After the assembly, Ye County was soon promoted to Yezhou, with jurisdiction over Ye County, Kunyang, and Baiting County, and the Iron Supervision was separately divided and directly under the jurisdiction of the Salt and Iron Division. The scope of the three counties, roughly centered on the coal mine is Kunyang, the original Baiting prison scope is Baiting, and the rest is Ye County, and the state capital is located in Ye County.

Du Zhongxiao recommended Wang Anshi to go out of Yezhou, but it was undecided for a while.

On the evening of this day, Du Zhongxiao gave an edict, and together with Dou Shunqing, Thirteen Lang, and Yao Shouxin, he entered Tianzhang Pavilion to talk about martial arts. When I arrived at Tianzhang Pavilion, I found that Xu Huaide, the commander of the Ma Army, Wang Kai, and Li Zhang, the commander of the Bu Army, were all waiting here, and there were Ouyang Xiu, Wang Zhu, and Hu Su, who were the Hanlin scholars. Today, the three generals came, and it is obvious that the saint attaches great importance to it.

After the ceremony, Zhao Zhen said: "Since Du Zhongcheng led the Jingxi Road Yingtianxiang Army to rescue Tanglong Town, and then Shuai Hequ, the war in the world has changed since then. Most of the generals of the DPRK and China are not familiar with the new tactics and are at a loss. From today onwards, Du Zhongcheng and several generals from the Military Academy will be invited to Tianzhang Pavilion to talk about the new tactics. I will choose officials and generals, and I will listen here. ”

When the ministers heard this, they said yes together.

After a few words of gossip, Zhao Zhen said: "It's just empty talk, I'm afraid it will be difficult to understand for a while." Zhongcheng talked about martial arts, and took this battle with the party as an example to combine the battle situation ahead. In this way, it is easier for everyone to understand, and it is also convenient for Zhongcheng to speak. ”

After speaking, he instructed the small yellow door next to him to take a large map of the party items and spread it on a table in front of him.

Du Zhongxiao thanked Wat for gratitude, took out a booklet from his arms, and said: "Wechen has been thinking about it for the past few days, the teaching materials in the army are based on the training in Suizhou that year, and they were originally used to select generals with troops. In fact, not much has been said about the grand strategic principles. The minister was stupid and thought about it, and compiled this booklet for use in the lecture. ”

Zhao Zhen instructed Xiao Huangmen to fetch it, and said, "Tomorrow, the court will copy a few copies and let the people who listen here use them." ”

Du Zhongxiao praised the wat at the war: "If you write it in a hurry, there must be many wrong places, and you will just look at it." Whoever has an opinion, you can put it forward, and I will go back and correct it. This matter has not been done before, and only with the wisdom of everyone can it be slowly improved. ”

Zhao Zhen flipped through the booklet and said, "It's a bit similar to the book of war." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Talking about military strategy is originally written in the military book. It's just that the way the war is fought is the same now, and it has changed with it. ”

After speaking, Du Zhongxiao looked at the map on the table and said: "Military strategy, including content, the first is of course the government. Including the government of the current dynasty and the government of the enemy, we should have a clear understanding before the war. The minister is the general of the army, and he doesn't know much about the government, so he won't talk about it. The second is the interests of the country, what is the benefit of fighting this battle for the imperial court, and what is the harm to the imperial court if it is not fighting. The third is the strength of the war. What are the enemy's forces, how powerful are the troops, and how many troops are needed to win. What impact will the deployment of such a large number of troops have on the country? Fourth, geography. Depending on the geography, how we want to attack and how the enemy defends. In addition to the enemy and the enemy, what other forces in the surrounding area will affect the battle situation and what kind of reaction will they make. ”

Zhao Zhen listened, looked at the officials around him, and said, "Listening to Zhongcheng say this, things will be much clearer." It's a pity that when the party strategy was decided, Zhongcheng was not in the imperial court, but he didn't think about so many things. ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "It doesn't matter, the party is a small country, even if there are twists and turns in the war, the result will not change." Just take this battle as an example, let Zhongcheng talk about how the war should be fought. Your Majesty and the ministers have learned it, and it will be easier to have wars in the future. ”

Everyone knows that the future war will be against the Khitan. As long as the party was destroyed, the Song Dynasty would have an absolute advantage over the Khitan and have full confidence to defeat the Khitan. The war against the party was to a large extent a rehearsal of the Khitan war, so that the monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty knew the military comparison.

Du Zhongxiao looked at the map and said, "Why do you have to attack the party?" Not to mention the righteousness of the monarch and the minister, I don't know much about the affairs of the court and politics. Geographically alone, the party is located north of Guanzhong and west to Lanzhou and Hexi. On its east side, regardless of the meandering road of the river, the Hengshan Mountain threatens Guanzhong. To the west, with Lanzhou as the center, threatens Qinfeng Road. Hexi cut off the trade routes of the Western Regions. There is a party item there, and there are many inconveniences between the imperial court and the Western Regions. And once the imperial court had something to do with the Khitan, the party was behind it, and it had to send troops to defend. If the party is destroyed, the imperial court will have no strong enemies in the northwest and will be integrated with the Western Regions. If the Khitan has something, it can pour the whole country's troops to face it. ”

Zhao Zhen nodded: "The party is not destroyed, and the court will be held back in the end." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Not bad. Therefore, geographically, it is a last resort for the imperial court to attack and destroy the party. If you don't destroy the party, you can't do it in the end. This is a rough idea, I believe Your Majesty knows very well, and there is no need to say more. So, where do we start to defeat the party? ”

Hearing this, Zhao Zhen and the ministers became serious. The current arrangement was set before Du Zhongxiao returned to the court, and what are the pros and cons, in fact, most of the courtiers don't count in their hearts. Let Di Qing attack from the Zhenrong army, with Han Qi assisting, naturally there are countless reasons, but it is not in line with military principles, it is impossible to say. Du Zhongxiao has not commented on the party war when he talks about it, but he can listen to it today.

Du Zhongxiao said: "The party can be divided into three parts. The eastern part is Hengshan, which is the starting place of the party, with dense population and rugged mountain roads. The two prefectures of Xingling in the central part of the country, located between Helan Mountain and the Yellow River, have fertile land, irrigated by the Yellow River, and are the most rich, sandwiched by mountains and rivers. The west is several counties in Hexi, and at the foot of Qilian Mountain, it is the outline to the Western Regions. Attacking the party, there are three plans for these three places. ”

After speaking, he pointed to the Hengshan area and said: "First, attack Hengshan." The western front held the security forces, and the eastern front advanced north and south. The south road is from the Suide army, and goes north along the Wuding River. The north road goes south from Shengzhou, along the Mingtang River, and the south road will attack the three states of silver, stone and Xia. With the military strength of the imperial court, the party could not resist even if the whole country came to help. The second is to attack Hexi. The west road takes Guazhou from Xingxingxia, and the north road takes Ganzhou and Suzhou from Juju, and the two armies meet to take Liangzhou. The third is to directly take Xingling, which is the current method of play used by the imperial court. There are two main reasons why Xingling and Lingzhou are directly taken. First, the difference in the national strength of the two dynasties is too great, and there is no need to take the two wings of the party and directly attack its vital points. Without the two states of Xingling, the party project will not be able to support it. Another point is that the railway is repaired to the Zhenrong army, and the imperial court has the ability to directly attack Lingzhou. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "What Zhongcheng said makes sense. At the beginning of the discussion of the party's strategy, some ministers suggested that Hengshan could be attacked first. The army that won the river meandered to the south, and the Yanyan road went north along the infinite river to take the silver and Xia states. This is the place where the party item rises, and if you take two states, you will cut off the party's arm. The ministers gathered and thought that it was better to cut off the party's arm than to take it directly from the heart. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yes, the current party item cannot be the enemy of the imperial court at all, and there is no need to weaken it little by little." Moreover, after the railway is connected to the Zhenrong army, the world's financial and material resources can support the direct attack on Xingling and Xingling. For the two states of Xingling, there is Hezhou in the north of the imperial court, and there is the Zhenrong army in the south, which can be advanced from north to south. Why not? Because the Zhenrong army in the south is between Lingzhou, it is suitable for the deployment of a large army, and in fact, the imperial court also arranged an army of 300,000. The southern line is to break through Tiandu Mountain, and the north is to break through Shanheguan. Shanhe Pass is an important place, and after breaking through, there are still nearly 100 miles of mountain roads. Helan Mountain is an important place for the party, there are many palace buildings in the mountain, and there are many soldiers and horses, so it is inconvenient to actually march. Compared with the South Road, when the South Road is laid down in Xingfufu, the North Road may not be able to go out of the mountain. It was a wise move for Captain Han to abandon the Shanhe Pass and take Hexi from the west. ”

Zhao Zhen looked at the map, thought for a while, and said, "What Zhongcheng said makes sense. However, Captain Di of the Zhenrong Army is expected to go out of Tiandu Mountain next year and attack Lingzhou next year, but he can cooperate with the North Road to break the mountains and rivers. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Your Majesty, I can't hide it, the minister has always thought that Captain Di's military strategy is too conservative. There are not many soldiers and horses in Tiandu Mountain, and the terrain is not dangerous, and the 300,000 army can sweep in a month. The party arrangement did not want to fight with the dynasty in Tiandu Mountain, but concentrated troops and horses around Lingzhou. Judging by his thoughts, he should know that the strength of the army is inferior to that of the current dynasty, and he wants to retreat to Lingzhou, and use the logistics supply in the rear of Lingzhou to be too long to drag down the attacking army of this dynasty. In fact, from the Zhenrong army to Lingzhou, the distance is 500 miles, and the materials can be transported to the city of Lingzhou only with people's backs. ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "According to the party's troops, if you don't fight a decisive battle with this dynasty in Lingzhou, there is no other way." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What Nehan said is true. In small-scale operations, the party can use Tiandu Mountain to delay the soldiers and horses of the dynasty. For large-scale operations, Tiandu Mountain is not suitable. Most of the roads in the mountains are open, and there are no suitable places for large-scale operations. Fighting in Lingzhou, try to lengthen the supply route of the soldiers and horses of this dynasty, relying on the strong city, you can also hold on. ”

Zhao Zhen said: "According to Zhongcheng, Captain Di is in the Zhenrong army, and he is too delayed. Is it for the imperial court to force it to attack? ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Your Majesty, don't use suspicious people, don't doubt people." Captain Di is the commander of the front, and he will either be replaced or will have to fight according to his strategy. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, it may lead to a big defeat. ”

This is the principle, either believe in the commander in front, or directly replace people, and don't force it for specific strategies. Otherwise, it will lead to a mistake in the layout ahead, and in the end, it will be regretted. Du Zhongxiao felt that Di Qing was conservative, but opposed the imperial court forcing him to attack.

Speaking of this, Du Zhongxiao sighed: "Captain Di Tai is conservative in attack, and there may be two surprises now. First, after Captain Han sent troops from Xingxingxia, he had already occupied Guazhou. It took half a month for the war report to be transmitted from Guazhou to the imperial court. By now, maybe Suzhou has been taken. If Taiwei Han occupied Liangzhou, and Taiwei Di had just left Tiandu Mountain, the battle situation ahead would be complicated. There is another one, the two Khitan emperors have been standing side by side for several years, and Yelu Hongji has turned from defense to attack. If the Khitan has a result, the party war is not over, and the river meandering road will be empty. ”

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