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At the beginning of the Northern Expedition, the progress was smooth. The Hu Lie Army was unstoppable, and the Jin army suffered consecutive defeats. However, the Hu Lie Commander did not have any joy. On the contrary, Li Hu, Yue Fei and Ying Qin were all anxious about the future war.

It is obvious that the attack intention of the Hu Lie Army has been seen through by the Jurchens. Zong Fu's military talent is no worse than his brother Zong Wang. When the Hu Lie Army crossed the river, he ordered the Hebei Jin army to take the initiative to abandon the Yellow River defense line, gather the main force on Handan and Anyang lines, and firmly control the initiative on the battlefield.

The Hu Lie Army was passive. After the army crossed the river, the morale of the soldiers was high, but the Jin army held the city with heavy troops. When the Hu Lie Army had the advantage of its military strength, it would definitely attack fiercely. As for the siege, under normal circumstances, if the attacking side did not have more than five times the advantage of military strength, it would be difficult to capture a tall and solid Hebei city like Anyang and Handan in a short period of time. Once the war was delayed, the main force of the Hu Lie Army was blocked, and its restraining battlefield would definitely be unable to last. Such advantages were lost, and eventually, due to money and food issues, it had to withdraw troops.

Zong Fu's move was indeed brilliant. He used his strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses and effectively made up for the disadvantages of the Hebei Jin army in terms of military strength.

Late at night, in the tent of the Hu Lie Army, Li Hu, Yue Fei and others discussed countermeasures.

"In the Jin army in Hebei, the Han army in Hebei accounted for at least half of the number of people." Ying Qin looked at Handan City on the map and frowned deeply. "When Wanyan Talai led the Jin army in Shandong to attack and open the seal, the same was true for his army. As a result, we surrounded him with three times the strength and wiped him out in the shortest time. The reason why we achieved such a record was that the Shandong Han army was not very combative, the lack of trust between the Jurchens and the Han army, and the second was that Liu Yu and Liu Lin and his son turned against each other."

"This lesson is very profound. Wanyan Talai's full army response must have given Zong Fu a great impact, so in this battle, he must avoid a decisive battle in the wild to prevent repeating the same mistakes."

"Zong Fu changed his past combat style and defended the city with heavy troops, which could maximize the combat effectiveness of the Han army in Hebei, and at the same time minimize the chance of turning against the Han army in front of the formation." Ying Qin said this, shook his head, "The Jin army placed 200,000 troops on Anyang, Handan and Zhending, and defended the city to the death, and this battle would be difficult to fight."

Li Hu leaned over and looked at the map without saying a word. Before leaving Chang'an, Luo Sinan repeatedly warned him that the Northern Expedition should not be too long. In addition to the issue of money and food, it was the tension in the country. Although the court had already issued an edict to the world to implement the privatization system of official fields, the privatization of official fields is a complex process. There are too many things involved and it cannot be achieved overnight. It needs to be carried out in several steps. Other policies such as streamlining of institutions and officials are required. Therefore, this storm that affected the entire Middle Land may not be able to gradually subside this summer as Li Hu expected.

If the Northern Expedition is delayed indefinitely or returns ineffectively, and the prestige of Li Hu and the Hu Lie Army is hit, the storm will definitely be exploited by the opponent, and the consequences will be unimaginable. For this reason, the Northern Expedition will not only end this summer, but also achieve results, and there is no room for debate.

Now the initiative in the war situation in Hebei is controlled by the Jin army. If the Huli Army wants to win the Northern Expedition and recover Hebei, it must first take Handan, but the siege is too fierce and no one can predict the result. I remember that Empress Dowager Xiao of the Great Liao Kingdom raised his troops south and also failed in the siege battle and suffered heavy losses. In the end, he had to sign the Chanyuan alliance with the Song Dynasty. Since then, the Khitans have never gone south again.

If the Huli Army loses and suffers heavy losses in this battle, then, if it is forced to negotiate peace with the Jin Kingdom, the Northern Expedition will be delayed indefinitely. What is more serious is that it will seriously hinder Li Hu's grand goal of ascending the throne and revitalizing Middle-earth.

When Yue Fei saw Li Hu's cold expression, he knew that he was helpless, so he took the initiative to offer his advice: "As for the current situation, we have another choice, which is to transfer Gao Baolong and Zhang Gao'er's army to Zhending, and use the main force of Hedong to attack northern Hebei, and make an attempt to surround Handan, so as to force the Jin army of Handan to retreat voluntarily."

"If the Jin army in Handan is unmoved, what if the Jin army of Youyan went south to support it?" Ying Qin asked immediately, "The Jin army of Youyan went south to the south, which was even more unfavorable to the battle situation in Hebei. Although the Beibei Tiger Army could strengthen its offensive from the direction of Juyongguan, the Iron Supervisor only had so many troops, and his main task was to guard Daibei to prevent Wanyan Zonghan from launching a sudden attack, so our strong attack was determined. It was not a good idea."

"We can't fight siege, we can't afford to consume." Li Hu smiled bitterly, "We can't afford to consume money and food, and we can't afford to consume time."

The tent fell silent, and Zhu Xia, Liu Jingyuan, Wang An and other officials looked at each other, and could not think of a better way for the moment.

"We must lead the Jin army out to attack." Li Hu said to himself while paced back and forth in the tent.

"If you want to lure the Jin army out, you must hit their vitals." Yue Fei said, "The key to the Hebei battlefield is Zhending. Zhending connects Youyan to the north and Handan to the south. If Zhending loses, the connection between Youyan and Handan will be cut off."

"But Handan was not surrounded because of this." Ying Qin continued Yue Fei's words, "Handan Jin army can go to Jizhou, go to Hejian Prefecture from Hulu Hebei, and then return to Zhongshan, Gaoyang and Xiongzhou, and continue to control the northern part of Hebei."

"But in this way, the initiative on the battlefield will be controlled by us." Yue Fei continued, "Handan was surrounded, and the Jin army's strategy of defending Hebei was failed. Zong Fu had no choice but to abandon Handan and cross the Hulu River and Hutuo River north to ensure the safety of Zhongshan and Hejian towns." Yue Fei looked up at Li Hu. "Master General, as long as we force the Jin army in Handan to retreat north, we can stop them on the Hulu River and Hutuo River line and fight them to the death."

When Yue Fei talked about "a decisive battle", he opened his eyes wide and gritted his teeth. He obviously remembered the disastrous defeat of the Song army in the Hutuo River and Hulu River battles. How could he not avenge this revenge?

Li Hu walked to the edge of the map, looked at Zhending Mansion on the map, and focused on his thoughts.

"If the true decisiveness is lost, Zhongshan and Hejian are in a hurry. Youyan feels deeply threatened and will definitely go south to support. In this way, the number of Jin troops in Hebei has increased greatly, and the decisive battle will not have any advantage for us." Ying Qin reminded in a low voice.

"Waring between two armies, advantage does not mean victory." Yue Fei retorted, "The Tiger Lieutenant Army has experienced hundreds of battles since the beginning of the Dashan Alliance. How many battles have they had advantages? The army is at a disadvantage, but it can inspire the soldiers' desire to win, and confidence and morale often determine the outcome of the battle."

Ying Qin also wanted to refute it, but Li Hu reached out to stop it, "Just follow Pengju's plan, assemble heavy troops and attack Zhending."

=

Li Hu made the decision to assemble the main force to attack Zhending, but there were problems with the allocation of troops. Currently, there are about 140,000 troops in Hedong, of which Li Jin led the 43rd Army of Hu Lie, the 44th Army and the 45th Army of Zhending, while Gao Baolong and Zhang Gaoer were taking the main force in Longde Prefecture. When the Central Plains and the Shandong Tiger Lie Army reached Handan, they crossed the Taihang Mountains and rushed into Cizhou, and carried out a north-south attack. Now the attack strategy has been changed, and the main target of the first phase of the Northern Expedition has been changed to Zhending, so Gao Baolong and Zhang Gaoer's troops must be transferred to the Zhending battlefield, which will take at least half a month.

"Master General, I will lead 50,000 main forces along the Zhanghe River north, pass through Mingzhou and Xingzhou into Zhaozhou, cross the Hulu River from Zhaozhou, and kill into Zhending Prefecture. We will meet before Li Shuai to attack Zhending City." Yue Fei said decisively, "We must clearly pass this attack intention to the Jin army on the front line of Handan and Anyang, forcing them to change their strategies and retreat to Jizhou and Hejian Prefecture as soon as possible, so as to give us a chance to win a decisive battle."

Li Hu frowned slightly, "How to solve the problem of food and grass?"

From Liyang to Anyang, to Handan, Cizhou, then to Xingzhou, Zhaozhou, and then to Zhending, this is a road along the eastern foot of the Taihang Mountains. If the army wants to attack north, it must advance along this route, otherwise it will be difficult to transport grain and supplies. There are many rivers in the plain of Hebei. If you take the route of Daming Prefecture, Jizhou and Hejian Prefecture, the fastest way to transport grain and grass is to take the Yongji Canal waterway.

The food and supplies of the Northern Expedition Army were basically hoarded in Kaifeng and transported from Kaifeng to the north. After the main army in Hedong entered the Hebei battlefield, the supply of food and supplies was solved. Now the strategy has changed. The 140,000 troops in Hedong and the 50,000 troops of Yue Fei were concentrated in the Zhending battlefield half a month later, and the supply of food and supplies became the biggest problem. If the Jin army defended Handan and refused to withdraw, then the 200,000 tiger lieutenant troops on the Zhending battlefield would soon be out of food.

The solution is not to be done. For example, transport some of the food and grass to Taiyuan first and transport it from Taiyuan to Zhending battlefield. From the Central Plains to Taiyuan, the nearest road is to cross the Taihang Mountains. The mountains are high and the roads are dangerous. Not only will the people increase a lot, but the consumption during transportation is also very shocking, which will seriously affect the military supplies of the Northern Expedition and is simply not advisable.

"After we took Zhending, we advanced east along the Hutuo River and Hulu River. Before the main force of the Jin army retreated north, we quickly captured Shenzhou, Hejian and Cangzhou. On the one hand, we plundered food and grass to supplement military supplies, and on the other hand, we cut off the Jin army's retreat to the north and surrounded the Hebei General in Jizhou." Yue Fei said this, and punched the case map, "Take tooth for tooth, blood for blood, the former blood hatred, blood debt and blood debt."

Li Hu, Ying Qin and others looked at Yue Fei, who was murderous intent, and his roar echoed in his ears, and his heart was surging for a moment and it was hard to control himself.

"How many Jin troops are there in Zhending? How confident are you to take down Zhending City within three to five days?" Li Hu asked again.

"According to reliable news, Zhending, there are 30,000 troops from Wanyan Wuta and Han Qinghe on the Anxi line. Among them, Wanyan Wuta leads the main force to guard Zhending, and the number of people should not exceed 20,000." Yue Fei sneered, "Zongfu concentrated all his main forces on the front lines of Handan and Anyang, which is exactly conducive to our attack on Zhending City."

"Reliable news?" Li Hu was worried and asked, "Really reliable?"

"The Hebei people who surrendered to the Jin thieves are not all Hangou who recognize the thief as their fathers. Some of them contacted us through various channels and provided us with news from Hebei, hoping that we would go to the Northern Expedition soon." Yue Fei said, "This news is absolutely reliable, please rest assured by the Grand Marshal."

Li Hu thought for a long time and nodded, "I urgently told Gao Baolong and Zhang Gao'er to rush to the Zhending battlefield as quickly as possible."

"You go to Zhending in person." Li Hu pointed to Yue Fei and said, "You go with Luo Lan, Wang Dazhong's front army, Zhang Xian's tenth army, Niu Gao's eleventh army, Fu Xiuguo's twelfth army, and Zhao Renyan's thirteenth army to command. Bring the dry food for ten days and set off immediately."

Yue Fei was very excited and bowed to accept the order.

"Is the messenger of the Jin Kingdom still there?" Li Hu turned around and asked Zhu Xia.

"The Grand Marshal still wants to meet Wanyan Gao?" Zhu Xia asked in surprise.

"Of course, it's okay to meet and talk." Li Hu said with a smile.

=

The attack speed of the Tiger Lieutenant Army was not delayed because the Jin army held the city.

On the 26th, the Tiger Lie Army attacked Tangyin, and the Jin army retreated again. On the 27th, the Tiger Lie Army attacked Anyang. The Jin army defended the city. On the 28th, the Tiger Lie Army divided its troops, and one of them surrounded Anyang City, while the main force continued to go north and attacked Fuyang, Cizhou. On the 29th, the Tiger Lie Army rushed to the city of Handan.

At this point, the main force of the Jin army in Hebei defended the two cities of Anyang and Handan, and the Huli Army lost the strength to continue to go north because neither of the two cities had been captured, and the battle situation was stalemate.

On the thirty day, Wanyan Gao of Daming Prefecture finally breathed a sigh of relief. The battle situation was developed as Zong Fu expected, the aggressive Tiger Lie Army was dragged to the line of Anyang and Handan. Because there was no absolute advantage in terms of military strength, the Tiger Lie Army did not launch a siege battle for the time being.

At the same time, the Hedong Tiger Lie Army attacked Zhending. Like Handan and Anyang battlefields, the Tiger Lie Army also had no advantage in military strength and could only confront the Jin army defending the city.

On behalf of the Northern Tiger Army, the Beizhan Army attacked Juyong Nan Pass. This time, the Tiger Army had a strong offensive, but Wanyan Xiyin was confident and garrisoned heavily. Both sides fought fiercely, but both knew that this was just a restraining attack, so the thunder was loud and the rain was small, and there was no result in any battle.

However, Zong Fu was worried about one thing. So far, the main force of the Hedong Tiger Lieutenant Army has not appeared. At the beginning, he had speculated that the Tiger Lieutenant Army would attack Handan from north to south, but the Hedong Tiger Lieutenant Army has not entered the Hebei battlefield so far. Therefore, he thought of a possibility, that is, whether the Tiger Lieutenant Army wanted to "speak east to attack the west". While attacking Handan and Anyang front line, the main force of Hedong suddenly attacked Zhending, and then went south to surround the Jin army in Hebei. For this reason, he begged Wanyan Gao to immediately dispatch troops from Youyan to support Zhongshan and Zhending front line. In this way, even if his prediction became a reality, the main force of the Hedong Tiger Lieutenant Army rushed to Zhending City, and the Jin army had the strength to drag them down, causing the entire Hebei battle situation to fall completely into a stalemate.

At this moment, Li Hu came to write and was willing to discuss peace with Wanyan Gao.

Wanyan Gao immediately realized that Li Hu had no intention. Li Hu was cunning. In the eyes of the Jurchens, Li Hu had no faith at all. Li Hu chose to negotiate at this moment, and negotiate on the battlefield, which obviously meant to delay the war. Why did Li Hu delay the war? Is he willing to keep the war stalemate?
Chapter completed!