In the evening three days later, Du Zhongxiao, Tian Kuang, Zhao Zi and Yang Wenguang were summoned to Tianzhang Pavilion.

Zhao Zhen had already waited here and gave him a seat, saying, "According to the news received by the Khitan, we must gather troops to Youzhou in autumn. This is a rare opportunity. The Khitan offended me and gathered a large army in front of the mountain. If we can gather and annihilate it, not only can Yanyun be restored, but the Khitan will probably be in a slump because of this battle. It has been several years since the Taiwei Du rescued Tang Longzhen, and the troops of this dynasty are no longer comparable to before, so we cannot miss this opportunity."

Tian Kuang held the scepter: "Your Majesty, I don't know how many people want to achieve their goals in one battle! But what's easy! The Khitan power is a radius of thousands of miles and a million armors, which is not just a talk. It's really difficult to annihilate the main force of the Khitan."

Zhao Zhen said: "It is precisely because of the difficulty that I have thought about it again and again and tried my best to do it. These days, the Privy Council has made the way to deal with the Khitan in autumn. What are you thinking about? If you have any difficulties, tell me now and don't be helpless when you get there."

Du Zhongxiao said: "I have discussed with civil and military officials these days that it is not impossible to annihilate the Khitan army, but it is too difficult."

"What's the difficulty?"

Du Zhongxiao held the scepter: "With the strength of the Khitan national strength, if the troops that are full of national strength come, there will be 300,000 soldiers to Youzhou. Transport food and grass, and collect the population of Youzhou, Pingzhou, Fengshengzhou and other people, with about 200,000 to 300,000 people. In other words, the Khitan army had 500,000 and 600,000 troops gathered in Youzhou. The soldiers and horses of this dynasty on Hebei Road had only 250,000 trained, which was really a little less. In the autumn, the imperial guards on Hebei Road could only be formed into one army at most and gathered 300,000. It was easy to defeat the Khitan people with 300,000 to 300,000, but it would be difficult to siege them."

Zhao Zhen nodded and said, "If you want to siege the Khitans, how many soldiers and horses can you be roughly sure?"

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "Another 200,000 people should be able to do it. Fifteen to 200,000 people block the Khitan's arrival, 150,000 people block the Khitan's retreat, and 100,000 people serve as a reserve team to deal with variables at any time. In addition, cavalry must be trained separately, at least 50,000. The land of Youzhou is flat and there is no obstacle. If you want the Khitans to escape, you must not lose cavalry."

Zhao Zhen was silent for a moment. After a while, he said, "In two or three months, can we make up another 200,000 people?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "The military academy on Hequ Road has been held for several years and has trained many people. Based on the imperial guards on Shaanxi Road and Hedong Road, it can be a first army after training. The imperial guards on Hebei Road will be drawn from each army, and the personnel from the military academy can also be organized. There are only so many troops that can be organized in a short time. This year, 150,000 imperial guards in the capital have been transferred to Hebei Road, and no one is available."

Zhao Zhen said: "How many teachers and officials are there in various military academies now?"

Du Zhongxiao was stunned for a moment and said, "There are the most people in the Beijing Military Academy, with more than 3,000 people. There are more than 600 people in the Hequ Road Military Academy. Due to the emergency, many people were transferred from the two military academies above, with more than 1,000 people."

Zhao Zhen said: "If these people are incorporated into the army, can we train another army? Taiwei, the Khitan is the great enemy of this dynasty. If this fall is a life-and-death battle with the Khitan, let the people in the military academy fight a war first, what else?"

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "If you can organize all the people in the military academy into the army, you can organize another army. However, the number of people doing this is still a bit insufficient. Moreover, there is still a lack of separate cavalry."

Zhao Zhen told Yang Wenguang: "In fact, many generals may not be necessary among the armies that were trained before. If they were temporarily drawn out, the army would not be unable to fight. In extraordinary times, some generals who were deputy and civil servants were drawn from the former Zhang Ke and Liu armies to train the new army. In addition, Wang Kai from Hequ Road, his troops were originally your troops, and he had the longest army. The Khitans came to Youzhou and there were no great enemies on Hequ Road. They also took out generals from his army and trained the new army. They tried every means to organize the army in the capital and Hedong Road into three armies."

Yang Wenguang crossed his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid I'm a little hasty when doing this. The army is in a hurry and lacks combat power."

Zhao Zhen said: "I don't care about so many. Now there are many soldiers in the imperial guards, but there are only a lack of officers. In extraordinary times, extraordinary means, some less important officers will not be set up for the time being. Except for staff, command, food and intelligence, the rest of the military officers can be cut off. After the war, there will be no need for so many troops, and then merge."

After hearing this, Du Zhongxiao couldn't help but feel a headache. When Hequ Road was training, there were a lot of officers. Many officers seemed useless, but in fact it was very necessary. First, they had their own division of labor to make the power in the army clear and institutionalized, and to break the bad habits that soldiers had for the past were the generals. Also, during wartime, officers suffered losses and officials would be replaced at any time. As long as a general was killed and the entire army was dispersed. Zhao Zhen's arrangement was equivalent to taking a big step back from that time. Don't listen to what a temporary approach is. As long as you win, these may become routine in the future.

The salaries of officers in the army are high. Once there are too many, the court will be annoying and try every means to reduce them. Many positions seem useless at first, but they will become flaws when they are in wartime. Moreover, with fewer officials, the power in the army will inevitably be concentrated, and various problems arise.

Zhao Zhen said: "Restoring Yanyun is the will of our ancestors. How can we not seize it when we have the opportunity? We cannot defeat the Khitan this fall. How can I face my ancestors in a hundred years? Even if we have difficulties, we must find a way to overcome them. This fall, the Khitan comes south and fights against him in Youzhou!"

Du Zhongxiao and everyone said that he was right. He knew in his heart that Zhao Zhen was no longer the idea of ​​winning consecutive battles in recent years. Over the past year, Du Zhongxiao brought the teachers in the military academy to talk about military tactics with the ministers, and he was not unfamiliar with military affairs.

After arranging various details, looking at the night, Du Zhongxiao and others said goodbye and left.

After leaving the home, Yang Wenguang whispered to Du Zhongxiao: "Taiwei, the emperor intends to be in Youzhou. It is not a good thing to do so urgently."

Du Zhongxiao sighed: "Don't I know? But what can I do? The holy will has been decided. You try your best to gather more officers so that the trained army can truly fight. You must not be just arrogance and lack combat power. Otherwise, the war in Youzhou will be unfavorable, and you and I will not escape the trouble. The Privy Council will do its best and do it thoroughly."

Yang Wenguang said that it was. A few people went out of Donghuamen together.

This is the hottest time of the year, and it is extremely lively outside Donghua Gate. There are crowds of people on the streets, hawkers are coming and going, and hawking sounds are coming one after another. The cool breeze blows in the dark night, making people feel refreshed.

I wanted to go home, but just greeted my followers, Du Zhongxiao suddenly said, "It's still early, we went to the restaurant over there to use two glasses of wine to get rid of the heat."

The other few people were a little surprised and hurriedly agreed. They all understood that they were afraid they were not just drinking and having fun.

After instructing his followers, Du Zhongxiao said, "The moonlight is just right tonight. Why not invite Mr. Wen and Mr. Han to come. How about we drink together?"

Tian Kuang nodded: "That's good. The Taiwei, the emperor, is interested in Youzhou, is a major event in the court, and it is better to have the consent of the Secretariat."
Chapter completed!