After the New Year, the Yuqing of the Spring Festival has not yet disappeared. It has quietly arrived in early February, and Spring Festival clubs in various places have begun to be busy with gongs and drums.

However, the border between Song and Liao was deserted and the countryside was silent. Within two hundred miles south of the border, there was no more people in the countryside, including many small towns and small counties, leaving only ruins.

This was not destroyed by the enemy, but the Song army carried out a solid wall to clear the fields, pulling down all the houses, and taking away all the beams inside. Not only the beams, but also all the trees in the fields were cut down, and the originally dense forest turned into a bare area.

Whether it is the beam or the trees, they are all materials for making siege weapons, and the Song army will not leave it to the Liao army.

Of course, there are still many trees in the mountainous areas near Zhending Prefecture. The trees on the mountain cannot be cut down, but the difficulty of collecting trees from the mountain will greatly increase and transportation will be far away. It is better to build siege weapons directly in Yanshan Prefecture and transport them.

Not only trees, but also bridges in northern Hebei were demolished, and temporary pontoon bridges were built from small boats. Once Khitan cavalry came, these pontoon bridges would disappear at any time.

That morning, in front of Baigou in northern Baozhou, Fanning came to the border under the escort of hundreds of cavalry to check the melting of ice and snow. The ice and snow in the south had melted, the ice and snow in Daming Prefecture had melted away, and there were also patches of floating ice left on the small river in Hejian Prefecture. What would happen to Baigou when the spring flood came?

Baigou is called Juma River in Liao Kingdom. It starts from Baozhou in the west and flows eastward into the Yellow River and into the sea. It is about 700 miles long and is the natural boundary between the Song and Liao Dynasties.

Baigou is also the only river in Hebei that does not freeze in winter, and the water flows continuously all year round.

Fanning stood in front of Baigou and looked carefully. The river surface was wide, at least two miles. The water of its tributaries rose in the spring flood and poured into Baigou, making the river water in Baigou particularly turbulent.

"King Fan Xianggong, I'm afraid the Liao army can't cross the river!"

The general who accompanied Fan Ning to inspect Baigou was Yang Wenguang. He was experienced and knew that the cavalry was insurmountable when he saw the water.

Fan Ning frowned and asked, "How did the Liao army cross Baigou last year?"

A general next to him said: "The Liao army has a kind of river crossing bridge that can be temporarily assembled on the river surface. There is no problem crossing the river when the water flows calmly, but now this kind of water level and temporary bridges are not good. According to previous experience, the water level has calmed down around mid-February."

Fanning nodded, "Let's go to Dingzhou again!"

Fan Ning turned his horse head and led everyone to the west, walked dozens of miles westward, and arrived at the junction of Baozhou and Dingzhou. Baigou turned around here and went north, and the plain disappeared, with the mountains rising and falling. This was the Changshan Mountains in the Taihang Mountains. The more you went west, the steeper the mountain. The Song army built countless dangerous passes at the critical point, making it difficult for the Liao army to cross.

There is a small town called Longwei Town at the junction of Baozhou and Dingzhou. The town has been burned down, but this is not the Song army's strong walls and clearing the fields, but the Liao army's crossing.

Commander Wang Yu bowed and said, "Reported to Xianggong Fan, the Liao soldiers entered Dingzhou from here in March last year. Later, they besieged Tang County. Here, Baigou turned north, and the Liao soldiers crossed Baigou in their own territory and then came along the west bank of Baigou. The terrain of this area is flat and it is difficult to stop the cavalry. Seven out of ten times the Liao soldiers entered Hebei from this entrance."

Fan Ning saw that the hole was four or five miles wide and the terrain was flat, so it was really difficult to stop the cavalry from coming, but he didn't quite understand, "Why not build a city wall here?"

"This place was originally a large market. There were clear regulations in the alliance between the Tanyuan of Song and Liao. As the location of the two parties' mutual transactions, neither party was allowed to build a city wall. At that time, thousands of merchants gathered in Longwei Town and were very prosperous."

Fan Ning sneered, "After the prosperity, there will be a mess. Without repairing the city walls, the Liao army will easily attack Hebei from this gap. They don't care whether it is a market here or not."

The commander Zhang Li clasped his fists and said, "Reported to Mr. Fan, after the Liao army retreated last year, Mr. Han also considered building a city wall here, but the generals suggested not to build a city wall. Mr. Han adopted everyone's opinions."

"What's the reason?"

Fanning was a little strange. The five or six-mile-long hole was not blocked, but it was open here. What is the reason?

Zhang Li continued: "This is actually opening a hole for the Liao cavalry to let the Liao cavalry enter here. To the southeast is Baosai County, Suicheng County is Suicheng County, to the southwest is Tang County, to the southwest is Changshan Mountains, and to the south is Ding County. The four counties are all big cities that are easy to defend and difficult to attack, which will relieve the pressure on Xiongzhou and Bazhou."

Fan Ning nodded. This plan actually moved the defense line inside to form an internal defense line rather than an external defense line. This is not impossible, and the effect will not be too great. The Liao army is not a fool. They can completely divide the troops into two groups, one east and one west at the same time. Moreover, this restrains the Song army's forces too much, and all four cities must be heavily involved in heavy troops.

Although Fanning did not agree with this plan, the plan could also be adapted, such as closing the door and beating the dog, letting the enemy go south, and then cutting off the return passage. He nodded and said, "Look at it first!"

Fan Ning carefully checked the passage and saw that the terrain was low-lying. The mountainous area of ​​Yizhou to the north and the gentle hilly area to the south. A basin of more than ten miles was around the passage. He had a plan in his mind and stopped patrolling westward. He turned his horse's head and ran towards Hejian Mansion......

The camp in Hejian Mansion was steaming in the heat. The camp covered an area of ​​nearly 10,000 acres and stationed 200,000 troops. For a whole winter, the 200,000 troops were spent in high-intensity training. It was undoubtedly Fan Ning's wise move to let Di Qing be the deputy recruiter. He made up for Fan Ning's military shortcomings well.

In addition, more than one million stones of grain and countless military and armored materials were stored in major counties at the same time. The troops were strong and the horses were sufficient, and the food and supplies were sufficient.

What Di Qing is best at is training the army. He can quickly transform a weak brigade. With Yang Wenguang's assistance, the training of the 200,000 army was arranged in an orderly manner, and a positive competitive atmosphere was formed in the entire military camp.

Fanning used the 30,000 taels of gold and 100,000 pieces of colorful silk that the emperor rewarded him as a training reward fund, which inspired the enthusiasm of the lower-level generals to actively train soldiers.

Fan Ning returned to the commander's tent, and Liu Kui came in and said, "Your Majesty, I have an important military report!"

"What important military information do you think?" Fanning sat up and asked.

"Two news, one is that Emperor Yelu Hongji of Liao sent the King of the Northern Court, Yelu Chao, to lead a 50,000 army to suppress the Wanyan tribe of the Jurchen tribe. The Jurchen tribes rioted one after another and raised troops to fight against the Khitan army. It is rumored that the Wugu tribe and the enemy Lie tribe of the Liao Kingdom also followed the Jurchens to rebel, and the Liao Kingdom added another 50,000 troops to suppress the rebellion. This should be my husband's counter-intervention plan."

Fanning nodded. The Jurchens were deeply oppressed by the Liao Kingdom and were already very dissatisfied. They only needed one Mars to ignite the fire of rebellion of the Jurchens.

As for the Wugu tribe and the Nei Lie tribe, they have always been the confidant of the Liao Kingdom. Although the Liao Kingdom unified the northern part of the Mo with force, this was just a superficial unification. The grassland tribes have always been dissatisfied with the rule of the Liao Kingdom. For more than a hundred years, the Wugu tribe and the Nei Lie tribe have resisted the rule of the Liao Kingdom intermittently and continued until the demise of the Liao Kingdom.

"What is the other news?"

"Other news was that Yang Gui was sent by a letter eagle. He said that Youzhou had assembled a hundred thousand troops, and Xiao Han's family slaves were commanded by the southern recruitment envoy, and Yelu Zhongxi, the envoy of Xuanhui of Nanjing, recruited 50,000 troops in various places in Nanjing."

Fan Ning paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. There were 100,000 troops in Yanshan Prefecture before, but Yanshan Prefecture did not refer to Youzhou, but also included Yizhou, Zhuozhou, Jizhou, Tanzhou, Jingzhou, Pingzhou, Guihuazhou and other places. At least half of the 100,000 troops were stationed in various places before. Now Youzhou has gathered 100,000 troops, which obviously does not include the local army of Yanshan Prefecture, which means that the Liao Kingdom has added troops to Youzhou again.

"Is there any news about Xixia?" Fan Ning asked again.

"Yes! The new emperor of the seven-year-old Xixia Li Bingchang ascended the throne, and Empress Dowager Liang took over the power. The Liao Kingdom sent a delegation to Xixia to ask Xixia to send troops to the Song Dynasty. I heard that Xixia was fiercely debated within this matter, and whether to send troops was unknown."

Now Fanning can basically determine that Yelu Hongji is going to send troops to Hebei and avenge the burning of the Tokyo Palace. He pondered for a moment: "Tell me my order and call the commanders of the various military commanders to come to the commander's office to discuss matters!"

Soon, four commanders, four commanders and twenty commanders arrived at the commander's tent. Deputy commanders Di Qing and deputy logistics commander Gao Zunfu also rushed over. In addition, judge Zhang Feng, Sima Liu Kui of the Staff Battalion, and seven or eight civil officials including Han Qi, the military officer of the Record Office, also attended the meeting.
Chapter completed!