The Baozhou Yamen and the commanders of the five armies of the Song Dynasty Hebei Road gathered together to discuss strategies to fight the Khitan next.

As the border commander of Hebei Road, Liu Ji served as the commander and unified the command of the trained troops. The remaining troops were only responsible for local public security and were still commanded by various commanders, and had nothing to do with the trained imperial guards.

Everyone sat down, Liu Ji said: "It's September now, the food in various places has been collected, the walls are cleared, and the people have entered the city. We are ready, and the Khitans are coming. According to information, the Khitan troops will come to Youzhou in mid-October. It is estimated that when the Khitan army arrives, they may attack immediately. Call you here today to discuss a strategy for the fight."

Dou Shunqing said: "This year, the weather is warm, and the twelfth lunar month is leap, and in mid-October, there is no freezing around. The Khitans have not many routes to go south, so it is easy to block it. At this time, gathering a large army in Youzhou, and only one or two months of food and grass is not easy for the Khitans."

Liu Ji said: "Yes, the two Khitan emperors fought for several years, and Youzhou's savings had long been used up. Now hundreds of thousands of people have only been able to transport food and grass from other places. Hundreds of thousands of people have food and grass. Slowly speaking, the Khitan does not save much, and even if they have savings, it is not easy to transport it to Youzhou."

Jingtai said: "So for this dynasty, the most important thing is to strengthen the walls and clear the fields and leave no surplus food. Even if the Khitan attacks the border, they cannot obtain supplies and must be transported from the rear. If this is done well, we will win most of the battle."

Liu Ji said: "I have already ordered the local area to move all households within 30 miles to the city and go out after the war. These days, the Shuaisi sent people to patrol the city. They did a good job in various places, and there were no households outside the city."

It is not easy to strengthen the walls and clear the countryside. It is necessary to have a city to collect people, transport the people's savings to the city, and ensure their food and drink. The court needs to have strong national strength. The Song Dynasty has developed rapidly for so many years and can do this. Moreover, the court has made up its mind to fight the Khitan in Youzhou and strictly order the local government not to lie to the people. The one who built the city was Liu Jishuai, and the one who moved the people was finally completed in more than a month.

Liu Jianji said: "The weather is warm this year and it will not freeze for a while. If the Khitan army comes next month, there will be few places to attack. There will be a Jima River blocking in various places east of Xiongzhou, and it will not be easy for the Khitans to cross the river. In this way, the Khitans may be the first to attack, Baozhou."

Liu Ji nodded: "As a saying, this is true, and we have arranged it in this way. However, we know that the Khitans know this too. I am afraid that the Khitans do not play according to common sense and cross the border from other places. So today we call you all together to think about what places the Khitans go south and what methods to use. We must be foolproof so that we can be at ease."

After saying that, he ordered his subordinates to bring the border map and spread it on the middle table. Several people looked at the map without saying a word.

After a while, Zhang Ke said: "In addition to crossing the Juma River, the most suitable place for the Khitan to attack is Baozhou. Going westward is Dabie Mountains, and it is not easy for the army to move. The army directly takes Guangxin Army and Ansu Army. Once the city is broken, the troops can come to the city of Baozhou."

Dou Shunqing said: "But behind Baozhou is Dingzhou, where there is a 50,000 army of Liu Taiwei, and the surrounding walls are strong and clear. Even if you take the Khitan in Baozhou, you will still face a big war. Not to mention, there is more than 300,000 Khitan soldiers, and it is not easy to break through Baozhou."

Liu Jianji raised his head and said, "The Khitans are good at fighting in the field and not good at attacking cities. In my opinion, if hundreds of thousands of troops attack Baozhou and end up under the city of Jian, this battle will be lost. Therefore, I think the Khitans should find a way to avoid the city of Jian and cross the border as soon as possible. Now our army is located on the border. Once we quickly cross the border area, the Khitans will be able to fly high to the sky."

Looking at the map, Liu Ji slowly said: "If you want to cross the border quickly, you will only be east of Xiongzhou. However, there are ponds and swamps there, which are not conducive to the brigade of cavalry. Moreover, after crossing the border, there will be no people within a hundred miles and nowhere to supply food and grass."

Liu Jianji said: "If the Khitan didn't care about these things, they would cross the river from east of Xiongzhou and the army would go south? Without a household, they could bring a few days of food and grass and go south to Cangzhou. As long as they break through Cangzhou, things would be easier."

Liu Ji shook his head: "The Khitan army is not a bandit. Even if it takes Cangzhou, it will have no impact on the battle situation. Crossing the river to attack east of Xiongzhou, even if it goes deeper for hundreds of miles, it is still a place without people. A small army can harass it, but there is no reason to say that the army is like this."

Most of the east of Xiongzhou were saline-alkali land, and the Song Dynasty dug ponds for many years, which was not a suitable battlefield. Moreover, there were several rivers wrapped around it. Even if it was attacked, it was still useless. It was easily blocked by the Song army and had no strategic value.

The most tempting thing about the Khitan attacking Hebei was that once the war went smoothly, it would quickly approach the Yellow River and directly threaten the central Song Dynasty. It avoided the Central Plains and went south to Jingdong Road, but could not occupy a place, which would not pose much threat to the Song Dynasty.

Jingtai said: "If it doesn't work in the east, the Khitan will probably find a way from Taihang Mountain. Send troops quickly along the mountain roads. Once you break through Zhending Prefecture, the situation will be very different. If the troops face the Yellow River, the court will inevitably be shocked."

Dou Shunqing said: "It is different from the past. There is a railway connecting the border prefectures and all the way to Kaifeng Prefecture. Even if the Khitan troops come to Chengzhou again, it is not a big deal. Even if it is negligent, the army can quickly encircle it, and the Khitan has no gaps to take advantage of."

Liu Ji looked at the map and after a while, he said, "I'm afraid the Khitans don't have a specific strategy now. We stay in Baozhou for a few days and think carefully about how the Khitans will come and how we should guard against it. After this proposal, you will face a war when you go back to guard the place."

The Guangxin Army was originally Suicheng County, Yizhou, and within the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun presented by Shi Jingtang. Later it was recaptured by the Central Plains. It was set up as the Weiyong Army during the Taiping Xingguo period, and was changed to the Guangxin Army in the first year of Jingde. It is located in the north of Baozhou and is on the border, which is the most important thing.

Although the administrative army of Guangxin did not belong to Baozhou, it was part of the management of Jingtai, Baozhou. In recent months, the military city has been greatly strengthened, and two new cities have been built in the territory, which has accommodated all the people under its rule. Now, outside the city, there are only military exchanges, and the people have disappeared. After the training of Jingtai, the imperial guards guarded the city, and the original imperial guards maintained local public security and maintained order.

The village of Busan is located at the foot of Taihang Mountain, and is the Depu on the North and South Avenue, which is intersecting with the Khitan. The people here have retreated to the newly built city five miles south, with only thirty soldiers guarding it and people are not allowed to travel. The guards here are the original imperial guards to maintain order.

Wu Jin, the young school leader, sat under the big tree, and placed a pot of wine and a chicken on the table in front of him, where he ate and drank. Several soldiers around him were busy guarding the intersection, sitting or standing, either a little bored.

A small school walked over from behind and said, "Tixia, can you still be happy today?"

Wu Jin didn't raise his head and said lazily: "No ghosts were seen. Fortunately, I found a chicken nearby and cooked two glasses of wine to play with."

This school is another leader, named Ruan Zhong, who is under Wu Jin by the rules. However, Wu Zhong has been in the army for many years and is lazy. He is a veteran and is too lazy to care about him in the army.

When he arrived in front of Wu Jin, Ruan Zhong sat down opposite him, took a bowl casually, and said, "Brother, have fun eating, let me drink a bowl."

After pouring the wine, Ruan Zhong drank most of the chicken in one sip. He tore up another piece of chicken and stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it hard. He swallowed the wine and meat. Ruan Zhong said, "Tihe, I heard that the Khitan opposite had a reward. If someone threw it there, there would be a lot of money to reward."

Wu Jin said indifferently: "The two sides are not in harmony now, how do you know?"

Ruan Zhong said: "It is said that the two sides have no understanding, but there is always someone who can go between the two sides' borders. I heard that someone came over and saw a notice posted by the Khitans. If he threw it over, he could say that the Qing court's troops could be arranged and he could reward a thousand guan of money."

Wu Jin heard this and said without saying a word on his face, "The Khitans are so generous? One thousand guan is not a small amount of money!"

Ruan Zhong said: "This is a military and national event. How many lives are hidden in the lives of many people? How much money is a thousand guan? This kind of money is to be earned with your lives! The Khitans' rewards are not high, who will go!"

Wu Jin smiled and said, "I'm attracted by this reward after hearing what you said?"

Ruan Zhong said indifferently: "So what if I am moved? I don't know anything about how the imperial court's troops are deployed."

After saying that, he continued to drink a lot.
Chapter completed!