"Li Yuanjun!" The general judgment of the Guangxin army followed closely behind Li Xin, and his pale face was angry, "The Liao army outside the city is more than 10,000!" How can you play?! ”

"I know it." Li Xin, who had already changed into a military robe, strode forward, although it was in the military state yamen, but there were not as many subordinate officials as there were generals in military uniforms. As soon as he saw Li Xin, he immediately retreated to the side and saluted.

The general judge is a civil official, but because of Li Xin's background, he never dared to speak loudly in front of him, and Li Xin respected the general judge very much, and the partners have been very harmonious for more than a year, but today they have changed.

"Li Yuanjun! The Liao division going south was fierce and sharp. At present, there are more than 10,000 troops, and there may be more in the future, and the soldiers and horses of Suicheng are far from enough to stop them, so they can't fight! ”

"I know it." Stepping through a black-lacquered gate, there were even more officers and non-commissioned officers in front. Around the wall behind the door, on the opposite side of the wide courtyard, the White Tiger Festival Hall is in front of you.

Tong Ju gasped, he was about the same height as Li Xin, and Li Xin's stride was not big or fast, but it made him sweat profusely, "And half of the soldiers and horses in Suicheng are horse troops, which are for counterattacking the Liao border, not to intercept the Liao army." ”

"I know it." Li Xin finally turned around and said, "Brother Zhonghe, don't worry, Li Xin has his own complete certainty." Striding into the main hall of the White Tiger Festival Hall, his eyes swept left and right, the hall was overcrowded, and he stood in a circle around the central sand table. In addition, there are also several civil officials, and the cyan official robes are particularly conspicuous in a group of military generals.

After saluting, Li Xin stood at the top of the sand table and judged him to be beside him. Li Xin looked down at his own territory and asked in a deep voice, "Are the people from Xie Fangkou back?" ”

A young military academy immediately replied: "Back to the jurisdiction, the people of Xie Fangkou Village have just entered the city from the south gate, and all the people and horses of the local military shop have returned, and the people and soldiers have not suffered much damage. ”

Li Xin's tense face eased slightly: "It's already arranged?" ”

"Liang Anguo has already gone."

"Who hasn't come back?" Li Xin lowered his head, his brows furrowed again. The small red flag belonging to the Song army on it is no longer visible in the north of Suicheng.

"With the addition of Xie Fangkou, there are already three military shops in the northern boundary that have come back today, except for the two shops in Heishan Village and Pushan Village that have been determined to be attacked by the Liao......" The military academy looked down at the sand table, and then raised his head and said: "There are only two places left in Pangjia Village and Guangmen Village in the nineteen shops in the northern boundary. Then the military colonel's voice lowered a little lower, "Just after the soldiers and civilians of Xie Fangkou entered the city, the Liao army surrounded the city, even the people from Pangjia Village and Guangmen Village escaped, and now they can't enter the city." ”

Li Xin sighed secretly, and said, "Li joined the army, and the population of the city has been counted?" ”

An official dressed as a civil servant immediately replied, "Yesterday, the lower officials were ordered to count the number of people in the city, including women and children, a total of 30,000 and 424 people. The number of people entering the city today has not been counted, but it will not be more than a thousand. ”

Li Xin breathed a sigh of relief, and his heavy mood could be seen from his face.

If the Guangxin Army is not counted as military households, the total number of civilian households is 3,800, and the population is less than 20,000. But if you add military households, the population will exactly double, and the total number of soldiers and civilians will be 40,000. And now the population of Suicheng County is only about 30,000. Excluding a part of the people who fled south, then at least five or six thousand people fell into the hands of the Liao army.

The military shops on the border of Guangxin are all placed in the village, which is not far from Suicheng, but it is closer to Liaojing. A few days ago, after the Liao army suddenly invaded the border, many of them did not have time to escape.

If Han Gang's letter or the report from the imperial court had arrived one day in the morning, at least thousands of people would have been spared the death and injury of thousands of people, and the two villages of Montenegro and Busan in the north would not have been unable to escape. Pangjia Village and Guangmen Village also seem to be more auspicious at the moment, and there are not only many left.

Li Xin held the sand table in his hand, stood up straight, and swept the hall with sharp and sharp eyes: "I think you all know in the past few days that the Liao Kingdom wants to fight in Dali this time." ”

The hall fell silent, waiting for Li Xin's next words.

Li Xin pointed to the sand table: "The situation in Bazhou, Xiongzhou has not yet been known, but from a geographical point of view, it is not a hundred years ago. Relying on the Tangbo embankment, the three passes are far more dangerous than in the past. On the side of the Guangxin Army, there are only rice fields and trees, which are the biggest gap in the border, and they must be the target of the Liao Army's main attack! ”

A few civil officials turned pale, but most of the generals looked the same.

To the east of the Guangxin Army is the Ansu Army, and to the east of the Ansu Army is Xiongzhou and Bazhou. 'Hebei from the east of Xiongzhou sea, a lot of water, Rong people suffer, did not dare to be the road. That's what people say at the time. Since the Great Song Dynasty came up with the strategy of releasing water to open the pond as a border defense, "because of the land of Pize, the water is blocked", and the rivers such as Xu, Bao, Sha and Tang in the nine rivers are blocked, forming many water berths, and the rivers are connected, and the three passes of Waqiao, Yijin and Sikou in Xiongzhou and Bazhou have a water Great Wall of nearly a thousand miles.

Although Qianli Tangbo is now frozen, the terrain is still there, and the embankment is also there, so it is not conducive to rushing. Although it cannot be said that it is difficult for the army to overcome, it is difficult enough. On the side of the Guangxin Army, there is no deep and wide river, and it only relies on opening up rice fields to block the enemy - that is, the adjacent Ansu Army, there is a black reed embankment in the north of it, which is the site of the Great Wall of Guyan, which can be used as a dam to block water, which is naturally safer than the Guangxin Army - now the rice soil is frozen stiff, and only relying on the ditches on the edge of the field and the planted elm willow are only more convenient for the Liao Army than a trip to the grove. Compared with the time of Taizong and Zhenzong, the strategic position of the Guangxin Army is already more dangerous.

Song Xian was the capital inspector under the Guangxin Army, the second person under Li Xin, and he took the initiative to ask, "What is the jurisdiction going to do?" ”

"We're fighting!" Li Xin's eyes were even sharper. The generals' reactions were quite calm, and even a few young ones had eager expressions.

After Li Xin took up the post of commander of the Guangxin Army, he successively selected a number of capable military children and appointed them as counselors in military affairs. Li Xin's original intention was to establish a staff department according to Han Gang's wishes, and at the same time, he also planned to learn the details of the local area and his own army through these military disciples. In the case of other foreign generals, it is too late to suppress the local situation, but Li Xin's own background, status, ability, merits and prestige are there, and he is not worried about being overridden at all. In addition, Li Xin himself was generous with his hands and feet, and he never withheld military salaries to enrich his own pockets, but only devoted himself to military training, but he immediately won over a group of young officers who hoped to make a difference.

Si Hu, who had just spoken, hesitated and objected: "Zhijun, now that the Liao army outside the city is strong, it should be able to defend the city." ”

"That's true, I also plan to focus on defending the city for the time being." Li Xin paused, "But we can't let the Liao army be presumptuous, and give them a blow to the head while its main force has not arrived." The men and horses and armaments are ready, and Li does not need to worry about joining the army. ”

Another civilian official questioned: "But according to the strategy, the soldiers and horses of Suicheng only need to hold on at the beginning, and then march north after the Liao army goes south!" ”

"If you want to hold on, unless you are besieged for a year and a half, it will be difficult to capture Suicheng. But the Liao army is going south, and we have the responsibility to guard the border, so we have to try the quality of the opponent. If I don't even dare to go out of the city, won't I let them underestimate it? ”

Guangxin Suicheng is not the kind of city with fragile urban defense in the hinterland of the Central Plains or the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, but a few strong cities in Hebei. It is the frontier of the Hebei defense line, and in the strategy against Liao, it is the starting point of the counterattack into the Liao border. On Hebei West Road, it is one of the best fortified cities, no less than Xiongzhou City and Bazhou City on the same border line.

If you want to defend, Li Xin can lie down peacefully, you don't need to worry about anything, and it is enough to hand things over to any general.

Speaking of which, as long as the cities in Hebei are repaired like iron buckets, if the defenders are determined to hold on, they don't want to take it down in a few months. In the old year's rebellion of Beizhou Wangze, the official army took advantage of the manpower, and the rebels in the city were only a rabble, and it still took nearly a year to capture Beizhou - although this matter was related to the military strength of the Hebei army at that time, and the military talent of the commander of the counterinsurgency, but it can also be seen that the fortification of Hebei's city defense. Moreover, Beizhou is not a border state, but a central state in the interior of Hebei.

Even if the border cities are forbidden to be repaired and built because of the alliance of the Yuanyuan, even if the city gate is repaired, the Liao people will send envoys to question. But the successive guards will try their best to find loopholes and renovate the city defense system, and the imperial court will not be stingy with money and food for this.

But this kind of stuffiness is not in line with Li Xin's character, just like he said, you have to try it first.

"Song Xian, after I go to war, you cooperate with Wen Tongju to defend the city!"

"The matter of patrolling the city will be handed over to Liang Anguo. If there is any movement in the city, kill! ”

"Zhou He, Xi Yu. The two of you will lead your headquarters out of the city with me! ”

"Qin Jizhong, Kang Zhao, you two will lead the horse army of the department to fight together!"

"The striker will also play with me."

Li Xin assigned the task in a few words, in fact, everything was planned, as long as it was slightly modified.

A famous general came out with the order, and Li Xin turned back to the sentence without saying a word, "Now there are more than 10,000 cavalry in the Liao army that has committed my Guangxin, and if I can't wait out of the city, they will scatter and plunder the township." Just for the people, I also have to go to the city, and it is good to drag it out for half a day, and it can also allow more people to escape. ”

Li Xindu said this step, and there was no way to pass the judgment: "How sure is the envoy?" How can there be only five commanders, and one thousand six or seven real soldiers. ”

Li Xin said with a smile: "I won't be too far away from the city, otherwise I won't be able to come back if I am surrounded, but I just want to attract the Liao army to besiege the city." If there are fewer people, it is just the right time to mobilize, the war will not fail, and it will be convenient to retreat. ”

"I hope you will be careful!"

"Be careful of the Liao people!" Li Xin's calm voice was full of confidence.