At night, Wuqing City was crowded with people and had not been so lively for many years. Today is the New Year, and the Khitan army was defeated again. Both the officers and soldiers and the people were extremely excited. The streets were crowded with people, and various vendors were one by one.

The commander and deputy commander of all the Song army, division, and regiment commanders entered the city and attended the celebration banquet. Zhao Zhen allocated money from the inner treasury and bought wine and meat to reward everyone. The Wuqing County Government Office was too small and the banquet was placed on the street.

In the Houya, Zhao Zhen personally presided over the leadership of the army, and the commanders participated in the celebration of the commemoration.

Everyone sat down, Zhao Zhen said, "Today's great victory coincides with the New Year. I prepared a banquet in the Houya and drank with you. These days, you have worked hard to fight. You don't have to pay attention to etiquette tonight, just drink with confidence!"

All the generals applauded.

Zhao Zhen said: "We need a wine supervisor when we drink. You are the people fighting on the front line. You can kill them all these days and it is difficult to do this. Then the husband Han will supervise the wine. If you don't drink, you must consider whether to give Mr. Han face."

Han Qi stood up and said he dared not. The etiquette of the monarch and ministers of the Song Dynasty was not particular about drinking. When they were happy, they had all kinds of strange things. In the past, the emperor held a banquet in the back garden, but it was usually fine at first, and when he was drinking, he was full of alcohol, and there were all kinds of alcohol. Not to mention the etiquette of the monarch and ministers, even the etiquette of the colleagues was not cared about. It was actually roughly the same as drinking among the people.

Han Qi was a wine supervisor, just to maintain order. Most of the people here were military generals, so they could not even make the literati drink orders, and they would mainly drink and eat meat. The generals would like to drink and talk about it happily, even if the civil servants were transferred to military positions and were used to it with their subordinates.

Soon, the food and drinks came up. Zhao Zhen led the food and drank for a tour, and the atmosphere gradually became warmer.

Du Zhongxiao drank a few glasses of wine and looked at the generals sitting together, feeling quite emotional. Half a year ago, who dared to think that today would be today? Being able to stop the Khitan army would be a victory, and how dare you eliminate them all? When training the army, due to the short time and insufficient officers, how big a mess would occur? In the end, Zhao Zhen even disbanded the military academy, which can be said to have done his best.

As a result, the Song army did their best, but the Khitan couldn't help but fight. In fact, there were not many people who actually participated in the battle. Most of the troops only participated in the battle when the Song army counterattacked north. At that time, the Khitan was soon besieged in Wuqing. Du Zhongxiao felt that in fact, only 200,000 to 300,000 people in the Song army would be enough to defeat the Khitan in this battle.

After drinking for a while, Zhao Zi said, "This great victory is entirely due to the command of the Taiwei. Let's drink a glass of wine with the Taiwei!"

The generals applauded and raised their glasses to toast Du Zhongxiao.

Du Zhongxiao drank wine and said to everyone: "This battle not only defeated the Khitan, but also trained the army. Before the war, whether we or the Khitans, they thought that the Khitan was a strong army in the world, and it was not easy to defeat them. As a result, after the battle, they found that this so-called strong army was just a paper tiger, which was actually vulnerable. After this battle, I believe that all the generals can truly understand the strength of their army."

Zhang Ke smiled and said, "What the Taiwei said is that the Khitan army was 400,000. At the beginning, everyone was shocked. As a result, they found that it was not the case. In the end, in Wuqing, the army besieged, and I knew that it was easy to defeat them."

Ma Huaide said: "This is a good thing. In Ganning Military City, when the Khitan first came, I almost couldn't resist it. After fighting for a few days, I became skilled in the army and realized that the Khitan was actually just like this."

Everyone couldn't help laughing. The biggest loss in this battle was Ma Huaide. At the beginning, due to insufficient training and too many officers were short of officers, the Khitan cavalry dispersed his army. Fortunately, Meng Xuejiao defended it tightly and finally slowly returned.

Du Zhongxiao looked at everyone and understood in his heart that a new era was coming. The army had guns and cannons, and there were people who could use guns and cannons to truly transform themselves. After this battle, the Song army truly understood how to use guns and cannons. With the strength of the Song army, all the troops of this era have the strength to crush all the troops of this era. When the officers and soldiers understood this, they would have completely different attitudes towards foreign enemies in the future.

If the Khitan is destroyed, where can there be strong enemies in the world? Although the Jurchens and Mongolia are strong, they have not yet developed at this time. As long as the Song Dynasty occupied the Khitan's Zhongjing Road first, they would have no chance. When the Song army stabilized the north, the rest would be the historical process.

After drinking a few glasses of wine, the generals gathered together, talked about the recent war, and let go of their hearts and drink.

Zhao Zhen saw Du Zhongxiao's expression was a little indifferent and said, "I'm not very happy to see the Taiwei. After defeating the Khitan, the court has no more enemies. It's just that I should drink and celebrate the achievements. Could it be that I have something to do?"

Du Zhongxiao said: "Your Majesty misunderstood. He has been in charge of the battle these days, and suddenly he is idle and is at a loss."

Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "The Grand Marshal is also a hard-working life. Come on, let's drink and don't think about those."

After a while, Zhao Zhen said again: "Taiwei, the army of 500,000 is obviously not suitable for you. How to arrange it next?"

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "Wang Kai and Hebin are still besieging Yunzhou, but they have not yet arrived. We should send 100,000 troops to assist them. After occupying Yunzhou, we must attack other cities on Xijing Road as soon as possible, which is the main business. It is difficult for the railway to cross Yanshan, so we still have to build roads from Shengzhou to Zhongjing Road in Khitan. Only when the railway is built there can we truly pacify the grassland."

Song Xiang on the side said, "I have watched the frontline war these days and saw that guns and cannons are extremely powerful. With the current strength of our army, it seems that we are no longer afraid of nomadic cavalry as before. It is useless for the court to occupy the land north of Yanshan."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "Assists in politics, the area north of Yanshan Mountain is the same as Hequ Road, both can be cultivated and pastoral. Now that the Khitan is in decline, and after a long time, other powers will inevitably appear. Once the power is strong, it will inevitably go south and all Hebei Roads will be harassed. To defend Youzhou, you must occupy it steadily, otherwise there will be hidden dangers. This is something that must be done and should not be careless."

Fu Bi said: "What the Taiwei said is, let alone the uselessness of the occupation, it is worth it even if you have to spend money every year. This time, the Khitan went south and Youzhou was ruined. As long as the power rises, once you go south and loot, the money will be released for many years."

Zhao Zhen nodded: "That's true. The Grand Marshal thinks, who is the right person to send to Yunzhou?"

Du Zhongxiao thought for a while and said, "There is a prairie north of Yunzhou, with a vast land and sparse population. It is not suitable to send only infantry troops. I think it should be sent to send 50,000 infantry and 50,000 cavalry to immediately go north after capturing Yunzhou. Hequ Road has been operating for so many years and can support it."

Song Xiang said: "There should be no problem when there are railways in the Central Plains to Shengzhou, with a 200,000 army. Even if you fight a battle in Youzhou, you will have a lot of money and food, and it will be difficult for a while. If you wait until autumn, there will be no problem."

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "It's a good idea to participate in politics. Now I'll send troops to occupy Yunzhou first, and then go north after autumn."
Chapter completed!