Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 497 Li Ge Requests for a Meeting
Li Liangzuo wanted to withdraw his troops, but Li Mingxiao disagreed.

"Your Majesty, it took so much effort to capture two cities. As long as we capture this city, we will enter the heart of Hehuang. It will only be a matter of time before we annex Hehuang." Li Mingxiao said anxiously.

It took a lot of effort for Western Xia to capture the two cities. This was because after Dong Zhen occupied Hehuang, he had been strengthening the border cities facing Western Xia.

However, it was impossible for Dong Zhan to reinforce all the cities. As long as he captured one more city, the Western Xia army could enter the heart of Hehuang.

Those cities were easy to attack, and the hinterland of Hehuang was almost a plain, so Xixia could attack any city they wanted. However, Dong Zhen needed to divide his troops for defense and could not gather a large number of troops.

"It's not that I want to withdraw my troops, but... cough... cough..." Li Liangzuo said and suddenly started coughing violently.

"His Majesty…"

The Xixia officials in the big tent immediately began to ask about the matter with concern.

"It doesn't matter!"

Li Liangzuo felt better and waved his hand, saying, "The Song Dynasty has already reached the Liao Kingdom's Xijing City."

"what?"

"This is impossible!"

Upon hearing this, the civil and military officials of Western Xia no longer cared about Li Liangzuo's health. They were all shocked by the news.

You should know that there are dozens of cities between the Liao border and Xijing.

Now, it is only more than half a month since the Song Dynasty sent out its troops. How could it be possible for the Song Dynasty to reach Datong so quickly?

"I don't want to believe it either, but this is what the spies I sent out to find out, it can't be false. The Song Dynasty has a thing that can make a loud noise and destroy the city. Facing this thing, ordinary cities can't be defended at all. Yelu Yixin had to abandon the outer cities, which allowed the Song Dynasty to advance like a hot knife through butter and reach the city of Xijing." Li Liangzuo said.

Everyone looked at each other in surprise when they heard this. What Li Liangzuo said was too mysterious.

If such a thing really existed, wouldn't the city be useless?
And if it can even destroy city walls, then what about people?

In this case, who can still be the opponent of the Song Dynasty?

Reason told them that such a thing was impossible, but Li Liangzuo spoke so confidently that they found it difficult to refute.

"Your Majesty, where is this thing in the world? If it really exists, why didn't the Song Dynasty use it before?"

As Li Liangzuo's uncle, Li Mingxiao did not have so many concerns and said, "Even if the Song Dynasty really has it, I just heard from Your Majesty that the Song Dynasty only used it to break the city and did not use it at other times. This shows that this thing has many limitations and needs to be close to the city. As long as you are cautious, it is not enough evidence."

"The Liao Kingdom must be full of idiots, otherwise they would not have thought of this. The reason they gave up so many cities must be to lure the enemy deeper."

"As the Art of War says, an arrogant army will be defeated. The Song Dynasty conquered dozens of cities in a short period of time. From generals to ordinary soldiers, they must have been extremely arrogant. This kind of arrogance is difficult to change even if someone notices it!"

"Liao has been asking Daxia for help, simply because they don't want to see Daxia take advantage of the opportunity to occupy Hehuang, and they want to trick Daxia into sending troops to Song."

As the Privy Councilor, he had the same power as the Song Dynasty's, only to mobilize troops, and he had to get the consent of Emperor Li Liangzuo.

Although there were many people in the army who were loyal to him, he was always controlled by others in the capital.

This attack on Hehuang was an opportunity for Li Mingxiao.

Li Liangzuo led the army in person, but even if he conquered Hehuang, he could not stay there for long.

To take over Hehuang, we need someone with sufficient status to take charge.

And he is the most suitable person.

Naturally he was unwilling to withdraw his troops.

"Your Majesty, what Envoy Li said makes sense!"

The rest of the civil and military officials, whether loyal to Li Mingxiao or Li Liangzuo, all agreed with Li Mingxiao's words.

Li Liangzuo pondered. According to his original plan, he wanted to provoke a war between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty.

Once a war starts, it cannot be stopped just because you want to.

He sent troops to Hehuang, but neither the Song Dynasty nor the Liao Dynasty had the energy to intervene.

By the time the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty ceased fighting, both countries were severely damaged, and Western Xia had enough time to recuperate and completely digest Hehuang.

As one kingdom grows stronger, the other weakens. Although Western Xia is still the weakest among the Three Kingdoms, the gap is narrowing.

The reason for retreating was that they were frightened by the speed of the Song Dynasty.

But after Li Mingxiao's analysis, I have to say that it makes a lot of sense.

Li Liangzuo hesitated for a long time and said, "Then don't retreat, continue the attack."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Liangzuo stood up and looked at everyone and said, "We must speed up the siege. If anyone slacks off, no matter who they are, I will show no mercy!"

…………

Bazhou City

Zeng Gongliang personally returned from the front line and met Zhao Xing to tell him about the difficulties at the front line.

The Liao Kingdom did not believe it at first, and after the Song Dynasty conquered several cities again, it began to abandon the cities.

Moreover, these cities had been well-prepared, and they fled once the cities were breached, so the casualties were not heavy.

Even though the Song Dynasty occupied dozens of cities, the Liao Dynasty actually suffered little loss.

Although most of them are small cities, there are civilians in them, so the Song Dynasty has to send troops to garrison them.

Now the Liao Kingdom has reduced its military forces, and there are more than 200,000 soldiers and horses in the city of Xijing.

Although the Song Dynasty mobilized nearly 600,000 troops, the original border needed troops to be defended, and the captured cities also needed troops to be defended, so only 400,000 troops could actually be mobilized.

It is simply a fantasy for 400,000 soldiers to capture a fortified city defended by more than 200,000 soldiers.

The Duke of Ying tried to attack, but the Liao Kingdom's defense was very tight.

As for gunpowder, there was no chance of it even getting close.

The city was bombed several times, although the Liao Kingdom had not yet figured out what the Song Dynasty used.

However, the Liao Kingdom was well aware that the Song Dynasty needed to get close to the city wall in order to blow up the city.

Every night, a large number of braziers were lit on the Liao city walls, making the area around the walls as bright as day. They tried several times but were discovered each time.

The Duke of England attacked several times, suffered heavy losses, and seeing that he had no chance to use his gunpowder, he had to pause.

"Your Majesty, after conquering dozens of cities in a row, the morale of the army is high, but there is some arrogance. Not only did I notice it, but the Duke of England also noticed it. Reprimanding and punishing some generals only made things slightly better. But the morale of the army is high, and it is not good to be too harsh, otherwise it will only undermine the morale of the officers and soldiers. I am worried that if the siege fails for a long time, the Liao Kingdom will send troops to launch a surprise attack." Zeng Gongliang said worriedly.

Zhao Xing was shocked when he heard this, and some cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Not to mention the soldiers in the army, with the frequent reports of victory these days, even he began to feel that the Liao Kingdom was nothing special and that the recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun was just around the corner.

Even if we cannot recapture the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, by taking over Xijing City and Yanmen Pass, we can restore the territory of the Taizu period, which is also an exciting thing.

After Zeng Gongliang said this, Zhao Xing actually sensed something was wrong.

Did the Liao Kingdom abandon those cities before, really just because they couldn't be defended?

Except for the cities on the border of Liao State, the cities behind were indeed not strong cities, but just some county towns.

However, there are still a few cities that are relatively strong. Even if they cannot be defended, the Liao Kingdom can first defend and test the situation of gunpowder.

But the Liao Kingdom did not do so. After a brief resistance, it threw everything to the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty conquered dozens of cities in a row and recaptured hundreds of miles of territory. Apart from a lot of benefits in the beginning, the subsequent cities did not gain any benefits.

The food, fodder and equipment that could be moved away had already been moved away in advance, and those that could not be taken away had been burned.

The wealthy families and Khitan nobles in the city also fled, and the rest were ordinary people.

Although most of these people were Han people, they had been ruled by the Liao Kingdom for many years and had no sense of belonging to the Song Dynasty.

For the sake of the people's hearts, not only could they not forcibly collect grain from the people, but they also had to leave some soldiers behind to maintain law and order. In other words, although the Song Dynasty seemed to have conquered dozens of cities, it could not get any reinforcements and had to disperse some of its troops.

The result was that the battle line was extended by hundreds of miles, increasing the difficulty of supplying food and fodder.

What if this was really Yelu Yixin's plan to lure the enemy deeper into our territory?

The more Zhao Xing thought about it, the more he felt that this was possible. He took a deep breath and said, "Lord Zeng is right. The Liao Kingdom is probably trying to lure the enemy deep into our territory, waiting for the Song Dynasty to fail in its siege before launching an attack. Since Lord Zeng has come to me, you should have a way to deal with it, right?"

"I have two strategies. One is to withdraw the troops into the city, reinforce the city walls and temporarily suspend the attack. The other is to build a city nearby and force the Liao Kingdom to come out of the city to fight." Zeng Gongliang said.

Zhao Xing fell into deep thought after hearing this and retreated to the rear of the city, which allowed his soldiers to calm down slowly.

It can also make the Liao Kingdom's plans fail. The only drawback is that it will take time to fight with the Liao Kingdom.

It's just a waste of time, and the Song Dynasty still has the advantage.

After all, Yelu Yixin came to power illegitimately and lost so many cities, which dealt a heavy blow to his prestige.

When the Song Dynasty attacked, the Liao Dynasty was still temporarily stable. Once the Song Dynasty suspended the attack, all kinds of rumors spread and Yelu Yixin became passive.

However, a stalemate was not what Zhao Xing wanted to see. The Song Dynasty dispatched nearly 600,000 troops and the amount of food and fodder consumed every day was astronomical.

Yelu Yixin felt uncomfortable, and he didn't feel comfortable either.

The most important thing is that winter in the north is not only cold, but also comes early.

In a few months, it will snow in the north, and we will have no choice but to withdraw our troops.

The dozens of cities that were captured had no popular support and no strategic locations to defend. Once the troops retreated, they would most likely be taken back by the Liao Kingdom.

But if we don't withdraw our troops, logistics will become a big problem when the weather turns cold.

Therefore, a stalemate with the Liao Kingdom is not a good strategy.

Building a city is a good idea. We just need to build city walls to make it difficult for the Liao Kingdom to launch a surprise attack.

In this case, Yelu Yixin would certainly not want to see it, so he would naturally send troops to destroy it, which could actually eliminate some of the Liao troops.

But the problem still remains. If Yelu Yixin does nothing and just defends the city, it will be difficult for the Song Dynasty to break into the city.

The final result is nothing more than a stalemate. As long as we wait until winter, the Song Dynasty will withdraw its troops.

Zhao Xing hesitated for a long time and said, "Sir Zeng, can you be sure that the Liao Kingdom will launch a surprise attack?"

"I can't guarantee it, but the possibility of a surprise attack by Liao is very high. According to legend, the Liao's reinforcements should have arrived long ago, but in Xijing City, there are only the troops that Yelu Yixin brought with him when he personally led the expedition, and those who abandoned the city and evacuated. No reinforcements have arrived."

"I guess the reason why the Liao reinforcements did not arrive is that they did not want to arouse the vigilance of the Song Dynasty," said Zeng Gongliang.

"What if we take advantage of the situation?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Your Majesty!"

Zeng Gongliang heard this and said anxiously: "You can only be a thief for a thousand days, but you can never be on guard against thieves for a thousand days. If the Liao Kingdom delays the attack, it will only waste manpower and material resources. In the long run, it will inevitably affect the morale of the army. Moreover, there is always a loophole. If the Liao Kingdom raids the camp, it will certainly not send many troops, which will only hit the morale of the Liao Kingdom. If we are not careful, hundreds of thousands of troops will be in danger of being destroyed."

In his opinion, it is not worthwhile to use the enemy's trick against him and lure him into a trap.

Waiting for the enemy to raid the camp means that the enemy is in the dark and I am in the light.

Even if it succeeds, the other party can still raid the camp later.

Unless the Song Dynasty has a way to quickly break into the city, even if the raid fails, it will affect the morale of the enemy and the enemy will be able to defend the city and recover slowly, so it will not be of much significance.

On the contrary, we have to take a great risk.

Zhao Xing frowned slightly when he heard this. Indeed, he thought things were too simple.

"Then..."

"His Majesty!"

Just as Zhao Xing was about to talk about building the city, Zhang Feng's voice was heard outside.

"Come in!"

Zhang Feng walked in, saluted and said, "A soldier spotted a suspicious person and arrested him. His name is Li Ge, he claimed to be your Majesty's man and said he had something urgent to see your Majesty. The soldier did not dare to delay and escorted the man here."

"Li Ge?"

Zhao Xing was stunned when he heard this and said, "Hurry and bring him to me!"

Li Ge has never appeared since Yelu Chongyuan died.

Zhao Xing thought he was dead, but he didn't expect he was so lucky.

He wanted to see what Li Ge's purpose was in coming to see him now.

"Yes!"

Zhang Feng responded and walked out.

Zhao Xing told Zeng Gongliang about Li Ge's situation.

After listening to this, Zeng Gongliang pondered for a while and reminded: "Your Majesty, this Li Ge has disappeared for so long, you can't trust him easily."

"I understand what Mr. Zeng said."

Zhao Xing smiled and nodded.

Of course, he couldn't believe Li Ge, and he never believed him from the beginning to the end.

But Li Ge is indeed useful.

After a while, Zhang Feng came in with Li Ge.

Seeing Li Ge's expression, Zhao Xing smiled.

"You're so exhausted?"

Li Ge was a little chubby, and whenever I met him a few times, he was always dressed decently.

At this time, Li Ge said that describing him as haggard was a bit of an exaggeration, but he had lost a lot of weight, and his clothes were torn in many places, making him look like a refugee.

"I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

Li Ge bowed and said with a wry smile: "It is hard to describe how I have become like this."

"Let's make it short." Zhao Xing waved his hand.

"Your Majesty..." Li Ge recounted his experiences during this period.

When Yelu Chongyuan led his troops to Shangjing City, he was in the army.

Later, Yelu Chongyuan received a secret letter from Empress Dowager Xiao, and led the cavalry ahead, while he stayed behind.

Yelu Chongyuan was ambushed. A soldier went to inform the infantry in the rear. After learning the news, he fled back to pick up his family.

He wanted to escape to the Song Dynasty, but was captured by a fleeing tribal leader.

The tribal leader knew that he was Yelu Chongyuan's man and wanted to use him to please Yelu Yixin.

Li Ge thought he was going to die, but in the end he was saved by Nerugu.

During this period, he and Nerugu were under house arrest in Shangjing.

"I can understand that Yelu Yixin didn't kill Nerugu. But why did he keep you? Did you defect to Yelu Yixin?" Zhao Xing sneered.

Yelu Chongyuan had many old subordinates, and it was impossible for Yelu Yixin to kill them all.

Nerugu's patricide was intolerable in the eyes of the Han people, but it was nothing among the nomadic peoples.

(End of this chapter)