In Chongzheng Hall, Zhao Zhen and a group of ministers gathered around to look at the topographic map of Shuozhou Battle on the table. In Du Zhongxiao's eyes, this map was rather sparse. Bijian had not prepared before, and now it was too tight to draw a detailed map. In Zhao Zhen's eyes, this was unprecedented. In the past, when fighting, I had never seen such a scene. All the ministers talked about it based on the front line memorials.

Du Zhongxiao pointed to the map and said, "The peach blossom water has risen recently. Apart from the upstream of the Chenjia Valley, the Hui River must not cross the river. Pang Ji had already ordered people to collect all the ferries on the river. Although the valley road from Datong Prefecture to Shuozhou was wide, it was divided into two parts. The west side was narrower, which was the road that the Khitan should take to enter Shuozhou. The key point was this, Mayi County."

Zhao Zhen nodded: "So that's it. The two armies of Zhao Zi and Jia Kui are located here, and Pang Ji's 30,000 troops defend the city in the rear, which is why."

Du Zhongxiao said: "This battle is about this. In Mayi County, the Hui River is close to the mountain city to the west, and it cannot be placed in large numbers. It is more than 30,000 people under Jia Kui's army. Zhao Zi's army has 50,000 people under the east bank of the Hui River, and there is a floating bridge to the west bank. If the Khitan wants to attack Zhao Zi, he must cross the river from above Yingzhou. If he cannot defeat Zhao Zi, he will not be able to go to the west bank of the river. If he wins, Zhao Zi has the retreat to the west bank and burn the floating bridge. In that case, the Khitan army is separated from the east bank of the river and confronts Jia Kui's army across the river, so there is no need to fight this battle."

Wen Yanbo said: "The Khitan army is in Hedong, and you can station for a few days and rebuild the ferry."

Du Zhongxiao said: "My dear, the Khitan army is now in Datong Prefecture. Not to mention that many of these people can fight, at least they have to eat. The two Khitan emperors fought for five years, and Chongyuan had already plundered all the food under the Datong Prefecture. The food of these 600,000 people must be transported from Youzhou. How long can the Khitan last for just the food transportation? Pang Ji and the Privy Council estimate that the difference is not much, and they all think that this battle will not last for about a month. Apart from the marching and arrangement, where can the Khitan wait until the ferry is built?"

Wen Yanbo was stunned for a moment before he realized that he had not considered the difficulties of the Khitan. The two emperors had fought for five years, and this time Hong Jixing destroyed the country's troops, and now it is the end of his strength. The reality does not allow Hong Ji to fight for a long time, and he must achieve the greatest results in the shortest time.

Zhang Guangping said: "Since two years ago, most of the Khitans in Zhongjing Road did not obey the empress dowager and surrendered to Hongji. Since then, Chongyuan has been in great difficulty and has exploited his subordinates very heavily. Now, the Datong Prefecture has no spare energy and has supported another 400,000 people. Now the food rations of Hongji's troops are transported from Youzhou. The people of Youzhou are forced to serve labor and cannot support them."

Zhao Zhen said: "The Khitan is promoting the whole country's troops this time, and there is no more power. The so-called power cannot penetrate Lu Bai at the end of his strength. Now it seems that the Khitan goes south and can only fight with our army in one go. As long as they block them, they can only retreat."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Your Majesty is right. Therefore, the arrangement of this battle is to use Jia Kui's troops as the front and Zhao Zi on the side to cover it. If the Khitan did not go to the east bank of Hui River but attacked along the west bank, Zhao Zi's artillery would help Jia Kui across the river."

Zeng Gongliang said: "Can artillery attack the other side of the Hui River?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "The Hui River is not very wide, and artillery can be shot. In this way, the Khitans can attack the passage of Mayi are actually less than five miles. The eastern part of Jia Kui's army is a county town, and the western part extends to the mountain. The positions have been arranged long ago, waiting for the Khitan soldiers to come."

Song Xiang, the political consultant, said: "Why don't you guard the county town? When you go out to defend, you will always be inseparable from close contact with the Khitan army, which is not the best strategy."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Jia Kui brought more than 30,000 people to Mayi with almost all the artillery. Where can he get in the small county? His army uses guns and cannons to pull a long line and exert firepower."

Zhao Zhen and Du Zhongxiao learned military affairs for several months, and their eyesight was no longer comparable before. He nodded and said, "It is true. There are not many cannons on the top of the city, and there are not many soldiers in the city. Jia Kui has more than 30,000 people, so it is impossible for him to only guard the county. If he guards the city, he should retreat to Shuozhou."

Du Zhongxiao held the scepter: "Your Majesty clearly understands this war. If the Khitan advances along the west bank of the Hui River, then Jia Kui is the main force. In addition to supporting him from the side, Zhao Zi's troops are also the reserve team of Jia Kui's troops. If there are too many damages on the front line, Zhao Zi will send people from the floating bridge to maintain the front line's combat power."

Wang Yaochen pondered: "Jia Kui's troops are not full, there are only more than 30,000 people, while Zhao Zizhe is full of 50,000 people. Why did you let Jia Kui's troops be the main force instead of letting Zhao Zi go with full staff?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "There is only five miles between the Huihe River and the mountains. Jia Kui's more than 30,000 people are already crowded. Zhao Zi's troops are really unable to let go. In addition to the front line, there are 30,000 Hedong Road troops brought by Pang Xianggong in the rear, guarding Shuozhou to prevent accidents. At the same time, if there are soldiers and horses in the Khitan who come to harass the rear, Pang Xianggong can also send troops to wipe out the enemy."

Everyone nodded and looked at the map on the table together. Now they suddenly understood why Du Zhongxiao had already decided. This time the Song army only took Shuozhou without caring about the rest. The terrain of Shuozhou decided that a short-term battle was fought around was very favorable. With the Pang Ji's troops, the Song army had a total of 110,000 people, which had already stuffed the surroundings and could not accommodate more people. Therefore, the 50,000 troops of Liuji's troops did not go towards Shuozhou at all, but stayed in the mountains.

If the Khitan sends troops to attack Shuozhou along the west bank of the Huihe River, Liu Ji will go forward and just threaten the Khitan's retreat.

Facing the Mayi army, the Khitan must dispatch more than 100,000 troops, or even the entire army will dispatch 200,000 to 300,000 people. At this time, it will be very dangerous to be cut off by Liu Ji. To prevent Liu Ji, you must distribute tens of thousands of troops to block the mountain roads everywhere.

After looking at the map carefully, Zhao Zhen said: "The Privy Council is well arranged this time, and there are no loopholes. If Hong Ji comes to attack, there will be no chance!"

All the ministers held the scepter together: "What Your Majesty said is very true."

Wen Yanbo said: "Except Shuozhou in the south, Yang Wenguang occupied Khitan Dezhou in the north and was heading towards Baishui. What if the Khitan did not go south but went north to attack Yang Wenguang? There was no more army behind him, and it was a little empty."

Du Zhongxiao said: "My grandpa, Pang Ji and others in the south are more than 100,000, plus Liu's fifty thousand people, they are eyeing Datong Mansion. Yelu Hongji naturally dared not lead troops north for the Datong Mansion plan. Otherwise, Pang Ji and Liu had nearly 200,000 people left Datong Mansion and cut off Hongji's retreat. There was no need to fight this battle. After all, our army in the south has strong troops, and if the Khitans want to fight, they can only go south."

Wen Yanbo nodded. Although he was not familiar with the military, he still understood the intention of the Privy Council until now. He seized Shuozhou and arranged more than 100,000 troops there, but actually forced the Khitan to fight south. The north was actually empty, and Yang Wenguang had 50,000 troops, which was already invincible.

Zhao Zhen looked at the map and said in a deep voice: "The arrangement is made, do you think Hong Ji will send troops to fight?"

Wen Yanbo said: "When Hong Jixin got Datong Prefecture and unified the Khitan, how could he sit and watch Shuozhou be occupied when his spirit is upright? I think he would go south no matter what, and then fight again. If he wins, he will naturally take back Shuozhou and other prefectures and counties. If he loses, he will talk to this dynasty slowly."

Du Zhongxiao said: "If you only take Shuozhou, the Khitans may still think that they can negotiate with this dynasty. So they sent envoys to meet Pang Xianggong of Shuozhou. They also agreed to come to Beijing and negotiate with the court. At this time, Yang Wenguang took Dezhou and entered Baishuilu again. The Khitans were afraid that they would not be able to wait."
Chapter completed!