Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said: "Since entering the Hequ Road, the headquarters has taken the defense of the place as the foundation, and has not prepared for war, and the army does not have much savings. It is impossible to destroy the country, it is too late. To fight big, only a limited border battle can be fought. ”

Where did Han Qi understand what Du Zhongxiao said, and asked, "How do you say it?" ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "Be fair and wait a while." With that, he instructed the guards outside the door to fetch a map of the vicinity.

After a while, the map was taken, Du Zhongxiao spread it out on the table, and said to Han Qi: "Look, there are two places along Hequ Road that border the party. The first is the South Road, the upper reaches of the Dangxiang Quye River opposite the Jinsu Army and the Heqing Army, and the Linfu Road is not far from the south. Originally, the plan of the lower officials was that if the party refused to return the refuge households, they would use about 2,000 men and horses, armed with guns, to remove all the party fortresses in that area. With the help of artillery, it is not difficult to break through the fortress. After it was broken, it was all demolished and burned, and the dynasty did not garrison troops and horses, so that the party had no basis from now on——"

Han Qi looked at the map and asked, "Since it's not difficult to attack, why don't you attack it and defend it?" We have artillery, but the party doesn't, and they can't do anything about building forts. After occupying that area, Linfu Road will be much easier. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "There are ravines in that area, the roads are rugged, the terrain is broken, and it is too cost-effective to hold it." Because the terrain is too fragmented, you can't find a key place, and you can't defend the place with a big city, so you can only set up a walled fort and divide troops to defend it. The party had rough food, and the cultivated land around the fortress could barely support the defenders, but this dynasty couldn't, and there would be a lot of losses at that time. It is better not to defend it, and every year the party army retreats, and thousands of soldiers and horses burn it to the ground. Without the support of the fortress, the party lost the land around the Quye River, and the desert behind it, and it was powerless to threaten the imperial court from there. ”

Han Qi thought for a while, nodded and said, "It also makes sense." Your soldiers and horses can do so with their guns. What about this road? ”

Du Zhongxiao pointed to the map and said: "The north road is the area of the Tiande Army and Huyan Valley, along the Yellow River, and directly attack the Black Mountain Supervisory Army. Broke the city of Wuthorn Sea, went along the Yellow River, and attacked Hue Ferry in the Qilian Pass. At that time, there was a trend of soldiers coming to Xingqing Mansion, and they seized the opportunity to win! ”

Han Qi frowned and shook his head: "The Black Mountain Supervision Army Division has 70,000 soldiers and horses to prepare the Khitan, and you have less than half of them, how can it be easy to fight!" ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "That was before, when Yuan Hao's soldiers and horses were at their strongest. Since the party's treason, there have been continuous wars for many years, and there are still so many soldiers and horses there. In the past few years, the Khitan has invaded the party every time to the foot of Qilian Mountain, and has attacked Liangzhou from afar, where it has long been broken. According to my estimates, if the party had not gathered a large army, relying only on the soldiers and horses of the Montenegrin Supervisory Army, 20,000 or 30,000 people would have won long ago. Due to the lack of preparation, the army could only go as far as 300 miles into battle. The Tiande army crossed more than 300 miles to Hue, which was the farthest place within the reach of the soldiers, just to the Helan Pass. ”

Han Qi was silent, and kept looking at the map for a long time before he said, "Why don't you imitate the Khitan and attack the middle road?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In addition to the land and Jinze, the middle road is full of desert. As long as the party retreats step by step, the army will enter a dead end. It was not a place to fight, and the Khitan was defeated several times, all of them in the middle and south roads. On the contrary, several battles were fought by the north road to save face. The Khitan people fought the party, which was a war to destroy the country. The south road is to attack Hengshan, the middle road is to take Xingqing Mansion directly, and the north road is to contain it. If you don't fight a war to destroy the country, you don't have to be like this. ”

Bao Zheng, who had not spoken, said: "The area around the Tiande Army is vast and sparsely populated, there are no households, no people to reclaim, no food, I am afraid that it will not be easy." ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "So this battle must be based on the army's own supply, and the battle must be resolved quickly." Unable to deal a fatal blow to the party in a short time, the army immediately withdrew and defended the German army. However, I think that in about half a month, it is certain that the Black Mountain Supervision and Military Division will be destroyed and Xinghuadu will be attacked. ”

Han Qi pondered for a while and asked, "Half a month?" How sure are you sure? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "About eight cities." The party has been fighting for more than ten years, how many troops can it support? As long as the plan is thorough, the lives of the military cannot be done. It is feasible to attack the area of Dulunzhai with a small number of soldiers and horses, attract the party's army, and suddenly attack Montenegro. ”

Han Qi said: "Sound east and west? One is not good, the party saved the Dulun Village with the army of the country, and attacked Dongshengzhou along the road, how to do it? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "As long as the defense is thorough, the party will not be able to break through Jinsu Prefecture and Heqing Prefecture, and Dongsheng Prefecture will be safe." With so many cannons, thousands of people are more than enough to defend the city. The party dared to besiege, and in a month's time, reinforcements from all walks of life should arrive. ”

Han Qi nodded, shook his head again, and hesitated for a moment. With more than 30,000 soldiers and horses, the risk of a decisive battle with the party is too great.

It has been more than two months since he went north, and after understanding the reality of the Khitan and the party, Du Zhongxiao understands in his heart that there are already a lot of 30,000 soldiers. The Khitan attacked the party, and Yelu Zong really recruited in person, but there were only more than 200,000 soldiers and horses. Divided into three routes, plus the men and horses of logistical support, the soldiers and horses who really fought on the front line were only 350,000 people, or even less. The two sides fought a decisive battle, and only tens of thousands of people fought on the front line.

Hundreds of thousands of troops, concentrated on one battlefield, how to command in this era? The unprecedented Pingrong Wanquan array of the Song army was only 100,000 people, and no matter how much it worked, it would not work. The so-called hundreds of thousands of troops are all stretching for hundreds of miles, and there are not so many people on the frontal battlefield.

The advantage of the battalion and field army is that all the soldiers are trained, and the organization is mature and the command is orderly. In a short war, 30,000 men are enough to control the battlefield. When the party really gathers the troops of the whole country, the war should be over.

The organization of the battalion and field army, the army is the highest battlefield command unit, and it is responsible for the whole road alone, and no matter how much it is, it can only be divided into troops or made a reserve. No matter how many soldiers and horses are claimed, 50,000 people are the limit for those who are really fighting on the battlefield, and the command will be chaotic.

If all the manpower of the battalion and the first army of the battalion and field army are replenished, it will be enough to carry out a war of annihilation against the party. The party claims to have hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and it can mobilize 670,000 people at its limit, which is useless. If you count the maximum number of troops, the Song Dynasty can still mobilize millions of people.

Han Qi pondered for a long time, sat down at the table, and said to Du Zhongxiao: "According to your intentions, if you hit the party hard, use your voice to attack the west." With one attack, Quye River Dulun Village, fast in and out, all the Dangxiang forts in that area were burned to the ground. The main force is concentrated in the Tiande Army, if the party points troops and horses to save the Dulun Village, the main force of the Tiande Army will directly attack the Black Mountain Supervision Army. Destroy its main force, and the troops will come to Hue to threaten Xingqing Province. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Not bad." As long as Hue is captured, arranged along the Yellow River, and preparations are made in advance, it will be difficult for the party to recapture it. ”

Bao Zheng said: "Even if this plan is feasible, will the party be fooled?" After a slight defeat, Chongyuan was defeated, and then Zong Zhen was killed, and the results were too amazing. The party knew this, how could they come to meet it? ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "Since Yuan Hao's treason, the party and this dynasty have been attacking for several years, and there are almost no defeats, how can you not dare to fight?" ”

People's psychology is very wonderful, no matter how powerful their army is, no matter how brilliant the results of the battle are, as long as they do not hit the head of the party, how can they be afraid? Not to mention the party members who have won successive battles after the founding of the country, the spirit is there, that is, those armies that have been defeated repeatedly, as long as it takes a long time, there will be a kind of self-confidence in the confusion. In the previous life, India did not know how badly it fought on the border with China, but after a decade or two, when it became angry, it was delusional to think that its combat power had the upper hand. The army that was beaten to the island in three years was even more magical, and it was afraid of who was afraid of the foreign enemy, but it was not afraid of the army that had beaten itself to the ground, and tried its best to provoke it.

Since the party has established the country, it has not lost many battles. Surrendered to the Khitan last year, but it was only a lack of national strength, and there was no big defeat, why are they afraid of Du Zhongxiao's tens of thousands of people? No matter how powerful the cannon is, it can't hit the Prime Minister's Mansion in Xingqing Mansion, right? If you know that you are afraid, you won't come to recruit people from Song Jingfan.