At this moment, Li Zhang came in and saluted the two of them.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Look at it, July is coming. How is the arrangement in the Khitan? If you want to know the Khitan information, you have to rely on yourself and don't just think about spending money. Money and silk are touching, but the things you buy from money are the most unreliable."

Li Zhang said: "Recently, there are several merchants willing to provide Khitan information to the court. According to the instructions of the Grand Marshal, they don't know each other and have different people responsible. If one problem occurs, the others can send the information back. Moreover, there are several groups of people who can also verify each other."

Du Zhongxiao nodded and said nothing. In this era, the understanding of intelligence is different from that of later generations. He mainly uses money to open the way. He improves his rewards and has people who are greedy for money. In this era, greed for money is not harmful and will not be condemned, which is different from the evaluation system of later generations. Relying on ideals and awareness to do intelligence work, it will make people laugh when they say it out.

Each era has its own characteristics. Many things that later generations take for granted are actually not feasible in a different era. Du Zhongxiao knew this well and did not force it. Intelligence work does not need to be particularly powerful. As long as you can bring back the information from the Khitan, it is enough. There is no need to directly penetrate the Khitan, nor do you need to know the Khitan's action plan in advance, it is not that complicated.

As long as the Song Dynasty knew when the Khitan sent troops, how many troops it had, who were the generals, and where it was the main attack, it would be amazing. These are not confidential news, as long as there were intelligence personnel from the Song Dynasty in the Khitan, they could find out. As for the requirements that influenced the Khitan operations, it was too high-end in this era and could not be achieved.

Looking at the sand table, Du Zhongxiao said: "We know the roads in Youzhou now are not complete. Before autumn, we must figure it out. This is not a difficult thing. Just find some people from both places to go back and forth at the border. Now the army uses guns and cannons, and the transportation of supplies is large trucks, which are not comparable before. If you don't know the road, you cannot make a plan for transportation of supplies in advance, which will affect the war at that time."

Li Zhang crossed his hands and said, "All these days, I have sent people to the Khitan territory to investigate this matter. It is not difficult to find out the prefectures and counties, but it is really difficult to find out some rural roads, so there is no way."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Just check the roads of prefectures and counties. At that time, the army will not be allowed to move forward, and will not take the country roads. Since ancient times, there have been post roads in Youzhou. Although the Khitans are not concerned about this matter, the old roads are still there. By the way, although Youzhou is a flat land, the Taihang Mountains west of Baozhou have a complex terrain. Although there are ancient roads, many of them are unknown to the court. While the Khitans did not go south, they must also find out where they are. Including the roads, where the Khitans built cities, where they stationed their troops, and how many people are, it is best to check them all one by one."

Li Zhang crossed his hands and said yes.

Zhao Zi said: "Most of the places that are connected to this dynasty can be found clearly. If you have dozens of miles away from the border, you will know nothing. In this war, both sides are afraid that there will be a million troops, and within a hundred miles, they will be battlefields. If the geography is clear, the advantage will be great."

Du Zhongxiao said: "If all the main forces of the Khitan are released and more than 300,000 people come to Youzhou, then it will definitely be more than one million. The main forces of the Khitan are 300,000, and the troops recruited from various places will be close to this number. So it is said that it is 300,000, and then there will be 500,000 to Youzhou. If you add 500,000 to 600,000 people from this dynasty, it will be more than one million. This is the first time such a war since the founding of the country."

The total total of Khitan's troops was more than 300,000, but it does not mean that the Khitan only had these troops. These are combat soldiers. In order to ensure the combat power of these troops, they will temporarily assassinate the people as soldiers. The main force of 300,000 will go south, and the temporary recruitment of the troops will definitely exceed 500,000. Even the Khitan was really ruthless, and it would be very strange that 700,000 or 800,000 will be transferred from all over the country.

In history, there are some of the battles of hundreds of thousands or even millions that often occur, besides the scary imaginary numbers, there are also some. In fact, there are not many real war soldiers, and the number of people serving these war soldiers is very considerable. In fact, the wars of more than one hundred thousand people are very considerable, and there are not many in history.

In the past, the imperial guards of the Song Dynasty generally had 20 to 30% of the people in charge of logistics, and they inevitably recruited civil servants. After the training, the logistics troops were classified as the division level and formed separately, generally accounting for 30% of the army. Unlike before, the civil servants were no longer recruited, but were simply a baggage force. The civil servants were recruited as a separate army, not mixed with the baggage force of the army, and had separate commands and tasks.

The main forces of Khitan were almost all cavalry, and the number of logistics troops needed was extremely large, far exceeding 30%. Therefore, in the autumn war, once the main forces of Khitan were fully released, the army might be 500,000 and 600,000.

Li Zhang said: "I just got the news that the prefectures and counties under the Youzhou and Pingzhou of Khitan have begun to assassinate the people as military forces. Even nearby Fengshengzhou and Bei'anzhou are also targeting troops. Based on this scale, the Khitan is likely to be a soldier this fall."

Du Zhongxiao nodded, thought for a while, and asked, "So what about the Tatar tribes north of Yinshan? Did the Khitan ask the tribes there to send troops? Under the Khitan rule, there were many of these scattered tribes, and if they sent troops, they would have more troops."

Li Zhang said: "The news I got from Hequlu that Tatars would not send troops. When the Khitan fought against Dangxiang, the Tatars also mainly proposed to send troops to help the Khitan, but the Khitans did not allow it. It is estimated that the Khitans were also afraid that these tribes would send troops and would be difficult to control in the end, so they would restrict them."

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's okay. There are many tribes who surrender to the Khitan until the Western Regions. After the dynasty restored the Western Regions and destroyed Dangxiang, although many tribes surrendered to the dynasty, they did not dare to break off the ties with the Khitan."

Zhao Zi said: "The Grand Marshal is worried too much. If the tribes in the north send troops and come all the way south, the Khitans cannot afford them. Once a chaos arises, what should the Khitans do? Summoning them is to cause trouble for themselves."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yes, the Khitans will not be allowed to participate unless it is just right. But once the dynasty attacks the Khitan, these tribes can send troops. Therefore, it is easy for the Khitan to attack and defeat it. But it is not easy to attack the Khitan territory."

Li Zhang said: "To be honest, the Khitan territory is not stable. The Jurchen tribes in the northeast often rebel. If the Khitan was defeated in the Youzhou area this time, the tribes would inevitably cause rebellion. At that time, a lot of effort would be saved."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head and said, "Don't think about those things. Those tribes rebelled and want to stand up. If this dynasty defeated the Khitan, if it occupied its territory, these tribes would not cause chaos? It would still be chaos! At that time, the court would still have to quell the rebellion. Therefore, to fight against the Khitan, one must rely on the troops of the dynasty to defeat the Khitan in a dignified manner. Once the external force is used, it will be a disaster in the future."

Didn’t the Khitans end up destroying the Jurchens? After destroying the Khitans, the Jurchens then attacked the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty was far inferior to the time when it was against the Khitans. The Jin Dynasty defeated the Liao Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty lost a large area of ​​land in the north, and the Northern Song Dynasty became the Southern Song Dynasty. In the end, even the Southern Song Dynasty could not be saved. In the end, the Shenzhou Lu Chen was not strong enough, and with the help of external forces, he raised a stronger enemy.
Chapter completed!