The next morning, the rafters from Dingzhou met the exhausted Gao Min and his party on the bank of Changxingchuan. They rushed out of the Khitan siege at night, losing a large number of people, leaving only less than 400 people.

When Dingzhou received the news, he immediately sent a thousand cavalry to greet him and took the people to Dingzhou city.

As soon as he entered the city, Gao Min was taken to the Liu Jianji official hall.

Looking at Gao Min, Liu Jianji said in a deep voice: "In just one day, you will lose Quyang City! No matter how many enemies come, how could this be done?"

Gao Min crossed his hands and said, "The Grand Marshal, it was not that the Mo General did not fight to defend the city. But the battle ahead was in full swing, but the magistrate Pan Yue opened the city gate privately, and the Khitans seized the opportunity. Seeing that the Khitans had entered the city, Mo General had no choice but to lead his troops and escape."

Liu Jianji looked at Gao Min, was silent for a while before saying, "Where is Pan Yue? Since he opened the city gate privately, he thought he had escaped."

Gao Min said: "How do you know? Pan Yue opened the southern city gate privately. Not long after, the Khitans rushed into the city. The Mo Jiang had no choice but to organize his troops and come out of the western city gate."

Liu Jianji said: "Your county has been dismissed and will be heard in Dingzhou City! I will talk about it until everything is clear. If you lose Qu Yang, you will be very responsible!"

Gao Min sang a promise with his hands, thinking that he was unlucky. He had guarded well, but who knew that the magistrate had opened the city gate by himself. The military soldiers under Pan Yue were not good at fighting power. It was probably that they had fallen into the hands of the Khitans. He killed half his life last night, but lost the city, without any credit, and might have been punished, but it was not worth it.

He ordered someone to take Gao Min down, and Liu Jianji said: "I thought Quyang was forcibly breached by the Khitans, but I didn't expect that someone stole the city gate and put it in. It seems that it is not easy for the Khitans to break our arrangement."

Zhu Gui said: "Taiwei, Pan Yue's whereabouts are unknown now, and I don't know if what Gao Min said is true."

Liu Jianji shook his head and said, "The people in Quyang are not dead. How dare Gao Min tell such lies?"

Yang Sui said: "Since that is the case, how can the Taiwei ask him to be punished? It was Pan Yue who opened the city, and Gao Min was not responsible."

Liu Jianji said: "One is that there is no confirmation, and the loss of the city is a serious crime. Let Gao Min wait for the crime and let other generals take a look. Well, now is not the time to discuss these. After informing each city, you must immediately prepare for a battle with the Khitans. The earlier we go to Quyang, the less likely the Khitans will send troops to plunder."

Speaking of this, Liu Jianji lowered his head and thought for a while, and said, "I want to pray to you. Fang Hao and his army will go to Quyang. Sun Tan guards Dingzhou, and is also our reserve team. In addition to the troops defending each city, there are still 30,000 people to attack Quyang. What do you think?"

The few people were silent for a while, and Yang Sui said: "Is it too hasty to see how many Khitans are in Quyang now and are they going to attack rashly?"

Liu Jianji said: "The Khitans came from Feihu, with a maximum of tens of thousands of people. If a 100,000 army comes, how can they transport grain later? If the Khitans are not quickly blocked at the mountain pass and let them scatter into various places, it will be troublesome there. Dingzhou is different from Baozhou and Xiongzhou. There are only a few counties that are firm and clear the fields, and most places are still as usual. Once the Khitans go deep into the mainland, they can get food and grass everywhere, and it is difficult to pursue them."

This is what Liu Jianji is worried about. It’s nothing to lose a Quyang city. As long as the defense line does not collapse, it’s not difficult to recapture it. But if the Khitans use Quyang as a base, bypass the city and attack the states and counties in the mainland, the consequences will be uncertain. The Khitans are all cavalry and have the habit of bandits in combat. If they pass through the middle of Dingzhou and Zhending Prefecture and go south to Zhaozhou, they will penetrate the border defense line of the Song Dynasty. There is no large army behind, so it is not easy to fight with the Khitan cavalry. If the troops are not good, the government and the country will be shaken when they are at the Daming Prefecture.

With the 100,000 troops of Liu Jianji and Dou Shunqing of Zhending Prefecture, no matter how many people came to Khitan, they were enough to encircle and annihilate them. What they were afraid of was that they were slow to move, so the Khitans quickly went south and had no time to react. Liu Jianji had to lead a large army to attack Quyang immediately and block the Khitans.

After discussing for a while, the generals could only agree with Liu Jianji's opinion.

Liu Jianji said: "The army has plans, and I'll send them to you later. Zhu Gui, Fang Hao, you go back and order the troops immediately and set off early tomorrow morning. No matter how many enemy troops there are in Quyang, you will take back the city!"

Zhu Gui and Fang Hao crossed their hands and sang their promises. After leaving the official hall, they hurriedly ordered their subordinates to summon troops and prepare to set off.

Dingzhou was not on the front line and no new city was built. The troops of each unit, except for some of the surrounding county towns, were stationed around Dingzhou. As the rear, Zhending Prefecture, Dingzhou is different from Baozhou and Xiongzhou. It does not require guarding everywhere, but always ensures sufficient mobile troops. Once the Khitans come, they must organize superior forces to eliminate the enemy in the shortest time.

This accident was because the Khitans came too fast, had too many troops, and had too strong offensives, so the Song army had no time to react. If the Khitans attacked Shanzhong Fortress according to normal development, the Song army should have received news. Liu Jianji could organize troops in time to block the Khitan army in Quyang.

He ordered all the generals to prepare, and only Liu Jianji and Yang Sui were left in the official hall.

When he ordered someone to go to tea, Liu Jianji said: "Tomorrow I will take my army to Quyang, and everything will be left to you."

Yang Sui crossed his hands and said, "The Grand Marshal just goes. I am in Dingzhou and will definitely guard all around you without any mistakes!"

Liu Jianji nodded: "This time the Khitans came too fast, and our previous arrangements were useless. As long as they blocked them in Quyang for three or five days, everything would be easy. What I fear most now is that the Khitans went south to attack Xinle. Once Xinle was lost, the Khitans broke through the railway line and could go south to Zhaozhou. At that time, they were traveling back and forth between several states, and there was no way for a short period of time."

Speaking of this, Liu Jianji sighed heavily. If the Khitans were allowed to cross the railway line south, the Song Dynasty's defense line would be broken, and there would be no mobile troops in the rear. Even though the Khitans were not good at siegeing cities, the robbery of the several states was enough to maintain the consumption of the army. Liu Jianji dared not think about what the imperial court would be like at that time.

In the past, when the Khitans marched south in large numbers, not every city would be destroyed. Most of the lost cities were like Quyang, and some people were afraid to escape and were taken by the Khitans. If they could not capture the city, the Khitans would not bother them, and they would bypass them and go south.

This is what it means to say that Kaifeng Prefecture has no danger to defend. The nomadic people in the north do not need to break through every city on Hebei Road, and the vast plains are enough for cavalry to surround. Because the Song army lacks mobile forces, they are not afraid of whether there is a broken city behind them. It is nothing more than that food and grass do not come from the city, but plunder from the people outside the city. Now on Hebei Road, the Song army has sufficient mobile forces. The Khitans' going south is not a big threat, and it can even be said to be suicide. However, the officials in the court may not be able to see clearly. Once people's hearts are shaken, things will be difficult to say.

After drinking a sip of tea, Liu Jianji said: "The most important thing now is to block the Khitans in Quyang County. You are always careful about the trend of Xinle. It is best to prepare a train and send troops to rescue them immediately whenever there are any abnormal movements. As long as you guard Xinle, no matter how many Khitan soldiers there are, it is just a decisive battle with me in Quyang. Even if you face 100,000 Khitans, I can hold on for a few days."
Chapter completed!