There was a deathly silence in the Golden Horde, and Yelu Zongzhen's eyes were in a daze, and he didn't know where to look, and the expression on his face didn't know whether it was anger or sadness.

"Your Majesty, all the generals have arrived, Your Majesty." The old minister Zhang Jian coughed and reminded quietly.

Zhang Jian is an old minister of the two dynasties, is the primary supporter of Yelu Zongzhen's ascension to the throne, and was named Zhenliang Hongjing Baoyi and Righteous Meritorious Hero, Taishi, Zhongshu Ling, Jiashang's father and a series of official positions and titles, which can be described as highly respected, and only he dared to speak out at this time.

Yelu Zong really came back to his senses, sat upright, his demeanor returned to his majesty, and he spoke in a dumb voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, have you ever seen 100,000 human ears outside the tent before you enter the tent?" ”

The ministers nodded one after another, their questioning gazes cast on Yelu Zongzhen's face.

"That is the ears of more than 50,000 soldiers of my forward army, just last night, the vanguard army led by Xiao Hui, King of Han, encountered a surprise attack by 150,000 Xia troops in the wilderness twenty miles north of Kedun City, and the whole army was exhausted, Xiao Hui desperately broke out of the encirclement and escaped with his life!" Yeluzong really couldn't hide the anger in his heart, and his voice trembled a little.

The ministers suddenly opened a pot, and the news was like a thunderbolt exploding above their heads, and some of the ministers were stunned, some panicked, and some even wept sadly.

Yelu Zongzhen sighed and said: "My 220,000 army came with a division, and I was actually annihilated in the first battle with 60,000 iron cavalry, what should happen to this attack on Xia?" It was really difficult for me to make a decision, so I gathered all the generals and ministers here to discuss countermeasures, and I don't know if this is the best time to attack the Xia Kingdom. ”

The ministers and generals began to discuss, and after a while, one of them came out and said: "The ministers and Yelu Qi are just playing." ”

Everyone stopped talking and looked at Yelu Qicai, this person is the deputy envoy of the Northern Privy Council, and his official position is second only to Xiao Hui, although he was born as a literati, but he has written a lot in military affairs, so he was exceptionally promoted to the deputy privy envoy of the Northern Court, and he is a big celebrity in front of the emperor.

According to the pre-war report, the 300,000 troops of the Xia State were concentrated in southern Xinjiang, and all the troops north of Dingzhou added up to less than 80,000 people, if there were really 150,000 troops raiding the vanguard army of King Xiao, it was obvious that the Xia army was prepared.

The ministers nodded one after another, what Yelu Qi said was very reasonable, the Xia army had so many troops, it was a little unbelievable.

"Your Majesty, the minister agrees with the deputy privy's statement, and the minister is a little puzzled, in just one month, even if he is fully recruiting soldiers and horses, it is difficult for the Xia Kingdom to come up with so many soldiers and horses, and King Xiao's account is all soldiers who can fight well, even if the Xia people recruit soldiers and horses, but if they are not trained, although the number of King Xiao's forward army is inferior, it will not be defeated so simply." A Han minister also came out to play, this person is the Southern Yuan Shangshu Liu Zixun, in the Liao State Nanya is the Han people's centralized office, the Nanya does not have the right to take charge of the army, but Liao Xingzong also attaches great importance to the Han ministers in the Southern Ya, and this expedition also brought many Han ministers to follow and give advice.

Yelu Zongzhen frowned and thought hard, it stands to reason that the Song people launched a fierce attack in Huizhou and Youzhou, and the main force of the Xia people should be contained, where did so many Xia troops come from? Could it be that the previous information was wrong? Xia Guo is actually not as weak as the intelligence suggests? In that case, it is entirely possible for the Xia army to resist the attack on both sides, and in comparison, if the strength is equal, the terrain in the north is better at the use of cavalry, which means that the Xia people are more comfortable fighting with their own cavalry; On the contrary, the Song people in the south are good at using equipment to attack the city, and the comparison between the two is not that the Song people are holding back the main force of the Xia State for the Liao Daliao, but that they are making wedding clothes for the Song people; If the Song people obtained Xingqing Mansion before Da Liao, then what is the point of fighting this battle?

"Your Majesty, what several adults said is quite reasonable, the original strategy is to attack the emptiness of the enemy, there are Song people to contain it, teach the main force of Xia to come to help, and quickly attack the south to occupy the enemy's capital Xingqing Mansion, now it seems that even if there are no more Xia troops stationed, the 150,000 troops that have appeared alone are already very tricky, it seems that the strategy must be re-discussed, not rash." Zhang Jian said.

Yelu Zongzhen was silent, and it was a little difficult to make a decision.

Suddenly, an arrogant and loud voice sounded outside the tent, accompanied by the sound of clanging footsteps, a tall figure with bright silver armor and a fiery red cloak strode over, full of disdain: "Joke, once you are defeated, will you be frightened?" ”

Everyone didn't need to look, just by listening to the voice, they knew who had arrived, this person was the emperor's younger brother Yelu Chongyuan, who led an army of 70,000 as the commander of the southward army on the left side of the flank army.

"Why are you here? Didn't I want you to stay where you were? Once the previous army was defeated, now your 70,000 army has become the most advanced army, how can you not hold on to the army? ”

"Brother Huang, the younger brother can't help but come, the younger brother can guess that there will be a group of death-fearing people to dissuade the imperial brother from continuing to attack, Xiao Hui was arrogant and was exploited by the Xia people, but this defeat alone scared me to retreat, is this still my Da Liao's style? More than 50,000 warriors were sent to death in vain? If we retire at this time, how will we get along with Xia Guo in the future? This matter will become a shame for my Da Liao, and it will forever be branded on the faces of my Da Liao soldiers and civilians, so not only can we not withdraw from the army, but on the contrary, we must strike at the Xia people more ruthlessly, and we must regain this face. Yelu Chongyuan waved his arms impassionedly.

The ministers knew that this Yelu Chongyuan was not easy to provoke, and both the Khitan officials and Han officials in the north and south of the court avoided when they saw this imperial brother, because not only was this person arrogant and domineering, but more importantly, the emperor loved him very much, and never punished him when he made mistakes, of course, everyone knows the reason for this.

Today, the Holy Yelu Sect is really the eldest son of the first emperor Liao Shengzong, but he is not the biological son of the Holy Emperor Xiao Bodhisattva, his mother is just a palace maid, the status is quite low, and the queen has nothing to do, so he will inherit Yelu Zong to the queen to raise; But after the funeral of the Holy Sect, his biological mother Xiao Yunjin was regent, but she hated Yelu Zongzhen because she was unwilling to kill her adoptive mother Xiao Bodhisattva according to her opinion, and even plotted to set up her youngest son Yelu Chongyuan as the emperor, and to abolish the throne of Yelu Zongzhen.

This Yelu Chongyuan was only twelve years old at the time, perhaps he was confused by Yelu Zongzhen's brother Xiaohui on weekdays, he actually told his brother Yelu Zongzhen about this, Liao Xingzong was of course furious, and immediately abolished his biological mother Xiao Yunjin to Qingling to guard the mausoleum, in order to express his gratitude, Xingzong immediately named Chongyuan as the emperor's younger brother. and promised to pass on the throne to him after death when he was drunk, and he was also extremely gracious.

Yelu Chongyuan didn't know if he regretted his decision that day after he became an adult, but he had the status of the emperor's younger brother, so he regarded himself as the successor to the future throne, and he acted and spoke quite out of line, but the emperor never blamed him.

At this moment, after the emperor's brother's scolding, naturally no one among the ministers was willing to provoke him, and only stared at the emperor with big eyes.

Zhang Jian arched his hand and said, "Uh...... Your Highness, you can't say that, the victory or defeat of the war between the two countries is related to the safety of the country, the society and the society, and it is a great matter, how can you easily abandon the root because of the size of your face. If the main force of the Xia people is really in the north, our army will easily advance, once the elite is defeated, won't it give the Xia people the opportunity to take advantage of the situation? Then we will be on the back foot. Although the casualties of the 60,000-strong army are somewhat unknown, Seon knows that it is not a blessing to lose his horse, and a timely withdrawal may bring greater benefits. ”

"Master Zhang, Master Shang, you are old, your courage has been sharpened at all, what 'small unbearable will be a big scheme', 'Sai Weng lost his horse' or something His Royal Highness does not understand, the Han people's crooked principles to me do not work at all, in a nutshell, it is nothing more than being slapped and then covering his face and retracting like a poor little lamb, how can my Daliao Khitan people tolerate such a shame? What are the benefits after retiring from the army? I don't see any good other than humiliation. ”

Zhang Jian's old face turned red, and his beard flew up and said: "Your Highness, after the retreat, the pressure on the north of the Xia country is reduced, and the Song people in the south are attacking urgently, the Xia people will definitely transfer troops to the south to rescue. ”

Yelu Chongyuan laughed, pointed at Zhang Jian and said to the people around him: "Listen, Mr. Zhang is talking about the art of war, and he is strategizing one by one, and his face is swollen, what else are you talking about?" Let me say, this time it was completely the luck of the Xia people to meet Xiao Hui, if they met His Royal Highness, they would add 150,000, and the soldiers under my command would also defeat them. ”

The ministers smacked their tongues, and someone secretly muttered: "I'm not afraid of the wind flashing my tongue." ”

Yelu Chongyuan's ears were very sharp, and he immediately pointed at the ministers and shouted, "Who said that? Have the ability to say it to your face! ”

Zhang Jian and the other old ministers shook their heads and smacked their lips, Yelu Zongzhen couldn't stand it anymore, and shouted in a low voice: "Xiao Ji only, be more restrained, all of you here are important ministers of Daliao, and you must not be presumptuous and rude." ”

Yelu Zong really spoke, but Yelu Chongyuan didn't dare to contradict it, but said: "Please give an order from the imperial brother, take the younger brother as the vanguard, and the younger brother will set foot in the northern land of Xia Kingdom for you and go straight to Xingqing Mansion!" I still have 170,000 in my army, where am I afraid he will come from? The Xia army can't even eat enough, how can a gang of rabble resist? The 100,000 ears outside the tent are naked humiliation, if this can be endured, how can you be worthy of the dead soldiers, how to face the emperor and the ancestors? ”