"Uncle." When Yelv Shilu's gray-haired face appeared in the camp, Abaoji felt a surge of emotion in his heart, and he personally stepped forward to lead his horse.
Uncle Shilu was his nobleman.
From the time when he was still in his infancy, he tried his best to protect him and tried to find a way to send him to the Uighur Shulu Department for refuge.
After he grew up a little, he carefully taught him, entrusted him with important responsibilities, and focused on cultivating him. To be honest, he treated him better than his own son, so much so that there were rumors that Abao Ji was Shi Lu's biological son.
It can be said that without Shi Lu, there would be no Abaoji. When you are young, your life is not guaranteed, and no one gives you a chance when you grow up. Then you can only waste your life, even in cruel internal strife, because
He was killed because he was not strong enough.
Abaoji loved and respected his uncle from the bottom of his heart. Not to mention that Shi Lu was now a member of the Eight Tribes of Yili Jin and had military and political power.
"Abaoji, it may be a little difficult this time." Shi Lu got off his horse and said worriedly. "What should I say?" Abaoji asked with a thought in his heart.
"Thieves Shao built a palace in Liuhe, and attracted many tribes, as well as the Xia Kingdom's imperial army to help them fight." Shi Lu briefly introduced them, and then said with difficulty: "My uncle has few soldiers and has never defeated them."
"Shi Lu, is it just a matter of Chang Xia Palace? It would be nice if it was that simple." Jiadi caught up from behind and said loudly: "In fact, the Shao thief has restored the Li Kuangwei brothers. Li Keyong used his skills outside the pass.
You are the only one left in Zhushu, Shilu, and Guigu, and all the territory we won with our concerted efforts is gone."
Abaoji remained silent.
The loss of the land behind the mountains was actually doomed after the failure of the joint forces with Hedong to fight against the Xia thieves the year before last. The reason why Shao Shude waited until now to regain the lost land was because he had just captured Youzhou.
It is completely conceivable to Abaoji that the tribe that had once taken refuge with them would now turn to the Xia thieves without hesitation. These people have no sense of moral integrity. The Li Kuangwei brothers joined Li Kuangwei when they were strong, and Gao Siji joined Gao Siji when they were governors.
, followed by Li Keyong, Khitan, and now the Xia people. They will vote for whoever wins. They will always fight against the wind and will not fight tooth and nail for you.
It was rare that Yelu Shilu did not argue with Shadi, but just said in a low voice: "What Shadi said does have some truth. As soon as the Changxia Palace was built, so many tribes came over. If they are not driven away, it may not be a good thing."
What he said was actually a tactful reminder to Abaoji that it is not appropriate to go south now and it is time to focus on the current crisis. In fact, the development of the Khitan is not easy. Their territory is mainly the territory of the Eight Tribes and Six Tribes of the ancient Khitan
The Khitans were defeated. The territory of the Xi people was severely reduced. They suffered a severe blow during the reign of Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty. Many territories were moved westward, and tribes such as the Tatars and Hei Chezi Shiwei who moved south were entrenched. The Khitans conquered the six tribes of Xi.
Afterwards, they failed to recapture it for them. The Xianyou Palace that Abaoji marched westward and besieged the year before last had been the pasture of the Xi people in the early years, but the Xia people took it from the Yanbei tribe.
These territories are actually very dangerous. They are very close to the Khitan. If you are not careful, you can rush over and burn, kill and loot. If you don't save them, your people will be scattered.
It's just a vassal tribe. If the eight and six tribes of the core Khitan tribes are beaten to pieces by them, and some people join the Xia rebels, it will be very difficult.
Abaoji was silent after hearing this, Shi Lu and Jiadi didn't speak either, and the atmosphere was extremely solemn. Xiao Shilu and Yu Lu looked at each other in shock.
"Yu Yue." Xiao Shilu muttered.
Yelv Shilu glanced at Xiao Shilu and said, "You are already the military governor of Pinglu Army, and you are qualified to know about important events. If you have any ideas, just say them directly."
"Yu Yue, Yi Li Jin, I think Liuhe is very important and cannot be given up easily." Xiao Shilu said. After saying that, he glanced at Abaoji, looking a little ashamed.
"Abaoji, what do you think?" Shi Lu asked. Abaoji suddenly laughed.
"What do I think it is?" Abaoji shook his head, as if he was talking about a trivial matter. He only heard him say: "Liaonan is important, and the Huangshui is the foundation of Khitan. The Xia people
If we can build a palace, can't we demolish it? All the strong men who have been gathered should disperse and get ready to fight."
Yelu Shilu looked pleased.
Although he likes his nephew, it does not mean that he has no understanding of the current situation.
My own opinion. Shao Shude led the attack to destroy Cangjing and the second town of Youzhou, and went north with his victorious troops. He took advantage of the opportunity when the Khitan tribes gathered their strong men and prepared to go south. However, they launched an offensive in the west to seize the territory and gave them a blow.
This move is actually quite cruel and must be responded to as soon as possible.
At the same time, Shi Lu also deeply suspected that the Xia people did this to relieve their Anton Mansion. After all, the foundation there was still very shallow. If the Khitan went south with all its strength, even if it would not be destroyed, the previous efforts would be destroyed.
Once upon a time.
But it doesn't matter. If they really thought so, Shi Lu admitted that their goal was achieved. What the Khitan has to do now is to get back the disadvantage.
"Abaoji, what are you going to do?" Yeluhadi asked.
"It's very simple." Abaoji said: "Each tribe is old and weak, and the cattle and sheep should be moved east and north. Gather the strong ones and don't confront the Xia people head-on, but loot their cattle and sheep and kill their people. The grassland is very big.
It’s so big that the Xia people can’t even imagine it, and we have plenty of ways to deal with them.”
Shi Lu thought seriously.
This method actually uses the traditional guerrilla tactics of the grassland. The herdsmen do not have cities, but they live by water and grass. Wherever there is water and grass, they can live.
To the east is the weak Bohai Sea, and to the north is Shiwei, which they have defeated many times. It is not a problem. Not to mention that there is no need to run so far. It just allows the old, weak, women and children to temporarily avoid the front, allowing the strong and strong to fight the enemy better.
That’s all.
"Actually, this is the only way." Shi Lu sighed.
He could see that even Abaoji was somewhat afraid of Xia Bing and was not sure of victory, so he decided to adopt guerrilla tactics.
"Abaoji!" Yelvhadi suddenly spoke: "I heard that there are still several towns in the Central Plains that have not yet been conquered, and Shao Shude actually does not have much energy to fight with us. Sometimes, it is not shameful to give in. You are like this
Doing so will only attract more Xia soldiers, and sooner or later the eight Khitan tribes will suffer misfortune."
"Haidi, can't you see the current situation? It's impossible for Shao to let the Khitan go." In response to Haidi's question, Abaoji was not angry, but said, "Negotiate peace? Is it possible?"
"You haven't even tried it, how do you know it's impossible?" Jiadi said angrily: "In my opinion, you are worried that if the peace negotiation succeeds, nothing will happen to you, right? There is no reason to continue to lead troops to fight, so there will be nothing.
prestige"
"That's enough!" Yelu Shilu shouted loudly and asked, "At the end of the day, Abaoji has agreed to postpone his move south and use all his strength to deal with the enemies to the west. What do you say? Are you willing to contribute?"
"Do you want me to wipe the butt of the goods you broke into?" He said disdainfully, but he quickly changed the subject and said: "On this occasion, I have nothing to say. So why are you?
Yue, Abaoji is Yi Li Jin. If you want to fight, I will follow. But I just want to make it clear that force is not the only way to go. Negotiating peace is not shameful. Being patient and waiting is also a way. I have said it all.
Here it is!"
Shi Lu felt a little at ease.
He knows that Judi is not the only one who holds this view. Judi is actually a representative of a certain group. They have not yet become a big trend, but as time goes by, more people may not support Judi.
Therefore, it is best to come up with some actual results next.
Shi Lu turned his attention to Abaoji, and Abaoji and him looked at each other, and both understood the meaning in each other's eyes.
We can no longer experience disastrous defeats. Every defeat increases the confidence of people like Jiadi and increases his influence. The next use of troops must be done with caution.
******
Xiao Shilu and Yu Lu came to Yingzhou.
As the military commander of the Pinglu Army, although his main task was to open up land on the west bank of the Liao River, it would be outrageous not to visit the nominal Liucheng once.
What's more, Abaoji had just given him a task, which was to try to send troops from western Liaoning to attack the Xia people's garrison outside the pass and contain the Xia people's forces.
In other words, the originally agreed-upon mission has changed, and now he has to take care of both the military and civilian aspects. Near Helong Palace in the north of Liucheng County, an army is training.
Xiao Shilu and Yu Lu Jiangu stopped their horses and watched carefully.
Those were the troops of Han general Gao Siji.
Abaoji trusted them very much and selected a lot of Xi people. Bohai elites were recruited into the army, turning the Gao family's army, which was originally less than 10,000 people, into an army of 20,000 people.
But Xiao Shilu doubted whether their combat effectiveness could match that of the Xia Kingdom's Forbidden Army.
Because they didn't have much military pay, they all relied on plundering during battles to obtain income, and their armor and ordnance were not complete. Although Gao Siji had good abilities and was well-trained, there were still big flaws.
"Shi Lu, don't look at it." Aunt Yu Lujian seemed to know her husband's thoughts very well, and said: "It's enough if the Pinglu Army can defend the city. It seems that we can defeat the Bo Navy. To deal with the Xia soldiers, we still have to rely on us.
Khitan.”
"That's true." Xiao Shilu looked at the soldiers who were practicing the military formation and said, "But you can't say that about General Gao. He is still meritorious and taught a lot of military training methods. The craftsmen he brought here,
He also brought many apprentices. Without them, we wouldn’t even be able to build siege equipment.”
After speaking, he looked at the military camp again.
That place was actually the Helong Palace. I heard that a man named Tadun established his capital here in the late Han Dynasty, but there was no such palace at that time. It was not until the rise of the Xianbei people that the Helong Palace was built as a palace for the three dynasties.
Yingzhou is such a great place!
Xiao Shilu became inexplicably happy. He felt that he had gained a great piece of territory. "Let's go into the city!" Xiao Shilu urged his horse and rushed out.
Yu Lu Jiangu followed closely behind, and together with more than a thousand fine cavalry behind him, they drove towards the repaired Yingzhou City. Xiao Agu, the deputy envoy of the Pinglu Army, only heard about it and went out of the city to greet him in person.