"King, the Khitans are heading west, should we chase after them?" Several generals looked at Yeli Wangrong and asked carefully.

"Chasing! As long as the Khitans do not escape into Fengzhou City, they will continue to chase them!" Yeli Wangrong's voice was sharp. "Send someone to inform the King Huicheng Keshang. We are from the north. He leads his army from the south to pursue the Khitans. Whoever catches up will fight, and the other army will go around and pursue the front enemy. We fight each other, and don't compete for military achievements!"

Speaking of this, Yeli Wangrong exclaimed: "It may be this opportunity to pursue the Khitan army on the grassland. Once you miss it, there will be no next time! The glory and wealth of us are all in the Khitans who escaped in front!"

The general looked at the fire that soared into the sky and hesitated: "But the fire has risen. The fire on the grassland is indeterminate, and it is impossible to burn dozens of miles to white ground. When we pursue the Khitans, the fire may break the back."

"Not afraid, the Golden River is frozen and the fire is really big. We are just crossing the river and going back from the south of the river!"

Dangxiang is also a nomadic people and knows how terrible it will be if the grasslands are inflamed once they are on fire. In history, there have been many examples of burning grasslands. Sometimes the Central Plains dynasty even used this method to cut off the livelihood of the nomadic peoples in the next year. The rivers on the grasslands are not only water sources, but also natural fire protection belts.

Yeli Wangrong thought it very clearly that the fire was really burning, igniting all the grasslands of dozens of miles. They could also pursue the Khitan army and cross the Jin River from the ice and circle back from Henan. More importantly, the fire really burned, and Yelu Chongyuan's army, who was camping in the Jiajin River, could not stay and could only retreat to Fengzhou. At that time, it was hard to say how much war results would be achieved in the chaos. Of course, the fire on the grasslands was not so easy, and it might have been extinguished after burning several miles of grasslands. There were fire prevention belts around the Khitan military camps, and there were large water tanks for firefighting beside each camp tent. It was not that the sudden attack by a large army of this size at night, and the possibility of a fire was very small.

The thought of using the fire to completely disrupt the Khitan military formation and let him chase him, all the Dangxiang generals were excited. Fengzhou is the upper reaches of the Jin River, with narrower river channels and colder than this area, making it easier to cross the river from there. As long as you can go to the other side of the river, what will it look like? Who cares about it?

Seeing that the generals had no objection, Yeli Wangrong said: "Each general leads his headquarters and chases the Khitan army, catch up with one to fight one, and each of them will make their own achievements! I'm right in front of me, who dares to fight for the head level, and after the war, I'll be sure that the whole team will be killed. Don't blame me for not saying anything!"

After saying that, he ordered his own soldiers: "Go to the prefecture city to report to the Protector. Yelu Ren first led the Khitan army to flee to Fengzhou. King Cheng Keshang and I will lead the entire army to chase the enemy. The fire here has already started, and it may burn the surrounding grasslands. Please prepare early!"

After saying that, he ordered the generals to reorganize the headquarters and follow Yelu Renxian's army to pursue the west.

Xu Ping got out of his residence and arrived in the yard. A cold wind blew, and he couldn't help but shrink his neck. Even though Yinshan blocked the cold wind, the grassland was still much colder than the Central Plains. It had just begun to winter and it had already dripped into ice.

Rubbing his hands, Xu Ping took the guards to his official hall. Wang Kai, Zhang Kang and others were already waiting here and sang promises together.

Let everyone sit down, Xu Ping ordered the guards to bring the brazier over and everyone cooked the fire together.

Wang Kai said: "Just just now, the guards around Yeli came to report that after Yelu Ren was attacked first, he led his army to retreat westward. He should have to retreat to Fengzhou. It is of great importance, and disturb the Protector to rest."

While roasting the fire, Xu Ping said, "What is more important than military situation in the two armies? By the way, Yelu Ren was attacked first and did not approach Yelu Chongyuan camp and flee to Fengzhou to do something? Don't he know that as soon as he retreated, the Khitan was defeated in the battle against Yunneizhou? Didn't Cheng Keshang ambushed in the south and leaked his whereabouts?"

Wang Kai shook his head: "It's not that Cheng Keshang revealed his whereabouts, but when King Yeli was stealing the camp, he didn't grasp the fire and set it on fire. I've sent someone to check it out to see if the fire will spread."

"Did you set a big fire?" Xu Ping kept rubbing his hands around the fire without saying a word. He had thought about setting fire on the grassland and finally weighing the pros and cons, but he didn't do it. There were 300,000 Khitan troops outside, and no matter how big the fire was, it would not burn them all. When necessary, the Khitans could cross the Jin River from the ice, set fire together on both sides of the river, and they could retreat along the Jin River.

In this battle, defeating the Khitans is the main purpose, and it is best to win beauty and destroy the Khitans' psychological advantages in military affairs. The more embarrassed the Khitans are, the more proactive the subsequent negotiations will be, and the more advantage they will have in the future confrontation will be. If the Khitans are forced to retreat, their strength will not be greatly lost, and their psychological advantages will still be there, and the gain will not be worth the loss. In history, Yelu Zongzhen personally conquered Dangxiang, so Yuanhao used the method of burning the pastures, leaving the Khitan cavalry without grass and unable to replenish supplies. That was because Yuanhao used the weak to fight against the strong, and he had to use any means. There was no need for the Song army to do this. In fact, Yuanhao won the Khitans with that method, and indeed did not scare the Khitans. They attacked again a few years later.

After thinking for a while, Xu Ping said: "A fire may not necessarily spread on the grassland, but we have to be careful. Immediately inform the army and take strict precautions in the blank areas connected to the city walls, and do not let the fire burn to the east of us."

Wang Kai said: "The fire burned from not far from Yin City. If it really spreads, it is afraid it is not easy to prevent it."

"Forget it, it's all about burning the pastures between the Jinhe River and the Yellow River. They are already deserted, and the city has moats. Burn the pastures and reclaim wastelands and grow grain next year. But try to be as careful as possible, this is what to do."

Wang Kai turned around and ordered. Even if he did not consider the influence among the herdsmen, the imperial court would use a large number of large livestock to open up the land next year, which would be much more convenient for grass. There are many cattle and horses in this area, which is much easier for farming and land management than for the mainland.

Xu Ping said again: "If the fire cannot be burned, don't mention everything. If it is burned, Yelu Chongyuan outside the city will definitely not be able to stay. Look at him carefully. If you retreat to Fengzhou, you will have to send troops to chase him and let Cao Keming intercept him. If you flee south across the Jin River, then there is no need to say that, attack him north and south together with Cao Keming."

Wang Kai Yingnuo asked, "The Dangxiang people are pursuing Yelu Renxian, what should we do?"

"Let them keep chasing, chase the city of Fengzhou, and do not siege the city. If Yelu Chongyuan retreats directly to Fengzhou, they will turn their heads to intercept it. If they retreat south of the Jin River, they will also cross the river and kill from the east, and we will attack from three sides."

Wang Kai and Zhang Kang looked at each other and asked Xu Ping in a low voice: "Protector, in this way, we will surround the Khitan army. At this point, it is better to just take them." At this point, he made a beheading gesture.

Xu Ping smiled and shook his head: "What are you thinking? There are more than 300,000 Khitan troops outside the city. Can you eat it if you surround them? Yuan Hao's elite troops are far inferior to the Khitan troops. How much effort did we spend at the foot of Tiandu Mountain? Greedy and swallow the elephant, be careful to make your stomach hurt! Instruct the army not to fight to the death, just drive the Khitan troops away and let them retract back to Fengzhou, even if the task is completed. We are fighting for territory in this battle, and don't fight into a life-and-death duel with the Khitans."

Seeing Wang Kai and Zhang Kang both showed regret on their faces, Xu Ping said seriously: "The Khitan army on the opposite side is nothing special to the Khitan. Without these 300,000 people, he can quickly pull out another 300,000 people. The number of winnings in this battle is second. The most important thing to destroy the Khitans is that there is no need to fight to the death. The Khitan power cannot be destroyed in one battle. We must make long-term plans."

These Longyou Army are the seeds of future military reform. It is very unprofitable to consume them here.
Chapter completed!