The wax moon of the third year of the Great Song Dynasty's Jianzhong Yasukuni can be described as a joy descending from heaven for Tao Jiefu, who was slightly pacified by the Yan Yan Road.

The war in the north and south of Yokoyama went unbelievably well!

In the north of Hengshan, the three elite Lianke Yinzhou and Shizhou commanded by Wu Haogu defeated tens of thousands of thieves, beheaded more than 2,000, captured more than 3,400 people alive (some more were caught in Shizhou City), and captured countless cattle, sheep, horses and grain.

The Yan army commanded by Wang En and Wang Ze also raided the stone fort and succeeded, beheading 300 people and seizing thousands of stone of grain.

In the south of Hengshan, it was originally taken by surprise by the western thieves, and the Saimen Village was lost for a time, the archers lost thousands, and the number of people who were captured and killed was two or three thousand.

But then Gao Yu repelled the army of the Western Thieves at Ansaibao, chasing and killing hundreds of miles all the way, not only driving the invading Western thieves out of the territory of the Great Song Dynasty, but also achieving the record of beheading more than 2,300 people!

In just over a month, the Song army on Yanyan Road not only took the three castles of Yinzhou, Shizhou, and Shibao, but also killed and captured more than 8,000 thieves! This was achieved in difficult conditions when the weather was cold and unsuitable for combat!

If we take into account the victory in the Battle of the Haoqian River on the Western Front, the Western Thieves have lost 25,000 troops in a few months. It also lost at least four castles, including Yinzhou, Shizhou, Shibaozhai and Renduoquan City.

Such a victory can be compared with the Yokoyama victory in the second year of Yuan Fu, and even surpasses the Yokoyama victory...... After all, the victory of Hengshan was won by using the main force of the Northwest 7th Road (Shaanxi 6th Road and Jiahe East Road).

And the current successive victories have only used the troops of Xihe Road and Dunyan Road, and the main force of the Western Army has not been used at all!

And this time in the battle around the Wuding River, there was also a situation where the Great Song cavalry swept through the Western Thief Cavalry! However, thousands of armored cavalry soldiers, with unbelievably small losses, swept across the north bank of the Wuding River, as if entering a no-man's land!

In the past, such a situation was simply unthinkable. In the past, even if the cavalry of the Song army could compete with the cavalry of the Western Thieves, it was impossible to win with single-digit losses...... Single-digit figures! It's almost crushing your opponent!

This shows that the strength comparison between the Song army and the Western thieves has undergone a significant reversal. The Song army already has the strength to crush the western thief!

"It seems that the thief really can't do it!"

"Maybe it's not that the West Thief can't do it, but that Mima Nao and Warrior Nao are too powerful...... Especially Mima Nao, it's really surprising that he can fight so well. If we hadn't seen it with our own eyes, our family would have suspected that Wu Haogu was lying about the military situation. ”

"Yes, this official has been an official in the northwest for more than ten years, and he is in charge of military affairs, and he has never seen a royal horse like a straight armor horse. I don't know if they can defeat the Iron Harrier of the Western Thief, if they can defeat the Iron Harrier, then it will only be a matter of a blink of an eye to break Lingxing. ”

In the festival hall of Yan'an Fucheng, Tao Jiefu and Tong Guan, who had been locked up, had nothing to do and talked about military affairs.

The two of them are not the masters of the war on paper, needless to say, Tong Guan is the number one military eunuch of the Great Song Dynasty after Li Xian, and Tao Jiefu is not bad, he is Zhang Ji's number one strategist, which is equivalent to the chief of staff. The last time Yokoyama won a big victory, he had a big credit!

Tao Jiefu took a sip of a bowl of fragrant cloud tea, looked at Tong Guan and asked, "Daofu, is three or five years too long?" ”

"How long is it to attack Xingling in three or five years?" Tong Guan smiled, "If we could have the intention of destroying the western thief in three or five years when Yuanfeng was in the fourth year, the northwest would have been decided a long time ago." ”

"Could it be that the Khitan will sit back and watch the Western Thieves fall?" Tao Jiefu asked rhetorically.

Tong Guan thought for a while and shook his head slightly.

Now it's three points in the world! The linkage of the three kingdoms of Song, Liao, and Xia, theoretically, the possibility of the Liao State watching the Great Song Dynasty destroy the Western Xia is almost zero.

Tong Guan pondered and asked: "But in the fourth year of Yuanfeng, the Khitan did not send troops in a big way?" ”

Tao Jiefu gently turned the tea bowl in his hand, thought about it and said: "In the first year of Kaibao, Taizu took advantage of the funeral of Liu Junxin, the lord of the Northern Han Dynasty, to send Li Zhuangwu (Li Jixun) to the north to attack Taiyuan. In February of the following year, Taizu personally led a large army to conquer Taiyuan, and in March Taizu surrounded Taiyuan and led the Fen River to irrigate the city, which lasted for three months, and then the Liao army was large again, and Taizu retreated in a hurry.

In August of the ninth year of Kaibao, Taizu sent five soldiers to gather under the city of Taiyuan, and the Liao soldiers arrived again, and then the army was suspended due to the death of Taizu.

In February of the fourth year of Taizong's peaceful rejuvenation of the country, Taizong personally led a large army to attack Liao and besieged Taiyuan again. The Liao State was unified by the prime minister Yelu Shawei and led the troops to the rescue. It was defeated by Guo Jin's troops and blocked at Shiling Pass, and the Northern Han Dynasty was destroyed.

Subsequently, Taizong entered Yanyun with a victorious army, and in May and June, he fought a success, and on June 23, Taizong personally went to Youzhou, stationed in Baoguang Temple and supervised the army to attack the city. After nearly 20 days of fierce fighting, when the soldiers were exhausted, Yelu Xiuge led the army from the north of Liao, fought in the Gaoliang River, and destroyed Taizong's army.

In the last three-year battle of Yongxi, Taizong did not surround Youzhou in view of the defeat of Taiping Xingguo in four years, but divided the troops into three routes, first taking the prefectures and counties around Youzhou, so he did not fight under Youzhou City...... In the previous Northern Expeditions of our dynasty, only this time did not stop under the fortified city first, and then met the Khitan army! ”

Tong Guan already understood what Tao Jiefu meant, "The envoy said that in the fourth year of the battle of Yuanfeng, if our army was not defeated first, the Liao State would have sent troops to rescue the Western Thieves?" ”

"Wouldn't it?" Tao Jiefu gently placed the tea bowl on the table, "The Khitan has dealt with us like this five times in a row, won't there be a sixth or seventh time?" ”

"That's right......" Tong Guan nodded, "But why did the Liao State send troops to the expedition to rejuvenate the spirit?" Can't you come to Wei Wei to save Zhao? ”

Tao Jiefu said with a smile: "Wei Wei may not be able to save Zhao, it will be a protracted war...... The Khitans are currently trapped between Zhubu, Jurchen, and Goryeo, and the domestic Buddhism is too prosperous, wasteful, and lacking in national resources, which cannot be delayed.

And directly sent troops to rescue Lingxing, taking advantage of the fatigue of our division veterans to fight a fast and ruthless victory, which severely damaged our strongest western army, and turned back to extort more coins from the imperial court. Official, if you were a Khitan, how would you choose? ”

Tong Guan nodded again and again, this Tao Jiefu is really a bit of a doorway, and his analysis is very reasonable!

On the surface, encircling Wei to save Zhao seems to be the best choice for the Khitans, but judging from the current predicament faced by the Khitans, it is undoubtedly a big gamble. Only by breaking through Kaifeng Mansion in a short period of time and seizing the rich land of the Central Plains can the gamble be won. And once Xingling is destroyed first, and the western army comes to the east, the Khitans will probably have to face the siege of the Great Song Dynasty, Zhubu, Jurchen and Goryeo at the same time, and it will be impossible not to perish.

Besides, with the performance of the three straight fronts on the battlefield and the good fighting of Captain Gao, can the Khitans break Kaifeng Mansion in a short period of time? Don't let Gao Taiwei defeat him when the time comes, then he will really cry to death.

In contrast, it was safe to have a short assault on the Song army besieging Xingling. The army that rests under the fortified city is very vulnerable, certainly more vulnerable than the enemy who holds the city.

And the battle to rescue Xingling is definitely a quick decisive battle, and the winner will be determined in a few days, or at most ten days.

Once the Western Army, which was tired of the veteran soldiers, was defeated, the Great Song Dynasty could only lose its teeth and swallow blood, and maybe it would be forced to increase the annual currency by hundreds of thousands.

Tao Jiefu said a little proudly: "But it is not easy to rescue Xingling, after all, Xingling is far away from the heart of the Khitan people, if you run for a long distance and the people and horses are stuck, I am afraid that you will repeat the mistakes of Liao Xingzong." Therefore, it is necessary to rest for a period of time in the back of the horses, wait for the horses to recover, and then go straight down the Yellow River to Xingling. The Houtao grassland was also a place for the western thieves to graze horses and sheep, and they placed a Black Mountain Weifu Military Division there to guard against the Khitan.

However, once all the areas around the Wuding River are owned by me, the land between the rivers will become the place where I ride across the iron horse. Then it is imperative to cede the Houtao grassland and the Khitan, and it will be much easier for the Khitan to go south to rescue Xingling.

In addition, now the chaos in the north has not been pacified, and the Khitans can't draw troops for a while, so it's been a bit long since three or five years to take Xingling. ”

"Three or five years is too long...... Tong Guan is also repeatedly thinking about Tao Jiefu's words in his heart, and the truth seems to be there!

First take Yinxia, then cultivate the fields to raise military rations, and then gather the army, and the method of capturing Xingling in one fell swoop looks safe, but it does not consider the reaction of the Liao State at all.

If the Western Xia ceded the land of Houtao and Hejian to the Liao State after losing Xingling, would the Great Song still have a chance to attack Xingling?

When the time comes, the Liao State will put 100,000 troops in the Hetao grassland, and the western army will not dare to move.

"What's the best way to do it?"

Tao Jiefu said: "A few days ago, Wu Chongdao reported that he could organize government soldiers to organize hundreds of thousands of acres of land in Yinzhou Tuntian in the next spring, and at least one million stone wheat could be harvested in the autumn.

In addition, you can also graze horses and sheep in the grassland in the upper reaches of the Mingtang River, and wait until the autumn when the horses are strong and the sheep are fat, and then send out soldiers, which can destroy the spirit in one fell swoop! ”

"Attack Xingling next year?" Tong Guan frowned, "Wouldn't it be too urgent?" ”

"The soldiers are fast!" Tao Jiefu said, "If it really drags on for a few years, I don't know how many changes will be born!"

Daofu, this time in Beijing, why don't we both make suggestions to the official family together. ”

Tong Guan rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "Minister, we can't leave...... Wu Chongdao on the Yinzhou side is a businessman after all, so many soldiers are handed over to him, our family is not at ease. So our family has invited the official family to let our family go to Yinzhou to take the town. ”

Tao Jiefu didn't know that Tong Guan's invitation to Zhenyinzhou had not yet been written! He thought about it, and felt that Tong Guan's words made sense, so he said: "It's okay, then ask the Taoist to go to the chapter, and the official will go to Kaifeng to report on his work." ”

Tong Guan nodded, "Okay, just follow the order." ”