At the end of September of the fifteenth year of the reign of the Liao State, Yelu Zongzhen returned from Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo and went to Xijin Mansion in Nanjing.

The attack on Goryeo was just a pretense, and the real target of the Liao State was the Great Song Dynasty.

If the Great Song Dynasty rushed to the aid of Goryeo, it would inevitably cause the Hebei Road to be empty, and he could judge the situation and choose to take the initiative to attack or harass and contain it from the side.

If the Great Song Dynasty went north to attack the Liao State and besieged Wei to save Zhao, he could also resist with heavy troops and fight a defensive counterattack.

The Liao State and the Western Xia attacked the allies of the Great Song Dynasty, which was itself to mobilize the Great Song army, and also responded to the sentence in the "Art of War" that "those who are good at fighting are invincible first, and then wait for the enemy to be victorious".

This strategy can also be understood as a kind of movement warfare in our period, fighting one shot at the east and one shot at the west, so that the enemy is exhausted, and finally the flaw is exposed and killed by one blow.

I have to say that this strategy is quite clever.

After all, the mobility of the Liao and Western Xia armies was still stronger than that of the Great Song Dynasty, even if the Great Song Dynasty bought a lot of horses over the years and made up for certain shortcomings, it was not a horse-producing country after all, and the quantity and quality of horses still could not be compared with the two countries.

Therefore, the two countries still have a certain advantage in mobility.

At the same time, this is also why the Liao State and Western Xia were afraid of the steam trains of the Great Song Dynasty.

Once the steam train was repaired to Shaanxi and Hebei, the only remaining advantage of the Liao State and Western Xia would be gone, and they would be completely beaten in the future.

Therefore, they were forced to start the war of the Three Kingdoms.

At the beginning of October, Yelu Zongzhen went from Shenyang Mansion to Xijin Mansion, and at the same time, Liao State also grasped a certain military situation in the Song State.

Fan Zhongyan took 30,000 forbidden troops from Bianliang and headed to Hebei Road with great fanfare.

At this moment, in the Liao Imperial Palace of Xijin Mansion, Yelu Zongzhen and several confidants and ministers brought by him were discussing important matters.

The emperor of Liao belongs to the type where the emperor goes, and the civil and military officials will follow. There will not be the kind of emperor who drives the expedition in person, and the civil and military officials stay in the capital to deal with state affairs.

But because he was afraid that the Song State should find out his traces and detect their plans when the time came, he came secretly, and the civil and military officials were still in Liaoyang Mansion now, and there were only some important courtiers around him at this time.

In addition to Xiao Ying, Xiao Hui, Xiao Xiaoyou, Xiao Xiaomu, Zhang Jian, Liu Liufu, Yelu Renxian and others, there are also important clans such as Yelu Zongyuan, Yelu Begut, and Yelu Tu Lukun.

Most of these clans are the sons of the Liao Shengzong or their brothers, and they mainly served as the generals of Shangjing in history, responsible for the core security issues of the Liao State, but at this moment, it basically means that it has come to the time of life and death of the Liao State.

The meeting was not held in the main hall, but in the study in the backyard, Yelu Zongzhen sat behind the table, and the rest of the people sat in two rows, Zhang Jian at the front, and opposite him sat Yelu Zongzhen's sixth brother, Yelu Zongyuan.

Although the historical records record that Yeluzong is really the eldest son, he should actually be the eldest son. Only the mother who is the descendant of the Xiao family can be regarded as the son of the Yelu family, and the rest have neither the qualifications nor much power.

However, Yelu Zongyuan is an exception, this person is forty years old this year, brave and good at fighting, in the later years of Liao Shengzong, Yelu Zongyuan, who had just turned twenty years old, followed the Liao general Yelu Ye to quell the rebellion of the Jurchen and obstruction, so he was named the general of Zuo Xiaowei.

Now he is the king of Raole County and the king of the North Courtyard, staying in Beijing, and is the military commander of the Liao State stationed in Shangjing. This time, he has also brought the most elite 30,000 leather room troops of the Liao State, in order to fight to the death with the Great Song Dynasty this time.

Yelu Zongzhen in the house raised the official document in his hand and said to everyone: "A few days ago, the Song Kingdom sent Fan Zhongyan, the same knowledge of the Political Yuan, as the envoy of Hebei Road to coordinate the soldiers and horses of Hebei, what do you think of this matter?" ”

"Song Guozhong has a plan, they are definitely coming to attack us now, we just need to wait for work and kill him by surprise!"

Xiao Xiaoyou, who was left behind in Nanjing, said happily.

"Your Majesty's clever plan, at this time, the border of the Chen soldiers of the Song State is bound to force us to withdraw from Goryeo, but we don't know that we have already set up an ambush in Nanjing, just waiting for them to fall into the trap."

"Compared to us taking the initiative to attack the Song Kingdom, naturally the Song Kingdom takes the initiative to attack us and has a better chance of winning, Your Majesty will easily let us have an advantage."

"I still remember vividly when the Song State artillery bombarded our sons, and I could only feel despair at that time, but fortunately, His Majesty vigorously developed firearms against public opinion, and now it is time for them to feel such despair."

The following generals who had participated in the Song-Liao War had a lot of discussions, especially Xiao Hui, who was the one who sent Yelu's enemy Lugu to fight a fierce battle, but the Song army did not talk about martial arts, and bombarded Yelu's enemy Lugu with one shot, and every time he recalled the enemy Lugu who turned into minced meat, he felt a nightmare.

But time has passed, although it is not easy to talk about offense and defense. However, the Liao State also deployed a large number of artillery on the border, even if the price was very heavy, and the Liao people sold countless horses, leather goods, medicinal materials, and minerals to the Song State in exchange for so many raw materials for firearms.

However, they all feel that these are worth it, at least the military strength of the Liao State is extremely strong today, and it is far from the original Liao State, even in the face of the Great Song Dynasty, they are confident that they can defeat them in one fell swoop.

"Okay, don't underestimate Song Guo. Not only did they have artillery and grenades, but they also invented a new kind of musket, which was a sharp weapon in the field and had to be guarded against. ”

Yelu Zongzhen is still a little self-aware, although the artillery they caught up, but they have muskets again, and that kind of small steel cannon. When fighting in the field, their cannons weigh more than 2,000 kilograms, people's muskets weigh a few kilograms, and small steel cannons weigh more than 200 kilograms, and their flexibility is far from comparable.

After pouring cold water on everyone, Yelu Zongzhen did not continue to dwell on this topic for long, but continued: "Now that the Song Kingdom has entered the country, then it is time to consider the issue of deployment and defensive counterattack. ”

On his desk are some maps, which are topographic maps of Yanyun and the surrounding areas of Hebei, and the border situation between Liao and Song Dynasty is intertwined and inlaid with each other.

For example, because of the last Liao-Song war, they lost the land south of Zhuozhou, which caused the Song army to highlight a piece of their territory. The area of Ulzhou and Wuqing is still in the hands of the Liao State, so the terrain has become a concave shape, which is quite a bit of a two-sided attack on Zhuozhou of the Song State.

However, Yeluzong really knew that it was said that it was a two-sided attack, but in fact, it blossomed in the middle. Because Zhuozhou is an extremely important strategic location, it is too close to their Xijin Mansion, once the war starts, people can directly take Xijin from Fanyang City, and seal their throats with a sword.

Looking at the situation of the enemy and me on the map, Yelu Zongzhen pondered for a moment, first looked at the people below and said, "The army of the Song State in Fanyang is too deadly, what can you do?" ”

"For the sake of today's plan, we can only choose to deploy defenses around Xijin Mansion."

Xiao Xiaoyou, as a stayer in Nanjing, has been around Xijin Mansion for the longest time, so he naturally knows the situation, he said: "In the past, I was invincible in the field of Daliao, and the Song State could only shrink into the city. Nowadays."

He looked a little embarrassed when he said that, but after a while, he continued: "Now that the Song State has a slight upper hand in the field battle, and the surrounding area of Xijin Mansion is too vast, there is no terrain that can be defended, and it is almost all flat plain areas. ”

"Hmm"

Yelu Zongzhen nodded with a deep groan.

The rest of the generals also said: "This is indeed the reason, Nanjing is a flat river, there is no Yanshan to block it, and the Song State now has a lot of cavalry." ”

"They not only have cavalry, but also that kind of small artillery in the field, my Da Liao has always wanted to imitate this kind of small artillery, but we often blow up the chamber when we cast it, I heard that the iron tools they use are 100 steel, where did my Da Liao get 100 steel."

"Alas, time has passed, but I didn't expect our Daliao to have what happened today."

Who would have thought that the once invincible army of the Great Liao in the field would now be overtaken in the field it is best at, and even far behind?

In fact, this is also the fundamental factor for the polar reversal of the status of the Liao and Song dynasties.

After all, invincibility in the field is the real invincibility, and defending the city is actually a helpless move.

Therefore, the generals of the Liao State also felt a long-lost depression, far from being as invincible in the world as they were at the beginning, and they were happy and happy.

"Alright, so be it."

Yelu Zongzhen said in a deep voice: "I personally set up defenses this time, and I must let the Song Kingdom hit a nail fiercely when it comes to attack." ”

"Yes."

The crowd should go down.

The meeting ended, and many generals went to arrange the defense.

Yelu Zongzhen was also about to get up and leave, but suddenly caught a glimpse of Zhang Jian still sitting on the chair and did not move, so he knew that he had something to say to him, so he stayed where he was.

After everyone left, he spoke: "Father, is there something wrong with my arrangement?" ”

"There's nothing wrong with what Your Majesty did."

Zhang Jian shook his head slightly.

"That's?"

"It's just that the old minister is always a little uneasy in his heart."

"Oh?"

Yelu Zongzhen asked, "What does Father Xiang think makes you feel uneasy?" ”

"I can't tell."

Zhang Jian frowned.

There were basically no problems with this plan.

It should be said that it is the best solution to the current dilemma of Liao and Western Xia.

The dilemma of the Liao State and the Western Xia was that their catch-up was far less than the development of the Great Song Dynasty.

When the national strength of the Great Song Dynasty jumped to a terrifying point, then the destruction of the Liao State and the Western Xia State would not be far away.

But even now, even if the Liao State and the Western Xia are full of strength, in the face of the Great Song Dynasty, which is densely packed with countless cannon muzzles on the border, their chances of victory are still slim.

That's why they chose to attack the allies of the Great Song Dynasty first, fully mobilize the army of the Great Song, or let the Great Song gallop to the aid of the allies, or lure the Great Song to attack themselves, giving full play to their strengths and the weaknesses of the enemy.

But Zhang Jian didn't think that Song Guoguo couldn't see it.

After all, this is actually a conspiracy, and there is no shortage of smart people in the Song Dynasty, so how can they not notice this.

But Fan Zhongyan is still so fanfare and doesn't hide it, which is too strange.

"The minister is wondering what kind of way the Song Kingdom will attack us."

Zhang Jian said.

"In what way?"

Yelu Zongzhen was a little puzzled by the question, and said: "In what other way, naturally send troops from Zhuozhou." ”

"Then what if the Song Kingdom attacks from the sea?"

Zhang Jian stood up, came to the side of Yelu Zongzhen's table, pointed to Yutu and said: "If I am the Song State, I will send a fleet from Dengzhou to the north, and I can block Yuguan to the north, cut off the connecting passage between our southeast and southeast capitals, and go west to land in Pingzhou and sneak attack on my Xijin rear." ”

Maritime?

Yelu Zongzhen frowned.

It's really something they didn't take into account.

The reason is that the Liao State did not know what the situation of the Song army was at sea.

After all, the ships sent out sank one by one, and in the Song Kingdom, he only heard that the Great Song Dynasty had a naval military base in Hebei, Shandong, and Zhejiang.

As for what was going on inside, how many sea ships the Song Army had, and how many naval soldiers there were, they were completely blinded and didn't know anything.

It's not that the internal should be incompetent, but that the military bases of the Song army are all built in the shelter, and the shelter is often the kind of concave harbor, with hills and mountains on both sides, and the Song army fenced the mountains on the periphery and did not allow people to go up.

In this way, it is difficult to judge the strength of the navy by standing on the top of the hill and looking at the military base from afar, counting the ships inside.

However, looking at the army of the Song Dynasty, the navy is basically a dispensable thing, and the Liao people have never seen what the Great Song Dynasty navy is like, so they subconsciously do not take it seriously.

But now that Zhang Jian has mentioned it, Yelu Zongzhen has seriously considered it.

"Even if the Song army has a navy, if the artillery is placed on the top of the mountain, it can often fight for dozens of miles, and the higher the mountain, the farther the distance, maybe some artillery can be placed on the top of the mountain by the sea to deal with it."

Yelu Zongzhen said.

Zhang Jian smiled bitterly: "Laizhou, Pingzhou, and Xijin, the coastline is nearly seven or eight hundred miles, and I am afraid that all our artillery may not be enough." ”

Yelu Zong Zhen smiled: "These places are often vast and sparsely populated, and when the walls are clear, I don't believe that the Song State will really send so many people over, at most it will be a small group of harassing troops, and I am too worried." ”

"I hope I'm overthinking."

Zhang Jian shook his head.

He always felt that the mysterious Great Song Navy would become a huge hidden danger for them.

But now there is nothing to be done.

After the meeting, Yelu Zongzhen personally went to set up defenses.

In order to prevent being detected by the Song Dynasty, a large number of people in the Liao State went to Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo, but in fact it was just a false shot.

The main force quietly moved south in batches, and at this time, Nanjing of Liao already had more than 200,000 troops, and even the number continued to rise.

And not only Nanjing, in the year before last, Yelu Zongzhen set up Xijing Road, Datong Mansion was the place of governance, and there were more than 100,000 soldiers at the border, so it can be said that most of the troops of the Liao State have appeared on the Song-Liao border.

And just when Yelu Zongzhen lined up his troops and prepared to resist the invading Song army.

At this moment, the east road of Song Guodong Dengzhou, the howling sea breeze is blowing, making the flag on the pole of the ship hunting.

In a sheltered harbor surrounded by mountains, dozens of huge ships raised their sails.

Countless sailors in the cabin kicked the stirrups, the sound of rattling chains, and under the urging of manpower, the ships on both sides of the ship began to roll slowly, driving the ship forward.

The principle of this way of sailing is similar to that of a bicycle, but the ancient steel technology was not developed, and it was difficult to make iron chains that could withstand such great forces. And it's also not technically easy to implement.

However, now that the Great Song Dynasty is in the initial stage of the first industrial revolution, and steel production has increased dramatically, it is natural to be able to do this.

That is to say, the Liao State was lucky, and the time node chosen was the stage when steam power had just been used at this time, rather than the popularization stage. Otherwise, it would not be dozens of wooden ocean-going sailing ships that will go to sea now, but ironclad ships.

(End of chapter)