At this time, the middle route army led by Yang Yan was stationed in Lingzhou City, and while making a little repair, he was paying attention to the news on several other fronts.

Moreover, at this time, the Mongolian army bypassed the city of Keyimun and penetrated deep into the territory of Western Xia, so as to arrive at the city of Xingqing Mansion, and at this time, the spy system of Lai Wenzheng spread to Yang Yan's army. Even if the Mongol army arrived at Xingqing Mansion first, then the Song army could not continue to stay in Lingzhou, and it was time to make a move.

At present, Gao Zhen's Eastern Route Army took the eastern part of Western Xia at this time, and then divided half of the men and horses to garrison Hongzhou, Longzhou, Shizhou, Yinzhou and other places, and led the other half of the men and horses to return to Lingzhou and join Yang Yan. Yang Changpeng of the Western Route Army also left a part of his men and horses to garrison Liangzhou. He also divided his troops to take over the Xishou Baotai Military Division, and he should have been stationed in person. In the Lingzhou area, the Song army gathered nearly 120,000 troops. In addition, the Lingzhou army also had nearly 50,000 horses, so that Yang Yan had enough troops in his hands to capture the places along the Yellow River at this time.

Some time ago, the Song army used the combat method of first letting the Lingzhou army lure the enemy, leading the Western Xia people out of the city to meet the battle, and then the Song army suddenly attacked, and repeatedly defeated the Western Xia army. Later, the Western Xia army also learned to be smart, and no matter how the Lingzhou army challenged, they simply closed their doors and did not fight. Yang Yan's initial goal was also achieved, so Yang Yan also began to actively prepare for the war of attacking the Yellow River defense line in Western Xia.

That night, after Yang Yan finished handling official business, he stretched his waist, he didn't feel sleepy for a while, and he didn't want to rest, so he paced back and forth in the yard. It has been more than two months since I left Jiankang to Jing, and at this time it is almost November, autumn is thick, and the climate of Xixia is much colder than Jiankang, in the morning and evening, it is already a little biting cold.

In the spare time between the campaign, the husband and wife can always say some intimate words, care for each other, enjoy a short warm moment, and can relax and regulate their emotions. And this time, Zhao Yueru didn't play with Yang Yan, and Yang Yan felt a little unaccustomed. In such a silent and boring night, he seemed a little lonely.

At this time, Yang Yan naturally missed several wives and children at home, and they must have thought about themselves thousands of miles away, right? Now that Zhao Yueru and Lin Yinzi are pregnant, I don't know how the two of them are doing now, are they safe? However, the family is very experienced in taking care of pregnant women, and there is a serious person like Zhao Qianru presiding over the overall situation, there shouldn't be any big problems, right? Lin Yinzi is better, but Zhao Yueru is not very active, can she get used to such a life of recuperation at home? That's four months now, isn't it......

Just thinking about it, Yang Yan suddenly became alert in his heart, suddenly raised his head, and shouted to the roof in the southwest: "Who is hiding there?" In his heart, he couldn't help but be secretly surprised, his residence was under the layers of protection of the Song Army, but someone could avoid the layers of guards without being discovered, and Yang Yan might not be able to do it if he asked himself. Nor did his right hand stand on the hilt of the sword. Because he just went out and walked around, he didn't carry a sword with him, but only a sword.

At this time, I only heard a familiar voice and laughed: "Yan'er, your vigilance has not been lowered?" ”

Yang Yan was stunned at first, and then couldn't help but be surprised and happy, and said, "Grandpa, is it you?" What are you doing here? ”

I saw a figure flickering, and Wan Xiansheng fell in front of him from the roof. He laughed and said, "What? Can't you think it's me? ”

Yang Yan also smiled: "You three have not shown up for more than two years, how could you appear here, of course I wouldn't have thought of it." But grandpa, let's not stand here and talk, let's come and sit in the house, shall we? ”

The two walked into Yang Yan's room and sat down, Wan Xiansheng looked left and right, and said, "Where is the girl Yueru?" Why didn't I stay with you? ”

Yang Yan said: "She was pregnant, so she stayed in Jiankang this time and didn't go on the expedition with me." ”

Wan Xiansheng listened, and couldn't help laughing, among Yang Yan's wives and concubines, their favorite was Zhao Yueru, when she heard that she was pregnant, her expression was naturally very happy, patted Yang Yan's shoulder, and said, "Okay!" All right! This is good news, and it is necessary to inform the two old nuns of Shui Jing Shui Yue as soon as possible, so that they can also be happy. ”

Yang Yan poured a cup of tea, handed it to Wan Xiansheng, and said, "Grandpa, you came to me at this time, won't you just come to see me?" Something must be wrong, right? ”

It turned out that since the restoration of the Great Song Dynasty, Wan Xiansheng, Gu Zhengyang, and Yixiu have lived in Yang Yan's house for several months, but although the three of them are not young, they are all quiet and inactive. At that time, Yang Yan was preparing for the Staff Division, so he simply invited the three of them to be supernumerary personnel of the Staff Division, and they all infiltrated the territory of Jin Guo to investigate the movements in Jin Guo.

The three of them are all ** lakes, even if they are in the territory of Jinguo, they also have a wide range of contacts, so they are also very suitable for this job. And the three of them were also trying to do something for the Great Song Dynasty to regain the lost land, and after listening to it, they also readily agreed. Therefore, in the past few years, the three of them have been active in the territory of the Jin State, contacting the Han people in the north who are dissatisfied with the unification of the Jin State, and actively preparing to wait for the Northern Expedition of the Great Song Dynasty. However, the three of them are not official incumbents of the Division, nor are they official positions, but they are only regularly connected with the hidden personnel of the Division, who are stationed in Jinguo, to provide them with some information, or to complete some tasks entrusted by the Division, but they act independently and are not subject to the constraints of the Division.

Later, when Tie Chenglin and Gu Xueping got married, the three elders returned to Jiankang hand in hand again, lived for a long time, and then left. This trip has been more than two years, and he has only exchanged a few letters with Yang Yan, but he has never returned to Jiankang again. Therefore, Wan Xiansheng suddenly appeared in Lingzhou at this time, definitely not simply to visit him, it must be some major news from the Jin country.

Sure enough, Wan Xian said: "The Jin State has now decided to send troops to aid the Western Xia, and about next month, the Jin State will send a large army to rescue the Western Xia." So you have to prepare for it here. ”

When Yang Yan heard this, he couldn't help but be taken aback, Jin Guo was going to send troops to rescue Western Xia, which he had long expected, so he was not surprised. However, in his prediction, the earliest time for Jin to send troops should be after the beginning of the year. According to the current situation, by that time, the Song army could also control most of the situation in Western Xia with Jing, and it could also calmly deal with the army of the Jin State. Especially after hearing about Yan Changzhi's demotion by Jin Guoxinjun, Yang Yan was even more relieved that he was missing such a strong opponent.

Therefore, hearing Wan Xiansheng say this, it was indeed beyond Yang Yan's expectations, I didn't expect that Jin Guo's action would be so fast, so how large of a force could the Jin army dispatch this time? Who will be the leader of the Golden Army? Will the new monarch of the Jin Kingdom reactivate Wanyan Changzhi? But no matter what, in this way, Song Jun's movements must also be accelerated.

Wan Xiansheng saw that Yang Yan fell into deep thought, and he didn't spare it, just sat while drinking tea and waited quietly, and after a long time, Yang Yan said, "Grandpa, is this news accurate?" ”

Wan Xiansheng said: "It's absolutely exact, the day I set off from it, after Yan Yungong issued an edict, I will immediately recruit people." Therefore, I came as soon as possible, and in a few days, Jiankang will know, so there will be absolutely no mistake in this news. ”

Yang Yan nodded and said, "Grandpa, the news you came to tell me is very important, it seems that the plan on the Western Xia side is going to be rearranged." However, I still want you to make a hard trip, return to the Jin country immediately, and try to inquire about the strength of the Jin army, the route of the march, and who the leading commander is, and tell me as soon as there is news. ”

Of course, Wan Xiansheng knew the importance of military intelligence, so he nodded, got up immediately, and said, "Okay, I'll go right away." ”

Yang Yan said with a smile: "Grandpa, don't be in such a hurry, it's late today, rest for the night, and leave tomorrow." ”

※※Support the original ※ "Song Xiang" was first published on 1*7*k※Support genuine※※ The next day, Yang Yan immediately recruited generals and ordered to immediately send troops to break through the Yellow River defense line set by the Western Xia army.

Originally, according to Yang Yan's original idea, breaking through the Yellow River defense line of the Western Xia Army began in Huaizhou, Yongzhou, and Jingzhou. Because these three strongholds do not have city walls, they just set up a large village, and it is relatively easy to capture some. On the other hand, Yang Yan not only planned to break through the Yellow River defense line, but also to destroy more of the living forces of Western Xia in preparation for the capture of Xingqing Mansion in the future.

However, the walls of these three places are on the west bank of the Yellow River, and even if the Dazhai on the east bank is breached, it will be difficult to cross the Yellow River. If it weren't for the Jin army, which would have come to the aid of Western Xia, it would have been possible to attack it slowly and gradually, but now that Yijing didn't have so much time, it was necessary to break through a stronghold before it could cross the Yellow River.

Lingwu is located between Xiangqingjun and Jingzhou, about twenty or thirty miles away from each end. Moreover, the terrain on both sides of the Yellow River in this section of Lingwu is relatively flat, and it is easier to break through and cross the Yellow River from here.

Therefore, after discussing with Gao Zhen, Li Haoyi and other generals, Yang Yan finally decided to set the main target of attacking the Yellow River defense line at Lingwu.

At the same time, in order to contain the Western Xia army, Yang Yan ordered the Lingzhou army to divide its troops into three routes to attack Huaizhou, Yongzhou, and Jingzhou. And the defenders of these three places are still apprehensive about the tactics of the Lingzhou army to lure the enemy some time ago, so when they saw that the Lingzhou army came to challenge them again, they were afraid of being fooled again, so they closed the gate of the village and did not dare to fight.

At this time, the Song army gathered more than 100,000 troops to attack Lingwu.