly to Bianliang, once the conquered Lanzhou, it formed a situation of winning the Central Plains, and the forbidden army went out to fight a lot, and the battleable soldiers left in Bianliang were only more than 70,000.

"The situation is pressing, how do the two prime ministers think they should deal with it, do they allow the Xia thief to make peace, and let Cao Han's whole division return to Bianliang?" Zhao Dezhao rubbed his forehead and said quite tiredly. The 150,000 Liao army besieged Shanzhou, and the two armies fought a decisive battle, even if Cao Han's 100,000 army all came back to help, it was difficult to say that it would win, the Han land was still a young horse, and the army was inconvenient to move, his fists were clenched tightly, and his bones gurgled.

"After learning the practical news of the Liao people's entry into the Kou, the Xia State changed the terms of the peace agreement," said Wang Yu, the governor of the political affairs, with an ugly face, "and proposed to ask for all the land west of the Yellow River." ”

"What?" Zhao Dezhao had green tendons on his forehead, "Wasn't the Guanzhong west of the Yellow River all occupied by them?"

Prime Minister Zhao Pu coughed and reminded: "Your Majesty, the Jiezhen Linzhou, Fuzhou, and Fengzhou of the Zhe family are all west of the Yellow River. He paused for a moment, and then said, "Zhe Yuxun has already reported the letter of Wu Yingying's persuasion to surrender to the imperial court, and Wu Yingying promised that if he completes the army and returns to the Xia Kingdom, he will not hesitate to reward the prince." ”