On the ninth day of the 12th month of the leap lunar month, Zhang Ke rode on a horse and looked at the distance with a heavy expression. The commanders of the battalions under his command were mobilizing the final pre-war mobilization. The 50,000 troops attacked the Khitan today and began a full-scale counterattack of the Song army.

The sun in the east rose, red, reflecting the grass and trees beside them with golden edges. The ground was covered with ice, hard as iron. There were even ice hangings on the shade of the trees. This was the coldest time of the year, with the ice layer thick and the roads hard.

Everything was ready, Zhang Ke looked back at the army and said in a deep voice: "Time has come, the whole army sets off!"

A low trumpet sounded, sobbing on the vast plain, alarming countless birds.

The vanguard troops stepped onto the ice surface of the Juma River and entered the Khitan without encountering any obstacles.

At this time, the road surface was frozen, and the Song army mostly carried it with mules and horses. There was no need to walk along the existing road, so they could walk along the small road. Zhang Ji went straight to the northeast and attacked Yongqing a hundred miles away. There were not many garrisons there, and the city was not very useful in front of the artillery in the army.

At noon, Zhang Ji said: "There is a town ahead. Let's take a break and use some tea and rice. You can't be hungry all the way."

The personal soldiers took the order and rode a horse to the front to pass military orders.

Zhang Ji led the central army and arrived in front of the town without any haste. Before entering the town, he saw the people kneeling on the roadside, about two or three hundred people, all of whom were old, weak, women and children. Looking at their expressions, everyone had pale faces and thin skin, as if they had not had enough food for many days.

Zhang Ji sent his personal soldiers to come forward and ask what these people do. At this time, except for some major towns, the Khitan soldiers and horses in Youzhou had already gone south. The Song army actually had no obstacles in the march, just move forward.

Soon after, the personal soldiers came back and crossed their hands and said, "Taiwei, this is a resident of this town. I heard that the king's army is here and welcoming him at the entrance of the town."

Zhang Ku nodded, got off his horse, and said, "Since that's the case, you follow me. Yan Yun was originally a former land and regained this place, not only regaining the land, but also regaining the hearts of people. Do not let their hearts be disgusted with the local people."

When he arrived in front of the crowd, Zhang Ke stepped forward and said, "I am Zhang Ke, the head coach of this march. Which of you is the leader? Get up and talk."

An old man stood up tremblingly and bowed, "Young old man Yan Silang, I have met the Grand Marshal."

Seeing the old man in his sixties or seventies, gray-haired and skinny look, Zhang Ke said, "You don't have to be polite. The Khitan has occupied Youzhou for more than a hundred years. The emperor remembers that this place was originally the homeland of the Han people, so I specially ordered us to come and restore the old rivers and mountains. You are all good people, so don't be surprised. Just stay at home and the army will not disturb you."

Yan Silang bowed and said, "I don't know how many days I have. Today, the Taiwei came, and it was raining from the sky. How could I feel suspicious? But in recent months, the Khitans have too many plundered food in their homes. All the young and strong men tattooed them as soldiers. I wanted to slaughter cattle and drink wine to welcome the Taiwei. But there was no such thing, alas--"

After saying that, he sighed heavily. The people kneeling behind him were all depressed.

Zhang Ke looked at them and felt aroused in his heart, asking, "Most of you have vegetables on your face, are you without food at home?"

Yan Silang said: "Which family still has food now? For two months, they have been surviving by going out to dig some tree roots and other things. There were originally more than 400 households in this town and more than 1,000 people. Now, these are the only people who have been conquered by the army by tattoos."

Zhang Ke looked at everyone, thought for a while, and said, "My army is traveling, and there is not much food. Let's do this, give you a few stones of grain and barely have a few full meals. Other things will be discussed when the imperial army comes later. As long as you obey the orders of the court and do not help the Khitans, the court will not ignore you."

After hearing this, the people cheered. Since the Khitan army headed south, the people nearby have been plundered countless times. The food from the people has been plundered, and even the seeds for the next year have disappeared. After winter, they don’t know what to do.

Zhang Ji looked at the sky and ordered his personal soldiers to get a few stones of grain to these people. At the same time, he wrote a document, wrote about the situation he saw, and sent it back to Du Zhongxiao. How to help him, the commander of the army, he traveled far away, but there was no extra grain.

The people were asked to take the food and go home. Zhang Ke took his personal soldiers to sit at the entrance and use some tea and meals. At this time, two meals a day, although most officials and families would eat some food at noon, it was not a normal diet. The lunch meal was called tea soup, which was similar to afternoon tea from the west of later generations.

Looking at the town in front of him, Zhang Ke was stunned for a moment. The situation in the Khitan is now, although there was Li Zhang's information before departure, but now it still feels beyond imagination. The Khitan army has been coming south for several months, completely draining Youzhou. Even if the Song army does not come to attack, what are they going to do next year? Perhaps, they have not thought about it before?

Shaking his head, Zhang Ji sighed. How many people can be left in Youzhou after the end of this war? The longer the large-scale war, the more shocking the scale of the population decreases. How can ordinary people grab food from the army? You can only ask for it.

On the same day, Jia Kui's troops were divided into two groups, with more than 3,000 people from one group to capture Rongcheng County. The other was Jia Kui's main force, taking Xincheng County.

These two cities are actually Rongcheng and Guixin counties of the Song Dynasty, under the rule of Xiongzhou. Both counties of the Song Dynasty are governed in Xiongzhou City, and the counties are all within the Khitan territory. A large number of households in Xiongzhou are actually the people of these two counties. However, now, the people in the Khitan territory, young and strong, have been tattooed as soldiers to transport food, and the rest are the elderly, weak, women and children.

Rongcheng County was by the Juma River, with more than 3,000 troops crossing the river and approaching the city. After only a dozen artillery fired, the city gate was opened and the city was surrendered.

Xincheng County is dozens of miles away. It was almost evening when Jia Kui's army arrived at the city. Looking at the setting sun in the sky, Jia Kui ordered the army to set up camp and attack the city again tomorrow. A small city should not be able to stop his army.

Before it got dark, the city gate opened and the two cavalry arrived in front of Jia Kui's army who were camping.

The soldiers stepped forward, stopped the two, and said, "Who are you? How dare you come to the military camp?"

The two hurriedly bowed and said, "Below is Liu Yue, the county magistrate of the city. This is Chen Linyane, the son of the county magistrate. At the order of the county magistrate, I will come to discuss with your commander. Please inform me, we will wait here."

The soldiers looked up and down the two of them and sent one person to inform Jia Kui. They came back soon and took the two into the military camp.

At this time, Jia Kui's handsome tent had not been set up yet. He sat on the chair next to him and looked at the person who came. He thought in his heart that as soon as he came, there were two people like this. What were they doing? After thinking about it, it seemed that they had already maintained the city.

The two followed the personal soldiers and bowed to Jia Kui: "Liu Yue and Chen Lin have met the Grand Marshal."

Jia Kui nodded and looked at the two of them and said, "You go out to see me, and you can tell me if you have anything to do. If I set up a cannon to attack the city tomorrow, I don't have to say anything. Tens of thousands of troops are coming to the city, and the city will be smashed into pieces in one day!"

Liu Yue said: "The Taiwei has tens of thousands of troops and the army is neat, so it is a big deal. The county magistrate knew that he could not resist the enemy and wanted to offer the city. He was afraid that the Taiwei would slimly and kill everyone in the city, so he was worried and suspicious."

Jia Kui smiled. It turned out that the county magistrate was afraid of surrendering to him, so he killed him instead. It was funny. But after thinking about it, the Khitan army had been transferred away, and there were only some rural brave men in the city, and there was insufficient food and grass, so this battle could not be fought.

Looking at Liu Yue, Jia Kui said, "As long as you are willing to offer the city, I will be completely unfair. This is the hometown of the Central Plains, and all the Han people under the rule are so naturally cherished by the court. This time the army came, but only captured the city and would not poison the people."

Chen Lin, who was on the side, hurriedly said, "As long as the Taiwei is kind and does not kill him, my father will naturally be willing to offer the city. After preparing wine and food in the city, he will ask the Taiwei to enter the city. My father will welcome the Taiwei."

Jia Kui looked at the city and said lightly: "It's already dark, why bother to worry? I'll wait until I enter the city tomorrow and I'll have nothing to do."

Chen Lin said: "It's cold now, and it's very inconvenient for the Taiwei to rest outside the city. So he opened the city gate and the Taiwei brought his troops into the city. There were no soldiers and horses in the city, and only more than a hundred village warriors were left. How dare you stop the army!"

Seeing that the two of them looked like they were fake, Jia Kui stood up and said, "Okay. The county magistrate is so wise that I would not be beautiful if I don't go to the city. The two thousand soldiers here are all under my command, so I went to the city to rest together. Please wait, and I will give the army a commander."

After hearing this, Liu Yue and Chen Lin bowed to him.
Chapter completed!