Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 688 Sending troops to Hebei
Zhao Xu nodded and asked again: "Then what is Mr. Xiang going to do next?"

"Your Majesty, the Liao Army has transferred 3 troops from Youzhou to guard Liaoyang Mansion, and only 20 people are left in Youyan to guard Youzhou City. I am going to gather [-] troops from Hebei to capture Yanshan Mansion."

Zhao Xu couldn't bear the excitement in his heart. He came to the window with his hands behind his back, staring at the sky in a daze. He was finally going to attack Youzhou. If he could capture Youzhou and other places in Yanshan Mansion, he would be able to explain to his ancestors.

Zhao Xu let out a long breath, restrained his emotions, then turned to Fan Ning and said, "Now the Special Envoy of the Liao Kingdom is in the capital, do you want to send him back directly?"

Fanning thought for a while and asked, "What is the other party's request?"

Zhao Xu sneered and said, "Yelu Hongji demanded an unconditional truce, and asked us to release the Liao army in Jingxing back to the Liao Kingdom. In response, the Liao Kingdom can promise in writing that they will no longer seek the Great Song Dynasty coins."

Fan Ning laughed, "This seems to be speaking in a triumphant gesture. Is Yelu Hongji really so arrogant?"

"So I told Zhizhengtang to ignore the other party, and wait until they wake up."

"Your Majesty, I suggest that the negotiation should not be broken, but to give Yelu Hongji a glimmer of hope so that we can successfully capture Yanshan Mansion."

"Then Datong Mansion will be taken back together?"

Fan Ning bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I still have the same opinion. Use national power against national power, slowly consume the Liao country, and finally use the rope of national power to hang the Liao country."

Zhao Xu nodded, "I understand!"

Fan Ning and Zhao Xu talked for more than an hour, and it was already noon when they left the imperial study.

Knowing that Fan Ning was coming back by boat, Zhao Xu specially arranged a carriage to take Fan Ning back home.

When Fan Ning returned to the mansion, his family was very pleasantly surprised. Knowing that her husband hadn't had lunch yet, Zhu Pei hurriedly asked the small kitchen to arrange lunch, and asked the housekeeper to arrange meals and rest for the soldiers.

Sitting on a comfortable high-back chair, Fan Ning took a sip of wine slowly, and said apologetically to Jupe, "I wish I could stay in the capital for a few more days, but the battle situation has come to a critical moment, and I will ask for it the day after tomorrow morning at the latest." Let's go back to Hebei."

"Husband, how long will it take for this war to end?" Ouyang Qian asked from the side.

"One to two months! When this battle is over, I can take a good rest for a year or two."

"That's right. Husband has been fighting east and west for the past few years. According to the newspaper, he only holds the title of a political advisor, and has basically never voted in the Zhizheng Hall."

"It seems to have voted!"

Fan Ning thought for a while and smiled: "I remember that I voted at the beginning of the year, and the education reform plan was not implemented by me? Why do you have the title of a political advisor? Which newspaper is talking nonsense."

"The "Letter" said, do you want my husband to lead troops to seal it?" Zhu Pei covered his mouth and smiled.

"The old man's newspaper, forget it."

Fan Ning suddenly remembered something, and asked again: "What's the news from Bei Dao?"

Zhu Pei thought for a while and said: "There should be no news! Second uncle and second aunt have gone to Beidao. This time they moved there for the elderly. I'm afraid they won't come back in the future."

"What about the strange stone hall?"

"The Strange Stone Museum seems to have been handed over to the Fan family. I don't know the current shopkeeper. It seems to be a third uncle from a distant house, and his name seems to be Fan Hong."

Fanning shook his head. He hadn't heard of it either. He finished his lunch, stretched himself, and went back to his study to rest.

The next morning, Fan Ning went to the Zhizheng Hall. In the round hall of the Zhizheng Hall, except for Han Jiang who resettled the Han people of the Liao Kingdom in Laizhou and Dengzhou and did not come back, the other five prime ministers were sitting there, listening attentively to Fan Ning's explanation of the current situation. situation and future plans.

"At present, the siege of Jingxing is mainly carried out by the army of Hebei. We have invested 12 troops, and the garrison on the Hebei border is only 10. Considering that some troops are left for defense, the available army is only [-].

So yesterday I asked to transfer 20 troops from the [-] garrison on Shaanxi Road to Hebei to participate in the war. The officials have agreed to my request and issued an order to transfer troops. Zhizhengtang was able to transfer [-] militiamen from southern Hebei to participate in logistics transportation. "

Fu Bi was a little puzzled and asked: "There is no problem in mobilizing the militia to support logistics, but isn't 5 people too small?"

Fan Ning shook his head and said with a smile: "The river network in Yanshan Prefecture is densely covered. The major tributaries of the Sanggan River have already covered important cities, and a cargo ship of three thousand shi can be used. We have a steam engine boat as the power and do not need manpower to pull the fiber. 5 yuan People are only responsible for loading and unloading ships, which is enough, and now that the summer harvest is busy, there is no need to add too many people."

"May I ask Mr. Fan, where are the important logistics areas going to be placed?" Wen Yanbo asked.

Fan Ning pointed to the map and said: "I divided the whole battle of Yanshan Mansion into three battlefields, one is the western battlefield, with Yizhou as the logistics base, occupying Weizhou to the west and Zhuozhou to the east; the second is the northeast battlefield, With the Laizhou Navy as the main force, it is relatively easy to capture Pingzhou and the Liaoxi Corridor, and the focus is on the central battlefield.”

Fan Ning pointed at Youzhou City, and said: "I plan to use Lu County, fifty miles east of Youzhou City, as the foundation. To attack Youzhou, you can control Jizhou and Jingzhou in the east, and Shunzhou and Tanzhou in the north, which is a very ideal strategic location, so my first step is to take Lu County."

Fan Ning put down the wooden pole, and said to everyone: "At present, there are only [-] troops in Youzhou area defending Youzhou city. In a sense, the Liao Kingdom has actually given up Youzhou, but it has not completely given up, and is still holding on to the front line. Hope, stick to Youzhou City and resist stubbornly, so the attack on Yanshan Mansion this time is actually an attack on Youzhou City, I hope to seize the opportunity and send troops to Youzhou as soon as possible."

The 20 garrisons on Shaanxi Road are actually not limited to Shaanxi Road, but also include garrisons in the former Xixia area, garrisons in the Hexi Corridor, and garrisons in the Hetao area.

Under the edict of the emperor, the veteran Zhong Er personally led the [-] elite Western Army to set off from Jingzhao Mansion, cross the Yellow River at Pujin Pass, and head straight to the Shangdang area. They will pass through Taihang Mountain from Fukouxing to Cizhou, Hebei.

At the same time, the imperial court also issued an ultimatum, requiring the four prefectures and prefectures of Xiangzhou, Damingfu, Bozhou, Jizhou, and Dezhou in southern Hebei to recruit 40 militiamen, and to use [-] steam cargo ships of [-] shi and [-] ships. The tugboats transported [-] shi of grain and various military supplies from the Liyang warehouse and the Hejian warehouse respectively to the north.

In mid-June, 20 Song troops crossed Baigou from the two lines of Dingzhou and Bazhou at the same time, marched in the direction of Youzhou, and opened the curtain of attacking Yanshan Mansion.

Among the lofty mountains of the Yanshan Mountains, a Song army of 8000 men is rapidly heading north. This army is the Western Army from Shaanxi Road. Famous, their mission is to guard Juyongguan and prevent the main force of the Liao army from going south to Youzhou.

Fan Ning had a strong view of the overall situation. He used the strategy of besieging Wei and saving Zhao to transfer [-] Liao troops from Youzhou to Liaoyang Prefecture, but he also wanted to prevent the Liao Kingdom from using Youzhou as a bait to lure the Song army northward, and then the main force entered Youzhou. , and the Song Army in a decisive battle on the battlefield.

Fan Ning knew very well that in a decisive battle in the wilderness, the 20 Song army may not necessarily be the opponent of the [-] Khitan elite cavalry.

From the very beginning, Fan Ning had no idea of ​​fighting the Liao army on the battlefield at all. Instead, he made use of his strengths and circumvented his weaknesses, using the city's offensive and defensive battles and the advantages of the water army to weaken and defeat the Liao army.

Therefore, while the 20 army is going north, Fan Ning must block the passage from the north to Youzhou. There are three main passages to enter Youzhou from the north. One is the Liaoxi Corridor. The army has captured Jinzhou and Yuguan, and controlled the Liaoxi Corridor.

The second road is Feihuxing, the passage from northern Shanxi to Youzhou. The Song army controlled Yi County in the east and Yanmen Pass and Pingxing Pass in the west, which actually blocked this passage.

The third passage is called Junduxing, which is the passage from Zhangjiakou to the grassland outside the Great Wall today, and the key point of this passage is Juyongguan.

The situation in Juyongguan is very dangerous. It connects Lulong and Jieshi in the east, and belongs to Taihang Mountain and Changshan Mountain in the west.

Juyongguan actually has two passes, the north and the south, the south is called Nankou, and the north is called Juyongguan. Between the north and south passes is a forty-mile-long valley, and the mountains on both sides of the valley are majestic and the terrain is dangerous.

Eight thousand troops rushed all the way, and after three days of marching, the army arrived at Juyongguan.

At this time, the Liao army had completely withdrawn from the area outside Youzhou City, and Juyongguan had become an empty pass. There were no soldiers stationed there, and [-] Song soldiers occupied Guancheng without bloodshed.

(End of this chapter)