On the sixth day of the ninth month, the prime minister of the Khitan Southern Court and King Yelu Zongyun of Lu took the lead in Xijin Prefecture in Nanjing, and the Khitan army officially began to move south.

Yelu Ren first welcomed Yelu Zongyun back to the left-behind mansion and sat down at the official hall.

After drinking tea, Yelu Zongyun said: "The emperor personally led a large army and was scheduled to gather a large army to Youzhou on October 12th. In recent years, the Southern Dynasties have successively restored the Western Regions and destroyed Dangxiang. The four barbarians were afraid of submission and were very prosperous. Last winter, it was the most abominable that they encircled and annihilated 10,000 troops of this dynasty. If they cannot fight and win, the surrounding tribes will have a different intention, and they will be afraid that they will not be able to deal with them at that time."

Yelu Renxian said: "What the king said is. However, the Song Dynasty arranged heavy troops on the Hebei Road. If it was to break through, it was probably not easy."

Yelu Zongyun did not answer, but said, "Besides arranging heavy troops, what other abnormal movements will be made in the Song Dynasty?"

Yelu Renxian said: "Since harvesting millet in autumn, we have begun to strengthen the walls and clear the fields and build cities on the border. According to the spies, the two countries' borders are now under ditches and barriers, and the defense is extremely tight. The army came south and wanted to break through the border deep, but it is afraid it is not easy."

Yelu Zongyun sneered: "Hundreds of miles along the Hebei Road, how many large troops do the Song Dynasty need to defend? This year's twelfth lunar month, it was cold late, and rivers and lakes could not be frozen for a while. The army came south and had to avoid the east and choose the western road with fewer rivers. These days, you send more spies to carefully inquire about the arrangements of the Song army in the western Baozhou and Dingzhou area. When the emperor comes here, everything is ready."

After thinking about it, Yelu Renxian said: "King, this dynasty's army has gone south this year, and there has been news since summer. The Song Dynasty prepared several months in advance. I heard that they had newly built railways and had already reached Hejian Prefecture. With railway transportation supplies, everything was unobstructed. There is no need to worry about not being given food and grass on the front line, only one season of summer grain was planted. People were summoned to build roads and cities at other times. This is especially true in the Baozhou area. Almost all the people north of the people can hide in the city. I am bluntly speaking, it is extremely difficult to attack from Baozhou."

After hearing this, Yelu Ren was stunned for a moment and said, "More than 20,000 households north of Baozhou, if all the people are allowed to enter the city, how many new cities do the Song Dynasty need to build? Stay at the back. The Song Dynasty has been prepared for it. The court has known it well, but it cannot exaggerate it!"

Yelu Renxian shook his head: "The court probably underestimated the current Southern Dynasty. Baozhou Jiaguangxin Army and Ansu Army built a total of 16 new cities within a few months. In addition to the original old city, there are now 21 cities in the three places. More than 20,000 households, and one city is only more than 1,000 households. What's the difficulty?"

Yelu Zongyun was stunned when he heard this. In a few months, he built 16 new cities. What is the efficiency? When Zhuozhou was newly built, he was recruiting military service from the people, which made the people flee. In a few months, he had built so many new cities, so why didn’t he hear that the people were causing trouble?

Yelu Ren sighed first: "Now the Song Dynasty has sufficient money and food, and railways are available, so the materials in Jiangnan can be transported quickly. They built new cities, but the people are not burdened with heavy burden. When they are short of manpower, they use money to recruit people to build cities. With the newly arrived army, it is not difficult to build these cities. Now within thirty miles of the border, all the people of the Song Dynasty hid in the city, which is truly a solid wall and clear the fields. It is really not easy to go south at this time."

In fact, there is another reason. The tools of the Song Dynasty were not comparable to those of the Khitans, so it was much easier to build a city. However, including Yelu Renxian, the Khitans had never seen the scenes of the Song Dynasty building a city, so they could not imagine it. This is a gap in technical levels, and the two countries are now in a world of difference.

With the national strength of the Song Dynasty, a lot of them were urgently built within dozens of miles. At this technical level, it was not a strange thing to have dozens of miles of built areas in history. It was not a strange thing to have strong walls and clear fields, and the people's food was enough to eat. The cost of the Song Dynasty was really not high.

Before Yelu Zongyun came, his impression of the Song Dynasty was still the same as before, and he didn't think of this at all. In fact, it was not just him, but most of the officials of the Khitan used their own strength to estimate the Song Dynasty. Many things were far from reality.

After a long silence, Yelu Zongyun said, "There are no people within thirty miles, which means that if you go south, you will not be able to get the enemy because of food?"

Yelu Ren nodded first: "That's true. Near the border of the southern country, the grain was concentrated in several big cities. Ordinary cities store surplus grains for only a few months. If the army goes south, it can only rely on transporting grain, which is different from before."

Youzhou was the base when Yelu Hongji fought for the throne with Chongyuan, and had been fighting for several years and had no storage. Hundreds of thousands of troops heading south, but Youzhou could not afford the supply. The Khitan's plan was to transport grain and grass from nearby prefectures and counties, and the army quickly moved south. After crossing the border, it was not up to the support of Youzhou's grain and grass. If the Song Dynasty strengthened the walls and cleared the fields, things would be in trouble.

The border between the two countries extends from the Taihang Mountains, and goes east from Baozhou, which is basically a straight line. Crossing the border is the prosperous area of ​​the Song Dynasty, with a large population and a wealth of places. As long as the Khitan can move south quickly, it does not require supply from the rear, and food and supplies can be robbed from the Song Dynasty. This is a very important point when the Khitan moves south in large numbers. Nomadic peoples do not have much savings, and it will be troublesome if they can't grab things.

After being silent for a long time, Yelu Zongyun said: "You must not make arbitrarily judgements on this matter, you must first find out clearly. It is more than a month before the emperor's army goes south. We will send some more people to cross the border and explore it."

Yelu Renxian shook his head: "The Song Dynasty has begun to strengthen the walls and clear the fields. How can I send people to explore? Now that I have passed the border, there are only a few cities, and the people are not allowed to come and go casually. If I send spies over there, how can I hide it from others?"

When Yelu Zongyun heard this, he looked unhappy and said, "At this time, hundreds of thousands of troops gathered and were about to go south. If the loopholes in the Song Dynasty cannot be found, what should we do if these hundreds of thousands of people come? Stay at the back, and the arrow is on the string, and we have to fire it!"

Yelu Ren sighed first: "Okay, let's find another way. Now all the people on the plains of the Song Dynasty have entered the city, and there is no way. There are only hunters in the mountains, and there are hunters, but they have not entered the city. We will find a way to send people to pretend to be hunters and go to the Song Dynasty to inquire."

Yelu Zongyun nodded: "It should be like this. Even if the Song Dynasty was strong and clear, it was only thirty or fifty miles away, and it could not be far away. Can many people in his territory hide? As long as they break through these dozens of miles in a short time, there will be no big trouble."

Yelu Renxian didn't say anything and shook his head secretly. In recent years, the conflict between the Khitan and the Song Dynasty has never won. Where can we get the confidence to quickly break through the border? The city is not broken, even if it attacks, what can we do? We still have to retreat? It is not easy to break through the Song army's city!

When Du Zhongxiao defeated the Khitan in Tanglong Town, Yelu Renxian led his troops out of Fengzhou in time and gave Hequ Road out. After Yelu Hongji destroyed Chongyuan, many of this matter were attacked. In fact, the real people who led the troops understood that at that time, Yelu Renxian would not retreat and might face another big defeat. It was precisely because Yelu Renxian led a large group of troops to Shangjing Road, stabilizing the rear for Yelu Hongji and not chaotic within the Khitan. Therefore, Yelu Hongji himself was grateful to Yelu Renxian and allowing Nanjing to stay in the back, which was a new important transition.

Yelu Zongyun was Yelu Hongji's uncle, so he was not willing to let Yelu Renxian be embarrassed at this time. He lowered his voice and said, "It is very difficult for the court to stay at this time. This time, the Song Dynasty cannot be severely damaged. The tribes on the grassland in the west will have different intentions. The emperor is unable to rest on day and night for this matter, so he has raised a large army to come south. If we are not prepared and let the army from the south be at a loss in Youzhou, then the sins will be great. Now, we should pay more attention and wait for the emperor to come and go south immediately. That is a move for loyalty to protect the country. This is a major event and must not be slacked off."

Yelu Renxian said: "It's time to come, what do I have to say? Last year, the earthquake caused the most disasters in Youzhou, and the money and food were not enough. The army came south and stayed in Youzhou for one more day, and the people would suffer more day. Don't worry, I will send someone to find out the truth of the Song Dynasty so as not to mislead things."
Chapter completed!