"Absurd!" Du Zhongxiao took Liu Jianji's battle report on the desk, stood up, and paced back and forth.

Because of his carelessness and inadequate measures, the Khitan army in the encirclement finally ran nearly 2,000 people, which was a little unacceptable. Xiao Hujian did not organize his troops and suddenly led his people to the other side of the river, and made a mistake. If he led the entire army to break through, he might not be able to cross the river. The brigade of cavalrymen would collapse the river surface. He had to escape by himself, but instead took more than a thousand people out.

After sighing, Du Zhongxiao sat down after returning to the case. In this battle in Dingzhou, it can be seen that Liu Jianji's army was not experienced enough. He was not decisive in command, was not determined in combat, and was not expected to have enough strength on both sides. He was too afraid of the Khitan army in the early stage, and the combat plan in the later stage was not strict.

What is the solution? These newly formed armies have combat effectiveness in hardware, but the command system is difficult to keep up for a while. Especially the lack of officers and the command system has great flaws. It is difficult to mature without long-term training and war.

More than a thousand Khitan cavalry crossed the defense line, which was a problem, but it would not have any impact on the battle situation. The most important thing is that the imperial guards on Hebei Road are undergoing training. In addition to the border, the combat effectiveness of the imperial guards in the mainland is close to none. If these more than a thousand cavalry cannot be blocked and eliminated as soon as possible, it will pose a threat to many prefectures and counties.

Seeing that the time was almost over, Du Zhongxiao took the war report and went to the capital hall. As the front-line war gradually became fierce, in recent days, the Privy Council and the Secretary of the Central Committee have gathered in the capital hall to discuss some major national affairs every day.

After entering the capital hall, I greeted Han Qi who was already inside.

Du Zhongxiao sat down and handed the battle report to Han Qi. He said: "Liu Jianji, the front line, occupied Quyang and annihilated nearly 30,000 Khitan cavalry. At the end, he was fled by nearly 2,000 Khitan cavalry and arrived on the other side of the river. They acted quickly, crossed Xinle County, and headed towards Wuji County. Liu Jianji's cavalry troops followed him and chased him closely."

Han Qi took the battle report and read it, "For 30,000 to 30,000, Liu Jianji's battle is very exciting. It's a pity that more than 1,000 people escaped to the mainland, and there may be trouble. If it can be annihilated as soon as possible, it would be the best."

Du Zhongxiao said: "It depends on whether they can block it in Wuji County. After passing Wuji County, there are no solid walls and clear fields in the southern prefectures, and there are no strong garrisons in the area. For a moment, they can only chase after it. In this kind of weather, they are determined to run away, but there is really no way."

Han Qi nodded: "What the Taiwei said is that when the two countries fight, there will always be accidents of one kind or another. The battle in Quyang is good, so you should reward it as soon as possible. The Khitan army in the north has gathered in Yizhou and will go south soon. The victory of this battle will boost morale."

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "Okay. It's rare to have such a record shortly after the newly formed Liu Jianji army. After Jia Kui occupied Feihu, all the passes of Taihang Mountain belonged to me, and the enemy gathered in Yizhou, and there was no way to do anything."

Han Qi said: "Yes, once you occupy the flying fox, there is no strange army to attack, so you can only attack head-on. Next, I think the Khitans will attack Baozhou forcing each other. Jingtai's army was also newly formed and occupied Quyang. Liu Jianji's army should go to support it."

Du Zhongxiao said: "This matter depends on what Liu Ji from Hejian Prefecture thinks. Let's wait and see what the Khitans will do. They concentrated in Youzhou for more than half a month, and they have only gone south until now to see what they are doing."

At this moment, the other priests came in and greeted each other.

After everyone sat down, Du Zhongxiao said: "Newly obtained the battle report. Liu Jianji reoccupied Quyang City and almost wiped out 30,000 Khitan cavalry. Only more than a thousand people fled across the river and now headed to Wuji County. Jia Kui occupied Feihu, Liu Jianji eliminated Quyang's enemy troops, and the situation in Hebei Road was very good."

Wen Yanbo heard this and said, "How is Liu Jianji's own losses to annihilate the Khitans?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are basically no casualties. It's just that the shells are consumed a lot and need to be replenished as soon as possible."

"Isn't this a great victory?" Wen Yanbo was very surprised and looked at the people around him. "It is rare to be able to completely wipe out the enemy with 30,000 people. There are no casualties yet, which is very rare! The shells are nothing, just transporting the train."

The ministers were talking about it, thinking that the Battle of Quyang was a rare and major victory, and the court should reward him heavily. As for the more than a thousand cavalry who escaped, they didn't care. Although more than a thousand people would harass the prefectures and counties, there would be no threat.

Du Zhongxiao looked at everyone and felt mixed feelings. He thought that Liu Jianji asked the Khitan to escape more than 1,000 people, which was not considered a great victory. The war cannot only look at the number of people, but must be considered comprehensively. Although Liu Jianji had 30,000 people like the enemy, he had complete guns and cannons, especially the number of artillery in the army, which was something the Khitans dared not think of. And there was enough time and arranged in place. With the Khitans already siege, victory was a foregone conclusion. Releasing more than 1,000 people was an extremely serious mistake.

Although Du Zhongxiao had won consecutive victories in Hequ Road for several years, and had easily destroyed Dangxiang later. However, in the eyes of the ministers of the Song Dynasty, they were still very clear about the combat effectiveness of the Song army. In their eyes, it was already amazing to be able to compete with the Khitan troops and win them in battle. Especially, Liu Jianji was siegeing the city and annihilation of the enemy army was very rare.

In five or six years, although there were many victories, most of them were easily won. Most officials were not sure about the strength of the army. This time, the Khitan army was so powerful that the southwards actually scared many people. The 250,000 Song Dynasty troops on Hebei Road were far from enough. Liu Jianji confronted the Khitan army in Quyang, and in more than ten days, officials were worried. Although Du Zhongxiao repeatedly said that he had to wait for Jia Kui and not annihilate the Khitans as soon as possible was a strategic consideration. In the eyes of many officials, this was just an excuse.

After discussing for a while, Wen Yanbo said: "After this great victory, Jia Kui occupied Feihu again, and the situation on the front line has improved a lot. Now the 300,000 army is defending the border, so there should be no major problems. I wonder what the Privy Council will consider after this battle?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Now we are waiting for the Khitans to attack. Only when we know what the Khitans do can we decide our next action. After all, the Khitans are attacking, so we passively defend and can only wait for a while."

Song Xiang, the political participation, said: "The Khitan army came to attack, but there were only 50,000 Jingtai in Baozhou. Isn't it a little thin? After Liu Jianji annihilated the enemy, he can go to Baozhou to assist Jingtai in defense."

Du Zhongxiao said: "In a state, 50,000 troops are enough. No matter how many troops are, they are just hiding in the city, and it is not very useful. After Jia Kui occupied Feihu, Zhending Prefecture and Dingzhou were both safe places. Dou Shunqing and Liu Jianji's troops can be regarded as mobile forces. It only depends on how the Khitans attack and then determine their actions. Now the Khitans in the north have not moved, so we will wait for them."

Several civil officials in the capital were not familiar with military affairs. Du Zhongxiao said that in a state, 50,000 troops were enough, and they couldn't understand what it meant to have 50,000 troops. Of course, the more troops, the better. If there are soldiers, you have to arrange them to the front line.

For the current Song army, when using guns and cannons, there are many horses and animals in the army, the front line is far from comparable to before. How big is a state? With a 50,000 army, there is no flaw in the defense of this state. What needs to be increased is not defensive forces, but mobile forces. Mobile troops do not need to be placed in Baozhou, and there is no difference between Zhending Prefecture and Dingzhou.

With Liu Jianji's victory in Quyang, Du Zhongxiao considered that he wanted to completely annihilate the invading Khitan army. How to arrange it depends on the attack of the Khitans. Only after surviving the previous battles could the Song army fully launch its army and fight the Khitan decisively.
Chapter completed!