Xiao Siwen looked at the letter asking for help in his hand, feeling slightly panicked.
He loves the culture of the Central Plains and has little interest in military affairs. Although he has read many military books and studied the tactics of his predecessors, he has never been on the battlefield.
Being able to become a left-behind guard in Nanjing was all due to a good pregnancy and a good appearance.
After becoming the Khitan Xiao family, her father was Hubuli, the younger brother of Xiao Dilu, the prime minister of the Northern Mansion. He married the eldest daughter of Emperor Taizong of Liao, Princess Yan, and became the brother-in-law of the sleeping emperor of Liao.
With such family connections, Xiao Siwen's career was smooth sailing, with military positions and promotions rising along the way.
When Xiao Siwen was in the army, he did not think about fighting and training. Instead, he imitated famous people from the Central Plains and studied how to dress himself with hairpins. The generals who knew him said that he was not a general.
But the sleeping emperor Yelujing is willful. I don’t want you to think it, only what I think.
The most important military commander left in Nanjing fell to Xiao Siwen.
To put it bluntly, Xiao Siwen's performance after he took over as Nanjing's stay-at-home officer was remarkable.
He loves the culture of the Central Plains and is at home in the land of Youyan, which is dominated by Han people.
Governing the Han people with Han people's methods, the land of Youyan allowed him to prosper.
In the early years of the turmoil in the Central Plains, some Han people even fled north to save their lives.
But this involved military affairs, so Xiao Siwen was somewhat at a loss.
This aspect is really not his specialty.
"Wait! I'll go by myself!" He took two steps, then thought of something, and said hurriedly: "Quick, let my son Xiao Weiyin lead five thousand light cavalry to support Waqiao Pass."
Xiao Siwen decided to go and seek advice on his own. After all, he had not listened to his good advice before and had to give the other party face.
Song Xiong kept a very low profile in the left-behind mansion.
Although Xiao Siwen respected him very much, he could see that Xiao Siwen did not trust him and was only using his reputation to win people's hearts and learn the classics of the Central Plains from him.
For the entire six months, Song Xiong never asked about any situation in Youdu Mansion, nor did he have any contact with outsiders. He just kept reading.
Xiao Siwen loved reading. Yelu Deguang had been the emperor of the Central Plains for a period of time. When he left the Central Plains, he brought more than 10,000 volumes of Central Plains classics back to Khitan.
Xiao Siwen ordered people to engrave part of the collection.
Song Xiong felt as if he had found a treasure when he saw it, and studied these books quietly.
"gentlemen!"
Xiao Siwen quickly walked into Song Xiong's room, bowed respectfully and said: "I just got the news that the Guo bandit from the Central Plains has led his troops northward. Just as Mr. expected that day, everything going south to Lingnan was done for us. Really
The purpose is to go north..."
As he said that, he asked the doubt in his heart: "How did you know this, sir?"
Song Xiong just responded hurriedly and said: "Liu Bei has done me the favor of saving my mother, so I would never dare to accept the benefactor's gift. As for heading north from the Central Plains, I guessed it based on the pattern of Lingnan. Lingnan has been a desolate land since ancient times, with many mountains, which is not conducive to conducive conditions."
Marching. The lord of the Central Plains is ambitious and has long wanted to help the world. From the fact that he captured the four western states, attacked Huainan, and planned to seize Nanping, we can see that his plan is huge."
Although Xiao Siwen felt uncomfortable hearing it, he knew that Song Xiong was telling the truth.
Song Xiong continued: "A figure like the Lord of the Central Plains will definitely not voluntarily send troops for ethics and morality, especially in a barren land like Lingnan with dangerous mountains and rivers. It is unprofitable to send a large army to conquer."
"Therefore, I believe that it is reasonable for the leader of the Central Plains to attack Xishu, Jiangnan, and even Jinghu and Wuping, but attacking Lingnan is not logical. I would venture to guess that the other party's move is to confuse the true intention. It is not to go north to the east of the river to the Jin Dynasty.
Yang means heading north to Youyan."
Xiao Siwen, as an afterthought, now sounds very reasonable, and he said with shame: "I regret not listening to my husband's good advice. If I had listened to my husband's words earlier and sent good generals to defend Ningzhou and Yijin Pass, how could we not fight at every state and pass today?"
And descend."
Song Xiong was surprised and said: "Ningzhou, Yijin Pass was lost?"
Xiao Siwen handed the emergency report for help to Song Xiong.
Xiao Siwen didn't have much trust in Song Xiong at first, but Song Xiong's name was widely spread in Youyan, and his help would go a long way in stabilizing the land of Youyan.
He didn't care what Song Xiong's purpose was, whether he was really treating his mother's illness or what.
Anyway, the other party is just a flag, and offering it will bring great benefits.
Half a year later, Song Xiong was just studying peacefully in the mansion, never interfering in any government affairs, and even actively avoided suspicion in many matters and did not get involved at all.
Xiao Siwen's wariness gradually faded. In addition, the information was so good and he had no definite plan. He couldn't help but ask: "Sir, can you teach me how we should respond now that the troops from the Central Plains are marching northward and the offensive is urgent."
Song Xiong pondered for a moment and said: "Immediately send troops to garrison at Waqiao Pass. Before Waqiao Pass is captured in the Central Plains, try to protect Waqiao Pass. Once Waqiao Pass falls, Youzhou City will be in danger."
This Waqiao Pass leads to Baoding, an important town in Hebei Province, to the west, to the Daqing River in the lower reaches of the Juma River to the east, to the north to Youzhou, an important military town in northern Hebei Province, and to the important towns in central Hebei Province to the south. It is a vital fortress in the land of Yanyou and Hebei Province.
one.
Waqiao Pass is just a mile away from Youzhou City. If the Zhou soldiers were allowed to gain access to Waqiao Pass, they would definitely store a large amount of military supplies here and use it as a base to attack Youzhou.
The Khitan army's best and most invincible tactic is to harass grain roads, but as long as Waqiao Pass is captured, the Zhou army's grain and grass transportation will have an extra guarantee.
Xiao Siwen had this in mind when he sent his son to support Waqiao Pass first.
Although Xiao Siwen was not good at military affairs, he still knew some things after sitting in Nanjing for many years.
Xiao Siwen said: "My son has led five thousand Qingqi to rescue."
Song Xiong shook his head and said: "This expedition in the Central Plains has been planned for at least half a year, and the Emperor is here in person. He must be heading for Youzhou City. He may even want to take back the Sixteenth State of Yanyun in one fell swoop. Five thousand Qingqi can only support it for a moment.
, not a long-term solution.”
"Based on my opinion, I stayed behind to guard the current situation and immediately asked the emperor for help. It is difficult to reach the Central Plains with the strength of the entire country with only the soldiers of Youdu Prefecture."
"Secondly, there is a flat river to the north of Waqiao Pass, which is most suitable for our cavalry to gallop. We should gather a large number of troops near Waqiao Pass and attack the Zhou soldiers at any time to prevent them from taking Waqiao Pass calmly."
"The Central Plains is so powerful that there is no need to seek victory if we stay behind. If we don't allow them to attack from the front, we are just stalling for time. As long as the emperor's reinforcements arrive, we can decide whether to withdraw or fight."
Xiao Siwen felt that it made sense, fisted with his palms, and analyzed it secretly.
Song Xiong's words are indeed flawless and well-founded.
Xiao Siwen asked further: "How many troops do you think is appropriate, sir?"
Song Xiong shook his head and said: "My subordinates don't know how many soldiers there are in Youdu Mansion, nor their fighting strength. Likewise, they don't know what the soldiers in the Central Plains are like, so they dare not make a conclusion. But at least there must be enough power to contain the soldiers in the Central Plains, otherwise
It would be bad if we are defeated by soldiers from the Central Plains."
Xiao Siwen nodded silently, thinking about the many victories in the Central Plains over the years. The name of Emperor Guo of the Central Plains was much louder than that of their sleeping emperor. He felt a little frightened in his heart and asked: "The city of Youzhou is strong, why not stick to it?"
Waiting for the emperor to come to help?"
Song Xiong said decisively: "This is the next strategy. First, we marched straight into the Central Plains this time, without spending a single soldier, to capture Ningzhou, Yijin Pass. Yizhou, Yingzhou, and Mozhou fell.
It’s just a matter of time. As the leader of Youdu Prefecture, Liubei is already suspected of having a weak defense at this moment. If he continues to defend Youzhou passively and just sit back and watch the surrounding states and counties of Youdu Prefecture being captured by the Central Plains one by one, how should the emperor explain to Liubei?”
Xiao Siwen's expression changed slightly.
He had witnessed the brutal methods of the Sleeping Emperor Yelujing with his own eyes, and he did not treat people as human beings at all.
What impressed him most was that for a chicken, Yelujing killed a guard who had been following him for ten years.
If Yelujing is allowed to understand the situation in Youzhou, what about myself?
Xiao Siwen shuddered a little.
Song Xiong continued: "Secondly, if you retreat to Youzhou now, you will immediately fall into the encirclement of the Central Plains. If you stay behind, you can refer to the Huainan war example from the Central Plains. They relied on trapping Shouzhou. They forced Jiangnan to continuously send reinforcements northward, which depleted the source of troops.
There is no way to recover."
"If we also stick to Youzhou, I'm afraid that the Central Plains will repeat the same trick and encircle the point for reinforcements. No matter whether we win or lose, we will still be punished for staying behind. If we lose too many troops in order to rescue Youzhou, it will be even more serious.
.”
"Third, it is most unwise to be trapped in an isolated city. Even if the Central Plains is powerful and has to defend, you have to wait for reinforcements to arrive and join forces with them to defend. This is a long-term solution, rather than defending an isolated city alone and tying yourself up."
Xiao Siwen sighed: "Sir, what you said makes sense. Defending Youzhou is indeed the next best thing."
Historically, it was because Guo Rong's Northern Expedition was so fierce that he took three states and three passes even if they disagreed, without even using a single soldier or even firing a single target. This directly frightened Xiao Siwen and stationed heavy troops in the north of Youzhou until the beginning of the war.
In the end, he did not dare to fight.
Xiao Siwen was punished for this, dismissed from his post as a stay-at-home official, and took up a post in the court.
Xiao Siwen bowed deeply to Song Xiong and said, "I don't know how talented you are, but I hope you won't be blamed for neglecting me. I would like to ask you to be my staff. I wonder if you are willing to condescend."
Song Xiong returned the greeting and said: "Staying here is a favor to save my mother. I have no way of repaying it, so how dare I refuse."
Xiao Siwen was overjoyed and said: "With your help, sir, why worry about the big Guo thieves not retreating? I will order all my troops to go south. Sir, are you willing to go with me?"
Song Xiong answered without hesitation and said: "How dare you disobey! It's just that my subordinate is poor and can't ride a horse. I bothered to stay behind and prepare a donkey for my subordinate to travel instead."
Xiao Siwen's face was a little stiff. This time when he went south, he was not prepared to fight head-on with Da Zhou.
Use maneuvers to contain and detour, delaying time, waiting for Yelujing to send troops to help.
How can we fight with a burdensome person riding a donkey?
After thinking for a while, Xiao Siwen said: "In this case, sir, let's wait for the good news about someone in Youzhou City."
Xiao Siwen left Song Xiong's room with satisfaction, thinking about Song Xiong's strategy all the way. There was indeed no problem. He considered himself at every step. He couldn't help but feel relieved and acted in accordance with the law.