At dusk, the Liao army camped in the Chinese army's tent.
Fan Wu was reporting on his journey to the Song Army station as envoy. Yelu Dashi in front of him frowned slightly when he heard it. It wasn't until he finished speaking that he said: "You mean you didn't see Tong Guan, you just met a few The generals met and at the same time they agreed to the ceasefire request?"
"That's right. It doesn't look like they are faking it." Fan Wu recalled the situation at that time and said seriously.
"It seems that the Song Army has suffered heavy casualties this time, and they dare not use troops against us for the time being. Dashi, do you think if we take this opportunity to launch a surprise attack, can we defeat the enemy in one fell swoop?" Yelu Xiongge immediately put forward his own plan thought. The previous battle was really hard for him, and he still wanted to win back a victory.
Yelu Dashi hurriedly said to him: "No, Your Majesty, this may play into the Song people's hands! The Song people are good at defense. If this is their strategy to show weakness and lead us to attack hastily, our damage will only be greater."
"Huh?" Yelu Xiongge was stunned. He really hadn't thought about it so deeply, but at the same time he was also a little confused. Yelu Dashi didn't pay so much attention to Song Jun before, but now he looks more cautious. Is it because of the previous Did the setback make him change
Yelu Dashi glanced at him and asked Fan Wu: "Those Song generals only said that Tong Guan was ill and could not see guests, but didn't mention anything else? Also, when you mentioned the one who led the troops into battle as I said, How did they behave when they came to the Song Dynasty?"
"No, they only said that they were fully responsible for military matters. As for the general, although the others were a little strange, they didn't show any excitement or anger. It was as if they didn't care much about it at all. This is serious."
"Could it be that they saw through Lin Ya's plan?" Yelu Chen asked out of curiosity.
In the eyes of several people in the tent who looked at him at the same time, Yelu Dashi sighed softly: "That should be it, and if I expected it right, the consequences should be more serious! Let me ask you, what happened in the Song Army's tent today? Who are the people who call the shots? Are they the two veterans of that caste?"
"No, it's a general in his thirties. Although he sits at the bottom, he does a lot of talking, and others naturally follow his face and act." Fan Wu was sent as an envoy. With his discernment There are still some.
"That's it, the Song army actually mutinied, and it was completely successful without losing any blood. If my guess is correct, the youngest general is the leader of the mutiny, that is, the Song Dynasty man named Sun Tu General!" At the end, Yelu Dashi almost gritted his teeth and said Sun Tu's name.
Yelu Xiongge also frowned. As a person closely related to Yelu Dashi, he had certainly heard of Sun Tu's name from his mouth, many times: "Sun Tu? Is this person really what you said?" Will he be our biggest enemy? Also, I always feel that this matter is a bit taken for granted. He is a young guy and does not have much foundation in the military. He can really take down Tong Guan so easily. Are you going to replace yourself?"
"This is the scary thing about Sun Tu. To be honest, if I hadn't grasped these clues, I wouldn't have dared to make such an inference. But other than that, I really can't explain why Song Jun had these changes. Your Majesty,
You have also been dealing with that Tong Guan for many years. How could you not know who he is? If he still had military power, how could he let what happened the day before yesterday happen? Also, no matter in terms of age, temperament or appearance, the Song general that Fan Wu saw was 70% to 80% consistent with the Sun Tu that I am familiar with, and from previous secret reports, we are sure that he has come to the Song Dynasty. Military camp. As for how he did all this, it is indeed a bit confusing, but if there is anyone in the Song Dynasty who can seize military power among hundreds of thousands of troops, in my opinion, he is the only one, Sun Tu! "
After Yelu Dashi said these words, everyone in the tent was moved again. Because this statement can be regarded as elevating Sun Tu to a very high position. This is something Yelv Dashi has never thought highly of anyone in the past. This is enough to make everyone feel wary of Sun Tu.
"Is Lin Ya not letting us send troops again because he feels that the person leading the Song army has been replaced by Sun Tu?" Yelu Chen asked quickly after thinking of the topic just now.
"This is just one aspect. If it was just Tong Guan, of course we could seize this opportunity, but Sun Tu is the best at taking risks and using strategies. Over the years, I have been observing various actions of this matter in the Song Dynasty. He has become more difficult to deal with than before - so it cannot be said that the problems presented by the Song Army are all illusions, just to lure us to take the initiative to attack.
"On the other hand, it is more important, that is, we can no longer afford too many casualties. The chaos in the north is getting worse. If we make another mistake and lose our troops, we will not talk about returning to save the imperial court, but will have to ask the imperial court for help. .”
The next few sentences hit the key point, and immediately extinguished everyone's desire to fight. Yes, now that Liao is facing internal and external troubles, the situation will only be worse than that of Song. They really cannot afford another defeat. Therefore, even if there is an 80% chance of winning, as long as there is a little bit of variable hidden in it, people will not dare to take risks.
"But even if we are willing to stop here, I am afraid that the Song army will not give up. Their purpose has always been clear, which is to seize more than ten important cities in Liao and Nanjing. And we will never give up all these important cities. Come out, otherwise..." Yelu Xiongge said with a troubled face.
Yelu Dashi also nodded with deep understanding: "Yes, right now we are indeed in an extremely difficult position. We can't advance or retreat."
"And it can't be delayed. I'm afraid our food and grass won't be able to last for long. Even if we include the food stored in Nanjing, it will only be enough for two or three months. The north cannot count on it at all. Once the food is cut off, the army will inevitably collapse..." Yelu Chen He mentioned this fatal issue even more worriedly.
The worry in the tent became more and more intense. To be honest, since the rise of the Khitan clan, they had never encountered such a dilemma and such a useless situation.
"Then let's negotiate peace with the Song people first and see if we can get some benefits from it. For example, we can exchange the city for food and get through the current predicament first." After thinking about it, Yelu Dashi suddenly came up with such a strategy. As soon as he said these words, everyone immediately changed their expressions: "Lin Ya, you are crazy... Let's not say whether the Song people will agree to it. The imperial court alone cannot let us do such a thing that destroys the Great Wall. Things are coming!”
Both the Song and Liao people knew very well how important the Sixteen States of Youyun were to the Central Plains Dynasty.
Great use. These cities not only represent the number of people and territory, but also relate to the overall pattern of the forces in the north and the south.
Why had the Song Dynasty been suppressed by the Liao Kingdom in the north for hundreds of years and never had a chance to breathe? Not only because of their mistakes in military policies, but also because they lost this large buffer zone and a place where they could raise horses. And once the Sixteenth State of Youyun is really returned to the Song Dynasty, no matter how much gold, silver and grain they are asked to exchange for it, the Song Dynasty will make a profit, because it won't be long before they can use this to rise up and use their army and the swords and guns in their hands. Come and take back everything you have given.
Seeing the panicked expressions of several people, Yelu Dashi laughed: "Of course I know that the Sixteenth Province of Youyun can never be returned to the Song people. This is just a temporary expedient to delay. If we can get it from the Song people, Some benefits would be better.”
"Didn't you say that delaying it would be very detrimental to us?" Fan Wu was a little confused.
"If we do nothing, delaying it will naturally be very harmful to us. But if we can bring in a surprise force during this period and launch a surprise attack on the Song army from the side, the situation will be very different. So what I want , just to paralyze the Song army and delay our strategy until it succeeds."
Yelu Dashi's words once again made people stunned: "Strange troops? Do we still have available troops in the south?" Even Yelu Xiongge was a little vague.
"Why, even the king has forgotten that in addition to our Liao and Song armies, is there actually a third force within these hundreds of miles?" As Yelu Dashi slowly asked this question, Yelu Xiongge and others The person suddenly thought of something, and his expression became a little weird again.
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"The third force?" There were also some Song generals who were a little vague about this question. When they heard such a statement from Sun Tu, many people were stunned on the spot. However, the two elders of the Zhong family responded quickly and immediately He understood: "You mean the victorious army in the east?"
Only then did everyone suddenly come to their senses. To be honest, they had completely ignored this group of troops. Because for the Song and Liao sides, who often had hundreds of thousands of troops fighting each other, a defeated army with only two to thirty thousand defeated troops was really inconspicuous, even if Tong Guan and the others had really tried to recruit them before. But as the war broke out, everyone forgot about it.
But Sun Tu attached great importance to this force, not only because he had just mastered hundreds of thousands of troops, so he would be interested in tens of thousands of remaining soldiers, but also because he had already tasted the threat of this third-party force. The reason why Xiao Yanping was able to suddenly appear behind the army and threaten the Song Army's food route that day was probably because he followed the path of the victorious army. He got this information from Qin Gan and others, so it seems to be 70% or 80% likely.
Because hundreds of miles away from the battlefield where Song and Liao were confronting each other, there was another city, Zhuozhou City, controlled by the Ever-Victorious Army. Xiao Yanping and the others probably used that place as a springboard to break into pieces, then crossed the Song Dynasty military camp and appeared in the rear.
It can be said that although there are not many soldiers and horses in this group, because they occupy a position right between the two armies and are outside the battlefield, they become the ones who can best influence the battle. What Sun Tu was thinking about at this moment was to gain this power for his own use.