"Dig the river?" The muscles on Wang Yan's face twitched slightly, "I'm afraid it will not only flood the Liao army outside the city, but also turn the area around the river into a marsh." Although Hebei was the place of the Fourth World War, the founding of this dynasty

Since then, there have been millions of people living here. Every spring and summer, the government will organize people to strengthen the river embankments to prevent floods. This year, because of the entrance of Liao soldiers, no one will be on duty on the river embankments in spring.

"Then in your opinion, if you don't use water as a soldier, how can you repel the enemy?" He Xuan smiled half-heartedly, gently raised the teacup, took a sip, and frowned slightly without anyone noticing.

"We, the armies in Hejian, are willing to use the fortified city to exhaust the Liao army. When the imperial army launches its northern expedition, the three routes will attack the Liao army and win the battle." Wang Yan said in a deep voice. The national policy of the Song Dynasty has always been to ensure that border towns are adequately defended.

, the attack was not enough. Yang Yanqing planned to counterattack the Liao army when he came up, which was a little impatient.

He Xuan looked as if he was like this, and smiled lightly: "Master Wang, does he know that there are more than 100,000 Liao troops who invaded, but why only a few tens of thousands are under Hejian City, and the rest are nowhere to be seen?"

Wang Yan's heart sank slightly and then asked: "Why?"

"These Liao troops are now all over the countryside of Hebei. They even captured county towns and plundered the population. Strong men, women, and even young children were forcibly taken to the Northern Dynasties and sold as slaves. If our army's actions were slower for a month,

I'm afraid that not even one out of ten people in Hebei will survive." He Xuan said slowly, with a somewhat sad expression on his face.

The imperial court has gathered more than 100,000 reinforcements in Daming Mansion, but Liu Yanqing seems to be a little worried about the formation in Hebei, and has been teasing him, sitting back and watching the people of Hebei being kidnapped by the Liao people. Tong Guan said in his military report to the imperial court,

Not a word was mentioned about this situation, but when the Khitans invaded the invaders, they raided the grasslands, plundered the countryside, and all the princes in the court took it for granted. They did not expect that the Liao people invaded this time and almost wiped out the savings and vitality of the people of Hebei.

"Why is China stronger than the foreign barbarians? It has gained people. If the people are gone, what is the use of the land? What is the support of the country?" Yang Yanqing went to the imperial court and requested the imperial army to quickly march north to expel the Liao people. His suggestion was rejected by the imperial court.

The opinion that the safety of Bianjing is the most important thing is overwhelming. Liu Yanqing is still waiting for more

The reinforcements arrived at Daming Mansion. They were still coordinating the generals and integrating the armies. They were still waiting for the canal to mobilize the supplies of food and grass. They repeatedly emphasized to the Privy Council that the three armies had not moved and the importance of food and grass went first. They were still fighting with Tong Guan in the memorial. Both sides

They all vaguely mentioned the prince who oversaw the army.

"General Yang is even more worried that if the Liao army's plunder of Hebei goes too smoothly this time, it will only further stimulate the greed of the Hu people, and they will continue to invade the border areas. Therefore, the plan of digging the river is a last resort." He Xuan's expression

Slightly sad, Hedong

This time, Xingying mobilized 30,000 elites to come east quickly, and they did everything they could. In the past, the Liao soldiers invaded the invaders, raided the grass valleys and plundered the countryside, mostly to obtain military supplies. But this time the Liao soldiers' actions were deliberately to destroy the Song Dynasty.

The people of Hebei were completely exhausted.

After careful consideration, Wang Yan agreed to Yang Yanqing's plan. Because Zhao Xingde was a Confucian scholar from Taixue and had been very close to the Qing Dynasty. Until the end, he did not reveal the slightest information to Zhao Xingde. During this period, he only let Zhao Xingde

He was very fond of comforting and training the soldiers of the Fire Gun Battalion.

When it was time for rewards and military pay to be distributed, the soldiers of the Fire Gun Battalion unexpectedly received military pay without any deductions. Zhao Xingde did not understand the rules of the army, and everyone from the battalion commander to the head of the capital privately complained to the old superior, but Wang Yan only condoned it.

He is like this. He had previously given Zhao Xingde a lot of convenience in training the Fire Gun Camp, but now he is a little worried that he will run the Fire Gun Camp so that it is difficult to enter. After all, there is such a thing as authority.

, no one could bear to let it go. Unexpectedly, scholars are scholars. In addition to the Fire Gun Battalion being a strong force with orders and prohibitions on the school field, in private, the commanders of each battalion were walking up and down one after another, contacting the old commanders, hoping to mobilize

Returning to his original post, Wang Yan also planned that when the war came to an end and Zhao Xingde returned to Bianjing, he would assign six fire gun battalions to each army to deal with the Liao heavy armored cavalry.

After the great victory, the Hejian armies unexpectedly strengthened the foundation of the city wall and blocked every possible loophole such as the city gates. Zhao Xingde was quite surprised. Until one dawn, there was suddenly a huge noise outside, and people could faintly shout "Fight"

Flood!" "The embankment collapsed!"

Zhao Xingde stood up in his clothes, went to the top of the city and looked out, only to see that the outside of Hejian City had turned into a vast land. There were still pieces of ice floating in the cold and biting river water, and the turbid water was filled with Liao soldiers.

Camping debris, from time to time

It can be seen that the horses and soldiers were struggling to save their lives in the flood. From time to time, corpses floated by, including those of Liao soldiers, but more of them were ordinary people in thin clothes. Zhao Xingde silently watched the scene below the city, as if his heart had been hit hard by a hammer.

.

"In order to force the Liao soldiers to retreat, we had no choice but to dig up the river embankment." Han Shizhong whispered. Once the river water receded, the remaining Liao cavalry would no longer be able to fight the Song army in the mud.

"Absurd!" Zhao Xingde's face was as cold as ice and snow, "How could the Lord Commander do this?" "But it works." Han Shizhong sighed and said in a deep voice, "A general cannot have the kindness of a woman."

Zhao Xingde's face was ashen, but he felt that he had no valid reason to persuade Han Shizhong, and he did not argue with him. He just walked along the city head to check the water conditions silently. Whenever he saw the clothes of Song people floating in the water, he felt sad.

Liu Mazi looked at the turbid river water as if he were mourning for his heir. He could not imagine what was happening to his wife who had not fled into the city. Even if she had not been kidnapped by the Liao people, how could a woman's family survive in this flood?

"Gods and Buddhas bless me, please don't flood my house. The land lease and the house are just gone!" Zhu Juren stared blankly at the broken roofs that occasionally floated by. Tenant Wang Shisan was a little numb, he seemed to

Like the living dead, they have already lost everything. The arrival of this flood only wipes the ground a little cleaner.

When passing a city wall, he saw three or five people carrying sand and stones crying to each other. Zhao Xingde walked over with his head lowered, as if he were a sinner who had committed a heinous crime, and did not dare to stay. In the following days,

Zhao Xingde didn’t know why,

Deliberately avoiding the occasion of meeting Wang Yan, he calmed down and compiled the stories of the soldiers' resistance to the enemy since Hejian defended the city. He also wrote a new calligraphy book and printed it out to teach the soldiers how to read. Wang Yan's administrative office also produced it.

Sponsored him with a fee.

After the river receded, the Liao soldiers were no longer able to siege the city, so Wang Yan sent generals to lead troops out of the city to patrol the enemy and invite battle. The armies took turns dispatching, but Zhao Xingde did not have the opportunity to go out to lead troops. Han Shizhong discovered that during this period, the yamen was under control

Officers above the battalion commander level were frequently replaced, and they were replaced

Most of them were confidants of the commander-in-chief who had the words "Swear to Guard the River" tattooed on their foreheads. After noticing this, Han Shizhong went to Wang Yan alone several times to report military information, but he never had the words tattooed on his face.

After being promoted from a soldier to an officer, he swore never to tattoo anything on his body again.

Yang Yanqing was indeed a famous general in the world. With only 30,000 reinforcements and the strategy of replacing troops with water, the Liao soldiers could no longer gain a foothold in Hebei. Xiao Dabu, the commander of the Liao army who was not familiar with the water conditions, threw down the giant iron in embarrassment.

After collecting barrels, cannons and other baggage, the elite cavalry retreated to the Gaoyangguan area on higher ground. Most of the Han military camps and the people who were forced to accompany the army were left behind. This battle turned the world upside down.

The victory of regaining most of Hebei in one fell swoop made Yang Yanqing famous all over the world, forcing Hebei to form an array and Liu Yanqing had to advance the army in advance. He offered to join forces with the two main Song armies in Hejian to attack Gaoyang Pass, and even attack the territory of Liao Kingdom.

The previous battle in Hejian that destroyed five Liao army artillery forts was far from comparable. The contribution of Zhao Xingde's Fire Gun Battalion was even more like a firefly than the moonlight.

Shortly after the Liao army retreated, Tong Guan, the leader of the Hebei camp, returned to the river. His ship had been watching the progress of the battle, but when he came back this time, he found that the situation was different from before. Han Shizhong, Bi Sheng, When Feng Mei and the three former generals of the Northern Army met each other, they had vaguely embarrassed expressions on their faces. It wasn't until Wang Yan coughed and said in a deep voice, "Why don't you come and see your Majesty the Commander-in-Chief?" These three people felt as if they had been granted amnesty. He bowed and saluted as usual, but in his words, there was no longer the atmosphere of being willing to die for the capital deployment.

Tong Guan was self-defeating. His recommendation, Yang Yanqing's promotion, and the great victory in Hebei made the official Zhao You favor Wang Yan who stayed in Hejian. Zhao You hoped that Wang Yan, a general who had no connection with the major generals, would take charge of the field. , Shen Yun did not miss the opportunity to extend the power of the Imperial City Division into the army. With the help of several parties, His Majesty actually agreed that Wang Yan should continue to serve as the commander of the Hejian armies. It is said that the Emperor's Sword as a reward was also on the way.

The situation in Hebei became that Liu Yanqing, the commander of the Hebei camp, was stationed at Daiming, Yang Yanqing, who was stationed in the Hedong camp, was stationed in Zhending, and Wang Yan's troops were stationed in Hejian. However, the original Hebei camp deployed Tong Guan, who was actually suspended in the air. Except for following him to Shanghai The more than 200 soldiers and horses of the First Army of Zhenbei were on board, but there was no direct army. Tong Guan knew that the officials had not forgiven him for losing the Hebei camp. While asking for help from Prime Minister Cai Jing, Tong Guan continued to write military reports and submit them to the palace. , in an attempt to restore the official's mind.

The situation of the three pillars continued throughout the summer, and there were also undercurrents among the Hejian armies. Zhao Xingde stayed out of the matter, but was the most carefree person. He continued to communicate with people in the Neo-Confucian Society through letters and the insights he gained from marching and fighting. He also enjoyed himself, and his subordinates gradually got used to his character. Knowing that he would leave Hejian soon, they became somewhat attached to him.

It was June, the heat was unbearable, and after the floods, diseases were rampant in the civilian armies. On this day, Wang Yan summoned Zhao Xingde to the Tongyamen and showed him the documents from the Privy Council.
Chapter completed!