"The solution is very simple. I would like to ask Zhang Xiangguo to write a letter to the Liao people, telling them that we don't need to fight this war." Su Jin said with a smile.
"What? Did we hear it right? No more fighting?" Everyone's head was full of black threads, wondering what kind of "medicine" Su Jin was selling in the gourd.
"Mr. Su, please don't be joking. It's better to quickly explain the strategy on how to fight the enemy. Don't show off." Zhang Yuan was slightly unhappy. Su Jin seemed to be taking military affairs as a trivial matter.
"Prime Minister Zhang, what I am talking about is the strategy to deal with the enemy. Please write a letter and send it to the camp of the Liao army, saying: The Xia and Liao army are hostile in the wilderness, the wind and cold are attacking, and the situation is becoming increasingly embarrassing. Both sides
A large number of soldiers and horses were frozen to death. If this continues, there will be huge losses without fighting. In addition, the New Year is approaching, it is snowing and cold, and the soldiers want to return. The monarchs and ministers of Daxia thought about it again and again, and they all thought that it could not be delayed any longer, so they submitted a letter to your help.
There are two options. First, delaying the decision for a long time is not a long-term solution. It is recommended that the two sides start a war today and decide the winner; second, both sides withdraw their troops and stop fighting, and return to their armies to rest and avoid the severe cold. Next year, when the spring is warm and the flowers bloom, there will be another showdown.
Both men and women are protected from the cold and starvation of soldiers and horses."
Zhang Yuan was shocked and said: "Master Su, do you really plan to withdraw your troops and stop fighting?" [
Su Jin smiled and said: "You should write a letter immediately according to my wishes. Whether we stop fighting or not is not my decision. It will only happen with the cooperation of the Liao people."
…
At noon, the soldiers on the lookout in front of the Liao army's main camp spotted the figures of several enemy soldiers in the wind and snow, and immediately blew their horns to warn them. The soldiers on the front line immediately concentrated on alert, drew their strong bows covered with ice and set arrows, and shouted loudly:
He shouted: "Who is coming? If you don't stop, you will be shot to death with random arrows."
The three people on the other side shouted loudly: "Don't shoot arrows. We are here to deliver a letter on the orders of my head coach."
The soldiers of the Liao army looked at each other in confusion, and after a closer look, they saw three Xia cavalry appearing in the wind and snow. As expected, they had no weapons, their hands were empty, and they didn't even have armor on their bodies, only wearing helmets.
"What kind of letter did you send? Could it be a deception?" shouted a Liao soldier.
"Brother, the wind and snow are biting and the cold is biting. We also want to warm ourselves by the fire in the tent. If anyone is willing to drink from the northwest wind, don't shoot arrows. There are indeed letters to be delivered." One of the Xia soldiers raised his hands high.
, the letter in a yellow envelope swayed in the wind.
The soldiers of the Liao army did not dare to neglect, and quickly reported to the superiors. The former general gave the order, and dozens of cavalry rushed out of the camp. After a while, they returned to the camp with three unarmed soldiers of the Xia army, and the letter was naturally taken away.
After coming down, he was immediately sent to the Chinese army's tent six or seven miles behind.
Several basins of charcoal fires were lit in Yelu Zongzhen's big tent. Even so, it was still bitingly cold. All the generals were hiding from the wind and snow in their respective barracks, but Yelu Zongzhen summoned them to the big tent to discuss matters. After everyone came together, Yelu Zongzhen picked up the case.
The letter said: "The Xia people came with a letter and gave us two suggestions. One is to engage in battle immediately to prevent the snow and cold from freezing the soldiers and horses to death from starvation. The other is to suggest that both sides temporarily stop their troops and retreat until the weather gets warmer.
It’s a showdown between male and female, do you think there’s something fishy about this matter?”
The ministers circulated the letter one after another and started talking about it. Zhang Jian said: "It seems that the Xia people's experience is similar to ours, and they can't stand it anymore. The old minister thought that taking the opportunity to withdraw troops was the best policy, but I didn't know that the Xia people
Does anyone have any conspiracy?"
Yeli Chongyuan said nonchalantly: "Why do the Xia people fight and withdraw as soon as they say they want to fight? My army has come all the way here, so we might as well fight to the death with them. Looking at this posture, the Xia people have lost their morale, so we just take this opportunity."
Defeat it in one fell swoop.”
Yelu Zongzhen frowned and said: "Although their army is demoralized, how can our army be better? Tens of thousands of soldiers have frostbite on their hands and feet, and many horses have been frozen to death. Every morning, they can't unsheath their swords, and they don't have anything to keep them warm or cold."
Why talk about defeating the enemy in one fell swoop? Nowadays, due to wind and snow obstruction, supply has become quite difficult. A large amount of grain and grass supplies are blocked at Xiaosanguan in the east of Helan. I am really worried."
Yelu Zhongyuan stared and stopped talking. Xiao Hui stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, even if we withdraw our troops, we must prevent fraud. Perhaps the Xia people deliberately used this to test the situation of our army camp. Once they learn about our army,
We are getting increasingly trapped, or we may have some evil intentions, so when we ask the emperor to reply, we must not let the Xia people know the specific situation of our camp. We can deal with it vaguely, depending on the situation, and it is better to teach the enemy that they can't figure out the details."
Yelu Zongzhen said: "How do you think I should answer?"
Xiao Hui thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty only said that our Daliao army has plenty of supplies, and it won't hurt if we use them up. He doesn't agree with the withdrawal of troops. When the wind and snow subside, the two sides can fight decisively on the battlefield to judge the enemy's strength."
reaction."
Zhang Jian smiled and said: "King Xiao has a good idea. The Xia people must be aware that there is a lot of fog. If they have a trick, they will definitely be exposed. If they decide to withdraw, our army will retreat calmly and the momentum will be better."
Not inferior to the other party."
Yelv Zongzhen nodded and said, "That's fine, I'll reply like this."
Yelu Zhongyuan muttered in a low voice: "Deceiving yourself."
Zhang Jian said seriously: "Your Highness, your Royal Highness, this is not a deception. This is an act of war. If the enemy tries to test the truth and knows the current situation of our army, how can they let go of this good opportunity? In such a harsh and cold weather,
Fighting under the weather, although our army is strong, it cannot guarantee complete victory. There is no need to fight to the death with the Xia people. Otherwise, what will we use to deal with the Song people in the future?" [
Yelu Zhongyuan gritted his teeth and cursed: "Song Zhu is responsible for all this. We must seek justice from the Song people in the future."
Zhang Jian patted him on the shoulder and said: "Yes, but it is better to resolve the current matter first. If this continues, there will be no need to fight, and hundreds of thousands of people will be left here."
…
In the Xia army's camp, Su Jin took the reply from Liao Xingzong and read loudly: "... Our Daliao cavalry has been waiting for us for a long time. The army has ample food and grass, sufficient firewood and high morale. The Daliao cavalry is the enemy.
The reason why the armies of the world oppose each other without fighting is because of the old friendship between the two countries. Now the two suggestions put forward by your army are quite coercive. We, the soldiers of Daliao, have unanimously decided to choose the first one. Wait for the wind and snow to subside and choose a day to start the war.
.........I don't want to be a life-and-death enemy with the Xia Kingdom, but your country hates me, the Liao, very deeply. Your army has gathered together, with the potential of a life-and-death fight... How can I, the great Liao, be afraid of fighting?
Pass?"
The generals in the camp were astonished. The Liao people seemed to be determined and had no intention of withdrawing their troops. Su Jin wanted to get rid of the situation in front of him and proposed any retreat, which seemed very childish and ridiculous. This time he was slapped
The slap came back, which was considered a loss of face.
After Su Jin read Yelu Zongzhen's reply, he laughed loudly. Unfortunately, the generals did not join in the fun, so someone came to ask: Why is the general laughing?
Su Jin stopped laughing, reached out and threw Liao Xingzong's letter on the case, looked at the generals who were talking about it, and said: "The Liao people have a good way of bragging. They also have plenty of food, grass and firewood. The three brothers who sent the letter came back and said,
The Liao army's military tent was as cold as an ice cellar. The charcoal fire was already ashes. It was unknown how many days the charcoal fire had been cut off. The inside of the Liao army's armor was very thin. Unlike our soldiers, at least they still had cotton and linen.
Lining, it can be seen that their sins are even worse than ours, and they actually pretend to be fat; no matter what, I will give them a heavy hammer to make their hides self-defeating. "
Su Jin dressed neatly and came out of the big tent. He whispered a few words to Mahan of the Dynasty, and then ordered someone to call three soldiers who were messengers from the Liao army into the big tent. The three soldiers had a few bruises on their faces, but they were cold.
With a bad face, he entered the big tent and looked embarrassed under the gaze of the generals.
Su Jin smiled and said: "Thank you for your hard work, you three. It's not easy to send a letter back and forth in a heavy snowstorm. I have to trouble three of you to take my reply back to your army camp and hand it over to your emperor."
The three of them said in succession: "It should, it should."
Su Jin said with a smile: "In addition, I also have some gifts that I would like you to take back to the emperor of your country. The weather is very cold, so nothing is as good as something to keep warm. I have prepared a wolfskin cloak, plus some students from my camp."
Please give three barrels of things to warm the fire to the emperor of your country. He said that courtesy is light but affection is heavy. Although a war is unavoidable, the gift is still for me to show my respect."
The three people agreed quickly, and Su Jin shouted loudly: "Come here, take the three brothers to keep warm and have a meal, bring them gifts, and escort them out of the camp."
Dynasty Mahan entered the tent and led the three people out. After exiting the tent, he turned left and right and passed dozens of tents. The three people looked around and faintly saw bright firelight coming from these tents. They could also smell the aroma of wine and meat after passing the tent door.
, the three of them swallowed greedily.
Wang Chao saw this and turned around with a smile: "These guys are like this every day. They don't care about drinking or eating meat. It's because the superiors sympathize with the hardships of the severe cold weather. No, a large amount of beef, sheep, wine and meat were transported from Ketun City the day before yesterday. It's very cold."
The weather is good, drinking some wine can keep you warm."
The three of them were secretly shocked. Xia Jun lived such a carefree life. Compared with their own camp, eating dry food on the ice and snow every day, they were living in hell, and they felt very uncomfortable.
Dynasty Mahan led three people into an empty tent. There was a pot of meat stew on a table inside, and there was a pot of wine next to it. Mahan greeted: "Three brothers, please take a seat. Let's eat and drink happily."
After the general has sent a letter, you can leave after taking your gifts."
The three of them were already salivating and were not polite. They sat down to eat and drink. One soldier became very interested in the blue flames rising from the brazier next to him. It seemed that there was nothing in the brazier, just a fire.
There was clear water, but the flames were burning hot. The whole tent was as warm as spring by the fire. They couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Two generals, what is this? Can things like water be burned?"
"
Wang Chao said in surprise: "You three don't even know this, right? This is kerosene. Our army relies on it to make fires and keep warm. There is no vegetation in the Gobi Desert. How can we survive such a cold day?"
Don’t you have braziers in your camp?”
"It's natural to make a brazier, but..." Before the soldier could finish speaking, he was elbowed by another soldier beside him. He quickly changed his words and said, "We also use kerosene. I just asked casually.
Just a question."
Wang Chao laughed loudly and said: "This brother is here to test our feelings. What's the point of talking about such commonplace things? You three should eat quickly. It's already dark. There are still several miles between the two armies.
, It’s dark and it’s difficult to walk on the road, and there are bulky gifts to bring, so don’t miss it.”
The three of them hurriedly immersed themselves in eating and drinking. Half an hour later, the three of them came out of the tent drunkenly and burping. Their horses had already been fetched, and the gifts had been packaged and hung on the sides of the horses. However, there were three large wooden barrels with a bang inside.
There was a chaotic sound of water; under the escort of Chao Chao and others, the three people were sent out of the camp.