Under Li Ye's urging, the joint efforts of civil and military officials of the court, coupled with the initial preparations for the first Northern Expedition of Zhang Jun, Wei Zhaodu and others, the first Northern Expedition had already begun. In just one month, thousands of mortars and millions of arrows were sent to the front line, and all preparations were completed. King Duan Mingyu of Zhao was the head coach, and the Northern Expedition recruited envoy, commanding 100 generals, 260,000 soldiers and tiger soldiers, claiming to be 300,000. He swung his sword northward and headed straight to the Khitan Kingdom. The structure of these 230,000 troops was very complicated, and the most important one was the Shence Army, the original left and right Shence Army.

There were 60,000 troops, and Li Ye made a special trip to transfer 50,000 Shen Ce troops from Luoyang and the accompanying capital Chang'an, a total of 110,000. Luoyang, as the capital, was already an empty city at this moment, followed by 80,000 troops from Hedong, commanded by Li Cunxu, the governor of Hedong, Li Cunxu, the local vassal army of Li Maozhen, Luo Hou and Fang Wenzhong suffered nearly 100,000 casualties in Zhenzhou during the first Northern Expedition, and only 30,000 remained, but it was also considered a considerable combat power. Finally, there were 30,000 soldiers and horses from Jingnan. Although the combat power was not high, they could also make a lot of effort in logistics support.

As soon as the entire war machine of the Tang Dynasty started to operate, it was like spending money like flowing water. After the three armies had decided on their ideas, they summoned all the ministers to discuss it. The geography of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, You, Ji, Ying, Mo, Zhuo, Shunqian, Shunqian, and Shunqian are located in the southeast of the northern branch of Taihang, and the remaining nine prefectures are in the northwest of the mountain. Youzhou is in the middle, which is the most dangerous. Duan Mingyu's idea is to rush his army to the north and take Youzhou straight to seize this point, and then expand to the two wings, connect with the Jurchens in the east, and then connect with the Jurchens and other ethnic minorities to form a jaw that swallows the Khitan.

When the civil officials of the Khitan Dynasty learned that the Tang Dynasty launched a large-scale military campaign in the north, they were shocked and the news rushed to the palace. Yelu Abaoji was furious when he heard the news.

The Khitan Emperor Yelu Abaoji, the brother of the Khitan Emperor, immediately summoned civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures. The civil and military officials planned to discuss the plan in the palace for half a day. They recruited and cut grain one after another, and sent out the soldiers and horses to fly out of Shangjing. Shangjing was the Khitan Kingdom's Khitan Kingdom, but Youzhou was also another administrative center, and it was considered the same as the accompanying capital. Because Youzhou City is located in the center of Yan land and is the core of the entire Yan land, the Khitan Kingdom attached great importance to it. Therefore, the Khitan Kingdom also called Youzhou Yanjing, and together with Shangjing, the second Khitan capital.

The Khitan Emperor Yelu Abaoji ordered the whole country to quickly gather troops to prepare for the Northern Expedition of the Tang Dynasty, and a heavy army consolidated An and Zhuozhou. He ordered the King of the North Court, Yelu Asong and others to lead troops to guard Yan. The Khitan Han soldiers stationed in Youzhou were Shenwu, Guanhe, Yulin, Xiaowu and other troops to allocate under the command of the King of the North Court; there were also Khitan, Jiunu, Xi, and the clans and soldiers of the North Court, who were all obeyed. At the same time, they mobilized troops from Shangjing without stopping, and the total force was estimated to reach 250,000.

Such military arrangements meant that there was a fight between verbal wars. The Han'er, who served the Khitan Kingdom, also issued a proclamation of confrontation, which was nothing more than the Tang Dynasty invading the territory of the Khitan Kingdom for no reason and promoting unjust troops...

At the end of August, the sun was scorching. Duan Mingyu, the King of Zhao of the Tang Dynasty, led the elite Shenjian Army and the imperial guards from Zhenzhou. Six days later, arrived in Jinrutun and recruited hundreds of people familiar with the Khitan terrain as guides. The second time arrived in Dongyizhou, crossed the Juma River, and entered the Khitan territory. Due to the defeat of several generations of monarchs in the late Tang Dynasty, the strength was not as strong as the early and middle Tang Dynasty periods. After the defeat of the first Northern Expedition, the 100,000 troops were burned, so it was not enough to support a long-term war. In fact, the Northern Expedition was sent in August.

The war is a strategic mistake, because soon after, the weather will turn cold, the river surface will freeze, and the transportation of military funds will be inconvenient. The Han people are not resistant to severe cold, and the weather factors are relatively large. It is precisely because of this that this war cannot withstand consumption and only has a one-time opportunity to trade. Once the Tang Dynasty is deeply trapped in the quagmire of war, the consequences will be self-evident. Fortunately, because the Tang Dynasty has a weak foundation and cannot withstand consumption, the generals are not prepared to fight a long-term war. In general, it is four words: quick battle and quick decision.

In terms of individual soldiers' elephant quality, the Tang Dynasty, whether it is the Shence Army Imperial Army or the local vassal army, are well-equipped and well-trained. The Khitans are strong by nature and are born warriors, and both sides have their own advantages.

The Khitan troops were mainly cavalry and had strong momentum, but the initiative in this war was not in their hands. After several years of its establishment, the Khitan State had gradually learned to go from a nomadic civilized society to a feudal civilized society. In fact, during the Wu Zetian period, the Khitans gradually began to reflect on the feasibility and long-term adaptability of the nomadic society.

From Wu Zetian on that time, the Khitan Kingdom began to try to break away from the high-pressure rule of the Tang Dynasty, and made unremitting efforts for this, and achieved a series of great victory. However, they gradually discovered that although the nomadic peoples have relatively high combat effectiveness, basically all the people are soldiers, and it is easier to win, but in the early and middle Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty was extremely prosperous and had a strong foundation. After one failure, it could be another one. However, the nomadic peoples were not able to do it. Once they failed once, it would be a destructive blow.

Therefore, in the late Wu Zetian period, the Khitans began to build their own cities and continued to invade south and seize the city by plunder. After the death of Liu Rengong, the governor of Lulong, his sons Liu Shouwen and Liu Shouguang fought fiercely to compete for the position of King Yan, giving the Khitan an opportunity to take advantage of it. Later, the Emperor of Liang Zhu Wen offered land again, so the Khitans won the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun at a very small price, with a large number of cities and settled urban people, and they had to defend if they had cities. The Tang army's northern expedition was to force them to abandon their long and short, and in terms of offensive and defensive battles and positional offensive and defensive battles, the power of the cavalry could not be exerted at all. In terms of infantry combat power, who could plunder the Tang people's soldiers in the world?

Therefore, Duan Mingyu entered the territory of the Khitan Kingdom and attacked the cities and villages all the way, with an unstoppable force. Liu Fang, the governor of Khitan Yizhou, and Fan Weiqi, the judge of Zhuozhou, saw that the Song army was powerful, and he suddenly lost his fighting spirit. He successively offered Yizhou and Zhuozhou to Tang, which further boosted the morale of the Tang army. Duan Mingyu surrendered to the Khitan army and organized it into his own team. While continuing to advance north, he continued to advance north without stopping. Ten days later, he arrived at the city of Youzhou and stationed in the ** Temple in the south of Youzhou City...
Chapter completed!