The dispatch of the Sichuan political envoy has been issued, and although Lei Shan can not go to Xuzhou to serve as a general judge, as long as he refuses, the current dispatch will be lost, which is equivalent to resigning. An official of his level is different from Luo Dianzao, and every transfer is very eye-catching, and it is quite difficult to get the political envoy to revoke this order.

But Zhao Ran still decided to give it a try, not only did Lei Shan not want to leave the White Horse Academy, but he didn't want Lei Shan to be transferred, and it would be good to be promoted within the Song Domain.

So he said: "I understand Lao Lei's intentions, and the White Horse Academy is also inseparable from Lao Lei, so I will go back and find a way to redeem this matter as much as possible." ”

Three days later, Zhao Ran came to Songfan and entered the Yamen of the Governor's Mansion in Western Sichuan.

There are only eleven people in the festival hall, but the specifications are very high, Xia Ji, the governor of western Sichuan, personally presided over the military meeting, Yan Yunyi, the leading monk stationed in the Song Domain, Du Tenghui of the Tianhe Palace, the commander of the Song Domain's Wei Cao, and the subordinate Ning Wanxu Sansan Shouyu, as well as stationed in Xiaohe and Yongzhen, as the reserve of the Song Domain, Zhang Qianhu of Xiaohe Qianhu, Li Qianhu of Chishui Qianhu, and the last two are Zhao Ran, the abbot of the White Horse Academy, and Xu Jiangchuan, the secretary of the Governor's Mansion.

The huge sand table is supported by several tables, and the general topography of the entire border between the Song Domain and the Western Xia is shaped, marking the garrisons of the Ming army and the known Xia army. The situation of the two sides is clear at a glance.

Governor Xia pointed to the sand table, mainly to Du Tenghui and Zhao Ran to introduce the latest situation of the current Ming army and the Xia army.

"On the first line of the White River, our side is still based on the Chewa River Valley, and the Chinese army and the Baihe Imperial Station are garrisoned by Cao Command, and along the lower reaches of the White River, Ning Guards the Imperial Garrison Hongyuan Garrison, and Xu Shouyu Garrison Anqu Garrison. What is different from what Du Jian Yuan and Zhiran knew before is that the three imperial guards of Anqu, Hongyuan and Baihe, in the name of the previous rotation and defense, each transferred a thousand households to the north to Ruoergai to strengthen the forces of Xiaoshanwei and Loushanwei. Therefore, in fact, the number of troops stationed along the White River is 3,000 fewer than three months ago, and the total number of troops together with the Chinese army is only more than 5,000. ”

Zhao Ran had heard a little, in fact, since three months ago, Western Xia had created incidents in the area of Ruoergai on the northern front, and the commanders under the military department of the Black Mountain Weifu Supervisor often went to the army to provoke, causing great pressure on the Xiaoshan guards in front of him.

In order to cope with the pressure, the Governor's Palace, in the name of rotation, spent three months transferring 3,000 households from the relatively stable Song Domain Guard to strengthen the Xiaoshan Guard, and re-stabilized the situation in Ruoergai.

Du Tenghui nodded with Zhao Ran, expressed his gratitude to Governor Xia for his personal explanation, and listened to Governor Xia: "Today's discussion of the military situation, you are all old people in the army, you know the rules, you don't need me to say more, if it spreads, you will not be spared." Now, please give me a briefing. ”

Zhao Ran got up and said: "I just received a news that the provocation of the Weifu Supervision Military Division of Western Xia Montenegro in the Ruoergai area has a clear intention, but its intention is not on the northern front, but on the western front. All the actions of Western Xia in Ruoergai were to cooperate with the upcoming offensive on the Western Front, that is, the Baihe front line under the responsibility of the Baimaqiang Town Supervision and Military Division. We also received clear news that the chief general in charge of the command this time was Wu Huawen, the commander of the left wing of the white horse. ”

As soon as this news was announced, it immediately caused a commotion. Commander Cao asked: "Where did Abbot Zhao's military information come from? Is it reliable?"

Zhao Ran said: "I can't answer this question, and I don't have the right to answer it, I can only say that this information has been approved by the West Hall of the Sanqing Pavilion." ”

Commander Cao frowned and said, "It's very strange, if this information is true, it will be difficult for me to understand the tactics of Western Xia." If you don't fight in the north, you have to take the most difficult Baihe River, how does the Privy Council of Western Xia think about it?"

Zhao Ran thought for a moment and explained: "Maybe there is a situation that can make a note for the behavior of the Tangut people. In today's Western Xia court, the struggle between the Hou Party and the Imperial Party has become more and more intense, and one of the focal points of the struggle is the commander of the left wing of the white horse opposite us, Wu Huawen. In order to cooperate with the imperial party, he once wrote a book, pointing out that Yeli Huaide of the Yeli family escaped from the battle. This petition caused the Yeli family to suffer a heavy blow, and also weakened the power of the Hou Party. The information we have obtained shows that the Hou Party wants to save the situation, and their main direction of attack is Wu Huawen. ”

Jiang Ruobing, the secretary in charge of the Governor's Office, said thoughtfully: "In this way, this is a self-preservation move by the imperial party? No wonder only the Black Mountain Weifu Supervision and Military Division is provoking on the northern front, but the Xiangyou Supervision and Military Division is not moving. At that time, we were still strange that the contrast between the two was too great, and we once suspected that the main attack of Western Xia would be launched by the Xiangyou Supervision Military Division, and it was a plan to attack the east and the west. Now it seems that it is indeed the east and the west, but the direction of the attack is the west of the white river. ”

Seeing that a few guards and Qianhu didn't understand too much, especially Zhang Qianhu of Xiaohe and Li Qianhu of Chishui were a little confused, Jiang Ruobing explained: "The three military supervisors in front of our Song Domain, Xiangyou are from the Houdang line, and the two military supervisors from Baima and Montenegro are from the imperial party. ”

Zhao Ran nodded: "Secretary Jiang has a deep understanding of the overall situation of Western Xia, and he admires the poor way. That's roughly what it means, and now in the court, Wu Huawen's situation is very bad, so the imperial party wants to help Wu Huawen make some contributions, which is also Wu Huawen's urgent wish. ”

Jiang Ruobing asked: "Abbot Zhao, what happened to Wu Huawen, did he have any tricks that were seized by the Hou Dang family?"

Zhao Ran smiled and said: "The main reason is the fiasco of the first battle of White Horse Mountain, the Hou Party may have obtained evidence unfavorable to Wu Huawen, this guy is a little anxious, the so-called dog jumped off the wall in a hurry, he is ready to take the risk of jumping back to the wall to see if there is any meat to eat in the wall." ”

Several generals immediately laughed, and Commander Cao said, "Then let's close the door and beat the dog!"

The reported military situation has roughly reached this point, and it is impossible to go into further detail about when and where to launch an attack, but it is enough to be able to know the enemy's offensive intentions.

According to this information, it can be inferred that the purpose of Wu Huawen's attack should be just to get a vote to prove his innocence, which is a surprise attack.

The surprise attack pays attention to hitting and running, the number of troops should not be many, and if there are too many troops, it is impossible to form the effect of a sneak attack, and the Baihe natural danger does not mean that the river cannot be crossed, but it does not meet the conditions for large-scale river crossing in a short period of time.

Five or six years ago, the Ming army had calculated that even if they chose to cross the river at three ferries, it would take at least one full day to cross a thousand people by boat, and let those thousand people climb the embankment, and at least forty or fifty boats would be needed to transport troops alone—the Baihe River could not carry large boats, let alone transport battle formation weapons, grain and grass, and it would take more time.