On the fifth day after King Li Qing of Yan was imprisoned, the Xia army's encirclement operation officially began; the left-wing army led by Li Huer and 100,000 Yongzhou troops set out from Dengfeng, and went straight to Xinzheng through Dahuai Town, and the right-wing army led by King Li De of Liang personally led by 200,000 troops from the Mangdang Mountain camp, and then went straight to Ningling through Yingtian Prefecture.

The two Xia army marched on the same day, but they were discovered by the spies of the Song army just now. Since the last time the Xia army broke through the eastern route, Zhao Wei has been very sensitive to the movements of the Xia army and sent a large number of spies to monitor the movements of the Xia army. As soon as the Xia army was launched, spies sent the news to Zhao Wei, Zhang Miao and Zhong Shidao.

At the Song Army garrison in Handan, Zhao Wei arrived here under the protection of thousands of cavalry. Zhang Miao immediately took people out of the city to greet him. After seeing Zhang Miao, Zhao Wei said: "The situation is urgent and there is no need to talk about it. What is the situation now?"

"Report to the prince, the Xia army has begun to act. We have formed an encirclement force from east to west to face our army. At the same time, the Xia army on the northern line has also launched the most fierce attack on us. It seems that Emperor Xia has a very big appetite and wants to eat us in one bite." Zhang Miao said to Zhao Wei: "Supervisor Zhong has sent troops to Weishi and Xiangyi to stop the Xia army from siegeing us."

"Zhang Miao, do you think our army can break the Xia army's offensive?" Zhao Wei asked Zhang Miao.

Zhang Miao thought for a while and said, "Prince, I thought that we could break the offensive of the Xia army, but it was useless. Judging from all the information that I had, our army could no longer defend the protruding troops in the north."

A hint of reluctance flashed in Zhao Wei's eyes and said, "Tell me more in detail."

Zhang Miao pointed to the map and explained to Zhao Wei: "Prince, please see, this is the confrontation between our army and the Xia army now. This is the situation when Xiao Yuanshan betrayed the past; the prince can compare the two situations. Before Xiao Yuanshan betrayed our dynasty, our army can continuously obtain troops and a small amount of food and supplies from the two routes of Jingdong. We can use this to accumulate strength to send a large army to the south, just encircle the Xia army's Yuzhou army and open up the canal grain channel;

But you are looking at the loss of Jingdong and the two routes. Our army has not only lost its source of troops, but also lost its strategic depth. We have formed a huge and large outcrop in the hundreds of miles between Daming and Handan in the north. If our food route is not broken at this time and there are subsequent large amounts of troops to follow up, we can use this outcrop to counterattack, but the facts are exactly the opposite;

We now have no food and grass inside and no rescuers outside. Even if we open up the grain channels with Jiangnan, we are afraid that the court will not have more troops and grass to support the north. Jiangnan has been completely destroyed. Our dynasty has lost the important tax area, and the food and grass supplied to our army can only be recruited from Sichuan, Shu and Jingxiang. This is a thousand miles away! Once there is a slight difference in food and grass, my army will be hungry;

Therefore, the last general thought that even if we defeated the Xia army's offensive, we could not continue to attack when the Xia army continued. The battle situation in the north was completely defeated. The key now is to safely bring the northern army back to Jiangnan. This nearly 600,000 army is the most elite and good at fighting in our Song Dynasty, and it is also the main force of our army's future Northern Expedition."

Zhao Wei was deeply moved by Zhang Miao's words. Zhao Wei continued to ask Zhang Miao: "Then where do you think our army should evacuate and where should we evacuate?"

Zhang Miao pointed to the map and continued: "It is now in the middle of winter. If our army evacuates rashly, it will inevitably be pursued by the Xia army. Once it is defeated, the consequences will be unimaginable. If you want to successfully evacuate, the first step is to stop the Xia army from encircling us. It is best to ensure that our army can move south along Cai Henan;

The last general thought that our army's evacuation should be divided into three steps. The first step was to mobilize troops to the south, defend the Weishi and Xiangyi, and ensure that the Cai River Basin was under the control of our army. The second step was to gradually evacuate the troops north of the Yellow River to the south of the Yellow River, relying on the Yellow River for defense. The third step was to withdraw the army to Kaifeng, and then gradually evacuate to Chenzhou, Caizhou and Yingzhou in the south, to fight against the Xia army's offensive step, and the fourth step was to cross the Huai River and establish the Huai River defense line;

The specific action steps are like this…”

Zhang Miao introduced the entire evacuation action plan in detail. After listening to it, Zhao Wei said to Zhang Miao: "You have been thinking about the withdrawal for a long time!"

"Yes, after the evacuation of Julu, we have been thinking about how to bring the 600,000 troops back to Huainan; even if you don't want to admit, the fact that our army's defeat is inevitable. If you make a decision early, you can reduce unnecessary casualties and reserve more strength for our army's future counterattack."

A hint of reluctance flashed in Zhao Wei's eyes and said, "You will be the general leader for the withdrawal of the army..."

"Yes, the last general takes the order..."

Qingshui City, Xia Army Camp Central Army Treasure.

"Your Majesty, it is reported that the army from the east and west has already taken action." Yang Shousu said to Li Liangzuo.

"What's the matter with the Song army?"

"According to the spies' response, the Song army was resisting our army's attack, but Zhong Shidao sent 50,000 troops to each of Weishi and Xiangyi, which seemed to be trying to stop our army from encircling."

Li Liangzuo looked at the map and said, "It is basically impossible to completely encircle the Song army."

"Why did Your Majesty say that?" Yang Shousu asked in confusion.

Li Liangzuo pointed to the map and said, "You don't look at the terrain of this area. It's a plain area, which is easy to attack and difficult to defend. The Song army can get through it by just finding a gap at that time. Even if our army now surrounds it, if the Song army concentrates its forces to attack it, our defense line will be broken in an instant."

"What does your Majesty mean?"

"The message is that Li De and Li Hu'er don't care about the gains and losses of each city and land, and concentrate all mobile forces together. If the Song army concentrates its forces to break through, I will hit me head-on. If the Song army breaks through, I will chase and kill them. Don't always die. I will destroy the vitality of the Song army's northern army to the greatest extent."

"I understand, so I will send someone to pass the order immediately..."

Li Liangzuo said it right. It is basically impossible for the Xia army to completely block the retreat of the Song army. After all, the troops on the southern front are too weak now, but this is the largest force that Li Liangzuo can send. If there is more, it will affect the offensive in the north. As for the complete annihilation of the Song army, it is just the most ideal result that the Xia army thought. Li Liangzuo's mind was much clearer than others. After all, the 600,000 troops of the Song army are not a small number. Even 600,000 steamed buns are enough for the Xia army to be willing to last for a while.

In Yingtian Prefecture, in the Xia Army's Eastern Army camp, this ancient canal city has declined in the future. There are basically no people around except for the 200,000 troops under Li De. In order to attack westward, Li De drew all his main forces. Now there are only 50,000 Xia troops in Huaibei. If the Song army launches a large-scale attack at this time, the Xia army will not be able to stop the Song army's offensive at all.

"Xu He, is there any news from Gao Chuo?" Li De asked Xu He; "Can the Song army in Huainan move?"

"According to the spy, there is no movement..."

"You can't relax your vigilance! You must report it every day to keep the Huainan Song army in a close eye."

(End of this chapter)
Chapter completed!