The night was dark, and in the Jingluo pacification envoy office in Yan'an Fucheng, there were always a few lights that were not extinguished this night.

The news of the invasion of the Khitan soldiers and horses also reached Tao Jiefu. Oh, it can't be considered an invasion, right? They just entered the territory that originally belonged to Western Xia. But he still poured a basin of ice water on the head of the pottery envoy who was on the rise.

Under his leadership, the eastern front of the Songxia battlefield is now in a very good situation! After the near-miraculous victory of the Sanzhi Army and the Hedong Army under the Tongwan City, the Western Thieves had lost the possibility of gaining a foothold in the Wuding River Valley. In the following days, the soldiers and horses of King Chage of Jin were rapidly retreating, including Youzhou City, all the castles located in the Wuding River Valley were abandoned at the first time.

Because he was in too much of a hurry, there were even many people left in Youzhou City! The grain and grass did not have time to be burned - they were set on fire, but then they were extinguished by the people who participated in the looting. But it didn't take long for Xiao Heda to have a good fight at the three forks, and the old military family Wang who was holding back an evil spirit led his troops into Youzhou. After a period of national unity and education work, all the party and people in Youzhou City handed over the grain they had stolen to the state......

Coupled with the more than 300,000 stone grain that the Three Direct Army grabbed in Tongwan City, the Song army in the Wuding River area now has a total of more than 500,000 stone grain. It was enough to support the attack on the Hetao grassland and Yanzhou and Lingzhou.

Therefore, Tao Jiefu was complacent during the day today, discussed with his staff for a few hours, and formulated a rather grand combat strategy, preparing to gather more than 100,000 troops and go straight to Lingzhou!

If it's possible, take down the Xingqing Mansion together!

But not long after the excitement, the heart-pounding bad news came.

The Khitans went south!

Is this going to war with the Great Song Dynasty?

Xue Sichang, the transfer judge of Dunyan Road, was the first to arrive when he heard the news, entered Tao Jiefu's study, and looked at Tao Jiefu, who was sitting on a chair, his brows furrowed, and he didn't say a word, so he asked: "Minister, will there be a fight?" ”

Tao Jiefu raised his eyes to look at Xue Sichang and didn't speak for a while.

To be honest, whether there will be a fight or not, he doesn't know as an envoy. Although he has followed Zhang Qi in the front line of the Western Army for many years, he is also proficient in military affairs. But he was only an "expert" in dealing with Western thieves, and he did not know much about the situation of the Khitans. And he, like most Song people, has a little phobia!

At the thought of the Khitan army swarming in, Tao Jiefu's scalp tingled. Now the elite soldiers on the eastern front are in You, Xia Erzhou, and Yinzhou is relatively empty. Once the Khitan copied the back road of Yinzhou, I am afraid that the battle on the eastern front will be lost. At that time, it will not only be Xiazhou, Yinzhou, and Youzhou that will be lost, but maybe even the Suide Army and Yan'an Mansion will have to play together!

"Don't be careful!"

After a while, Tao Jiefu held back such a sentence.

"Minister, who will defend it?" Xue Sichang then asked, "How can you prevent it?" ”

Tao Jiefu thought for a while, "Of course it's Tong Guan to defend, he is Shuofang Road Jingluo pacification envoy, Yinzhou is the territory of Shuofang Road!" ”

This pot is not bad, although he is the commander of the Song army on the Eastern Front, his power is limited, and he can only be used in the battle against the Western Thieves. But he doesn't have the authority to start a war with Da Liao!

A crime of unauthorized provocation, Tao Jiefu can't afford to bear it. Similarly, if the Liao State is ready to stop, the soldiers are overwhelmed, and the division is lost, he Tao Jiefu will not be able to eat and walk around.

So the most important thing now is to throw the pot and throw this black pot to Tong Guan.

However, it is not enough to shake the pot, because Tao Jiefu's job is to pacify the Lu Yan Road. Yinzhou, which belongs to Shuofang Road, can lose a little territory, but the Suide Army and Yan'an Mansion, which belong to Yanyan Road, cannot lose an inch of land.

And to ensure that an inch of land is not lost on the Yanyan Road, it is necessary to recall the army commanded by the old military strategist Wang En from Youzhou. But in this way, there is no way to carry out the offensive against Yanzhou.

Oh, it's not that there is no way, but it can't be dominated by the armies of the Eastern Front, and Lu Huiqing can only send troops from Jingyuan Road to attack Yanzhou.

thought of the situation that he (actually Gao Taiwei and Wu Dalang) had worked so hard to fight, but he wanted to give Lu Huiqing a ready-made one. Tao Jiefu was suddenly greatly depressed!

……

"Chongdao, Shi Yan, Commander Zhao, what do you think, how should we deal with these Khitans?"

At all times, the moon is dark and the wind is high, and the Shuofang Road Marshal's Mansion in Tongwan City is brightly lit. The child is dressed in casual clothes, and in the luxuriously furnished hall, he looks a little restless.

Among the three people who discussed important matters with Tong Guan, Gao Yu frowned and looked even more uneasy than Tong Guan. However, Wu Haogu and Zhao Zhongge are both calm and relaxed.

Especially Wu Haogu, there was really no panic at all, giving people a special feeling of peace of mind - could he not feel at ease? With Wanyan Xian also there, what kind of Khitan people can't handle it?

Besides, he and the big shots of the Khitan both made a fortune together in Jiehe Commercial City, so let go of such big interests?

"You can deal with it any way!" Wu Haogu smiled, pointed to Gao Yu beside him and said, "With a general like Brother Gao in charge, what can the Khitan do to me?" ”

When Gao Yu heard this, his face turned blue, and he said angrily: "Da Lang, what time is it, why do you still say such cool words?" ”

"What's the cool talk?"

Brother Zhao Zhong interjected with a smile, he had been observing Wu Haogu just now, and he was very relieved to see his composure, he was now following Wu Haogu. If Wu Haogu was a coward who peed as soon as he was frightened by the Khitans, then what hope did he have?

"The Khitan soldiers are not enough," Zhao Zhongge said, "Light and untidy, they can only fight and shoot, and they are not very capable of fighting, and they are not as good as the Iron Harrier, so there is no need to be afraid." ”

The Khitan soldiers were so weak? Wu Haogu was a little skeptical when he heard this. Didn't Dashi defeat Tong Guan's 150,000 army with a few thousand cavalry?

Brother Zhao Zhongge continued: "The Khitan has also been peaceful for a long time, and most of the so-called palace tent elites have never been on the battlefield, and they like to eat fasting and chant Buddha, so they have long lost their former murderous nature. That is, the 20,000 tribal army placed in Zhenzhou City was slightly stronger, and Mogus, the Khan King of the Hindu Kereh tribe, was defeated by them. ”

When he said this, Wu Haogu also felt reasonable. Today's combat effectiveness of the Liao army may not be as good as the Liao soldiers encountered by Tong Guan during the Xuanhe Northern Expedition in history.

The latter is a veteran who has been fighting for more than ten years with "Born Girl Really Daring", and it is his ability to survive. And the current Liao soldiers, except for some people who have been trained in the war with Mogusi, no one else has been on the battlefield much, how can they be compared with the elite of the Western Xia army who have been fighting for many years?

"Commander Zhao," Tong Guan stroked his beard and looked at Brother Zhao Zhong and asked, "Do you have a good plan?" ”

Brother Zhao Zhong smiled: "There is a good strategy, it is nothing more than to fight out!" ”

"Hit ...... Hit out? Tong Guan frowned, this is a Khitan!

Brother Zhao Zhong said: "It's the easiest to fight, otherwise there will be good entanglement." Don't think that the Khitans are really bold, in fact, they are also afraid of war. Now the nod is a temptation, if we find that we are weak, we will definitely get an inch. So the best thing to do is to hit them head-on, and if it hurts, they won't dare to come again. ”

Tong Guan just shook his head, "It's not proper, now they haven't entered our border, they're just wandering around the hometown of the Western Thieves." ”

"That's timidity." Zhao Zhongge said, "The Liao border bordering the Western Thieves belongs to the jurisdiction of the Southwest Recruitment Division of the Liao State, and this Recruitment Division still has a little strength in the Liao Xingzong period, and now Liaoxia has been harmonious for many years, and it has long since declined." The subordinate state armies were all empty and unprepared, and the only thing that could be used was the leather room army of the North and South Palaces, with a total of 20,000 people. ”

Leather Room Army!? Tong Guan took a cool breath.

How did he not know the prestige of the Leather Chamber Army? That's the elite of the Khitan!

"The current leather room army is not the leather room army of a hundred and ten years ago," Zhao Zhongge looked at Tong Guan and explained, "The leather room army back then was the elite of the imperial tent. Later, it was not possible to belong to the northern and southern palaces, but it was just the level of ordinary tribal soldiers. Because the northern and southern palaces are all active on the territory of the southwest recruitment division, the 20,000 out-of-gas leather rooms are the most capable soldiers in the hands of the southwest recruitment division, and the rest are even weaker. ”

"The leather room is not the elite, so who is the elite of the Khitan?" Tong Guan asked puzzled.

"There are two kinds of Khitan elites," Zhao Zhongge explained, "one kind of elite who fight all day long, all under the Northwest Recruitment Division, among which the Zhenzhou Jian'an Army has the strongest soldiers and horses, all of which are elite soldiers selected from various tribes, with a total of more than 20,000 horsemen." However, they only fought in the northwest, and other expeditions were not to be removed.

The other is the newly formed palace division army. Although there are eleven palaces and one mansion on the books of the Khitan people's palace division, there are often only newly built palace guards and elite gatherings, and the weather is refreshing. Most of those old palace guards were dull, undersupplied, and embarrassed. Nowadays, the newer palace guards are Taihe Palace and Yongchang Palace, with a total of 25,000 horses, of which no more than five or six thousand are equipped. ”

Every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, and the officials of the Great Song Dynasty emphasized literature and light military force because they were not worried about the martial arts, so that the military strength was weakened. And the Khitan Emperor was also afraid of the rebellion of his subordinates, so he had to collect the elites of all the ministries into the palace army for self-protection.

However, the palace division army is also close to relatives, and the old palace division army is not as reliable as the newly built palace division army. Therefore, when the Khitan emperors built new palace guards, they often weakened the old palace guards. As a result, a cycle was formed in which the palace guards weakened the clans, and the new palace guards weakened the old palace guards.

The leather room army that was placed in the southwest by the Khitan court to face Fu Xixia was the most outdated palace division army (the leather room army originated from the imperial tent army of Liao Taizu), and its strength was not commensurate with its prestige.

"Brother Gao," Wu Haogu completely trusted Brother Zhao Zhong, but he was born as an "insider" of the Liao Army, so he smiled and said to Gao Yu, "It seems that this matter has to trouble you, so it is better for Brother Gao to command Yu Ma Zhi and the armor of the Hedong Army to take a trip to Qu Yechuan." ”