Although no proposal was made on where to end the Northern Expedition, all preparations have been carried out in an orderly manner. According to Zhao Bing's "battle of war", the grain and grass materials must be consumed and stored in two years, and they must be transported through grain and transported secretly in the name of trade. The forward material base will be set up in Xiapi, Haizhou, Xiayi, Yancheng, Xiangyang and Hanzhong. The reserved grain and grass should be based on half of the summer and autumn taxes in Huguang and Changshu this year.

Needless to say, the production of military equipment supervisors is increasing the production of military supplies, especially camping tents and cotton clothes for winter combat. Through trade and increasing mining efforts, we can ensure the supply of copper, iron, wood, sulfur, charcoal and tincture needed for military production. The Imperial Hospital, its affiliated medical hospitals and pharmaceutical workshops have also increased the reserve of drugs and the training of military Chinese medicine practitioners, and prepared personnel and materials for opening forward hospitals and building frontline medical stations.

In terms of military affairs, the Ministry of War has increased 30% on the basis of the daily recruitment of troops and established supplementary corps. At the same time, the number of veterans retired, the number of transferred officials is increased, and the backbone forces that have experienced actual combat have been retained. Each department withdraws troops to support local construction and increases the intensity of basic training. The Privy Council is ordered to organize various departments to conduct winter exercises, test training results and summarize winter combat experience in the plains.

Zhao Bing ordered the Bureau of Affairs and the Privy Council Jiyi Department and other intelligence agencies to increase the collection of political, economic and military intelligence on the Mongolian Yuan, especially the frontal enemy armament, city defense, army mobilization, and material reserves, and use caravans to draw detailed maps. The armed forces behind the enemy to whom the Bureau of Affairs should also be prepared for combat, and at the same time use various means to create chaos and create opportunities for war.

He had to do daily work and planned the Northern Expedition. Zhao Bing was busier than usual, and as his staff, the secretary and supervisor of his staff, naturally became busier. Now, after more than two years of continuous replenishment, the organization has gradually improved and many personnel have been added. Among them are new scholars, veteran officials familiar with official duties, current officials who were transferred, and even white clothes recruited.

In short, the current secretary-in-chief is already a place where there are hidden dangers. Of course, those who can enter the secretary-in-chief must also undergo strict scrutiny. Not only do they have innocent family backgrounds, but they also have real skills, and at least they must have talents beyond ordinary people in some aspects. People who work in the secretary-in-chief also like the work here. The emperor is kind, there is not so much idle work, the working environment is relatively loose, and there is less intrigue and deceitful struggle in the court.

On that day, Zhao Bing passed by the secretary's supervision room outside Wenyuan Hall and suddenly heard a rumor of argument. There was no noise in the palace. Even if you walked, you had to tiptoe and speak softly. Wang De, who was with him, couldn't help but frown and scolded him, but Zhao Bing waved his hand to stop him. He listened for a while and it turned out that they had a disagreement on whether to make the memorial when reviewing the memorials transferred by the ritual.

"Your Majesty!" Zhao Bing pushed the door and entered, and the secretary and supervisors in the hall hurriedly stood up and saluted.

"I heard you argue endlessly, so why are you doing?" Zhao Bing raised his hand and asked everyone with a smile.

"I disturb Your Majesty, please atone for your sins!" Chen Shishi realized that their voices were louder and apologized for the first time, "Your Majesty, my subordinates are sorting out the memorials transferred from the Ministry of Public Instructions today, and have a disagreement on whether to ask Your Majesty to read a memorial."

"Oh, come and see!" One of the important things in the imperial examinations is to organize the documents and classify them according to the expeditious and matters. The documents that he needs to decide must be submitted to His Majesty for approval; while some reporting documents are compiled into briefings, and he decides whether to read them personally according to the needs; at the same time, it also serves as a filter, and only registers and retains those memorials that have no practical significance and do not submit them to him. This matter needs to be reviewed together by several rooms to avoid missing important information.

"Please take a look!" Xu Wunang listened and quickly presented a memorial with both hands, "This is the advance of Wang Yue, the doctor of the Ministry of Rites, to offer advice for the Northern Expedition!"

"Yeah!" Zhao Bing took it, and his own knowledge brought it to his chair and brought tea. The memorial was very long and thousands of words. He sat down and read it carefully. The content of his comment was that if the second Northern Expedition recovered his hometown, the "Water Great Wall" should be rebuilt to resist the southern invasion of the Mongol Yuan.

Zhao Bing knew that since Emperor Taizong of Song failed in two northern expeditions, the Northern Song Dynasty suffered a series of defeats in the Battle of Junziguan. As a result, the Song army lost confidence in taking the initiative, and the Song Dynasty finally showed a passive defensive trend. Faced with the Liao Dynasty's consecutive years of going south, the Song army lacked a large-scale cavalry corps, and it was impossible to make a defensive layout in all aspects. The Liao Dynasty's mobile cavalry often could rob and run away freely.

Not daring to attack makes the Song army more passive, and the comprehensive deployment of defense in the North China Plain is completely equivalent to suicide. How to accurately understand the main activity area of ​​the Liao army, arrange troops in a timely manner, focus on defending several military towns, and concentrate elite forces to defeat the Liao army is the best way to passive defense.

After many discussions, the court believed that in the various battles of the Song and Liao dynasties, the Liao army mainly moved south from the area west of Baiyangdian to the Song territory, especially the Battle of Junziguan, which determined the fate of Song and Liao. The areas west of Baiyangdian were basically plains, without deeper rivers and mountains and rivers, and the Liao army could basically come and go freely, while the Song Dynasty seemed quite passive.

The so-called Northern Song Dynasty that lost Yanyun was not at risk, but compared with the Tang Dynasty, there were dense river networks in the area east of Baiyangdian, while the Song army could rely on these rivers and use ships to mobilize the troops in time, making it impossible for the Liao army to start. Therefore, the terrain of North China, which is often said on the Internet, is flat, the Song army cannot warn in time, and the organization of defense is not accurate. In Zhao Bing's view, it was at least wrong before Song Renzong.

In contrast, the vast area west of Baiyangdian was flat and wide, which was a good place for cavalry to raid for long distances and the only choice for the Liao army. He not only mastered the Liao army's marching route, but also took advantage of the dense river network. The Song Dynasty finally replaced the troops with water and sacrificed the "magic artifact" to defend the Liao army - the Great Wall of Water, which is the Fangtian and scout project on the Bohai line on the eastern front - Xiongzhou on the eastern front - the scout project.

During the reign of Emperor Taizong, square fields were built in Xiongzhou to Bohai. These square fields were not farming fields, but square horse pits. The pits were about seven feet long and wide. At the same time, using the dense river network east of Baiyangdian, the Song army drew water into the pit, connecting them into a piece, becoming a nightmare for cavalry marching. In this area, the Song army only arranged 3,000 elite soldiers and 100 ships to patrol, reconnaissance the enemy's situation, greatly saving the Song army's strength.

Also during the Taizong Dynasty, since the failure of Yongxi's Northern Expedition, some people realized that the key area of ​​the Liao army's attack was the Gaoyang Pass-Baozhou-Yizhou line. It was the most safest to advance from this area. Some people suggested that military farming be carried out from Gaoyang Pass to Baozhou area, that is, to build paddy fields at low places and dry fields at high places. On the one hand, it can supplement military rations, and on the other hand, it can rely on canals to cooperate with the Eastern Line project to hinder the Liao army's southward movement.

However, while defending the Liao army to the south, this kind of defensive fortification also hindered the Song army's northern expedition. Song Taizong himself and some court officials had not really given up their intention to expedition the Northern expedition. Therefore, this project was not built in the Taizong Dynasty, but was scattered by local troops to guard the castle, which made the overall level of local defense seem very thin.

After the death of the God of Che, Emperor Zhenzong ascended the throne, and the Liao Kingdom began to take advantage of the situation and attempt to go south. The Song-Liao War ushered in the second peak. At the beginning, the Liao army encountered a nail in Baozhou and the Weilu Army. Later, the military attack also defeated the Song army, but it only plundered more wealth. The Liao Kingdom never took advantage of the territory.

He Chengju, the governor of Cangzhou, had long started to use mountains, rivers and lakes to start farming in Xiongzhou area. With He Chengju's experience, the Zhenzong Dynasty built a military field canal project in the 100-mile plain west of Baiyangdian. This section also became the second part of the Northern Song Dynasty Water Great Wall. The project lasted for thirty years and was finally completed during the Ming Dao period of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty.

This project starts from Xitangbo, an artificial lake west of Baozhou, and reaches the Bohai Sea in the west, and crosses the North China Plain. This line of defense reaches 150 miles in the widest north and south of the eastern region, and the narrowest one is eight to ten miles, with a water depth of about one meter. In addition, the Song army also began to plant trees and forests west of Xitangbo. These forests also set up Hebei Treasure Department and Fufu Department to manage artificial forests and Tangbo.

In fact, the river and lake defense lines that the Song Dynasty worked hard to manage played a great role from the beginning. It was under the influence of these defense lines that crossing rivers was not good at fighting, which greatly restricted the Liao Dynasty's ability to plunder the areas around the defense lines. The Song army also guaranteed the food supply in Hebei, and it was shortly after this defense line began to be built on a large scale that it played an important role.

It was not until the Battle of Chanyuan that the Liao army began to attack the Song army's fortress on a large scale. However, thanks to the sluggish defense line and the alarming effect, the Song army responded very quickly. Long before the arrival of the Liao army, the Song Dynasty's river and lake defense lines were ready. Except for conquering the two rear cities of the Deqing Army and the Tongli Army after entering the Song territory, the Liao army basically did not have much results. The two cities around Kaifeng have no practical significance except to deter Kaifeng.

When Emperor Zhenzong of Song personally led his troops to the Chanzhou, a large number of elite Song troops remained behind the Liao army. The final lonely army invaded the battle of Chanyuan and became beneficial to the Song side. Therefore, the Great Wall of Water can be regarded as a masterpiece for the Song Dynasty to defend against the Liao cavalry...

"What do you think of this strategy?" After reading the memorial, Zhao Bing said that there was not much new meaning in his words. He was just a new bottle of old wine, but he praised his advantages and highly recommended them.
Chapter completed!