Seeing that the sun in the west was already disgusting with the setting of the west, Yelu Fonu said, "There is water in front of you, and there is no one within ten miles. We will stay here tonight. When tomorrow morning, the army will cross the river. The troops of each department shall not walk around and eat dry food to satisfy hunger!"

The generals under his command made a promise and left.

Seeing the personal soldiers setting up the commander's tent, the deputy general Wei Cai said, "Two miles ahead are the Mahe River. General, will the Song people see us and leak our news? If the Song people get the news, Xiongzhou is not far away, I am afraid that we will come to fight."

After hearing this, Yelu Fonu couldn't help but laugh: "There are more than 10,000 troops stationed in Xiongzhou. The Song people have been brave enough to come and fight!"

Wei Cai was a little worried: "We are here, the magistrate has ordered us to try not to fight with the Song people. If—"

Yelu Fonu waved his hand: "This time, if you don't attack the city, there will be no war! The Song army will only resist the city and defend it. If you don't attack the city, they have never been able to do anything. For decades, this has been the case, so why worry!"

Seeing that Yelu Buddhanu was full of confidence, Wei Cai didn't know what to say, so he had to cross his hands and say yes.

In a private house five or six miles away from the Khitan military camp, a man quickly stepped into the yard, put down his shoulders and entered the room. Three people sat inside, putting a pot of tea in the middle, and didn't speak, looking anxious.

Seeing the man coming in, the three of them stood up together and asked, "How is ahead? Have the Khitans crossed the river?"

The man said: "As we had previously estimated, the Khitans set up camp two or three miles away from the river. I think they would cross the river early tomorrow morning and caught them off guard. Looking at their possible march route, they should avoid the two villages of Dawo and Aragaki and go straight to the station."

The man in the lead nodded: "General Ding is a good figure. It seems that the Khitans are indeed doing this. Two people came out to report to General Ding, and the other went to Ansu's army. After the Khitans crossed the river tomorrow morning, Ansu's army's troops will be dispatched to block their retreat."

The other two men agreed with their hands and turned around and went out. One went to report to Ding Lingde, while the other was hurriedly crossing the river and changed to the fast horse to Ansujun.

Ansu's army was close to Xiongzhou, and from there, it was only 30 miles away from the Khitans crossing the river. When the Khitans arrived at Nanyishui, they also happened to be by the Juma River and stopped the invading Khitans.

The two left, and the man in charge said, "Come here and have a tea and wait. If the Khitans cross the river, we can do nothing."

In the Xiongzhou government office, Zhang Ke and Ma Huaide sat opposite each other, with some meat, vegetables and fruits in the middle, and two of them drank. A soldier came in and submitted the official documents. Zhang Ke looked at it and handed it over to Ma Huaide opposite him: "The official documents from Ding Lingde, the Khitan soldiers and horses have set off, and there are about 10,000 people."

Ma Huaide looked at it and said, "The weather is particularly cold these days, and the surrounding rivers are frozen. You can ride horses. It is a good time for the Khitans to cross the river. It seems that they have been waiting for many days, but they have been waiting."

Zhang Ke said: "We are not the case! Since the river is frozen, tens of thousands of troops have been waiting around Xiongzhou for a long time."

After saying that, he raised the wine on the table and drank it all in one go. All kinds of preparations were done, and the waiting time was really tormenting. Zhang Ji had been in Xiongzhou for more than ten days. Until today, the Khitan soldiers left Zhuozhou and were about to cross the river to attack.

Ma Huaide said: "If I don't fight one, the Khitans will not know how to restrain themselves. I have been in Xiongzhou for three years and I don't know how many lawsuits I have to fight with them every year. If the Taiwei fights this battle, the Khitans will not have so much trouble."

Zhang Ke said: "That's true. Since Taiwei Du saved Tang Longzhen, he has lost the Khitan several times in a row, and the Khitans still cannot learn a lesson."

Ma Huaide smiled: "Since the establishment of the Khitan country, it has been the upper hand for more than a hundred years. How could it be that it was defeated several times? I was afraid that the Central Plains would be born. There was no big defeat, they would not be able to learn."

After saying that, he raised his glass and drank a glass of wine with Zhang Ji.

Putting down the wine glass, Zhang Ji said, "For a battle, let the Khitans know that they are not that strong. When they go to the Central Plains, if they are domineering, they will have to pay their lives! Tomorrow morning, I will order Gaoyang soldiers to go north and guard Nanyishui. When Ansu's army blocks their way, Xiongzhou soldiers leave the city and fight with them. See if the Khitans can survive under guns and cannons!"

Twenty miles west of Xiongzhou, Tao Yunran and Tong Yang sat opposite each other in the newly built station. There was a basin of charcoal fire in the middle and a rabbit was placed on it. Each person had a wine pot next to him and took a sip from time to time.

After eating the meat, Tao Yunran said, "I just received the news that 10,000 Khitan cavalry were already camping by the Juma River. Tomorrow morning, they would cross the river and come straight to us. Thirty miles away, and they would be here in the afternoon."

Tong Yang said: "Yes, there is only one morning. How easy is it for us to evacuate all the people? Go across the river and go to the south bank of Nanyishui. There are no towns. How to resettle the personnel? If something happens--"

Speaking of this, Tong Yang shook his head and took a big sip of wine. The two of them were from the Song Dynasty, who specially led people to retreat. Although they had arranged places in the south, in the cold winter, a team of thousands of people retreated. Who knows what would happen? The other Song troops were going to fight against the Khitan army, but no one paid attention to them.

Tao Yunran said: "Don't be too nervous. We just need to withdraw people and leave the rest here. The Taiwei said that as long as we keep the Khitan army, we will not be afraid of them carrying things from here. It is not too difficult for people to leave."

Tong Yang shook his head: "You can't say that. These craftsmen who built the railway are fine, but the civilians recruited nearby are not so obedient. I didn't tell them before, but suddenly, how could they be so obedient?"

Tao Yunran said: "What else can I do? I can only order my personal soldiers to escort them away. Isn't the one hundred soldiers here just do this? There are only more than a thousand civilians, and there will be no accident with the brigade of the wing army."

After saying that, he held the wine pot and ran into Tong Yang, and took a big sip of wine. The Khitans must have come to the station across the river. Thousands of people gathered here, with a large amount of supplies, and there was a lot of oil and water. And from this, ten miles south and after passing Nanyishui, it was the place where the people who escaped from Xiatian. The Khitans robbed the station and happened to divide their troops across Nanyishui and robbed those people back.

The news I just received was that the Khitan had sent troops and was now camping by the Juma River. They would cross the river early tomorrow morning. From the station to the north, there were two losers living in the two places. Nominally, those people were also Khitan people, and the Khitans who came here should not plunder them. The Khitans nowadays are not as thick-skinned.

If there is no delay on the road, 10,000 cavalry can travel thirty or forty miles in half a day. Once the station retreats slowly, it will be easy to be caught up by the Khitans. Tao Yunran and Tong Yang, two people responsible for the retreat, are under great pressure. Especially for keeping the secret, the people working outside do not know the news. They suddenly retreat south early tomorrow morning, and they do not know whether it will go smoothly. If the station is robbed and there are casualties, the two small officers Tao Yunran and Tong Yang cannot bear the responsibility. The 100 soldiers they led were unable to complete the task, so they evacuated all the road construction people here.
Chapter completed!