In the Chongzheng Palace, Zhao Zhen and a group of ministers gathered around to look at the topographic map of the First World War in Shuozhou on the table. In Du Zhongxiao's eyes, this map is rather sparse. Bi Jian had not prepared before, but now the time is too tight to draw a detailed map. In Zhao Zhen's eyes, this is an unprecedented thing. Where have I ever seen such a scene in the past. It was all based on the front-line plays, and the ministers talked eloquently.

Du Zhongxiao pointed to the map and said: "Recently, the peach blossom water has risen, and the gray river is not allowed to wade across the river except for the upstream of the Chenjia Valley mouth." Pang Ji had already ordered people to collect all the ferries on the river, and although the valley road from Datong Mansion to Shuozhou was wide, it was divided into two parts. The west side is narrower, which is the road that the Khitan should take to enter Shuozhou. The key point is here, the county seat of Mayi. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded: "I see." The two military headquarters of Zhao Zi and Jia Kui were placed here, and the 30,000 troops of Pang in the rear defended the city, which was the reason. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "This battle is about the same. In the county seat of Mayi, the gray river is close to the mountain city in the west, and it is impossible to deploy a large number of troops, so it is more than 30,000 people under Jia Kui's department to defend it. Zhao Zi's department of 50,000 people, on the east bank of the gray river, there is a pontoon bridge leading to the west bank. If the Khitan wanted to attack Zhaozi, they had to cross the river from above Yingzhou. If you can't defeat Zhao Zi, there is no way to go to the west bank of the river. is to win, Zhao Zi still has a way to go to the west bank and burn the pontoon bridge. In that way, the Khitan army was isolated on the east bank of the river, and Jia Kui's troops were confronted across the river, so there was no need to fight this battle. ”

Wen Yanbo said: "The Khitan army is in the east of the river, you can be stationed for a few days, and you can rebuild the ferry." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Xianggong, the Khitan army of 600,000 is now in Datong Mansion. Not to mention how many of these people can fight, at least they have to eat. The two Khitan emperors fought for five years, and Chongyuan had already looted all the Datong Mansion under his rule, and the rations of these 600,000 people had to be transported from Youzhou. Just to transport rations, how long can the Khitan hold on? Pang Ji and the Privy Council estimated that the difference was not much, and they both believed that the battle would not last, about a month or so. Except for the march, except for the arrangement, where can the Khitan wait to build a ferry? ”

Wen Yanbo was stunned for a moment, only to realize that he had not considered the difficulties of the Khitan. The two emperors have been fighting for five years, and this time Hong Jixing destroyed the country's army, and now it is the end of the strong crossbow. The reality does not allow Hongji to fight for a long time, and he must achieve maximum results in the shortest possible time.

Zhang Guangping said: "Since two years ago, most of the Khitans in Zhongjing Province did not obey the Queen Mother and voted under Hongji. Since then, Chongyuan has been very difficult, and he has been exploiting his subordinates very heavily. Up to now, there is no spare strength under the rule of Datong Mansion to support another 400,000 people. Now the rations of Hongji's department are all transported from Youzhou. The people of Youzhou were forced to serve hard labor and could not support it. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "The Khitan is a soldier of the country this time, and there is no strength left. At the end of the so-called strong crossbow, it is impossible to wear Lu Minye. Now it seems that when the Khitan goes south, it can only fight with our army in one go. As long as they are in their way, they can only retreat. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Your Majesty is right. Therefore, the layout of this battle is to use Jia Kui's department as the front, and Zhao Zi on the side to cover. If the Khitan did not take the east bank of the Gray River, but attacked along the west bank, then Zhao Zi's artillery would help Jia Kui across the river. ”

Zeng Gongliang said: "Can the artillery hit the other side of the gray river? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The gray river is not very wide, and the artillery can hit it. In this way, the passage through which the Khitan was able to attack Mayi was actually less than five miles. The eastern part of Jia Kui's department is the county seat, and the western part extends to the mountains, and he has already arranged his position and waited for the Khitan soldiers to come. ”

Song Zhen, who participated in politics, said: "Why don't you stick to the county seat? Going out of the city to defend is always inevitable to engage with the Khitan army in short combat, which is not the best policy. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Jia Kui has more than 30,000 people, and almost all the artillery is brought to Mayi, where can the small county town be stopped?" Guns and cannons were used in his army, stretched out in a long line, just to exert firepower. ”

Zhao Zhen has studied military affairs with Du Zhongxiao for a few months, and his eyesight is no longer comparable to before, so he nodded and said, "That's true." In a small county town, there are not a few cannons on the head of the city, and there are not a few soldiers living in the city, and Jia Kui has more than 30,000 people, so it is impossible to only defend the county seat. If you defend the city, you should retreat to Shuozhou. ”

Du Zhongxiao held the wat at the war: "Your Majesty Mingjian." In this battle, if the Khitan is advancing along the west bank of the Gray River, Jia Kui is the main force. In addition to supporting from the side, Zhao Zi's department is also the reserve of Jia Kui's department. If there was too much damage on the front line, Zhao Zi sent people from the pontoon bridge to maintain the frontline combat strength. ”

Wang Yaochen muttered: "Jia Kui's department is not full of members, only more than 30,000 people, and Zhao Zi is full of 50,000 people. Why let Jia Kui's department be the main force, instead of letting the full Zhao Zi go? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Between the gray river and the mountains, there are only five miles of road, and more than 30,000 people in Jia Kui are already crowded, and Zhao Zi's department really can't let go. In addition to the layout of the front line, there are 30,000 soldiers and horses on the Hedong Road led by Pang Xianggong in the rear, guarding Shuozhou in case of accidents. At the same time, if the Khitan has soldiers and horses to harass the rear, Pang Xianggong can also send troops and horses to exterminate them. ”

Everyone nodded, looking at the map on the table. Now I suddenly understand why Du Zhongxiao has already decided, this time the Song army only took Shuozhou, and did not care about anything else. The terrain of Shuozhou determines that a short battle will be fought around, and the defense will be very favorable. With the addition of Pang's headquarters, the Song army has a total of 110,000 people, and the surrounding area is already full, and it can't accommodate more people. Therefore, the 50,000 troops of Liu Jisuo's department did not go to the direction of Shuozhou at all, but stayed in the mountains.

If the Khitan sent troops to attack Shuozhou along the west bank of the Gray River, Liu Ji went out and threatened the Khitan rear route.

In the face of the army of Mayi, the Khitan must dispatch more than 100,000 troops, or even 200,000 or 300,000 people for the whole army. At this time, it will be very dangerous to be cut off by Liu Ji. To prevent Liu Ji, tens of thousands of troops must be divided to block various mountain roads.

After carefully looking at the map, Zhao Zhen said: "This time the Privy Council is properly arranged, and there are no loopholes. If Hongji comes to attack, there will be no chance! ”

All the ministers praised the wat together: "What Your Majesty said is very true. ”

Wen Yanbo said: "In addition to Shuozhou in the south, Yang Wenguang in the north occupies Khitan Dezhou and is heading towards Baishuiluo. What if the Khitan didn't go south, but went north to attack Yang Wenguang? There was no army behind him, and there was some emptiness. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Xianggong, more than 100,000 people from Pang in the south, plus 50,000 people from Liu, are eyeing Datong Mansion. Yelu Hongji naturally did not dare to lead his troops north for the sake of Datong's plan. If not, Pang Ji and Liu had nearly 200,000 people and went straight out of Datong Mansion and cut off Hongji's retreat, so there would be no need to fight this battle. In the final analysis, our army in the south is strong, and if the Khitans want to fight, they can only go south. ”

Wen Yanbo nodded. Although he was not familiar with military affairs, he had a general understanding of the intentions of the Privy Council. seized Shuozhou and deployed more than 100,000 troops there, actually forcing the Khitan to fight south. The north is actually empty, and Yang Wenguang has 50,000 people, who can already be invincible.

Zhao Zhen looked at the map and said in a deep voice: "It's well arranged, do you think Hongji will send troops to fight?" ”

Wen Yanbo said: "Hongji has newly won Datong Mansion and unified the Khitan, when his spirit is high, how can he sit back and watch Shuozhou be occupied? I think I'll go south anyway and talk about it. If you win the battle, you will naturally take back Shuozhou and other states and counties. If you lose the fight, it's not too late to talk to this dynasty slowly. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Only take Shuozhou, the Khitans may still think that they can negotiate with this dynasty." So they sent envoys to meet Pang Xianggong in Shuozhou. He also promised the envoys to come to Beijing to negotiate with the imperial court. At this time, Yang Wenguang took Texas and entered Baishuiluo, and the Khitans were afraid that they would not be able to wait. ”

Hundreds of thousands of Khitans are now concentrated in Datong Province, and logistical supply is very difficult. Only take Shuozhou, they may not be able to make up their minds to fight. At this time, Yang Wenguang's continuous eastward advance forced them to send troops, otherwise they would not be able to stop Yang Wenguang's advance.

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