Xu Ping stood at the top of the city and watched the fires soaring into the sky in the distance, reflecting half of the sky red.

The fire finally got up, and it spread southward with the cold wind in winter, as if it had lit the entire sky. Such a fire broke out on the grassland, and it would be difficult to extinguish it. It would not be extinguished without burning all the grasslands in this area.

The city wall extending from the old and new cities in Yunneizhou has no moat. Xu Ping has ordered the garrison to open fire barriers outside the city. If it really cannot be opened, it will concentrate on the fire-proof city. After this, the brick wall will become stronger.

Looking at the sky-sky fire, Xu Ping felt very conflicted.

For the Song army, this fire was beneficial. They could use the fire to force the Khitan army to retreat and burn all the forage, so they would not be able to fight here again. The grain of hundreds of thousands of Khitan troops could be transported from the Yunzhou area, and the grass was not able to transport it. The Khitan army with a large number of mules and horses could not fight in such places. The Song army was better, and the mainland could supplement some of the forage, but it was expensive. Furthermore, burning the place to white land, the nomadic tribes would not come back within one or two years, which would help the Song army to reclaim the New Year. A torch burned the old pattern and began a new era from then on.

The disadvantages are also obvious. Setting fires on the grasslands will destroy the foundation of the nomadic tribes and are easily regarded as enemies by them. Although barbarians fear power but do not have virtue, blindly high pressure is not a long-term solution to the problem. You still need to use both civil and military affairs, treat them with military force and show them with kindness to stabilize the grassland. Such a big fire will inevitably scare the nomadic tribes in this area to escape.

The biggest disadvantage is that it gave Khitan psychological comfort. Even if it was defeated this time, it was defeated by natural disasters, not that the army could not defeat the Song army. This psychological advantage was invisible and intangible, but it was a real part of the national strength and could not be ignored. If the Khitans were afraid of being beaten, the Song army would make a sensation and consume the national strength. If they were not afraid, they would have to pay a greater price to consume the Khitan's national strength, in short, the gain would not be worth the loss.

The wind and fire were in harmony. As the fire rose, the wind became stronger and stronger, and the fire rushed towards the south.

At the top of the city, Xu Ping could already see the Khitan army outside the city setting up camp. The manpower was too small in the face of natural disasters, so they could only hide. They could no longer fight this battle. In the city, Zhang Kang's troops were reorganizing their troops and preparing to go out of the city to pursue. The Zhe Jimin troops on the other side of the river had already left the city and were in formation below the city. They wanted to use the fire to chase and kill the retreating Khitan army.

The sky should be about to be bright, but the fire covered the sky light and couldn't see the dawn in the east. The battle ended like this, and Xu Ping felt a little lost. Looking back on the wars over the past few years, there was no battle that was carried out completely according to his own estimates, and there was no feeling of strategizing. He always decided the strategy, and found that it was inconsistent with the estimate when he really fought, and then he kept changing it. He got the results he wanted, but the process was always elusive.

Perhaps this is normal. Human resources cannot control everything and develop according to their expectations. We must constantly change ourselves and keep up with the ever-changing war. Fortunately, we kept up with it and finally had a happy ending.

With the roaring sound of horse hooves, Zhang Kangtong's army left the city and began to line up. The whereabouts of the Khitan army was clear, so they chose to cross the Jin River first, retreat from the south bank of the Jin River to Fengzhou, and avoid the fire. Zhe Jimin's army also began to cross the river, preparing to pursue the retreating Yelu Chongyuan army with Zhang Kang.

This is a pursuit battle. Xu Ping has already ordered the orders and only wants to defeat him. He does not fight a life-and-death battle with the retreating Khitan army. He can eat up the small troops left behind in the Khitan, but do not forcibly block the Khitan army, including Yeli Wangrong and Cheng Kesheng who returned from Fengzhou. He only attacks from the flanks, and does not completely block the Khitan army. In terms of military strength, the Khitan army still has the advantage. Without the city wall defense line, the Song army is not strong enough. Force the enemy to fight to trap beasts is to cause trouble for yourself for nothing. Just win, and if you force annihilate the enemy, something incomprehensible will happen.

Xiao Huji bumped into Yeli Wangrong head-on, and when he turned around and fled back, he did not enter the village, but walked around the village. After seeing the momentum of the tens of thousands of troops of Dangxiang, he knew that this camp could not be saved, so he might as well escape directly to Yelu Chongyuan's camp in the south.

After running south from the camp for about five miles, Xiao Huji encountered the same thing again and bumped into Cheng Keshang. This time he was not so lucky and was captured by Cheng Keshang.

Looking at the burly man who was begging in front of him, with curly hair and cold armor on his body, it was worth a lot of money, and Cheng Keshang was overjoyed. Unexpectedly, Ye Li Wangrong took the lead in attacking this time, and he could catch a big fish by lying here.

He ordered his subordinates to block the fire with a big cloth. Cheng Kesheng ordered to light a torch, looked at Xiao Hu and asked him: "Where are you here? Why don't you ignore it and crash into my army? Look at your armor, you are not an ordinary person!"

Knowing that in the eyes of Dangxiang people, his head was money, Xiao Hu kept his mouth shut and said nothing.

Cheng Keshang smiled and said, "I know, this time the Protector has an order. Any princes and nobles in the Khitan army who get a living reward of 10% more than the head level. If you are an important person, report it quickly and you can still save your life. If you are just a general general, then you will cut it with one knife and take the head level to the Protectorate's Mansion to receive the reward after the war!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a Dangxiang School beside him pulled out a knife and stared at Xiao Hujian's head.

Xiao Huji was startled and shouted hurriedly: "Wait, I am the prince-in-law of Qikhitan, and my name is Xiao Xiao Huji! As a general, I am also a country."

Cheng Keshang waved his hand: "Enough, with your words, you will know that you are Xiao Hujian, right? People like you have long had names here, and each one is a big money!"

With a slap in his thigh, Cheng Kesheng was overjoyed. If Ye Li Wangrong knew about this, he would definitely be furious. Last time, Xiao Puda's army was picked up by himself, and this time it was even more amazing. The Khitan prince-in-law actually bumped into him. He was in trouble and could not even hide. Although there were too many Khitan relatives and were worthless, Xiao Hu's reward was still much higher than ordinary generals.

Because we had to negotiate with the Khitan after the war, Xu Ping really explained that the princes and nobles who were caught should not be the same as before, and would just cut them with one knife. The rewards for living are 10% higher than those who died.

Xiao Hujiu was of noble status and was born in the clan of the Khitan clan. He was the nephew of the current Khitan empress dowager. The cousin of Emperor Yelu Zongzhen, and married a princess. He almost took care of all the identities of relatives alone. Speaking of which, in the Khitan, Xiao Hujiu's relationship with the emperor was even higher than that of Li Zhang and Zhao Zhen. However, the Khitan empress Xiao Nojin was born in the Khitan clan and had many brothers and sisters in the family. There were many people with similar identities as Xiao Hujiu, and there were not as good as Li Zhang in the Song Dynasty. Moreover, Yelu Zongzhen and his biological mother had already had a falling out and were not very close to Xiao Hujiu. On the contrary, Yelu Chongyuan valued him more.
Chapter completed!